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Chapter 20 - German Beer and Chips

They zapped into an alley next to a pub. Rose could hear music playing loudly. The Doctor held her hand tighter and smiled at her.

"Where are we?" Rose asked him.

He smiled like a loon. She could feel how excited he was. "A small village in Southern Germany. Or New Germany. Whatever. Anyway. I asked Jake about those chips you had, and he said he thought it was from here. It's a pub! Tonight, they have live music on the rooftop. Allons-y!"

She laughed as they went into the pub. The Doctor held her hand as he went over to the bar and spoke German to the bartender. Rose had no idea what he had said, but she noticed he said "Albert Crowe." The bartender shook his free hand. "Ja ja. Das es gut!"

The bartender looked back at Rose and waved with a smile. He was friendly, even if Rose had no idea what was going on. The bartender yelled to a waitress, who came over and spoke to the Doctor. They both spoke in German. Rose didn't follow.

The Doctor smiled, laughed embarrassingly, and ran his hand through his hair. Rose noticed he blushed.

"Ugh..." then he continued to speak in German.

The waitress laughed and winked at Rose as she lead them upstairs. The rooftop was crowded. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, and no one noticed that they had just walked in. Who would have ever expected Rose Tyler to show up in their small town, anyway? They all assumed she was a look alike. Plus, the brown hair wasn't as well known as her blond was.

The waitress took them to a table right in front of where the band was set up to play. The band was apparently having a break. The stars shown over the small village. No Zeppelins were anywhere to be seen. It looked like they were back in the Prime Dimension.

The night was warm and clear, so the Doctor took off his jacket and lay it on back of the chair. He moved his chair to be as close to Rose as it could possibility be and sat down with her.

The waitress took out her pad and pencil. The Doctor turned around and asked Rose something in German. Then he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No, sorry. English. What would you like to eat?" he laughed at his mistake.

Rose laughed at him. "Just chips and whatever."

"Maybe a beer?" he helped.

"Yeah." Rose agreed.

The Doctor smiled and looked back at the waitress. He ordered something he held up three fingers for. The waitress smiled and walked away.

"What did you order three of?" Rose asked him.

He rubbed his face, "Three beers, but one's for you. I used to love German beer. It's the best in the universe. I hope it's the same in this dimension."

She laughed at him. "I never knew that about you."

He smiled at her. "Oh, I'm full of surprises."

Rose held his hand, "How do you say 'chips' in German?"

He smiled at her. "Well, in New Germany, you have to ask them to not put mayonnaise on them. They do that here. Or at least, in the other Germany they did. So, you would say, 'Einmal Pommes, ohne Mayo bitte'."

Rose giggled at him. "How do you say beer?"

"Depends on what sort of beer you want. Beer itself is Bier, but there's also dark beer which is dunkles Bier. Or lager beer which is Lagerbier. Well, that's not too hard. White beer is Wiezenbier. You get the idea. German is a very throaty language. Like Judoon, but with a lot more syllables."

"But, you just said beer. I heard you." Rose told him.

He held her hand that lay on top of the table. He raised it up to his lips and kissed it. "Yeah, because if you just ask for beer, they bring you the one most people drink. And that's usually the best one."

"Clever!" Rose smiled.

He beamed at her. "That's right."

The waitress returned with their chips and beer. The Doctor spoke to the waitress again in German. He seemed to be asking a her a question. She smiled and nodded. He laughed, shook his head and mumbled. "Oh, those guys."

He asked the waitress for something holding up his hand like he was asking for five of something. She laughed and walked off.

Rose asked him as she ate the chips. "What was that about? Oh god! Yes, these are them! They are amazing!"

He drank one entire glass of his beer at once. "Oh, man. That's better than I remember."

Rose's eyes got wide. "Good grief. Slow down old man! We just got here!"

"I'll be good!" he told her as he ate some of the chips. "Oh, these are good, too!"

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Pete, Shakes and the rest of the Quauhtin sat around a table in the very back of the pub. They had a bird's eye view of the Doctor and Rose.

"What do you think?" Jake asked as he drank his beer. "Do you think he'll do it?"

Shakes shook his head and laughed. "I don't know. But, I'm enjoying this beer."

"I've never seen you drink before."

"Quauhtin don't drink when they are on duty." Shakes told him.

