For Once, Ignore the End of the World; Just Kiss
Things were getting a bit awkward.
He and Rose had managed to save a civilisation again, today, which was rather good, and put this amongst the least awkward of days they'd had together. The Elians were a generally quite peaceful race – which, considering they were pretty good at telepathy, wasn't exactly a difficult assumption to make. But occasionally, even the mightiest of races would fight within, and a culmination of factors led to a bit of an uprising earlier on.
The Doctor and Rose had landed amidst the arguments and fighting – after aiming for someplace nice and quiet to have a wander and show off Rose's pretty new dress - but had fortunately managed to calm both sides down with minimal effort. When he said minimal effort, he meant, minimal threats to their lives/running away from angry villagers. Anyway, both sides were now so calmed down that they were having a party to celebrate their re-unification, in the Grand Hall of the main city's governmental building.
Rose, however, had disappeared some time ago. Putting this back up amongst the awkward days. Not that he didn't know where she was; it was just, with her away, he was left on his own. He knew she'd be helping a girl she'd made friends with earlier on the day clear up the mess the civilians had created in the market square that afternoon. The girl was of a lower class, apparently, and it was her and her father's duty to sort out the disorder left while the rest of the people went off partying. Naturally, this had frustrated Rose, who thought it very, very wrong. Not wanting to antagonise things further, however, she simply told the girl and her father that she'd muck in and give them a hand.
The Doctor would have helped to, you understand. Honestly, he would've followed Rose and joined in. Obviously. Because he'd follow Rose anywhere...
To keep her safe, you understand. That was all.
Anyway, he would've done all that, except he got sort of...cornered. By a woman. Who just so happened to be the leader of the Elians. Yep.
Hence why this was a wee bit awkward.
They were sitting in the gardens of the Grand Hall now. Alone. On a bench. Together. And she kept asking him questions. He effortlessly dodged them, of course. Well, until she got to this particular one:
"This, um...girl of yours. Your...friend? I'm sorry, I don't know her na - "
" – Rose," he interjected helpfully, a small grin working its way onto his face, glad to have found a topic he'd quite happily talk to Amera about. That would ease the awkwardness, he thought. No more awkward, awkward silences. "Her name's Rose."
Amera smiled, a strained expression that didn't meet her eyes. One glance at her and the Doctor could tell it was forced. He wondered at how anyone could have that response to anything about Rose.
He also quickly realised maybe his favourite topic was not going to alleviate the, er, awkwardness.
"Right. Rose. So, have you...been, er, travelling together long?" she asked.
He tilted his head a little, considering. "Ooh, we've been together about two years now, I think. Give or take. It's all a bit confusing, time-wise. Missed a year, after all. But yes, relatively speaking, I've had about seven-hundred-and-thirty days with Rose Tyler," the Doctor answered, beaming happily. Really, he could tell exactly how long she had been with him, down to days and minutes - seconds, even – but he didn't want to sound too...well. Besotted.
He sniffed, dismissing that thought with a shake of his head at himself. He was definitely probably, maybe a bit – no, wait - in no way, not at all, not even a remote chance was he besotted.
He glanced back at the woman he was conversing with, noticing how her expression had tightened even more.
"How...lovely," Amera replied, an eyebrow raised. "So, what's she like, then?"
"She should be back soon. You can meet her and see for yourself," he smiled politely, deciding that actually, he didn't want to talk to Amera about Rose, since it was quite apparent that she had some sort of irrational dislike of his friend. A dislike that made him in no small way frustrated.
"Well, she seems nice enough, from what I've seen of her already, but I don't imagine you'll settle for her," smirked Amera, dusting an imaginary speck of dust from the Doctor's sleeve.
He didn't notice the sleeve thing. That sort of thing just did not register with him. Well, unless it was with...never mind.
"Settle for her?" he replied distractedly. His foot was tapping eagerly at the creaky wooden floorboards of the decked veranda, his gaze darting around the garden in search of blonde hair and purple dress, and he really wasn't in the mood for whatever mind games this woman was apparently trying to play with him.
"She's a bit too..." she let herself trail off purposely, wrinkling her nose up.
"What?" he prompted coolly, and he couldn't help but rouse to her bait, snapping his head around to look at her with a distinct expression of contempt commanding his face.
"Brazen, unorthodox, impolite, garish..." Amera finished – triumphantly, in her opinion, if her smile, now genuine, was anything to go by.
