Author's Note: This one went in a completely different direction than I thought it would. Hope you like it!

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"So where are we off to next? Barlox 12? Oh! Famora- great shopping. Or we could go- never mind, horrid weather there. Trust me. Or we could just pop back to London for the afternoon. Sure your mum would love that."

I could only sigh then. I knew that stony, silent look. She wasn't paying any attention to me. Her mind was off somewhere else- that forest, to be exact.

She wants to talk.

"Or we could not go anywhere."

But instead of talking, she just nods, letting me know that we're not going anywhere this afternoon, and retreats into the maze of the TARDIS. I know better than to go after her. First of all, she wants her space to think. Secondly, I really don't want to have this conversation. And thirdly, I have the nasty suspicion that the TARDIS likes Rose more than me at times and, if Rose doesn't want to be found, I'll never find her.

So I just stay in the control room, finding things to tinker with, systems that could be better calibrated, corners that have needed dusting for decades. And, eventually, when even I can't find another thing to do in that room, I make my way into the back with the intention of putting the kettle on.

She's beaten me to it, though. I can hear the kettle screaming and then simmer, she's obviously taken it off the burner. I stop just outside, careful to keep her from hearing me. I feel foolish. I'm a nine-hundred year old Time Lord and I'm afraid of facing a twenty year old Human concerning a single kiss. Okay, so it was a bit more than a single kiss. We snogged. She'll get over it. I'll get over it. We can both move on- right?

She's nursing a mug between her hands. Her feet are propped up on the table, her elbows resting on her knees, the hot water warming her nose with its steam. Her eyes are focused solely on some invisible point and she doesn't notice me as I walk in. Maybe that's a good thing. I just let her continue to think as I pour myself a cup, stirring in two teaspoons of sugar. She still hasn't noticed me. I drop into the chair across from her. Her eyes finally flicker, as if something has disturbed her, and finally she's looking up at me.

I'm not good with living through consequences. I don't stick around after I've saved the world. I don't return after a companion has left. I added that last reason because I'm crap when it comes to discussing things of this nature.

"I'm sorry." Well, that's not exactly how I thought she'd start this conversation. "For kissing you back there. That was stupid. I just sort of… forgot myself."

And, after a moment, she's smiling, but only, I think, because I'm smiling at her.

"You weren't the only one."

"I noticed."

I shouldn't smile. I shouldn't encourage her. But she's got that lecherous gleam in her eyes and she's nibbling on her bottom lip. It's impossible not to.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Have you ever had a relationship with one of your companions before?"

Figures that would be the question. "No."

"Not ever?"

"Not like you mean."

"Why not?"

Why not? That's the billion dollar question, isn't it? For all those reasons. For all the rules that I've forced myself to believe in and hold so tightly to. "For lots of reasons."

She's disappointed by that answer, but I'm not exactly prepared to ramble off the complete list.

But then her entire presence shifts and she smirking up at me. That can't be good.

"Am I the first one you've snogged, then?"

I can't help but laugh at the youthful laughter in her voice. Oh, I'm sure she'd like to hear the stories about the few brief glimpses of romance I've had with my companions… On second thought, she probably wouldn't. "No."

"No?"

She wants more- I guess that I was wrong then. But this is hardly the time to start strolling down memory lane.

"You're not a virgin though, right?"

And that I laugh at, chuckle at more like. "You think after nine-hundred years I've never had sex?"

"Well it's not like I know anything about your sex life. For all I know, you're not even the male of your species… wait, are you?"

I have to force myself to breath to keep from bursting into a fit of giggles at the sheer terror and innocence in her voice. "Is that a problem?" And then I can't help the laughter and I'm prepared when she reaches across the table to smack me on my arm. "And, yes, I've had some sexual relationships."

"Just not with companions."

Not with companions.

Oh, I hate that tone of hers. That sighing tone, the one that says she's thinking too much again.

"No."

"Because…"

"Because it's not a good idea."

"Why not?"

