'Hey, Doctor?'

Immediately, his head popped out from underneath the console. 'Hey, Rose?' he answered.

She rested her chin on her knees, a slight frown on her face as she asked, 'How old are you? I know you said 900 or so the last time I asked but really?'

He looked a little sheepish as he crawled out from his hide-y hole and sat next to her. 'Well, it's been hard to keep track, in all honesty. In Gallifreyan years, I suppose, I'm well into the two thousands. As for Earth years, well—' he shrugged— 'I'm older than your planet, least in terms of light and all.'

Rose's frown deepened. 'Eh?'

The Doctor shook his head. 'Sorry, uh, well, uh… How do I explain?' He threw his head back and looked at the ceiling.

Suddenly, a projection flickered to life around them, a miniature model of the universe.

He grinned and clicked his tongue. 'Okay, well, c'mon!' He jumped to his feet and pulled her up with him. He left her standing for a moment to run around the console, eyes darting about until he found whatever it was that he was looking for.

'Ah-ha!' he cried. 'Over here, Rose!' He pointed at a little cluster of holographic stars. 'This is my home galaxy, Kasterborous. Well, us Time Lords call it the Constellation of Kasterborous despite it not being an actual constellation.' He waved his hand. 'It's cos of the orbital patterns of the surrounding planets around the primary twin suns. It looks like a constellation. Then there's a bunch of mythology. It doesn't really matter.' Then, he took her hand and pulled her around to the other side of the room, where a familiar spiral hovered.

'That's the Milky Way,' Rose said.

'Yep! It's allllllllllllll the way over here. Technically speaking, you're quintillions of light-years away from Kasterborous. Which means whenever the light of our galaxy hits yours, it's both imperceptible and extremely outdated.'

Rose's frown deepened. 'Quintillion?'

The Doctor nodded. 'Yep. Million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, quintillion.'

She nodded. 'Oh. Oh. So… basically, when the light of Kasterborous first hits us, we probably won't exist anymore.' She tore her eyes away from her galaxy to look at him. 'Y'know, cos Earth apparently ended in year 5 billion.'

He shrugged. 'Perhaps. Perhaps, we'll go take a trip to the first day the light of Kasterborous hits the Milky Way.'

Rose grinned. 'Ten quid says the Milky Way doesn't exist anymore.' She wiggled her fingers at him.

The Doctor laughed and shook her hand. 'Ten quid says you humans manage to endure. That's what you're good at.'

Rose shook her head. 'Anyways, but by your logic, I could be older than you.'

The Doctor tilted his head.

'The light thing goes both ways,' she explained. 'It takes a quintillion years for the first light of the Milky Way to hit Kasterborous. So who's to say we didn't come first?'

The Doctor's smile widened. 'Oh, you're clever, Rose Tyler. But there's one tiny thing you've forgotten about.' He pointed at himself.

Rose frowned. 'You?'

'Me,' he said. 'I'm a Time Lord. A race of Gallifreyans who were born with an unnaturally acute sense of time. I can feel it shifting around me. I can feel exactly where I am in the cosmic timeline.' He raised his eyebrows. 'And right now, I feel much, much older—' he pointed past the console back to Kasterborous— 'than I ever did over there.'

They looked at each other. A pink and yellow human and pinstripe man who wasn't really a man. By some strange coincidence of the universe, be it God or Fate or calculation, their lives got to overlap.

