AN: This is part of my True Things series, set between Believing and Knowing and Jackie Tyler Saves the Universe. The outfits were inspired by a painting by theuntemperedprism
The Doctor sighed in contentment as Rose cuddled closer to him. These moments spent in the hazy afterglow of lovemaking were some of the favourites he shared with her. He loved the intimacy of knowing this time belonged only to them. The sweetness of the temporary telepathic connection that came to life each time they made love only highlighted the specialness.
Their skin cooled as sweat evaporated, and he tugged the duvet up to cover them. At the same time, he began to withdraw from her mind like he always did.
A soft sound of dissatisfaction stopped him. "Rose?" He brushed a kiss to her forehead. "What's wrong, love?"
"Nothing, it's just…" She sighed and kissed his chest, in between his hearts. "I wish we didn't have to undo our telepathic connection every time we're done making love."
The Doctor's hand was raised, poised so he could run his fingers through her hair. Her mumbled confession shocked him, though, and he froze. A moment later, his hand landed somewhat heavily on her head, and Rose shifted until he had his hand wrapped around her shoulder.
"What's going on in that brain of yours?" she asked. "I hope I didn't make you think this isn't enough for me. Because it is, it really is. Travelling through time and space with my alien lover." She grinned up at him as she said that, and he tilted his head to capture that tongue in a kiss.
His mind kept working, though. Because contrary to her fears, her words hadn't made him think she was unhappy with their relationship—they'd given him hope that she might be interested in more.
oOoOoOoOo
"So, where are we off to?" Rose asked the Doctor the next morning. Her legs swung back and forth as she sat on the jump seat, watching him fly the TARDIS.
To her surprise, he tugged at his ear—a sure sign that he was nervous. "Well, I happen to have an invitation to the New Year's ball on Ostrao," the Doctor said. "I thought we could put on formal clothes and go tonight?"
Rose slid off the jump seat and walked over to him. "You're going to risk the Tux of Doom?" she teased, tugging gently on his tie.
The Doctor's hands landed on her waist and he pulled her close. "I'm going to be very, very careful with the coordinates," he promised. "And the TARDIS says she'll help. I just…" He sighed and brushed his thumbs over her hips. "I want to take you someplace special."
Rose smiled at him. "Yeah, that would be nice. That would be lovely, actually."
The Doctor grinned and spun around the console. "And there will be no Tux of Doom. The dress code for this event is a bit strict, as you will discover when you go to the wardrobe room."
"What do you mean?" Rose asked.
He threw the lever, then shooed her off as the time rotor started its slow chug. "Go on; you'll find out."
Rose raised an eyebrow, but the Doctor just laughed and pushed gently on the middle of her back. "Go! I'll meet you back here in an hour."
She shook her head, but her steps were eager as she left the console room. If he'd sent her to the wardrobe room, he really was planning something special.
When Rose stepped inside the cavernous room, she immediately understood the Doctor's oblique remarks. The entire area near the door was filled with racks of red and white dresses. "Oh, these are gorgeous," Rose told the TARDIS as she flipped quickly through the first rack.
A sleeveless white satin and lace top caught her eye, and she set it aside and moved to a rack of skirts. A thought occurred to her as she rejected five taffeta skirts—if the Doctor wouldn't be in his tux because of the dress code, that must mean he'd be in red and white, too. Which, by extension, meant that for once, he'd be wearing something she'd never seen before.
Rose bit her lip, and her fingers fumbled with a few hangers. She had no idea how he'd pull off red and white, but she was positive he'd look gorgeous in his new outfit.
She paused on a long, velvet skirt in a rich shade of crimson. "Oh, that'll look amazing," she murmured, and took both garments over to her vanity so she could change.
A quick look in the mirror thirty minutes later assured Rose that she looked ready for a holiday gala. "Wish me luck," she whispered to the TARDIS as she walked out of the room, and the ship wrapped her in a warm telepathic hug.
The Doctor's back was to her when she entered the console room, and a smile tugged at her lips when she spotted his outfit. "Of course you have a red and white pinstriped suit," she teased. "Looks like it fits just like your brown one—do you just have the same suit in a variety of colours?"
"Well, I do have—"
The Doctor's sentence trailed off into silence when he turned around and caught sight of Rose. Her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders, and she'd found a red velvet cloak to wear over her dress. He took half a step toward her, already itching to feel the plush texture beneath his fingers.
She held her arms out so the cloak would fall away from her body a little, letting him see some of the gown. "What do you think?" she asked, giving a quick twirl.
