Rose looked around with curious eyes. She was in a enclosure as large as a stadium or an auditorium that had high walls but no roof, so the sun beamed down upon them unhindered. Now that she was wearing a bathing suit instead of sweatpants and a t-shirt, the sun was considerably more welcome to her. Beneath her bare feet was the reddish orange sand, and every ten feet or so was a large sand pit. A serpentine attendant was stationed at each, and occasionally they would pour buckets of liquid into the pits. She felt The Doctor's warm breath, and his lips brushed her ear as he whispered, "That's mineral water. Filled with lot's of good nutrients. Great for skin and hair." He stepped around her and raised his voice as he walked toward the attendant stationed behind a desk at the entrance. "Hello there! My companion and I would like to bathe."The creature smiled liplissly and showed them to a nearby sand pit.
Rose stepped into the wet, burbling red sand and gasped, "Wow…uh, that feels strange." She looked up at The Doctor, who had not yet stepped in. He was wearing small, old fashioned swim trunks, and she was surprised at how vulnerable he looked with so much of his long white legs showing. His bare chest did not make her think about vulnerability however, and when his brown eyes met her's she blushed.
The Doctor sank into the mud across from her, closed his eyes, and gave a sigh of contentment "Ahh…that's brilliant."
Rose sat for a moment, and then looked at him in puzzlement, "So that's it then?"
He opened his eyes to look at her quizzically, "What, you don't like it?"
"No...I do!" She said earnestly, "It feels gorgeous; really…I just don't understand why the screaming hasn't started yet."
He gave her a look that suggested she was deranged, "What screaming?"
"Well…you know, " She groped for words, "Murder, mayhem, world denomination…screaming…we never just go some place and relax…there's always someone to save, wrongs to right."
"Sounds exciting. I can see why you missed me." The Doctor replied with a wink.
She laughed, tossing a handful of mud at him affectionately, "Cheeky bloke."
"Oh now you've started it" The Doctor said mischievously, and grabbing the bucket of mineral water the attendant was about to pour into the pit, dumped it over her head.
Rose gasped, blinking furiously, her blond hair plastered to her head. "I am sooo going to get you back for that!" She grabbed two handfuls of mud and was just about to throw them in The Doctor's face when a loud scream pierced the air. She dropped the mud and looked at him resignedly, "What did I tell you? Screaming."
To Be Continued