A/N: Written just for fun. Only 2 chapters for this one, but it probably won't be completed until I get a little more done on Don't Cage the Wolf. Bedtime humor is best humor, and Sleepy!Ten is best Ten.
Rose toweled her damp hair as she walked from her ensuite back to her bedroom. It was nice to have a hot shower before bed, and the amenities here were much classier than the flat at the Estates. The TARDIS had provided her with heated stone floors and a step-down tub, both of which were infinitely preferable to the semi-grimy shower she shared with her mum. Rose tossed her towel onto her vanity stool and gave her still-damp hair a final brush before opening her closet door.
It led, as it always did, to the multi-tiered wardrobe room. The TARDIS must have been feeling generous this evening, because Rose stepped out straight onto level "P" without having to climb a single spiral staircase. She roamed about until she found a handful of racks labeled "pajamas" and ran her hand along the differing fabric textures, favoring the silks and stretchy cotton knits over other blends.
She found one set that was such an icy blue it made her shiver. They were a bit large, but the shorts had a drawstring, and she was only sleeping anyway. The same color as the Doctor's eyes, Rose realized. Well, his old eyes. Now his matched hers, chocolate brown and laughing. She didn't love him any less since the change, but something about that very first piercing glare, that very first 'Run!' would always stay with her.
Rose finished buttoning up her shirt as she walked back towards the door to her room, but was pulled up short by a light trill and a buzzing she felt through her bare feet. She looked up to see a matching silk dressing gown on a hangar to her right. "I'm just going to sleep!" she told the TARDIS. The trill repeated itself and the buzzing increased to a tingle. "All right, if you insist. Never argue with the designated driver." Rose took the robe and put it on, tying it around her waist. She put her hands on her hips and stared in the general direction of the ceiling. "There, happy?" The grating underneath her feet warmed, soothing her chilled toes. "Well, you're welcome, then. Can I go to bed now?" She heard her closet door creak, and turned to find it open, welcoming her back into her room. Rose patted the doorframe affectionately as she walked through, closing it behind her.
She reached for the light switch, plunging her room into inky darkness—one benefit to being out in space was a decent night's sleep without streetlamps or sirens. A tiny glow from the direction of her mirror startled her at first, until she noticed that the pocket of her new dressing gown was embroidered in some sort of glow-in-the-dark thread. She traced the pattern of concentric circles with her finger, smiling at the interlocking shapes, and felt her way towards the bed. After three strides, she should have brushed the duvet with her hand. She took one more cautious step (no sense stubbing a toe), and finally felt the corner of the bed her fingers had been questing for.
Rose climbed into bed and pulled the sheets up to her chin, calming her mind and slowing her breathing, preparing herself for a good night's rest. They were off to an Eventide festival on Coraxis IV tomorrow, and festivals always meant long days full of alien customs, strange foods, and a myriad of excuses to stick very, very close to the Doctor. She drifted towards sleep, smiling to herself and rolled over.
Her eyes shot open (though it made no difference in the pitch dark room) when she felt something against her back. Something that felt suspiciously like a chest. She attempted to shake herself awake, when an arm reached around her waist, pulling her closer.
Ok, definitely dreaming, she'd almost convinced herself when she felt her hair being nuzzled. The tip of a cold nose brushed the back of her neck and she heard a soft hum of contentment. "Umm. Doctor?" she ventured.
"Oh, hello, Rose." She heard the sleepy voice not two centimeters from her ear. "Not that this isn't a lovely surprise, but do tell me. What are you doing in my room?"
"My room, you mean. When did you get here? You weren't in here when I turned off the lights." Though she was still shocked at being thrown into this situation, Rose made no move to shift her position. Not a chance.
"Been here, in my room, since you left the control room. Fancied a kip."
"Thought you didn't need sleep." She nudged the Doctor with her elbow since he couldn't see her teasing smile. He flinched away reflexively. So Time Lords were ticklish were they? She nudged him again, twice in succession.
"Stop it…" he warned, catching her elbow and pulling it back up to her side where he pinned it with his arm. By accident or by design, this served to pull her closer to him. "I don't need much," he said by way of answering her question, "but it's nice to have some stored up in case of emergency. And it's very boring 'round here when you swan off to go unconscious for hours at a time."
"That's me, the inconvenient human," Rose bemoaned theatrically, unable to keep from teasing him again.
"Rose Tyler, I never! Of all the adjectives I'd use in any language, never once would 'inconvenient' come anywhere close."
Rose smiled into the darkness. "Yeah?"
"'Stubborn', maybe. 'Relentless'. Or 'very much like her mother'."
"Oi!" Rose waggled her elbow again threateningly.
He pulled back out of her range. "By which, of course, I meant 'loyal' and 'trustworthy'."
"And that bit about my mum?"
"Couldn't put that nicely."