"Well, all of you are drinking now. Who's on duty?" Jake asked him.

"The Doctor is. It's my night off!" Shakes laughed. "Nah, I have two guys here in the shadows."

"Right." Jake laughed.

The waitress brought them all over another beer each. She spoke in English with a German accent. "This is from the gentleman up at the front. He said to tell you that if his date doesn't see you the entire time they are here, he will pick up your tab."

Jake smacked the table. "Hell, I'm game for that! Boys! The drinks are on the Doc!"

They all grabbed their glasses and started drinking. "Bring us another round, Fraulein!"

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Back at Rose and the Doctor's table, the Doctor had drank both of his beers. The waitress dropped him off two more without being asked. Rose imagined he had asked her to keep them coming.

"You know, it's weird." He told Rose after he had drank another entire glass. He ran his hand on her upper thigh.

"What is weird? You drinking like a fish? That's three in a row!"

He looked at the empty glasses on the table. "Phht... don't worry about me, Rose. No, it's weird. I can feel you in my mind. Right there were the TARDIS always was. I hadn't realized how much I missed that. That constant connection. Can you feel something like that?"

She smiled, "Yeah, it's like a... I'm not sure... like something is plugged in. Does that make sense? But, I'm surprised that I can't feel your emotions. I thought I would be able to."

The Doctor smiled. Rose didn't know he was shielding how he was feeling at the moment. He didn't want her to know how nervous he was over his plan.

He nodded. "Yeah. Oh! I forgot to tell you! The meeting with J.K. Rowling went beautifully. We'll be able to read all about witches and wizards in months! I can't wait to read them to Genie and Tony."

Rose laughed at him. "You can read them to me, too! I never read those books."

He looked surprised at her. "You're joking! I didn't know that."

She shook her head. "Not kidding. I never read them. I saw one of the movies - "

"Phhh... never judge a book by its' movie, Rose. The book is always so much better. I suppose you'll tell me you haven't read Lord of the Rings next."

"Well, no!"

"The hell?! How have you not read that? I helped write that!" he asked her as he drank his beer.

"I saw the movies." she reasoned.

He shook his head. "Not the same. Oh, I have some reading to do with you, woman. I can't wait until you learn more about witches and wizards. That's just brilliant! They can pop into one place and into another, just like we can with our watches. They can put spells on people for their own enjoyment, like some other people I know." he wagged his eyes at her.

He drank the rest of his beer.

"You are the only one I know that does that." Rose smiled at him as she lay her forehead on his.

"Oh no. Not at all. Whenever you play with my hair, it's like witchcraft. It makes me tingle. I love it." he smiled at her.

She giggled at him as the waitress brought him another couple of beers.

"Yeah, that and when you look at me that little way you do. It makes me want to do anything. It's like a spell you cast."

Rose laughed at him as he kissed her on the end of the nose.

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Jake leaned over and asked Shakes, "Recon?"

"He's talking about witches. I don't get it. What is he playing at?" Shakes said.

John asked, "Is this weird to anyone else?"

Lewis had his eye on some woman. "Does anyone of you speak German?"

Sam asked for another round.

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The Doctor drank another beer as he rested his elbows on the table.

Rose laughed at him as she ate her chips. "That's five, now! My god! Slow down!"

"I'm alright, Rose. Don't worry about me." he told her. "Let's talk about something really quick. Why won't you let me read that paper you wrote? Don't you trust me?"

She tossed her hands up at him. "Really? Will you get off of that?"

"I will when you agree to let me read it." He leaned into her, resting his elbow on his knee.

"My god you are a pest! I told you why! It's you! Your weird words probably is what invented physics!"

He rolled his eyes and thought, "Yeah. But-"

"No but! You will look at it tell me how wrong I am and think I'm an idiot. No!"

"I really wouldn't! Michelle said that Time and Life magazine want to do an article on you because of it."

Rose looked at him, "Well, that's alright."

"That's alright?!" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah, they don't know what the hell anything like that is! They just want a pretty face on the cover!"

He laughed and drank his other beer. "Yeah, that's true."

He sat down the empty beer glass.

Rose's eyes got huge. "Damn! That's six in less than 15 minutes! Are you going to fall out of that chair?"

He laughed at her. "No, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. What would it take for you to let me read this paper?"

