Doctor Who -- For Two
Jan. 24th, 2010 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gracie_musicaTitle: For Two
Date Written: 1/24/10
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: 3,099
Fandom: Doctor Who
Disclaimer: Property of their respective owners
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Spoilers: Set sometimes in Season 2, so...
Warnings: Mild language, sorta NSFW subject matter (but nothing explicit).
Author's Notes: As always, thanks to my wonderful betas![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
katestamps and totally4ryo. I feel so horrible that it took this long to post this. This was for wiggiemomsi, for winning my Doctor Who lot at the Support Stacie Auction in September. Wiggie got to see the rough draft, but I seriously have not been able to find time to edit and post it since. But I finally did, and here it is, with my sincere apologies.
It started the way all of the Doctor's adventures start: with a harrowing ride in the TARDIS that resulted in a near-suicidal crash landing on an alien planet. Both ancient Time Lord and young Human fell to the grated floor, laughing hysterically, drunk on adrenaline and the joy of surviving yet another go.
"You are a horrible driver!" Rose accused for what was probably the thousandth time.
The Doctor's comeback was just as predictable. "She takes six to fly properly!" he defended. Any faux hurt was killed by a laugh and this regeneration's wide, toothy grin.
"You're getting old," the blonde retorted, rolling over to rise on slightly shaky legs. "If you were Human, we'd have taken away your keys by now."
"If I was Human," the Doctor shot back, "we'd have been driving pointlessly while I regaled you with stories about the War."
"Oh, that's just wrong."
"I know." Two arms shot up, long fingers waggling at her. "Help a poor old man to his feet?"
Rose rolled her eyes, but couldn't wipe her own grin off her face. "Come on, Grandfather," she said sarcastically, grasping the outstretched hands.
The Doctor sprang up easily, as irrepressible as ever. "Haven't heard that one in a while," he commented off-handedly, grabbing the long coat off the railing. Rose was a step and a half behind him as they went for the door.
The Doctor turned to look at Rose. "Are you ready, Rose Tyler?" he intoned.
She reached up to fix his collar. "Ready and willing, Doctor," she replied, equally as serious. "As always."
The Time Lord beamed and took one of her hands in his before opening the door. They slipped out with a practiced quiet and locked the police box doors.
When they turned around, they were blinded by a brilliant white spotlight shining directly into their eyes. They instinctively raised their hands, not letting go of each other.
"Release all appendages that are touching!" a voice from somewhere in or just beyond the light commanded.
"Oi!" Rose shouted, screwing her eyes up against the brightness. "I don't touch appendages in public!"
The Doctor cleared his throat and gently released her hand.
"Keep all appendages raised!" the voice ordered.
Rose, eyes still closed against the harsh light, turned her face towards the Doctor. The Time Lord, squinting himself to try and see the blobs of dark that were the soldiers, didn't even have to look at her to know that she was struggling to smother a smile. "Don't you dare," he threatened. "Don't even think it."
The resulting giggle told him it was far too late. Humans.
-----
The Nen, the race whose planet they had crash-landed on, were humanoid, which the Doctor counted as a blessing. Rose had accused him of being speciest, but he had to disagree; humanoid usually meant little things like chairs and doorknobs.
Even if the doorknobs were on the other side of the door, they were there.
The doorknob on the other side of the door that the Doctor was so thrilled over squealed when it was turned, the long-worn metal protesting loudly. A Nen lumbered in on two legs, but that was about where the human similarities ended: They looked a bit more like gorillas than homo sapiens, lumbering about with their shoulders slumped forward, their long arms hang near their knees. They were about seven feet tall, even with their stooped posture, and completely covered in vivid, neon blue, coarse-looking fur. At least they assumed it was all over; matted hair stuck out at odd angles where it popped out from under their clothing.
"About time," the Doctor said, rising from the floor to his feet. Rose, who had been lying down on the cot and dozing off for lack of better things to do, sat up on her elbows and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Off to the boss, yeah?"
