Ficathon ~ "Christmas Colours"
Title: Christmas Colours
Gift for: lovethetenth
Pairing: 10/Rose
Rating: PG
Warnings: Takes place in late S2, but no spoilers
Betas: kalleah , sugarsicons , & threerings
Summary: The Doctor learns he has poor impulse control.
A/N: For the OSK Summer Lovin' Ficathon. I actually managed to use all three prompts! Posted at the bottom of the fic to avoid spoiling. :) Gorgeous banner by nisrin.
________________________
“ROOO-ose!”
She let out an annoyed huff at the sound of the plaintive whinge coming from the console room in the front of the TARDIS.
“Oi! I’m workin’ on it!” she barked back.
“Well, hurry up! We’re going to be late!”
She rolled her eyes and grumbled to herself. “Bloke rides around in a time machine and he complains that I’m going to make him late?” The TARDIS seemed to hum in agreement. Rose grinned as she flipped through the racks of clothes in the wardrobe, looking for something warm to wear, thinking about how the poor ship must have taken his complaint as an insult. He’d get scolded for that later.
Most of what the TARDIS seemed to have on hand wasn’t exactly made for a chilly winter night, much less one that was going to involve a good amount of sneaking about. In fact, most of it looked like it was meant more for a night at a club. She had been searching the wardrobe for something practical for at least forty-five minutes since she hadn’t packed anything really suitable for the climate.
The glow of the TARDIS walls flickered momentarily in a neglected corner. Having learned long ago that this was how the ship chose to get her attention, Rose grinned up at the ceiling to acknowledge the helpful hint, and then headed over to racks the TARDIS had indicated. There she found a soft, black angora sweater with a V-neck cut and a short, pleated, grey wool skirt.
“Not exactly ideal for sneaking about, is it?” she asked the nearest pillar with a raised eyebrow and sideways glance.
The TARDIS just trilled a reply that Rose had no hope of deciphering. She got the distinct impression it was more of a giggle than anything else. She shrugged and headed to her room to grab her thick black tights and knee-high boots.
________________________
The Doctor sat cross-legged in the console room with one of the most diabolical torture devices ever created. He was hopelessly caught up in it and hoped that he could get free before Rose showed up and could see the carnage.
The sound of snickering behind him told him it was too late.
“Having difficulty, Doctor?” Rose said while stifling a giggle.
She had walked in to find him sitting in the middle of a pile of crumpled Christmas wrapping paper and his hands hopelessly tangled in knots of cellophane tape. He looked over his shoulder and frowned. “I’d like to see you do better!” he protested.
Rose knelt down next to him and slowly began untangling him from his mess. She smiled at the dejected expression on his face. “Don’t feel bad,” she smiled. “I used to have to wrap all of Mickey’s presents as well. Even the ones he was giving me. ‘Course, I didn’t know they were mine at the time. I found out Christmas morning.”
“Oh, well, thanks.” The Doctor muttered, wiggling and shaking his freed left hand. “That makes me feel much better. I’m no better than Mickey the Idiot.”
Rose laughed openly and stood up. “There you are. All better.” She offered him a hand and helped him to stand up.
He brushed off bits and pieces of wrapping paper. “I don’t see why a card can’t suffice. Couldn’t we show up in mid July sometime and just hand them the souvenirs? It would save us an awful lot of trouble.”
She looked at him like he was thick. “No, we can’t. I want to go ahead and leave them Christmas gifts, even if I’m not going to show up for Christmas day right away. When we come back, I don't want to have to rush around to drop the gifts off.”
“Technically, it’s been thirteen months since we last celebrated Christmas, so you’ve already missed it. Why not just wait until it rolls around again?” He knew it was a feeble attempt at logic, but he had to try.
She held up a hand with four fingers wiggling. “Four words. Time. Machine.” She pointed to the console, then at him. “Time. Lord.”
He put on his best pout, but she turned to pick up the half wrapped packages and inspect the work done so far. The gifts looked like a five year old had done his best to rewrap presents after sneaking a peek.
He sighed and relented. “Fine. So where are we going first? Shireen’s? Or your mum’s?”
She began taking the mangled paper off of one of the boxes. “I’d say we ought to go to Shireen's first. She sleeps like she’s in a coma. You could march a brass band around her room and she wouldn’t flinch. Especially after she’s been drinking.” Once she had undone his handiwork, she started re-wrapping.
