Fic: That's Where the Jumpers Come From, G, 1/1
This was written for the Last Author Standing challenge over at writerinatardis . It even got two votes for best fic!
Characters: Rose, Ninth Doctor
Spoilers: None really. Story takes place after S1 ep "Dalek"
Prompt: The Doctor has a strange or unusual hobby and Rose just found out about it.
It was the third night in a row that Rose found herself wandering the corridors of the TARDIS; it was the third night in a row she'd found herself unable to sleep. The first night it was because that Adam bloke wouldn't stop talking, and asking questions, and trying to show off his genius, and generally annoying her and the Doctor so much that she wished she could just throw him out into the vortex. The past two nights had been good old-fashioned insomnia, though. Each time she tried to sleep, images of that Dalek and the Doctor, with that giant gun, and her standing between them, and the things the Dalek had said about the war and the Doctor's emotions for her, flooded her mind.
So she'd taken to wandering the corridors, deciding it was high time she discover what other wonders this ship contained. Whether out of pity or a desire to comfort, the ship seemed to be humoring her. During her first night of wandering, the ship had revealed to her a beautiful garden and a solarium with a huge swimming pool. Last night, it had been a cozy study with a fireplace and bookcase-lined walls. Tonight, however, she'd been wandering for over an hour and had only found one corridor emptying into another.
Finally the ship revealed an open doorway and Rose gratefully ducked into it, eager to see what treasure the ship had finally decided to reveal. What she saw made her stop short. The room looked like something out of Simply Knitting. There were knitted afghans everywhere, seemingly draped over every stationary object in the room. In one corner there was a three-foot tall tower of what appeared to be tea cozies. As she stepped deeper into the room, and turned to look around, she discovered a row of hooks on the wall right next to the doorway. On each hook were several knitted scarves, including one absurdly long one in multi-colored rainbow hues. In the nearest corner was a stack of neatly-folded jumpers. Maybe this is where he got them all from, she thought.
As she stood there in the middle of the room, gobsmacked, she faintly registered the sound of approaching boots on metal accompanied by a rather carefree whistling. She turned to face the door at the same moment that the Doctor turned the corner and stepped into the room. He stopped mid-tune as he saw her. She noticed he quickly tucked something behind his back as he looked around the room, looking to see if anybody else was there.
"What are you doing here, then?" he demanded, his voice sounding a bit stressed.
"I just," Rose gestured uselessly around her, "I couldn't sleep and was wandering. Just stumbled on this place."
The Doctor didn't say anything; he continued to look at her with an expression that Rose couldn't quite read. She thought that he looked somewhere between angry and embarrassed. The tension in the room was becoming palpable and she felt like she needed to do something about it. Strolling to the nearest chair, she lifted a corner of the knitted blanket draped over its back.
"Did you used to travel with somebody's gran?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Her plan seemed to have the opposite of the intended effect, however. She saw his jaw set and his eyes darken. It reminded her of how he'd looked as that Dalek had talked of his destroyed planet and the death of his species.
"Oh, God!" Rose gasped, as a horrible realization hit her. "Oh, God. Was this your gran's room? Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't--"
She stopped as the Doctor's expressed cleared and he broke into a humoured smile, then she frowned as he started to laugh.
"What?" she asked, feeling her defenses rise.
"No, Rose, my gran never travelled with me. And neither has anybody else's gran. This room is, well," he trailed off, looking down at the plush carpeting and refusing to meet Rose's eyes.
"It's my room." He brought his hand out from behind his back and showed her, and Rose had to bite her lip not to laugh out loud at the irony of it, a Simply Knitting magazine. "I've made all these things here."
Rose couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a little laugh.
"Don't you laugh!" The Doctor said indignantly. "It's relaxing! Stressful life I lead, right, saving you lot all the time!"
"I thought you tinkered with the TARDIS to relax?" Rose asked.
"I do. But that's the thing about sentient ships, sometimes she decides she doesn't want me tinkering anymore. So I come here and do this." He gestured around him at his completed handiwork.
Rose looked down at the corner of the blanket she still held in her hand, examining it more closely.
"It's beautiful," she said, for some reason not feeling able to look up and meet his eyes as she said it.
"Thank you." he replied. There was a slightly awkward silence, before the Doctor spoke again.
"Well," he said, sounding a bit hesitant and holding his magazine up again, "I'm just gonna do this for a bit."
Rose regarded him for a moment, hesitating on asking the question she really wanted to ask, not wanting to intrude on what was clearly a retreat for him.
"Do you mind if I sit here with you for a bit?" She blurted it out before she could talk herself out of it.