The guard didn't move when the Doctor neared. He moved to step around him, but the Nen moved to block him. The Time Lord looked up at the guard with his best Please Obey Me I'm Sweet And Innocent face, shoving his hands into his suit pockets and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Well?"
"The King only wants to see the female," the Nen announced.
The Doctor's head whipped around to Rose, still sleep-drunk and more than a little confused at this turn of events. "Oh, absolutely not," he declared.
The Nen gave him a look that clearly said that the Time Lord had overstepped his bounds. "The King," he repeated slowly, as if speaking to a small, slow child, "only wants. To see the female."
The Doctor found a few more inches in his newest body as he pulled himself to his full height. "Where the female goes, I go."
"The female is in the room," the blonde said, annoyed. "And she has a name, y'know."
"Rose -- "
"Oh, stop it, both of you." She swung her feet over the side and stood. "All right then, let's go see this King you keep going on about."
The Doctor sighed. "Rose -- !"
"Hey." She put her hand on his shoulder, comforting him. "You said you've come across these people before, right?" When the Doctor nodded reluctantly, she continued. "And they're peaceful, yeah? Wouldn't hurt anyone, not really."
"More or less," the Doctor admitted reluctantly.
"Then I'll be fine. I'll go and make nice, throw your name around for a bit. You did leave on peaceful terms?"
The Doctor raised his eyebrows at that, and Rose grinned and hugged him. "It'll be fine, I promise," she murmured.
He kissed her cheek in response and slipped the sonic screwdriver into the back pocket of her jeans.
-----
The first hour he'd been fine. Honestly. He’d even laid down on the cot and closed his eyes for a little bit, relaxing his body and hoping to put his mind at ease as well.
He then proceeded to spend the second hour reminding himself that Rose was a Big Girl (who was oh so very Human) and could handle herself (and why in the name of Gallifrey had he let her go alone, what the hell had he been thinking?!)
After that tactic failed, he went to the tried and true method of banging on the door until someone got sick of him.
"It's been three hours!" he railed to the guard he was sure was standing outside. The only response he got, however, was the hollow, metallic sound his fist made every time it struck the door. "I know how long it's been! I'm a Time Lord, you know!"
No response to that, either.
He kicked the door in a little fit of rage and immediately wished he hadn't when pain flared up. He winced and hopped around on one foot for a few minutes, swearing under his breath. Sometimes this regeneration was too impulsive for a man his age.
He was still sulking, ire momentarily dulled by pain, and regretting giving away his sonic screwdriver when the door grated open. Rose stood with the guard from before, carding her fingers through her blonde locks as if she was trying to make herself presentable. She gave him a dazzling smile, looking a bit like an excited child at Christmas. Her face was flushed. "Told you I'd get you out," she boasted.
"Never doubted you for a moment!" he lied breezily before hugging her close. Sonic screwdriver back in hand -- it had never left her back pocket, something that pleased him to no end -- he turned his attention to the Nen guard. "Well, I can't say that it hasn't been fun," he said, his hand moving to the small of Rose's back as they moved out of the cell. Free at last, free at last! "But we really should be going."
This time, however, it was his Companion who spoke up. "Actually," she drawled a little, turning about to look at him. "We have been invited to a banquet by the King."
One of the Time Lord's eyebrows went up in suspicion. "We have, have we?"
"In the Human Rose's honor," the guard confirmed.
"Really now?" The Doctor couldn't resist taking a little bit of a mickey out of his Rose. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets again and rocked back and forth, casually staring her down. "You must have made quite the impression."
Rose actually blushed at that, a pretty stripe of pink across her cheeks and nose.
"Well. I always love a good party, me. Will there be banana daiquiris?"
-----
"There's something rotten in the state of Nen," the Doctor murmured to himself as he watched the room move around him. The aliens about him were dressed in various versions of what seemed to be the same style of robes. They weren't even the fun, Harry-Potter magic-caster type of robes; more like a monk's robes, minus the cowl. And plus a tail slit. To her credit, Rose had taken the sudden appearance of a fifth fur-covered limb without comment.