“Oh, now, I didn’t do that bad…” He trailed off at her pointed look. “All right, so it was that bad.”
She grinned. “Easily fixed. There. See?” She held up the box to show him how it was supposed to look.
He gave an annoyed huff and rolled his eyes, but returned her grin. “Ready?” She nodded and he reached for the appropriate knobs and levers to take them out of the vortex.
________________________
The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors to reveal they had landed on the rooftop of the Powell Estate.
“I figured it would be easier carrying packages downstairs than up.” The Doctor said as he glanced over the edge. Funny how they always seemed to land perfectly when Rose picked the destination, he thought.
“Okay, give me a hand with these, would ya?” asked Rose, struggling with a stack of presents. “I’m bringing both sets to save us a trip back to the TARDIS between stops.”
The Doctor reached out and suddenly found his arms full and hers empty. He began to whinge, "You said a hand, not the whole..." But, as he glanced around the stack in his arms, he was suddenly given the sight of Rose desperately attempting to tug her sweater into a less revealing arrangement. He opened his mouth to ask her to leave it as it was when his mouth snapped shut, and then opened again, so he only gave a grunt as the packages shifted on him.
"Watch it!" Rose cried, catching one of the smaller gifts before it hit the ground. She slipped on a short denim jacket and led the way to Shireen's flat.
Fortunately, Shireen lived only a few doors around the corner from Jackie. They picked the lock of her front door with the sonic screwdriver and quietly snuck in. Rose led the way, her hand fumbling along the wall to guide her in the dark. This flat was laid out just like her mum's but completely opposite, which made for a very odd Through the Looking Glass feel the first time she had spent the night with her best friend. She felt along the wall on her right until her hip bumped into something solid.
"Ow!" she whispered.
"Shhh!"
"I am!" she hissed back as she rolled her eyes. She discovered the something solid she had bumped into was the hall table. Feeling around gingerly, she found the small table lamp in the center and switched it on.
"What are you doing?" whispered the Doctor. "Are you trying to get caught breaking and entering?"
Rose ignored him as she looked around the flat. The living room was off to their left, while the kitchen was on the right. As she peered around the corner into the living room, she froze.
"What? What's wrong?" asked the Doctor, struggling to maintain the precariously balanced packages.
Rose turned to him with a finger on her lips, telling him to hush with a shake of her head. Then she pointed to the couch. He glanced over and saw the sleeping form of Shireen sprawled across it, arm and leg hanging over the edge. On the coffee table were a bottle of vodka, a party hat, and various other signs of a good time. Rose slowly turned back around and tiptoed over to Shireen's rather scruffy Christmas tree, occasionally kicking aside a pair of shoes or other bit of clutter. Once it was clear Shireen was well and truly passed out, she signaled the Doctor to follow with the gifts.
He slowly made his way through the path she had cleared and wondered how it had come to this- last of the mighty Time Lords, sneaking about on Christmas Eve delivering gifts to the friends and family of a twenty-one year old human girl. You know exactly how this happened, his brain muttered back at him, but it quickly went silent when Rose flashed him a happy grin. She took the gifts out of his arms and began to arrange them neatly around the tree. As she bent over to reach one of the smaller packages that had fallen out of sight, she tried to tug the short skirt down to cover what little it could. Feeling the urge to discourage such modesty, the Doctor decided he was going to have a nice long chat with the TARDIS about her wardrobe choices.
Rose finally stood and surveyed her work. “There.” She whispered. “All set.”
The Doctor nodded and scooped up the gifts addressed to Jackie. She grinned and led him quietly out of the flat, only stopping to quietly click the light switch of the small lamp.
________________________
They reached her mum’s door, and Rose quietly unlocked it with her key. The lights were out, with the exception of the Christmas lights and pre-lit garlands strung from every surface. The one thing conspicuously missing was a Christmas tree.
“Here,” Rose motioned for him to follow her into the living room. Jackie had obviously turned in for the night, but not before preparing for their visit. Gifts for Rose were piled neatly in the tree-less corner and canned goods were stacked on the kitchen countertops.
“Not risking structural damage again, I see,” murmured the Doctor.
Rose either didn’t hear or was deliberately ignoring him. She slipped her denim jacket off and tossed it across the back of the chair. The Doctor set the gifts down in the seat, took his own coat off, laying it carefully across hers.
