Title: Smells Like Home
Characters: Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Rating: G
Warnings/Spoilers: None, it's pure fluff
Summary: Tonight however, the Doctor was not at all comfortable. He was puzzled. Puzzled by a human of all things. Admittedly they tended to confuse him quite often really, but he thought he'd begun to understand this particular human quite well in the three weeks or so they been travelling together, until she threw her jacket at him.
Authors Notes: Huge thanks go to eskridge77 and bloose09 over at livejournal, who provided beta help and encouragement, without which you wouldn't be reading this. That said though, I tend not to listen too well, so any remaining mistakes are all mine
Disclaimer: Not exactly all mine, see footnote for full info.
The Doctor shifted the slightly overstuffed bolster cushion into a better position on the sofa, and leant against it. He often spent time here in the library while Rose was sleeping, leaning back and reading, or occasionally napping, and had become rather attached to the soft blue cushion. After so many hours with his head resting on it, it had actually started to smell rather like the jumpers he'd grown so fond of this regeneration, and he found it oddly comforting.
Tonight however, the Doctor was not at all comfortable. He was puzzled. Puzzled by a human of all things. Admittedly they tended to confuse him quite often really, but he thought he'd begun to understand this particular human quite well in the three weeks or so they'd been travelling together, until she threw her jacket at him.
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In all fairness, things had been a little difficult the previous day, with Rose seeming a bit irritable, but he'd put that down to simple tiredness. They'd had a very long day after all. They had gotten caught up in a revolution and been arrested, escaped by crawling through some rather disgusting tunnels; and then run for their lives as usual. On their return, Rose had simply retired to her room with barely a word.
Things had started off quite well on the next world though, although Rose hadn't seemed her usual eager self when it came to dashing out into said new world, but he'd put that down to her still being a little tired. He had only let her sleep a few hours after all, which in hindsight was perhaps a bad idea, but he'd been bored and itching to get out and about again.
They'd gone to a nice quiet world this time, which he was sure she'd love. Korintas had pleasant people, nice cafes, lots of little shops, and beautiful scenery around the small harbour town they'd landed in.
As they'd wandered around though, Rose had become less and less talkative, and had even snapped at him when he'd suggested she might like to shop, which was so unlike her it had alarmed him.
When he'd suggested they return to the TARDIS so she could rest, thinking that was the best solution, she'd muttered under her breath about stupid, inconsiderate aliens, dragging her around for nothing, and stormed off ahead of him.
By the time he'd reached the TARDIS she was already inside and in the process of removing her jacket.
"Rose, what's wrong?" he asked, quietly.
"Nothing! Nothing's wrong, just..." She looked at the floor for a moment, made a small growling sound, then looked up and yelled, "Just leave me alone!" Then she threw her jacket at him, and stormed out of the control room.
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After standing there with his mouth open for a full three minutes, he finally snapped it shut, plucked her jacket off his shoulder where it had landed and tossed it over a coral strut; and stormed after her.
On reaching her room however, he'd discovered a locked door, and got no response when he'd knocked and called out to her. He'd contemplated simply unlocking the door with his sonic, but the deep hum he'd immediately received from the TARDIS, told him exactly what she thought of that idea.
"So? What do you suggest I do?" he asked aloud. All he'd received in reply was a mental picture of the library. Taking this to mean he should simply leave Rose alone for a while, he'd wandered off in the suggested direction, feeling thoroughly unsettled.
So now he sat, on his favourite sofa, lounging against his favourite blue cushion, re-reading a book on temporal mechanics that he could already recite word for word, and feeling very confused.
When his thoughts over the events of the day finally got to be more than he could stand, he got up and headed back to Rose's room, hoping she would at least speak to him now.
The door was still locked, so he'd knocked, and called out. "Rose, are you okay?"
In response he'd received a muffled, "M'okay, just leave me a while." This was followed however by a small, quiet sob. Had it not been for his Time Lord hearing he'd have missed it.
"Rose, I can hear you crying, I know you're not okay. Please let me in?"
She didn't respond this time, but after a few seconds, the lock finally clicked open, although the door remained closed. After waiting a moment, he'd opened the door and walked slowly into her room.
He'd only been in the room a couple of times since she came aboard, and all he'd really noticed was that it was very pink. Right now the lights were dimmed however, so he barely noticed even that. What he had noticed immediately though, was his companion, who was curled up in the centre of her bed, sniffing quietly into a handkerchief.
He moved slowly towards her, and when she didn't respond to his presence he sat down on the edge of the bed, and again asked quietly, "Rose, what it is? What's the matter?"
She finally looked up at him. "It's just...just girl stuff okay? I'll be fine, just leave me be for today."
The Doctor's supposedly superior intellect finally put two and two together, the irritability, the tears, the pain she must be in judging by the way she was clutching her abdomen, and actually managed to make it add up to four.
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He'd been around humans for centuries of course, and had made some small effort to study them, so he was aware of their basic biological functions. His problem in this situation though, was that although he understood things on a purely scientific level, he knew nothing about the reality of it, or how to help.
So, he went with the only course of action available to him, he asked. "How would you, erm, deal with this, if you were at home?"
Rose stared up at him for a moment, seeming confused at his question, until realisation hit. Yes, he knew what she meant, and he was offering help. She mentally slapped herself for not simply asking for help earlier. He'd have some kind of pain relief at least, right?
"I'd take some painkillers, preferably something with a muscle relaxer built in." She paused and sniffed. "Then I'd hit the chocolate, and cuddle my favourite bear till I felt better. Only, I don't have any of those things with me."
The Doctor reached out and brushed a stray hair away from her eyes and said, "I'll be right back."
He then stood up and quietly left the room, but stopped in the corridor outside to think. Pain relief he could definitely offer, that was simple, so he headed for the med-bay and found something suitable.
"Chocolate..." He mused aloud, as he walked back towards Rose's room. The TARDIS immediately sent him a mental image of a steaming mug, and on detouring to the kitchen he found a large mug, filled with hot chocolate, sitting on the counter top.
"Thank you. Now all we need is a bear replacement." He definitely didn't have any bears on board, he was certain of that, but then a thought occurred and he headed back towards the library.
On a couple of occasions he'd found Rose asleep on the sofa in there after a particularly long day. Both times she'd been cuddling his favourite cushion. Although he had no idea why she liked it, she clearly did, so it seemed as good a solution as any. He grabbed it, and headed back towards her room.
She'd curled in on herself again while he'd been gone, so he carefully extricated one of hands and pulled it towards him, then pressed the hypo-spray he'd brought with him against her wrist.
"That should kick in fairly quickly, and last about eight hours, now come on, sit up." As she did as he'd asked, he pressed the mug into her hands.
She looked at the contents of the mug, then looked up at him with a small, watery smile. "Thank you," she whispered.
After she'd drained the mug she looked at him again. "Think I'd like a nap now."
"Sounds like a plan. Here, will this help?" asked the Doctor, as he held out the soft blue cushion.
"Perfect!" she replied, with a much larger smile. Then she lay back, and snuggled into the cushion like it was indeed her favourite bear.
As the Doctor stood and walked towards the door, he quietly mused, "What is it about that cushion I wonder?"
Muffled by said cushion, but still clearly audible to him, "Smells like home."
Only later, after he'd returned to the library, did a thought occur. "The only thing that cushion smells of, is me."
End
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