Author Notes: Written for the Weekly Drabble Challenge /a with the prompt word Succulent at lj user="doctor_donna". Hugs to lj user="cytherea999" for the beta.
The Doctor took a deep breath and flung himself off the cliff, cannonballing into the crystal blue waters below. Completely submerged in the ocean he unfurled his body and relaxed all his muscles, letting the current support him. It had to be one of the best feelings in the world. Now if only he could convince Donna to share it with him. He surfaced, looking around and finding her sitting poised on some rocks closer to shore, her toes dipping into the edge of the waves. She was still wearing her gauzy cotton wrap over her swimsuit and had wrapped her arms around her knees. She was also carefully avoiding his gaze.
The Doctor treaded water, watching his companion, replaying the conversation from earlier that day. He had thought she would jump at the chance to play in the water with him, the woman owned like a hundred bikinis for goodness sake! But when he had first suggested it she demurred. And when he had pushed, teasing her about being afraid to let him see her in her swimwear, she had blushed and flounced off to her room. He was puzzled, but not easily deterred. He had set the coordinates anyway, and brought her to the most beautiful ocean in the universe, convinced that she'd love it once they were there.
But now he was worried he had pushed her too hard. They had only been courting for a short time. Maybe he should have settled for just walking on the beach instead.
The Doctor swam up to her suddenly, popping up out of the water right in front of her and splashing her with water droplets as he swiftly ran his hand through his hair, surreptitiously restoring a little body to it to counteract the dampening effect of the water. His feet found a large rock and he stood up, the waves lapping gently at his stomach. Donna batted at him ineffectually as he leaned over her.
"Oi! You are getting me all wet!"
"That's the general idea."
"I'll just sit here on the edge and dangle my feet and watch you."
"Well at least come play with me in the shallows."
"Doesn't look that shallow to me" she demurred dubiously.
"Here, I'll hold you, you'll be alright." He beamed at her and reached out to bring her into the ocean with him. He placed his hands on her sides then removed them again quickly when he felt a shiver run through her body.
"Is the water too cold?"
She shook her head and dropped her eyes for a moment. "No, not too cold."
He was standing so close to her that water droplets from his hair bounced on her thighs as she sat on the rocks, and he had to fight not to let his eyes drift down to look the body of his scantily clad companion in her purple swimsuit. Or bikini. What she was wearing was somewhere in between the two, she had told him what it was called, but he hadn't been listening, he was too busy taking in the sight of her bare midriff.
She mumbled something he couldn't quite hear, and he leaned in closer.
"I'm scared," she repeated, louder this time.
He blinked. "Scared of what? Donna?"
"I'm scared of water, okay?" She looked up then, her eyes challenging, defensive.
"You mean, you can't swim?" Relief flooded the Timelord's body. Fear of water was so much better than fear of him, of their developing relationship, or any other permutation he'd been mentally torturing himself with ever since she had shivered under his touch. The Doctor couldn't quite suppress a tiny smile.
She shrugged, "Never learnt," she muttered, looking embarrassed. "Are you going to make fun of me now?"
He shook his head. "Why didn't you just tell me? We could have gone somewhere else, Donna. We still can, if you want?"
She inclined her head, but didn't answer. He reached out slowly, and took her hand in his, his movements measured.
"Try it, I will keep you safe, I'd never let you get hurt, Donna."
He waited, watching her expectantly, hopefully, making what he liked to think of as his pleading puppy look.
She rolled her eyes at him, or possibly at herself, and sighed in defeat.
The Doctor's grin grew impossibly wider as Donna started to slide into the water in front of him, but then his face fell a little when he saw fear flit across her features. He reached out again and held her gently, lifting her easily the rest of the way into the water before kicking away from the rock, taking them a few feet out into the waves. She gasped, "it is c-cold!"
"You get used to it," he promised. "Here, come closer."
Donna drew her knees to one side, allowing him to pull her lower body up against his own. This close he could feel her shivering. She swallowed hard, and he wondered if it was the lapping waves or his hands on her body that were making her tense up.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?" He leaned back in the water, giving her as much space as possible without letting her go.
She didn't answer, she was staring down into the blue depths, her brow furrowed.