"Blimey, you're gorgeous, love," he whispered. He sighed when he reached for her; the fabric of the cloak and skirt were almost as soft as her skin.
Rose's eyes lit up. "Not just considering I'm human?" Her tongue teased him, drawing his attention to her lips, painted deep red to match her gown.
He shook his head firmly. "You are gorgeous, full stop."
She tugged on his red tie until he bent down enough that she could reach his lips. I love you.
The Doctor pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. These little bits of telepathic contact only teased them both, but hopefully, if she agreed, they could have more after tonight.
He glanced down at her and locked that thought up as tightly as he possibly could; the real purpose of their trip tonight was supposed to be a surprise.
"You know," he said after he cleared his throat. "We've already landed. We should probably go outside before we miss the entire party."
Rose nodded quickly and spun away from him. "Tell me about where we are," she asked as he pushed the doors open.
The Doctor smiled at her little gasp of awe when she saw the planet. The path to the palace was lined with trees, and for the gala tonight, they'd been covered in thousands of fairy lights. The twinkling lights reflecting on the freshly fallen snow made the planet sparkle.
He shut the doors behind them and took her hand. "Ostrao is the centre of the Saulea Empire," he said as they walked towards the palace gates. "They're very big on celebrating transitions and new beginnings in this culture, so the start of the new year is the biggest holiday of all."
"And why red and white?" Rose asked. They could see other guests arriving now, all of them dressed in the same two colours.
"White symbolises newness, and red is for happiness."
They were quiet for a few minutes as they entered the palace. Like the trees, the walls and ceiling were lit with fairy lights. Red satin streamers and banners hung from the ceiling, and even the invitation the Doctor handed over at the door was red ink printed on white vellum.
"You actually had a real invitation?" Rose whispered to him. "I thought you just meant we'd use the psychic paper to get in, like usual."
"Nope!" He popped the p and bounced on his toes. "This time, I was really invited. I might have saved the current king from an assassination attempt a few years back. Or is it a few years in the future? I don't know… pretty sure it's the current king, though."
Rose giggled and poked him in the side. "You're barmy," she told him, her eyes sparkling up at him.
"And yet you love me," he countered. "What does that say about your sanity?"
They reached the cloakroom and she undid the tie on her cape. "Barking mad, me," she agreed as she slid it off and handed it to the attendant.
The Doctor swallowed hard when he got his first unobstructed view of her outfit. The white lacy top was sleeveless, leaving her shoulders bare. That was more enticing to him than cleavage would have been, and he couldn't resist pressing a line of barely-there kisses to her right shoulder.
Rose stepped away from him and took his hand. "I thought you'd like that," she whispered as they entered the ballroom.
"I'd like it if you danced with me," he countered, pulling her towards the floor. She smiled happily, but he could feel her sense of humour bubbling at the edge of his awareness, and he waited for her teasing comments.
They weren't long in coming. "Dancing first thing?" She wrapped one arm around his shoulders while he placed a hand on her waist. "No excited babbling about nibbles, or how this ballroom was designed by some famous architect?"
The Doctor shook his head and drew her close, sighing when she rested her cheek against his chest. "No more deflection, remember?" he whispered in her ear. "No more running, no more pretending."
"So all those times you came up with ridiculous facts…"
"I was trying to distract you—or myself—from the undeniable intimacy of whatever situation we'd found ourselves in," he confirmed.
She snuggled closer to him and he tightened his hold on her. "I think I like the new no-running Doctor."
"Yeah?" The Doctor tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry. "Enough to stay with him?"
Rose huffed and pulled back enough to glare at him before settling against him again. "You're daft," she said bluntly. "Of course I'm staying with you."
He managed to swallow, finally, and choke out his next question. "How—how long are you going to stay with me?"
"Forever."
She sounded so sure, so certain—like she'd never considered any other possibility. He wanted to ask her how long ago she'd made that decision, but he knew he needed to get through the next few steps before she really figured out that all the agitation she could sense telepathically was his.
The Doctor navigated them to the edge of the dance floor. "You know, you never asked if there was a reason I'd chosen this year in particular to use the invitation."
Rose looked up at him. "Is there?"
He took her hand and tugged her away from the crowds. "Oh, yes."
The Doctor's anxiety finally came through to Rose as he led her up a narrow, twisting staircase. Not for the first time, she wished they could have the same deep connection they shared while making love all the time. Being able to pick up on what he was feeling without understanding why he was upset didn't do much good.
