"Don't you look, now," chided Rose Tyler from the kitchen as she caught the Doctor trying to peek from underneath his blindfold. She heard a quiet groan escape his lips and shook her head jovially as she continued to poke and prod the scrambled eggs with a spatula. She shifted her weight on to her left leg and leaned over the stove, careful not to hurt herself, and brushed her golden blonde hair out of her face. She was preparing breakfast for herself and the Doctor- a simple meal of scrambled eggs with mozzarella cheese and a side of canned tomato sauce.
The Doctor has been so busy tinkering with the T.A.R.D.I.S ever since it malfunctioned on their last trip and sent them hurtling to Deepsky 8 in the Ivadli System. Rose fidgeted as a chill ran down her spine and crawled to her legs as she recalled their repulsive planet. It was a gas giant with an atmosphere similar to Earth, but with a foul odor and greenish appearance, with cities and trade centers buzzing with complex lifeforms with several limbs and fly-like compounded eyes and moss-colored slime oozing out of their massive pores. They floated on the hollow planet thanks to their helium-filled bladders, similar to the helium tanks strapped on to their buildings and architecture. Overall, while they had a few nice paintings and ruins, Rose didn't much like the fact that they found offense in the most insignificant things- she walked, floated rather, on the left side of the pathways one time and their guide, Negnygh, grew impatient and very cross. He- well, Rose always assumed it was a 'he' and the Doctor didn't tell her otherwise; she thought he had no better idea what pronouns to call them than she did- started rambling on about how he would have them arrested. 'For walking on the wrong side of the bloody road, honestly,' she thought irritably. Ever since they were driven away from that awful planet, the Doctor had been working all day and night trying to find the problem.
"We don't want something like that to happen again. Those were awful people, didn't seem to care that we weren't from their planet and had no knowledge about their customs...so rude," he had babbled when they came to safe ground, a large asteroid floating around the Asteroid Belt of Earth. The Doctor had said something about not wanting to "land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean by accident", so they landed on something more barren. Rose didn't mind, though. As the Doctor was fiddling with the consoles, she was in her room reading or listening to a few days of barely seeing the tired Doctor, she decided to do something nice for him.
"Damn!" she mumbled suddenly. The flames were too high and the bottom of her eggs started to burn. She hurriedly turned down the flame and poked the cheesy eggs again.
"Rose, are you alright? Be careful, okay?" called the blindfolded Doctor from the control room.
"Yeah, Doctor, I'm fine. I'm just trying not to screw up young surprise," she replied. She heard him sniff the air for a moment before worriedly asking, "Is something on fire?"
Rose laughed before saying, "No, silly. I'm not that bad at making surprises."
"What is it?"
"You're going to have to wait," she giggled, slipping her tongue out between her teeth as she smiled excitedly.
"Oh, come on, Rose, you know I don't like to wait." After a moment of silence, he taunted, "Maybe once I get the old girl up and running, you'd fancy a trip back to Deepsky 8!"
"No, Doctor. Take me there and you will never get another word out of me...or another surprise." She heard the Doctor sigh again and beg for "just a peak," but Rose refused. She worked hard on cooking this meal for them, and she didn't want the anticipation to be ruined by his impatience. Finally, she garnished the eggs with parsley, scooped the cheesy mess onto a plate and scooped three spoonfuls of the tomato sauce beside it. Then, she made a second plate for herself, with less food since she thought the Doctor might need more. He did look rather famished. She untied her "Kiss the Chef" novelty apron but didn't take it off, deciding to let it hang freely from her neck. She turned off the oven, threw the dirty utensils and pans into the sink, and made her way to the Doctor.
He looked like a mess, albeit a very hot mess. His hair was even more unkempt than usual, and his pinstriped jacket was strewn hastily over a handlebar. Sweat seeped through his shirt on his chest, back, and underarms and his forehead still glistened with a layer of sweat and dust. Rose planted his plate on a wooden tray set she found earlier and put hers on another set in front of his, so they could face each other. She quietly arranged the napkins and forks and even placed a tiger lily in a small vase where the two trays met. The Doctor began to shift anxiously in his seat. Rose stood by her seat, leaned across the table, and slowly removed the Doctor's blindfold.
The Doctor blinked and let his eyes adjust to the sudden bright light of the room. He looked at Rose and saw her excited smile, the one that reaches across her entire face and illuminates her as her tongue is visible through her teeth. She looked so beautiful when she smiles, especially like that. Her glowing face made his face brighten up as well and he sported his best grin. He loved seeing her happy. It made him happy. Rose's eyes fell to his plate and he looked down to match her gaze. His smile trembled a bit and his eyebrows rose to his hairline. Rose grew worried, "Doctor, are you alright?"
