Everyday Fantastic: A Time Lord's Guide to the Slow Path (3/15) (original) (raw)
Title: Everyday Fantastic: A Time Lord's Guide to the Slow Path (3/15)
Author: Roxyk630
WARNING: There are S4 spoilers beyond this point.
Character/Pairing: Ten II (10.5, Handy!Ten, Human!Ten, Blue!Ten)/Rose, Appearances by: Jackie, Jake, Pete, Tony and others
Rating: PG-13 (with some brushing R bits later)
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who nor any of the characters contained within. All rights belong to the BBC. I do inflict humiliation upon my dalek action figures and make them wear silly hats and aprons. So... even more concern than the BBC coming after me... is the Cult of Skaro, an encounter I definitely would not survive.
Betas: 
swankkat , measi , and otahyoni for this chapter
Summary: The Doctor learning to live day by day on the slow path with Rose.
Author's Notes: Just to change up the authors notes a bit. I'm linking to a gorgeous piece of art swankkat drew for me from a scene in this chapter. You can find it here (I'll post it at the bottom of the entry as well). This chapter is dedicated for her XD; Since I know it's one of her favorites. <3 (Hell, This entire fic is dedicated to her).
Previous Chapters:Chapter 1, Chapter 2
CHAPTER 3
“Do you want to take a zeppelin?” Rose asks when they arrive in Newcastle. “We can drive, I just figured—it’s something new. “
The Doctor stares at the alternating lights in the sky. Rose had said they reminded her of planes when she’d first arrived, but the zeppelins were considered the more luxurious and exclusive method of travel in this world.
“Did the Hindenburg not happen here?” he asks abruptly, looking concerned as he continues to watch the sky.
“Different technology. I looked into it after I first came here, considering how different the methods of travel are. The Hindenburg did happen, they just changed the mechanism involved—less heat so the gases don’t combust.”
“Yeah?” His eyes finally lower from the sky, averting to Rose. “What about the jeep? I like the jeep.” His hands shift into his pockets as he rocks back and forth on his heels.
“The jeep can go with us.”
His grin could light up the night sky. “Rose?”
“Yeah?”
“Why didn’t we just take a zeppelin in the first place?”
She gives him a mocking, put-out sigh. “Where’s your sense of adventure? Or did Donna get that in the transfer as well?” She pauses at his blank expression. “They’ve been limited to domestic craft until further governmental notice. We wouldn’t be able to get one until we reached England anyway. Mum and Dad are taking the Torchwood Jet since we took the jeep, remember?”
“Oh, Jack would be jealous. His Torchwood doesn’t have a jet.”
“It’s black, shiny, and very fast.” Rose grins.
“Really jealous.” He beams in return.
He looks at her, appalled, as they find their seats on the zeppelin. Until a few moments ago, he’d been grinning from ear to ear about the idea of riding in a zeppelin and meeting new people. Now he just looks ill.
“Rose,” he grips his seat tightly as if he might be sucked out of it at any moment. “I’m going to have to get a job—and—and carpets and a mortgage!”
“Thought you were excited about all that?”
He looks at her, shocked, as though reality has just settled in, hitting him at once. She thinks he’s playing a bit melodramatic.
“I—We could share?” She shrugs, playing with her earring and avoiding his eyes as she buckles her belt.
His hand grips hers tightly and pulls it quickly to his chest, her body following, and he kisses her soundly. It’s rather chaste, but he’s breathing heavily when he pulls away.
“Hardwood?” she replies breathlessly against his lips, still not completely used to the new lack of boundaries in their relationship.
He considers the human idea of foreplay a bit strange. Hardwood? “Pardon?”
“Hardwood floors, no carpet, tile… grating if you want.” He nods gently at her words, with a small grin placing an anxious kiss against her lips.
She smiles, watching his eyes as best she can to see if she can still get a rise out of him. “No rewiring the appliances when we have them.”
He beams, “We may have to re-think this arrangement.”
Rose laughs wholeheartedly.
He spends the rest of the trip finding out which appliances she’s least attached to. He’ll be starting with the vacuum.
