A/N: Oh well, guess this isn't really the story too many people like to read. But I so do like to write stories and this one I can honestly say is partially my own creative talents. Well except for Doctor Who, that I do not own. Title is a bit cheesy, couldn't honestly think of anything else to name it. But it grows on me. End is a bit silly, and I was laughing all the way when I finished it. It seems so very 10th Doctorish. Hehe. You'll see when you get to it. ;)
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Chapter 6: Conversational Time Lord
The Doctor fingered the cloak that Ta'sheeka wore; it had changed color since last night. It had been a dark blue almost black in color, blending in perfectly with the darkness. Now it was slightly a golden hew as she walked around the TARDIS control area. The Mala'shra used living things in their technology. The cloak was a living animal or was it plant? That was the problem with Mala'shra bio-tech, the lines between animal, vegetable, and mineral slightly blurred. He liked the cloak which had a chameleon like affect blending into the environment around it. He grinned, "No wonder humans had a hard time finding you. You blend right in. The TARDIS use to do that as well, she'd blend into the environment all the time, but the circuit got stuck and it's been a big blue box ever since."
Ta'sheeka laughed lightly, it had been a long time since she had laughed, and she stated, "Your ship is a poor servant to leave you in such a precarious manner."
The Doctor chuckled lightly, "I guess I do stick out like a sore thumb. For a Mala'shraian to recognize the TARDIS from over countless millennia ago is kind of embarrassing."
She took her cloak off her and handed it to the Doctor, "I have no gift to give you for your hospitality. It is always proper to give a host a gift, you want my Ra'lia cloak you may have it."
The Doctor shook his head, "Nah, I don't want it, besides I don't charge people to stay on the TARDIS." He handed the cloak back to her, "Besides you might need it."
Rose came into the room after getting cleaned up and dressed; she was a bit annoyed at how the Doctor was getting on with Ta'sheeka. She really shouldn't be jealous of her, after all, it must be hard to be stranded on a planet for a long time, scared that you were going to be found and killed. But the Doctor and Ta'sheeka were hitting it off so very well. Of course it probably didn't help that she was almost as old as the Doctor.
He scratched his head a bit, "Why exactly did your people decide not to put you to death?"
Ta'sheeka looked a bit dejected, "I was a patriot. A leader of words and…" She paused for a moment, sorrow weighed heavily upon her and she continued, "Violence as well, I could stir up many to fight. I had thought that my death would bring my people to action, a martyr. I suppose the Elders thought the same thing and so they denied me a hero's death and gave me a humiliating exile."
She bowed her head looking a bit ashamed that she was still alive. The Doctor gave her a bit of a squeeze across the shoulders, "A hero's death isn't all that it's cracked up to be, Ta'sheeka. Believe me I know. It's down right painful and….stupid." He then smiled, "Besides you can do so much more being alive than being dead."
The Doctor looked up and saw Rose, "Rose….you should see this cloak that she has." He took Ta'sheeka's cloak and handed it to Rose, "Feel it, feels a bit like fur, a bit like reptile, and a bit like plant. What do you call it Ta'sh…do you mind if I call you Ta'sh?"
Ta'sheeka shook her head negatively and looked very much alarmed at the Doctor calling her that. It stirred memories within her and some of them were quite painful, "Call me Tash or call me Ta'shee or Tashee, but do not call me Ta'sh. My….." She sighed, "My parents and my siblings called me that….and "
"Oh sorry…"
Ta'sheeka sighed, "It is Ra'lia, it once belonged to many animals and plants, and then my people altered its genetic structure and made it into a seed so it would be easier to carry with us and planted and grew it. We make many types of clothing from it. I had some of the seeds with me when I was exiled and grew it so that I might have something to keep me warm and to keep me cool as well as change its color to hide me from the eyes of many."
Rose felt the strange cloak, she didn't know what to make of it, and it wasn't as if she hadn't seen anything stranger or weirder for that matter. She wondered if the Doctor was acting a bit oddly around their new guest. Then again, the Doctor always acted odd.
"It's nice…," she muttered lightly and handed the cloak back to its owner.
Ta'sheeka smiled lightly and then said, "Would you like it? The Doctor will not accept gifts and I still feel that it is not right that he should not take a gift for giving me the gift of hospitality."
Rose raised her eyebrow; this girl was really coming off as annoying. Giving the Doctor gifts, honestly, what was next? Rose muttered something under her breath and took the cloak. She draped it around her shoulders, it was a bit odd. She thought she could feel the cloak wiggling a bit as she put it on.
The Doctor clapped his hands, "It looks nice on you Rose, and it looks very distinguished."
"I look ridiculous that's what I look. And it's crawling on my skin."
Ta'sheeka said calmly, "It takes time to adjust to your size. It will stop doing that eventually. Plus it's getting a feel of your body temperature, so it can find a comfortable temperature to keep you warm or cool."
Rose rolled her eyes, "Whatever….it's just plain weird."
Ta'sheeka looked hurt and then she said, "Perhaps you are the weird one, human."
And Ta'sheeka stormed off down the halls of the TARDIS. The Doctor shook his head disapprovingly, "Rose, what's the matter? I know you don't go offending people all the time. That's ummm…something I usually do, not you. And you usually have to remind me."
"Ever since she's been here, she's…." Rose was a bit uncomfortable. Ever since they met Sarah Jane Smith, she had been nervous about how the Doctor was around people, particularly other women. She wasn't particularly sure what her feelings were for the Doctor. He was a friend and yet more than a friend. All that time before, she had thought she had been the only person who had been with the Doctor and suddenly she had found out that there were others.
"What?"
"I have seen the way she's been acting around you. Offering gifts to you."
