Fic: True Love's Gifts (11/13) 10.5/Rose PG
Quick Note: Words cannot express how much Heather made me laugh with one line in this. I love writing with someone who shares the same fandoms I do. Candy to who ever can guess the line.
The Tenth Day of Christmas
Rose was having a hard time concentrating. She and the Doctor had had a brilliant time out on the town the night before; they’d toured at least five different clubs, listening to the live music and dancing and drinking. Rose had decided after her talk with her mum to stop worrying about whether a proposal was on its way and just enjoy her time with the man she loved, and she knew her night had been all the more enjoyable because of it.
The sound of her alarm clock this morning, however, had not been so enjoyable. She’d slapped the snooze button on the offending device so sharply this morning she momentarily thought she’d broken it. She was utterly exhausted and had felt all morning as though she was forcibly dragging herself through her routine. Jake, bless him, had saved her when she arrived at work by sauntering into her office with a mug of the strongest coffee known to humankind. He’d only chastised her for a few minutes for coming in on Sunday when he’d told her to take off until Monday; she cut off his protests by reminding him of the large monthly progress meeting taking place Monday morning and the need to have the field reports completed by then.
She’d spent the next several hours finally catching up on those reports and other paperwork that had been lingering on her desk since before the Christmas holidays and had made a sizeable dent in her workload. She glanced at the clock on her desk and noted with satisfaction that it was nearing five o’ clock. She was trying to decide whether to call it a day or try to tackle one more report when her phone rang.
“Tyler,” she said as she picked up the receiver and put it to her ear.
“Good evening, Field Agent Tyler,” the Doctor’s cheerful voice called over the line. “I hope you’re finishing up for the evening because I’ll be picking you up at six for dinner and today’s gift.”
Rose leaned back in her chair and crossed her right leg over her left, grinning.
“I suppose I could finish up by then, especially if doing so will prevent another hijacking of my computer,” she replied coyly. “What fantastic surprise do you have for me tonight?”
“We’re going back to the theater,” he announced proudly.
Rose felt all the colour drain from her face as she sat forward in her chair again. She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. She stared dumbly at the phone for a moment.
“Rose?” The Doctor’s questioning voice came through the receiver. “You still there?”
She swallowed and said, with trepidation, “You’re not taking me to the ballet again, are you? I love you for taking me to Swan Lake, but I really don’t think I can sit through a repeat of you being fidgety and getting death glares from little old ladies for two hours straight.”
“No worries, Rose,” the Doctor said with a laugh. “We’re doing something much more my speed this time!”
“I’m not sure that reassures me very much,” Rose replied cheekily.
“Oi! I have excellent taste in entertainment! Wasn’t Ian Drury fantastic?”
“Yes, I’ll give you that, once you finally landed in the right time and place - you know, the time and place that wasn’t being terrorized by a werewolf!” Rose laughed.
“Cheeky girl,” the Doctor teased. “I might just have to take Jackie instead. Or Tony. He’ll appreciate the high art that I’ve selected for the evening.”
“I’d pay good money to watch you try and get Tony to sit still for the theater,” Rose said. “But I truly cannot wait to see what you’ve planned for us tonight.”
“I’ll meet you outside Torchwood at 6, then. So, finish up, and I’ll see you soon. Love you.”
“You too,” Rose replied before ringing off.
The Doctor was leaning against a lamppost, hands inside his trouser pockets and one ankle crossed over the other, directly outside Torchwood’s entrance as Rose left work promptly at 6pm. He pushed himself upright as Rose approached and held his elbow out for her take as she walked up to him. He bent down and gave her a quick kiss before leading them down the sidewalk at a brisk walk.
They walked in comfortable silence for several minutes before Rose’s curiosity finally got the better of her.
“So, where’re we going?” she asked, not bothering to hide her excitement.
“I told you, dinner and the theater,” the Doctor replied, feigning ignorance.
Rose rolled her eyes; playing thick really didn’t suit him, though he enjoyed trying to pass it off.
“What show are you taking me to?” she clarified.
The Doctor stopped walking and turned to face her, a grin splitting his face from ear to ear. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out an envelope, and handed it to her. She grinned back as she took it and opened it. Today’s note read:
On the tenth day of Christmas, the Doctor gave to me: ten lords-a-leaping.
(Well, not really. More like three men in blue face paint being noisy and funny and brilliant.)
Inside the envelope with the note were two theater tickets. Rose read the marquee information and looked back up at the Doctor, eyes twinkling.
“Yes, Blue Man Group is definitely more your speed,” she said with a giggle. “It’ll be brilliant.”
“Of course it will!” The Doctor said with confidence. “I can’t wait to see if this universe’s group are aliens, too. Because, you know, Rose, in our original universe, the Blue Man Group were actual displaced aliens from the Donnatella Nebula in the Lyman Galaxy. Everybody on Earth believed that was just face paint, and that them never talking was just a gimmick. But it wasn’t. They seemed harmless enough, though, apart from charging exorbitant prices for their tickets, so I decided not to dig too deeply into-“
“Doctor?” Rose interrupted. He arched an eyebrow and closed his mouth, looking at her expectantly. When she was assured he’d be quiet, she continued. “Save the story for over dinner, yeah? I’m starving.”
He winked at her and held his elbow out to her again. She tucked her hand in the bend of his arm and leaned into his shoulder as they resumed their walk toward dinner.