Title: Next Life
Author: castrovalva9
Recipient & Prompt: purplebug; Peri/Erimem, "the joys and the doubts" (for the DW Big Finish Audio Ficathon over on LiveJournal)
Rating: PG
Pairing: Peri/Erimem
Spoilers: The Kingmaker
Summary: A missing scene between Erimem and Peri during The Kingmaker.
Note: Beta read by Kara MT.

Aside from being held prisoner in the Bloody Tower, life in the 15th century wasn't all that bad, Erimem decided. Of course, the main reason it wasn't always bad--and indeed, at times became enjoyable--was currently sitting naked on the bed beside her. Erimem's thoughts wandered to how a particular friend of theirs might react to this new dimension of her and Peri's relationship. Yes, she was rather sure he would say... "Oh, dear."

The effect of Erimem's words on Peri was startlingly amusing. Her head whipped around, and she nearly fell off the bed. "What? What's wrong?"

"What makes you think something is wrong?" Erimem asked innocently.

"You said, 'Oh, dear.' Whenever the Doctor says it, it usually means we're about to be shot at or arrested." Peri cocked her head. "Of course, he also says it whenever his tea gets cold. So, was yours a getting-shot-at 'Oh, dear' or a cold-tea 'Oh, dear'?"

Erimem thought for a moment. "Well, we aren't in imminent danger, but I was picturing a scenario a bit more serious than cold tea. I would say my 'Oh, dear' falls midway on your scale."

"So exactly why did you say it?"

"I was just thinking about how the Doctor would react if he knew we were together. Like this." Erimem waved a hand to encompass themselves and the bed.

Peri considered and then she laughed. "Yeah, you're right. He would definitely say, 'Oh, dear.' Especially if he found out by walking in on us together. Then he would sidle out of the room, eyes carefully averted, and probably not look directly at either of us again for at least a month."

"Oh." Erimem frowned. "He would disapprove of our relationship, then?"

"Nah, I don't think that would bother him," Peri shrugged off this concern. "We're probably not the only people who've hooked up while travelling with him. He'd mostly just be totally embarrassed that he saw us naked. Speaking of which, when we get back on the TARDIS, we'd better make sure we have a bedroom with a door lock that really works."

"If we get back on the TARDIS," Erimem added soberly.

"When," Peri corrected. "When, because the Doctor's got to be looking for us, and he'll track us down. He definitely has to come across the notes we left at the Kingmaker. You need to learn to be more positive. Anyway, this isn't the first time we've been separated from him. Things will work out like they did all the other times."

"I do hope so," Erimem agreed. "But it's been almost two years, and we've never been apart from the Doctor for nearly this long before. I'm also extremely tired of dressing as a boy."

"Which you remind me of roughly every single day, as if otherwise I would forget that teeny little fact." Nevertheless, Peri protectively rubbed the faint red marks left from where she'd strapped down her breasts that morning, the gesture silently stating that she too was not thrilled with the charade they were being forced to play out. Then she attempted a smile. "So what should we do this lovely afternoon? Think of another impossible escape plan, look out the window at the unchanging scenery, or count the marks on the wall that designate how many days we've been stuck here?"

Erimem brightened. "I think we should play tennis!"

"You would want to. Well, I'm tired of tennis. You always win, and that's no fun."

Erimem grinned. "It's fun for me."

"See, that's exactly what I meant," Peri complained. "No wonder you enjoy it. Don't you ever get tired of winning?"

"Never."

Peri turned away and fell into a minor sulk, refusing to look at Erimem.

"Perhaps, Peri," Erimem pointed out, "the more skilled player is more skilled partially because she never tires of winning."

"You know, Erimem, sometimes you can be very annoying." But Peri's smile as she spoke took any real sting out of the words.

Erimem bounced off of the bed. "So does that mean you want to play tennis now?"

Peri shook her head. "Nope. I'm sick of losing."

"Very well." Erimem retreated from the topic with disappointment and lay back down. The issue wasn't so much that she was eager to play tennis itself, although she quite enjoyed the activity. No, her interest rested more in the fact that a distraction, in whatever form, meant another delay she could justify to avoid broaching the topic she was very sure Peri did not want to contemplate.

For Erimem still had the poison draught Buckingham had given them. There had been no need to use it on the princes, but perhaps all along it had been meant to fulfil a different purpose.

Their odds of seeing the Doctor again were, she thought, probably not much greater than the chances of her ever returning home and becoming pharaoh.
And the new timeline she and Peri were living carried with it an ever-increasing likelihood of, as the Doctor would put it, changing the ending of the story. This fact appeared not to disturb Peri in the slightest, but the responsibility was weighing more and more heavily upon Erimem. It had been left to her to think of these things that would never occur to Peri, to make the decisions Peri would not understand. In her more optimistic moments she liked to believe that an argument on her part, firmly rooted in logic, would convince Peri to go along with her in taking the draught. In her more realistic moments, she knew the task would not be so easy, that Peri would balk and look at her differently.

Thus, she hesitated to gather the necessary words. Maybe she should wait. Surely another day--even another week--wouldn't matter.

But what if it did? And what if she had not come up with the proper words even then?

Peri's voice interrupted her churning thoughts. "Hey, I probably don't say it often enough, but there's no one I'd rather be trapped in the 15th century with."

"Does that mean you're willing to play tennis now?"

"Yeah, sure. Let's get dressed and go play."

Erimem hesitated, thinking of the draught and the fated course of history and how their deaths wouldn't truly separate them. Then she looked back at Peri, innocent and eager to live.

They were here now; they were alive now. She would take this time while she had it, and perhaps tomorrow would be the day she would suggest entering the next life together. As for today, though, maybe she would even let Peri win a tennis match or two.

Then again, maybe not.