Title: Precious and Few
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Giacomo Casanova
Fandom: Doctor Who/Casanova (Masterpiece Theater)
Rating: PG-13
Table: 100_tales
Prompt: 38, Minutes
Author's Note: The character of Giacomo Casanova is based on the BBC version of Casanova starring David Tennant. Inspired by the song "Precious And Few", by the band Climax.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Giacomo Casanova. Please do not sue.

***

"I wish we had more time together," Giac sighed as he ran gentle fingers through the Doctor's hair. The two men were lying in bed on the Tardis, their lovemaking over, their bodies sated and tired. The Time Lord sighed, closing his eyes as he spoke.

"I want more time with you, Giac. But you're a figure from Earth's history -- and it can't be known that I'm a part of your life. It would change history, and that's something that can't be allowed to happen," he murmured, wishing that his words weren't true.

"I know," Giac sighed, his tone regretful. "You've told me that many times, love. And I believe you. But that doesn't stop me from wishing that you and I could be together more. Still, having stolen moments with you is better than having none at all."

"That's true." The Doctor's face brightened at the thought; Giac's words certianly expressed how he felt. He would give so much to have more time with the man he loved, but even a little time was better than nothing at all. Just being here with Giac felt like a gift.

"There's a song from the future that I think fits us," he said, starting to sing softly. "'And if I can't hold you in my arms, it just wouldn't be fair, for precious and few are the moments we took and shared.'" His voice rang out in the still air, even though he tried to keep it quiet.

Giac smiled, stroking his hair again and pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head. "Those words ring very true, my Doctor. The moments we have are precious. And I shouldn't spoil them by being sad, or thinking of the times when we aren't together."

The Doctor fully agreed with his lover; they shouldn't focus on their time apart when they were together. But it was hard not to do, when he knew that the moments he would have with Giac were few, and the time that they would spend apart seemed like forever.

Still, having some time with the man he loved was better than never having any at all. And he knew that even when they couldn't see each other again, when Giac would have to be just a sweet memory for him, he would treasure the memories of these times together even more.

Their time was precious, and he wanted to remember every moment of it. He wanted to remember how Giac touched him, kissed him, made love to him. He wanted to remember every nuance of feeling, every emotion that he held in his hearts and soul.

"The moments we share might be few, but that doesn't make them any less meaningful," he said softly, tilting his head back to look up at Giac. He raised a hand to gently stroke his fingertips down the other man's cheek, smiling as he did so.

"Every moment I spend with you has much more meaning for me than hours spent with anyone else," Giac told him, his voice barely a whisper. "I would be lying if I said that I didn't care for everyone I am with, my love. But I don't love any others the way that I love you."

"I would give anything in the world to have even more time with you, sweetheart," the Doctor said, the love that he felt for Giac evident in his voice. "But we'll have to make do with the time that we have. It's never enough, but we can make it special."

He had to blink back tears as he said the words; they were more true than he wanted to admit. There was never enough time with Giac, even when he first stepped out of the Tardis for a few stolen days with the man he loved. They always had to part far too soon.

And time was flying by -- at least for his lover. Every time he saw Giac, the timeline of his lover's life had moved further along. Even if it was only a few days, the minutes were still speeding by; those minutes turned into hours, days, weeks, even years all too quickly.

The minutes they had together sped by, so fast that sometimes they almost seemed like a blur that he couldn't keep up with. It didn't seem fair that he had so little time to be with the man he loved, while every other person in the world seemed to have time for whoever they chose to be with.

The moments that he and Giac shared were indeed precious and few -- and to his chagrin, he didn't know of any way to ensure that they could have more of those moments. He couldn't do more than he did now, no more than trying to be with Giac as often as possible.

Was there any way that he could stop those minutes, those hours and days, from rushing by them? The Doctor didn't think so; he'd tried to come up with any way possible to have Giac be with him on a regular basis, but it just wasn't possible.

If only the man he loved wasn't a figure in history! There had been times when he had cursed that fact, but he'd immediately felt contrition for doing so. If Giac was a different person, then it was very likely that the two of them would never have met and fallen in love.

"Don't think too much about the time we must spend apart, caro mio," Giac said softly, his voice breaking into the Time Lord's thoughts. "Think about the time that we have here and now, and the next time we will meet. Those are happy thoughts."

The Doctor couldn't hold back a smile that spread across his features; Giac somehow always knew the right thing to say, the very words that would lift his spirits and make his thoughts turn to happier times. It was no wonder that so many people fell for him.

They might have only minutes together, stolen moments in the endless stream of time -- but they could make those moments count. They could savor those minutes, those hours, to their fullest, and hold that time in their memories for the rest of their lives.

They both wanted more; they probably always would. But if this was all they could have, it was better than not having known each other at all. What was that saying? the Doctor asked himself. "Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

He believed that. It was far better for him to have known Giac's love, and to have loved so completely himself, than to have never had that kind of love in his life and to always wonder what it would have been like to give his hearts away.

The moments they shared might be precious and few, but they were moments that would always shine in his memory -- and in Giac's as well. They would be moments to treasure for the future, to look back on -- not with sadness, but with gratitude for having experienced them.

Giac was looking at him quizzically, as though he wondered what his lover was thinking. The Doctor raised a hand to brush his lover's hair back from his face, smiling up at Giac with the light of love in his dark eyes, everything he felt for this man written on his face.

"We might only have a few precious moments in time to spend with each other, but those moments mean more to me than all the time I've spent anywhere else," he whispered, not taking his gaze from Giac's face. "I'll always remember them, Giac. With love, not with sadness or regrets."

"You should never think of us with sadness, caro, even after I am long gone from your life," Giac murmured, taking the Doctor's hand in his and bringing it to his lips. "We have never been about sadness or regret, but only about happiness and love."

They couldn't possibly have been about anything else, the Doctor told himself, closing his eyes and letting himself relax back into his lover's embrace. He and Giac loved each other far too much to let sadness for the time they didn't have together slip into their moments of love.

These moments were precious and few, and they had to make the most of them. There was no reason to let any kind of sadness or regret enter those moments; they should be kept pristine, moments for the two of them to look back on with a smile and fond remembrances.

The Doctor shifted his position slightly in Giac's embrace, raising his own arms to slide them around his lover's neck. It was time for them to enjoy more moments of togetherness, to savor them to the fullest and to create more precious memories from the love they shared.

***