Prompt: Rose and The Doctor are trapped somewhere and things are revealed
"Come on, it's just a bit further!"
"You've been saying that for an hour!" Rose called to The Doctor, the corner of his trench disappearing around the next in a long series of corners.
"Oh, come on! I know it's around here somewhere…." He's paused. Rose turns the corner to find him inside of a small open area in the cave they'd been exploring.
"Well, if it's here, then the lost city of Qrivic is a bit smaller than you remember. Not exactly full of chapels, is it?" Rose teases him, a smirk playing at her lips.
The Doctor runs a hand through his hair in frustration, growling softly before kicking the closest wall, "Ow! Damn it, where did I go wrong? Maybe I shouldn't have taken the last fork…" Just then there's a rumbling all around them, the ground shakes and The Doctor immediately takes Rose, pulling her with him to the floor and protecting her as dust and pebbles fill the air.
A moment later, it passes, leaving Rose coughing and murmuring, "Z'it over?"
"Yeah… But we've got bigger problems now…" The Doctor murmurs, already back on his feet, lightly touching a pile of rocks now blocking the entryway. He presses an ear to it as Rose struggles back to her feet, tapping it lightly before saying softly, "It's yards deep, maybe more. We're stuck." He sighs and Rose says quietly, "So… So we're trapped, in an underground cavern… With no way out? Aren't we gonna run out of air?"
"Well, sort of. See those holes in the ground? Air's filtering up through there, leaving through more holes in the ceiling. Gotta love the minerals here, without them, we'd suffocate." The Doctor hides a shiver in the small space quickly pulling things out of his pockets as he follows a train of thought on how to get out.
"So, we're not gonna die. At least, not right away. So how are we gonna get out?" Rose asks, working through the situation, only a few steps behind The Doctor, "What are you doing?"
"Building our way out." says The Doctor, "I can pull the same trick I did with your dad. Well, sort of. But this time I'm calling the whole TARDIS. Give me your flashlight." He holds out his hand, already half way through assembling something out of an old cell phone, a game controller, and his Tardis Key. She hands it to him quickly, and he presses it into places before zapping it with his sonic. "There. That should do it. As soon as that's charged, we're off." He grins, proud of his invention. "Alright, so no more danger. When's it gonna be finished charging, then?" Rose asks, sitting on a larger rock with a grin. "I dunno. Could be anything from five minutes to five hours. It'll ring when it's done." He sits down next to her.
Rose grins. "Well, then. Why don't we play a game while we wait?" He raises an eyebrow, questioning her with a smirk and a simple, "Oh?"
"Yeah! How about… Truth or dare?" Rose grins, looking for a way to pass the time. The Doctor smirks, "Well, can't really do much in here. How about truth or truth? No passing, unless you have a really good reason."
"Sounds fair," says Rose, "But you've got to give your reason and it has to be really good." She smiles, saying easily, liking the new game, "Who goes first?"
"Mmm, you suggested it, you go first" He says, leaning against the wall and smiling at her, just visible thanks to his own flashlight, aimed at the ceiling.
"Hmmm… Truth or truth: Do you know even half of what's in the TARDIS?" She says after a moment. He laughs, "Not even close. I like to pretend I do, but I only know about 130 of the rooms. Not a lot of time to catalog with so many adventures. I should probably do that one of these days…" He starts to daydream and plan when he's brought back to the present by Rose's voice, a simple, "Your turn, Doctor."
He laughs, looking at the ceiling and rubbing his eye. "Erm," he says, flipping through a few ideas before saying, "Oh! I know. What's the first thing you want to do when we get back?"
It's Rose's turn to laugh. "How about… Can we explore those rooms? Or is cataloging a bit more dull than that?" She's only half teasing, that bit of hesitation in her voice that she gets when she really wants something. The Doctor smiles softly, trying not to get distracted with how cute she looks when she's hopeful. "Well… I'll see if we can make an exception. Usually it's plugging numbers into the TARDIS, but…" He grins as her eyes light up, anticipating his next few words, "I think we can go exploring." He chuckles softly as he senses her excitement, and Rose bites her lip to keep herself from bouncing up and down like a five year old. He smirks and pulls her back to the game by reminding her, "Your turn."
