Fic: Blooms, 1/1
Title: Blooms
Author:
heavenstruezest
Rating: PG
Pairings: Rose/Mickey, Rose/Jimmy Stones, Rose/Ten.
Disclaimer: Everything is mine in a daydream I slip into every now and again. In real life, it all belongs to the BBC.
Summary: ‘I love them,’ she said, honestly touched, but wondering a little whether her Valentine’s Day gifts were planned for the rest of her life.
Notes: A pointless little bit of fluff, no spoilers.
When Rose was nine, she got a Valentine’s card. She knew it was from James Whittener, who sat next to her, because inside it said Love James a secret admirer, and also because while she was busy blinking at the hastily drawn pink flower and wondering what it was, he came over and explained it to her.
‘Um,’ he muttered, pointing at it, ‘I drew a rose. Because you’re Rose. So it was the best thing.’
‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
‘So, will you be my girlfriend?’ he asked.
At nine, she could think of nothing more revolting, and she declined. But nonetheless, she thought it a very romantic gesture, and kept the card hidden away in a box of old photographs and messy pictures she had made in art for years afterwards.
~~~~
When she was fifteen, Mickey gave her a bunch of white roses for Valentine’s Day.
‘Thought they were appropriate,’ he said, with a grin that was almost apologetic. She kissed him.
‘I love them,’ she said, honestly touched, but wondering a little whether her Valentine’s Day gifts were planned for the rest of her life.
‘I mean, roses are still romantic, aren’t they? I didn’t just get them because it’s your name.’
‘I know. They’re beautiful, Mickey, honest. Let me find a vase.’
‘And I thought you’d like white better than red.’
‘The white roses are gorgeous.’
‘Are you just saying that, though?’
‘No!’ she exclaimed. ‘I really, really love them.’ She filled their best vase and arranged them as nicely as she could, and kept them there until the pale blooms had wilted completely.
~~~~
Jimmy Stones presented her with a single red rose on her seventeenth birthday. She would still have found the cliché romantic if he hadn’t slung an arm casually round her shoulders and told her, ‘That’s the great thing about dating you - you’re so easy to buy for.’
‘Yeah…that’s - great,’ she replied, stung. That was it? Not that she was funny or smart or even attractive - just easy to buy for? ‘Anything else?’
He squinted. ‘Eh?’
‘I mean…’ She sighed. ‘Doesn’t matter. We going anywhere nice tonight?’ she asked, snuggling into him, trying to pretend he wasn’t thoughtless or -
‘Nah, got a gig.’
‘Oh.’ She tried not to seem too crushed.
He looked at her, frowning. ‘Don’t be like that. You’re meant to be supportive. This should get the band a load of publicity. There’s gonna be a talent scout there, I heard.’
She forced a smile. ‘They’d be mad to turn you down.’
‘You can come if you want,’ he offered, not sounding as though he really cared.
‘No, ta,’ she said softly, a voice in her head telling her to get out.
‘I’ll tell the lads to play our song,’ he murmured seductively, and her heart stifled the voice completely.
~~~~
During the Art of Loving festival in sector Five B of the Rithi system, the Doctor presented Rose with a bunch of long-stemmed Alitripledani flowers. They were the approximate colour of beetroots with a mass of peculiar arrow-shaped petals around an oval of lilac seeds. They looked beautiful in a very alien way, and they smelled absolutely divine.
‘I thought,’ he said, with a small smile, ‘that you might prefer them to the roses.’
It was the most romantic gift she had ever received.