Adventuring can wait.

So this is it, my first ever fic. I'm terrified! It's Doctor/Donna friendship based because I love their relationship so much. Please enjoy.

He was lying there when she bounced into the control room, all excitement and adrenaline and "are you sure there isn't a planet of the hats?" She bounded in, looking around for the Doctor as she shoved her left arm into the sleeve of her jacket. She was just about to pull her right arm into the sleeve when she caught sight of him and stopped, leaving the jacket dangling off one arm as she inched closer to the Doctor.

He was asleep. Donna was shocked – since when did the skinny alien sleep? – but also curious, glad that her shouting as she ran in had not woken him. He was slumped down in the captain's chair, his converse clad feet resting on the control panel, deftly slotted in between the levers and dials so as not to cause them to crash if he shifted in his sleep. His right arm dangled off the chair – slumped as he was it was almost brushing the floor. His left arm lay on his chest, fist curled around something. Donna stepped closer to see what it was and realised – to her great amusement – that he was clutching his sonic screwdriver as he slept, much like a little child holding a teddy bear.

Donna leant back against the console to the right of the Doctor's feet and continued to observe him, arms folded. His chin was slumped to his chest, rising and falling slowly with each deep breath. He had possibly been wear his glasses before he fell asleep, but Donna saw that they were now lying next to him on the seat, hopefully not too crushed.

The hair was, frankly, ridiculous, sticking up in all directions like he's been running his fingers through it, which he probably had. His face looked younger while he slept. All of the lines in his face were smoothed, all the muscles relaxed. The Doctor spent a lot of his time in either ecstatic laughter or indignant fury, and Donna wondered at how innocent he looked, almost childlike as he slept, completely oblivious to the troubles of the universe that seemed to weigh down on him at every moment.

Donna was suddenly aware that she had never seen him this peaceful or, unsurprisingly, this quiet. She wondered how often he needed to sleep. She had almost assumed that he didn't need to, though it seemed stupid now – of course he needs sleep, he might be an alien but all that energy has to come from somewhere.

Her first instinct had been to take a photo – for blackmail purposes and to laugh at later. But now Donna wanted to preserve this moment, this tiny pause in their hectic lives, when the Doctor did not have to carry the weight of the entire universe on his skinny alien shoulders. Donna turned to leave, stroking the console absent-mindedly as she walked.

Just before she reached the corridor, Donna turned and hesitantly took a step back towards the console. She knew the TARDIS was alive, she could feel the fuzzy sort of hum that must be its way of communicating, though Donna did not know exactly how it worked. She took a step closer and spoke quietly – "keep as still as you can for a while, give him a bit more sleep. I know you like to throw him around a bit, but he needs it. OK?"

She felt something twitch in her head, and the hum seemed to be almost approving of her words. Donna smiled, and touched the console once in thanks. She headed back towards the corridor, turning back once more just before she left. The sleeping Timelord sighed a little, shifting his head to the side and clutching the screwdriver a little tighter. Donna smiled and wandered back towards her room. Adventuring could wait another couple of hours.

Please review, but try not to roast me alive - it's kind of hard to improve your writing when you're being burnt to a crisp.