It was Rose and the Doctor, together in the midst of the universe.

~~~

'I just don't understand what I did.' Stephen opened the car door and took out the box of pizza in the back.

'I don't know, mate,' Landon said from the other end of the line. 'Perhaps she's on her period. Girls are funny like that.'

Stephen shook his head. 'No, she usually gets her period around the end of the month. It's a cycle, y'know.'

'Have you done something? Gotten angry with her? Have you... have you been seening someone else?'

Stephen scowled. 'Of course not! I haven't done anything.'

'Anything going on at home?'

'Well, not that I could tell. I asked Paddy if anything was the matter, he said all was well.'

'Hm.'

'She left me read. She didn't even open my Snaps. I called and left a voicemail the other night. Not a word since. She won't even look at me in class.' He sighed and checked the address: 79A Aickman Road. 'Does this mean we're through?'

Landon 'hmm'-ed. 'It's been going on for how long, you said?'

'About two weeks or so.'

'Oh, mate…'

Stephen stopped on the pavement. He hated the way Landon said that. Like… like… 'We're through aren't we?'

'Yeah. Mate, I… I'm sorry.'

Stephen swallowed. 'Well, perhaps something else is going on? Surely… surely not. I mean, I- I don't even know what I've done.' He crossed the street and jogged up the steps to the flat. 'Listen, I've gotta go. Do you mind ringing Ari up and asking her? I'm sure she knows.'

'Mate,' Landon started in that stupid voice again. 'If Rach hasn't said anything—'

'Ring Ari up for me. Ta.' Without another word, Stephen ended the call and shoved his mobile into his back pocket. He shifted the pizza in his arm and rang the doorbell.

It was always the worst part of his job: waiting for the door to open. It was even worse when he could hear parents yelling at their children from the inside. It always made Stephen uncomfortable when they opened the door and were so cheery. He'd rather deal with parents who kept their crossness than the fake ones who pitched their voices higher and commented on the night.

The door swung open roughly. A man, all lanky and floppy-haired and— was that a bowtie?— stood on the threshold. 'Hullo,' he said pleasantly. 'Who are you?'

'Er, Stephen. Your pizza.' He held the box up.

'Oh,' he said curiously. 'What a strange name.' His eyes scanned his face— actually. It felt like he was being analysed as he stood there, box in hand.

'Did you pay online?' Stephen asked, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. Was this how men got violated? Was it possible for men to get violated at all?

'Huh?' The man tilted his head.

'For your pizza,' Stephen said. 'Did you order a pizza, sir?'

'Oh, yes,' he said. 'Is that it?' He pointed at the box. Immediately, his eyes lit up.

Stephen nodded. 'Do you remember if you paid online? Or in cash?'

'Oh, right. Well, here.' He reached into his jacket and pulled out a wad of pounds. He replaced the pizza with it. 'That should take care of it. Really, I don't know how much Earth money works. Do you need more?'

Stephen stared at the notes in his hands. A hundred pounds in cash. Who carries around that much raw money? 'Er, well, no but—'

The man beamed. 'Brilliant. I reckon that's a good sign. Thanks for the pizza.' He closed the door.

Stephen stood at the door, still staring. Three tenners, a twenty, and a fifty.He felt terrible walking away with all of that money. A hundred pounds. It's more than he made most nights! And he offered to give him more!

But it wasn't right, no. The man clearly had a mental disorder going on. It'd only be right to return the money. Right?

Stephen rang the doorbell again.Slowly, a woman's voice grew closer. 'Well, who would that be?'

'I've got it!' A new man. 'It's fine, Rose, go sit back down. I've got it.' The door swung open. 'Heyyyyyyy. Oh.' A new man stood at the door. Blond and clearly disappointed to see Stephen standing there. 'Who are you?'

'I— er. I brought your pizza. And you, well, this bloke, he paid me.' He showed the man the money.

His eyes widened. 'Oh, blimey,' he breathed. He turned and yelled into the flat, 'Doctor? Doctor, come here for a sec!'

The bowtie-wearing man ambled in with yet another blonde— this time a woman— behind him. 'Yes?' he inquired. His gaze landed on Stephen. 'Oh, you're back.' He saw the cash still in his hands. 'Oh, bollocks. I knew I didn't give you enough.'

The woman snorted. 'Doctor,' she said, giggling. 'You gave him a hundred pounds for a pizza?'

The man— the Doctor— blinked at her. 'Rose,' he said plainly, 'it's the twenty-first century. In this economy? You know how it is.'

Rose rolled her eyes. 'You're far too generous, Doctor.' She smiled tightly, that weird smile girls do when they're trying to tell you something but you can't quite figure it out.

The man squinted at her. 'I'm being strange again, aren't I?' he mumbled.

The woman nodded. 'Just a tad.'

'Ah, well.' He straightened. 'It's no worries. I don't need the money.' He smiled at Stephen. 'Keep it. And if you need any more, just ring me.'

Stephen gaped at him. 'I— huh?'

He winked. 'You'll know where to find me.' For the second time that night, he closed the door.

Stephen stood on the front stoop, money still in his hands. Distantly, he could hear the woman laughing from inside. In his pocket, his mobile rang. Mindlessly, Stephen fished it out and checked the contact.

Landon.

He answered and began walking down the steps. Without a preface, he said, 'Some bloke just offered to be my sugar daddy.'

~~~

Sometimes, Rose wondered how he ever managed to convince her to board the TARDIS, all those years ago. What was it that he said? 'By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?'

He was strange from the start but perhaps something happened in the years that they were apart because she never remembered him being this out of touch with humans. Perhaps he was just putting on a show. This Doctor seemed to have a flair for the dramatics.

