I know it's been a while. More than a while, actually. But I've been suffering from a pretty serious attack of denial. Haven't quite got over it, but I thought writing this would be a bit of therapy for me.
Please read it and review it.
Here are my grateful replies to people who've reviewed so far:
Tulzdavampslayer: Hehe. Don't worry about it. Thanks for the review.
GinnyGin: Thanks! Sorry it's taken me so long to update...
sora's-evil-twin: Ah, yes, well. You'll have to wait a leetle longer to know what the Doctor's picking up. (It's not that exciting, btw). And I like the idea of a stoned Adam. Thanks for reviewing. :D
hyperactive-frogchild: Thanks. I wish I had one of those razors too. Especially when it's so hot... I hope you like this chapter. Oh, and I like your name!
Erin Richards: Thank you very much. PS - no problem
Margaret Price: Thank you so much for your reviews. Seriously. I have tried to take the technical advice to heart (although I can't promise that I won't have made a few of the same mistakes). And the extra info about hippies was great. I'm going to work it in. Thanks again!
eeveekitty85: Hehe, thanks. I'm glad someone appreciates my slightly odd sense of humour (if you can call it that). And thanks for the dialogue advice, as you'll see; I took your words to heart. ; ). (And thanks for your... interesting reviews of my other stories. :D)
Jaydan: Thanks very much for the review – I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Grimley Fieendish: Thanks, as ever, for your reviews. You ask some interesting questions and give me some interesting information. Thanks!
Spoilers: Before Jack. Very firmly before POTW. Now very out of sync with the series.
Disclaimer: All credit for this goes to the BBC. And Christopher Eccleston who was – no, IS – fantastic. Thank you.
Rose stood inside the cool and elegantly furnished room, next to the Doctor. The Doctor stood regarding the mahogany desk and the large office chair that had its back to them.
"Master Fridem?" He asked - not nervously, but conversationally.
As the chair swung around, Rose was reminded of a scene from some Bond film where she would soon be confronted with a smirking villain. It was only a brief thought though, because as the man revealed himself, he didn't exactly look as if he was planning to blow the world up anytime soon. His eyes were dazed and far-off, while he smiled blankly at them.
"Uh...huh?" he said, pleasantly.
"I'm the Doctor," said...the Doctor, happily, as he leant forward to shake his hand. Fridem took his hand, but instead of shaking it, he stared at it mildly for a few seconds and then dropped it. "This is Rose Tyler," continued the Doctor, grinning at where she stood in the doorway. Fridem's eyes passed unconcernedly over her, before he returned to smiling inanely at the Doctor.
"Uh..." The Doctor looked close to faltering, but he bravely carried on, "I have an appointment with you for..." he looked at clock on Fridem's desk, "Now, actually. Looks like I'm on time."
"Do you?" asked Fridem, agreeably, "How nice."
The Doctor frowned at him and narrowed his eyes.
"You know," observed Rose, wryly, from behind him, "I'm not sure he's that bothered."
"Shut up," said the Doctor, amiably.
At that moment, the office door swung open behind them and a short, middle aged woman with red hair came waddling through the door. She looked a little startled to see the Doctor and Rose, but she gave them a friendly smile before proceeding over to the desk.
"Master Fridem, sir?" she asked, slightly nervously, "I have your... stuff."
Fridem frowned blearily at her, "Mar...geret? Yes. Why am I in the office? I want to be in the su-un."
Margaret smiled gently and put a mauve coloured drink in front of him.
"You can, as soon as you've drunk that," she coaxed gently.
Fridem scowled, but picked up the glass and downed its contents in one. For a few seconds he simply sat staring blankly, still holding the glass limply in his hand. Then, his eyes suddenly opened wide and he began shaking his head vigorously. It was, Rose noticed, a little like the kind of thing she did when she thought she had a spider in her hair. With a note of finality, Fridem slammed the glass back down on the desk and sat up straight. He looked at Margaret with eyes that were much clearer and smiled kindly at her.
"Thank you, Margaret," he said, his voice much crisper, "I think that's all for now." He winked at her as she turned and she left, flustered, with the empty glass.
