Disclaimer: Doctor Who owns my soul, I own nothing.
Spoilers: None
Thanks To: Sinecure for the beta
Rose blinked, darted her gaze to the Doctor's face, and then darted it back again. "What is it?"
He didn't even look up at her, just raised a single brow, and continued pruning the large plant in front of him--strong, callused hands moving deftly over the jagged leaves of green, the oval flowers of... "What does it look like, Rose? Humans can be so dense."
"Yeah, yeah, stupid ape jokes aside, Doctor," she plopped down on the ground across from him, giving him--and his plant--a skeptical look, "what is it?"
"What does it look like?" Dropping the shears he'd been using, he picked up the water bottle beside him and squeezed the handle, a fine mist surrounding the plant like a halo. Rose shivered when a light sheen of the cool water covered her bare leg, causing goosebumps to prickle her skin. "You'd be surprised what you can do when you use your noggin." He tapped his temple with a single, soil-encrusted finger, leaving behind a slight smidgen of dirt.
Rose sighed. She knew what it looked like but...it had to be a joke. He had to be pulling her leg. Right? "It's a plant." She paused, glancing at his face again, but his attention was still focused on the task at hand. "With...eggs growing off it." She glanced at the plant again and hesitated, feeling like a fool. "An Eggplant?"
His only response was a huge grin splitting his face and a faint hum of approval. But was it meant as affirmation or amusement?
Setting the water bottle on the ground, the Doctor admired his handiwork for a bit, then pushed himself to his feet, holding out a dirt-covered hand to her.
She eyed it for a second before putting her hand in his and letting him pull her up beside him. "Seriously?"
"'Course."
She blinked at him again.
With a roll of his eyes, he guided her through the gardens and out into the hallway, her hand resting gently in the crook of his leather-clad arm. "Aliens have been visiting your tiny, little planet since your species were just specks in the primordial ooze. It stands to reason that some of your sayings, your names for things, will have come from another planet."
She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It wasn't that she didn't believe him--well, there was still the slightest niggling disbelief in the back of her mind--but...eggplant? It was just a bit much. Even after traveling with him for so long now, seeing so many strange and unusual things, she just couldn't wrap her mind around it. But if the Doctor said--
"What do you say we go to Epsilon Six next?" he asked suddenly.
"Hmm?" Pulling her thoughts back into the present, Rose followed him into the console room, plopping down in the jumpseat as he circled around the console, pushing buttons and flipping levers.
"Epsilon Six, Rose," he grumbled, shaking his head, blue eyes rolling. "Best corn dogs this side of the Milky Way."
Rose gaped at him. "Corn...dogs?"