The Doctor chuckled, his irritation at the woman fading as he realised that a) she'd actually described him more than Rose, and b) he simply did not care what Amera, or anyone else, for that matter, thought about his best friend. Who was she to tell him who he should or should not 'settle for?' She hardly knew him. And she hadn't even spoken to Rose herself. What did she even mean by 'settle for' anyway? He thought he was extremely lucky to have Rose Tyler as his...his...well. Friend. Companion. Best mate. And everything else she meant to him that he couldn't even put into words.
His chuckle drifted off then, and he remained silent as he contemplated the woman's motives in being so offensive about Rose.
Silence, however, was not the response Amera wanted. "Doctor?" she said quietly.
"Yes?" he answered impatiently, his eyes flitting towards the flowery archway, where he'd glimpsed purple in his peripheral vision. He was immensely happy and relieved to see Rose was indeed walking through. Coming to save him, at last.
"You're a man of such great stature and authority and wisdom. You are far superior than even us Elians, let alone a lowly shop-girl of a human."
At this, the Doctor eyes turned back to Amera, his eyes darkening. In anger, mind; not remotely in the way Amera was aiming for.
Blissfully unaware of his annoyance, however, she continued, "Why in the universe would you want to adventure with her, rather than someone who can match," she paused, shuffling closer to him; a hand on his thigh. "Or at least, mostly match, you, in all these things?" She smiled at him innocently, batting her eyelashes and quickly clutching at his hand when he tried to edge away from her.
"Er...listen, Amera. I'm sure, um, weeelll, I'm sure you're probably lovely and everything, but really, do you have to be so..." he trailed off, leaning backwards and almost tumbling off his seat as she leant forwards towards him, eyes trained on his lips.
"Doctor, just relax. Let me show you what it's like to be kissed by a real woman," she murmured, in what she assumed was an enticing manner, but truly, was exceedingly terrifying to the Doctor's ears.
"No! No no, nonono!" he cried, jumping up and away from her, panic-stricken. "Ta and everything, but no! I don't think that's, um, in any way, at all, actually, necessary! Rose is quite woman enough for me, thank you!" he continued, without really thinking about what he was saying.
That was when he heard a very distinctive laugh coming from behind him.
He groaned.
"Now look what you've made me do!" he complained to Amera, who was staring at him in complete bafflement.
He spun around to face Rose's hysterical laughter. "What, Rose Tyler, is so funny?"
Rose attempted to get her giggling under control, her hand clutching her stomach. "Nothing, Doctor, nothing," she replied, biting her lip. She watched him raise his chin in defiance and fold his arms defensively, before bursting into laughter again. "Woman...enough..." she gasped out in between giggles.
"Rose!" he cried in annoyance. "Stop it! I didn't mean for it to sound like that, alright? It was just...she was...she was going to...and...and I panicked! Said the first thing that came into my head!"
This only made Rose laugh harder, and he groaned again, before deciding not to even try and backtrack his way out of that one.
By this point, Amera had grown steadily furious at the Doctor's rejection of her, and steadily jealous of the way his attention was now completely focussed on Rose. She took a step forward, and tapped him on the shoulder.
The Doctor froze under Amera's touch. "Yeah?" he squeaked.
Rose stopped laughing, watching quietly to see how the scene played out.
"I just want to let you know two things," she began, in a syrupy, seductive voice that Rose was quite sure made her go from being entertained by Amera's actions to hating the woman in such a very short space of time. "Firstly, you have no idea what you are missing."
The Doctor gulped, and Rose's eyes narrowed at how close Amera was murmuring into his ear.
"And secondly...you will change your mind, Time Lord."
"I don't think so," the Doctor replied quietly, with an apologetic frown.
Rose smiled, in a not-so-apologetic fashion, it had to be said.
"Oh, you will," Amera assured him. "When you discover just how little she can give you, you will change your mind about me."
At this, both Rose and the Doctor raised their eyebrows, their widened eyes meeting each other's as they stared awkwardly at each other. Without either of them really noticing, Amera fluttered away with a pretentious walk and a sinful smile on her face.
Rose cleared her throat. "What did she mean by that?" she asked bemusedly, tugging at her earring in the same way that the Doctor was tugging at his ear, making it clear to both of them that they were mutually embarrassed.
"Weeelll," he began, turning to walk back to the bench. He sat back down and patted the space next to him as he spoke. "She had been making digs about your humanity for several agonising minutes before you came back to rescue me."
