Calendar Days- (Rose/Doctor, Donna/Jack, R)
This fic is written for, and at the request of the darling and lovely earlwyn. She wanted Doctor/Rose kissing and fluff, and so I deliver. This is an AU from 'Turn Left,' disregarding everything that happens in 'Journey's End.'
Title: Calendar Days
Author: Culumacilinte
Pairing: Doctor/Rose, Donna/Jack
Rating: R
Summary: On the third day, Rose and the Doctor almost kissed again. Several times, in fact.
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Zilch, nada, nil, etc etc. Doctor Who is the property of RTD and his lot; I intend no infringement.
~~~~~~~~~
On the first day, everyone was so relieved that the world hadn’t actually ended, that much of what went on was a happy blur. There had been grieving, of course, for those not as fortunate as them, but the fortunate were generally of the opinion that there was no harm in a bit of a celebration.
Martha brought along her fiancée (whom the Doctor thoroughly approved of- ‘Tom! Tommy Tom Tom! Thomas- sensible name, that. I’m the Doctor.’ Tom gave him a wry grin. ‘I know.’), and together they wove through the middle of things, smiling at all and sundry, though Martha had eyes only for Tom. Jackie and Sarah Jane found themselves deep in conversation over the topics of a) the Doctor and b) motherhood. Their opinions on the first differed substantially, but the never-quite empty glasses of wine in front of them ensured that it didn’t really matter. Donna ended up perched on Jack’s lap while that Ianto chap tried not to glower at them, but soon enough, Jack invited him over as well, and they ended up part of the happy, laughing pile of people anyway.
Rose, for her part, was so utterly exhausted that not even Jack and Mickey’s protestations could keep her up for the party for long, and she soon retired. The TARDIS was parked just outside the Hub, and she took a moment to fondly run a hand over the weathered blue paintwork, the grin that she hadn’t been able to get rid of all night tugging insistently at her lips. The inside was exactly as she remembered it, and she even went so far as to hug herself tight, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet like the teenager she’d been when she travelled with the Doctor.
A low laugh sounded from behind one of the coral struts, and Rose looked up to see the Doctor. He was standing there, looking just like she remembered, that wide, mad grin plastered across his face, and the little laugh Rose gave in return sounded almost like a sob.
‘Rose Tyler,’ he said, rolling the words around in his mouth with relish, ‘you are fantastic.’
He held out his arms, and Rose threw herself into them, laughing giddily as he picked her up and swung her around and around. When he finally put her down, she smiled up at him, remembering his words from what seemed… oh, so long ago.
‘You know what?’ He cocked his head down at her, lifting his eyebrows enquiringly. ‘So were you.’
Again, they both laughed; both of them tired and worn out but so, so happy. There was a moment’s pause, as they stood there in each other’s arms, and before either of them really knew what was happening, the Doctor caught Rose’s face between his hands and leaned down to kiss her. Rose went quite still for a moment, with the Doctor’s lips pressed against hers, and before she had a chance to react, the Doctor released her.
He scuffed the toe of one of his trainers against the grating. ‘Good night, Rose.’
And just like that, he was gone, save for the sound of uneven footsteps which sounded suspiciously like skipping.
Rose blinked for a moment, unsure precisely what had just happened, before shaking her head and shuffling off to fall into bed. Her old room was just where it had always been, and the TARDIS had the door open for her when she reached it.
~~~~~~
On the second day, Rose slept.
It wasn’t precisely jet lag, what happened to you, crossing from universe to universe, but it was a damn close equivalent, and Rose felt entirely justified in taking a decent kip to recover from saving the worlds. Her old room was just as she’d left it, even down to the makeup left sitting on the vanity and the clothes hanging in the wardrobe. It looked as though she might only have left it the night before, as opposed to two years before. The bed was even more sinfully soft than she recalled, and it was no chore at all to simply sink into it and not get up.
While Rose slept, the Doctor drank cup after cup of tea so sugary it nearly crawled up the sides of the cup, and paced back and forth. When he tired of pacing, he sat himself at the kitchen table and talked at Donna with such rapidity that she could barely understand him at all.
She laughed into her own mug- coffee, not tea- and smiled over at the Doctor. ‘I’ve never seen you this happy, you know.’
‘Mmm?’ The Doctor jerked up out of his continuous, rambling speech, blinking over at Donna, who just took another mouthful of her coffee, looking at him fondly.
‘Always busy sulking away with your cosmic angst, you are.’
The Doctor looked affronted. ‘Me? Angst? Nahhh. Not this me, at least. Last me could have given you a run for your money in terms of angst, but-’
Donna interrupted him, still shaking her head faintly. ‘She must be a marvel, that girl; I keep thinking your face is gonna crack from so much smiling.’
The Doctor lifted a hand to his face, taking a moment before allowing another huge grin to break out across it. ‘Nope! No sign of cracking yet; though do tell me if anything starts, won’t you? I’m quite fond of this face; wouldn’t look good with great bloody cracks all the way across it.’
