Hey! Back again with honestly such a fun chapter! It is delightful, fun, and full of Doctor and Rose fluff. Oh and some plot...let me know how it is going!
The Dollhouse
It was day seven right now. They had been trapped without the TARDIS for one month now. The Doctor and Rose were dealing with that in completely different ways. The Doctor had thrown himself into his work at the university. And Rose had been busy as well, making the house livable for both of them. It was harder than she thought it would be, she would admit that to the Doctor, but not something she would want every day of her life.
"Hi, honey, I'm home!" the Doctor called out when he came home from work on the last day. He loved doing this, making a joke out of their situation instead of accepting that this was their life now.
"What time of day do you call this?" Rose asked. She looked towards the front room while the Doctor threw his coat onto a chair. "Your supper is getting cold now!"
"Want me to call for the flying food delivery again?" the Doctor questioned. However, his jaw almost hit the ground when he stepped into the kitchen. There was Rose, who was almost always wearing trainers and a sweatshirt, wearing a tight dress and high heels. And what was even more astonishing was the fact that Rose was actually pulling what looked like an edible meal from the oven. Even her hair was done up and curled, she look straight out of the 1950's.
Rose came over, with a straight face even, and stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. "At least have the decency to apologize."
"Uhh…sorry," the Doctor muttered. He was rather confused about what Rose was doing right now. Her face was completely serious and she looked upset, perhaps he should scan her to make sure wasn't sick or something.
"Well, don't just stand there. Come on and eat," Rose said. She seemed like she was about to turn around when she suddenly paused, got up on her tiptoes and kissed him on his cheek. The Doctor wasn't sure if the peck was too close or too far away from his lips.
After standing there dumbstruck for a moment, the Doctor followed her to the table they had yet to use. With a smile still plastered on her face, Rose scooped him out a large portion of shepherd's pie. "Wait a second, how did you find all of the ingredients for this?"
"I had to change a few things…but I was able to pull it together quite nicely," Rose explained. She looked at the Doctor, waiting for him to try the meal. It took him several moments to realize what she was waiting for. He had been too busy staring at Rose's full lips, painted bright red with lipstick.
Thankfully, the Doctor was able to snap himself out of a rather pleasurable fantasy that involved marmalade. He ate a bite of food, reassuring Rose that it was lovely and he was impressed. "What's this all about?"
"Nothing at all," Rose replied, hiding a smirk as she resumed her calm expression once more.
"Well then. How was your day, love?" the Doctor asked. If she was going to play this game he sure was going to as well. He sat back in his chair as he waited for her answer, pretending he hadn't noticed the blush in Rose's cheeks when he had called her love.
"You know. Same old, same old," Rose said, a smile in her voice. "Our nearest neighbor stopped by today. Gave us a pie…or at least I think it is a pie."
"Lovely, we will have something edible to eat for dessert," the Doctor chuckled, intercepting a sharp glare from Rose. He just winked at her instead. "What's her name? Is she nice?"
Rose sneezed, a failed attempt at hiding her giggle. It was so much funnier than she had expected and even the Doctor was playing along. "Her name is Mary-Sue. She invited us over for dinner next week and of course I graciously accepted. She said she volunteers at the local animal shelter and has six cats as well," Rose explained. The whole situation about their neighbor, entirely true, was just so ironic.
"I'll be looking forward to it," the Doctor mumbled. Even though he was trying to be sincere his sarcasm was leaking through already.
After that the evening progressed as usual, with the addition of the 1950's attitude. Around midnight Rose announced that she was going to bed and kissed the Doctor on the cheek before skipping away.
The next morning Rose announced that she was going to go find a job.
…
Rose took a deep breath before she stepped into her first day at work. She had gotten hired at the second place she applied almost on the spot and was nervous about it. Ever since her last job had gotten blown up by the Doctor she hadn't really ever thought about getting another one and settling back down into her previous life. Except now she was, but it was so much better than she ever imagined because the Doctor was here.
"Hello, Rose," the manager who had hired her, Jodie, a middle aged Indian woman, said when she saw Rose walk in. "Just go clock in at the back and I'll get someone to show you the ropes."