"That's Mala'shraian custom, Rose. They always offer something to hosts. It's not right to take something from people without offering something in return. I refused it, what would I do with a cloak like that? When she offered it to you, she was basically reoffering it to me."
"Okay. But all those smiles she was giving you."
"She's lonely, Rose. She's been exiled on Earth for over 500 years. No friends, no one to talk to, think about it. If you were exiled on a strange planet for a long time and you finally met someone you could talk to, you'd welcome the chance just to talk and be friendly."
Rose sighed and shook her head, why was it that the Doctor just didn't get it? She cared for him, didn't he say he cared for her as well. Maybe because this alien was at least in the same age range as the Doctor, maybe the Doctor was becoming attached to her.
"So what do you want me to do Rose, ignore her? Pretend she doesn't exist?"
"No, I just want to know how you feel about me."
The Doctor looked down at the floor for a moment at his converse trainers and then he looked back up at her "Rose Tyler, are you jealous?"
Rose shook her head negatively and the Doctor grinned, "Yea you are. You're turning as green as a Slitheen."
Rose smirked lightly and the Doctor smiled and then his face turned serious, "Now Rose Tyler we had this conversation last time. I am a Time Lord…."
Rose sighed, "I know, humans wither and die and you regenerate…."
The Doctor nodded and then stroked Rose's cheek carefully, "Besides what makes you think Tash has any feelings for me? If you were to talk to her, she'd probably say I am not her type. Mala'shra are a bit like the Trees from the Forest Cheem we met on Platform 1."
Rose raised an eyebrow, "Are you saying she's part plant?"
The Doctor nodded, "Very much so. Although Mala'shra really don't talk about it that much, but they are planted like plants and for five years they are plant, then they sprout and they look like you and me."
Rose wrinkled up her face, "So they are plant and then they age in reverse. Whoa, that is a strange race…"
The Doctor sighed, "Most Mala'shra already know they are the exception rather than the norm from most races. When they started exploring the universe they suddenly realized that no one else was like them. Then other races started to take advantage of them, even though they managed to beat other races back, they came home and basically curtailed their traveling habits. It's kind of sad actually. But calling Tash or any of her technology weird hurts more than you realize. You should go apologize to her."
Rose sighed; she really didn't want to apologize. But she supposed she should. The Doctor gave her that firm look that made her shudder lightly, "All right, I am going. Don't everyone thank me all at once."
The Doctor smiled and watched as Rose walked off. She wandered around looking for Tash. She looked in the room she had been in earlier and did not find her. Then she looked around the various rooms finally coming to the TARDIS's garden. Rose remembered what the Doctor had said about Mala'shra being part plant, she looked around and found Tash digging around with a garden tool around the garden.
"Hey, I see you like gardening."
Tash said nothing but kept digging with the tool.
Rose sighed, now she was giving her the cold shoulder. Rose knew that she couldn't go back to the Doctor if all Tash was going to do was ignore her. What was she going to do? "Thanks for the gift…"
Tash said nothing and kept digging and pulled out some seeds from her pocket. Rose felt discouraged, this wasn't going very well. What was she going to tell the Doctor when Tash refused to recognize her presence?
Rose watched suddenly as a light glow came from the seeds and from Tash and a few leaves and roots sprouted from the seeds. A beautiful flower came forth from the seedling that Tash had miraculously grown from the seed.
Tash then quietly planted the seedling in the ground.
Rose said softly, "How...how do you do that?"
Tash looked at Rose for a moment, "It is my people's connection to plant life. They say it is a gift that the goddess Mala left us. Others say it is a genetic trait we have, an ability to alter the genetic properties of plant life. I think…." Tash paused for a moment and smiled lightly, "I think the truth lies somewhere in between."
"Well whatever the truth is, I think it's an interesting trait to have." Rose thought this was a good time to apologize and she said, "I am sorry. I said some rude things. I don't know why…."
Tash looked up and smiled, "You are fond of the Doctor."
Rose frowned, "Now wait a minute how do you know that?"
Tash began to dig another hole in the ground, "Pheromones. I can smell them."
Rose blushed lightly, "What do you mean smell?"
"You give off a bit of an odor. I can smell it."
"What?"
The Doctor entered the garden with a grin on his face, "It's something plants and insects sometimes give off. Humans don't give off anything like that."
Rose looked a bit embarrassed, "Doctor, you've been listening to us?"
"Of course, I wanted to make sure you two were making up. I got intrigued. Tash, humans don't give off pheromones. Now body odor, that's something else."
Rose blushed a bright shade of red, "Hey! I do not smell…."
The Doctor grinned, "Sure you do. You just don't notice it and you mask it with deodorant."
Rose muttered something lightly under her breath, like she really wanted to know all that. And Tash wasn't helping the Doctor's eccentric or bizarre personality. Then again, Tash wasn't exactly human either. This whole day was getting weirder, not like that was anything new in her life with the Doctor, but having another alien on the TARDIS, this was going to be interesting to say the least.
He looked at Tash, "You must have a pretty good nose to smell human perspiration."
Tash shrugged lightly, "When I first came here, I slowly started to notice that humans smelled a bit strangely. Sometimes it wasn't too strong, other times it was and it was always different. Some smelled sweet, others very sour. I think it might have helped me some, I could tell when they were coming, and then I would hide."
The Doctor nodded, "Survival instinct. I don't think I ever recalled a Mala'shraian that could do what you could do Tash. Must be some sort of evolutionary remnant your people had a long time ago. Your exile here must have caused it to reactivate, probably caused by chemicals in your nervous system reacting to fear. Absolutely amazing."
Rose coughed a bit, "Doctor, this is all fascinating but shouldn't we do something to help Tash out. I mean take her back to her home planet or something." All Rose could think of at the moment was the sooner they got Tash back home to her planet the better.