Ok. Back from holiday, and back on computer.
I have no idea what happened with this. It seems to have tied some invisible string to my fingers and run away with me. I don't really know what it's doing any more. I'll just have to see what happens, I suppose...
Mentions to all my fantastical reviewers...
GinnyGin: Thank you very much for your many, lovely compliments. (Have I really kept them in character..?)They really made my day. :D
tulzdavampslayer: Glad it didn't put you off. Thanks for reviewing!
eeveekitty85: Yay! I managed a plot twist. lol. And that elbow thing was weird. But thanks for sharing it. : )
sora's-evil-twin.the-Bad-Wolf: I like jealous Time Lords. And I don't know what was in Rose's drink. If you like, we can pretend it was the stunned body of a pink and green ladybird from the planet Haslough. Ok?
spyrolizy: Thanks. I like people who review. :D
fobofish92: You must be psychic, because even I didn't know that was coming, lol. Thank you very much for the hippy phrases. And I miss CE too. I may have mentioned that before.
Becsy Lexi: It is very cheeky of you to ask... But no, sorry. I am a very good little teenager. Lol. I hope Fridem behaves himself too. But I no longer have any control over this story...
EbonyBeach: Thank you. Your review made me smile in a way that was oddly reminiscent of the Doctor... I hope the dinner's interesting. But I can't be sure. And the bench could have bent either because it's a strange alien planet or because there were drugs in her drink... Take your pick.
Princess Jennifer: Hehehe. You got quite into that. Yeah, CE should come back for a fluff filled Christmas special. sigh Anyway. Fridem is turning out to be pretty evil, indeed. Thanks for reviewing
Jessie Wings: I think the reason for Rose not to have dinner is that the Doctor's very jealous. And Fridem's a bit weird. Sorry if that didn't come across too well. And I hope the Doctor/Rose thing's alright for you. Thanks for reviewing!
The Angle of Hope: Well I like to spread the love. Ben's alright, I suppose, but the Doctor's numero uno. Of course. Thanks for the lovely review. Hope this chapter's ok..
quizzabella: I'm glad you're enjoying it. Thanks for reviewing!
Laseri: They are rather rude at times. Thanks for the review.
Vampirehelsing: Merci buckets. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Erin Richards: I'll try and mention Kent again sometime if it makes you that happy, lol. And you can lick your elbow? Whoa. You could become famous with that, you know. Thanks for the review!
RavenMerc: Thank you very much for all the much needed hippy info. I'm glad the story amuses you!
Spoilers: Not very many at all. Before Jack.
Disclaimer: Belongs to the BBC, as in they own it. But the role of Doctor Who belongs solely to Christopher Eccleston.
Rose squinted up at the Doctor, her mouth contorting slightly, as she struggled to suppress an amused grin.
"Doctor, it's just dinner."
"What do you mean 'just dinner'?" demanded the Doctor, "This isn't 'just dinner'. It could be dangerous, it could go too far, you could... Well, it could... I said no."
"I really sorry, Doctor," smiled Rose, sweetly, "But that made no sense at all, mate. And I can do dinner, no problem. I have had dinner with charming young men before, you know."
"But not," said the Doctor, through firmly clenched teeth, "with charming young aliens."
"Hmmm, I get your point. I mean, I've had dinner with you, and you're an alien. But somehow, I'm not sure 'charming' is the best word to describe you... And you're hardly young, either. Still, it'll be interesting to see how charming young aliens behave, anyway."
The Doctor looked like he was about to be sick.
"Rose," tried the Doctor, his voice taking on an almost desperate edge, "you can't do this. I won't let you. We're just going to go and that's that."
"And what about the part you need?"
"That doesn't matter. I'm sure I can get it elsewhere."
Rose narrowed her eyes at him and tried to read his carefully blank face.
"Am I missing something here? Does 'dinner' actually mean something else?"
"No. I don't know. I just don't think it's a good idea."
"Is Fridem a convicted rapist, or something?"
The Doctor looked startled. "No! Rose, I wouldn't take you to meet someone like that."
"Didn't think so, don't worry. Is it possible that he would attack me or otherwise?"
"No."
"So what's the problem, Doctor?" Rose sighed, exasperated.
"I just don't think you should..."