“I thought you said the jeep was coming?” he mumbles as they de-zeppelin.
“It is, but it’s brought in on a separate craft. I arranged it with Torchwood transport. Should be at the house by morning.”
“Oh. So how are we getting…?”
“Figured we could take a cab. I’m too tired to drive even if the jeep had arrived at the same time.”
The Doctor watches Rose silently as she texts her mother a quick message to let her know they’ve arrived safely. The trip through the airport is rather swift, despite the mile-long walk, since neither came with baggage. Heathrow’s still ridiculously large no matter the universe. The Doctor insists, as they go through the baggage terminal, that they have to do it properly next time, baggage and all, for the whole “human” experience.
“We’ll need one of those tubes of white zinc for your nose! And gaudy Hawaiian shirts! What else? Mismatching shorts!” He smiles when Rose snorts at his statement.
“Somewhere warm, then. How about flip-flops?”
His face grows very serious as his eyes find hers. “No. I don’t – I’ve never worn flip-flops.”
“Never?” Rose eyes him skeptically.
“Don’t like having that bit between my toes. Trainers are much more comfortable.”
“We’d have to carry or check our luggage. Suitcases aren’t bigger on the inside. You’ll have to pack a bit lighter.” She laughs at the look on his face.
They exit the airport and head towards the taxi line up. The Doctor stops a few feet away, staring at nothing in particular. “Rose, what time is it?”
She flips her wrist and looks at her watch carefully. “1:58am. Blimey, have we really been traveling that long? I might have to call the taxi service. If you count everything with Davros, that’s… what?” She’d intended to ask him the time but when she turns he’s
stopped and he’s staring at her with a blank expression, one that threatens to spill over into something she can’t determine.
“1:58am?” he asks, walking slowly toward her.
“Yeah. Well, 1:59am, now.” She looks at him confused as his hands slide around her waist.
“Brilliant!” He’s smiling but his voice breaks as he leans to whisper in her ear. “Rose, thank you.”
“For wha-?“
Her words are cut off with a hungry kiss, much less virtuous than the previous one. She melts into it with a sigh, wondering exactly when he got so good at snogging. He obviously had time to slow down for some things.
”What was that for?” Her breath comes in short pants against his lips as the taxi pulls up.
“2am, catching a taxi on a street corner. Its—,”he stares at her as he chokes on the words; fumbling to kiss her again, pulling her body flush to his.
The impatient driver waits a minute or two before honking, prompting the Doctor to lift his head quickly at the intrusion. “Oi! Bit busy here! You mind sodding off?! Blimey, that’s rude!” he exclaims.
With a two finger salute to the Doctor, the taxi drives off. Rose dissolves into a fit of giggles.
“Okay, 2am—give or take five or ten minutes,” the Doctor adds sheepishly. He smiles and bends to kiss her again. It’s all he’s ever wanted in the universe and he still feels he’s done nothing to deserve this.
“Never thought I’d hear you tell someone to ‘sod off.’” Rose yawns as they walk up a familiar gravel drive.
“Trying it out. It seems I kept the rude half.”
The house is mostly dark and still as imposing as ever. The gravel feels different beneath his feet when he’s not running. He thinks he might like the sound of the stones grating together as they walk.
“Couldn’t bear to move out.” Rose smiles, gesturing to the house with their clasped hands. “I—I honestly didn’t think I’d be back here.”
“Why?” He looks at her curiously.
She averts her eyes. “I dunno. Figured I’d stay with you or not make it back. I didn’t really think about it. I just-“ She trails off with a sigh and a shrug that seems to travel the length of her body. “—went. Thinking about saving the universe, getting back to you, I
guess. I spent as much time with Mum, Dad, and Tony as I could…I did have a life here.” Her eyes finally meeting his.
He gives her a tight smile. “Good.”
She looks at her watch again and sighs as they reach the front door. “Welcome Home, Doctor.” They are immediately greeted by a tiny terrier yapping away at her guests. “Doctor, meet Rose. Rose, the Doctor.”