Rose was currently chatting with a group of females -- high class, if the intricate swirling patterns on their clothes and the sparkly chains wrapped around their tails were any indication. The lone Human in the room stood out starkly, her fair hair bright against the varying lengths and shades of cerulean hair and fur. Her outfit even showed the difference in the races: The iridescent white robe she'd been provided for the celebration had quickly been turned into something more like a sleeveless ball gown with a pair of scissors and some creative soniking on her part. She'd even torn a strip off the bottom of the Doctor's darker red robe and made a sash.
Maybe it was his obviously sour mood, or maybe it was that they were so drawn to the lightness of Rose's personality, but the Nen seemed to be taking more of an interest in her. Many of the younger ones were touching her hair and dress in admiration, and she seemed to be taking it all in stride, smiling and returning the gestures; touching this one's robes, and that one's upswept hair.
Apparently she was starting to get a hang of this traveling life. That thought lifted his spirits and he grinned despite himself. Sometimes it took longer for his Companions to shake the Earth off their shoes.
The chatter and music died down as the king of the Nen stood from his throne, hands outstretched in a call for silence. Rathoth was young and seemed to be generally naive, a departure from a race that liked its rulers tempered by time and experience. But he seemed to have a good heart, and his people liked him. He'd come along.
"My friends!" he called out, his voice ringing through the hall. "It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this celebration in honor of our two newest allies, the Last of the great Time Lords, the Doctor -- " He paused in his speech to gesture to the back of the room where the Doctor was standing. The room turned to look at him, all smiles and friendly head-bobbing. The Doctor, in return, lifted his glass and ducked his head. "And, of course, the Human Rose Tyler, who has made great strides in diplomacy between our two races."
A pretty flush crossed Rose's face at the compliment, and the room rang with the sound of applause. Apparently, they'd seen more Time Lords before than just him; if the stories he’d gleaned from the maids were true, one of his distant, long-gone kinsmen had been almost something of a blood brother to the Nen. Maybe that explained their infatuation with Rose. Something new was always exciting and intriguing.
He would know.
Rathoth continued with his speech and the Doctor tuned most of it out, trying to put his finger on what was making him so uneasy. A few key words broke through his thoughts: Diplomacy. Peace. Intercourse.
Wait, what?
Yes, there it was again. "Intercourse."
Of course, there were multiple definitions of that term. He'd been around Humans for far too long if he was automatically thinking about interspecies sex. Or maybe he'd been just alone far too long.
The Nen monarch just meant that they'd had a good conversation. Yes, that had to be it. When she put her mind to it, conversation with Rose could be rather stimulating. And it wasn't like she went around sleeping with every male she came across...
But the flush across Rose's face continued to darken and he knew he had to be wrong. Or right. No one flushed that way over just a mere conversation.
An image of Jack Harkness came unbidden to his mind and the Doctor found himself cursing the Captain. Somehow, he knew that he was to blame for this. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t -- Rose was a Big Girl, had been even before they’d picked up their little stray -- but even now, it was oh-so-easy to blame the man from the 51st Century.
Humans.
-----
The Doctor realized he was being childish. Completely and utterly. However, he found he didn't care as he stalked into the TARDIS, remembering at the last moment not to slam the door behind him.
He stripped off his long brown coat and chucked it at the jump seat, dismayed when it overshot and landed on the railing. He'd thrown it with such force that the sleeves wrapped around the bar, buttons clinking against the metal.
Rose shut the door behind her, changed back into her normal clothing but holding onto the dress the Nen had given her. Her face was still flushed with embarrassment. "Uh, well..." she started, but it trailed off.
"Well," the Doctor replied, spinning dials.
"It's really a funny thing," Rose said, laughing nervously as she approached the console. "See what happened -- "
"You don't have to tell me anything," the Time Lord cut her off. "I heard enough already."