"You don't think I should or you don't want me to?" asked Rose, pointedly.
The Doctor stared expressionlessly down at her, seemingly at a loss for words.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were suffering from something called jealousy, Doctor."
"Listen, Rose," said the Doctor, shortly, "It could be dangerous. I'm not allowed to come with you. Anything could happen. Anything. Fridem's a pretty mysterious - and possibly dangerous - guy. It's not worth it."
"Now you listen, Doctor. You haven't told me what it is, but I can tell that you really want this thing for the TARDIS. And I trust you. So if you tell me you need it, I believe that you need it. You've done loads for me already – changed my life, as a matter of fact. So I think that enduring dinner with some arrogant, rich alien is a small price to pay if it'll help you out."
The Doctor stared down at her for a few seconds before his face broke into a welcome, manic grin.
"Rose Tyler," he said, barely able to keep a hint of wonder out of his voice, "you are one of the most impressive humans I've ever known."
"Shut up," said Rose, but turning a rather attractive shade of pink, despite herself. "So I'm off to have dinner. I'm afraid you'll have to spend the night with Ben – do hippies have takeouts? Have fun, be good and don't wait up," She couldn't resist ending her sentence with a mischievous grin, which widened even further when she noticed the Doctor's appalled expression.
"Oh come off it," she whispered quickly, "as if I'd ditch you for a drug-addicted business man."
And with that, she turned her back on the dismayed, but rather smug, Doctor. She approached Fridem who was waiting patiently with Ben. After a quick explanation to Ben about what was happening, Rose turned her full attention to the alien. She flashed him her widest, most attractive smile and taking his arm, led him slowly back up the steps.
The Doctor stared after them for a while, trying to grin widely in order to crush the rising anxiety he could feel beginning to surface. Suddenly, however, his face fell and he let out a long groan.
"What did she say about Ben?" he muttered to himself, as he spotted the young guy come sauntering up to him.
Wide eyed, the Doctor stared around him, wondering which would be the best escape route to take. But he was too late. Before he could start running out the gates in a melodramatic fashion, Ben had reached him and was smiling in what – the Doctor thought bitterly – he probably assumed to be a friendly and relaxed manner.
"Looks like we've got a chance to get to know each other," Ben beamed.
The Doctor sighed and resigned himself to the prospect of spending a whole evening with a male human. At least, he thought to himself, he could try and drum in the message that Rose was off-limits.
Subtly, of course.
"So," asked Fridem casually, as he generously filled up Rose's wine glass, "What do you think of our humble Peaceandlove?"
"I think it's absolutely fantastic," said Rose, inwardly smiling that she'd gotten to use the Doctor's word. What had the Gallifreyan word been again?
"Really?" Fridem beamed at her, "But I'm sure a well travelled girl like you is just saying that."
"Oh no, I mean, I've always wanted to know more about the '60s. And, well, here we are!"
"But obviously, seeing as you're with a Time Lord, you could have just gone back to the real period on Earth." He took a sip from his own wine glass, watching her carefully.
Rose's heart skipped a beat.
She widened her eyes and laughed girlishly, "I have no idea what you're talking about Mr Fridem, it sounds almost as complicated as the things the Doctor sometimes says."
Fridem narrowed his eyes a little further, but he relaxed when Rose leaned forward across the table and took his hand.
"Tell me about how you created Peaceandlove," she pleaded, in a low voice, "I'm fascinated by it all."
She leaned back in her chair and picked up her wine glass as he started to talk.
His words were all around her – he may or may not have been providing her with a detailed account of repairing his spaceship – but Rose wasn't listening.
She was trying to figure Master Fridem out. She felt as if he was playing a game with her. A game that he thought only he knew about. A game he thought Rose was too stupid and simple to realise had begun, let alone win.
She wasn't sure why she'd lied to him about the Doctor, but something had told her it was the right thing to do. Some instinctive need to protect him and some stirring distrust for Master Fridem.
Whatever he thought, Rose was going to win.
She sniffed her drink suspiciously before taking a tiny sip and smiling at Fridem, as she set it back down on the table.
"Amazing," she said, once she felt that he'd come to the end of his story, "I can't believe you did all this."
He smiled in a way which conveyed modesty, embarrassment and humility. Rose could tell he'd been practicing it in the mirror.