‘I’ll make sure to do that.’
~~~~~~~
On the third day, the Doctor and Rose almost kissed again. Several times, in fact. The Doctor seemed to have developed a habit of colliding with Rose any time he walked through a door, or down a corridor, or much of anywhere, really. One particularly energetic dash ‘round the console knocked them both clean to the floor, where the Doctor landed, conveniently, right on top of Rose.
He blinked down at her, breathing heavily, and she blinked back up. He could feel her breasts pressed against his chest, and oh, she was lovely and soft and human-hot beneath him, and wasn’t it funny, really how her eyes had this knowing sort of glint to them as she looked at him. Their lips were bare centimetres apart before the Doctor realised precisely what he was doing and shot up as though he’d been stung, his eyes wide and spooked even as a familiar, manic grin took its place
Smiling hugely- and only a little bit nervously- he hoisted Rose to her feet, bouncing a bit on the spot. ‘Quite alright there, Rose? No scrapes or bruises?’
His hands fluttered across her shoulders and down her arms like nervous moths, never actually touching, and Rose exhaled a little laugh, smiling down at her trainers. ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’
‘Er. Best get to-’ he waggled his fingers in the direction of the lever he’d been dashing around the console to pull when he ran into Rose in the first place. ‘Might end up ripping a hole in the Vortex, and that is never good. Belgium, and all that.’
‘Belgium?’
‘Long story.’
And the Doctor, as it happened, was too busy preventing Belgium from happening that he didn’t notice the little smile Rose hid in her fist.
~~~~~~~
On the fourth day, the Doctor happened to mention to Donna that he’d kissed Rose on the first night.
‘God, finally,’ Donna laughed, fondly exasperated, before she leaned forward, eagerly adopting the air of a conspirator. ‘Go on then, what happened next?’
The Doctor looked genuinely lost. ‘Next? Next! Yes, next. Um, next, well- went to bed, I suppose.’ Donna gave him a prompting nod, grinning wickedly. He completely missed the point. ‘Well, that is to say, Rose went to bed. Don’t sleep much, me; Time Lord biology, you know; don’t need all the time you humans spend sleeping! That’s how the Time Lords advanced so quickly- we don’t waste eight hours a day sleeping. Think of all the stuff you can do in eight hours!’
Donna pursed her lips, tilting her head to one side in a gesture that the Doctor had quickly learned to recognise as dangerous. ‘You’re saying you kissed her and then, what, swanned off your own merry way?’
The Doctor’s Adam’s apple bobbed conspicuously. ‘A bit. Well, maybe. Yes.’
The crack from Donna’s slap rang in the small room, and the Doctor’s head snapped back so quickly it looked like he was in danger of whiplash.
‘Ow,’ he said vehemently, rubbing his cheek tenderly where a pink blotch was already blooming. Though it made a valiant effort, the look he gave Donna was more a pout than a glower. ‘What was that for?’
Donna’s hand was poised for another slap, and the Doctor carefully extricated himself from his chair, putting himself just far enough away that he was out of her slapping radius. She raised her eyebrows. ‘The Time Lords advanced quickly, did they?’
‘… Yes.’
‘And, during all that advancement they did when they weren’t sleeping, did they not bother to come up with a thing called tact?!’
‘What do you mean, tact? I’m very tactful! Bit rude at times, but that can happen with regeneration.’
She glowered at him. ‘I mean tact, Starman, as in not snogging someone and then leaving.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah.’ She gave him that ironic little head-tilt again. ‘Oh.’
~~~~~~~~
On the fifth day, the Doctor decided (or rather, Donna decided for him) that he ought to have a bit of a chat with Rose.
‘Er, Rose?’
Rose looked up from the book she was reading and raised her eyebrows mildly at the Doctor. She didn’t comment on the impressive bruise he’d developed on one cheek, blossoming in purple and green; she’d got to know Donna quite quickly in the past week. The Doctor tugged nervously on one earlobe.
‘Ah, well- bit difficult, this- but I don’t suppose you recall the whole… kissing thing, from a few nights ago.’
It was difficult for Rose not to laugh; one would think the Doctor was a ten year old boy rather than a nine hundred year old Time Lord. ‘The “kissing thing”?’ She echoed, amused.
The Doctor wrinkled his nose. He looked quite ready to embark on a long and probably unnecessary ramble about something or other, and Rose, seeing the wisdom in taking a more active role in this exchange, unfolded herself from the chair she’d been curled in. She positioned herself in front of the Doctor, smiling.
‘Doctor.’
‘That’s me, yes,’ he agreed genially.
‘Something you might’ve noticed,’ she tugged lightly at the lapels of his jacket, cocking her head up at him, ‘I’m not a lost teenage girl anymore.’
‘Ho, never thought you were!’ The Doctor grinned brightly, leaning back ever so slightly. ‘Not Rose Tyler.’