His eyes widened a bit at her question, as if he had thought she'd be looking to escape the room and his presence as soon as politely possible. When he didn't say anything, she raised her eyebrows questioningly. This seemed to prompt him, as he blinked and shifted his feet. His nonchalant air fell into place again as he shrugged and said, a bit gruffly, "If you want to."
He took a step toward the sofa and then stopped, seeming to consider something.
"But don't you be asking me all kinds of questions or wanting me to teach you or anything," he added a bit gruffly, before dropping his body onto the sofa and putting his feet up on the ottoman. He opened the magazine on his lap and grabbed a ball of yarn and two needles from a basket on the floor.
Rose sensed a defensive undertone to his voice and restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Really, if he thought he was any less brilliant or impressive because he had a silly and stereotypically non-masculine hobby then he really was a daft old alien.
She walked to the other end of the sofa and sat down on the cushion. She tucked her legs underneath and reclined, scooting her body down a bit, so her head was resting on the plush upholstered arm. She shifted and squirmed for a minute until she was comfortable, then turned her head so she could watch the Doctor work.
"Finally comfy?" he asked. Rose thought he was trying to sound annoyed, but she could hear the amusement in his voice as well.
"Bit cold," she replied with a smile. "You got any blankets in here?"
He let out a huffy sigh, which Rose found entirely unconvincing, and set down his yarn and knitting needles. He reached behind him to pull a blanket off the back of the couch and tossed it a bit carelessly over her body. She was about to protest when she felt him carefully adjusting the blanket's coverage and tucking it in around her feet and lower legs. He let his hand rest on her calf a bit longer than necessary as he looked back to her eyes.
"Better?" he asked tenderly.
"Yes, much," Rose replied, feeling like it had taken her a long time to find her breath and voice again.
"Good," he said with a small smile. He turned to retrieve his yarn and needles and then turned back to her, stern expression back in place and pointing one of the knitting needles at her. "And remember, no questions. Don't bother me."
She mimed zipping her lips closed and the Doctor gave a quick little nod before turning his attention to whatever it was he was making. From what she could see of the open magazine page, it looked like another jumper. Soon the sound of his needles clicking was the only sound in the room. Rose felt her body truly relaxing for the first time in days as she watched and listened to him work. Before long her eyes began feeling heavy and the clicking of the knitting needles began to sound like it was coming from further and further away. As she happily surrendered to sleep, she offered up a wish that the Doctor would let her sit with him in this room again sometime.
Characters: Rose, Ninth Doctor
Spoilers: None really. Story takes place after S1 ep "Dalek"
Prompt: The Doctor has a strange or unusual hobby and Rose just found out about it.
It was the third night in a row that Rose found herself wandering the corridors of the TARDIS; it was the third night in a row she'd found herself unable to sleep. The first night it was because that Adam bloke wouldn't stop talking, and asking questions, and trying to show off his genius, and generally annoying her and the Doctor so much that she wished she could just throw him out into the vortex. The past two nights had been good old-fashioned insomnia, though. Each time she tried to sleep, images of that Dalek and the Doctor, with that giant gun, and her standing between them, and the things the Dalek had said about the war and the Doctor's emotions for her, flooded her mind.
So she'd taken to wandering the corridors, deciding it was high time she discover what other wonders this ship contained. Whether out of pity or a desire to comfort, the ship seemed to be humoring her. During her first night of wandering, the ship had revealed to her a beautiful garden and a solarium with a huge swimming pool. Last night, it had been a cozy study with a fireplace and bookcase-lined walls. Tonight, however, she'd been wandering for over an hour and had only found one corridor emptying into another.
Finally the ship revealed an open doorway and Rose gratefully ducked into it, eager to see what treasure the ship had finally decided to reveal. What she saw made her stop short. The room looked like something out of Simply Knitting. There were knitted afghans everywhere, seemingly draped over every stationary object in the room. In one corner there was a three-foot tall tower of what appeared to be tea cozies. As she stepped deeper into the room, and turned to look around, she discovered a row of hooks on the wall right next to the doorway. On each hook were several knitted scarves, including one absurdly long one in multi-colored rainbow hues. In the nearest corner was a stack of neatly-folded jumpers. Maybe this is where he got them all from, she thought.
As she stood there in the middle of the room, gobsmacked, she faintly registered the sound of approaching boots on metal accompanied by a rather carefree whistling. She turned to face the door at the same moment that the Doctor turned the corner and stepped into the room. He stopped mid-tune as he saw her. She noticed he quickly tucked something behind his back as he looked around the room, looking to see if anybody else was there.
"What are you doing here, then?" he demanded, his voice sounding a bit stressed.