The Doctor stared at his plate and tried to smile. Half of the questionable meal in front of him was burnt to a cinder, and the other half was entirely uncooked. The sauce on the side looked too liquidy and the parsley was the only thing that looked fresh and appetizing. His stomach churned a bit and he looked at Rose, who was smiling excitedly.
"Rose, this is...this is...really nice of you. You must have put a lot of work into this, you really, really shouldn't have," he observed as he picked up the fork and poked at his food. Did he just see it move?
"Oh, please, Doctor," she uttered happily, "I know you've been really busy and tired, doing your thing with the T.A.R.D.I.S, and I haven't seen you eaten anything in the past few days, so...I just thought it would be a nice thing to do. To thank you, for all these adventures we've been on, for all the new, fantastic things I've seen that no other human on Earth has. You didn't have to take me with you. So...thanks."
The Doctor felt terrible about feeling so revolted by this pile of eggs that she had, in all good intentions, put together herself, especially when she did it as a gift. He smiled once more at his beloved companion, who sat in her seat smiling with her head tilted ever so slightly, watching him eat. He impaled a particularly soggy piece with his fork, lifted it, and waited for all the yolk to ooze back onto the plate. 'Maybe I should've picked the burned piece...' reasoned the Doctor. He gulped heavily before tilting the fork to Rose as a cheer and, regrettably, stuck it in his mouth. The moment it came into contact with his tongue, his taste buds seemed to have retreated into the muscular organ. Although it looked truly repugnant, it tasted even worse. Intermingled with the under-cooked egg were a variety of fresh cheeses which didn't taste bad and something else-completely foul. Whatever it was, the Doctor struggled to swallow it and keep it down. After the battle, the Doctor put down the fork and gasped, "It's...really...yummy. Very good. I like the cheese. If you don't finish your plate, I'll take it." He promptly thought of the last quip to save Rose from putting that in her mouth and revealing his lies, and hoped that she would just give him the rest of her food.
Rose blushed and thanked him before quickly grabbing her fork, gently picking up a large piece of burnt egg, and confidently put it in her mouth. Her eyes bulged and her face immediately contorted with less restraint than the Doctor had used and proceeded to spit the distasteful thing into her napkin. Guilty, but relieved that he no longer had to lie about her food, the Doctor followed her into the bathroom, where they gargled with water and brushed the appalling taste from their mouths. After ten minutes of scraping and spitting, the two wordlessly returned to the console room, where they sat down once more in their seats. They were both exhausted after the ordeal.
"DOCTOR, why didn't you tell me it tasted so gross? I think I'm going to throw up," she asked, irked.
"Don't worry, you won't throw up. It's just your stomach getting used to it. The nausea will be gone in a few minutes."
"Are you sure?"
"I certainly hope so, Rose," he panted, placing a hand over his stomach. "Rose, I'm sorry that I lied to you. It's just...you put yourself through so much work and effort and I really appreciate the thought, I really do, Rose, but maybe next time, you could ask the T.A.R.D.I.S for some cooking instructions?"
Rose stood up and walked closer to the controls. She paced in front of it for a few seconds before apologizing again. "I might have poisoned you, Doctor," she said.
The Doctor walked over to her, grabbed one of her hands, and looked into her eyes seriously. Then, he began to smile and laugh, and Rose, who stood in annoyance and disbelief for a moment was overwhelmed by his contagious laugh, and burst into a fit of laughter herself. The two hugged and Rose's giggles were muffled by the Doctor's chest and his chuckles echoed through the ship. When the giggled died down, the Doctor held Rose closer and planted a gentle kiss on her head.
Rose still clung to her Doctor and whispered, "What was that for?" He pulled her away, though her hands gripped his shirt in refusal.
"Just doing what the apron commands," he joshed. He made his way to the kitchen and looked unsettled at the massive piles of dirty pans that had somehow accumulated. "What about the T.A.R.D.I.S?" she called from the other room. "Oh, it could wait," the Doctor smiled.
He unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt and grabbed an apron from the cupboard. He heard Rose's footsteps nearing him, and at the entrance of the kitchen, she asked innocently, "What are you doing?"
The Doctor turned to smile at his Rose and said eagerly, "Come on in, Rose. We're cooking breakfast!"