She shook her head. ‘I was, though. You found me, and then I wasn’t. But I was so afraid that you’d drop me, go off without me someday, and I’d be lost again, so I held meself back from doing… certain things. Certain things, maybe, that I wanted to do, but I thought if I did, I might lose you.’
‘Oh.’
‘Cos I thought, better to be lost with you, yeah? But now, Doctor, I know I don’t have to be lost to have you. ‘M not scared anymore.’
She was almost gliding forward as she said this; not taking any discernable steps, but definitely advancing, and the Doctor found himself walking backwards to match her movement. He swallowed back on a nervous little laugh. ‘That’s what I like to hear, Rose; taking a proactive stance- good attitude to have, that.’
There was a faint thud as his back hit the wall, and he suddenly fell silent, looking down at Rose. His eyes were very wide.
‘Rose?’
‘Doctor?’
One of the Doctor’s hands fluttered a little in the space between them. ‘We, ah, seem to be quite close.’
‘Mmm,’ she agreed, grinning what really was a rather naughty grin. ‘Doctor?’
‘Rose?’
‘I’m gonna kiss you now.’
‘Oh,’ he was about to say, except then Rose’s hand was on his tie, and very suddenly, her mouth was on his, and he found that that made talking rather difficult. After a moment, he found that it also made talking seem entirely unnecessary.
Rose kissed insistently, one hand still clutching his tie, the other just barely stroking the back of his neck, encouraging him to kiss back. Slowly, his hands lifted from his sides to rest on the curves of her hips, up around her waist, her sides, her back, and finally, he opened his mouth to hers. Her mouth was hot and soft and wet- very hot and soft and wet- and the Doctor found suddenly that his tongue seemed to be particularly eager for a closer acquaintance with it.
He could feel her smiling against his lips, and spread his hand over her back, pulling her closer, just a little bit.
The Doctor almost stumbled when she pulled back, following her lips without any thought at all before he could reign himself in. He licked his lips, dragging his eyes away from her mouth (it was red, and rather wet, and the Doctor decided that that was a very good look for her).
Rose smiled. One of those truly brilliant, glowing smiles that she used to so often give him, and something between his hearts flipped.
‘Not so bad then?’ She asked, sifting his tie absently between her fingers. The Doctor murmured something low in the back of his throat, a soft ‘hmm’ noise that sent a little shiver through Rose under his eyes.
Then he grinned, very softly, and raised a hand to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. ‘Not so bad,’ he agreed.
A moment of swelling silence passed, and then-
‘Rose, you know that kissing thing?’
‘Yes?’
‘Can we do that again?’
~~~~~~~~
On the sixth day, the Doctor didn’t tell Rose he loved her.
He was going to, but Rose shook her head and grinned, and told him not to exert himself. He blinked at her, and she laughed and kissed him.
~~~~~~~~
On the seventh day, Rose found herself flat on her back on her bed, with the Doctor kneeling before her, kissing a long, slow line up her leg. She quivered faintly as she lay, exerting the utmost will not to simply grab the Doctor by his hair (his fabulous, fabulous hair; God, she’d missed his hair) and forcing him to get to work. But she managed it nonetheless. He took such obscene pleasure in every languorous kiss and lick, it would seem almost cruel to stop him.
Higher and higher, until he stopped at the curve of her thigh, humming a little against the flesh. Rose’s quiver became more pronounced, and the Doctor grinned. The expression was curiously at odds with his eyes, which were darker than she could ever remember seeing them.
‘Doctor,’ her voice was little more than a breath.
The Doctor looked up curiously, before leaning up to nuzzle at the neat little cropping of hair between her thighs. ‘Mmm?’
She shook her head faintly as the Doctor returned to his previous attentions. ‘Wasn’t a question.’
‘Mmm,’ the Doctor said again, and joggled his shoulders a bit, cupping her calf to shift her legs up over them, and leaned forward to give her one long lick, his tongue flat against the heat of her sex. A little jolt of pleasure lifted her hips just slightly off the bed, and the Doctor hummed, pleased and maybe a little bit smug. He sucked and licked, his tongue seeking out the wet heat of her insides, relishing the little soft, urgent sounds Rose made under his touch.
He mouthed at her, painting teasing little circles with the very tip of his tongue, and when, with no warning, he sucked hard at her clit, her whole body shuddered. The little sawed-off moan that escaped was positively delicious, and the Doctor groaned in return. That, he decided, was a noise he would like to hear much more often.
Looking down at him, Rose bit her lip against the whimpers that wanted to escape as the Doctor licked and mouthed and hummed. ‘No wonder you like this sort of thing,’ she managed breathlessly, her voice a strained giggle, ‘Oral fixation like you’ve got.’
This time, the Doctor didn’t even look up, and his response was muffled between her legs. ‘Hmm?’
Her body jerked again and she shook her head, before it fell back onto the sheets. ‘Never mind.’
~~~~~~~~
On the eighth day, Donna found Jack loitering about in the console room of the TARDIS. She grinned broadly.
‘Captain Jack.’
He pivoted on one heel until he’d turned to face her entirely, tipping her a quick grin and a wink. ‘Donna. Good to see you.’