"You are doing great." His voice was reassuring, but she was still looking down. He moved lower in the water so their faces were level, and inclined his head, trying to catch her attention. "The mineral salts in the oceans here make the water quite buoyant, do you want me to let you go?" He loosened his hold on her a little and she gave a little whimper, her head snapped up and she kicked with her legs, closing the distance between them.
"No! Doctor!"
"It's okay, it's okay, I got you," he murmured, trying to suppress a smile as Donna clung to him in panic. He had been about to suggest they move to the shallower end but now he was enjoying the feel of holding her so close. He wrapped an arm securely around her waist, and slid the other arm underneath her knees, lifting her a little further out of the water and waiting for her breathing to even out.
"Doctor?"
She was gazing down into the ocean again.
"Mmm?"
"Do you think… you know we keep going to these strange planets, and finding all these exotic life forms?"
He smiled.
"And…sometimes they aren't too friendly, and we keep running for our lives?"
"There aren't any monsters here, Donna."
"Are you sure? Not even some hungry sea creatures, just waiting to…"
He shook his head firmly. "Do you want to try swimming a little bit? I promise no alien jelly fish will nibble your toes."
She looked at him, alarm written on her face, then poked her toes up out of the water.
"My toenails are purple! They're like fishing lures, they'll attract things!"
They both regarded her toes for a moment. Then the Doctor slowly withdrew his arm from under her knees, and gently lowered her legs. Donna responded by tightening her arms around his neck. The Doctor caught his breath as her movement brought their faces closer together. He wished she wasn't so scared, or that he wasn't enjoying her clinging to him quite so much.
"I promise you, we're safe here. No intelligent life for many millennia, and nothing more complex than plankton right now. And your toes are beautiful, it would be shame to let the plankton make a succulent snack of them – they match your suit."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you taking the mickey?"
He blinked innocently. "Try stretching your legs out behind you. I'll hold you Donna, you're completely safe."
She did as he asked, cautiously at first, then kicking out in panic as her body moved lower into the water. He placed his hands at her hips to hold her up again, watching her face. "That's good! Try it again, I'll hold you."
"I'm going to sink like a lead balloon!" but even as she protested, she kicked back with her feet. As her body floated out in front of him the Doctor slid his hands from Donna's hips to her sides, his thumbs disappearing under the top she was wearing that covered down to her stomach. He lay back in the water a little, letting Donna's kicks propel him backward, and they moved together through the water.
"You're doing it Donna! You are swimming! That's my girl!"
He beamed at her and she glared at him, but he suspected she was enjoying it, despite herself.
They spent the rest of the afternoon in the water, kicking and splashing, their bodies always touching in some way. Even when he taught her how to float on her back she refused to let go of his hand. They watched the suns set from that position, floating together with only the sound of the lapping waves. The Doctor looked away from the horizon after a while, preferring instead to watch his companion. Her hair splayed out in the water behind her, beautiful in the clear blue water. She glanced over at him and smiled. Encouraged, he moved through the water until he was holding her again, in the same position as they had started out, with one hand behind her waist, and one underneath her knees. He swam with her slowly back to the shore, stopping once his feet gained purchase on the ocean bed. She looked up at him, her gaze was questioning, but her body stayed relaxed in his embrace.
"Thank you for trusting me today," he breathed.
"Thank you for not letting me drown! Are we done?"
Her tone was familiar, blunt, challenging. But it was belied by the shyness in her smile as he tightened his grip around her, and she threaded her arms around his neck once more bringing their faces closer together. He regarded her for a moment, silently asking permission. Donna's lips parted in response, but then she bit down to stop her lower lip from chattering. Was it the heat going out of the day, or nerves? The Doctor was pleased with how that day's events had helped Donna relax when he was touching her, but he didn't want to push her too far too soon.
"The suns are going down and you are getting cold again."
"Yeah. I guess we are both pretty water logged. We should go."
Neither of them moved. Then the Doctor dipped his head, bending closer to her until their noses were almost touching. Her eyes slid closed and all his tumbling thoughts crashed to a halt as she tightened her grasp on his neck just slightly, just enough to bring his lips down to hers, and kissed him.