When In Rome
Birthdays and The Doctor did not mix together. He could stand them and smile for the camera his human companions insisted he pose for, but unless it was Rose's birthday, he was glad when the end of the evening came and he was able to escape to his TARDIS at the end of the night and whisk his friend off for a real celebration. It had worked on Rose last year, she'd loved it. But, birthdays, The Doctor and parties, did not make the sweetest type of cocktail.
He'd intended to take Rose scooper diving on the planet Rain and watch the largest fishes in the world as they migrated to higher waters. It was known across the galaxies as being one of the most colourful sights, but the TARDIS malfunctioned and they found themselves on the planet Thunder.
It would have been like every trip, okay most trips they went on, if it hadn't been for Rose's nose for danger and her perfect amount of humility that just so happened to make her fall in love with a giant alien thunder bolt. Of course, The Doctor had intervened and managed to make her see sense before she'd agreed to marry him and they'd returned to the TARDIS with all three of their hearts in tact and beating and then, just make the Doctor's day worse, Rose had requested to go home and see her Mum.
It was Jackie Tyler's birthday.
She'd sworn to them that it was only going to be a little party. But then all of her friend and burst through the doorways wearing what looked to him like several versions of the same vampire. They swore they weren't, but he couldn't tell the difference between the length of one fang from the other.
They'd crowded in on Rose before she could even say hello and hugged the Doctor until he thought he'd never breathe again. Oxygen wasn't his favourite gas in the universe, no, if he could choose he'd pick to breathe in Banana oxygen on the planet fruit, but here he was, sulking in the corner, surrounded by drunken middle aged women with strange fetishes and dressed as Roman.
Yes.
A Roman.
The Doctor and birthdays did not mix. The Doctor, birthdays and parties didn't make the sweetest of cocktails. The Doctor, birthdays and fancy dress parties made him want to head back in time and un-invent the birthday to begin with!
"Gonna fight a lion then?"
Rose had found the sword and made him hold onto it when he stood in the corner. It wasn't his intention to dress up and god knows why he did it but Rose had seemed so happy when he told her he wasn't whisking her off before the party started.
And promised to take him to tesco and buy more Bananas.
It was the Bananas that did it.
He still glared at her.
Rose burst into laughter and jabbed his shoulder. She leant against the back wall whilst Jackie's singing screeched through the flat (to the cheer of her friends…) as she sung her heart out to some nineties pop song the Doctor dreaded to remember the name of.
"Oh come on, it's not so bad."
His glare didn't waver.
Rose giggled and crept up beside him. "Didn't stop you wearing that toga in Rome…"
"Oh you know the saying Rose," the Doctor whispered, "When in Rome…"
She raised her eyebrows and faced him. "Does that mean I'm gonna have to drag you back to Italy to do anything like this?"
The Doctor stayed quiet. He stared down at his shoes… well, tops of his toes and shuffled beneath her gaze. If there was one woman in the universe who could make him uncomfortable, it was Rose Tyler. If there was one woman in the universe who could make him do anything, it was her…
"Don't worry, we'll soon be gallivanting off before you know it. But..."
"I…"
Her finger pressed his lips and she leant up, her lips curving into a small smile.
"I get it," she whispered.
Rose edged closer towards him and traced her finger across the hem of the toga.
"It's just, if you in a toga is the only time I'm allowed to do this, then I'd better make sure I make the most of it."
The Doctor arched his eyebrows.
"Do…"
The Doctor didn't notice Jackie's song changing as her friends blasted out S Club 7's Reach at the top of their voices. He didn't notice much more apart from the smile Rose had, after she kissed him the corner that night and he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back.