"Okay, here we are! Oh, you might want to change for this one."
"Where are we?"
"Merillia. Best banana splits in the universe, and…oh, brilliant! We've landed in the middle of the festival! In that case, wear something red." Rose watched as the Doctor grinned at the image on the view screen, nothing from this distance but a street filled with a mass of red-clad people.
"What festival?"
"Just go and change. It's a surprise!"
-
The TARDIS had materialized in the entrance to a small alleyway that led off from a main street – the one that Rose had seen on the viewer. Picking up the rather billowy skirt of the red dress she was wearing (and, she realised with a blush to match its colour, the dress that the Doctor couldn't seem to stop gawping at), she stepped out and was immediately caught up in the crush of people that filled the street. Rose found herself having to exercise a very firm grip on the Doctor's hand to keep from getting completely lost, but in the end she was back standing by the TARDIS and able to do some gawping of her own at the view.
"It's beautiful," she gasped, taking in her surroundings. Though it bore no physical resemblance, the scene reminded her of a busy street back home in London. Here though, the buildings were a little like church steeples, all glass and metal framework, adorned inside with red garlands and the occasional set of curtains where she guessed a bedroom might be. Shop fronts and market stalls lined the edges of the road, and in between them wove surprisingly human-looking men and women, all dressed in red, some dancing, some putting on street performances, some just milling around excitedly, talking and laughing.
"So, what's the celebration?" Rose asked, remembering that a festival had been mentioned.
"Heartstrike. You've heard of Venus, right? Love goddess?" Rose nodded. "Well," the Doctor continued, "they have a similar goddess here, and this is her feast day. Days, to be exact; it goes on for two days and three nights, at a time of the year when 'the stars fall'." He couldn't help but laugh at the worried expression that appeared on Rose's face at the mention of falling stars.
"I hope you don't mean that…"
"Nah! Course not! Meteor showers. They start at around midnight and don't end until dawn. The story goes that if a star falls on you, you'll find love before the sun rises."
Rose nodded again and made a noncommittal 'hmmm' sound, before quickly turning her gaze back to the packed street. Great one that was, bringing her to a place in the throes of a rampant love fest. She shook away the burning feeling that the Doctor's renewed staring was causing in the side of her head and plastered a 'cover-all' grin to her face before turning back and enquiring as to where they could get one of these famous banana splits.
The Doctor shrugged off his jacket, blushing furiously and mentally cursing himself for not being able to wipe the temptation to look from his mind, and threw it back through the doors of the TARDIS after pocketing the sonic screwdriver and his key.
"Nice shirt," commented Rose, smiling approvingly at the (rather lovely, she thought) shade of crimson he'd managed to dig out, before holding out a hand for him to take. "Can't go getting lost now, can we?" With a flutter of red skirts she dragged the Doctor into the crowd, and they began the search for (supposedly) the universe's best banana splits.