Rose frowned at him, crossing her arms across her chest. Oh, sod it. He should have let her talk. He needed to learn to control this regeneration's tongue before he got himself into some serious trouble. "You don't really believe what he said, do you?"
"No, no, no," he replied a fraction of a second too quickly, and a fraction too innocently. "Why would I?"
She didn't buy it. "Right." Rose flounced past, blonde hair swaying. "When you stop being an arse and quit thinking that I'm a slut," she snapped, pointedly not looking at him, "Maybe then I'll tell you what really happened." She stopped in the doorway, looking over her shoulder. "I want a bath and some sleep before we crash again, if that's not too big of a problem," she added before disappearing down the hall.
The Doctor sighed and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. Bloody Humans.
-----
"Well, this feels familiar," Rose said lamely, slender fingers grasping the iron bars in the prison window. Earth this time, in some past century. She hadn't asked when they were, and the Doctor hadn't volunteered the information. In fact, they hadn't spoken to each other in about a day. They were both to proud to break down and be the first to talk, but the silence was starting to wear on the young woman.
The Doctor didn't even look up from his work with the sonic screwdriver, the high pitched whine ringing in the tiny stone room.
"So," she drawled, trying again. She walked over to him and leaned down over his shoulder. "How's it coming?"
"Not as fast as you work," the Doctor replied.
Rose sighed. "That was rather catty."
Brown eyes flicked up at her over momentarily before he looked back down at his work. "I'm sorry," he finally caved.
She only forgave him because she could tell that the Time Lord meant it, could see the apology in the blue wash of the sonic's light, in the way his shoulders fell. "So am I. I should have told you before the party thing, but... Well, we didn't have a moment alone to ourselves."
He looked up again, forehead creasing as he processed her words. "Didn't have a moment alone?" he echoed.
"Rathoth, the King," she said, feeling a bit of a nervous ramble coming on, "he said that he'd never seen a Human, but he'd heard about us. Like -- well, remember what you said about Jack? So many species, so little time?"
"Humans," the Doctor sighed.
Rose stood up straight and glared down at him before continuing. "Well, he wanted to... well, dance. And he..." She trailed off, casting around for a similar description. "... Didn't know the steps, yeah? But he promised to let us go if I did."
"So what did you tell him?" the Time Lord asked, trying to feign disinterest, trying to tamp down the jealousy.
The young Companion worried her lower lip between her teeth before replying. "I told him that having a pot of tea was Human sex. It took so long because they had to find something that would pass as tea leaves."
The Doctor switched off the sonic screwdriver and straightened. With the blue light gone, she could only see about half of his face in the moonlight streaming through the window. He just stared at her, solemn and stone-faced, like she was the alien in the room. "I wouldn't do that to you," she said softly. "Not with anyone."
He reached up with his free hand and touched her cheek. He caressed the soft skin there with his screwdriver-calloused thumb. "I know. I just... forgot. I'm sorry." And just as quickly, his face split into a schoolboy grin. "Tea as sex! You fantastic, brilliant Human!" he said with a laugh.
Any protest over the Doctor's species elitism was cut off when he covered her mouth with his.
-----
Across the Universe, at a time hard to pinpoint, a Human Time Agent sat at a small table in King Rathoth's private quarters. "Well," he said, setting the too-big for one hand cup down on the table and looking across at the ruler of the Nen.
"I do have to say, that was a mighty fine cup of tea, your Majesty." the man who would later become Captain Jack Harkness complimented, resting his elbows on the table and beaming a megawatt grin. "But d’you mind if we get to the actual sex part now?"
Date Written: 1/24/10
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: 3,099
Fandom: Doctor Who
Disclaimer: Property of their respective owners
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Spoilers: Set sometimes in Season 2, so...
Warnings: Mild language, sorta NSFW subject matter (but nothing explicit).