‘Yeah, you too.’
‘I was-’
‘Here to see the Doctor?’ She pre-empted his words, and he dipped his head in a bashful little gesture; it wasn’t actually bashful, Donna was quite sure, but it did a damn good job at pretending. She smirked. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. He’s been a bit preoccupied lately!’
She raised her voice to a shout, turning over her shoulder to make sure her voice could be heard down the corridor. Jack raised an eyebrow until an answering voice rang out from somewhere inside the TARDIS.
‘Sod off!’
It was Rose’s voice, and after a moment to process, Jack burst into a delighted laugh. ‘You finally got ‘em together, then?’
Donna preened slightly. ‘I did a bit of pushing, yeah. He needed it.’
Jack’s laugh turned slightly rueful, and he rubbed at the back of his neck with a hand. ‘Tell me about it. I’ve been trying to get those two together since the moment I met them. Well,’ he corrected himself, ‘mostly trying to get them together so I could get in with that myself, but…’
‘What, with the Doctor?’ Donna looked torn between delight and revulsion. ‘I do not understand what people find so attractive about him; he’s a whippet, he is; skinny as a stick, and all that hair…’
Jack’s grin dazzled. ‘You should have met him in his last body.’ He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, clear memories playing behind his eyes. ‘All gruff and chiselled and Northern… leather jacket, mechanic’s hands…’ He gave an exaggerated little shudder. ‘Delicious.’
Donna wrinkled her nose, but she was smiling. ‘Gruff, him?’
‘Oh yeah. Gruff and brooding. It’s a good look if you can work it.’
‘Mmm.’ She nodded in absent agreement, before shooting Jack a shrewd look. ‘You still want to? “Get in with that”?’
A wryly amused chuff of breath from Jack, and he tipped his head back, gazing in the general direction Rose’s voice had some from. ‘Yeah,’ he admitted. ‘But I mean, really… those two.’ He trailed off, that dazzling grin turning a tad nostalgic just for a moment, before he seemed to snap back, giving Donna slightly crooked smile.
‘But since they are, for the moment, unavailable…’
He raised his eyebrows, sliding across the console in a casual sort of swoop to lean against her shoulder. She let her head fall to the side, propped up against his, and gave him a wry look.
‘You proposing to use me as a Doctor substitute?’
‘Donna, you insult me. Are your own myriad charms not enough?’
She laughed outright at that. ‘Doctor was right; you are a dreadful flirt. But-’ she eyed him for a moment, ‘I have not had a shag in a year; I am so with you.’
Jack laughed, and turned to cup her face in his hands, kissing her soundly. ‘Donna Noble, I like the way you think.’
And Donna, as it happened, found she rather liked Jack’s way of thinking too.
~~~~~~
On the tenth day, the Doctor took Jackie and Mickey back home.
Rose hugged them both tearfully goodbye as the Doctor watched behind her, his hands stuck in his pockets, and Donna smiled softly from the doorway of the TARDIS. When she finally pulled back, the Doctor stepped forward, bouncing a little on his toes.
‘Mickey the Idiot!’ He grinned over at Mickey, who gave him a crooked little smile. ‘Not so idiotic anymore, I see. Latest in a long line of… people who’ve saved the Earth from Daleks.’ A frown of thought creased his brow. ‘Seems to happen a lot, that.’
And he even went so far as to give Mickey a hug.
He didn’t intend to give Jackie one, but she didn’t give him much of an option.
~~~~~~~
On the twelfth day, the Doctor took Rose and Donna to the planet Roldh.
‘Shops from coast to coast; it’s brilliant! I need to do some repairs on the TARDIS, so I can busy myself being manly and getting covered in engine oil, and you two can go shoe shopping. Oooh, and the chips, Rose! Roldh does the most amazing chips; greasy and slathered in curry- well, it’s a bit… blue, doesn’t much look like curry- but they’re lovely. Mmm, yes. May have to join you for lunch, actually.’
Both Rose and Donna were extremely partial to this plan, though Rose had rather more interest in the prospect of a sweaty and engine oil-smeared Doctor than Donna did.
It turned out, however, that the TARDIS needed those repairs rather more urgently than the Doctor had anticipated, and while they did still land on the planet Roldh, at the exact coordinates the Doctor had specified, they were several thousand years early. And Roldh, as it turned out, was covered in vast stretches of rank swampland several thousand years before, and while the TARDIS could do many things, but one thing it could not do was stand upright in a swamp.
It slumped halfway down into the foul-smelling ooze, and Donna shrieked when she tried to open the doors and immediately, swampwater flooded in, soaking her shoes.
‘Ah.’ The Doctor said.
‘Ah?’ Donna echoed. ‘For once I wear shoes not made for running for my life, and this is what happens to them?’
The shoes in question were eventually removed and thrown (with quite astonishing accuracy) at the Doctor, and he (after dodging them), took the TARDIS to an empty field under a sky with at least five suns, where the three of them spent the rest of the day scrubbing muck off the outside of the ship.