Rose smiled at her and did her task. It was better, she supposed, than working at a shop again. The restaurant that she was now working at seemed almost an exact copy of some that had been around in London of her time. Of course she never went to any of them, it was much too posh. But they had offered her a job to be a waitress and the pay seemed reasonable so she had accepted. The Doctor hadn't been that pleased, muttering something under his breath when she told him, but he was going to have to live with it.
"You must be Rose Tyler," a guy around her age said as he approached her. "I'm Garrett and Jodie assigned me as your mentor."
"Nice to meet you," Rose said enthusiastically. She couldn't help but appraise him. He was rather attractive. He had very dark brown hair that was curly and hung just above his bright green eyes. The rest of his features appeared rather flawless to Rose's critical eye and she could see a faint outline of his abs under his white shirt.
"Come on, I'll show you the ropes," Garrett explained, his eyes brightening as he took in Rose's appearance as well. He explained to her the standard protocol for taking orders and how to turn it in to the kitchen. Thankfully the trays levitated on their own so that was one less thing she had to worry about.
Rose's first day went on without a hitch and it had been several hours before she was able to stop taking orders and take a few minutes of break. Just her luck that Garrett happened to be there as well. "How long have you been working here?"
"A year or so," Garrett replied, deciding to take the opportunity. "You just moved here, yeah?"
"Yeah. My friend and I got a bit lost for a while. We are both so far from home, but we have to make it work here now. Just like the rest of the universe," Rose said, smiling as she imagined the Doctor at work researching something she would never quite understand. It was odd, she decided, living in this future London. But maybe, just maybe, she and the Doctor would be okay after all.
…
"I thought you were kidding!" the Doctor called from the bathroom the next week. Tonight was the night she had promised Mary-Sue they would go to her house for dinner. And she was forcing the Doctor to wear one of his new suits. He still had his trusty pinstripe one but Rose had hung it in the back of the closet, telling him he could only wear it on special occasions. Most days he just wore dress pants of various colors and a button up shirt. The thought of wearing a different suit besides his precious one was beyond him.
"Oh, you look all spiffy," Rose proclaimed as she went in to see him pouting like a child. The suit, he decided, was too plain. It was just dark blue, no pinstripes in sight. And Rose wouldn't even let him wear his trust trench coat.
"No, I look like a human," the Doctor complained. That only made Rose laugh harder as she straightened his tie for him.
"Oi, I don't look so bad, do I?" Rose asked, twirling around in her new red dress.
The Doctor reluctantly pulled his eyes up from a rather nice feature the dress accentuated. "Considering..."
After that the Doctor had pouted as Rose had pulled him to Mary-Sue's house. Thankfully, he had put on a fake smile the moment before she opened the door. As of now they were awkwardly sitting on her couch, being watched my multiple pairs of cat eyes. Cats, the Doctor remembered, he was not that fond of after their incident on New Earth.
"So, how long have the two of you been married?" Mary-Sue asked. For a woman who couldn't be older than thirty she sure did seem a bit stuffy. "I know for thousands of years couples have been living together and saying that marriage is nothing but a piece of paper. But still, it is called having a bit of decency and this world could use some of it, especially on this Earth again."
Rose exchanged a look with the Doctor to play along before she turned towards Mary-Sue. "Actually, we have only been married about a month. We moved here right after our honeymoon." Rose explained, reaching over and grabbing the Doctor's hand to be convincing. "We traveled for a bit before that. Met a few monsters along the way and decided we should come to London."
"What a nice story," Mary-Sue responded, her usual smile still on her face. She reached down and picked up one of her cats, beckoning the Doctor and Rose to follow her to the kitchen to eat.
"Had a nice honeymoon, did we?" the Doctor whispered in her ear with a devilish smirk on his face.
"Yeah, but we hardly had time to see the sights," Rose replied with an equally evil smile. "Spent too much time locked up in the bedroom."
"And the kitchen," the Doctor responded, eliciting a giggle from Rose that even Mary-Sue heard. "And the living room. And the shower. And the swimming pool. And the cupboard."
Rose actually gave the Doctor a glare at his last sentence. After that the Doctor and Rose had a perfectly nice dinner with Mary-Sue. The woman didn't have much of substance to say, but she sure seemed optimistic about everything. Especially her cats.
