Thrills

Chapter Seven: All the Fun of the Fair

All will be revealed in a moment, at the time of writing this nobody got the answer right! And if you read this, then guess, it's cheating. Shame on you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

"Two, please," Rose said to the attendant. She paid her money and accepted her change.

"Which one are we having?" the Doctor asked, looking at the metallic cars.

"The pink's pretty - but that's taken - aaw, and so's the purple ..."

"Personally, I quite like the red," the Doctor interrupted.

"Red it is." Rose climbed into the circular car, "Quite appropriate, actually, what with my name and all ..."

"That's why I picked it." The Doctor pulled the safety bar over his and Rose's heads.

"I hate my name sometimes," Rose sniffed, "Everyone's like that - I couldn't go a birthday without getting some sort of present with a rose on it. I've got about fifty rose necklaces."

"Poor you, getting birthday presents. And I think your name's pretty. It matches you."

Rose went as red as the car. She looked at her feet, trying to conceal her face, but the Doctor was already laughing at her. She didn't talk for a while.

She was embarrassed, it was true. But she was also secretly pleased.

"Are we starting soon?" she asked finally.

"You just don't walk to talk to me!"

This was also true - but Rose would rather eat another round of sugary rubbish and ride the catapult than admit it. The Doctor had guessed as much, however, and he put his hand on her arm.

"Sorry," he whispered.

Rose was about to tell him it was alright, she was actually very flattered and more thrilled than embarrassed, when with a jolt they began to move.

"We're off," was all she could manage.

"So we are. Why did I agree to coming on this again?"

"You were the one who suggested it!"

"So I was. Why?"

"What's the matter? don't you like waltzers?"

He'd found them - the glitzy kind with lots of swirly decoration and glittery paint. Rose had agreed to it at once - she'd wanted fun-scary and spinning, and she'd got it.

"They're alright - they just make me dizzy."

"They make everyone dizzy."

"I mean really dizzy."

"You're a lot wussier than I thought you were, Doctor," Rose sighed.

"No it's alright, honestly, I like being dizzy ..."

They had reached full speed. Rose was wondering whether they'd ever start spinning when the attendant grabbed their car and hurled it around. Then they hit a bump, and whizzed round in the opposite direction. Rose loved the breath-taking randomness of the waltzers.

"Dizzy yet?" she yelled to the Doctor.

"A little bit!" he shouted back. Rose was glad to hear he sounded happy.

Rose loved every minute of it, but her favourite part was when the attendant gave their car another unexpected push, sending Rose flying. She practically fell over sideways and would have landed in the Doctor's lap if it wasn't for the safety bar. He did catch her, though, and sat her back up again.

Both of them staggered off at the end with their heads spinning. They collapsed against each other, laughing their confused heads off like drunkards.

"Alright?" Rose asked.

"Never better!"

They stood in silence for a coupled of minutes, getting their balance back. The Doctor moved first - he stumbled and Rose grabbed him again.

"Sure you're alright?" she said, this time the tiniest bit concerned.

"I'm always alright, you know that!"

"Anyway, what are we going to do now we can stand up? Fairs come to life when it's dark, and it's properly dark now."

"I seriously don't mind. I never mind. It makes me sound a bit pathetic, doesn't it?"

"Of course not." Rose squeezed his hand, "You're the least pathetic person I know." The Doctor gave her a look. "Least pathetic alien I know. Whatever."

Rose could see the catapult ride clearly now. Two people were getting strapped into a kind of cage. The wire ropes didn't look like they could support it, even though they obviously could.

"Those waltzers put me in the mood," she said slowly.

"The mood for another go?"

"No, the mood to go completely OTT."

There were plenty of scary rides in the fair - more that spun, some that went up in the air - but none as high as the catapult. Rose liked the look of one that had an arm that sort of spun into the air with another spinning car on the end, or one where you didn't need seatbelts or anything because it spun so fast that the G-force held you in place.

But her eyes kept darting to the catapult ...

The Doctor saw what she was looking at, and his expression darkened.

"Rose -"

"Please?"

"If you go on there -"

"I'm not asking you to come on with me!"

The Doctor glared at her for a moment, but he soon gave in.

"OK, but you're on your own."

Rose made an excited noise. She couldn't resist giving the Doctor a quick kiss on the cheek before darting off.

Sighing, the Doctor watched the people on the ride at the moment. Their faces were on a big screen. They were both chatting - a man and a woman. He kept watching as the catapult was pulled back, and released. The looks of terror was too much for him.

"Rose! Wait!"

Rose turned round, half-way through paying.

"I'm coming with you!"

xxx

They're going on it! Well it was pretty obvious all along, but oh well.