Disclaimer: Doctor Who isn't mine. If it was things would be quite different. The BBC owns all and I bow before them.
Semi-prompted by timepetalprompts and their prompt this week to start a fic with the words 'tell me' (yes I did both a drabble and ficlet this week - I imagine the drabble comes several years after this fic :D), semi I already had this floating in my head as part of my my Still Us 'verse headcanon and was inspired to write it down rather than mention it as mere background in my forthcoming engagment fic.
A/N: Thank you so much to Moony for emergency betaing services and suggestions. Your quick assistance definitely helped make this little fic better. :)
"Tell me what you're looking for and maybe I can help."
The Doctor removed his fingers from his hair upon being addressed and stopped his pacing back and forth among the display cases now that the jewelry store was empty of other shoppers. Nobody had paid him a second glance as far as he could tell, and he was hours from London, but he could never be sure that there wasn't a cellphone lurking to take his picture because he was publicly attached to the Vitex heiress. He and Rose were lucky, the paparazzi actually left them alone most of the time, but if he was seen buying an engagement ring he doubted that would be the case. It was true that she already knew he'd be proposing properly, but he really wanted to keep the timing a surprise.
The proprietor (his name tag said Liam, owner) gave him a kind smile as he approached the Doctor. He'd shooed the short little Irish man away the first time he'd come over, but now he definitely needed assistance. The shop had thousands of rings but nothing that stood out to him as the right ring for Rose.
"An engagement ring." The Doctor replied. "I have the stone but I need to find the perfect setting for her."
The old man's eyes crinkled merrily. "What's she like?"
The Doctor grinned at him. "Absolutely fantastic. She's my best friend and the love of my," he paused for a moment and bit back the lives that had almost slipped out, "life. I could live thousands of years and I'd never find a better match. The night I met her I took her hand and saved her, and she's done the same for me many times over. She never gives up on me even when I have myself. She's brilliant,' he finished, letting out a happy sigh.
Liam's smile grew even larger as the Doctor finished his explanation. "I think I have the perfect ring."
He led the Doctor over to a corner of his shop. He went behind a case, and after unlocking it pulled out a display of rings. The colours and the stones were all different, but each ring was essentially the same design. A hand clasped heart shaped stone capped with a crown.
"These are Claddagh rings," he began, pride evident in his voice. "It's an Irish design and tradition dating back hundreds of years. The hands represent friendship, the crown loyalty, and the heart, of course, is for love."
The Doctor took the ring Liam held out to him and studied it intently. He ran his finger over every detail of the hand, heart, and crown. It was as if it had been tailor-made as a representation of his feelings for Rose. "I think she'll love it."
Liam nodded. "My wife did. Now, you said you had a stone?"
"Well, it's not heart shaped but it can be cut." He pulled out the precious stone from his pocket. A Gallifreyan sunstone. In regular light it looked like a diamond, but in the sun or direct light yellow prisms burst from it. He'd taken it from the TARDIS before Norway, hoping Rose would accept him and he could one day present it to her.
A long whistle escaped Liam's lips. "I've never seen anything like that."
Since the gentleman seemed to have no idea who he was, the Doctor flashed his psychic paper. Dr. John Noble, Gemologist, it read. "I created it myself in the lab. I'll handle the cutting and setting it myself, I just need to choose the band."
With a nod, Liam directed the Doctor's eyes back to the rings. "Now if you're using a stone with yellow tones to it, I wouldn't recommend a gold band myself. Do you have a preference for white gold or platinum?"
As the Doctor shook his head, a warm pinkish band on a non-Claddagh ring in the next case over caught his eye. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to the ring.
"Ah. That's one of my personal favorites. I don't sell it very often but it's a beautiful colour you don't see every day. It's called rose gold." He walked over to the case and took out the ring before heading back and handing it to him.
The Doctor could hardly believe his ears. Rose gold? He glanced at the sunstone and then back at the ring in his hand. He truly hadn't been going for pink and yellow - the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. The stone simply reminded him of the moment she was bathed in light and had claimed him for her own. He thought it would be fitting for an engagement ring if that day ever came and now it could be set in rose gold. Pink and yellow, his favorite colours in all the universes. This was clearly meant to be.
"Done!" he said to Liam enthusiastically. Then he stopped and glanced back at the Claddagh rings. There was no rose gold there. "Errrr," he pulled his ear nervously. "Can I get one in that colour?"
Liam gave him a cheery nod. "All our rings are available in the band of your choice. I think I might even have a rose gold Claddagh in the back. I'll be back in a moment."
The Doctor was a bundle of nerves as he waited for the old man to return. He and Rose would be leaving on vacation in two days and he planned on proposing the first night. Dumbo, he chastised himself. He knew his apprehension in asking for Jackie and Pete's permission (which they immediately granted) had caused the delay and now that hesitation might cost him being able to present her with the perfect ring. He could imagine her face when she saw it and sliding on it on her finger. It would look beautiful there, though it would never hold a candle to its wearer. Please, he thought desperately.
"You're in luck. I have one in stock," Liam told him as he came back to the sales floor and presented it to the Doctor.
He took the ring and examined it. It would look gorgeous with the sunstone and there were tiny diamonds around the band that would accentuate it nicely. "I'll take it."
"Let me just remove the stone for you and then you'll be all set." Liam reached for the ring but he shook his head.
"No, I'll buy it with the stone. I'll use it to guide my cutting."
"She's one lucky lady," the proprietor told him as he rang up the sale.
"No, I'm the lucky one." The Doctor smiled as he handed over his credit card.
end