Who Will Make the Coffee Part 2: Polyamory
The Doctor marched in a huff to a more out-of-the-way wardrobe room and spent a good hour and a half rifling through it. At last, he stood before a long oval mirror, fussing with the gathers of a long, elegant dress, tugging the seams into position, the better to show off Polly's gentle curves. Even his usual distaste for anything close around his neck was cast aside, having found an irresistibly stylish silver necklace on the floor in the corner. Without so much as a modicum of embarrassment, he arranged his new bosom, wobbling gloriously behind a plunging brocade neckline, turned and craned to look over his shoulder at the graceful planes of Polly's back. Yes. It was a lovely dress.
It was rather fun, really. He enjoyed a bit of drag. He smiled, remembering Polly's amused delight with his masquerade as an old woman, and the clean smell of fresh hay as he napped, hiding from English soldiers, not so very long ago. And this body was a nice one, and young, opening the door to a whole new range of play. Given the circumstances required for a cross-gender regeneration, this was likely to be his only chance.
He fingered his long, blond hair, idly wondering how the gene echo had managed to copy Polly's haircut onto him along with her form. A further few minutes were spent attempting to do something with it. He'd known Time Ladies with the most amazing styles, but quickly found himself lacking the skills to copy any of them. Sighing with mild regret, jaw jutting to one side, he simply let it fall, combed it smooth and called it a success.
A modest application of eyeliner supplied the missing Polly-ness in his reflection, after one or two false starts and one downright uncomfortable jab in the eye. It took him a moment more to work out the color theory behind a good choice of lipstick, never having really paid attention to what Polly actually wore. He gave another twirl in front of the mirror, nodded in satisfaction, and headed for the Console Room. He was eager to wait for Polly to show up there, so he could win the fashion battle he'd decided they were having.
On the way there, Ben literally jumped out in front of him and hauled him into a room on the other side of the corridor, shutting the door behind them.
	"Hello, Ben," the Doctor said curiously.
	"Quiet," Ben insisted. "The Doctor and Jamie keep chasing me. They won't leave me alone! What's going on? Are you in on it?"
	"But Ben, why should I be in on it?" he asked sensibly, matching the lilt of Polly's speech perfectly.
	"Well, for a start, the Doctor's wearing bloody velvet and lace, and I can't think that was his idea."
	"Oh. Yes, that's not exactly him, is it?"
	"No." Ben's eyes finally flicked over the Doctor, his brows twisting slightly. "That ain't exactly you either, Duchess, but I won't complain. Blimey."
	"Ben." The Doctor coughed, eyes flicking to the closed door. He came to a quick decision. "I'm, er... Not Polly. I'm the Doctor."
	"I knew it," Ben concluded slyly, pointing an accusing finger. "You're all playing some trick on me."
	The Doctor's brows rose in innocence. "Oh no, no... really, Ben. It's me, it's the Doctor. Here," he insisted, stepping right up into the young sailor's personal space and kissing him gently, firmly. Embers of emotion glowed with a pleasant warmth as Ben's mouth moved with his.
	But then Ben stepped back, scowling with a subdued mixture of anger and confusion. "'Ere," the young man said darkly. "That ain't proper, either way."
	The Doctor was crestfallen. "I was only trying to convince you."
	"If you are the Doctor, wearing Polly's skin ain't any excuse for breaking your promise. And if you're Polly this isn't funny at all."
	"I promised I wouldn't impinge on your relationship with Polly. I never said anything about-"
	"What do you think that was, then?" Ben interrupted.
	"I suppose I didn't think enough," the Doctor said, his voice suddenly tired and regretful. He sank onto a bench near the door.
	"Yeah. Well, now I can believe you're the Doctor, right enough."
	The Doctor stared at his hands.
	Ben sighed and squared his shoulders, sitting beside his friend. "Oh, don't fret it, Doctor. I'm not really angry, it's just so bloody bizarre."
	"I understand."
	"And you've got Jamie now. You wouldn't want to break his little heart, would you?"
