Stars

[Deleted]

Susan Jillian English slid out of her small house silently.

Her roommate had complained to Susan about the woman’s nocturnal habits more times than Susan cared to count. Normally, Susan was content to paint their living room when she couldn’t sleep – the comforting mahogany of their furniture starkly juxtaposed against the creamy white of their walls, offset with Susan’s paintings of various items and locations. Sometimes she would lay on their white carpet and stare up at the ceiling with wide blue eyes, watching the glow-in-the-dark stars with an almost religious reverence as she traced the constellations. Sometimes she would push their furniture against the walls and dance in her nightgown to the music in her head.

She shut the door quietly behind her. The breeze blew against her nightgown and she stepped off her porch, her bare feet padding against the concrete softly. She pulled her headphones from around her neck to her ears. She bounced cheerfully to the music, her eyes adjusting quickly to the darkness. Susan murmured the words under her breath, brushing past the people on the streets. Many people would have been worried about the safety of the streets of London at night, but Susan English had lived there long enough to know that if you didn’t do anything stupid, nothing was going to happen.

“Stars! In your multitudes, scarce to be counted, filling the darkness,” she sang, continuing to dance her way into the park.

And, anyway, every time she got in trouble there always seemed to be someone who rescued her. The same someone also kept sending her to New Mexico every Christmas, as long as she could remember. It was a little odd, but Susan never was one to doubt such things. She fancied that it was her guardian angel there to rescue her from a life of monotony. She looked up at the stars, giving a small twirl as she made her way to a park with a woodsy area. When she was a little girl, she remembered her grandfather taking her out to see the stars.

Foolish as it was, she liked to believe that she was from among them.

She slid a little on the dew as she entered the park. Susan jumped on the swings, holding on to the chains tightly as she grinned to her ‘audience’. “And so it has been! And so it is written! On the doorway to paradise, that those who falter and those who fall must pay the price!” She jumped from the swing and attempted to sing the music with ‘la la’s as she danced across the small park. She jumped on the picnic table, stumbling a little as she landed on her feet.

“I will never rest till then! This is I swear, this I swear by the stars!”

Susan beamed widely and bowed to the invisible audience. She laid back on the picnic table and folded her hands on her stomach.

[Deleted]

Gavri was looking up at the night sky in complete wonderment. He had actually managed to sneak out of his mother's TARDIS. After all, Leon got to go on his own adventures. Occasionally coming back with a fresh new scar or two, but still! It wasn't fair.

So this time, Gavri had decided he'd go on his own adventure. With or without his big brother to lead the way.

And so, the bright blue eyed, fourteen year old was off. In his denim jeans, and a dark buttoned shirt.

It probably had only been about ten minutes, when he heard singing.

"Stars! In your multitudes, scarce to be counted, filling the darkness,"[/font] The voice sang.

The singing made Gavri curious, especially since he couldn't see the person belonging to the voice.

"And so it has been! And so it is written! On the doorway to paradise,"

He started following the sound of the voice, curiosity getting the better of him.

"That those who falter and those who fall must pay the price!"

It wasn't long before he realized he was in a park, and that the female singing was jumping from the swings. In her bare feet, and in a rather flowy sort of dress.

"I will never rest till then! This is I swear, this I swear by the stars" She finished as she jumped up onto a picnic table, nearly stumbling over. Before giving a bow, as if people were there applauding.

"Bravo?" Gavri said in a quiet sort of tone. And not wanting to seem rude, decided to clap for her performance. Perhaps... he could try to make a friend, after all.. Mama was always trying to get him to be more sociable.

[Deleted]

Now Kitty, the moment she stepped outside of the house, she was running. Her mother was screaming insults and abuse after her, but she just ran, tears freeing themselves from her eyes as she went. As soon as Kitty was sure she was safe, she wiped her eyes fiercely, and stopped crying. She looked around, and the moment she came back to her senses, she realized she could hear singing.

Intrigued, Kitty went towards it. She was in a park, and there stood a woman, in her bare feet, wearing a rather beautiful dress, Kitty noted. She kept her distance, but her curiosity got the better of her. If the woman tried to hurt her, she'd take a step back, but for now...she found herself walking forward.

The woman finished her song and then took a bow, and Kitty heard a quiet voice say 'Bravo'. Kitty nodded after the boy said so, in agreement, and she spoke too, also quietly. "You're a very good singer, Miss." she said, smiling politely at the woman, then at the boy.

