A/N Bath time. ;)


Chapter 7

Rose turned from the Doctor and went into the bathing chamber to prepare the much-needed bath for both of them. Both were unarguably feeling a little...tense with the situation. Sharing a bath together certainly wasn't a part of their 'normal' routine, but this needed doing, and Rose wasn't going to back away from helping the Doctor during this time when he needed her, despite the high potential for awkwardness.

It was a generous sized chamber, a little larger than the en-suites in the TARDIS, which themselves were roomy. The floor and walls were of the same smooth gray stone as the bedchamber. A small circular window high on the left wall lit the room with the soft glow of the morning light, and luminous torches on the walls, like those in the bedchamber, added additional soft lighting to the tranquil space. The large tub was sunken in the floor and more like a small pool, nearly three meters square and about waist deep, with stone steps leading down into its depths and a stone bench across the length of the right side. The back of the tub was flanked by the wall, and tiered recesses notched into the stone, like natural shelving, held a pitcher, a cake of soap and several plush towels and smaller cloths.

Rose stepped down into the empty tub and peered about, trying to figure out how to fill it. There were four large inlets for water – one on each side of the tub – so it would fill fast. She noticed there were two bronze levers on the near side of the tub beside the steps. Rose pulled down on one, which closed the slats of the grated drain on the bottom. She pulled the second lever slowly, and water instantly began gushing in. She squeaked in surprise at the sudden force of the water and jumped back from the steamy spray. Rose climbed the steps back out of the tub. With the rate of water pouring in it would be filled very quickly.

After just about a minute, the tub was nearly full. Rose tested the water with a dip of her foot. The steamy bathwater was the perfect temperature, and it even seemed to have a natural fragrant scent, almost like jasmine but not quite. It was something a little more exotic she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"It smells like the hot springs of Mazralla Prime."

Rose spun around towards the sound of the Doctor's voice, surprised to see him there. He had apparently found the way well enough on his own. He stood in the entryway, his robe gone and clad in only his dark blue boxers. Rose had seen him in this rare state of undress the night before when she had been helping to tend his injuries. But at the time she was focused on his battered condition and had hardly been in the frame of mind to really notice anything else. She was noticing now.

Her eyes were intrinsically drawn to the strong planes, angles and ripples of his body that were normally concealed. His long legs were strong and toned, built for running. He was trim, but deceptively more muscular than he looked in those slim suits. There was a slight rippling of muscles across his abdomen, and his chest and arms were well defined. He wasn't bulky and he wasn't scrawny. In her eyes he was perfect. Even with his eyes bandaged and his body smudged here and there with the soot that had spread to his skin from his soiled suit when it had been removed, this didn't diminish the fact that he was, in a word, gorgeous.

"You're staring again," the Doctor said, his smooth voice unnervingly calm.

"I...I wasn't," Rose tried to deny. In all truthfulness it was more like...appreciative gawping. "I was just...surprised to see you there."

He stepped a few feet into the steamy room. Rose was pretty certain that if his eyes were uncovered she would see him arching a single eyebrow in that...sexy manner of his. Considering the speech-hindering effect he was already having on her, it was probably a good thing the unwittingly-seductive motion was concealed right now.

"Well, I am supposed to be coming in here to bathe, aren't I?"

"Yeah, right, 'course." Rose sputtered, then quickly turned her attention back to the tub. She knelt down at the side and pulled the lever, shutting off the flow of water. She stood back up and turned around towards him. "I'll help you step in. First let me just...um..." Oh, this was going to get awkward. "Get undressed." Possibly very awkward.

The Doctor's face was impassive as he nodded mutely.

Rose's stomach suddenly felt like it was housing a butterfly sanctuary. But he was allowing himself to be in the vulnerable position of accepting her help in this way, and Rose determined that she would extend the same openness to him.

Rose untied the sash of her robe and slipped the smooth, dark blue fabric from her shoulders. She briefly thought of keeping at least her knickers on, but she was really in need of a good proper bath with all smoke-permeated clothing gone. Besides, it wasn't like the Doctor would really even be aware of that particular detail or know one way or the other, she told herself.

He knew. His senses were always lightning-sharp, but without his sight his other senses were now exceptionally enhanced. He could detect the sound of Rose's breathing increase just slightly at the same time he heard the fabric of her robe fall to the floor in a soft rustle. He could feel the light whoosh of air being stirred around them as material swooshed over her head and she pulled off her T-shirt. And he could hear the drag of the fabric sliding down the length of her legs as she slipped out of her knickers.

He might be at a visual disadvantage, but his mind's eye was filling in the dangerously-alluring details quite vividly. The Doctor swallowed down hard. Why had he agreed to this or thought it could possibly be a good idea?

