A tale of All Hallows Eve
Summary- Pure Halloween fluff. Ten, Rose, and Jack decide to celebrate with a few human traditions. Chaos, carving, and costuming ensues. Icky title.
Rating- PG. It has Jack in it. Need I say more?
Disclaimer- If I owned Doctor Who then this would actually happen. Also, if you pick up on it, I don't own Calvin and Hobbs. Or Zorro. I don't own the Nightmare before Christmas either. Never even seen it. So no suing. All you'd get is a pile of books and a tinfoil wrapped glow-pen that wants to be a Sonic Screwdriver.
Authoress' Note- I'm sure there are dozens like this out there, but I wanted to write my own. Inspired by Halloween, my Jack' o' Lantern and, of course, Doctor Who. Alternate universe, obviously. Everyone may seem a little OOC, which I apologize in advance for. My muse is on vacation. What can you do? Most of the stuff here is based on my own experiences.
"Good morning/afternoon/evening/night or whatever time it may happen to be in the outside world!" the Doctor seemed even more chipper than usual as he bounced about the TARDIS, waking both Rose and Jack.
Shuffling sleepily out of her bedroom Rose ran, literally, into the ex Time-Agent. She was however, not sleepy enough to overlook one minor problem.
"Jack! Pants are GOOD! They need love and attention and they NEED TO BE WORN!"
Before Jack could come up with his usual comeback, Rose had scurried off, presumably to wash her eyes out. With a deep sigh the American wandered towards the console room, where he'd be sure to find the Doctor. He wasn't five feet away from the door when the Doctor called "Jack, unless you put some pants on, I'm not letting you in. No, I don't care what you think I want to see. Yes, I am aware that today is October thirty-first. No, that does not count as a costume. Got it? Now get dressed, have something to show you two."
Several minutes, three cups of tea, and a pair of pants later, Jack and Rose made their way to the console room. There they found the Doctor, behind a newspaper-covered picnic table sitting in one of three folding chairs.
"Rose! Jack! Wonderful to see you. Come on, sit down,"
After the uneasy companions seated themselves the Doctor produced three wildly coloured pumpkins, a handful of knives and a few large markers.
Rose was grinning ear-to-ear, as was the Time Lord, but Jack seemed puzzled.
"You see, Jack, in twenty-first century Earth, they have this Halloween tradition. Sort of goes along with the dress-up. They carve out a design on a pumpkin, and put a lit candle inside. They look real spooky in the dead of night. Here, I'll show you," the Doctor neatly cut the top of his pumpkin and began to pull out the gooey insides, placing the seeds in a separate bowl.
Rose, now giggling with joy, plunged a knife into the purple and green gourd crying, "Time for your lobotomy, Jack!"
"WHAT?!?!"
"Not you."
Everything was going relatively well until Rose missed the bowl of pumpkin guts and a bit of goo landed on the Doctor's nose. He flicked the offending substance off, only to have it land in Jack's hair. In the classic food-fight fashion, this escalated into an all out war.
The Doctor immediately scooped up a handful of innards and dove behind the central column of the TARDIS, whipping out a large pair of ski-goggles to protect his eyes from the stinging ickyness.
Rose, being the mature and calculating woman that she was, slid beneath the table, pulled Jack's feet out from under him and poured half the bowl of pumpkin guts all over his head before running off.
Shaking his head like a wet dog, the American grabbed the sadly depleted bowl and began hurling the goo at the Doctor. The Time Lord crouched behind the TARDIS, attempting to resonate pumpkin innards as they came flying towards him. Before long, they were both out of ammunition, with Jack wearing the steel bowl as a type of helm, and the Doctor wrapped in a long scarf in addition to his goggles. They then unsheathed their marker-swords and began to scribble furiously at each other.
Yelling a battle-cry vaguely Spartan in origin, the Doctor swung two markers at once, drawing a quick 'D' on Jack's face. Pausing for a moment to admire his Zorro-like handiwork, the Doctor realized that Rose was suspiciously absent. The thought passed from his head in a second as Jack, trumpeting like an elephant, swiped at him with the marker. With a quick parry-lunge combination, the Time Lord added two dots to the 'D', and the with another quick slash he completed the happy face.
Rose, sitting on her bed, wondered how long those two would fight for. Probably indefinitely. Unless…
Jack had the Doctor in a headlock as Rose came in, the latter with his feet kicking out in an attempt to break free. With a practiced move, she dodged the flying Converse, swung her TARDIS-provided wrench and effectively dropped human and Time Lord alike.
"Heh."
Not long after, Rose's companions began to stir.
"Alright you two. The TARDIS has been very kind and allowed you both a shower, though I don't think she should… Anyways, get yourselves cleaned up and meet back here for carving yeah?"
As their footsteps echoed down the hallway Rose heard the Doctor yell, "Jack's suggesting things again! Tell him to stop!"
"Aww, come on!"
One pair of footsteps quickened as the Doctor raced away.
When two squeaky-clean companions returned, the console room was spotless with all three pumpkins hollowed out, the knives carefully arranged, and the markers replaced with their less destructive counterpart, the crayon. There were no innards to be seen and the seeds had been neatly piled in a bowl.
"You did all this for us?" Jack asked in a sweetly mocking voice.
"Oh, shut up. The TARDIS helped. She doesn't like pumpkin goo all over her floor. Now, if you can both act somewhat civilized, we can continue our carving. Jack, as your punishment, and since you're the better cook, salt those pumpkin seeds and put them in the oven, would ya?"