"And?" urged Rose, taking her place close beside him.
"I imagine she was trying to tell me that the fact that Elians can use telepathy makes her so much better than you."
Rose's lips quirked. "Better at what, exactly?" she asked suggestively.
The Doctor met her teasing gaze with a smouldering look of his own. "Everything, probably."
She frowned in annoyance then. "Well, that's rude. Just because I'm human and can't read your mind, doesn't give her the right to talk down about me and launch herself at you like some sort of..." she cut herself off when she realised how jealous she was sounding. She coughed uncomfortably, and prayed he hadn't noticed.
He'd noticed.
He bumped his shoulder against hers lightly, not once breaking eye contact. "What's all this, Rose Tyler? You jealous?"
"Of course not," she denied vehemently. "Why would I be jealous?"
"You tell me," he replied, his eyes dark and daring.
Rose stared back at him for an increasingly intense few seconds, before shifting to face away from him. "Not jealous," she insisted, observing a native bird-like creature swoop down into the water fountain and watch its own reflection scatter gracefully by the moonlight. She fiddled with the hem of her dress absently. "Just, you know. She should've taken the hint, that's all."
"What hint?" the Doctor asked her, wishing she would turn to face him again. His eyes slipped to where her hands were fiddling, and he found himself staring at her legs for a few long moments. She really should wear these nice, short dresses more often, he thought. Although, that one has gotten a bit messed up; probably the clearing up that did it...still, though, it looks, she looks, well, she looks...
"Well. You weren't interested in her. She didn't have to keep on about it," she muttered, huffing, and it pulled him out of his reverie.
He smothered a smile. "She was wrong, anyway," he dismissed, shrugging.
Rose sighed. "Yep," she said. "She was. She thought we were, like, together or something, didn't she. Everyone always does," she added, trying to keep her tone light.
The Doctor frowned, and swallowed heavily in an attempt to dislodge the lump that had suddenly come to his throat. "That's not what I meant," he murmured.
"No?" Rose replied, turning around.
"No," he answered, searching her face for a moment before deciding to just come out with it. "I meant about you."
"What about me?" she countered.
"She thought, for some stupid reason about me being a Time Lord and you being a- a- "
" – a lowly shop-girl of a human," Rose supplied, smiling.
"Well, there's the first thing, case in point! You're not a lowly anything," he told her seriously.
Rose bit her lip nervously. "Glad you think so," she said softly.
"I don't think so, Rose Tyler. I know so. Amera didn't see what I see – what the rest of the universe and all its bloody pretty boys see - "
"Now who's jealous?" she teased, before glancing down at the space between them, which was roughly two centimetres, when the Doctor's hand found hers.
He smiled gently at her when she looked back at his face. "She said something about me not settling for you, which is completely ridiculous, because - "
" – Doctor?" interrupted Rose.
He hesitated. "Yeah?"
She took a deep breath. "You told me that you'd know, inside your head, if there was another Time Lord that had survived. Because of the whole telepathy thing. So why haven't you found someone else, from another species, like the Elians, to help, like, fill the space? Even for just, you know, friendship, companionship or whatever."
The Doctor stared at her in awe for nearly half a minute before clearing his throat and responding, "Because I found you."
Rose smiled a little, but it soon faded, and she felt herself blinking back tears. "But isn't it lonely?" she asked delicately, reaching a hand up to his temple. "In here?"
He took her hand and moved it to the middle of his chest. "Better than being lonely in here," he answered honestly.
She let out a shaky breath, and a tear slipped from her eye. "Oh," she whispered, feeling the quick double beat of his hearts beneath her palm.
He caught her tear with the pad of his thumb. "Hey!" he admonished tenderly. "What's this for?"
She sniffed, and offered him a watery smile. "'S nothing," she murmured, voice cracking. "Just...I wish I could be enough, that's all."
The Doctor's brow furrowed in confusion. "You are, Rose," he insisted, hands coming up to cradle her face. "I mean it. I really, really do. You're Rose. You're you. Of course you're enough. More than enough."
"I'm just your friend, Doctor, your little human friend who won't be around for that long, and - "
He cut across her, shaking his head rapidly. " - More than that, Rose. You're so much more than that. I thought..." he trailed off, dropping his hands; they came to rest across his left thigh and her right, as he twiddled his thumbs nervously.
"What, Doctor?" she asked, wrapping her hands around both of his to still them.
