[And to her credit, she does wait. Very patiently, standing around their room in just her underthings. She's busy styling and admiring her hair in the mirror hanging on the wall, which can take her upwards of an hour if she's not careful.]
[ The Doctor does his best not to waste any time, effort made and timepiece kept and everything, and yes, he does stop for the briefest moment to say 'hello' to the horses parked in front of the saloon, getting absolutely no reaction from them, and heads into the establishment. He passes Tommy Jellison, the pianist, and the barkeeper Emzi Hanegan too, and makes a sort of (flappy) beeline to the room he and Clara are sharing together. ]
Hello, Clara, I'm back —
[ He starts, rapping his knuckles against the door once or twice, just to be polite before he pushes the door open and lets himself through. ]
Oh. [ And immediately any sense of the Doctor's coolness flies right past the thin, single-pane glass windows. He lifts his hands up like he's about to gesture back towards the door, even though his boots are quite rooted to the floorboards. ] I didn't think you'd be — should I —
[ He's about to ask whether he should leave her to get dressed, even if that would be against the whole ... corsetting bit, wouldn't it? Ah. Didn't think this one through, exactly, then. ]
[She spins about, face lit up with a smile upon hearing him there. But then it dawns on her that he's standing there, looking at her. And she's certainly not completely naked, but she's more exposed right now than she ever has been in front of him before.
No, she definitely didn't think this one through.
But she can't turn back now. Brave heart, Clara. Move forward, one foot in front of the other. Her smile doesn't fade in warmth but does become a little self-conscious as she gives a light shake of her head.]
No. You're fine, Doctor.
[She can insist on that much at least. Even if she is becoming very aware of the fact her heart is already beating faster and this is definitely a situation that can become very not okay in a blink of an eye.]
The corset's on the bed. If you don't mind grabbing it?
[ The Doctor swallows, feeling slowly returning to his legs, finally presenting the opportunity to — you know, move. And move he does, across the room and towards the bed in question, to retrieve the corset. ]
It's certainly a bit more complicated than I anticipated.
[ What with all the strips of bone and the lacing and all the little button holes. And the Doctor is a clever man, make no mistake, but he suddenly feels as though he's a little out of his element. Not that he won't give this the ol' college try, as they say. Aside from clever, the Doctor is also impossibly stubborn, and his ego added to the mix means he simply won't admit defeat.
He clears his throat as he comes back over to where Clara is, gesturing towards the standing mirror. ]
[She rapid fires off the question about whether everything is under control the second he's finished speaking. It's not that she doesn't trust him to do this, because she wouldn't have insisted on him doing it if she didn't. It's that she is acutely aware of how close to toeing the line this is. If she was showing any little bit more, the line he had drawn in the sand would be completely blurred.
And maybe on some levels, that line has already started to be blurred. The kiss in their shared dreams and that kiss beneath the mistletoe...
Well.
She already has goosebumps, and they're only standing beside one another in front of the mirror. So yeah, maybe a little tease will help make her feel more in control of the situation.]
[ Please. As though the Doctor would ever admit to the situation being anything other than fully under control. Even when he's got the corset in both hands, flipping it one way or another before he finally determines the 'right' side, he's still very sure that everything is perfectly under control. ]
So I think that this side here — well, it'll have to go around you, eh? Like — [ Oh, he'll just have to step up and do it, right? He moves to stand behind her, guiding one end of the corset over her chest so by the end of it, he's got his arms around her. And it's completely normal, this level of closeness; they've ... been close before, after all, hugs and linked hands are an almost daily occurrence, this really shouldn't be strange.
He swallows. ] There. If you could hold that in place, I could figure out the back bit.
[she starts by biting the inside of her cheek, to give her something to focus on other than the fact that he's so close. Her breath catches when his arms go around her, and she holds it until he asks her to keep hold of the corset so it stays in place. There's a soft, shaky exhale as she obliges, hands firmly pressing against the corset.]
If you can tightly tie a shoe, you can lace a corset. At least, that's what Jane always has told me.
[The words are a distraction for the both of them, idle chatter meant to try and break through the mounting tension. It's a bit of a funny thing to her, that they can hug and hold hands and stay pressed close every day. But this definitely has a different feeling to it than all that. And it's not unwelcome at all.]
Well, lucky for you I've tied many a shoe in my day then. Sometimes two sets at once, and don't ask me how I managed that, I can barely remember it myself except that it was something about a competition — but it was a very clear triumph.
[ Very, you know, under control. Because that is apparently the theme that they're going with today, and the Doctor is going to concentrate on that to keep from thinking of other things and getting all into his own head about it (things that are not quite unlike what Clara might be considering, herself), which only leads to flapping his hands and rushing out of the room in a flurry of limbs.
The chatter helps, though.
While she secures the front part of her corset, the Doctor is occupied with the lacing itself from behind. And his hands are perhaps surprisingly-unsurprisingly deft with the ribbon and the series of eyelets, each slide of the lead finding its appropriate place until a criss-crossing pattern starts to fasten the whole piece together. ]
Ah. [ Try as he might however, looking at the whole thing in a practical manner isn't as effective as it usually is. He's close enough that he can smell the clean scent of her shampoo, and feel the heat radiating off of her bare skin — surely just a side effect of the blistering temperatures here, though. Yes. Anyway — ] How does it feel? All right? Too tight? Not tight enough?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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oh well
why didn't you say so?
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but now I see that I need to just be direct
we're currently married so it's required you get me into this corset
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you know i don't think i've gotten to that bit in the manual but if it's something a husband does, well who am i to refuse?
now
what do you do with a corset?
