Ficlet: Picture Perfect Challenge for July 7th (Nine/Rose, The Long Game.)
Under the cut, a short fic that was written for the oh_she_knows Picture Perfect Challenge. The screencaps are from season one's "The Long Game."
"Look at you !" he continues. "Neural mapping- signal conversion through human tissue- not to mention," he adds, looking mildly confused, "you managed to figure out my shelving system."
"Apples to Zabulon," she says brightly.
"What are you reading ?"
His voice startles her out of her concentration; her hand slips unconsciously around the spine of her book, hiding the letters. He's in the doorway, jacket on over the jumper, like they're still outside. Funny man. She changed out of her hoodie ages ago because it smelled like freezer chemicals and guts. Not the best combination.
"Nothing," she says, sliding the thin volume into the couch beside her. "Have we landed ?"
He doesn't answer.
Instead, he sits beside her, pulling the book out of the cushions and turning it over in his hands. "It's just-" she begins, trying not to let her words stumble over one another, "I was curious. About the head hookup things. I was just looking."
"Rose." He glances up at her with a smile lurking at the corners of his eyes. "This... is a history of bioneural communication units." She can't tell what kind of smile it is yet- the teasing kind, the kind that lights up with amusement when she says something ridiculous; or the other kind. The more startling kind, with an foreign softness behind it. Either way, she's flustered; she grabs the book out of his hands.
"So ?"
"So ?" he returns. "What have you got to say about it ?"
"You really want to know ?" She gives him a flat stare, and he favors her with one of those goofy grins. "You really do." He folds his hands over his knee like an attentive student. "There's... there's a lot of it I didn't understand-"
"Don't mind it," he says. "Go on."
"Well, they went about it all backwards, didn't they ?" she says slowly. "They designed the first ones for a computer and then they had all sorts of kinks to work out. Human brain's not like a computer, right ? There's electricity, but you can't just plug it into the wall. It's more delicate."
"Much more."
"But it was Parker- Parker was the one who invented the, the uh- neural map thing. He figured out how to convert the signals through the human brain without frying it like a sausage." She grins. "It was brilliant, that chapter. The diagrams of the cerebral- oh, you know," she stops, leans backwards against the couch, and elbows him aside for space. "No idea why I'm telling you all this- you already know it, probably. Got the diagrams memorized. Footnotes corrected. I'm boring you."
He stares at her.
"Boring me ?" he asks in an insulted tone. "Boring me ?"
"Yeah."
"Rose Tyler," he says, quite seriously, "you're insane."
"What ?"
"Look at you !" he continues. "Neural mapping- signal conversion through human tissue- not to mention," he adds, looking mildly confused, "you managed to figure out my shelving system."
"Apples to Zabulon," she says brightly.
He sits at the edge of the couch, turning to take her hands in his- they're larger than hers, rough where she's smooth, cool where her palms are warm. She loves those hands, though she never realized it before this second. He folds the fingers of one hand between hers and it's the second kind of smile now on his face, the beautiful one. With his free hand he reaches for her hair, tracing a slow path along her hairline and behind her ear.
"Your mind's always ticking away," he says. "Love that. You learn and you change and it's-" he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Fantastic."
"For an ape ?" she jokes.
"For anything." He kisses her knuckles, then glances up and smirks. "Don't tell the other apes I said that. They'll think you're getting airs."
"Shut up, you."
He doesn't.
"Look at you !" he continues. "Neural mapping- signal conversion through human tissue- not to mention," he adds, looking mildly confused, "you managed to figure out my shelving system."
"Apples to Zabulon," she says brightly.
"What are you reading ?"
His voice startles her out of her concentration; her hand slips unconsciously around the spine of her book, hiding the letters. He's in the doorway, jacket on over the jumper, like they're still outside. Funny man. She changed out of her hoodie ages ago because it smelled like freezer chemicals and guts. Not the best combination.
"Nothing," she says, sliding the thin volume into the couch beside her. "Have we landed ?"
He doesn't answer.
Instead, he sits beside her, pulling the book out of the cushions and turning it over in his hands. "It's just-" she begins, trying not to let her words stumble over one another, "I was curious. About the head hookup things. I was just looking."
"Rose." He glances up at her with a smile lurking at the corners of his eyes. "This... is a history of bioneural communication units." She can't tell what kind of smile it is yet- the teasing kind, the kind that lights up with amusement when she says something ridiculous; or the other kind. The more startling kind, with an foreign softness behind it. Either way, she's flustered; she grabs the book out of his hands.
"So ?"
"So ?" he returns. "What have you got to say about it ?"
"You really want to know ?" She gives him a flat stare, and he favors her with one of those goofy grins. "You really do." He folds his hands over his knee like an attentive student. "There's... there's a lot of it I didn't understand-"
"Don't mind it," he says. "Go on."
"Well, they went about it all backwards, didn't they ?" she says slowly. "They designed the first ones for a computer and then they had all sorts of kinks to work out. Human brain's not like a computer, right ? There's electricity, but you can't just plug it into the wall. It's more delicate."
"Much more."
"But it was Parker- Parker was the one who invented the, the uh- neural map thing. He figured out how to convert the signals through the human brain without frying it like a sausage." She grins. "It was brilliant, that chapter. The diagrams of the cerebral- oh, you know," she stops, leans backwards against the couch, and elbows him aside for space. "No idea why I'm telling you all this- you already know it, probably. Got the diagrams memorized. Footnotes corrected. I'm boring you."
He stares at her.
"Boring me ?" he asks in an insulted tone. "Boring me ?"
"Yeah."
"Rose Tyler," he says, quite seriously, "you're insane."
"What ?"
"Look at you !" he continues. "Neural mapping- signal conversion through human tissue- not to mention," he adds, looking mildly confused, "you managed to figure out my shelving system."
"Apples to Zabulon," she says brightly.
He sits at the edge of the couch, turning to take her hands in his- they're larger than hers, rough where she's smooth, cool where her palms are warm. She loves those hands, though she never realized it before this second. He folds the fingers of one hand between hers and it's the second kind of smile now on his face, the beautiful one. With his free hand he reaches for her hair, tracing a slow path along her hairline and behind her ear.
"Your mind's always ticking away," he says. "Love that. You learn and you change and it's-" he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Fantastic."
"For an ape ?" she jokes.
"For anything." He kisses her knuckles, then glances up and smirks. "Don't tell the other apes I said that. They'll think you're getting airs."
"Shut up, you."
He doesn't.