A/N For contextual reference, this scene coincides with Chapter 4 of the original story.


Part Two

The initial foray into this mad, precarious escapade had begun. The Doctor and Rose were now officially registered as husband and wife, and Rose was currently wearing the symbolic sign of union he had placed on her finger. She had actually accepted it from him! She had also looked at him as if he'd gone mad when he had presented it. Perhaps he had. But he wasn't turning back now.

Shortly after arrival they had then introduced themselves to the group, during which Rose casually mentioned that her decision to take up with the Doctor had been done on a trial basis. A trial basis! And she'd sounded so nonchalant about the whole thing, as if that life-altering day had been no different from any other. He'd done his best to assure her that he, for one, had no doubts she belonged in his life right from the start, but hopefully without coming across as unbecomingly sappy. She did then tell him she hadn't regretted it or looked back. He just hoped he'd never give her a reason to. Especially under these new, untested circumstances.

With introductions complete, brunch was now being served. As Rose mingled about the rustic lodge and took the domestic approach of getting to know their group, the Doctor tried to move forward for now and focus on the other reason for being here in the first place – the possibility of threatening alien activity on Earth. Thanks to the scans he was now in the discreet process of performing with the sonic screwdriver, he had just confirmed his suspicions regarding alien activity. The host couple was D'Narian in origin. If only other answers could be obtained as easily now that he and Rose were here.

His mind kept circling back to the question of how Rose felt about this situation in regards to…well…him. All in all, he didn't yet know how he was faring here. If he were keeping score he wouldn't know if he was winning or losing. Not that it was a game, despite the fact that he had to project an easygoing attitude so as not to overwhelm Rose with the torrent of emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him. Rose's emotions, however, were not yet decipherable. Whether she was aware of it or not, Rose Tyler could be a tormenting mystery. At least to alien members of the opposite sex.

In spite of this, the Doctor was finding it difficult to control his enthusiasm since arrival. He was going to be able to say and do things he never could have and perhaps never would have under different, far less opportune circumstances. The possibilities were brilliant! The potentials alone filled him with impish buoyancy.

But Rose? He couldn't help but notice that her enthusiasm seemed a bit…lacking. If nonexistent. Doubts grew and warred within him, telling him that maybe this whole thing had been a bad idea after all. Things were good between them as it was. Better than good. Things were… Well, he couldn't really define the impact Rose had on his life, on a daily basis at that. The very last thing he wanted was to lose that, making him question the risks here. But even if what they had remained safe and unchanged through this, did he really want to know with certainty that they would never have more, if that was indeed to be the case? Maybe they should just stay within safe and comfortable borders where there were no risks. No disappointments. No emotional dangers. No chance of attaining more.

The Doctor forced himself to shake off such defeated thoughts. He'd just begun, and he wasn't one to give up easily. Rose herself had always been one to remind him of that. He was just going to have to keep it up, let her see how much he enjoyed this with her, flirt mercilessly if need be to erode the walls of his own making, and resort to blatant innuendo if necessary to get her thoughts headed in the right direction. In short, he was going to pull out all the stops and woo her in a manner rivaling any human male. More or less.

His approach had to be right, though. The Doctor feared full transparency and putting too much on the line, because there would be no going back from that if it came to it. This was going to be a challenging balance of crossing into new territory while still maintaining an escape route.

He would've been lying to himself if he tried to pretend this didn't still terrify him. But again, he could simply fall back on the built-in excuse of maintaining their cover story if ever Rose seemed uncomfortable or unreceptive to his…advances. He wasn't going to pressure her. He certainly wasn't going to force affections or take advantage of her. But he was bloody well going to give this his best shot. This type of opportunity may never present itself again – an opportunity to be forward and bold while still, essentially, holding back. What better circumstances could a paradoxically reckless and repressed Time Lord ask for? Oh yes, he was going to make the most of this.

Mentally preoccupied as he was, the Doctor went about secretly sonicking his surroundings, realizing too late that he was perhaps just a wee bit sidetracked by thoughts concerning his distracting human companion. He went from bio-scanning the room at large to analyzing the origins of the items on the buffet table without appropriately switching settings. The destructive sonic waves hit a nearby orange juice carafe with unfortunate results, glass shattering and juice erupting.

Swiftly pocketing the sonic, the Doctor made a hasty retreat before being pinned with the crime, all the while hoping the object of his inhibited affections had not witnessed this little incident. It wasn't quite how he'd planned to get her attention.

Blast! How on Earth did humans cope with such distracting emotions? If he was going to go through with this, he was definitely going to have to get better at handling it. The Doctor made up his mind then and there to be the definition of calm and collected from here on out no matter what came their way over the course of the next few days. Three short days. How hard could it be?