Title: Mercurial Rhythm
Chapter: Two
Rating: T
Summary: The Doctor, Rose and Jack stop on a planet for little bit of shopping but what starts out as an innocent expedition ends up being a trip full of a lot of interesting conversations…okay, someone else write my summary for me.
Pairings/Spoilers: The Doctor(9)/Rose, OC (Not a Mary-Sue, I hope) and takes place just after The Doctor Dances

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter two, I'm glad you liked it. I'd link it, but I'm about to dash off to dinner. Thanks once again to saganmidreams for working so hard on this. Enjoy it.

Chapter Two

Having recovered from their stint in the London Blitz, the Doctor and Rose were happy to detour from their exploration of 'a hundred ways to almost die but rescue each other at the last minute'. Even the Doctor got sick of saving the universe without a break and after their recent spate of excitement he felt they deserved a bit of indulgence, a plan that Rose wholeheartedly approved.

The TARDIS dropped them flawlessly onto the surface of a planet in the Luciana system, some 120 thousand years from World War Two London. Leaping from his ship, the Doctor quickly spun so he could watch his companions' reactions to the spectacular view. He had never taken Rose there and was fairly certain it would be new to Jack, given the system's relative obscurity.

His grin widened as an incredulous gasp escaped Rose's throat at the sight of the deep purple sky stretching out over the scattered houses and buildings, its pure color reflected on the surface of the pristine white ground. Jack's reaction wasn't as expressive, but even his cynical nature couldn't completely conceal his surprise at the beauty of their surrounds. The Doctor had been to this planet many times before and knew he would always be affected by it.

"Is that snow?" Rose asked disbelievingly. She wasn't anywhere near cold enough for it to be snow, having at the Doctor's observation that "it'll be hot out" only put on light clothing. The white carpet beneath her feet was the first thing that had caught her eye when she stepped out. She'd taken in the sky and the half-light that shrouded the bizarre city, but she couldn't stop staring in confusion at the snow. The snow itself was nothing new to her, she'd even experienced Paris in winter, but the balmy summer temperature and the white snow under foot were insanely contradictory.

"Yep. Snow." The Doctor grinned at her expression of utter bafflement.

"But how can it be snow?"

The Doctor looked up and they followed his gaze to the purple sky in which a pair of deep red suns were just appearing over the horizon. "Really cold nights because the atmosphere only goes a few hundred meters up." He looked back to their feet. "Watch."

Both Jack and Rose dropped to a crouch to watch the snow quickly begin to melt away, the tiny crystals liquefying before their very eyes. It reminded Rose of the movies that used sped up images of icicles melting to signify the passing of time, but this was even more incredible because it was real and happening right in front of her.

The Doctor watched them, enjoying their fascination, but when they just kept staring at the ground, showing no sign of moving, he started to get restless. "Come on, then," he called to them, deliberately splashing through the puddles and disappearing around a corner. Rose and Jack exchanged a glance and then shot off after him.

As they wandered, he explained everything he could about the little planet they'd touched down on, from the completely mismatched architecture and the strange trees that lined the streets to the lack of people.

"You see, it's sort of like the ultimate utopia, except realistically. There's still crime, but you do something wrong and you get sent off. One chance is the only chance. So, everyone who lasts long enough here to build a house gets to do it just like they want to. Take that one over there." He pointed out a house that looked like it had been built inside out. All the furniture was on the outside, the walls just a misshapen cross of vertical metal. The large shape on what was presumably a bed snorted and rolled over, apparently unconcerned at being the focus of their attention. Rose gaped at the unusual structure as the Doctor continued to explain.

Three houses down was a large expanse of land dominated by what had to be a tree house, nestled in the branches of a giant oak. Well, Rose thought, obviously not an actual oak, since ridged brown bark had been replaced with something smooth and blue and the leaves were shades of white. Rose hadn't realized there could even be shades of white. When questioned, the Doctor muttered, "Something about backwards chlorophyll" before he pulled them along.

In fact, backwards chlorophyll made sense. Rose thought she remembered her extremely cute science teacher explaining that trees were green because of the chlorophyll and here, all the trees glistened blue and white. It was rather beautiful really and she wondered how much pleading she'd have to do to get the chance to see the trees against the snow of the night.