Author's Notes: As always, thanks to my wonderful betas
katestamps and totally4ryo. I feel so horrible that it took this long to post this. This was for wiggiemomsi, for winning my Doctor Who lot at the Support Stacie Auction in September. Wiggie got to see the rough draft, but I seriously have not been able to find time to edit and post it since. But I finally did, and here it is, with my sincere apologies.It started the way all of the Doctor's adventures start: with a harrowing ride in the TARDIS that resulted in a near-suicidal crash landing on an alien planet. Both ancient Time Lord and young Human fell to the grated floor, laughing hysterically, drunk on adrenaline and the joy of surviving yet another go.
"You are a horrible driver!" Rose accused for what was probably the thousandth time.
The Doctor's comeback was just as predictable. "She takes six to fly properly!" he defended. Any faux hurt was killed by a laugh and this regeneration's wide, toothy grin.
"You're getting old," the blonde retorted, rolling over to rise on slightly shaky legs. "If you were Human, we'd have taken away your keys by now."
"If I was Human," the Doctor shot back, "we'd have been driving pointlessly while I regaled you with stories about the War."
"Oh, that's just wrong."
"I know." Two arms shot up, long fingers waggling at her. "Help a poor old man to his feet?"
Rose rolled her eyes, but couldn't wipe her own grin off her face. "Come on, Grandfather," she said sarcastically, grasping the outstretched hands.
The Doctor sprang up easily, as irrepressible as ever. "Haven't heard that one in a while," he commented off-handedly, grabbing the long coat off the railing. Rose was a step and a half behind him as they went for the door.
The Doctor turned to look at Rose. "Are you ready, Rose Tyler?" he intoned.
She reached up to fix his collar. "Ready and willing, Doctor," she replied, equally as serious. "As always."
The Time Lord beamed and took one of her hands in his before opening the door. They slipped out with a practiced quiet and locked the police box doors.
When they turned around, they were blinded by a brilliant white spotlight shining directly into their eyes. They instinctively raised their hands, not letting go of each other.
"Release all appendages that are touching!" a voice from somewhere in or just beyond the light commanded.
"Oi!" Rose shouted, screwing her eyes up against the brightness. "I don't touch appendages in public!"
The Doctor cleared his throat and gently released her hand.
"Keep all appendages raised!" the voice ordered.
Rose, eyes still closed against the harsh light, turned her face towards the Doctor. The Time Lord, squinting himself to try and see the blobs of dark that were the soldiers, didn't even have to look at her to know that she was struggling to smother a smile. "Don't you dare," he threatened. "Don't even think it."
The resulting giggle told him it was far too late. Humans.
-----
The Nen, the race whose planet they had crash-landed on, were humanoid, which the Doctor counted as a blessing. Rose had accused him of being speciest, but he had to disagree; humanoid usually meant little things like chairs and doorknobs.
Even if the doorknobs were on the other side of the door, they were there.
The doorknob on the other side of the door that the Doctor was so thrilled over squealed when it was turned, the long-worn metal protesting loudly. A Nen lumbered in on two legs, but that was about where the human similarities ended: They looked a bit more like gorillas than homo sapiens, lumbering about with their shoulders slumped forward, their long arms hang near their knees. They were about seven feet tall, even with their stooped posture, and completely covered in vivid, neon blue, coarse-looking fur. At least they assumed it was all over; matted hair stuck out at odd angles where it popped out from under their clothing.
"About time," the Doctor said, rising from the floor to his feet. Rose, who had been lying down on the cot and dozing off for lack of better things to do, sat up on her elbows and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Off to the boss, yeah?"
The guard didn't move when the Doctor neared. He moved to step around him, but the Nen moved to block him. The Time Lord looked up at the guard with his best Please Obey Me I'm Sweet And Innocent face, shoving his hands into his suit pockets and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Well?"
"The King only wants to see the female," the Nen announced.
The Doctor's head whipped around to Rose, still sleep-drunk and more than a little confused at this turn of events. "Oh, absolutely not," he declared.
The Nen gave him a look that clearly said that the Time Lord had overstepped his bounds. "The King," he repeated slowly, as if speaking to a small, slow child, "only wants. To see the female."
