An Inspector calls (SJ and Luke)

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He did not even know what he had lost.  She could see it in his face.  Oh, innocent still, but he would never approach a stranger the same way again.  She wished she'd been there.  It was so important.  The Doctor had taught her that.

"No.  I don't want you to react faster." She steadied him by the shoulder still, to make certain she had his attention.  "Everyone is worth a chance, Luke. It just take some experience to learn how to do it right.  We represent Earth to the Universe, Luke.  How we say hello is important."

They were walking toward home.  She kept close to him in rather primal fashion, only half aware she is doing it.  She was suddenly worried.

"Luke---- there are a lot of reasons that you're vulnerable to Time Lords.  You get that from your Mum." Even her footsteps were in sync with his. "Those Time Lords are all flash and skill.  Creative. Shiny.  Don't trust them, Luke, not without my say so.  Not yet. "  She flashed him a look, eyes narrowing a little with worry.

"Did the Time Lord ask you to go with him?"

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"No. I don't want you to react faster."

This confused Luke, had he reacted faster the odd man would not have gotten a hold of him, and most likely he’d have not been put in the path of the robot who had tried to kill him. He remained silent to see if his mom would explain what she meant. Which she ended up doing thankfully.

"Everyone is worth a chance, Luke. It just take some experience to learn how to do it right. We represent Earth to the Universe, Luke. How we say hello is important."

Now he understood. If he reacted fast and ended up hurting aliens on accident when they did not present a threat then he’d hurt his and his mom’s universal reputations. They had to welcome all aliens and couldn’t go on the defense unless those aliens proved threatening. He nodded and smiled. “I understand mum. We can’t hurt aliens, that is bad.” He grinned glad he’d understood her lesson.

"Luke---- there are a lot of reasons that you're vulnerable to Time Lords. You get that from your Mum."

Luke let his mom embrace him evening his breathing so that she didn’t end up choking him. He marveled at how her footsteps matched his so easily, had they really done this so often, or was that just a mother’s skill? He pushed that thought away for further analysis and listened to her speech instead. So the odd man had been a Time Lord? He thought Time Lords were good, like the Doctor was good. Confused he looked at his mom waiting for further explanation.

"Those Time Lords are all flash and skill. Creative. Shiny. Don't trust them, Luke, not without my say so. Not yet. "

He nodded in understanding. So it seemed some Time Lords were not good, they were a threat, like this other one had been. They were more a threat as well because they were also hard to distinguish from other humans, like Slitheen were. “I won’t mum, I understand.” He smiled at her trying to reassure her that he would not go off with a Time Lord without her permission.

"Did the Time Lord ask you to go with him?"

He nodded instantly. “The man wanted me to go with him. He said I was in danger and he was going to protect me.” He looked at his mother and frowned. “Then he drug me outside and there was the robot that was going to hurt me if I moved.” He began to wonder if maybe the Time Lord was a good one and the Robot had been the only threat. After all the Time Lord was the one who told him not to move, but then again the Time Lord was the one who brought him outside in the first place. It was all very confusing, maybe Mr. Smith would know.

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Luke was short on details.

He seemed . . . .uncomfortable.

Suddenly this conversation was as awkward as when she'd explained sex beyond the mechanics he could learn from a book, and her ground rules regarding it.

Luke said the Time Lord had dragged him. Well. That only told have the story.  She'd been dragged around by a Time Lord quite a bit, and hadn't minded at all.

"Did you want to go with him?"

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"Did you want to go with him?"

Luke looked at his mom and felt the awkwardness that had formed as well. He frowned feeling like he’d made a social mistake again and struggled to comprehend how. When she asked her question he thought for a moment, had he wanted to?

No he hadn’t. “No, I was confused about the man and didn’t want to go with him. You weren’t there and I hadn’t had time to ask whether he was safe.” He looked at her hoping that helped the situation. “I didn’t want to go with a stranger.” He knew that was bad.