"Sorry you had to witness that," apologised Fridem, nodding towards the Doctor, "but it seems to be the only effective way of... waking me up. Now, I'm not sure my memory is serving me correctly – would you mind telling me who you are again?"
"I'm the Doctor."
Fridem frowned at him, narrowing his eyes. "You look a little different to the last time we met," his eyes brightened, "You must know one hell of a reconstructive surgeon. Perhaps you could pass on the number? I'm getting a little sick of this face, myself."
"You know," answered the Doctor, modestly, "technology these days. Anyway, I'm here for my appointment."
"Of course," said Fridem smoothly, smiling warmly. His eyes lighted on Rose and he noticeably sat up a little straighter, "And this is?" he asked the Doctor, his face slipping easily into a disarming smile.
"This is Rose Tyler," said the Doctor, somewhat proudly, "She's my... companion."
"Delighted," said Fridem as Rose stepped forward to take his hand, "you've done well with this one," Fridem whispered to the Doctor, conspiratorially, "I'd hold onto a thing like this if I were you."
Rose felt herself blush slightly at the alien's compliment.
"Hmm," said the Doctor, vaguely, as he looked from the blushing Rose to the smiling Fridem.
"Please take a seat," said Fridem to Rose, motioning to a nearby chair.
"Don't mind if I do," said the Doctor, cheerfully, as he sank down into one of the posh seats.
"Right," said Fridem as he raised his eyebrows at Rose, comically.
Rose giggled slightly as she took the second seat. The Doctor scowled.
"And I suppose, we better be getting down to business," said Fridem kindly, as he pulled a bulging envelope from one of the drawers in his desk. "And may I say what a pleasure it is to be doing business with such attractive people?" He added, smiling towards Rose.
"Rose," started the Doctor, suddenly, "perhaps you better go enjoy the sun outside."
"Yeah, sure." said Rose, sarcastically, "We're here for the meeting, remember?"
"I know," said the Doctor, airily, "but this is going to be a very boring, strictly business meeting. Wouldn't you rather be out in the sun with the hippies?"
"To be honest," said Rose, "I'd rather be with people who can remember their names. No offence," she added nervously, in the direction of Fridem.
"None taken," reassured Fridem, giving her a repeat of his attractive grin.
"Rose," said the Doctor, slightly more sharply, "please go and... enjoy yourself. Please?" He played slightly on her emotions, "For me?"
Rose looked at him for a minute and then sighed.
"Fine. Ok, fine. I'll leave the comfort of this air conditioned office and instead go out into the heat and join a load of people who are completely off their faces. Happy?"
"Ecstatic," answered the Doctor, grinning.
Rose stared at him incredulously before standing up. Men.
"I hope to see you again later, Rose," said Fridem, charmingly.
Ok, so maybe not all men...
She closed the door carefully on the sullen Doctor and the smiling Fridem. Ok, time to go meet the hippies.
And Rose could do that, no problem. She'd seen the end of the world. She'd been held hostage by a Dalek. She could definitely handle meeting a load of aliens imitating hippies. So why did she feel so apprehensive about approaching the large group of hippies sitting in the middle of Fridem's large and overgrown lawn?
"Hi," she said, self consciously as she approached the group with the most amount of people sitting upright. "I'm Rose." She wondered whether 'hi' was the right greeting. Perhaps she should say, "Peace, man," and then collapse down next to them.
She stood hesitantly next to some long haired guy with a guitar.
"Hey," she tried again, "I'm Rose."
He blinked up at her, not pausing in his relaxed strumming of his guitar.
"Hey," he smiled, "come join us."
"Right," said Rose, uncertainly sitting down beside him in the lazy circle.
A few of the other hippies murmured out greetings of, "Hey Rose." And Rose acknowledged them with a smile.
"So," said Rose, in an attempt at conversation with the guitar guy, "what are you playing?"
"This, that," he answered nonchalantly, "in whatever way the vibes are strongest."
"Yeah," nodded Rose, raising her eyebrows, slightly, "the vibes."
"Sylo," said the guitar guy.