Why not? For so many reasons. Because it will complicate things and muck up the relationship. Because it will only make it harder when she finally leaves- because she will, it's not a possibility, it's a certainty. When and how and why are the only differences from one companion to the next. Because I've lived forty-five times her life and I will live much longer after she succumbs to age. Because she's young and impressionable. Because she'll think whatever happens means more than it does. Because I don't know how to be involved with a Human, not like that. Because I can't offer her everything she would want. But mostly because my people are more focused on the emotional, the connection, and not the physical. We don't crave sex like Humans.

"Doctor?" She's reached across the table and her fingers have wrapped around mine, pulling me back to reality. "Why not?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does to me."

And I knew that, long before we ever started this conversation, but that doesn't mean I have an answer yet.

"Rose, can I ask you something? You don't have to answer."

"Sure. What is it?"

I don't know why I'm asking it, but this body is just so damn curious. "If I were any other bloke- just some guy you met at a pub in London… what would you do?"

I can see the amusement flash in her eyes and the smile that tugs at her lips as she looks away from me. "I would hope that this hypothetical normal you would offer me a drink. We would probably talk for a while, flirt a little, and I would probably have given you my mobile number before I left."

"Then what?"

"Dunno," she smiling because to her this is just a silly game, "Waited, nervously, for you to ring me and ask me out. Somewhere fun, knowing you. And sometime after that date, I probably would have jumped you." She smirking now, with her tongue peaking out from between her teeth like it always does.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Cause you're foxy." And she says it in a voice that I've never heard before. It's a voice that's somewhere between teasing and seductive and I'm not really sure how to take her statement. But, then again, she's never let me forget about what Cassandra thought of me.

That's why I smiled at her. I really need to end this conversation and stop encouraging her. But we're too far into this.

"Thing is, I'm not just some bloke you'd meet in a pub."

"No." She's doing that thing with her eyebrows when she's confused and trying to work something out. "Where is this going?"

My hand is raking through my hair, making it messier. New nervous habit, now that I actually have hair. "I'm just trying to say that… well I'm not like men you know. I'm not Human."

That didn't come out right. I'm rubbish at this. She just kind of squints at me and wait for clarification.

Well, I guess I might as well explain. This conversation will never end if I don't.

"On Gallifrey, we stopped reproducing the natural way thousands of years before I was born. Generation of us were… created, I guess. All genetics. We have sex, but we don't need it. It's not a biological imperative any more."

I'm not sure if that's helped explain anything to her, but at least it's satisfied a drop of her curiosity about my planet.

"Humans have needs. You lust after each other. We don't. I don't… really experience lust. It's very rare."

She leans away, as if distance will help her to drink in what I've told her. She's quiet for a while, but her eyes stay on me. I can't look away. I can only hold my breath, waiting. Waiting for anything. Any indication that she understands or doesn't understand or something. Anything but thoughtful silence.

"I doubt that's true. Doctor."

Cheeky little bugger, she is. "You think?"

"I think," she leans forward, arching her back so she can stare up at me. Her tongue is curving around her teeth as she smiles. "That you've just never met someone who makes you horny, is all. When you have thousands of years to choose, I guess you have time to be picky."

Oh, is she impudent. But sexy as hell.

Right, not encouraging. I'm the older, more responsible one. It's my responsibility to end this.

"I'll bet that I can prove you wrong."

Of all the places I thought this conversation might go, there was not one of them.

"Oh yeah?"

Encouragement! Why does this new mouth never listen?

"Yeah."

"And how are you going to do that?"

And so curious too! Why?

Her lips curl upwards and that mysterious spark unnerves me just a bit. She's standing, her cooled tea long forgotten. One hand reaches out for mine and, as I take it, I look up at her face. She had started out so bold, so sexy and in control, but now she looks more her age. Her bottom lip is sucked in and she's nibbling at it thoughtfully. Her eyes still have that unknown spark but it's been tamed by the uncertainty slowly clouding her face.

I really do know better. I know where we're about to take this and I know why we shouldn't. And yet I find myself squeezing her hand, even smiling in encouragement.

Well, there goes rule number one.