A/N: This was written as a post for my askthe9thdoctor tumblr blog. I thought I might as well put it on here as well.
"So how's about it then?"
The Doctor took confirmation in the beaming faces that greeted him. He found a smile shaping the contours of his face, lifting the planes of his cheeks and creasing the lines around his eyes happily. He ran around the TARDIS, flicking the necessary switches; he flipped flaps, swatted three knobs, twisted two orbs, and lastly came to a position across the way from them, straddling his circuit board in an awkward embrace.
"How does 87th century Japan sound?"
"Fine by me," Rose shook her head acceptingly, her tongue tapping the corner of her lips the way he always loved.
"To Japan!" Jack cried, punching the air above his head.
"To Japan!" Rose joined his chorus, mimicking his exact stance.
To Japan we go, then, thought the Doctor.
With one final grin, his fingers skirted along each circuit breaker and fiddly bit until he found the proper device, giving it a good twist and yanking the dematerializing lever upwards swiftly. The TARDIS lurched more gently than most times, minute tremors raking her body as she floated her way through the essence and stream of time itself.
The feeling was wonderful, the feeling of just knowing that right now, right at this moment, someone as lowly and insignificant as Rose Tyler was could be traveling through the centuries in a blue box with two of the maddest men she had ever met. And an alpaca which hadn't poked his head out in awhile, most likely in her closet again, chewing up the fabric of another favorite clothing article. She didn't mind so much, particularly because he made for a wonderful pillow at night when the Doctor couldn't be bothered to lend her a shoulder.
The moment ended far too quickly for her liking, jostling the travelers a bit on there feet, but the Doctor was there to distract her.
"Come on then, 'urry up," he ushered them out the door, giving to Jack what had been intended for Rose as they passed by, a pat on the rump to hasten their progress. Jack's brow raised but jarringly enough, he let it pass, too focused now on getting out of the Doctor's way. "Lots to do, things to see, don't want to miss the performers with 21 limbs or the statue they erected of Godzilla ou' in the plaza – like the Statue of Liberty, only for an old, slightly scary movie-star."
Rose turned to peek at the Doctor, amused by his rantings her tongue completing the smile that never failed to warm him to his toes. He felt one grace his lips as well. Then the moment passed yet again as this time Jack shooed her out the door.
The Doctor's brow irked as Jack used the same method he had aimed for, pulling him aside when a piercing shriek rent the air and penetrated through the sound barrier of the TARDIS. Jack thrust himself toward the door only to be buffeted back by one flush-cheeked Rose Tyler. He oofed as he hit the TARDIS grille hard, too winded to even begin to form the words for a clever flirt or witty punchline with a breathless girl atop him.
The Doctor was over to them in a flash.
"Wha's happened, wha' is it, Rose?" he asked, wiping away a sweaty tendril of loose hair, tucking it securely behind an ear.
"I don't…know if…statues…moving…not…good…breathing fire…how can….people…I can't—"
Jack glanced up at the Doctor, wide-eyed and speculative. The look he saw reflected back had his lips tipping the same way the Time Lord's were. He suddenly found that it would be best for Rose to sit beside him and not astride him, the heat and intensity in the Doctor's crystal eyes doing much more to the time agent than it should.
"Dinosaur hunting?" Jack prompted with a coy smirk.
The Doctor turned his simmering gaze towards the man, his face stretching in yet another grin, his eyes matching its ferocity.
"Dinosaur hunting," he repeated with such finality and conviction there was no room to argue.
Rose didn't have the strength to roll her eyes, yet somehow she found the strength to stand herself up, grab a net, get a furlakshian drabbltanger (an strange device from an even stranger planet that can modify the genetic code of something and turn it into pixelized data for later-storage) and a shoe, run around with Jack and the Doctor, pin down a 200-ton creature and neutralize it to store in the tiny ball-like container.
The Doctor tossed the shiny red-white ball into the air, clicking a button so it shrank even more – going down from its original 5inch-by-6inch frame to a 2-by-2 – and let it slip into the inner breast pocket of his leather jacket.
Rose shivered against the sudden chill of a Japanese midnight.
"You know with all this runnin' you'd think I'd be all warmed up, yeah?" she smiled even as her teeth chattered.
"I'd offer you my coat but," Jack knocked his head to one side, indicating the smoldering remains of his beautiful trench coat – a most unfortunate casualty in this one of many battles – trailing off.
"I've go' this covered," the Doctor grinned sympathetically. "An' don't worry, Jack, we'll get you a new one."
"It won't be the same," his brow puckered as he pouted, rubbing his forearms and making his dejected way back to the TARDIS, kicking a collapsed stone from an uprooted section of pavement.
"'e'll ge' over it," the Doctor then changed his tone to an unsympathetic one, beaming away like he was Father Christmas all over again.
Rose turned to him and felt a sudden heavy, leaden weight settle upon her shoulders, nearly toppling her as she already wobbled on unsteady, shaky footing. The smell hit her first, like warm chamomile and oil with a hint of peppermint and the smell of Christmas ash. She looked down and draped around her like a mockery of Jack's coat was the Doctor's jacket. Her eyes shot up to meet his but he had already walked on ahead. She saw him step into the TARDIS and while his back was turned, she knew it was safe for her to pull the jacket closer and take a deep whiff into the collar. She really did love the smell of him, so contrasting, bitter and sweet like his personality, rough and warm.
The Doctor poked his head out, noticing the companion that didn't follow him – ignoring the other as he went on and on about coats and how his next one should be made from alpaca fur and that he'd have to take this up with Florence and see how he'd like the idea. Pressing his lips together, the Doctor stifled a laugh as he saw ten feet away, his Rose twirling and spinning on her toes as she dug her nose into the collar of his jacket, her eyes squeezed shut and happy. His smile didn't fade even as he saw the mess Florence had made, broken cabinets, crashed statues from centuries long passed reduced to rubble, and the steaming piles Jack would be forced to clean immediately.
He had to say, out of all his trips, taking them to Neo-Atara-Tokyo on the Japanese Island Colony of Venus had been his favorite so far.