"God, it would be so damn embarrassing -"

"Embarrassing? It would be embarrassing for me to read it. That's why you won't let me?"

She pointed at him. "Exactly."

He rubbed his face as the waitress brought him another two glasses of beer.

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Jake asked, "How to you think it's going? She looks like she's about to hit him."

Shakes said, "Oh, she's cross. This is great!"

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The Doctor drank another entire glass of beer. Rose took the other one away from him.

"What the hell is going on, old man? That's seven now!"

"Old man?! Nothing! I'm just trying to get some clarity as to why you won't let me read it. It's just a damn paper!"

Rose sighed. "God, you weren't kidding when you said you were going to wear me down! How can I get you to understand, no?"

"How can get you to understand, yes?" he countered. "Embarrassing. I get it. I do. Tell you what. What if I do something even more embarrassing?"

Rose glared at him. "I'm listening."

"I'll get on stage and sing to you. If I do that, will you let me read that damn paper?"

Rose laughed hysterically. "You would never do that."

"You don't think so? Have you met me?"

"You wouldn't. Hell yeah! I'll take that bet, Old Man! You would never do that."

"Yeah?"

"YEAH!"

"So we are in agreement. I sing, I get to read it. Right? We are clear?" he asked her as he stood up and grabbed his beer back from her.

She smiled and considered. "Yeah! That's the deal! You'll never do it, you nutter. My paper is safe."

Still standing, he drank the entire eighth beer. As he sat the glass down on the table, he leaned over and kissed her.

As he stood back up, he swayed a bit. "Woo! Okay, woman! That's the deal!"

To Rose's complete amazement, he walked on stage. The band joined him as if they had been waiting for him. He turned and spoke to them in German and shook their hands.

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Lewis clapped. Sam cupped his mouth and cheered. Shakes laughed as he sat with his arms crossed.

Jake exclaimed, "Fucking hell! Someone get a video ready!"

The Doctor pointed to them in the back and spoke into the microphone in German. Then in Quauhtin.

Shakes looked surprised as he sat with his arms crossed. "He said for us to cheer for him even if he does poorly, or we have to pay our own tab."

Jake laughed. "Hell, I'll cheer! I can't afford how out of control this party has gotten here."

Shakes said, "He also said, no videos."

Jake said, "Oh, fuck him! I'll work overtime. Lewis, get it ready!"

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Rose was looking up at him standing on stage. She had her mouth covered and was laughing in disbelief.

He looked down at her as the band started playing a song she had heard him play by Sinatra once. He pointed at her and said, 'Witchcraft', "To my Nehyta. One of my favorite songs."

Rose couldn't believe it. He started singing in a lovely deep voice. "Those fingers in my hair. That sly come hither stare. That strips my conscience bare. It's witchcraft."

Rose covered her face and laughed.

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Shakes laughed.

Jake exclaimed. "Hell, he's not bad! I wonder how fucked up he is?"

"I counted eight beers in 24 minutes." Shakes told him.

"Oh, he's all fucked up. He won't even remember this!" Jake laughed.

He looked down the table. John had the phone pointed in his direction taking a video.

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The Doctor finished up his song, "It's such an ancient pitch. But one I'd never switch. 'Cause there's no nicer witch than you!"

He turned to the band thanked them as the pub erupted in applause for him. No table cheered louder than the Quauhtin and Jake.

The Doctor walked down to Rose and took her into his arms and kissed her. The band started to play Van Morrison's 'Moondance'.

"Would you like to dance, my Nehyta?" the Doctor asked her.

She agreed as he took over to the side of the pub where people were dancing.

"I cannot believe you did that! I only wish someone video'ed it." Rose told him.

"Oh, I have a feeling someone did. How bad was it?" he asked her.

"It was amazing! My heart is still racing." Rose told him as they danced together.

"Really?" he squeaked.

"Sweetheart, did you not see the applause you got? I'm so proud of you."

He beamed at her. "Well, commit it to memory. I doubt I'll ever do it again. That scared the hell out of me. I'd rather face an army of Daleks again, than ever do that. But, it got me what I wanted."

Rose groaned. "Oh, shit. That's right. Damn it. Fine. Whatever."

He laughed at her. "A deal is a deal! On second thought. It was worth every moment."

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