She shot him a sidelong look. Well, at least he doesn't really look that worried, she thought. More nervous than anxious, maybe?
A moment later, her ponderings were interrupted when he led her out onto a balcony. Rose shivered in the winter night air, and the Doctor quickly wrapped her in his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder so he could whisper in her ear.
"Look up at the sky. It should start any minute."
Rose leaned back against his chest and stared at the unfamiliar stars. One twinkled, then seemed to fall through the atmosphere, and she made a wish on it as it flared and then burnt out. Please, let me stay with him forever.
Something shimmered just at the edge of her vision, and she turned her head to watch it. The small burst of colour was already fading, but another soon followed, and then another.
"It's the Northern Lights," Rose breathed.
The Doctor hummed. "Only they're much rarer on Ostrao than they are on Earth. The Saulean sun isn't nearly as active as old Sol; the aurora only happen here once or twice in a generation. And tonight is the only time in millennia of recorded history that they happen on the night of the New Year."
He hesitated for a moment, then Rose felt his mind brush against hers. She started to relax into his telepathic embrace, but he pulled back just enough to make that impossible.
"Doctor?"
He sighed, and Rose shivered when his breath tickled her neck. "Last night, you said you wished we could be like this all the time," he said, bringing his mind just a little bit closer to hers. "What would you say if I told you we could?"
Rose turned in his arms so she could see his face, but the Doctor pressed his finger to her lips before she could tell him how much she wanted that.
"Before you… before you say yes, I should explain a little." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and Rose's skin tingled where he'd touched her. "This is… it's called a bond. It's a way of tying two minds together, and…" He took a deep breath. "And it's unbreakable. If we did this, our minds would be connected for the rest of our lives."
Rose's eyes widened. "This is why you asked me how long I'm going to stay with you."
The Doctor nodded. "Yes."
The sky behind the palace was awash with colour, and in the courtyard below, Rose heard people exclaiming over the beauty. But for her, the glory of the aurora paled in comparison to what was happening there on the balcony. A permanent bond, and a promise to stay with him forever…
"This bond… it's like marriage for your people, isn't it?" she whispered.
His Adam's apple bobbed. "It was, yeah. I never thought… there was never anyone I trusted enough to be this open with, until I met you." He ran his hand through his hair. "I didn't think you'd want something like this, though, until last night."
The Doctor held his breath as he waited for Rose's answer. The comparison to marriage was the closest parallel, but a bond was still more than a human marriage. The irrevocable nature, the absolute openness and intimacy… It was what he craved, but it was quite different from what Rose's upbringing had taught her to expect in a life commitment.
Rose took his hands and stepped closer to him. "Could we do it now?"
The Doctor's hearts stopped and his eager mind nearly surged into hers unchecked, but he made himself ask one last time. "Are you positive, Rose?"
"Yeah, I am. When you're not there…" She bit her lip. "It feels lonely in my mind. I want you there with me, sharing my life as I share yours."
The Doctor blinked several times against the sudden tears that threatened. "I'm lonely without you, too," he agreed, his voice hoarse.
Rose smiled up at him. "Then let's bond, right here. It's the new year, and the universe is putting on a show, just for us."
The Doctor stumbled over his instructions in a few places, but soon enough, Rose had her hands on his temples and was pushing slowly into his mind as he worked his way into hers. He could see the colours flaring across the sky behind his closed eyelids as he recited the traditional vows, then he opened his eyes and looked down at Rose, bathed in purple light, as she promised to stay with him forever and tie their timelines together.
When they were done, he tentatively removed his hands from her temples and nearly collapsed beneath the wave of happiness and pleasure when he did not lose the connection with her. She was there in his mind, just as vibrant and real as she stood physically before him.
"Are we married now?" Rose had her arms around his neck and her lips were only an inch away from his.
"Yeah."
"Then Doctor, you may now kiss the bride."
The wide grin stretching across his face made it hard to kiss her properly, but he didn't think his new bond mate minded the slightly awkward kiss. Her giggle when her nose bumped against his turned into full-fledged laughter when he picked her up and spun her around.
"Rose Tyler," he said as he set her back down.
"Yes, love?" she asked, taking his hand and lacing their fingers together securely.
The Doctor grinned down at her, just as wide and manic as he had the night he'd met her. "Run!"
The rest of the palace guests stared in astonishment as the couple raced through the great hall and out the doors, not even stopping for Rose's cloak. Outside, it had started to snow, and they laughed again as they ran beneath the colour-changing sky back to the TARDIS.