As she set to work organizing the gifts in the corner, the Doctor wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He pulled out a jar of strawberry jam and opened it. He peeked around the corner of the door, just enough to confirm Rose was still perfecting the arrangement of gifts. He pulled back enough to be out of her line of sight, then tucked into his treat.
He was enjoying a particularly strawberry-ish bit when he heard a faint tapping nearby. His eyes flew up to meet Rose’s disapproving scowl. She was halfway in the kitchen, leaning against the doorway, her fingers tapping out an annoyed rhythm against the counter.
The Doctor gave a lopsided, sheepish smile as he slowly licked his fingers clean then reached for the lid. He stuck the jam back in the fridge and then reached for her hand. She took his but snatched hers back suddenly.
“Eugh! You’re all sticky and slimy!” she cried.
“Shhh!” He hushed her by covering her mouth with his hand. “You’re going to wake her up and then we’ll never get out of here.”
“Mffmmph,” she said around his hand.
“What?” he whispered.
She gave him a pointed look and glanced down at his hand.
“Oh. Right. Sorry!” He quickly dropped his hand from her mouth and stepped back.
“I said,” she hissed, “that you are sticky. Bleh.” She reached for a towel to wipe her face with when he suddenly swooped down and licked the corner of her mouth.
She stood stock still for a moment, the only movement she made was to slowly bring her wide eyes from the towel she had been reaching for to his face.
The Doctor froze as well, not entirely sure if he had just done what he thought he had or if he had just imagined it. The slight tang of green apple lip gloss mixed with strawberry jam indicated he had indeed acted out that impulse.
Rose was staring up at him. Suddenly she blinked and the next thing she knew was the Doctor’s lips on hers. She squeaked in surprise as he put his hands on her waist and backed her into the next room, but she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. He pulled back from the kiss as quickly as he had dove in, still holding her tightly around the waist.
“What…where did that come from?” she whispered breathlessly.
He grinned. “I like strawberry. With apple.”
________________________
Prompt 1: pre-Doomsday, Rose and Ten delivering presents on Christmas Eve (based on red bicycle comment in The Doctor Dances), humorous fluff
Prompt 2: Oblivious Rose only finds "revealing" Christmas outfits in the wardrobe.
Prompt 3: Ends with at least a kiss.
________________________
Gift for: lovethetenth
Pairing: 10/Rose
Rating: PG
Warnings: Takes place in late S2, but no spoilers
Betas: kalleah , sugarsicons , & threerings
Summary: The Doctor learns he has poor impulse control.
A/N: For the OSK Summer Lovin' Ficathon. I actually managed to use all three prompts! Posted at the bottom of the fic to avoid spoiling. :) Gorgeous banner by nisrin.
________________________
“ROOO-ose!”
She let out an annoyed huff at the sound of the plaintive whinge coming from the console room in the front of the TARDIS.
“Oi! I’m workin’ on it!” she barked back.
“Well, hurry up! We’re going to be late!”
She rolled her eyes and grumbled to herself. “Bloke rides around in a time machine and he complains that I’m going to make him late?” The TARDIS seemed to hum in agreement. Rose grinned as she flipped through the racks of clothes in the wardrobe, looking for something warm to wear, thinking about how the poor ship must have taken his complaint as an insult. He’d get scolded for that later.
Most of what the TARDIS seemed to have on hand wasn’t exactly made for a chilly winter night, much less one that was going to involve a good amount of sneaking about. In fact, most of it looked like it was meant more for a night at a club. She had been searching the wardrobe for something practical for at least forty-five minutes since she hadn’t packed anything really suitable for the climate.
The glow of the TARDIS walls flickered momentarily in a neglected corner. Having learned long ago that this was how the ship chose to get her attention, Rose grinned up at the ceiling to acknowledge the helpful hint, and then headed over to racks the TARDIS had indicated. There she found a soft, black angora sweater with a V-neck cut and a short, pleated, grey wool skirt.
“Not exactly ideal for sneaking about, is it?” she asked the nearest pillar with a raised eyebrow and sideways glance.
The TARDIS just trilled a reply that Rose had no hope of deciphering. She got the distinct impression it was more of a giggle than anything else. She shrugged and headed to her room to grab her thick black tights and knee-high boots.
________________________
The Doctor sat cross-legged in the console room with one of the most diabolical torture devices ever created. He was hopelessly caught up in it and hoped that he could get free before Rose showed up and could see the carnage.