With seeds happily sizzling in their pan, Team TARDIS (as they seemed to go by nowadays) began to draw out their Jack' o' lantern designs.
Other than a mild dispute over whether or not the Doctor should draw a bowl of fruit or a shooting star everything went well, and soon all three were giggling over the Great Pumpkin Battle, the brightly colored pumpkins and that night's plans.
"I am Jack the Pumpkin Master!" was the triumphant cry as he finished up his pumpkin, an elegant margarita glass, complete with olive.
This sent Rose into a fresh batch of giggles as she put the final touches on her soaring owl, wiping off the outside with a moist paper towel.
"Done yet, Doc?" Jack asked, trying to catch a peek over the Time Lord's shoulder.
"Not yet…"
"Now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"How can you except me to get anything done with you behind me? I really don't like having you there…"
Jack muttered something about being overly sensitive and plopped down next to Rose.
Glancing up at the sulking ex Time Agent the Doctor sighed. "Why don't you both go find a costume, I'm sure the TARDIS will help you find something. I've set a course for trick-or-treating already, some of the best candy… In this one planet, Yaghflabatorius, they have these trees, made of chocolate, and they have these huge leaves that drip caramel!" It's really incredible… And this other place, they have an ocean with real Swedish Fish! Swimming around! And…"
Looking up again the Doctor realized both Jack and Rose had left.
Nearly an hour and a half later the two companions returned to the main room, both in costume.
"Oh God, Doctor… Please say your pumpkin is finished by now…" Rose muttered.
"Almost, just one more thing…"
Shwick
"Done!"
Jack and Rose gathered around the pumpkin, speechless. A long moment of silence and then-
"That's beautiful!"
"Did you use the Sonic Screwdriver?"
"How'd you come up with it?"
"How is that bit there staying in place?"
"Are those real leaves?
"How…"
The Doctor beamed and held his masterpiece proudly. It was an elegant tree, twisting up nearly two feet, with leaves swirling around the bottom, and a crescent moon hanging overhead by a thin bit of wire.
"Thanks, I know. Only for this bit here. Saw it once during a hike. Bit of glue. Not at all, just took a while. Patience, young grasshopper," the Doctor said, replying to all the comments at once. "And you two look… What are you exactly?"
Rose spun in her dark blue gown and gave her temporary wings an experimental flutter. "I decided to be the Faerie Queen Titania, remember her?"
Jack gave his light-saber a quick twirl. "I'm Anakin. Did you see the new Star Wars?"
"Saw it? I'm the one who took George Lucas to Naboo in the first place! Mind you, it wasn't the lovely place it looks like in the movie, that's where he made up Darth Vader too… And the Ewoks weren't really that small, they were really Wookie sized but George, he says that if he has Wookies and Ewoks, how that'll be so much better, because they'll be able to play off each other's character and… Maybe I should get my costume on…"
"Yeah, maybe."
The Doctor was only gone a few minutes, when he returned in a dark robe, with his hair flattened down.
"Who are you then?"
"Barty Crouch Junior of course!"
"Eww, that crazy guy who kept flicking his tongue?"
"Barty was a brilliant, if quite mad, wizard. How could anyone have fooled Dumbledore if they weren't a genius? Besides, if you saw the movie, we look quite similar… Anyways! Who's ready for trick-or-treating?"
On cue, the TARDIS materialized on a planet that appeared quite similar to Earth. The time-travels picked up their pumpkins and treat bags, rushing outside like excited children. With a twirl of the Sonic Screwdriver, the Doctor lit all three pumpkins (how he managed to have flames dance across the leaves of his tree we'll never know) and placed them carefully on the roof of the TARDIS.
Rushing to the first door, Rose pressed the doorbell, quivering in anticipation.
"TRICK OR TREAT!" they chorused.
"And what do we have here? A fairy, a wizard and oh what are you? Never mind, have fun tonight," the elderly woman said as she offered a bowl of chocolate bars.
With a quick thanks, the trio hit most of the houses on the street in record time, scoring popcorn balls, candy bars, lollipops, a large slice of cake, a pork chop, and a handful of peppermints.
The rest of the night passed in childish fun, eating candy until they thought they'd burst, chewing peppermints to feel better, hopping in the TARDIS to stop at the next planet, and repeating the process until they were all so exhausted they could barely speak.
The Doctor wearily unlocked the TARDIS for the twenty-seventh time, Rose held up by a staggering Jack.
"I think that's it for trick-or-treating," the Time Lord mumbled through a mouthful of chewing gum.
"No!" Rose cried. "We've had so much fun!"
"The simple fact that you can't stand up on your own tells me you need a rest. Besides, we've still got things to do."
Dragging his two sleepy companions into the newly created living room, the Doctor slipped a well-worn DVD into the slot and flicked the 'power' button. Leaving Jack and Rose on the oversized couch, he stumbled into the kitchen where the pumpkin seeds had finished their roasting. With a generous dash of salt, the Doctor tipped the seeds into a bowl and plopped down on the sofa.
"Food!" Jack exclaimed sleepily.
"Not that way! Turn around!!! Oh God…" Rose seemed to be falling asleep as she laid her feet across Jack's lap and tucked her head under the Doctor's arm. The two men shared a satisfied smirk and before falling asleep had identical thoughts.
This was the best Halloween ever.
Wheew! That was LONG! Hope you enjoyed it. Remember the review rules, if you review me, I review you.