"Here we are! Stardust Amusements!" The Doctor announced.
He and Rose stood at the entrance of an amusement park. It felt familiar to Rose, but she couldn't place the feeling. She broke the temporary silence with a question, "What does this have to do with anything? Doctor, why are we h-"
Rose's sentence was cut off by a shrill shriek. Looking around, she barely managed to register the source of the sound before she was enveloped in a fierce hug.
"Rose! Oh, my Rose! How are you, darling? How's this Doctor been treating you? Have you been having fun? Not gotten into too much trouble, have you? Do I have to smack him around a bit?" Jackie Tyler was notorious for her ability to run off at the mouth, and the sight of her daughter gave her more energy than usual.
"Mum, I'm fine. We've been having a great time. Not too much trouble, don't worry. Don't go smacking him. What are you doing-" Rose's words died off as her attention was caught by the sight of someone standing behind her mother. It was Mickey. Her Mickey. Human Mickey. Boyfriend Mickey. Left-behind Mickey.
Detaching herself from her mother, Rose cautiously approached him. She was about to speak, but his abrupt hug silenced her. Things had changed, though. The hug was quick and rather awkward, and Mickey didn't dare to speak until he let go of Rose.
"Hey," he said simply, staring at his shoes.
"Hey. How've you been?" Rose asked, just as shyly.
"Fine, and you? That Doctor been treating you good?" Now Mickey looked her in the eye, searching for the truth.
"We've been fine. Busy. No rest for the wicked, eh?" Rose attempted a small smile, which Mickey returned halfheartedly. He didn't like her use of the word "we." It made him slightly uneasy. Since when were Rose and the Doctor a "we?"
A soft mewing emanated from Rose's jacket pocket. Mickey looked vaguely suspicious, but his stony expression melted a bit when Rose withdrew a ball of fur.
"Mickey, meet Mickey." The kitten sat up in Rose's outstretched hands, and Mickey (human) scooped up Mickey (cat), and looked into its small, shockingly green eyes.
Jackie had moved to stand next to the Doctor, both of them watching Rose and Mickey.
"You gave her a cat?" Jackie hissed in the Doctor's ear. She didn't sound angry, exactly, but what she was feeling, the Doctor wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"She was getting lonely. I can't give her the kind of companionship you or Mickey-the-Idiot could, so I gave her the next best thing." The Doctor answered Jackie's question quietly, but he didn't take his eyes off Rose.
Looking down into the face of his fuzzy counterpart, Mickey adopted a jokingly stern voice. "You take care of Rose, here, alright? I don't want no harm comin' to her. Got that? You're not too small to make a furry hat out of."
Feigning horror, Rose snatched Mickey (cat) away, slipping him back into her pocket. She couldn't hide, however, the small giggle that escaped her lips at Mickey (human)'s comments.
"But a cat? Couldn't you have picked something a little less… furry?" Jackie's voice contained clear irritation, but she was slightly relieved to know that her daughter and this infuriatingly calm, infuriatingly different Doctor weren't anything more than friends. At least, that's the way things seemed.
Having heard the previous comments, Rose looked over towards where the Doctor and her mother stood. She gestured to Mickey to follow her over, and he did, remaining a few paces behind.
"What's his name, then?" Jackie gestured to the tail still poking out of Rose's jacket pocket.
"She named 'im after me. Kinda sweet, but a bit weird, yeah?" Mickey mumbled.
"So you named him 'Useless Prat?'" Jackie guessed, and then laughed at her own joke.
"His name's Mickey," the Doctor corrected. "Ready to go?"
"Go where?" Rose asked, her face clouding with confusion.
"The amusement park. That's why I brought you here! I called your mum and worked everything out. She called Mickey, and arranged to meet you here." The Doctor's voice was cheerful, but Rose was suspicious.
"And where are you going, Doctor? You're not exactly the fun-and-games type, if you don't mind my saying so." Rose stared at the Doctor's carefully inexpressive face, searching for an answer.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm just going to pop back to the TARDlS. A few minor repairs to take care of. Very boring. You three go off and have fun. I'll meet you back here in a few hours, alright? Toodeloo!" With that, the Doctor waved, spun on his heel, and strode away.
Rose stared after the quickly shrinking, leather-clad back until Jackie and Mickey towed her inside.