"I thought you knew that," he said hesitantly. "I thought you knew. Amera got it all wrong, and so have you," he told her, leaning his head forward until their foreheads were touching. He felt her breath ghost shakily over his lips as she waited for him to continue. He felt her squeeze his hands in encouragement. He felt his hearts stutter as he tried to get the words out.
"I don't deserve you," he whispered. "I don't deserve you, but you're here. With me. Holding my hands and making me scared."
Rose tilted her head back to look at him questioningly. "What do you mean, making you scared?"
"You're so...you...you're just..." he stammered, gazing at her in that admiring way that never failed to make her pulse quicken.
"Yeah?" she urged.
He leant forwards, slowly closing the gap between them, and just as she thought his lips were about to touch hers, there was an almighty crash resounding around them. They both jumped back in surprise, and the Doctor only just leapt up and caught her in time before she fell to the floor.
"Thanks," she muttered shakily, as he pulled her steadily into his arms. "So, what the hell was that?"
He looked down at her, into her wide and anxious and curious and beautiful brown eyes. "I don't know," he answered softly.
Rose swallowed thickly. "Shouldn't we go and find out? Could be aliens up to no good or someth..." She trailed off as the Doctor tugged her closer, so that they were chest to chest, hips to hips...other body parts to other body parts.
"Or it could be nothing," he suggested hopefully. "In which case, we're the only aliens up to no good," he grinned.
"Are we?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. "Because aside from you holding on to me for dear life right now, I really don't see how we are behaving in any way..." She trailed off and bit her lip at the intense look in his eyes. A look that was aimed at her mouth. "Not good," she finished meekly.
"For once, Rose Tyler, I'm going to do something different," he informed her ruefully, wincing as he heard a shriek coming from the building behind them. "I'm going to put the universe and all its problems and alien invasions and annoying shrieking damsels in distress on hold for around about two minutes, and snog you breathless. That okay?"
Rose giggled happily. "Yeah." He leaned forward. "Actually, no. Sorry," she started. He glared at her. She bit her lip again and continued, "I'm a bit worried about those people in there, 'cos that sounded like a really loud crash, and - "
"One minute?" he suggested impatiently.
"Doctor," she said warningly.
"Thirty seconds? Surely they can wait thirty seconds?"
"Doctor!"
"Please, come on. Rose, I really want to just -"
"Doctor. Since when did you put snogging higher on your list of priorities than saving the world?"
"Since you put on that dress this morning," he blurted out. His eyes widened. "Um, I mean..."
"Come on," she sighed, suppressing a giddy smile of delight at the unexpected compliment. She pulled his hands off her, dragging him towards the doors that led into the house.
"Rose..." he said, in that tone of voice that always alerted her to something she hadn't noticed. Something she should notice.
She glanced around her expectantly. "What?" she muttered worryingly, turning to face him.
He immediately hauled her closer, and pressed a firm kiss to her mouth, coaxing her lips apart with his tongue and a few nibbles until she allowed him to kiss her properly, and she kissed him back just as passionately. His hands slid across her back, one up, one down, to keep her in place against him, as hers came up to tug at his hair.
There was another thunderous crash, and Rose pulled away quickly, guiltily, with wide eyes. "Oh god, come on!" she gasped, rushing into the house. She ran in the general direction of the noise, the Doctor in hot pursuit.
He bumped into her when she stopped suddenly, at the entrance to the dining hall, and reached out to her waist to steady himself. He felt her sag against him in relief, and looked over her shoulder to see what all the fuss was about.
In the dining hall was a congregation of very happy, very drunk Elians having a good old food fight.
Not a universe-ending disaster, then. Right. So he didn't almost sacrifice everyone for the sake of a snog with Rose Tyler, then. Right.
He didn't really know how he felt about that.
Rose, however, was immensely pleased. She turned around and flung her arms around him. "Thank god for that!" she laughed giddily. "I thought I was gonna have a tragedy on my conscience 'cos of you and your tongue!"
He grinned into her neck and swung her around. "So...can we - "
" – join in the food fight?" she interrupted. "Hell yeah!"
And before he could stop her, and tell her, no, actually, I rather meant can we find a horizontal surface somewhere to continue the kissing thing, she was out of his arms and into the crowd, picking up a large chocolate-looking cake, and flinging it in his direction. He was so baffled he didn't even think about ducking.
Consequently, he launched into a counter-attack, and threw a banana trifle at her face.
Luckily for him, she let him lick it off.