	"No," he agreed somberly. "But I still feel for you, Ben. I can't help it." And he couldn't explain how true that was. How the most casual of his people's bonds lasted decades.
	"It's all right, feeling that way," Ben responded gently, his expression softening. "Just so you know you've got other people's feelings you got to take into account." He reached out and combed his fingers through the Doctor's blond hair, faltered and pulled back. "Sorry," he said, embarrassed. "It feels like I'm talking to Polly. What the hell happened to you anyway?"
	"Well-"
	The door crashed open. Polly stood in the doorway, looking at the two of them with the Doctor's huge, scandalised eyes. "Oh no!" she cried, "Doctor, you didn't!"
	The Doctor looked between them in panic, only then noticing the subtle but clear traces of color his kiss had left on Ben's lips. "It wasn't Ben's fault!" he improvised, looking defeated.
	"So you dressed me up as an Edwardian tart and hunted him down, is that it?"
	"I only did it to show you up," the Doctor snapped. "The dress, I mean," he clarified, at Polly's dawning look of outrage. "As I understand it, it's you and Jamie who have been busy hunting Ben."
	"Well, that's true enough," Polly began, her tone conciliatory.
	"And as for any small misunderstandings," the Doctor continued over her, "you’ve still got Jamie to answer for."
	Polly's own eyes twinkled at her. She narrowed the Doctor's in outrage. "Jamie wanted that kept secret," she protested, only to hear Ben's laughter. She spun between them, agog.
	"Poor lad," Ben was chuckling, beaming with amusement, "Oh, 'e must've been mortified!"
	"Ben knows about Jamie and me, Polly," the Doctor assured her. "We've been allowing Jamie the assumption that he doesn't. It's only polite."
	"Doctor, look. To you this may be a lark, but to me it's quite frustrating! I've never changed bodies before," Polly defended herself. "And I don't know if it's fair to keep that from Jamie, either."
	"So you feel all facts should be out in the open?" the Doctor asked.
	"Yes, of course," Polly answered.
	"Doctor, no!" Ben shouted, but it didn't drown out the Doctor's casually smug words.
	"Ben and I used to be intimate ourselves."
	Polly gave him a disappointed scowl. "I don't know that it was fair to leave Ben out of that decision, Doctor."
	"Oh, he was included, believe m- oh. Oh. No. I don't suppose it was." He made a broad gesture of regret and clapped his hands together. "Oh well. The important thing is, what to do now the cats are out of their bags."
	"What exactly do you mean by ‘do’?" Ben wanted to know.
	"Well, for example, each one of us has kissed the other two once today. Perhaps a bit more of that."
	Ben boggled angrily. "You mean you and Polly...?"
	"Yes, I'm sorry, Ben," Polly confessed. "It's my fault. I kissed him. I didn't mean to." She sighed and frowned. "All right, I meant to. But I didn't mean to hurt you."
	Ben looked from one to the other and back, and then leaned with a hard thump on the wall. "I can't 'andle this conversation with you two switched 'round," he complained.
	"Does it matter? We all of us find the others attractive," the Doctor continued hopefully.
	"You've got Jamie to worry about, Doctor," Ben reminded him forcefully.
	"And don't we all like Jamie?"
	Polly's posture went a little straighter. "He's a sweet boy, but he's just too young."
	"Oh... What must you think of me?" the Doctor sulked.
	"I'm only speaking for myself," Polly explained.
	"I'm nae too young," Jamie said crisply from the doorway. He stepped inside, Polly taking an instinctive step back. "I'm a man," he continued earnestly. "And I don't need protecting from anything," he said pointedly to Ben and the Doctor. "Why didnae you tell me you used to be with the Doctor, Ben? Was it me broke you up or was it Polly?"
	"Neither," Ben shot back. "It was me, wantin' a bit of change."
	"Oh dear, this doesn't seem to be leading anywhere romantic," the Doctor complained, but nobody paid attention.