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and then certain assets are put on prominent display for the duration of my shifts at the saloon
I'm going by the name Oswin Osgood there, by the way. In case you ever decide to pop in.
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[ cue: blank stare ]
right noted
is this just at the saloon or is this a name you'll be using everywhere else?
i was going to remain the doctor
but then 'john smith' is always a classic
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A certain someone spoke up and said their name was the Doctor and now I'm Mrs. Doctor.
Mrs. Clara Doctor to be exact
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[ eh-hem ... ]
it's got a rather nice ring to it, eh?
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oh i could definitely get used to hearing it
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mrs doctor
hmm yes
ah
yes
right, corset! so! have you got one? do we need to get you one?
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two can play at this game]
are you offering to take me out for Scorpion Bend's idea of lingerie shopping?
down boy
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what?
no!
i mean not like that
shut up
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make me
also, relax. I already have one. Corset i mean. all you have to do is show up and have good hands
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for the corsetting and the
anyway
where did you get one?
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just as long as it winds up pushing my assets up high enough to get in the good graces of whoever comes into the saloon with information
[she's doing this on purpose]
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that it will
right
[ she's an absolute demon ]
when do you need me to show up with my good hands exactly? because i can absolutely make arrangements to show up with good hands
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you're not busy are you?
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but i'm on my way back to saloon now
shouldn't be more than a few minutes
[ Give or take the Doctor's penchant to be distracted a little ... but it's important! So. He'll make an effort. ]
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[And to her credit, she does wait. Very patiently, standing around their room in just her underthings. She's busy styling and admiring her hair in the mirror hanging on the wall, which can take her upwards of an hour if she's not careful.]
action ;
Hello, Clara, I'm back —
[ He starts, rapping his knuckles against the door once or twice, just to be polite before he pushes the door open and lets himself through. ]
Oh. [ And immediately any sense of the Doctor's coolness flies right past the thin, single-pane glass windows. He lifts his hands up like he's about to gesture back towards the door, even though his boots are quite rooted to the floorboards. ] I didn't think you'd be — should I —
[ He's about to ask whether he should leave her to get dressed, even if that would be against the whole ... corsetting bit, wouldn't it? Ah. Didn't think this one through, exactly, then. ]
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No, she definitely didn't think this one through.
But she can't turn back now. Brave heart, Clara. Move forward, one foot in front of the other. Her smile doesn't fade in warmth but does become a little self-conscious as she gives a light shake of her head.]
No. You're fine, Doctor.
[She can insist on that much at least. Even if she is becoming very aware of the fact her heart is already beating faster and this is definitely a situation that can become very not okay in a blink of an eye.]
The corset's on the bed. If you don't mind grabbing it?
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It's certainly a bit more complicated than I anticipated.
[ What with all the strips of bone and the lacing and all the little button holes. And the Doctor is a clever man, make no mistake, but he suddenly feels as though he's a little out of his element. Not that he won't give this the ol' college try, as they say. Aside from clever, the Doctor is also impossibly stubborn, and his ego added to the mix means he simply won't admit defeat.
He clears his throat as he comes back over to where Clara is, gesturing towards the standing mirror. ]
Right. It's all under control, eh?
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[She rapid fires off the question about whether everything is under control the second he's finished speaking. It's not that she doesn't trust him to do this, because she wouldn't have insisted on him doing it if she didn't. It's that she is acutely aware of how close to toeing the line this is. If she was showing any little bit more, the line he had drawn in the sand would be completely blurred.
And maybe on some levels, that line has already started to be blurred. The kiss in their shared dreams and that kiss beneath the mistletoe...
Well.
She already has goosebumps, and they're only standing beside one another in front of the mirror. So yeah, maybe a little tease will help make her feel more in control of the situation.]
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[ Please. As though the Doctor would ever admit to the situation being anything other than fully under control. Even when he's got the corset in both hands, flipping it one way or another before he finally determines the 'right' side, he's still very sure that everything is perfectly under control. ]
So I think that this side here — well, it'll have to go around you, eh? Like — [ Oh, he'll just have to step up and do it, right? He moves to stand behind her, guiding one end of the corset over her chest so by the end of it, he's got his arms around her. And it's completely normal, this level of closeness; they've ... been close before, after all, hugs and linked hands are an almost daily occurrence, this really shouldn't be strange.
He swallows. ] There. If you could hold that in place, I could figure out the back bit.
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If you can tightly tie a shoe, you can lace a corset. At least, that's what Jane always has told me.
[The words are a distraction for the both of them, idle chatter meant to try and break through the mounting tension. It's a bit of a funny thing to her, that they can hug and hold hands and stay pressed close every day. But this definitely has a different feeling to it than all that. And it's not unwelcome at all.]
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[ Very, you know, under control. Because that is apparently the theme that they're going with today, and the Doctor is going to concentrate on that to keep from thinking of other things and getting all into his own head about it (things that are not quite unlike what Clara might be considering, herself), which only leads to flapping his hands and rushing out of the room in a flurry of limbs.
The chatter helps, though.
While she secures the front part of her corset, the Doctor is occupied with the lacing itself from behind. And his hands are perhaps surprisingly-unsurprisingly deft with the ribbon and the series of eyelets, each slide of the lead finding its appropriate place until a criss-crossing pattern starts to fasten the whole piece together. ]
Ah. [ Try as he might however, looking at the whole thing in a practical manner isn't as effective as it usually is. He's close enough that he can smell the clean scent of her shampoo, and feel the heat radiating off of her bare skin — surely just a side effect of the blistering temperatures here, though. Yes. Anyway — ] How does it feel? All right? Too tight? Not tight enough?
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