Indoor Pool

Warm light filters through alabaster panels set into vaulted ceilings, gilding the mosaic-tiled walls in rippling gold. Steam curls from the surface of the long, rectangular pool where Leela floats, her dark hair fanned around her shoulders as water laps against the carved marble edge. The air holds the faint scent of chlorine and something richer—jasmine or neroli—drifting from discreet vents in the ceiling. Mosaic dolphins leap along the deep end, their tesserae catching the light like scattered constellations, while the far wall’s recessed niches hold statuettes of aquatic figures watching over the space. A set of teak ladders and submerged steps invite entry, their rails polished to a dull sheen. This private sanctuary offers a stark contrast to the TARDIS’s usual stark opulence, its luxury undercut by the Doctor’s sudden intrusion—the only sound the hollow drip of displaced water against the floor.