Donna groused, and the Doctor was apologetic, but Rose found herself grinning throughout.
Title: Calendar Days
Author: Culumacilinte
Pairing: Doctor/Rose, Donna/Jack
Rating: R
Summary: On the third day, Rose and the Doctor almost kissed again. Several times, in fact.
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Zilch, nada, nil, etc etc. Doctor Who is the property of RTD and his lot; I intend no infringement.
~~~~~~~~~
On the first day, everyone was so relieved that the world hadn’t actually ended, that much of what went on was a happy blur. There had been grieving, of course, for those not as fortunate as them, but the fortunate were generally of the opinion that there was no harm in a bit of a celebration.
Martha brought along her fiancée (whom the Doctor thoroughly approved of- ‘Tom! Tommy Tom Tom! Thomas- sensible name, that. I’m the Doctor.’ Tom gave him a wry grin. ‘I know.’), and together they wove through the middle of things, smiling at all and sundry, though Martha had eyes only for Tom. Jackie and Sarah Jane found themselves deep in conversation over the topics of a) the Doctor and b) motherhood. Their opinions on the first differed substantially, but the never-quite empty glasses of wine in front of them ensured that it didn’t really matter. Donna ended up perched on Jack’s lap while that Ianto chap tried not to glower at them, but soon enough, Jack invited him over as well, and they ended up part of the happy, laughing pile of people anyway.
Rose, for her part, was so utterly exhausted that not even Jack and Mickey’s protestations could keep her up for the party for long, and she soon retired. The TARDIS was parked just outside the Hub, and she took a moment to fondly run a hand over the weathered blue paintwork, the grin that she hadn’t been able to get rid of all night tugging insistently at her lips. The inside was exactly as she remembered it, and she even went so far as to hug herself tight, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet like the teenager she’d been when she travelled with the Doctor.
A low laugh sounded from behind one of the coral struts, and Rose looked up to see the Doctor. He was standing there, looking just like she remembered, that wide, mad grin plastered across his face, and the little laugh Rose gave in return sounded almost like a sob.
‘Rose Tyler,’ he said, rolling the words around in his mouth with relish, ‘you are fantastic.’
He held out his arms, and Rose threw herself into them, laughing giddily as he picked her up and swung her around and around. When he finally put her down, she smiled up at him, remembering his words from what seemed… oh, so long ago.
‘You know what?’ He cocked his head down at her, lifting his eyebrows enquiringly. ‘So were you.’
Again, they both laughed; both of them tired and worn out but so, so happy. There was a moment’s pause, as they stood there in each other’s arms, and before either of them really knew what was happening, the Doctor caught Rose’s face between his hands and leaned down to kiss her. Rose went quite still for a moment, with the Doctor’s lips pressed against hers, and before she had a chance to react, the Doctor released her.
He scuffed the toe of one of his trainers against the grating. ‘Good night, Rose.’
And just like that, he was gone, save for the sound of uneven footsteps which sounded suspiciously like skipping.
Rose blinked for a moment, unsure precisely what had just happened, before shaking her head and shuffling off to fall into bed. Her old room was just where it had always been, and the TARDIS had the door open for her when she reached it.
~~~~~~
On the second day, Rose slept.
It wasn’t precisely jet lag, what happened to you, crossing from universe to universe, but it was a damn close equivalent, and Rose felt entirely justified in taking a decent kip to recover from saving the worlds. Her old room was just as she’d left it, even down to the makeup left sitting on the vanity and the clothes hanging in the wardrobe. It looked as though she might only have left it the night before, as opposed to two years before. The bed was even more sinfully soft than she recalled, and it was no chore at all to simply sink into it and not get up.
While Rose slept, the Doctor drank cup after cup of tea so sugary it nearly crawled up the sides of the cup, and paced back and forth. When he tired of pacing, he sat himself at the kitchen table and talked at Donna with such rapidity that she could barely understand him at all.
She laughed into her own mug- coffee, not tea- and smiled over at the Doctor. ‘I’ve never seen you this happy, you know.’
‘Mmm?’ The Doctor jerked up out of his continuous, rambling speech, blinking over at Donna, who just took another mouthful of her coffee, looking at him fondly.
‘Always busy sulking away with your cosmic angst, you are.’
The Doctor looked affronted. ‘Me? Angst? Nahhh. Not this me, at least. Last me could have given you a run for your money in terms of angst, but-’
Donna interrupted him, still shaking her head faintly. ‘She must be a marvel, that girl; I keep thinking your face is gonna crack from so much smiling.’
The Doctor lifted a hand to his face, taking a moment before allowing another huge grin to break out across it. ‘Nope! No sign of cracking yet; though do tell me if anything starts, won’t you? I’m quite fond of this face; wouldn’t look good with great bloody cracks all the way across it.’
‘I’ll make sure to do that.’