"Erm…" She says, thinking, "What do you do when I'm asleep?" The Doctor smiles sheepishly, saying lightly, "Oh, this and that. Tinker with the Tardis mostly. I do actually sleep, you know… Just, less than humans." He shrugs, smiling at her and asking, "What do you do, or what would you do, if you found me asleep?"
She raises her eyebrows in amusement before smiling and looking at the ceiling, biting her lip slightly as she thinks, picturing him crashed out somewhere. "Erm… I dunno, make sure you're alright? If nothing's wrong either help you get back to bed or set up some pillows for you?" She turns to grin at him, tongue between her teeth as she teases, "But I'm gonna guess that's not what you meant, is it? I guess… Maybe make some tea, pop in a movie or something. I dunno, never a dull moment around you." She nudges him with her elbow with a smirk.
"Fair enough," he says, chuckling happily. "Your go." Rose laughs softly and thinks for a minute before talking. "Er… What did you want to do, when you were growing up? You know, like, childhood dreams?"
At that The Doctor falls silent, a soft look of shock on his face, not really expecting that. She quickly catches that and mumbles a soft apology, "Sorry, I mean, it's alright if you don't want to say or somethin-" "No, no, it's not that…" He cuts her off, getting a slightly flustered and embarrassed look as he continues, trying to reassure her, "No, it's fine… I wanted to be a writer, actually." He looks and sounds as shocked as Rose feels, like neither of them can believe he's actually confiding in her something to unique and private. "I wanted to write fiction, non-fiction, just about anything. As long it was about other worlds." She's stunned into silence, even as he ends it there, not sure how to respond to that. They sit in slightly awkward silence for a moment before Rose finds her voice again. "So, why didn't you?" She asks simply, genuinely supportive and interested. He rubs the back of his head, messing up his hair with a sheepish half-smile. "I did, actually. When I was young and naive. My dad wanted me in politics and when he found out… He tried to burn all my work."
Rose gasps softly, not expecting him to share anything so personal. She sees his eyes fall away as he relives the memories and scoots a hair closer on the rock. She places a gentle hand on his arm, murmuring softly, "Thanks…" He looks up at her, knowing she means he could've passed, and smiles, jumping back in the game like nothing's changed. "So!" He says, very much back to his brighter tone, "I believe that makes it my turn to ask?"
Rose isn't sure whether to laugh or sigh and just ends up smiling. "Yeah, go ahead, ask me anything!" She grins back, picking up his enthusiasm easily. "Well…" He says, "If I can ask anything…." He leans back on his elbows with a grin, barely hiding a smirk at her as he asks, completely sincere, even with his smile, "What are your honest thoughts about me?"
That catches her off her guard. Her mouth drops slightly in surprise, pink visible in her cheeks, even with the dim light. "Erm…" She stutters, at a loss for words. She's had a growing attachment to him for a long time, now, no matter how much she tried to deny it. But they were so close, how could she risk it by telling him she has feelings for him? She sees his forehead wrinkle at her silence, obviously assuming the worst. "You're brilliant," she manages to say, quickly filling the silence, "Completely mad half the time, but the most fantastic man I've ever met. You're brilliant." His face lights up and she feels like she can breathe again, catching for just a second something in his eyes… Disappointment?
She's spared having to find out as a strong wind and familiar sound of engines fill the small cavern. The TARDIS has finally arrived, and neither are sure whether it has the best or worst timing.
"Come on, then!" Calls The Doctor excitedly, already at the door and fumbling with the key, "The universe awaits! Whole planets and galaxies at our fingertips again!" He disappears into the blue box, leaving Rose laughing and shaking her head for a moment before rushing in after him, calling out in reply, "Not to mention quite a bit of cataloging to do!" A moment later the doors slam shut, the box dematerializing with a loud whoosh of engines and a barely audible, "Allonz-y!"