The evening passed rather slowly and they were relieved when Mary-Sue politely suggested they head home. Surprisingly, the Doctor had been on his best behavior and could count on one, maybe two, hands all of the rude things he had said. Of course that didn't include when he had let his hand wander a bit too low to Rose's tastes and earned a sharp nudge of her elbow in return. It wasn't his fault, it was just too amusing to pass up whilst pretending to be married.
Now back in their house eating some ice cream, as if the Doctor needed more sugar, he brought up something he had been excited to tell her. "Rose! Do you want a surprise now or later?"
"A good surprise?" Rose asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Is this like last time when you took me to the pink planet and you said the same thing? Because I don't relish having you barely make it in time to stop me from getting married to a freaking pig."
"Weeeeeellll," the Doctor began. "That wasn't my fault. You didn't have to go and put your hair up and expose your ear did you?"
"Maybe you should have told me what that meant in that planet!" Rose said. She loved arguing with the Doctor about all of the mishaps that could have been easily avoided. "Anyway, tell me the surprise now."
"Here," the Doctor stated. He passed her a thin metal thing that looked a bit like a knife. Well, except for the odd numbers engraved in it.
Rose stood for a few seconds, wondering if he was playing a joke on her. "What is it?"
"A phone," the Doctor said. He knew he did the right thing when Rose looked up at him positively beaming. "I have been working on it for a few days and I think it can call anywhere just like your last phone did."
"I can call my mum? Right now?" Rose asked, flinging her arms around the Doctor when he nodded yes. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
The Doctor awkwardly ran his hand over his neck. "Do you want me to go while you call?"
"No," Rose said, suddenly remembering the enormity of what she had to do. "Stay with me."
The Doctor nodded and reassuringly patted her back as she dialed up Jackie and waited it to connect. It felt like forever, but eventually he heard Jackie Tyler's voice.
"Rose! You haven't called in so long!" Jackie screeched when she heard her daughter's voice. But when she heard that it sounded like she was crying she became concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Mum, I can't come home anymore," Rose whispered, glad that she had the Doctor to lean on right now.
"What do you mean? Is that damn alien not letting you come home?" Jackie asked, her voice rising in panic. "Let me talk to him right now!"
Rose, her voice too thick to talk anyway, handed the phone over to the reluctant Doctor. "Hello, Jackie. Nice to hear from you, too."
"You have five seconds to explain why I shouldn't track you down and get my daughter back."
"We lost the TARDIS, Jackie," the Doctor explained, surprised when Jackie remained silent. "We are stuck here. Thousands of years in the future with no way back home."
At that statement Jackie asked for her daughter again and the Doctor happily obliged. For the next hour Rose told Jackie everything that had happened, not even caring about the tears that streamed down her cheeks. With a promise to call her as soon as possible again, Rose hung up.
"Doctor, I miss my Mum," Rose whispered what felt like hours later after her face had dried.
"I know," the Doctor responded, kissing her on the forehead. "I'm so sorry, I would give anything to get the TARDIS back, too."
"Anything?"
"Well, anything except you of course," the Doctor responded, pleased that he had managed to make Rose smile again. It was a good thing, he decided, that he had fixed the phone for her. Now her mother would never wonder where she was, thinking that she was dead.
Rose stood up to go to bed then. The Doctor stayed put, wondering what project he would throw himself into at work next. He liked his job more than he thought he would. Ida had just returned from her trip and he enjoyed her company. Plus, he was making great advancements for them with his research.
"Doctor?" Rose asked after she took a shower, poking her head around the corner. "Can you stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone."
"Okay," the Doctor said, wincing when he realized how high pitched his voice sounded. He followed Rose to her bedroom. This room was nothing like her room on the TARDIS. It was too bland for her, but it was slowly but surely filling up with Rose's personality.
"Doctor," Rose whispered when she felt the bed tip as he crawled in next to her. "I'm glad I'm trapped her with you. If it was anyone, I would want it to be you."
"Me too," the Doctor responded, wrapping his arms around Rose as she fell to sleep soon after, thinking about how odd it was. To be lying here with the pink and yellow human. It was just hitting him that this was all they had left. This wasn't an adventure anymore, this was life.
Ok this chapter is probably my favorite because it just cracks me up. So much amusement and flirtation!
Gabrielle
