Fic: Been Here Before
Been Here Before. Doctor Who: Alt!Ten/Rose, PG.
He can't help feeling it. She can't help feeling baffled. Jealousy, for then_theres_us.
She was staring at him. Really staring at him, like his fingers were stuck in the toaster (again) or he was covered in detergent (…again) or had broke something. (Again).
He could feel it beginning again- could sense the edges of their end creeping along his nerves, finding the weak points in his bones to make them creak with unwanted emotion. It was slow-moving, a lumbering behemoth in the distance, but he could feel it, he knew it would appear, as always, and twist his insides up like curling vines, making him remember. Making him forget. His fingers were itching with the absence of work, his heart heavy with-
"Oh, for the love of-" Rose huffed. She was staring at him. Really staring at him, like his fingers were stuck in the toaster (again) or he was covered in detergent (…again) or had broke something. (Again). His arm reached up self-consciously, his un-toasted fingers scratching at the nape of his neck. He looked away from her, for about ten seconds. When he went to glance at her (to, to, to evaluate the situation, situations are always larking about being their unevaluated selves, yes, quite right and-) she had caught his gaze, and kept it, her eyebrow defying gravity a little, crawling up her forehead with such disbelief that he almost felt ashamed.
The elf, for its part, was being silent through the entire exchange.
"Are you doing it again?" she said, baffled.
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he said. But he did. He really did. But it was just- he was so used to it! It was a powerful thing and it appeared when it wanted and she wouldn't understand that and there she was, still staring at him like he won an idiot competition. Her face was holding the belief so powerfully that he almost started believing it himself. He shook his head.
"Rose, it's just, I really don't think you understand how- how dangerous it is!" He pointed at the elf, his whole body arching behind his arm to emphasize how much he was pointing. It was a very athletic motion, he thought.
The elf looked as if it was going to cry in the most heartbreaking way possible- his large, luminous eyes were wide with pain and glistening with unshed tears, small nose scrunching up, chubby cheeks tinged with pink, his belled shoes jangling dejectedly. Rose glared at the Doctor before dropping to a crouch, taking the elf's little hand in hers and cooing to it. "S'all right, little one, he's just jealous isn't he? He's just upset you like me more than him. Why don't you go give him a hug, make him realize how ridiculous he is?"
The elf waddled quickly over to the Doctor, wrapping itself around his leg before he could do anything about it. He looked at Rose, pained, as it wept quietly into his trouser leg. "Rose, I am not jealous," he said. But, really, he kind of was. He was always the one everyone asked for advice; he took command before it was even offered, directed thousands of alien civilizations, scoffed - nay, outright laughed! -at slimy overlords and tentacled dictators. He was the Doctor, healing the universe with only his wit and his ship! And sometimes companion! Also a screwdriver! But here, on this alternate planet, everything seemed to fall easily into her hands- Torchwood practically worshiped her -and he felt like… like a sidekick.
Rose put her hands on her hips, and as soon as he saw the familiar angle of them lock into position, he knew he had lost. This was the part where she would agree to everything he said with 'oh yes of course' or 'mhmm' or 'right, right', and he would always, without fail, stumble blindly into the trap of womanly logic, never realizing this was a Sign. But it had happened enough times now for him to recognize it, and his half-open mouth shut decisively.
"Okay, fine. I was jealous," he said, the last word rolling off his tongue with distaste.
Rose's grin was as brilliant as it was instantaneous, and the Doctor almost forgot the small weeping creature attached to him. "Alright, Weepy. Let's go. Let's find your ship and get you back to, what was it? Planet Dwarf?"
"Oi," Rose said. Her voice was frightening, but what scared the Doctor the most was that her grin had not faltered.
"Um, right. Sorry. I meant, E'tihw. Let's get you back to the E'tihw System, shall we?"
Rose gathered it up in her arms, letting it climb onto her back as they walked back through the garden. Its hat glinted softly in the sunlight.
"Do you think- no, never mind."
"Hmm? Rose?"