Of course, the 13 year old was braver than she used to be, but she was still a little scared of people. These particular people, however, seemed nice.[/size]

[Ace McShane]

Ace had been in the neighborhood, not really going anywhere just wandering around she watched the people as they passed by from behind her sunglasses, granted that got her some weird looks her wearing sunglasses at night but she’d come to notice the whole one eye purple and one eye green kinda threw people off she didn’t really know why she liked the way they looked. Plus the glasses had been designed for night vision anyway so her sight was not obstructed by the darkness at all.

Before long she looked up and noticed where she was, she smiled a little thinking back a little before shaking it off, she’d tried to keep her distance from Susan whenever she was in the area after all the girl had been through she deserved to be happy for once…but one little look in couldn’t hurt, could it?

Ace started to head towards where she thought she’d heard that The Doctor mention he’d placed Susan, Ace stopped for a moment, when she’d heard the singing she couldn’t stop herself from heading towards it and watching as the woman did her little number. Turning up the brightness on the glasses Ace smiled when she realized it was Susan who was doing the singing “She’s happy, good.”

She kept to the shadows when she realized there where others around, she was just there to observe after all.

[Deleted]

“Bravo?

“You’re a very good singer, Miss.”

The voices, along with the clapping, startled Susan. Her imaginary world of thousands of people clapping for her and whistling shattered. She spun around to face the two children and tilted her head. “So this must be where you’ve been!” Susan said, jumping to the ground and staring contemplatively at them. She gestured around the park and then at the two. “But that makes sense. I hear you’re very fond of the outdoors.”

She removed the headphones from her ears and hooked them around her neck. She crossed over to them, tilting her head curiously. “I’m very flattered. I’ve often heard it said that you’re shy creatures. It must mean a lot for you to make yourself known to me!” Susan declared, looking up at the stars.

Susan English looked back at the two children dreamily. The girl had been crying quite heavily recently. Her eyes were still tinged with pink, and there were streak marks on her cheeks. The boy wasn’t used to being on his own. “It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone,” she promised, pressing a finger to her lips. “I must say that I’m very thankful that you have found me,” she whispered.

“I’m not angry at you for stealing my shoes. I understand that stealing is part of a gremlin’s mischievous nature,” Susan explained. “I just want to know what you do with the shoes.”

A slight movement in the shadows and a murmur caught the human’s attention. Susan grinned at the person and waved cheerfully, skipping over and grabbing her hand. “Hello! Are you with the gremlins?” she asked, and then squinted at the sunglasses. “No, of course not. You’re wearing the specialized glasses for hunting them,” she said.

[Deleted]

Apparently, he hadn't been the only one who heard the woman's song. "You're a very good singer, Miss." A girl said, she looked as if she had been crying recently. Her body language was telling him that she was being cautious, as if she expected something bad to happen.

The lady on the table, spun to face them, tilting her head. "So this must be where you've been!" The woman said, before jumping to the ground. She made funny motions with her hands, it reminded him of when his mama would ask how a room she had just cleaned up, got messy cause he and his big brother were rough housing. "But that makes sense. I hear you're very fond of the outdoors." What was she talking about?

"It's okay. I won't tell anyone," The woman said, placing her finger to her lips. "I must say that I'm very thankful that ayou have found me."

This had to be one of the most confusing nights for Gavri. At least so far... This lady wasn't making any sense what so ever.

"I'm not angry at you for stealing my shoes." The lady continued, and Gavri was about to protest that he hadn't stolen anyone's shoes when... "I understand that stealing is part of a gremlin's mischievous nature, I just want to know what you do with the shoes."

"I... I'm not a.." He tried to say, but the lady noticed someone else and started skipping over to them. He wasn't sure if he should be worried about what this adventure was going to get him into. Or if he should be more worried about his mother possibly finding out that he was out of bed.

"Hello! Are you with the gremlins?" She asked the woman with the sunglasses. "No, of course not. You're wearing the specialized glasses for hunting them."

"I.. I'm not a gremlin.." Gavri tried to explain, he wasn't even sure what a 'gremlin' was?

[Deleted]

Kitty looked at the people as they spoke, tilting her head slightly. When she was accused of being a Gremlin, though, she looked slightly indignant. "I'm not a Gremlin!" she said, but the woman had already gone over to the other woman with the sunglasses. She glanced at the boy next to her in slight confusion, which seemed to be mirrored on his face.

"...You're not a Gremlin, are you?" Kitty asked him. He wasn't what she imagined Gremlins look like, but they could be shapeshifters or something like that. Glancing over her shoulder, Kitty examined the woman who had been singing.

She glanced at the boy next to her again, then back at the two women, then sighed, shaking her head. People never ceased to confuse her.

