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He wasn't exactly sure why he chose it, but then he was never exactly sure why he chose anything at the start of a new regeneration. He had stumbled around grasping for a clue to his new self, unable to even remember his own name for a while, and something about it just felt right. Here was something fresh and young, like his new body. Unassuming yet useful, from time to time.

And wasn't that what he was now? They looked at him as if he was, companions and strangers alike. Nobody had ever looked at him that way before, in his old bodies. It stung his pride more than he liked to admit. He had changed, yes, but he was still himself.

He didn't know why he attached the stick of celery to his lapel, but he liked how everyone's eyes strayed downwards when they met him, how they stopped and blinked in confusion for just an instant. And when they looked up again, there was a bit of that old uncertainty in their faces. He smiled at them genially and with satisfaction.