"Oh dear," the Doctor said when Loose Leaf's face made a social call on an important-looking bit of the TARDIS. He swept to her side and held her upright. "Careful, please! At this rate, you're going to break something terribly important. _{^{If you haven't already.}}"

Loose Leaf just sort of let her head drop off the whatever-it-was and let it hang for a few moments. After a lengthy mental pep talk and a couple of slaps, she was back to as normal as a normal Loose Leaf could be. She slicked back her hair, but it just fell back over her face again. "So, this wall you want me to paint, where is it? Maybe we can have a little tour and tea? Somethang like that?"
Loose Leaf looked up at the Doctor hopefully.

Mostly for the tea.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:36, Sun 05 Aug 2012.

"Sure, how about the tea first? You look kind of out of sorts, Loose Leaf. I didn't think the TARDIS was that amazing..." the Doctor said, smiling hopefully. His ear swiveled toward the kitchen area, but the whistle of the teakettle could not be heard from within yet.

Loose Leaf stood up and waited for the Doctor to lead her towards the tea she so very much craved. She peered up at his ear and raised a brow. She decided she just wasn't going to care anymore...
This message was last edited by the player at 04:07, Sun 05 Aug 2012.

"Er, right, then. Shall we wait in the kitchen?" the Doctor asked awkwardly. You'd think, after having so many companions along on his adventures, that showing them around would be easy. But it really wasn't.

He led her upstairs and through the metal doorway, to a spacious kitchen wherein a teakettle was just starting to hiss on an electric stove and a teapot was set out on a tray with a pair of cups on the counter. "I'm a bit short on pastries, I'm afraid," he apologized.

"Nah, it's cool. It's fine, really. Man it really IS spacious in here..." Loose Leaf started, taking a seat. She started to play with her pony tail and looked up at the Doctor. There was no conversation, so she reached back to her pack to pull out her sketch book. She noticed her umbrella saddle was still on. Blushing, she took it off and closed the umbrella.  "So, tell me about this wall you want me to paint. Anything specific? I had this one sketch, but maybe once we take a look at it, I can lay it out better... the sketch." What tea is this?

"Well, I was thinking that the hallway between the dormitory and the pool looked a bit sparse," the Doctor supposed. "What tea? Uh, black, I think. If you know when to look, you can find a wonderful tea in Canterlot. Here, let me just..."

The kettle was just this side of whistling, and the Doctor decided that enough waiting was enough. With a mitt so he didn't burn his mouth, he deftly poured the scalding water into the teapot and returned the kettle to the stove, where the red lights in the stovetop had already switched off. Spitting the protective garment out, he returned his attention to his houseguest. "I have images of several people I think I might like done up in paint, unless you come up with a better idea."

"Hey, you're the customer, you choose. But yeah, I do have a habit of going crazy with inspiration... heh heh," she smiled shyly. She started poking her hoof at the handle of the tea kettle until it was cool enough to grab with her mouth. She poured herself a cup. Everything already felt better. "So when do you want me to start?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:40, Sun 05 Aug 2012.

"Nonsense, you're the professional, you know your craft better than I do," the Doctor countered, pouring himself a cup of tea from the pot, where the leaves had been at work seeping their deliciousness into the hot water. "And when do you want to start? Do you need some kind of up-front compensation?" he asked, sipping the technically thousand-year-old brew.

"Well, what I'll need is the paint. Supplies aren't cheap. I'll need to do sketches and then choose color shemes, all that before I actually buy the paint. That's sort of why I wanted money cause I have to buy all that..." Loose Leaf sipped at her tea. It was quite good, dark with a familier herbish taste. She wished scilently that she had some cream for it. Though she usually took her coffee black - a habit from chugging pots of it in art school - black teas always seemed to tast a bit better when lightened by dairy. "Unless you want to supply me with it all some how. That would be a nice star-off compensation. Can't really start working until then."

She winced a little as she spoke. Already the Doctor had told her he didn't really have much bits to spare, and would pay her in adventures. Now that she was in the TARDIS, Loose Leaf was pretty trusting of his claim of space adventures or whatever he had up his sleeve. Still, she needed that paint. If she was going to cover a wall, she would need enough stuff to paint it with. It wasn't like she caried it around on her. Loose Leaf never thought she would do murals, so the notion of having suh supplies never dawned on her. And there was no way she was going to spend a bunch of her own money on a commision she was 't even getting paid for. Especially when all she had left was pretty much "the funds." No way she was taking anything out of there. Even if she had to starve.

