Set after the events of "The Satan Pit". The Doctor refused to acknowledge the truth.

Based on a prompt from timepetalsprompts, over on Tumblr: irregular orbit.

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Rose offered him a watery smile, a pensive thing, born of devil-spawned words, nurtured by his frail reassurances of the creature's deceit. He defended his mind against the tempest of their timelines, possibilities and lies pulled into an irregular orbit around them by the approaching storm. He refused to acknowledge the certainty of the desolation they presented.

"How long are you going to stay with me?" he demanded, greedily accepting her very human hyperbole in response.

"Forever."

He clutched her to him, tracing erratic circles across her back, declarations of timeless devotion: the only truths he could communicate with conviction.