~~~~~~~
On the third day, the Doctor and Rose almost kissed again. Several times, in fact. The Doctor seemed to have developed a habit of colliding with Rose any time he walked through a door, or down a corridor, or much of anywhere, really. One particularly energetic dash ‘round the console knocked them both clean to the floor, where the Doctor landed, conveniently, right on top of Rose.
He blinked down at her, breathing heavily, and she blinked back up. He could feel her breasts pressed against his chest, and oh, she was lovely and soft and human-hot beneath him, and wasn’t it funny, really how her eyes had this knowing sort of glint to them as she looked at him. Their lips were bare centimetres apart before the Doctor realised precisely what he was doing and shot up as though he’d been stung, his eyes wide and spooked even as a familiar, manic grin took its place
Smiling hugely- and only a little bit nervously- he hoisted Rose to her feet, bouncing a bit on the spot. ‘Quite alright there, Rose? No scrapes or bruises?’
His hands fluttered across her shoulders and down her arms like nervous moths, never actually touching, and Rose exhaled a little laugh, smiling down at her trainers. ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’
‘Er. Best get to-’ he waggled his fingers in the direction of the lever he’d been dashing around the console to pull when he ran into Rose in the first place. ‘Might end up ripping a hole in the Vortex, and that is never good. Belgium, and all that.’
‘Belgium?’
‘Long story.’
And the Doctor, as it happened, was too busy preventing Belgium from happening that he didn’t notice the little smile Rose hid in her fist.
~~~~~~~
On the fourth day, the Doctor happened to mention to Donna that he’d kissed Rose on the first night.
‘God, finally,’ Donna laughed, fondly exasperated, before she leaned forward, eagerly adopting the air of a conspirator. ‘Go on then, what happened next?’
The Doctor looked genuinely lost. ‘Next? Next! Yes, next. Um, next, well- went to bed, I suppose.’ Donna gave him a prompting nod, grinning wickedly. He completely missed the point. ‘Well, that is to say, Rose went to bed. Don’t sleep much, me; Time Lord biology, you know; don’t need all the time you humans spend sleeping! That’s how the Time Lords advanced so quickly- we don’t waste eight hours a day sleeping. Think of all the stuff you can do in eight hours!’
Donna pursed her lips, tilting her head to one side in a gesture that the Doctor had quickly learned to recognise as dangerous. ‘You’re saying you kissed her and then, what, swanned off your own merry way?’
The Doctor’s Adam’s apple bobbed conspicuously. ‘A bit. Well, maybe. Yes.’
The crack from Donna’s slap rang in the small room, and the Doctor’s head snapped back so quickly it looked like he was in danger of whiplash.
‘Ow,’ he said vehemently, rubbing his cheek tenderly where a pink blotch was already blooming. Though it made a valiant effort, the look he gave Donna was more a pout than a glower. ‘What was that for?’
Donna’s hand was poised for another slap, and the Doctor carefully extricated himself from his chair, putting himself just far enough away that he was out of her slapping radius. She raised her eyebrows. ‘The Time Lords advanced quickly, did they?’
‘… Yes.’
‘And, during all that advancement they did when they weren’t sleeping, did they not bother to come up with a thing called tact?!’
‘What do you mean, tact? I’m very tactful! Bit rude at times, but that can happen with regeneration.’
She glowered at him. ‘I mean tact, Starman, as in not snogging someone and then leaving.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah.’ She gave him that ironic little head-tilt again. ‘Oh.’
~~~~~~~~
On the fifth day, the Doctor decided (or rather, Donna decided for him) that he ought to have a bit of a chat with Rose.
‘Er, Rose?’
Rose looked up from the book she was reading and raised her eyebrows mildly at the Doctor. She didn’t comment on the impressive bruise he’d developed on one cheek, blossoming in purple and green; she’d got to know Donna quite quickly in the past week. The Doctor tugged nervously on one earlobe.
‘Ah, well- bit difficult, this- but I don’t suppose you recall the whole… kissing thing, from a few nights ago.’
It was difficult for Rose not to laugh; one would think the Doctor was a ten year old boy rather than a nine hundred year old Time Lord. ‘The “kissing thing”?’ She echoed, amused.
The Doctor wrinkled his nose. He looked quite ready to embark on a long and probably unnecessary ramble about something or other, and Rose, seeing the wisdom in taking a more active role in this exchange, unfolded herself from the chair she’d been curled in. She positioned herself in front of the Doctor, smiling.
‘Doctor.’
‘That’s me, yes,’ he agreed genially.
‘Something you might’ve noticed,’ she tugged lightly at the lapels of his jacket, cocking her head up at him, ‘I’m not a lost teenage girl anymore.’
‘Ho, never thought you were!’ The Doctor grinned brightly, leaning back ever so slightly. ‘Not Rose Tyler.’
She shook her head. ‘I was, though. You found me, and then I wasn’t. But I was so afraid that you’d drop me, go off without me someday, and I’d be lost again, so I held meself back from doing… certain things. Certain things, maybe, that I wanted to do, but I thought if I did, I might lose you.’