He snorts, stifling a laugh that breaks through as Rose rolls her eyes and Rose, the terrier, sniffs at his suit. He allows the dog a moment to sniff his hand before her slobbery tongue comes out and licks him.
“Dad couldn’t bear to get rid of her after the Cybermen and Mum and I never had anything but fish.”
He pats the terrier’s head before observing the dimly lit entryway. “What happened to all that talk about hardwood flooring? Rose Tyler, you cheeky little tease! I only see granite tiling.”
“Chatting you up. Easy target, you are,” she laughs softly, putting Rose down and stifling a yawn. “Right, so domestic you’re okay with now?”
“Depends on the type. Domestic with you?” He pauses thoughtfully, “I like impromptu snogging. Certainly a perk of the domestic state. Can’t believe I ever mocked it before. Wasn’t kissed much in that body though. Think it was ears…” He frowns before perking into a grin. “Rose, if I can fly naked, do you think you could cook naked? Rose Tyler, the new Naked Chef!” He leans in to kiss her smirk before pausing. “Wait, you don’t cook like your mother, do you?”
Rose bites her lower lip and walks towards the staircase, the dog a distance ahead of them. The Doctor groans.
“Terrible cook,” she responds, taking his hand and tugging him up the stairs. “Absolutely wretched. How do you feel about marmite or beans on toast?”
He cringes. She’ll cook him a pleasant surprise in the morning. Eggs and toast with jam she can handle.
“Just a tic.”
Rose leaves him in the hall and disappears into what he can only surmise is Jackie and Pete’s room, the dog following closely at her heels. When she emerges she has a white undershirt and a pair of flannel pants tossed over her shoulder and no terrier.
She takes his hand and tugs him a little further down the dark hall, stopping in front of a door. Rose shifts nervously as she pushes open the door to her bedroom. “Let me just-,“ she slides through the door, flipping on the light. “—there. I’ll give you the grand tour in the morning. For now I’m just going to grab a couple of towels and… I’ll take you to your room,” she adds quickly, not having thought about where he’d sleep.
The Doctor nods solemnly as she disappears into her en-suite and returns with several towels of various shapes and sizes. He’s browsing pictures on her wall. It’s positively covered in photos of her family smiling; she and Pete covered in some sort of goop, another below of Pete, Rose, and a very pregnant Jackie, who’s had the goop wiped on her and looks extremely displeased; Jackie in the hospital with an exhausted smile, while Rose holds the baby; she and Mickey after what looks to be a session of paintball; Rose and Tony and so many others.
He stops on one grainy shot of himself in a tux carrying a tray, Rose at his side, both looking opposite directions. It’s from a downward angle, and at quite a distance, blown up.
“Pete—Dad gave it too me shortly after I came. Mickey helped him find it. Mum made them go through hours of tape—what was left, anyway. Dad had passed most of them along to Torchwood for research into the Cybermen incident. Our house was one of the few bits of ‘footage’ they had.”
He grins pointing to a photo on the left, one of her and Mickey, and Rose smiles.
“My first day of field training. They had us practice with paintball guns. Mickey beat me; Jake plastered Mickey, fantastic aim. You can’t see it there, but his bum was completely covered in paint splotches. Jake found it amusing to hit Mickey as often as he could.”
He stares at her, completely fascinated. “You’d have given all of this up?”
“Yes.” She smiles as another yawn overtakes the rest of her sentence. “Universe to save, defender of earth and all that. I told you before as well, made up my mind a long time ago. You’re stuck with me.” She’s not quite sure how she’s still standing, exhausted as her body feels. She has to be running on pure adrenaline from the previous week, since they got the dimension cannon working properly. If she adds in the past few days of running about, her thought stops with a yawn.
“Stuck with you?” he asks, reaching for her hand.
“Yeah, That all right?” She already knows the answer when he smiles.
“Best show me this room,” he adds, his muscles visibly tensing as he releases her hand. He’s already grabbing the towels and jimjams from her bed, yawning as he does so and looking around curiously after it happens. “That’s new. I don’t usually require sleep yet. Eight hours?”