The same red haired woman from earlier entered the room and began serving the food. It was unlike anything Rose had ever seen before and she couldn't decide whether the plate in front of her held a main course or a starter.
"Thank you," she said, politely, as Margaret finished placing the food on the table. Margaret smiled back and quickly left.
Rose noticed Fridem watching her look at the plates and could tell he expected her to be overwhelmed by the exciting new food.
"Wow," she enthused in what she hoped was an admiring manner, "I've never seen anything like this!"
Fridem smiled slowly and indulgently as he helped himself to more wine.
"I was hoping you wouldn't have. It's the finest cuisine in this sector of the universe. You won't find anything like it anywhere else."
"I'm sure it's wonderful." Rose smiled again and began taking tiny mouthfuls. She expected it to contain some kind of drug, but she wasn't entirely sure how she could avoid eating at least some of it. The narrow-eyed gaze Fridem was regarding her with gave her some indication just how keen he was for her to eat it all up. Still, she could eat as little as possible. And try and... well, try and do something.
After a while Fridem seemed to decide that they'd eaten enough of that course and clapped his hands. Margaret came rushing in, cleared away their half empty plates and placed new ones in front of them.
As Fridem began refilling her wine glass, Rose blinked. She didn't remember finishing it. In fact, she was sure she'd only taken about two baby sips. That was strange.
"Are you ok?" asked Fridem in a concerned voice, as Rose began massaging her forehead.
"What? Yeah, I'm fine. Just, you know, a long day," Rose picked up her fork and began idly mashing up the food on her plate.
There was something she was supposed to be doing. She knew that. Something she needed to ask him.
But she couldn't quite remember. It couldn't be that important though, could it? Why shouldn't she just relax and enjoy the evening? Then she could go back with the Doctor and take Ben ho-...
Ben.
"So," asked Rose, casually, struggling to clear her mind a little, "Are there only aliens on this planet?"
"Now, I think that's one of the secrets to Peaceandlove's success," said Fridem in a low voice, leaning forward, "It's true that Peaceandlove is very popular with the alien community. But," he paused for dramatic effect, "I find that having some genuine human hippies thrown in, too, gives the planet a truly authentic feel."
"Mm, yeah." Rose tried to look impressed, "Just wondering – but how do you get the hippies here?"
"Well, to start with, I tried selling it to them. You know, telling them about how great Peaceandlove was. But they always thought I was a hallucination. So I had to turn to kidnapping."
Rose blinked in surprise at the casual way he'd mentioned it. As if it was a perfectly ordinary, every day thing to do. She could just imagine him calling Margaret from the front door; "Back later; I'm just going to kidnap some more hippies."
Rose snorted.
She covered her mouth quickly as she realised what she'd done.
"Uh, sorry," she stammered, clutching a napkin to her face, "Some food went down the wrong way."
Fridem smiled understandingly at her.
"I know what you mean. You should try the food some of those alien hippies give you. Your nose'd never recover."
Rose laughed in what she hoped was a convincing way.
"So, you don't consider yourself to be a hippy?"
"Not really, it's more of a hobby." he replied airily and flashed her a broad smile.
"Right. Hobby," Rose smiled back, temporarily blinded by his white teeth.
And then Fridem was filling up her wine glass again and Rose was beginning to feel like the world was a very wonderful place where everybody loved her. Everybody. Including Margaret; who she promptly thanked for her love and support when the large woman re-entered the room.
Fridem was talking about a new kind of spaceship and making Rose giggle. Which was strange, because after an embarrassing incident on her seventeenth birthday, she'd promised herself that she would never giggle again. And excluding when she was in the Doctor's company, she'd stuck to the promise pretty well.
She couldn't help feeling that there was something else, though. Something she'd touched on earlier, but forgotten to follow up.
But it couldn't really matter that much. She was allowed at least one night of fun. This charming young alien was being very kind to her, really, and she felt amazing. More than amazing.
She glanced mildly down at the table, where Fridem had covered her hand with his own.
"You must be very tired," he was saying, smoothly.
He was wrong. Rose wasn't feeling tired at all. She was feeling very much awake. Physically, though. Mentally, her brain had completely switched off. But physically, she was feeling very active indeed.
She felt a bit like dancing.
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