‘Oh.’
‘Cos I thought, better to be lost with you, yeah? But now, Doctor, I know I don’t have to be lost to have you. ‘M not scared anymore.’
She was almost gliding forward as she said this; not taking any discernable steps, but definitely advancing, and the Doctor found himself walking backwards to match her movement. He swallowed back on a nervous little laugh. ‘That’s what I like to hear, Rose; taking a proactive stance- good attitude to have, that.’
There was a faint thud as his back hit the wall, and he suddenly fell silent, looking down at Rose. His eyes were very wide.
‘Rose?’
‘Doctor?’
One of the Doctor’s hands fluttered a little in the space between them. ‘We, ah, seem to be quite close.’
‘Mmm,’ she agreed, grinning what really was a rather naughty grin. ‘Doctor?’
‘Rose?’
‘I’m gonna kiss you now.’
‘Oh,’ he was about to say, except then Rose’s hand was on his tie, and very suddenly, her mouth was on his, and he found that that made talking rather difficult. After a moment, he found that it also made talking seem entirely unnecessary.
Rose kissed insistently, one hand still clutching his tie, the other just barely stroking the back of his neck, encouraging him to kiss back. Slowly, his hands lifted from his sides to rest on the curves of her hips, up around her waist, her sides, her back, and finally, he opened his mouth to hers. Her mouth was hot and soft and wet- very hot and soft and wet- and the Doctor found suddenly that his tongue seemed to be particularly eager for a closer acquaintance with it.
He could feel her smiling against his lips, and spread his hand over her back, pulling her closer, just a little bit.
The Doctor almost stumbled when she pulled back, following her lips without any thought at all before he could reign himself in. He licked his lips, dragging his eyes away from her mouth (it was red, and rather wet, and the Doctor decided that that was a very good look for her).
Rose smiled. One of those truly brilliant, glowing smiles that she used to so often give him, and something between his hearts flipped.
‘Not so bad then?’ She asked, sifting his tie absently between her fingers. The Doctor murmured something low in the back of his throat, a soft ‘hmm’ noise that sent a little shiver through Rose under his eyes.
Then he grinned, very softly, and raised a hand to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. ‘Not so bad,’ he agreed.
A moment of swelling silence passed, and then-
‘Rose, you know that kissing thing?’
‘Yes?’
‘Can we do that again?’
~~~~~~~~
On the sixth day, the Doctor didn’t tell Rose he loved her.
He was going to, but Rose shook her head and grinned, and told him not to exert himself. He blinked at her, and she laughed and kissed him.
~~~~~~~~
On the seventh day, Rose found herself flat on her back on her bed, with the Doctor kneeling before her, kissing a long, slow line up her leg. She quivered faintly as she lay, exerting the utmost will not to simply grab the Doctor by his hair (his fabulous, fabulous hair; God, she’d missed his hair) and forcing him to get to work. But she managed it nonetheless. He took such obscene pleasure in every languorous kiss and lick, it would seem almost cruel to stop him.
Higher and higher, until he stopped at the curve of her thigh, humming a little against the flesh. Rose’s quiver became more pronounced, and the Doctor grinned. The expression was curiously at odds with his eyes, which were darker than she could ever remember seeing them.
‘Doctor,’ her voice was little more than a breath.
The Doctor looked up curiously, before leaning up to nuzzle at the neat little cropping of hair between her thighs. ‘Mmm?’
She shook her head faintly as the Doctor returned to his previous attentions. ‘Wasn’t a question.’
‘Mmm,’ the Doctor said again, and joggled his shoulders a bit, cupping her calf to shift her legs up over them, and leaned forward to give her one long lick, his tongue flat against the heat of her sex. A little jolt of pleasure lifted her hips just slightly off the bed, and the Doctor hummed, pleased and maybe a little bit smug. He sucked and licked, his tongue seeking out the wet heat of her insides, relishing the little soft, urgent sounds Rose made under his touch.
He mouthed at her, painting teasing little circles with the very tip of his tongue, and when, with no warning, he sucked hard at her clit, her whole body shuddered. The little sawed-off moan that escaped was positively delicious, and the Doctor groaned in return. That, he decided, was a noise he would like to hear much more often.
Looking down at him, Rose bit her lip against the whimpers that wanted to escape as the Doctor licked and mouthed and hummed. ‘No wonder you like this sort of thing,’ she managed breathlessly, her voice a strained giggle, ‘Oral fixation like you’ve got.’
This time, the Doctor didn’t even look up, and his response was muffled between her legs. ‘Hmm?’
Her body jerked again and she shook her head, before it fell back onto the sheets. ‘Never mind.’
~~~~~~~~
On the eighth day, Donna found Jack loitering about in the console room of the TARDIS. She grinned broadly.
‘Captain Jack.’
He pivoted on one heel until he’d turned to face her entirely, tipping her a quick grin and a wink. ‘Donna. Good to see you.’
‘Yeah, you too.’