"Where are all the people?" she queried, skipping to catch up with the Doctor and Jack as she realized she'd been left behind in front of the tree house.

"Ah," he answered, looking at her knowingly, reiterating his supposed impressiveness with the expression. "Because of the drastic climate of the night, there's a general consensus that no one gets up before, oh," he glanced at his watch, "another fifteen minutes."

And sure enough, fifteen minutes later, with the two red suns higher in the sky and the temperature quickly moving into what Rose considered to be 'hot', doors banged open and every imaginable creature emerged. Many of them carried baskets or pushed carts, all heading in the same direction.

Having been jostled by several of the varied creatures, and pretty sure that the squat grey one had grabbed his ass, Jack tucked in behind the Doctor and Rose. "Where are they all going?"

The Doctor just grinned and continued to move with the flow of the street's occupants, the houses getting taller and the streets narrower.

When they finally reached their destination most of the market was already set up and bustling. Never in her life had Rose's senses been quite so overwhelmed. The air was growing thick with heat and humidity, wisps of something rubbing against her skin in a teasing, smoky manner. She was glad she'd taken the Doctor's advice and worn a lose tank top and left her jacket behind.

The marketplace itself seemed to contain every sight and sound in the universe, colors she didn't know existed and a surreal mixture of a hundred species conversing and a thousand products rattling against each other creating a harmony she couldn't have guessed at.

And the smells, the smells were the worst, or the best, depending on your point of view. They were so potent that she could almost taste them, spices and plants and flowers all mixed together to make the indefinable smell of the biggest marketplace she'd ever seen.

Even Jack seemed impressed, his jaw dropping as he took in the endless flood of stalls before them.

"You two be alright by yourselves for a while?" the Doctor asked.

Rose looked at him suspiciously. "Why?"

He just grinned at her, shoving something into her hands. "Here's enough to last you a few hours; I'll find you when I'm done." With that he was gone, walking off into the crowd.

The pouch he'd handed Rose was full of expensive stones, but it wasn't their value that captured his imagination; it was the image of Rose wearing one. The image was fuzzy as he never could find a way for Rose and the stone to complement each other, both being in their own right individually beautiful. Together they should have been incredible, but he couldn't get it right. Craning his neck to watch her as he walked away, he shook the half-formed picture from his thoughts, relegating the stones' place to simply something she would spend.

Back near the entrance to the marketplace, Jack looked at Rose, and Rose looked back at Jack. "You'd think he'd know by now that whenever he's not here to hold my hand I end up putting at least an entire race into jeopardy." Her grin made it clear she wasn't serious.

"Yeah, you'd think he would have worked that out. But what's the worst that could happen?" Jack replied, playing along.

She just raised an eyebrow and handed over the little leather pouch. Hands freed, she swept her hair off her face and tied it back, trying to keep its heat from her neck. She watched as Jack opened the bag, glancing in.

Bemused, he held out the bag for her to inspect. "They're Borkdill rocks."

Rose screwed up her face at the strange name. "What are we s'posed to do with Borkdill rocks?"

He raised an eyebrow at her then, remembering she wasn't around for the discovery of the Bork system, he pulled one out one of the rocks and placed it in her hand, watching as surprise then delight flittered across her face as the little jagged rock glowed mauve-white and warmed her skin. "Quite rare and worth a fortune most places. Don't judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, a rock by its name."

Grinning from ear to ear, she continued to watch the small rock, hiding it in her hands to see just how much purple light it was fluorescing. Jack continued, "I doubt there's such a thing as money here, just bartering, and these we can barter with. Anything you want you can get with these. Surely he doesn't want us to use them though? They're worth quite a bit."

Rose just smiled mischievously and took the pouch from him, slipping the Borkdill rock back in. "Or maybe he does," Jack amended, answering her grin with one of his own. Shopping with what was effectively unlimited credit did have a certain appeal.

She nodded in response, replied, "Off we go then," and moved off into the bustle of the marketplace.

Thanks for all the reviews, I hope this keeps you interested and I shall look foward to more lovely reviews.