Chapter 3: Mate
They land on a planet that was sending distress signal to the TARDIS, and blimey, it's hot in here, wherever and whenever 'here' is, which she's still not sure about.
"Where are we?" She asks the Doctor as soon as he steps out of the TARDIS and a blast of hot air hits her through the open door.
He doesn't answer, stopping short in his path abruptly, and she just waits for him to say that three letter magic word that makes her absolutely delight in the wild, wild life she chose with him, and at the same time, want to smother him for getting them into unnecessary trouble yet again. (R-u-n).
"Could it be?" She hears a female (or so she guesses, with these aliens you can never be sure) voice from outside instead. "The Doctor?"
Oh, so they know who he is then. Now she's really really curious, and she steps out of the TARDIS too, hissing as another wave of hot air strikes against her skin and seems to set it on fire.
She squints her eyes against the glaring sunlight, and notices a small group of eleven people gathered in front of them. They notice her too, eyeing her rather curiously. Is she not dressed appropriately yet again?
"Hello!" She says cheerfully, smiling with her tongue in her teeth, and wondering if maybe she should shake someone's hand or bow or salute or something- can the daft alien please be of some help? She looks at him and finds him pulling at his ear absent-mindedly. She's on her own with the polite chit-chat again then. She decides to introduce herself. "I'm Rose. I'm his mate."
A few low whispers reach her ears, though she doesn't quiet catch the words, and a male from the group speaks. "Mate? I didn't think Time Lords had mates."
She sees the Doctor ruffling his hair again, and she knows from that look on his face that he's nervous about something. So he's going to be of absolutely nada help, excellent!
"Of course they do!" She answers, another smile lighting up her face, and when her next words form in her head, she feels her heart do a little happy dance and at the same time grow a little tired at the absence of something that she would really rather not put a finger on. "I'm his best mate!"
A gasp betrays the lips of another member of the group. "Best? How many mates does he have?"
She thinks for a moment. Well, there was Sarah, and, and, and, K9, and, oh. Her heart sinks a little as she remembers yet again just how lonely he really is through all of space and time. "Just me. I'm his only mate, I guess."
"She means companion." The Doctor adds hastily, a little flustered in a way that she secretly thinks is kind of adorable. "Now, what in Rassilon is up with the weather in the planet?"
She realizes now that she must have said something wrong. And honestly, she doesn't see what the big difference is between mate and companion, and vaguely wonders just how different Gallifreyan is from English and if she could maybe find a translation book or maybe a-
Oh.
Now it's her turn to be the one who's flustered.
So, it's the same old story, some evil alien was messing with the weather to destroy the planet and they defeat him and save the day and all the usual misadventures that comes with that.
When they reach the TARDIS, their hands are full with the banana pies that the locals insisted they take. He grins gleefully and shoves as much of a pie as he can fit into his mouth.
She laughs, happy to see him happy, and mentally prays to whoever is out there in the stars in charge of this universe to just make this smile on his face last. "Careful, you'll choke. Do you have two stomachs or what?" She jokes.
He shakes his head playfully, offering her a piece of his pie that she accepts immediately, and the butterflies in her stomach are totally not because of how he feeds her with his own hands like he's been doing a lot lately. "Sometimes, Rose Tyler, one is enough. In fact, it's all you'll ever need."
The warm smile on her face tells him she knows they're not talking about alien biology anymore.