‘I was-’
‘Here to see the Doctor?’ She pre-empted his words, and he dipped his head in a bashful little gesture; it wasn’t actually bashful, Donna was quite sure, but it did a damn good job at pretending. She smirked. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. He’s been a bit preoccupied lately!’
She raised her voice to a shout, turning over her shoulder to make sure her voice could be heard down the corridor. Jack raised an eyebrow until an answering voice rang out from somewhere inside the TARDIS.
‘Sod off!’
It was Rose’s voice, and after a moment to process, Jack burst into a delighted laugh. ‘You finally got ‘em together, then?’
Donna preened slightly. ‘I did a bit of pushing, yeah. He needed it.’
Jack’s laugh turned slightly rueful, and he rubbed at the back of his neck with a hand. ‘Tell me about it. I’ve been trying to get those two together since the moment I met them. Well,’ he corrected himself, ‘mostly trying to get them together so I could get in with that myself, but…’
‘What, with the Doctor?’ Donna looked torn between delight and revulsion. ‘I do not understand what people find so attractive about him; he’s a whippet, he is; skinny as a stick, and all that hair…’
Jack’s grin dazzled. ‘You should have met him in his last body.’ He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, clear memories playing behind his eyes. ‘All gruff and chiselled and Northern… leather jacket, mechanic’s hands…’ He gave an exaggerated little shudder. ‘Delicious.’
Donna wrinkled her nose, but she was smiling. ‘Gruff, him?’
‘Oh yeah. Gruff and brooding. It’s a good look if you can work it.’
‘Mmm.’ She nodded in absent agreement, before shooting Jack a shrewd look. ‘You still want to? “Get in with that”?’
A wryly amused chuff of breath from Jack, and he tipped his head back, gazing in the general direction Rose’s voice had some from. ‘Yeah,’ he admitted. ‘But I mean, really… those two.’ He trailed off, that dazzling grin turning a tad nostalgic just for a moment, before he seemed to snap back, giving Donna slightly crooked smile.
‘But since they are, for the moment, unavailable…’
He raised his eyebrows, sliding across the console in a casual sort of swoop to lean against her shoulder. She let her head fall to the side, propped up against his, and gave him a wry look.
‘You proposing to use me as a Doctor substitute?’
‘Donna, you insult me. Are your own myriad charms not enough?’
She laughed outright at that. ‘Doctor was right; you are a dreadful flirt. But-’ she eyed him for a moment, ‘I have not had a shag in a year; I am so with you.’
Jack laughed, and turned to cup her face in his hands, kissing her soundly. ‘Donna Noble, I like the way you think.’
And Donna, as it happened, found she rather liked Jack’s way of thinking too.
~~~~~~
On the tenth day, the Doctor took Jackie and Mickey back home.
Rose hugged them both tearfully goodbye as the Doctor watched behind her, his hands stuck in his pockets, and Donna smiled softly from the doorway of the TARDIS. When she finally pulled back, the Doctor stepped forward, bouncing a little on his toes.
‘Mickey the Idiot!’ He grinned over at Mickey, who gave him a crooked little smile. ‘Not so idiotic anymore, I see. Latest in a long line of… people who’ve saved the Earth from Daleks.’ A frown of thought creased his brow. ‘Seems to happen a lot, that.’
And he even went so far as to give Mickey a hug.
He didn’t intend to give Jackie one, but she didn’t give him much of an option.
~~~~~~~
On the twelfth day, the Doctor took Rose and Donna to the planet Roldh.
‘Shops from coast to coast; it’s brilliant! I need to do some repairs on the TARDIS, so I can busy myself being manly and getting covered in engine oil, and you two can go shoe shopping. Oooh, and the chips, Rose! Roldh does the most amazing chips; greasy and slathered in curry- well, it’s a bit… blue, doesn’t much look like curry- but they’re lovely. Mmm, yes. May have to join you for lunch, actually.’
Both Rose and Donna were extremely partial to this plan, though Rose had rather more interest in the prospect of a sweaty and engine oil-smeared Doctor than Donna did.
It turned out, however, that the TARDIS needed those repairs rather more urgently than the Doctor had anticipated, and while they did still land on the planet Roldh, at the exact coordinates the Doctor had specified, they were several thousand years early. And Roldh, as it turned out, was covered in vast stretches of rank swampland several thousand years before, and while the TARDIS could do many things, but one thing it could not do was stand upright in a swamp.
It slumped halfway down into the foul-smelling ooze, and Donna shrieked when she tried to open the doors and immediately, swampwater flooded in, soaking her shoes.
‘Ah.’ The Doctor said.
‘Ah?’ Donna echoed. ‘For once I wear shoes not made for running for my life, and this is what happens to them?’
The shoes in question were eventually removed and thrown (with quite astonishing accuracy) at the Doctor, and he (after dodging them), took the TARDIS to an empty field under a sky with at least five suns, where the three of them spent the rest of the day scrubbing muck off the outside of the ship.
Donna groused, and the Doctor was apologetic, but Rose found herself grinning throughout.