There was, however, still the issue at hand: no paint, no mural.

"I know you promised wild, scienc-y escapades," Loose Leaf said, waving her hoofs to show emphasis. "But if I don't have supplies, I can't paint you a mural. At least not one that will actually cover a wall."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:16, Sun 05 Aug 2012.

"Hmm..." the Doctor pondered this most recent hiccup in the plan. "There might be some paint in storage, down on level B. I don't know what kind of shape it'd be in, though. Are you feeling up for that tour?" he asked.

"Sure thing. I think my wits are back in place, though I would like to take the tea around with me," Loose Leaf said, sipping. "Let's see what you've got Doc. if not, we'll see if we can work something out."

Figuring there wasn't much else that could shock her - considering some how this stallion was living in a syfy book - and got up, ready for the Doctor to lead the way.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:45, Mon 06 Aug 2012.

"Okay, then," the Doctor got to his feet and started the tour.

The doorway across from the one they'd first entered the TARDIS led to a spiral staircase. Branching off from it every half-story or so was an hallway or room, and the Doctor showed off all of them. There was a dormitory, with housing for a dozen or more; a deep, walk-in wardrobe with more outfits inside than in the Carousel Boutique; Three or four floors of library; two swimming pools; and darker metal corridors that led off into labyrinths of machinery. All in all, the interior of the TARDIS was about twice the volume of the castle in Canterlot.

"Well, I'm lost," the Doctor admitted, about an hour into the tour. "I've not much need to come down this far, see, and... um... Was it 'two lefts and a right after the pool and around the library,' or..."

Loose Leaf was barely able to drink her tea because her mouth was hanging open as the Doctor gave the tour. Everything was so amazing that skepticism started to bubble up. How was it a stallion that lived this large couldn't afford to pay her, or at least buy her paint. Not that she was going to complain about his promise of adventure, but still, she was curious to how he had aquired everything. She didn't even mind that they were lost at this point. She hadn't been paying much attention to anything the Doctor was saying. Now that he had lost his place, Loose Leaf had an opening to ask questions.

"So where did you get all this stuff? I mean, you say you don't have any money, so how did you acquire a place this... amazing? And are you giving boarding away? Maybe? Hopefully? At all?"

"I borrowed it," the Doctor said, glad for the interruption. If Loose Leaf wasn't worried that they were lost, then neither would he be. "And yes, I suppose I could be able to offer room and board and all that. Though the last pony I offered it to didn't take me up on it. Pity."

"Well, I figured I might as well ask. Would be a lot less expensive than paying rent on a cottage, as small as it is. Soon I'll probably have to get a roomate to help pay rent. But I don't want to crowd your life style. Also... I'm not really sure what it is that you do here. You might not like it if I bring customers in and out of here. So maybe it's not the best option right now. Still, it's good to know that there is a place I may be able to fall back on if everything goes belly up," Loose Leaf started. "What exactly IS it that you do Doctor?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:49, Tue 07 Aug 2012.

"I run," the Doctor answered wistfully. "And solve problems. Until recently, they were usually those 'the world is in peril' kind of problems. Or the galaxy. The Universe, a couple of times." Returning from his momentary reverie, he said, "Though I like to visit Earth when I can. You've got the most amazing people here! And pies. The tea is quite nice, too."

With a sigh, the Doctor turned serious. The twinkle in his blue eyes faded to the gloss of regret, and it struck Loose Leaf how very old the Earth pony looked. "Mostly what I do is try. I try every day to even begin to make up for my mistakes. I make a little headway, here and there. And I can't do it alone. Tried that, made things worse."

The usual pep on Loose Leaf's face started to dwindle a bit. As the Doctor spoke, she sensed a tint of regret in his voice. She nodded a bit. Everypony was responsible for their own mistakes and their lives were full of choices they weren't entirely proud of. Loose Leaf could vouch for that. As for the whole "saving the universe" thing, she just sort of decided that it was better off not questioning or thinking too hard about it.

"Hey, you know, in the end that is all we can do. Just try," Loose Leaf said, putting her hoof on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. It didn't really answer her question, but she felt she had gotten a rare glimpse of the Doctor, and knew now much more then she had asked.

As he continued however, something didn't sit right with what he was saying.

"What's a people?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:46, Tue 07 Aug 2012.