	"That's a cruel thing to say, Ben," Polly told him, her throat tight.
	"Yeah, well I was painted into a cruel corner," he answered back tiredly.
	Polly clutched her jacket to herself, whirled and rushed out into the corridor, ignoring their calls. Her loud steps echoed quickly away.
	Ben stood to follow, muttering an apology to the other two. The Doctor held out a hand to stay him.
	"It's all right," the Doctor assured him. "It's this swap, it's got all our nerves on edge." He patted the young man's shoulder. "I'll speak to Polly. I think you and Jamie might have one or two things to discuss, yourselves."
And with that, he left, leaving Jamie and Ben staring at one another with distrust.
Ben was the bigger man. "Oh, there's no point to this," he sighed, standing. "Jamie, you're right, I shouldn't have kept anything from you. I just... Look, I didn't want you to feel like you broke me and the Doctor up, that's all."
"But I did, Ben," Jamie pleaded.
"No, you didn't," Ben said firmly. "Look mate, the way it was before you showed up, I was bein' pulled both ways. All you did was make the decision easy." He frowned, eyes flicking down. "I didn't want to hurt no one. And he liked you, I could tell."
"But you had him before me," the boy insisted, "and I never even knew."
"Not sore, are you? He's older than he looks, you know, I reckon he's had a few more friends to bed than just you and me." Jamie looked so bleak at the thought Ben had to laugh.
The young Scot's eyes flashed. "It's no funny," he said, offended.
"No, no," Ben answered, unable to keep the smile out of his voice. "But you've got nothing to cry about, mate. He loves you, does the Doctor. Not half more than he ever did me. You're special to him, Jamie, real special. I know it."
"You say that with color from his mouth on you," Jamie accused.
But Ben just shook his head. "He's like that. Wants everyone he likes, and can't see any point in holding back if he can get away with it. Figures there's plenty of him to go around."
Jamie was silent for a long time. "Do you think I should share him?" he asked with a sad frankness.
The sailor's smile hung thoughtfully on his face, his eyes sympathetic. "There's too many should's in romance, mate. And we're far and away from anyone to judge. I think you should do what feels right."
"I love him, Ben," Jamie said, as if to himself.
"I knew that much just by looking," Ben smiled.
Jamie's eyes flicked up to meet his. "He wants more than me," he said simply. "But... it'd be a lie to say I don't want more than him, too."
Ben could only stare back. "Er..." He swallowed, grinned. "Not like the Doctor, though, eh? Not that much."
"No, not that much. Just this much," Jamie said softly, and raised a hand to stroke Ben's neck with gentle confidence. His eyes lingered on the pulse beating beside his thumb, before rising again to the sailor's face. "I miss you, Ben. The way we were. When I was so lost here, and no more than another face to the Doctor."
"Jamie," Ben breathed, caught off guard.
The boy's hand moved, helping to pull him close for a soft, breathy, scorching, shaking kiss. Tension plucked at their every tendon. Hot breaths blasted between them. Ben's palms settled on Jamie's shoulders, squeezed, pushed the boy gently away.
Jamie's eyes stared up at him, cautious, curious. "Ben?"
"I've got Polly to think of," Ben explained.
"But Polly-"
"I don't care what she's done. I'm not going to go risking any damage to that bird's heart." He sniffed, squaring his shoulders again. "She means a lot to me." Ben saw Jamie's vague disappointment and continued with a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Look, mate, just cause the Doctor thinks one way don't mean we all got to take his lead. You don't have to spread yourself around just to keep it fair. Just like I don't 'ave to get something on the side just cause Polly might. Love ain't balancing scales."
Jamie just went on looking morose. "Forget it," he said bitterly.
"Can't do that, me old china," Ben grinned, hugging Jamie's shoulder butchly. "Trousers are gonna be tight for a few minutes yet."
"Och," Jamie moaned. "Just tell me, is it all right or not?"
"It's all right, mate," Ben said, dropping his jaunty tone for mere sincerity. "It's all right."