The sound of snickering behind him told him it was too late.
“Having difficulty, Doctor?” Rose said while stifling a giggle.
She had walked in to find him sitting in the middle of a pile of crumpled Christmas wrapping paper and his hands hopelessly tangled in knots of cellophane tape. He looked over his shoulder and frowned. “I’d like to see you do better!” he protested.
Rose knelt down next to him and slowly began untangling him from his mess. She smiled at the dejected expression on his face. “Don’t feel bad,” she smiled. “I used to have to wrap all of Mickey’s presents as well. Even the ones he was giving me. ‘Course, I didn’t know they were mine at the time. I found out Christmas morning.”
“Oh, well, thanks.” The Doctor muttered, wiggling and shaking his freed left hand. “That makes me feel much better. I’m no better than Mickey the Idiot.”
Rose laughed openly and stood up. “There you are. All better.” She offered him a hand and helped him to stand up.
He brushed off bits and pieces of wrapping paper. “I don’t see why a card can’t suffice. Couldn’t we show up in mid July sometime and just hand them the souvenirs? It would save us an awful lot of trouble.”
She looked at him like he was thick. “No, we can’t. I want to go ahead and leave them Christmas gifts, even if I’m not going to show up for Christmas day right away. When we come back, I don't want to have to rush around to drop the gifts off.”
“Technically, it’s been thirteen months since we last celebrated Christmas, so you’ve already missed it. Why not just wait until it rolls around again?” He knew it was a feeble attempt at logic, but he had to try.
She held up a hand with four fingers wiggling. “Four words. Time. Machine.” She pointed to the console, then at him. “Time. Lord.”
He put on his best pout, but she turned to pick up the half wrapped packages and inspect the work done so far. The gifts looked like a five year old had done his best to rewrap presents after sneaking a peek.
He sighed and relented. “Fine. So where are we going first? Shireen’s? Or your mum’s?”
She began taking the mangled paper off of one of the boxes. “I’d say we ought to go to Shireen's first. She sleeps like she’s in a coma. You could march a brass band around her room and she wouldn’t flinch. Especially after she’s been drinking.” Once she had undone his handiwork, she started re-wrapping.
“Oh, now, I didn’t do that bad…” He trailed off at her pointed look. “All right, so it was that bad.”
She grinned. “Easily fixed. There. See?” She held up the box to show him how it was supposed to look.
He gave an annoyed huff and rolled his eyes, but returned her grin. “Ready?” She nodded and he reached for the appropriate knobs and levers to take them out of the vortex.
________________________
The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors to reveal they had landed on the rooftop of the Powell Estate.
“I figured it would be easier carrying packages downstairs than up.” The Doctor said as he glanced over the edge. Funny how they always seemed to land perfectly when Rose picked the destination, he thought.
“Okay, give me a hand with these, would ya?” asked Rose, struggling with a stack of presents. “I’m bringing both sets to save us a trip back to the TARDIS between stops.”
The Doctor reached out and suddenly found his arms full and hers empty. He began to whinge, "You said a hand, not the whole..." But, as he glanced around the stack in his arms, he was suddenly given the sight of Rose desperately attempting to tug her sweater into a less revealing arrangement. He opened his mouth to ask her to leave it as it was when his mouth snapped shut, and then opened again, so he only gave a grunt as the packages shifted on him.
"Watch it!" Rose cried, catching one of the smaller gifts before it hit the ground. She slipped on a short denim jacket and led the way to Shireen's flat.
Fortunately, Shireen lived only a few doors around the corner from Jackie. They picked the lock of her front door with the sonic screwdriver and quietly snuck in. Rose led the way, her hand fumbling along the wall to guide her in the dark. This flat was laid out just like her mum's but completely opposite, which made for a very odd Through the Looking Glass feel the first time she had spent the night with her best friend. She felt along the wall on her right until her hip bumped into something solid.
"Ow!" she whispered.
"Shhh!"
"I am!" she hissed back as she rolled her eyes. She discovered the something solid she had bumped into was the hall table. Feeling around gingerly, she found the small table lamp in the center and switched it on.
"What are you doing?" whispered the Doctor. "Are you trying to get caught breaking and entering?"
Rose ignored him as she looked around the flat. The living room was off to their left, while the kitchen was on the right. As she peered around the corner into the living room, she froze.
"What? What's wrong?" asked the Doctor, struggling to maintain the precariously balanced packages.