Oh, he was playing dirty. Rose rolled out from under his arm and, in one swift movement, attacked mercilessly, scraping her fingernails over the skin of his ribcage. He curled up, unreserved giggling bubbling from his lips. She relented only when he started gasping for breath.
Rose gave a self-satisfied smirk that no one could see and plopped back down, snuggling into the mattress. "Serves you right, always picking on other species. Now I know your weakness, you might have to be nice about it for a change."
"You know, there's an old Earth saying," the Doctor said. Rose felt him shift on the bed, but couldn't see him, or even tell where he was by the sound of his voice.. "How did it go… 'What goes around comes around'? Mmm, that's not the one. Turn-about's fair play'? No that's not quite it. Ah!" His next statement was whispered in her ear, making her jump, "'All's fair in love and war'." Abruptly, she felt two sets of fingertips drum up her sides, playing her ribs like piano keys, making her squeal and scramble for the edge of the mattress. "No you don't Miss Tyler," she heard as an arm hooked her waist, pulling her backwards. She turned, attempting to fight back, but strong, gentle hands caught her wrists. He pulled each of her palms slowly to his lips and kissed them before releasing them. "Truce?"
"For now," Rose agreed, assuming her previous position inside the curve of his torso. She reached behind her and grabbed his hand, pulling his arm back over her as it'd been before. "I'll let you know when it's over."
"Minx," he accused.
"Dunno what that is, but you're probably right." Silence fell for a few minutes. Rose felt the Doctor sigh drowsily into her shoulder, but she wasn't quite ready to let him fall asleep. "So what do you do when I 'swan off' and go to bed?"
The Doctor took a deep breath, rousing himself. She felt him lift his head up off the pillow. "Eh?"
Rose repeated the question.
"Oh, little o'this, little o'that," he said in a Scottish accent, making her giggle again. "There's always tuning the TARDIS, of course. And a lovely karaoke bar I visit whenever you have a lie-in. Mostly, though—" he trailed off. So far as Rose could figure, he sounded embarrassed. "All right, I'll tell you, but you have to promise to answer me one question right after." Rose nodded and he burrowed his face into the tiny gap between the curve of her neck and the pillow. His voice was muffled and tickled the tiny hairs on the back of her neck as he spoke, "All right, you know how we're going to that banquet tomorrow?"
"Yeah?" Rose prompted, wondering how this was relevant.
"Well, not just anyone gets invited to Eventide. And we're in the top tier of guests, completely unheard of for non-royalty," he continued
"We using the psychic paper, then?"
"I already did. While you were asleep. That's what I do, I set up these sort of things. Visited seven generations of the head family in a row to get us good enough seats."
"Good enough for what?"
"Good enough for you, Rose. Can't celebrate properly in 'standing room only' where you're not even allowed to dance."
"We're going dancing?"
"Well, sort of. You'll only be able to dance with me, I'm afraid. Any… mingling with the locals might send the wrong message, if you catch my meaning. There's another holiday, Supratide, where they lift that restriction, but it's held in the hottest part of their summer. Would you rather that one? I can go set it up right now if you like." He made to get up, but Rose held his arm fast about her waist.
"No! I mean… thanks. But like you said, it's really hot and all." She turned to face him, and brought up her hand to stroke his cheek (being extra-careful not to jab him in the eye in the darkness). "And I wouldn't really want to dance with anyone else, to be honest." She felt him smile under the light touch of her fingertips. "You weren't joking, you know. You really are so impressive."
"Quite right," he admitted, turning his cheek into the touch of her hand. "But I do have to ask, and you did promise you'd answer. Why are you wearing my pajamas?"
Rose snorted at the thought of his gangly-legged form in the light blue silk set she was currently wearing.
"Don't laugh, they were a gift! Said they matched my eyes."
When the impact of that sentence reached her, she couldn't breathe for laughing. Not this Doctor but her first Doctor—short hair, arms crossed, surly expression—going on about stupid apes in drawstring silk shorts and a matching dressing gown?
She calmed down enough to pay a little bit of attention to the Doctor, who said the set came from a resort planet called Midnight. Whenever you were finished with your treatment (Rose giggled again at the thought of the Doctor having a facial), you put on your dressing gown and it teleported you back to your room. Saved plenty of walking time, and no one had to mess about with elevators.
"Guess that's how I ended up in here. But, why were they in my part of the wardrobe, then?"
"Your part?! It's my TARDIS!"
"If you say so," Rose said, accompanied by an ominous buzzing noise from over their heads.
"Oh, shove it, you! Not you, Rose," he assured her. "I don't have a section for jimjams, she probably defaulted everything to you."
"You don't… what?"
"Well, you know how it is, shirt, undershirt, tie, jacket, coat, all those layers, it's cumbersome! If I'm going to sleep, I might as well be comfortable. Nice to have a little wiggle room once in a while."
"Hold on, are you naked?"
She could hear his mischievous grin. "Starkers."