Loose Leaf's question drew the Doctor toward the present, and he nodded, the adventurous twinkle having returned to his eye. "People? Oh, it's a word the Time Lords came up with for creatures with minds like ponies, but not necessarily the same body type. It wouldn't be fair to call gryphons, kirins, minotaurs, and dragons 'ponies,' now, would it?" he explained. "Ponies are also a people. Or possibly four, depending on how you want to define it," he added.

"Huh, guess I never really thought about it..." Loose Leaf said as they continued to walk. Truthfully, she wasn't really sure if she hadn't. Philosophy had been one of her stronger subjects. One tended to ask such questions as an artist, and tried to put it into something else. Although it was true that she did commissions for other ponies that were as basic as portraits and what-nots, most of Loose Leaf's art were illustrations born from her own venting. They were more abstract, and very personal. In reality, those were the ones she wanted to work on; what she wanted to fill art exhibits with. She smiled a bit at her frequent daydream as it crept back into her conscious mind as the two wondered. She wondered if the Doctor would frown upon her work if she was to get too emotional about it.

It was a very common occurrence for Loose Leaf to become too immersed with her art. It wasn't a bad thing, in fact, it was probably what kept her sane. Pouring her emotion into an art form rather then at herself or at other ponies was much healthier. Still, she had the habit of getting ahead of herself, just as she had embarrassingly done at Rarity's. She hadn't said anything, but she hoped that reeling the beauty in with a flattering pin-up would leave her open to modeling for other, deeper works. Now she couldn't help but wonder if this was the same reason she was so accepting of all the oddities this particular project was throwing at her: a part of her desired, nay, needed to make this project a reality. Never before had she worked on a piece of such size, and considering the kind of interesting pony the Doctor was, her mind was already buzzing with ideas that were straying from his original order. But before then, they had to find these paints.

Loose Leaf searched around in the hallway, scanning windows and doorways, peeking into each for a stair case or anything. At last, a small hallway with a door at the end peeked out from her peripheral vision.

"What about in there? Could that be it?" The place they were searching for sounded mysterious, and so was this door. The notion of them being the same where not so far-fetched.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:37, Tue 07 Aug 2012.

"I don't know!" the Doctor said excitedly, pushing the hoof-sized button next to the door. "Let's find out!" It whiish-ed open, and a second later flourescent light lit up the area beyond.

Boxes, boxes everywhere. It was like a junk yard of... junk. Only the finest quality junk. Loose Leaf wasn't sure if she recognized over half of it.

Okay, actually she really didn't recognize any of it at all.

"What the hey is this place?" she asked, her curiousity getting the best of her and already venturing inside. The room was about the size of a small warehouse, with metallic, wooden, and other substanced goodies hanging about next to boxes that were labeled in languages she couldn't read."Wow, when you said you had a collection, you REALLY meant you had a collection. It's no wonder you don't know what half of the stuff in your own home is."

"Oh, it's that room," the Doctor said. "That room's rubbish." He paused, however, as if re-thinking that assessment. "Though there's more likely to be paint in here than anyplace else. Except a paint shop, obviously." He trotted down the warehouse's central aisle, casually rolling his head this way and that like a shopper who knew where he was going but wanted to keep an eye out for bargains anyway.

"So there MAY be paint in here?" Loose Leaf's eyes narrowed. "Challenge accepted..."

With that, she followed after the Doctor closely, keeping her eyes peeled for anything remotely similer to art supplies. "Soooo... Is ALL of this stuff free? I mean, you know, if there are things OTHER then paint that are... uh... not being used that I may happen to find.."

"Hmm," the Doctor considered. "Well... you should probably stay away from the ones you couldn't read when the door opened." Looking again, Loose Leaf realized that she could read all of the labels now. How did that happen? "And I'd rather you checked with me first, in general. Some of this stuff hasn't been invented yet. Or hasn't will have been. Or is dangerous. Do make sure to read the warning labels."

Minutes crawled by, as is their wont. "Aha!" the Doctor exclaimed. Suddenly, a rod-shaped tool with a glowing green tip was buzzing in his grasp. "Zsh kud be jus wuh we nee," he said happily around the device. The crate that was bathed in the green glow of the sonic screwdriver popped open and promptly fell over, revealing a pile of thick, softcover textbooks. Loose Leaf caught a glimpse of one of the covers. Operator's Manual: TT Type 40, Mark 3 TARDIS. Volume 9 of 31: Time Stream Navigation.