"It's just that, I don't know- don't we seem to be missing a few garden gnomes?"
He can't help feeling it. She can't help feeling baffled. Jealousy, for then_theres_us.
She was staring at him. Really staring at him, like his fingers were stuck in the toaster (again) or he was covered in detergent (…again) or had broke something. (Again).
He could feel it beginning again- could sense the edges of their end creeping along his nerves, finding the weak points in his bones to make them creak with unwanted emotion. It was slow-moving, a lumbering behemoth in the distance, but he could feel it, he knew it would appear, as always, and twist his insides up like curling vines, making him remember. Making him forget. His fingers were itching with the absence of work, his heart heavy with-
"Oh, for the love of-" Rose huffed. She was staring at him. Really staring at him, like his fingers were stuck in the toaster (again) or he was covered in detergent (…again) or had broke something. (Again). His arm reached up self-consciously, his un-toasted fingers scratching at the nape of his neck. He looked away from her, for about ten seconds. When he went to glance at her (to, to, to evaluate the situation, situations are always larking about being their unevaluated selves, yes, quite right and-) she had caught his gaze, and kept it, her eyebrow defying gravity a little, crawling up her forehead with such disbelief that he almost felt ashamed.
The elf, for its part, was being silent through the entire exchange.
"Are you doing it again?" she said, baffled.
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he said. But he did. He really did. But it was just- he was so used to it! It was a powerful thing and it appeared when it wanted and she wouldn't understand that and there she was, still staring at him like he won an idiot competition. Her face was holding the belief so powerfully that he almost started believing it himself. He shook his head.
"Rose, it's just, I really don't think you understand how- how dangerous it is!" He pointed at the elf, his whole body arching behind his arm to emphasize how much he was pointing. It was a very athletic motion, he thought.
The elf looked as if it was going to cry in the most heartbreaking way possible- his large, luminous eyes were wide with pain and glistening with unshed tears, small nose scrunching up, chubby cheeks tinged with pink, his belled shoes jangling dejectedly. Rose glared at the Doctor before dropping to a crouch, taking the elf's little hand in hers and cooing to it. "S'all right, little one, he's just jealous isn't he? He's just upset you like me more than him. Why don't you go give him a hug, make him realize how ridiculous he is?"
The elf waddled quickly over to the Doctor, wrapping itself around his leg before he could do anything about it. He looked at Rose, pained, as it wept quietly into his trouser leg. "Rose, I am not jealous," he said. But, really, he kind of was. He was always the one everyone asked for advice; he took command before it was even offered, directed thousands of alien civilizations, scoffed - nay, outright laughed! -at slimy overlords and tentacled dictators. He was the Doctor, healing the universe with only his wit and his ship! And sometimes companion! Also a screwdriver! But here, on this alternate planet, everything seemed to fall easily into her hands- Torchwood practically worshiped her -and he felt like… like a sidekick.
Rose put her hands on her hips, and as soon as he saw the familiar angle of them lock into position, he knew he had lost. This was the part where she would agree to everything he said with 'oh yes of course' or 'mhmm' or 'right, right', and he would always, without fail, stumble blindly into the trap of womanly logic, never realizing this was a Sign. But it had happened enough times now for him to recognize it, and his half-open mouth shut decisively.
"Okay, fine. I was jealous," he said, the last word rolling off his tongue with distaste.
Rose's grin was as brilliant as it was instantaneous, and the Doctor almost forgot the small weeping creature attached to him. "Alright, Weepy. Let's go. Let's find your ship and get you back to, what was it? Planet Dwarf?"
"Oi," Rose said. Her voice was frightening, but what scared the Doctor the most was that her grin had not faltered.
"Um, right. Sorry. I meant, E'tihw. Let's get you back to the E'tihw System, shall we?"
Rose gathered it up in her arms, letting it climb onto her back as they walked back through the garden. Its hat glinted softly in the sunlight.
"Do you think- no, never mind."
"Hmm? Rose?"
"It's just that, I don't know- don't we seem to be missing a few garden gnomes?"