[Ace McShane]

“No, I’m not with the gremlins.” Ace said before she heard Susan say the comment about the glasses, raising an eyebrow behind her glasses. Shaking her head Ace sighed, she shouldn’t be here at all but she had let her curiosity get the better of her “I’m a friend of…” what was it that Susan would know The Doctor as? Oh yeah “Dr. Smiths, he asked me to look in on you if I was in town.” she hated lying to Susan.

She nodded to the other two “I trust you two aren’t gremlins eh?” she smiled a little, still the same impish grin as always “And even if you were, I’m sure they wouldn’t steal your shoes Susan.” lifting her sunglasses up on top of her head she looked sideways at the others with a wink.

[Deleted]

Susan puffed out her cheeks childishly as they all denied being involved with the gremlins. “I won’t be cross,” she said, skipping cheerfully back to the two young children. “I really won’t. I don’t mind if you take my shoes. They always come back to me. Shoes are nice,” she said airily, jumping on the picnic table. She twirled around again, humming cheerfully as she listened carefully to their arguments. The girl was almost definitely a gremlin, but the boy… she wasn’t sure about the boy. He smelled… off. And the woman was definitely not a gremlin, but not human.

“I’m a friend of…” Susan crouched down innocently, watching Ace with wide blue eyes. “Dr. Smith’s, he asked me to look in on you if I was in town.”

Her cheeks flushed an indignant shade of red. “I-I’ve been taking my medicine!” she lied, crossing her arms. “Any friend of Dr. Smith’s is my friend as well.” She sat down cross-legged on the table and looked up at the stars. “It’s not a bad thing to be a gremlin. Better to be a gremlin than a human… although, sometimes I like being human,” she said thoughtfully, watching the constellations with a dreamy smile. “I think we have just enough time to admire the beauty of the world, the destructive nature…”

She trailed off and shrugged. “My favorite part of day is the sunset, when the sky is a burnt orange. It feels like home to me. Perhaps you gremlins feel the same way about dark places? Or maybe you hate it because it reminds you of home?” she asked, tilting her head curiously. “Doesn’t matter now, in any case. You’re all my friends now.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t steal your shoes, Susan.”

Susan uncrossed her legs, holding her bare feet in front of her. “Someone must have stolen them…” She flexed her toes. Marisol had helped her paint them a bright red and blue for the football game they had watched. Susan didn’t understand the point of a bunch of people kicking a ball around, but Marisol’s excited nature during the matches always made Susan excited too.

She looked at the gremlins and giggled. “My name is sometimes Susan Jillian English,” she said politely, jumping off the table and giving them a polite curtsy. “But not Susie or Miss English. Just Susan, if you will. And I already know your names.”

She put her hands on Kitty’s head and hummed thoughtfully. “Yes, yes, just as I thought. Your name is… Cat!” she giggled, pressing an exuberant kiss to the girl’s forehead before taking Gavri gently by the ears. “And your name is definitely Alex. Alexander David Campbell.” Her nose twitched and she felt a headache stir at her skull, but she shrugged it off and kissed Alex’s cheek. She twirled over to Ace, and then her face broke into a grin. “Oh! Your eyes are simply marvelous! Your name must be…” Susan rested a hand on Ace’s cheek pensively. “Spades. Definitely Spades.” At this, she pressed a chaste kiss to Ace’s lips.

“Such a lovely night!” she chirped, spinning in circles happily. “See, I had to get out of the house. Marisol says I drive her insane with my insomnia. I can’t help that I like to dance and sing! Sometimes, I just paint. I paint from my dreams, and sometimes I dream of marvelous things. My grandfather he always used to say I have the most brilliant imagination. That doesn’t matter now. Do gremlins have familial structures akin to that of a human? Father, mother, siblings?”

[Deleted]

He nearly jumped as the girl next to him suddenly defended herself. And while it was a little reassuring to know that the girl wasn't a gremlin, or at least claimed not to be. He still didn't know what a Gremlin was, or what they were suppose to look like.

Gavri shook his head no in reply to the girl's question. He wasn't a Gremlin, or rather... he hoped he wasn't, at the very least. Also, why would he steal someone's shoes?

He stared at the woman who had been singing, after she introduced herself as Susan. And explained that she already knew who they were. Maybe he should go home, after all he really wasn't suppose to be out at this time. Then... Susan grabbed him by his ears and called him Alex. On top of that she kissed his cheek.

Oh, the humanity! He was going to get those cooties his brother told him about and.. and.. He had to get them off! He started to rub his cheek frantically. Maybe he could get rid of them if he washed his face. Surely that would work right?

Gavri paused as Susan asked if Gremlins had family members. "I.. I don't know. Do they?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly from the slight panic he had just a moment ago.