The Doctor found a few more inches in his newest body as he pulled himself to his full height. "Where the female goes, I go."
"The female is in the room," the blonde said, annoyed. "And she has a name, y'know."
"Rose -- "
"Oh, stop it, both of you." She swung her feet over the side and stood. "All right then, let's go see this King you keep going on about."
The Doctor sighed. "Rose -- !"
"Hey." She put her hand on his shoulder, comforting him. "You said you've come across these people before, right?" When the Doctor nodded reluctantly, she continued. "And they're peaceful, yeah? Wouldn't hurt anyone, not really."
"More or less," the Doctor admitted reluctantly.
"Then I'll be fine. I'll go and make nice, throw your name around for a bit. You did leave on peaceful terms?"
The Doctor raised his eyebrows at that, and Rose grinned and hugged him. "It'll be fine, I promise," she murmured.
He kissed her cheek in response and slipped the sonic screwdriver into the back pocket of her jeans.
-----
The first hour he'd been fine. Honestly. He’d even laid down on the cot and closed his eyes for a little bit, relaxing his body and hoping to put his mind at ease as well.
He then proceeded to spend the second hour reminding himself that Rose was a Big Girl (who was oh so very Human) and could handle herself (and why in the name of Gallifrey had he let her go alone, what the hell had he been thinking?!)
After that tactic failed, he went to the tried and true method of banging on the door until someone got sick of him.
"It's been three hours!" he railed to the guard he was sure was standing outside. The only response he got, however, was the hollow, metallic sound his fist made every time it struck the door. "I know how long it's been! I'm a Time Lord, you know!"
No response to that, either.
He kicked the door in a little fit of rage and immediately wished he hadn't when pain flared up. He winced and hopped around on one foot for a few minutes, swearing under his breath. Sometimes this regeneration was too impulsive for a man his age.
He was still sulking, ire momentarily dulled by pain, and regretting giving away his sonic screwdriver when the door grated open. Rose stood with the guard from before, carding her fingers through her blonde locks as if she was trying to make herself presentable. She gave him a dazzling smile, looking a bit like an excited child at Christmas. Her face was flushed. "Told you I'd get you out," she boasted.
"Never doubted you for a moment!" he lied breezily before hugging her close. Sonic screwdriver back in hand -- it had never left her back pocket, something that pleased him to no end -- he turned his attention to the Nen guard. "Well, I can't say that it hasn't been fun," he said, his hand moving to the small of Rose's back as they moved out of the cell. Free at last, free at last! "But we really should be going."
This time, however, it was his Companion who spoke up. "Actually," she drawled a little, turning about to look at him. "We have been invited to a banquet by the King."
One of the Time Lord's eyebrows went up in suspicion. "We have, have we?"
"In the Human Rose's honor," the guard confirmed.
"Really now?" The Doctor couldn't resist taking a little bit of a mickey out of his Rose. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets again and rocked back and forth, casually staring her down. "You must have made quite the impression."
Rose actually blushed at that, a pretty stripe of pink across her cheeks and nose.
"Well. I always love a good party, me. Will there be banana daiquiris?"
-----
"There's something rotten in the state of Nen," the Doctor murmured to himself as he watched the room move around him. The aliens about him were dressed in various versions of what seemed to be the same style of robes. They weren't even the fun, Harry-Potter magic-caster type of robes; more like a monk's robes, minus the cowl. And plus a tail slit. To her credit, Rose had taken the sudden appearance of a fifth fur-covered limb without comment.
Rose was currently chatting with a group of females -- high class, if the intricate swirling patterns on their clothes and the sparkly chains wrapped around their tails were any indication. The lone Human in the room stood out starkly, her fair hair bright against the varying lengths and shades of cerulean hair and fur. Her outfit even showed the difference in the races: The iridescent white robe she'd been provided for the celebration had quickly been turned into something more like a sleeveless ball gown with a pair of scissors and some creative soniking on her part. She'd even torn a strip off the bottom of the Doctor's darker red robe and made a sash.