Rose turned to him with a finger on her lips, telling him to hush with a shake of her head. Then she pointed to the couch. He glanced over and saw the sleeping form of Shireen sprawled across it, arm and leg hanging over the edge. On the coffee table were a bottle of vodka, a party hat, and various other signs of a good time. Rose slowly turned back around and tiptoed over to Shireen's rather scruffy Christmas tree, occasionally kicking aside a pair of shoes or other bit of clutter. Once it was clear Shireen was well and truly passed out, she signaled the Doctor to follow with the gifts.
He slowly made his way through the path she had cleared and wondered how it had come to this- last of the mighty Time Lords, sneaking about on Christmas Eve delivering gifts to the friends and family of a twenty-one year old human girl. You know exactly how this happened, his brain muttered back at him, but it quickly went silent when Rose flashed him a happy grin. She took the gifts out of his arms and began to arrange them neatly around the tree. As she bent over to reach one of the smaller packages that had fallen out of sight, she tried to tug the short skirt down to cover what little it could. Feeling the urge to discourage such modesty, the Doctor decided he was going to have a nice long chat with the TARDIS about her wardrobe choices.
Rose finally stood and surveyed her work. “There.” She whispered. “All set.”
The Doctor nodded and scooped up the gifts addressed to Jackie. She grinned and led him quietly out of the flat, only stopping to quietly click the light switch of the small lamp.
________________________
They reached her mum’s door, and Rose quietly unlocked it with her key. The lights were out, with the exception of the Christmas lights and pre-lit garlands strung from every surface. The one thing conspicuously missing was a Christmas tree.
“Here,” Rose motioned for him to follow her into the living room. Jackie had obviously turned in for the night, but not before preparing for their visit. Gifts for Rose were piled neatly in the tree-less corner and canned goods were stacked on the kitchen countertops.
“Not risking structural damage again, I see,” murmured the Doctor.
Rose either didn’t hear or was deliberately ignoring him. She slipped her denim jacket off and tossed it across the back of the chair. The Doctor set the gifts down in the seat, took his own coat off, laying it carefully across hers.
As she set to work organizing the gifts in the corner, the Doctor wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He pulled out a jar of strawberry jam and opened it. He peeked around the corner of the door, just enough to confirm Rose was still perfecting the arrangement of gifts. He pulled back enough to be out of her line of sight, then tucked into his treat.
He was enjoying a particularly strawberry-ish bit when he heard a faint tapping nearby. His eyes flew up to meet Rose’s disapproving scowl. She was halfway in the kitchen, leaning against the doorway, her fingers tapping out an annoyed rhythm against the counter.
The Doctor gave a lopsided, sheepish smile as he slowly licked his fingers clean then reached for the lid. He stuck the jam back in the fridge and then reached for her hand. She took his but snatched hers back suddenly.
“Eugh! You’re all sticky and slimy!” she cried.
“Shhh!” He hushed her by covering her mouth with his hand. “You’re going to wake her up and then we’ll never get out of here.”
“Mffmmph,” she said around his hand.
“What?” he whispered.
She gave him a pointed look and glanced down at his hand.
“Oh. Right. Sorry!” He quickly dropped his hand from her mouth and stepped back.
“I said,” she hissed, “that you are sticky. Bleh.” She reached for a towel to wipe her face with when he suddenly swooped down and licked the corner of her mouth.
She stood stock still for a moment, the only movement she made was to slowly bring her wide eyes from the towel she had been reaching for to his face.
The Doctor froze as well, not entirely sure if he had just done what he thought he had or if he had just imagined it. The slight tang of green apple lip gloss mixed with strawberry jam indicated he had indeed acted out that impulse.
Rose was staring up at him. Suddenly she blinked and the next thing she knew was the Doctor’s lips on hers. She squeaked in surprise as he put his hands on her waist and backed her into the next room, but she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. He pulled back from the kiss as quickly as he had dove in, still holding her tightly around the waist.
“What…where did that come from?” she whispered breathlessly.
He grinned. “I like strawberry. With apple.”
________________________
Prompt 1: pre-Doomsday, Rose and Ten delivering presents on Christmas Eve (based on red bicycle comment in The Doctor Dances), humorous fluff
Prompt 2: Oblivious Rose only finds "revealing" Christmas outfits in the wardrobe.
Prompt 3: Ends with at least a kiss.
________________________