"I just," Rose gestured uselessly around her, "I couldn't sleep and was wandering. Just stumbled on this place."
The Doctor didn't say anything; he continued to look at her with an expression that Rose couldn't quite read. She thought that he looked somewhere between angry and embarrassed. The tension in the room was becoming palpable and she felt like she needed to do something about it. Strolling to the nearest chair, she lifted a corner of the knitted blanket draped over its back.
"Did you used to travel with somebody's gran?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Her plan seemed to have the opposite of the intended effect, however. She saw his jaw set and his eyes darken. It reminded her of how he'd looked as that Dalek had talked of his destroyed planet and the death of his species.
"Oh, God!" Rose gasped, as a horrible realization hit her. "Oh, God. Was this your gran's room? Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't--"
She stopped as the Doctor's expressed cleared and he broke into a humoured smile, then she frowned as he started to laugh.
"What?" she asked, feeling her defenses rise.
"No, Rose, my gran never travelled with me. And neither has anybody else's gran. This room is, well," he trailed off, looking down at the plush carpeting and refusing to meet Rose's eyes.
"It's my room." He brought his hand out from behind his back and showed her, and Rose had to bite her lip not to laugh out loud at the irony of it, a Simply Knitting magazine. "I've made all these things here."
Rose couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a little laugh.
"Don't you laugh!" The Doctor said indignantly. "It's relaxing! Stressful life I lead, right, saving you lot all the time!"
"I thought you tinkered with the TARDIS to relax?" Rose asked.
"I do. But that's the thing about sentient ships, sometimes she decides she doesn't want me tinkering anymore. So I come here and do this." He gestured around him at his completed handiwork.
Rose looked down at the corner of the blanket she still held in her hand, examining it more closely.
"It's beautiful," she said, for some reason not feeling able to look up and meet his eyes as she said it.
"Thank you." he replied. There was a slightly awkward silence, before the Doctor spoke again.
"Well," he said, sounding a bit hesitant and holding his magazine up again, "I'm just gonna do this for a bit."
Rose regarded him for a moment, hesitating on asking the question she really wanted to ask, not wanting to intrude on what was clearly a retreat for him.
"Do you mind if I sit here with you for a bit?" She blurted it out before she could talk herself out of it.
His eyes widened a bit at her question, as if he had thought she'd be looking to escape the room and his presence as soon as politely possible. When he didn't say anything, she raised her eyebrows questioningly. This seemed to prompt him, as he blinked and shifted his feet. His nonchalant air fell into place again as he shrugged and said, a bit gruffly, "If you want to."
He took a step toward the sofa and then stopped, seeming to consider something.
"But don't you be asking me all kinds of questions or wanting me to teach you or anything," he added a bit gruffly, before dropping his body onto the sofa and putting his feet up on the ottoman. He opened the magazine on his lap and grabbed a ball of yarn and two needles from a basket on the floor.
Rose sensed a defensive undertone to his voice and restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Really, if he thought he was any less brilliant or impressive because he had a silly and stereotypically non-masculine hobby then he really was a daft old alien.
She walked to the other end of the sofa and sat down on the cushion. She tucked her legs underneath and reclined, scooting her body down a bit, so her head was resting on the plush upholstered arm. She shifted and squirmed for a minute until she was comfortable, then turned her head so she could watch the Doctor work.
"Finally comfy?" he asked. Rose thought he was trying to sound annoyed, but she could hear the amusement in his voice as well.
"Bit cold," she replied with a smile. "You got any blankets in here?"
He let out a huffy sigh, which Rose found entirely unconvincing, and set down his yarn and knitting needles. He reached behind him to pull a blanket off the back of the couch and tossed it a bit carelessly over her body. She was about to protest when she felt him carefully adjusting the blanket's coverage and tucking it in around her feet and lower legs. He let his hand rest on her calf a bit longer than necessary as he looked back to her eyes.
"Better?" he asked tenderly.
"Yes, much," Rose replied, feeling like it had taken her a long time to find her breath and voice again.
"Good," he said with a small smile. He turned to retrieve his yarn and needles and then turned back to her, stern expression back in place and pointing one of the knitting needles at her. "And remember, no questions. Don't bother me."
She mimed zipping her lips closed and the Doctor gave a quick little nod before turning his attention to whatever it was he was making. From what she could see of the open magazine page, it looked like another jumper. Soon the sound of his needles clicking was the only sound in the room. Rose felt her body truly relaxing for the first time in days as she watched and listened to him work. Before long her eyes began feeling heavy and the clicking of the knitting needles began to sound like it was coming from further and further away. As she happily surrendered to sleep, she offered up a wish that the Doctor would let her sit with him in this room again sometime.