Maybe it was his obviously sour mood, or maybe it was that they were so drawn to the lightness of Rose's personality, but the Nen seemed to be taking more of an interest in her. Many of the younger ones were touching her hair and dress in admiration, and she seemed to be taking it all in stride, smiling and returning the gestures; touching this one's robes, and that one's upswept hair.
Apparently she was starting to get a hang of this traveling life. That thought lifted his spirits and he grinned despite himself. Sometimes it took longer for his Companions to shake the Earth off their shoes.
The chatter and music died down as the king of the Nen stood from his throne, hands outstretched in a call for silence. Rathoth was young and seemed to be generally naive, a departure from a race that liked its rulers tempered by time and experience. But he seemed to have a good heart, and his people liked him. He'd come along.
"My friends!" he called out, his voice ringing through the hall. "It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this celebration in honor of our two newest allies, the Last of the great Time Lords, the Doctor -- " He paused in his speech to gesture to the back of the room where the Doctor was standing. The room turned to look at him, all smiles and friendly head-bobbing. The Doctor, in return, lifted his glass and ducked his head. "And, of course, the Human Rose Tyler, who has made great strides in diplomacy between our two races."
A pretty flush crossed Rose's face at the compliment, and the room rang with the sound of applause. Apparently, they'd seen more Time Lords before than just him; if the stories he’d gleaned from the maids were true, one of his distant, long-gone kinsmen had been almost something of a blood brother to the Nen. Maybe that explained their infatuation with Rose. Something new was always exciting and intriguing.
He would know.
Rathoth continued with his speech and the Doctor tuned most of it out, trying to put his finger on what was making him so uneasy. A few key words broke through his thoughts: Diplomacy. Peace. Intercourse.
Wait, what?
Yes, there it was again. "Intercourse."
Of course, there were multiple definitions of that term. He'd been around Humans for far too long if he was automatically thinking about interspecies sex. Or maybe he'd been just alone far too long.
The Nen monarch just meant that they'd had a good conversation. Yes, that had to be it. When she put her mind to it, conversation with Rose could be rather stimulating. And it wasn't like she went around sleeping with every male she came across...
But the flush across Rose's face continued to darken and he knew he had to be wrong. Or right. No one flushed that way over just a mere conversation.
An image of Jack Harkness came unbidden to his mind and the Doctor found himself cursing the Captain. Somehow, he knew that he was to blame for this. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t -- Rose was a Big Girl, had been even before they’d picked up their little stray -- but even now, it was oh-so-easy to blame the man from the 51st Century.
Humans.
-----
The Doctor realized he was being childish. Completely and utterly. However, he found he didn't care as he stalked into the TARDIS, remembering at the last moment not to slam the door behind him.
He stripped off his long brown coat and chucked it at the jump seat, dismayed when it overshot and landed on the railing. He'd thrown it with such force that the sleeves wrapped around the bar, buttons clinking against the metal.
Rose shut the door behind her, changed back into her normal clothing but holding onto the dress the Nen had given her. Her face was still flushed with embarrassment. "Uh, well..." she started, but it trailed off.
"Well," the Doctor replied, spinning dials.
"It's really a funny thing," Rose said, laughing nervously as she approached the console. "See what happened -- "
"You don't have to tell me anything," the Time Lord cut her off. "I heard enough already."
Rose frowned at him, crossing her arms across her chest. Oh, sod it. He should have let her talk. He needed to learn to control this regeneration's tongue before he got himself into some serious trouble. "You don't really believe what he said, do you?"
"No, no, no," he replied a fraction of a second too quickly, and a fraction too innocently. "Why would I?"
She didn't buy it. "Right." Rose flounced past, blonde hair swaying. "When you stop being an arse and quit thinking that I'm a slut," she snapped, pointedly not looking at him, "Maybe then I'll tell you what really happened." She stopped in the doorway, looking over her shoulder. "I want a bath and some sleep before we crash again, if that's not too big of a problem," she added before disappearing down the hall.