And why had they never done this before?

Rassilon, where had that thought come from? The Doctor quickly banished all such perilous thoughts. Well, 'banished' might be too strong a word. When it came down to it he was still, after all, a man.

But he was also a man who didn't allow himself to go any further with such thoughts, so he mentally reinforced his usually ironclad restraint.

Rose's bare feet slapped softly on the stone as she stepped up closer to the Doctor, her heart beating a little faster than it had a moment ago. She had tried not to overthink this ahead of time, but even though he couldn't see her, the fact that she was actually standing naked in front of the Doctor made her face burn about as hotly as his had the previous day. This rather arousing situation was stirring an intensity of feelings within her that was going to make actual bathing a very difficult task to focus on if she didn't get a grip on herself.

Silently, Rose reached out and took his hand, a gesture second-nature to them, but somehow in this moment it felt a thousand times more intimate. She turned and led him a few steps forward, the Doctor painstakingly careful to keep a safe distance between their bodies.

"Okay," Rose began, her voice sounding a little strained as she spoke, "we're right at the edge. There're five steps down into the water, and a bench we can sit on to the right once we're in. You ready?"

The Doctor cleared his throat, though his voice still came out sounding rough. "Ready." He forced his attention off the heat radiating from Rose's body and focused toward the heat radiating from the water as he sought the edge. He reached an experimental foot forward and felt the water's brim. With his hand still grasping hers, they stepped into the water together, down the steps one at a time, then waded over to the stone bench on the right side to sit.

Rose released his hand once they were both seated and sunk down into the soothing water up to her neck as she let out a long sigh, the tension starting to melt away. "Ohhh, this feels so good. Didn't realize how much I needed this." Rose had pushed the dull throb out of her mind, but her entire body had been aching since the day before.

The Doctor's own tense body relaxed measurably in the steamy bath. He sank down a little lower, letting his head rest against the back edge of the tub. "Mmm, it does feel good," he had to admit.

Opening her eyes, Rose turned her head slightly and indulged in the sight of him, hoping he was relaxed enough that his unnervingly-heightened senses wouldn't perceive her looking this time. She'd never had the chance to see him quite this open before. His face was tranquil and relaxed, his long body in a state of ease. Her eyes trailed up his masculine form and over the soft smattering of chestnut hair across his lean chest. From this proximity she could see his fair skin was dappled with light freckles similar to those of his face, and for some reason she found that all the more sexy. His shoulders rose out of the water, and his slick skin took on a warm glow in the soft light.

There was certainly no denying the strong attraction she felt. What Rose found herself realizing all the more in this moment, however, was that the attraction and feelings she held for him went so far beyond the physical. They always had, even when he existed inside a completely different body.

A few serene moments passed, and the Doctor had relaxed to the point that Rose's unexpected touch upon his skin startled him. He drew a breath and stiffened as her fingers brushed across his chest.

She pulled her hand back, splashing gently as it fell back down to the water. She had reached out without thinking, her eyes drawn to a mark on his skin. "Sorry. 'S just...there's a bruise here. I didn't notice it earlier. Looks like it's nearly faded, though. Mostly well now."

He dipped his face to his chest, as if he could see the mark in question. "Well, it was a rough landing. I'm fine, though. It doesn't hurt. Like you said, it's almost faded." The Doctor then pondered a thought that had troubled him earlier; and even though he had already asked once, he needed to re-confirm her answer. He turned his head towards her. "Are you sure you're alright, Rose? You weren't...hurt, were you? You would tell me if you were, wouldn't you?" His lips thinned as he pressed them together, his jaw tight.

In all honesty, the last thing Rose had a chance to give much thought to in this was her own condition. She might be a little tender, but she hadn't sustained injuries like the Doctor's. But as her body had slipped into the water and was soothed, she'd realized just how achingly-sore she had been. Looking at herself, Rose noticed she was mottled with quite a few black and blue marks of her own, some rather nasty ones that wouldn't heal quite as quickly as the Doctor's had. She certainly wasn't going to complain, though. She'd been through rougher scrapes than this.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rose assured him. "A few bruises maybe, but nothing more."

The Doctor's jaw tensed all the more. It didn't sit well with him that she was even bruised, but he nodded slightly, accepting that she at least wasn't injured more severely and trying to hide it for his sake.

Rose could sense the brooding unease swelling up in him again. She didn't want him dwelling on the crash any more than he already was. Time to distract him. She reached for the bar of soap on the shelf beside her and worked it up to a rich lather into one of the smaller cloths. The spicy exotic scent, similar to that of the water but stronger, wafted through the steamy air around them.

Rose reached for the Doctor's hand underwater and lifted it, handing him the soapy cloth. "Here," she said softly.

