"Mmmm, divine."
"Why, thank you." The Doctor replied, straightening his tie. "I've always thought so."
In the next seat over, Amy rolled her eyes. From behind his aviator sunglasses, her companion grinned without glancing over. They sat together in the library, beside the pool, soaking up the TARDIS-generated sunlight. Yesterday had been a busy one—they'd spent most of it on Wilex, participating in what they thought was the spring equinox festivities by weaving flower wreaths and joining in traditional folk songs. Actually, they had been preparing their own sacrificial alters. The resulting escape and heated conversation had convinced the Doctor they needed one day of relaxation before their next "mishap," as Amy put it. He preferred the term "exhilarating accidental near-misses."
"I was actually talking about the cake."
He sat up at that, staring as Pond inserted the cake-laden fork into her mouth. "Cake?"
"Mmmm." Amy pulled back the fork, licking her lips and humming with pleasure.
"When—"
"Wasn't me." She cut him off quickly, flipping the page of her magazine. It was from the 23rd century, but he wasn't scared of her finding much more than colour-changing nail polishes or twelve-base curling iron. "I found it in the kitchen. Sitting under that dome-thing. Has little pink roses everywhere on it. Little girly, if you ask me, but..."
He froze, eyes stuck on the half-eaten slice of red velvet.
"You make a fantastic cake, by the way," The Doctor added, looking down mournfully to the empty plate. "Not too sweet, light on the tongue. Fantastic idea, by the way, adding the extra teaspoon of vanilla. Really brought something to the table. Or, I suppose, the plate. But I'm thinking—"
"I didn't make that cake." Rose interrupted.
"What?"
"Yeah, I didn't. I found it on the counter, in the kitchen. Under the crystal dome thingy you always used to put pastries in. I thought maybe you made it."
"Me? No, no, no. I mean, I can bake. But I didn't make this. Are you sure you didn't?"
She rolled her eyes heavily, giggling. "I think I'd remember making a cake, Doctor…."
"Doctor?"
He snapped back into focus, blinking rapidly. "Yes?"
"I said, did you make it?" Amy tilted her head, frowning. "And then you stared off into space. For about ten minutes."
"Oh. Sorry, I…" What could he say? Well, for starters, you could answer her question."Right! No. I didn't. The TARDIS did."
Amy's frown deepened. She tossed back a sheet of red hair as she sat up. "It's never made us food before."
"It has." He corrected quickly. "It does. On special occasions."
"Such as?" Why was every step a mystery when it came to this alien? Couldn't just answer the question nice and easy.
"Oh, you know." He drifted off vaguely. "I've got to go…" And he stood to drift out the room with his words.
Minutes later found him in the consol room, standing over the consol's main screen. He just waited, unsure. Daring himself to move. Taking an unnecessary breath, he leaned over to input a few commands, then stood back to watch the screen, drawn. Were he to be observed by anyone, they would see an anxious man, guarding over his expressions with baited breath. Finally, a few words flashed upon the screen.
24.
Happy Birthday, Rose Tyler.
Without another word or sound, the Doctor stalked out of the room. He would return to Amy, to the relaxing atmosphere of the library, and to the now of his life. He would brush off the incident when Amy asked, or claim to dislike that particular flavor. He would wait for the thing to spoil, or for Amy to finish it off after a week. Then he would push the entire event to the back of his mind. May his Rose be celebrating a happy life, wherever she might be.
Sorry it's been a while. Life decided to give me a bitch-slap.
This was just a little something that popped into my mind this morning. I've developed more of a fondness for Matt Smith as the Doctor, so I decided to give him tribute today. Hope you like it!
Review, please!