An old rerun of a BBC soap ran idly on the telly as Craig told them about his life. He worked at a call centre. There was this girl he worked with, Sophie. She was lovely, very sweet. His old mate, Mark, lived in the flat before them but came into some money from an aunt or other. The set of pink keys belonged to Sophie. Remember Sophie? The girl who he worked with at the call centre? She was very lovely. Sweet. She was quite pretty but who was he to judge?

The third time he mentioned Sophie, Rose glanced at the Doctor, already knowing what he was about to say. Just barely, she nodded. The Doctor smirked.

'I'll refresh our drinks,' he said, taking their cups.

'I'll take another beer. Thanks, mate,' Craig told him.

'No problemo,' the Doctor said.

Craig lowered his voice as he walked away. 'I don't mean to be blunt,' he said, his cheeks turning red, 'but you and him…' He went even redder. 'Of course, purely from a professional standpoint. I'm not—' He pulled back, pushing himself as far as he could into the sofa. 'I don't mean to say— Well, no but I—' He closed his eyes, as if he could hide from her.

Rose laughed. 'It's okay, Craig. Here he is.

'Craig jumped and looked wide-eyed at the Doctor. 'I didn't even hear you move!' he exclaimed.

The Doctor shrugged and handed him his beer. 'I have light steps.'

'The floor didn't creak!'

The Doctor grinned. 'Perhaps I'm a ghost.' He wiggled his free fingers at him before hanging Rose a cuppa. 'I fixed your floors,' he said seriously.

Craig's hand froze on the bottle opener. 'When?' he asked incredulously.

He took a sip of his tea. 'Eh, I forgot. It wasn't a hard fix. Just a jiggle here and there with my son- screwdriver.' He cleared his throat. 'Apologies.'

Rose took a sip of her tea and sighed. 'Well, I'm sorry but it's gotten quite late. I think I'll finish my tea in bed.' She stood, careful not to spill her drink.

The slightest crease appeared in the Doctor's brow but he didn't press.

When she left, Craig turned his worried expression to the Doctor. 'Is she all right?'

The Doctor smiled. 'Oh, she's fine. She's more of a bear than a wolf. Well, no, she's technically more of a wolf than anything else.' The Doctor didn't intend to but it confused Craig enough to stop his worrying. Not his goal but somehow he achieved it.

~~~

Craig was in bed, thinking.

The Doctor and Rose were quite the pair. He wasn't sure what they were exactly, relationship-wise. Rose introduced him as a friend— which seemed like a lousy excuse. After all, no sensible bloke would take in a couple to lodge. But after the fainting incident and taking into account the Doctor's name, he reckoned he was Rose's live-in caretaker. But even then it was loose. If anything, it seemed like Rose took more care of the Doctor— who was a right loon. No disrespect.Still, they worked together in that strange way people who've known each other for ages are always in sync. They move to cross their ankles at the same time. He runs a hand through his hair at the same time she reaches up to tie hers back. That strange acute awareness of the other's presence, the ease they have around each other. They weren't couple-ly around each other— there were no kisses or hand-holding or longing gazes. Simply comfortable companionship.

He told all of these things to Sophie— strange as it was, he felt much more comfortable talking about their possible love life rather than his lack of one— who only hummed from the other side of the phone.

'Well, they sound lovely,' she said sweetly. 'I'd like to meet them some time.'

'Yeah,' Craig said. 'You could…' He drew a breath. 'You could come round sometime. After work I mean. Er, well, unless you wanna come by on the weekend.' He slammed his palm against his forehead. 'Whatever works for you,' he squeaked.

Craig stared at the ceiling, cursing himself. Cursing his life. God, Sophie was beautiful and brilliant and he was just… he was so lame.

'I'm sorry—' he started at the same time Sophie said, 'That'd be great.'

'What were you saying?' she asked.

'Nothing, nothing,' Craig said quickly. 'It's fine. Great. Do you wanna come by for a cuppa tomorrow?'

'Tomorrow?' Sophie asked. 'Er… sounds fine. After the football match?'

'Yes,' Craig agreed. 'Sounds great.'

'Great. See you tomorrow, Craig.'

'See you, Soph. Ie.' He winced. 'Sophie.'

She giggled. 'You can call me Soph if you want.'

He let out a soft breath of relief. 'Oh? Okay.'

'Okay. Good night.'

'Good night.'

'Okay, I'm hanging up now.'

'Okay.' Now he was smiling.

'Bye. Craig.'

'Bye, Soph.'

He was definitely smiling.