Chips
Notes: Originally I had a different fic set up for the 'Ends' prompt, but I preferred this one. It's another one from my experiments with the 100 fic challenge set by LilCosette and Morph, but nothing's concrete yet regarding me claiming a character. So treat it as me simply toying with the prompt, and the wonderful Ninth Doctor.
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Rose toyed with her plastic fork, snapping the prongs off one by one. The Doctor didn't even look up from his polystyrene carton.
"Rose Tyler: Fork Slayer," he commented, using his own to stuff another chip into his mouth. Rose blinked at the mutilated plastic.
"Sorry…I was miles away," she said, trying to smile and turn it into a joke. "Few billion years actually."
The Doctor paused with a chip half way to his mouth. Then he put the fork down with a little sigh.
"Is this the part where I get domestic and ask if you wanna talk about it?" he asked dryly, idly pushing a pepper pot around on the plastic tablecloth with one hand.
"No, s'alright. I'm not asking for domestics," she said hurriedly, a little worried that she'd offended him.
"Cause I hope you know that if you do wanna talk about it…I'm a willing listener. I'm just not up for the interrogation that you humans seem to enjoy so much," he said, in the special voice he reserved for insulting other species. He paused, then added, "I won't laugh."
She picked at her sleeve a little. He waited patiently until she looked up at him, ready to talk.
"The world ended Doctor," she said. "My world…it just blew up…and I was there. And now I'm here, eating chips." She struggled to put what was bothering her into words. "It feels…so strange…"
The Doctor relaxed into his seat, arms folded, a small smile on his face. Rose scowled and poked him with what remained of her fork.
"You said you wouldn't laugh."
"I'm not!" he protested, but chuckling slightly as he said it. He leant forwards again, smiling at her. "Rose, feeling strange when your world blows up is what's meant to happen. I'd be seriously worried if you just ate your chips and carried on like a robot. You don't need to go mad, this just means that you're normal!"
"Thought you'd say something like that," she said dully, not sharing his enthusiasm. "Doesn't make me feel any better though."
His face fell slightly. "OK."
They sat in silence for a moment, neither feeling prepared to speak. Rose felt slightly guilty. He'd tried to cheer her up, and she'd thrown it right back at him.
"Your world is still here though Rose," he pointed out eventually. "It's not like I can just pop back to Gallifrey for a quick visit." He didn't sound angry, more like he was being careful to stop any emotion at all creeping into his voice.
Rose looked up immediately. "Gallifrey," she repeated, knowing instinctively what it was. She suddenly felt rather small and stupid. "Sorry," she said humbly. He reached across the table and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Don't be," he said. She gave him a small smile. He grinned back. "And don't go thinking about the end either. It's still only the beginning! I've got plenty to show you yet Rose Tyler, so don't think you're going anywhere."
"Just as long as you don't," she said, taking a deep breath and smiling properly. He laughed it off and they enjoyed the rest of their chips, chatting comfortably.
Outside in the street, the pages of a book abandoned on a park bench fluttered in the breeze as grey clouds rolled overhead. The cover of the book had been ripped off. Someone had scribbled the words 'Bad Wolf' over the first page.