The Doctor sighed and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. Bloody Humans.
-----
"Well, this feels familiar," Rose said lamely, slender fingers grasping the iron bars in the prison window. Earth this time, in some past century. She hadn't asked when they were, and the Doctor hadn't volunteered the information. In fact, they hadn't spoken to each other in about a day. They were both to proud to break down and be the first to talk, but the silence was starting to wear on the young woman.
The Doctor didn't even look up from his work with the sonic screwdriver, the high pitched whine ringing in the tiny stone room.
"So," she drawled, trying again. She walked over to him and leaned down over his shoulder. "How's it coming?"
"Not as fast as you work," the Doctor replied.
Rose sighed. "That was rather catty."
Brown eyes flicked up at her over momentarily before he looked back down at his work. "I'm sorry," he finally caved.
She only forgave him because she could tell that the Time Lord meant it, could see the apology in the blue wash of the sonic's light, in the way his shoulders fell. "So am I. I should have told you before the party thing, but... Well, we didn't have a moment alone to ourselves."
He looked up again, forehead creasing as he processed her words. "Didn't have a moment alone?" he echoed.
"Rathoth, the King," she said, feeling a bit of a nervous ramble coming on, "he said that he'd never seen a Human, but he'd heard about us. Like -- well, remember what you said about Jack? So many species, so little time?"
"Humans," the Doctor sighed.
Rose stood up straight and glared down at him before continuing. "Well, he wanted to... well, dance. And he..." She trailed off, casting around for a similar description. "... Didn't know the steps, yeah? But he promised to let us go if I did."
"So what did you tell him?" the Time Lord asked, trying to feign disinterest, trying to tamp down the jealousy.
The young Companion worried her lower lip between her teeth before replying. "I told him that having a pot of tea was Human sex. It took so long because they had to find something that would pass as tea leaves."
The Doctor switched off the sonic screwdriver and straightened. With the blue light gone, she could only see about half of his face in the moonlight streaming through the window. He just stared at her, solemn and stone-faced, like she was the alien in the room. "I wouldn't do that to you," she said softly. "Not with anyone."
He reached up with his free hand and touched her cheek. He caressed the soft skin there with his screwdriver-calloused thumb. "I know. I just... forgot. I'm sorry." And just as quickly, his face split into a schoolboy grin. "Tea as sex! You fantastic, brilliant Human!" he said with a laugh.
Any protest over the Doctor's species elitism was cut off when he covered her mouth with his.
-----
Across the Universe, at a time hard to pinpoint, a Human Time Agent sat at a small table in King Rathoth's private quarters. "Well," he said, setting the too-big for one hand cup down on the table and looking across at the ruler of the Nen.
"I do have to say, that was a mighty fine cup of tea, your Majesty." the man who would later become Captain Jack Harkness complimented, resting his elbows on the table and beaming a megawatt grin. "But d’you mind if we get to the actual sex part now?"
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 04:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 04:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 04:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 11:01 am (UTC)Humans.
;)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 05:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 11:00 am (UTC)Thanks sweetheart!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 06:39 am (UTC)And I loved the Jack twist at the end, Classic!Imagine his confusion...I can just see his face...
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 10:59 am (UTC)Thanks for reading!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 01:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 06:28 pm (UTC)How goes writing? *posts this where people can see you and
harassencourage you to write faster!*(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 09:05 pm (UTC)Got the next chapter plotted and some written.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 02:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-25 06:27 pm (UTC)He doesn't have to, but he will. It's what he does.
Thanks for reading!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-26 04:40 am (UTC)And Jack ... oh universal fairness ...
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-06 08:51 pm (UTC)Thanks for reading, sorry I'm so late getting back to you!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-01-26 10:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-06 08:49 pm (UTC)And ye does trust Rose, but he worries too.
Crazy, crazy people.