Another entry at the Ficathon
"What are they?" she asks, all wide honey eyes and lips parted in wonder and golden as the day she burned like a sun for him.
He reluctantly wrenches his eyes away from her and glances up into the dark walls of water surrounding them. Red, violet and blue creatures float outside of the sturdy duraglass screen that protects the undersea civilization of Maritalinia from the hypersalinic waters above.
"Lalicapatils," he murmurs into her ear. "Similar to Earth's jellyfish, but with telepathy. Well that, and these guys can only live in water as salty as Maritalinia's. No where else in the universe could they survive, but here, they thrive. No other life-form can last more than four seconds in the sea without the most sophisticated protection. So no one ever really ventures out." He smiles down at her. "Still, that's probably for the best. You humans do like mucking about, and the Lalicapatils have a rather nasty sting."
His pink-and-yellow girl frowns. "They mus' be lonely, though. Watching us look at 'em all day and all night, and never gettin' to meet us."
She walks up to a wall and studies a particularly large Lalicapatil as it grooms its silken body with its stinger. "Doctor, it's so beautiful."
"Yes," he replies, a soft hum building in his chest. "Yes it is."
She places a hand against the glass and immediately the Lalicapatil's grooming ceases as it tilts toward her, bumping against the other side of the duraglass wall after a moment.
"Hello," she whispers with such a fantastically broad grin that his heart aches.
The Lalicapatil trills into his mind, and he laughs. "I think this one's saying hello, Rose."
She frowns. "How do you know?"
"Mid-level telepathy, but... well, their synapses run in such a way that it's all but impossible for them to communicate with humans."
"Well, can you ask it something for me?"
The Doctor takes her hand. "Why don't you ask it yourself?" Her nose wrinkles in confusion.
"But, you jus' said--"
"--yes, Lalicapatils cannot communicate with humans. But not all humans have ready-made synapse translation services in their possession."
Rose stares at him, uncomprehendingly.
"Me!" He beams down at her and reaches out for her temples before pulling back, remembering an argument in a room with a burning planet just outside of their window. "Rose, I'll just need to activate a receiver in your mind, but it means I'll need to--well, you'll notice a presence in your head but I wouldn't even think of looking into--"
"Doctor, I trust you."
Relieved, the Doctor touches his fingertips to the soft skin around her temples and sinks into the achingly warm mind of one Rose Marion Tyler. When the job is done (and it is done all too quickly for his taste) he pulls away to the shallowest parts of her mind and waits as she hesitantly calls to the Lalicapatil.
He'd pay attention to the conversation, but he can hardly focus on keeping her mind stable, what with the utter contentment he feels buzzing around him. And then, it's over, and with a mental nudge, she asks him to please exit the theater, and would he kindly pick up any trash on the way out.
"That was... lovely," she sighs, gazing at her new friend as it drifts after a mate. "His name is something I can't even pronounce, but he's got a wife and twenty-seven children and he likes hanging out by the wall because he's a social scientist of some sort. And we amuse him with our feet and hair," she laughs. "He said... they're always trying to talk to the visitors, to ask them why they drilled down to the sea floor and built this place, but no one ever hears them. They didn't know about the science-naps thing."
She takes his hand. "Imagine that. Not ever knowing why these strange people are takin' over your home, and it's like you're bein' ignored." She pauses. "They only ever want to say hello."
He wraps an arm around her waist as they head back to the TARDIS.
"Well, you've given them that, Rose Tyler. Above all else, you've given them that."
He reluctantly wrenches his eyes away from her and glances up into the dark walls of water surrounding them. Red, violet and blue creatures float outside of the sturdy duraglass screen that protects the undersea civilization of Maritalinia from the hypersalinic waters above.
"Lalicapatils," he murmurs into her ear. "Similar to Earth's jellyfish, but with telepathy. Well that, and these guys can only live in water as salty as Maritalinia's. No where else in the universe could they survive, but here, they thrive. No other life-form can last more than four seconds in the sea without the most sophisticated protection. So no one ever really ventures out." He smiles down at her. "Still, that's probably for the best. You humans do like mucking about, and the Lalicapatils have a rather nasty sting."
His pink-and-yellow girl frowns. "They mus' be lonely, though. Watching us look at 'em all day and all night, and never gettin' to meet us."
She walks up to a wall and studies a particularly large Lalicapatil as it grooms its silken body with its stinger. "Doctor, it's so beautiful."
"Yes," he replies, a soft hum building in his chest. "Yes it is."
She places a hand against the glass and immediately the Lalicapatil's grooming ceases as it tilts toward her, bumping against the other side of the duraglass wall after a moment.
"Hello," she whispers with such a fantastically broad grin that his heart aches.
The Lalicapatil trills into his mind, and he laughs. "I think this one's saying hello, Rose."
She frowns. "How do you know?"
"Mid-level telepathy, but... well, their synapses run in such a way that it's all but impossible for them to communicate with humans."
"Well, can you ask it something for me?"
The Doctor takes her hand. "Why don't you ask it yourself?" Her nose wrinkles in confusion.
"But, you jus' said--"
"--yes, Lalicapatils cannot communicate with humans. But not all humans have ready-made synapse translation services in their possession."
Rose stares at him, uncomprehendingly.
"Me!" He beams down at her and reaches out for her temples before pulling back, remembering an argument in a room with a burning planet just outside of their window. "Rose, I'll just need to activate a receiver in your mind, but it means I'll need to--well, you'll notice a presence in your head but I wouldn't even think of looking into--"
"Doctor, I trust you."
Relieved, the Doctor touches his fingertips to the soft skin around her temples and sinks into the achingly warm mind of one Rose Marion Tyler. When the job is done (and it is done all too quickly for his taste) he pulls away to the shallowest parts of her mind and waits as she hesitantly calls to the Lalicapatil.
He'd pay attention to the conversation, but he can hardly focus on keeping her mind stable, what with the utter contentment he feels buzzing around him. And then, it's over, and with a mental nudge, she asks him to please exit the theater, and would he kindly pick up any trash on the way out.
"That was... lovely," she sighs, gazing at her new friend as it drifts after a mate. "His name is something I can't even pronounce, but he's got a wife and twenty-seven children and he likes hanging out by the wall because he's a social scientist of some sort. And we amuse him with our feet and hair," she laughs. "He said... they're always trying to talk to the visitors, to ask them why they drilled down to the sea floor and built this place, but no one ever hears them. They didn't know about the science-naps thing."
She takes his hand. "Imagine that. Not ever knowing why these strange people are takin' over your home, and it's like you're bein' ignored." She pauses. "They only ever want to say hello."
He wraps an arm around her waist as they head back to the TARDIS.
"Well, you've given them that, Rose Tyler. Above all else, you've given them that."