He took it without word and sat up as he began working the lather up his arms, across his chest, down his abdomen...

Rose swallowed (which wasn't an easy thing to do with a suddenly-dry mouth) and averted her eyes. He could tell if she was staring, after all, and she'd already been called out enough times. She distracted herself by reaching for another cloth and soaping up one for her own use. Rose then went about washing her own body.

Both fought to focus on their mutual tasks, but bathing together like this was one of the more unique situations they had yet experienced together, and it was making it hard to concentrate on anything that didn't involve seeing or vividly picturing what the other was doing.

Then Rose's bare thigh brushed his as she shifted, and both hitched a breath. The cloth momentarily slipped from the Doctor's hands, and he quickly groped for it, his hand managing to brush her hip in the process. Rose drew a sharp breath and held it in anticipation of where that fumbling hand might land next.

"Sorry! I–"

Rose retrieved the cloth from the water and handed it back to him. "H-here. Here you go."

"Thanks."

He sat stiffly, afraid now to even move lest he inadvertently brush against another part of her naked anatomy.

Rose cleared her throat. They both just needed to take a breath and relax. She reached for the bar of soap again. "Here, why don't I help you wash your hair?"

If possible, he tensed even more. "Rose, I can–"

"If you're not careful the soap will run down and seep through the bandage into your eyes, and I'm sure that's not exactly gonna help right now."

Bloody logic. He sighed in resignation.

"Just scoot down a little so you can tip your head back, then put your hands over your eyes while I wash. Teamwork, yeah?"

"Teamwork," he agreed, though his voice sounded slightly gravelly as he complied with her request.

Rose cupped some water in her hands and poured it on his head to moisten it, then rubbed the soap together in both her hands until it was worked into a thick foam. She moved her hands to his head. Rose expected him to stiffen again at the touch, but he literally melted beneath her like butter. His whole body relaxed from the gentle stroking. She sank her fingers deep into his thick hair, massaging back and forth through his scalp and sliding her fingers up and down the dark, soft strands.

He released a deep, contented sigh past his lips, and Rose couldn't help but smile indulgently.

"Feel good?" she asked.

A small, blissful smile crossed his lips. "Ohhh, brilliant."

He was quite obviously enjoying this as she continued caressing in long, slow strokes. And did he just...?

Rose stopped briefly, and he made a small noise of protest. "Did you just...purr?"

He stiffened a little. "Time Lords do not purr," he replied with a sniff, affronted.

"You purred!" she teased.

He harrumphed.

"But it was a very...manly purr."

"Well I'm not...purring now because you've stopped," he whinged, all aforementioned manliness gone from his voice as it rose a pitch higher.

Rose chuckled, her eyes dancing as she resumed her attentions and he instantly dissolved again. "I think I've just found your second favorite thing next to bananas."

"Hmm," he replied, blissfully distracted. "I think you missed a spot."

"I've created a monster," she joked, but continued the activity that they were both rather enjoying.

After a few pained sighs of protest, he finally relented and allowed Rose to finish. She had enjoyed it almost as much as he, but her fingers were starting to get stiff. With his body already washed and hair quite thoroughly scrubbed, all that was left to do was rinse. Rose opened the drain on the bottom of the tub to release the sudsy bathwater, and then let in a fresh stream of water. She took the pitcher sitting beside the tub and filled it, then carefully rinsed the soap from his hair. She blushed when he took the pitcher from her hands and said he could rinse his body. That was probably for the best, Rose thought.

As he did this, she then quickly washed her own hair, and was planning to just crouch on her knees (bruised as they were) beneath the spray of water gushing in from one of the inlets rather than wait for him to finish with the pitcher. But as she finished scrubbing and was squeezing out the lather from her hair, Rose felt the Doctor's hand touch her upper back and settle there.

Like the accidental brush of his hand earlier, the muscles beneath her flesh tensed and quivered once again from the sensation of his hand on her bare skin in a place he had never touched unclothed. But this time the contact was deliberate. There was no fumbling or pulling away, and she was hyper-aware of each long finger pressed to her slick skin. An errant thought passing through her mind wondered how he managed to even know where his hand would come to rest, because he could have ended up in an entirely different location. Then again, he always was a risk-taker...

Rose slowly turned to face him, and he kept his hand on her, now sliding up to her shoulder.

One hand held the pitcher, and he moved his other hand from her shoulder up to her head, slowly stroking his fingers through the sudsy strands. Rose closed her eyes and bit back a moan. She fully understood his enjoyment of her own touch earlier.

His words, if simply measured on their own, were innocent; but his voice when he spoke them sounded low and husky to her ears. "Teamwork, remember? Said I'd help, too. It's only fair I return the favor."

Never let it be said Rose was one to argue with fairness.