Summary: Jack meets his predecessor as 'new companion'. 'Rax' 4.
T-shirts and Beds.
Jack winked roguishly at Rose, who walked off, laughing, and opened the door to his new room. It was weird, to say the least. He had started the day as usual – get up, have breakfast, con someone. Then, all of a sudden, BAM! He'd been fighting off hordes of gasmasked zombies, flirting with everyone and anyone and endangering his life. He grinned. What a great day.
Well, up until the moment he decided to save the world, incidentally blowing himself up in the process. Now that surprised him. He wasn't a hero, he was a con-man. But for the Doctor and Rose, well, they kind of made you forget who you were, for a while. And that rescue – shame he was on the receiving end. Still, pretty fantabulous anyway, and he had landed up with two very cute shipmates.
He shrugged off his RAF jacket and cap, tossing them over an appropriately placed chair. It hissed. Jumping back, he fell into a ready stance, his heart racing. Then, feeling foolish, he grinned and relaxed as a very indignant-looking cat appeared from under his clothes.
"Hey puss." He called as he undid his tie, looking in the wardrobe and drawers interestedly. Oddly enough, they were full of clothes, and not bad ones at that. Holding up a plain blue t-shirt, he held it against himself, and frowned. His size.
Oh well. He shrugged it off. Weirder things had happened. He found a pair of trousers and tossed them aside, deciding to shower first. When he emerged, dripping wet, his hair in his face, he felt glad to be out of the coarse uniform for once. And glad to be out of that hair gel – what did those guys think they were doing? He liked the look and all, but the amount of styling it took?
He reached out for the t-shirt, and stopped as the cat reappeared, landing from a flying leap onto the garment. Jack tilted his head as it looked straight at him.
"Oi, move it kitten-features. Off of my clothes!"
"Rrrowrr!" The cat replied, pawing at the t-shirt. Tying the towel more securely around his waist, he bodily picked up the animal, only to find it's claws were firmly dug into the garment. Carefully plucking it off, he gently threw the cat to the floor and put on the t-shirt, following it up with the trousers. Roughly drying his hair, he tossed the towel back into the bathroom, and yawned.
Turning back to the bed, he nearly groaned as he saw the black cat curled up in the middle of the bed, eying him smugly.
"Shoo!" he tried, waving his arms at the offending animal. It gave him a decidedly sardonic look, and stayed put. Jack's eyes narrowed. Moving slowly, he walked closer to the bed and pounced, only to see a blur of black fur disappear, accompanied by the sound of cloth being ripped.
"Typical. Bloody typical." Jack said, shaking his head at the mess of torn material that was his duvet. Looking across, he spied the cat sitting and washing itself by the door, and, leaping up, ran at it.
Seeing the strange new human heading straight for him, Rax stopped washing himself and ran off, hearing the sounds of a chase behind him. Inwardly, the cat smiled.
Rose was just about to get into bed when she heard the yell.
"Come back here you stupid cat!" Rolling her eyes as she recognised the voice, she went to her door and opened it, letting the animal run through and jump straight onto her bed. Jack followed quickly, but stopped at the door, panting heavily.
"I see you've met Rax."
"That damned cat ruined my bed!" he said eventually, glaring past her. She smiled fondly.
"It's just his way of saying hello."
"Saying hello?" Jack exploded, not noticing the Doctor walking along the same corridor to find out what the noise was about. "The flea-bitten thing was in my bedroom! It ruined my bed!"
"He's only a cat." Rose replied defensively.
"Are you sure?" the Doctor put in, smiling slightly. "He has an unerring habit of hiding in your room when he knows he's in trouble."
"Well, yeah." Rose blushed. "Rax likes it in here."
"And who names their cat 'Rax' anyway?" Jack said suddenly. Rose and the Doctor both pointed at each other.
"His fault." Rose said. The Doctor grinned.
"Her fault. His real name's Raxacoricofallapatorious." Jack blinked.
"I can see where 'Rax' came from."
"Just because I can't pronounce Racsi, Raxer, um, that!" Rose said hotly, flushing. She softened as said cat threaded himself around her bare ankles, giving the men a superior look.
"Well, I don't know about you two kids, but I'm off to bed." The Doctor said, biding them goodnight. Jack shot Rax one last glare, and stomped off to find some more bed linen. Laughing, Rose shut her door and went to bed.