"Huh?" asked Rose, confusedly.
"Me. I'm Sylo. And you're... Rose. Rose. I'm Sylo."
"Oh. Nice to meet you, Sylo. So, where are you from?"
"Origin is unimportant," said Sylo, dismissively. "It matters what you are."
"And...what are you?"
"A free being. A spirit of peace. It's all you need," he assured her, happily.
"Of course," said Rose, intelligently. To her left, a dark haired girl fell back onto the grass.
"Your name," continued Sylo, "it's familiar."
"It's an earth flower," Rose helped out.
"Perfect," smiled Sylo and proceeded to sing a song about flowers.
Rose leaned back slightly onto her elbows. There was something about this place, something about Sylo's voice as he sang about the many virtues of roses that made her feel very relaxed. More relaxed than she'd felt in a long time. And apparently, her name was a symbol of beauty and free love that everyone should acknowledge and take to heart.
"Want some?" asked a wide eyed hippy to her left, who was proffering a joint, probably with an added, alien touch.
"No thanks," said Rose, carefully. Even though this place seemed so sleepy and safe, she knew it wouldn't do to start losing her senses. She'd learnt her lesson the hard way when the Doctor had taken to her to Leviantor. Running from armed guards was not easy while drunk.
"That's cool," approved the hippy and leaned clumsily over her to pass it on to Sylo. Sylo took it and inhaled deeply, his right hand still carelessly running over the guitar strings.
As the joint was passed around the circle, Rose could feel the people around her zoning out even further.
"I'm just going to go talk to someone," she said, excusing herself, as she spotted the young guy from the front steps wandering aimlessly around the outskirts of the garden. No one in the circle acknowledged her leaving, although Sylo could have muttered a lethargic, "Peace, man."
"Hey," said Rose, as she caught up with the guy. As she got closer, she was able to see that he seemed to have dunked his head in a bucket of water, if the way his brown hair was plastered to his head was any indication. "We met before. Kind of," explained Rose.
He stared at her for a few seconds and then smiled. He had a nice smile, noted Rose, idly. "The blonde girl," he acknowledged her presence, amiably.
"Otherwise known as Rose," she grinned.
"Right, like the flower," he said, smiling again. "I'm Ben."
"Nice to meet you. So, where are you from?" asked Rose, before she remembered that 'origin was unimportant'. It was just that, after all the travelling she and the Doctor had done; it had become second nature to want to learn about all the different people's homes.
But unlike Sylo, Ben seemed to have no problem with talking about his origin.
"I'm from Kent," he explained, "travelled up here with a few of my mates."
"You did?" asked Rose, confused, "So you're from Earth?"
"Um, yeah," laughed Ben, "Where else would I be from?"
Rose bit her lip. "But we're not on Earth right now."
"What?" asked Ben, "Of course we're on Earth. Where do you think we are? The moon?" He shook his head at her. "Are you tripping? Because if it's your first time, I really wouldn't accept any of Sylo's stuff - it's a bit strong for a beginner."
"I'm fine," said Rose, "Just... joking! So, what do you know about Master Fridem?" she asked, changing the subject.
"He's cool. One of his friends brought me down here, actually. I was hitchhiking and one of them gave me a lift in their van. That was one groovy van," he said, reminiscing slightly. "Although I can't remember much of the journey," he grinned, "Must have been far-out."
"I'm sure it was," said Rose, trying to match his easy smile. But in fact, she was trying to work out how what the Doctor had told her and what Ben had told her fit together. So Ben was from Earth, living on Peaceandlove, but still convinced that he was on his home planet. That made sense.
"Rose!" called a northern voice, from across the garden, "Come on!"
She turned and saw her favourite Doctor standing at the top of the steps that led down to the garden.
"That's my friend," explained Rose to Ben. She stared a Ben for a few seconds before taking his hand. "You should come with... You should come meet him."
She turned again and began heading towards the Doctor, dragging Ben behind her.
The Doctor was not going to like this, at all.
Ok, please review. And if anyone wants to pass on some hippy info or – better yet – hippy 'vocab', please feel free. : D