“That’s the human average.” Rose stops. He’s putting up a few walls, getting out before she can force him to the room next door.
As he heads towards her door, he grins over his shoulder. “Overachiever.”
She’s suddenly struck with a need for him to stay by her side. She’s been waiting for this for two years, and now she’s sending him to sleep elsewhere in a completely new home. No TARDIS, no companion, just them, and she’s putting more distance between them.
“Doctor— “ It comes out as a rush of air and breaks in pitch as her throat tightens when she rushes quickly towards him and grabs his arm. “Stay with me.”
The Doctor swallows and chokes on his words. He’s still tense but Rose can see the hope in his expression. “I thought because I’m different— “
“I need you to stay with me.” Her head tilts and she looks up at him hopelessly, tears brimming in her eyes.
He smiles softly and squeezes her hand. “Of course, Rose Tyler. As you wish.” He wipes the tears that track down her cheeks away with his thumb and she whimpers.
“That’s Princess Bride.” She’s crying and laughing, and it all feels a bit hysterical when she realizes that he’s joined her.
He nods, his voice gruff and breaking. “Yeah.”
She leans up and kisses his cheek. Her arm drifts down his as she pulls him back into her room and closes the door. She sniffles slightly and he offers her a sleeve, sending her again into tearful laughter as she moves past him and flips on a lamp next to her bed.
Several seconds later, she’s in her closet changing; he can hear the rustle of fabric and watches as her shadow plays seductively on the carpet from the light that escapes from the door.
He knows things won’t progress that far tonight, as impatient as he is to live his life with Rose, to begin things they never had the chance to do. He’s fighting the desire to rush everything. He knows he should want to run from something so inherently against what he was, but as she slips out of the closet in a close fitting t-shirt and a pair of red cotton pajama bottoms, he can’t budge, let alone figure out why he would want to run from it, ever. It’s scary and it’s new and it makes his single heart flutter. This new body doesn’t seem to be afraid of any risk involving Rose.
Rose looks at him curiously as she walks towards him. The house is silent, save for their breathing. Her fingers come to rest over his heart reverently, before slipping down and undoing the buttons that hold his suit jacket closed. His eyes follow her hands as they slip up his body and push his jacket off over his shoulders, her eyes finally meeting his. The Doctor keeps his eyes focused on her as he pulls one arm out of the sleeve, allowing the jacket to drop from the other. She leans up and places a light kiss where his shirt meets his neckline; he trembles slightly at the contact. The actions are so innocent in their intention and yet fiercely intimate.
He’s transfixed as her hands bunch at the fabric of his t-shirt, her hand finding his elbow and shifting his arm upward as she pulls the shirt off. Her fingers lithely trace his sternum down to his ribs before she leans to grab the borrowed t-shirt from where it lays on her bed, and she meets his eyes as she rises. Her hands, clutching at the shirt, rest over his singular heart, feeling its beat. Soft, warm kisses cover where her hands once sat before her eyes lift to his again. He holds his arms out as she slips the sleeves of his night shirt over his them and tugs it over his head, her hands smoothing it down his body.
When he can see her again, she’s wearing a crooked smile with something akin to wonder. “Love the hair,” she whispers with a small smile. Her body is pressed against his, her warmth against him, and he remembers why he wore all those layers on the TARDIS.
“Rose.” He whispers her name, too seduced by her to say anything else.
She pushes off of him gently; her hand guiding him to sit on her bed while she dips to remove his trainers, tossing them haphazardly as each is removed. She rises slowly, her hand pressing against his knee to stand.
His hands circle her waist, pulling her closer, shifting his knees to either side of her body and leaning into her warmth. He presses into her breast, resting his head against the single beat of her heart, its racing. ”Rose.” He shifts as her hand presses into his hair, scratching at his scalp. “I love you.”
Her hand plays in his hair for a brief moment before sliding to his chin. Fingers tilt his chin up gently, allowing his eyes to meet his. “I love you too, Doctor.”
And it feels real.