With every single word I withhold...

[1millionangels]

It's been a long day for Harriet. A very, very long day. So when she walks into the Inn for the second time tonight, she just stares at it for a second. She should turn and walk back out, because if Matt's still in here

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[theresme]

The Doctor doesn't know about Rose and Jack yet? Well, obviously this must be fixed!

And what better way to fix it than by seeing Rose at the piano talking to a dark-haired girl with a guitar about complex harmonies?

Oh, yeah. He'll know pretty soon.

[timelord_lastof]

Okay, the rest of the Inn going crazy he can deal with.

However, Rose is one of the two people who's supposed to be unaffected by these things. She's Rose. Also, she's his.

The Doctor walks over to the two of them, grabs Rose by the wrist, and starts dragging her off. "Come with me."

[theresme]

Rose rolls her eyes and calls over her shoulder, "I'll talk to you later, Ivy!"

She lets him drag her. "Really, if you were that desperate for a shag, you could've just ask," she says dryly.

[timelord_lastof]

The Doctor rolls his eyes a little. "You've been around Jack too long," he comments calmly. No, he doesn't yet realize that comment is part of all that's wrong with her right now.

He releases her when they get to a relatively private corner of the Inn, and puts his hands on her shoulders, leaning in to meet her eyes. "What's wrong?"

C'mon, Rose, you can tell him. He's the Doctor! He makes everything better just by being absolutely fantastic.

[theresme]

First thing the Doctor will probably notice (unless he's being thick) is that her eyes are not brownish-hazel, but blue. About the same color Jack's eyes are usually, but a bit deeper. Richer.

She laughs, rolling her eyes.

"Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?"

[timelord_lastof]

Yeah, the Doctor's really buying that. His heartbeats speed up a little as he sees the color of her eyes.

"What happened to you?" he asks, his hands still on her shoulders. "Your eyes are..."

Oh, forget this. She's obviously possessed or something. Out comes the sonic screwdriver. He points it at her forehead, adjusting settings as he tries to get some indication of what's the matter here.

[theresme]

Rose rolls her eyes again.

"There is nothing wrong. Stop sonicking me already."

[timelord_lastof]

"Don't you roll your eyes at me," he says, shaking a finger at her like a reproving parent. He'd be horrified at himself if he realized it.

And he's not getting much from the screwdriver except... "When's the last time you ate?"

When in doubt, just be ridiculously overprotective. That's the ticket, Doctor!

[theresme]

"Uh... I ate a sandwich yesterday," or, really, ate a couple bites of a sandwich and forgot about the rest, "and Alex made me eat a plate of chips a couple days back..."

She shrugs, like it doesn't matter. "Why?"

[timelord_lastof]

The Doctor raises his eyebrows. Someone made her eat a place of chips? Made her? He puts the sonic screwdriver away and pushes her into a chair.

There is instantly a plate of chips in front of her. And a worried Time Lord kneeling in front of her.

"First, you're gonna eat. Then you're gonna tell me everyone you talked to in the last week and if any of them have this music... thing."

[theresme]

Rose looks at the chips and makes a face. She'd rather be writing with Ivy, getting ready for the gig she and Jack and Fiona and Ace are going to do in a day or two. They need to come up with a good name still...

But there's something about the Doctor looking so worried, so... he looks almost scared. And that gets through. Gives Rose - the real Rose - a lot of incentive to try to get through.

There's a pause, a shift in the air, and then she gasps a little, and her hand shoots out to grab his arm. "Oh god. Doctor... I don't know... help me..."

And then the air resonates again, and her eyes go from brown (with a little more gold in them than usual) to blue, and she lets go of his arm and flops back with a sigh, popping a chip in her mouth with a very deliberate movement.

"Honestly, you're getting all worked up over nothing."

[timelord_lastof]

The Doctor does not often look scared. He does now.

"Rose!" He grabs her face in his hands, staring into her eyes and trying to catch back some fragment of her, but she's all blue and music-filled and...

She won't appreciate him saying this. He knows she won't. But he says it anyway.

"Rose, I promise, I will help you. Who was the last person you spoke to before this all happened?"

[theresme]

She hears. She hears all of it, and sees it, she just can't affect it at all.

It's a comfort. A small one, but... well, more than she had before.

"Before the band, you mean?" she shrugs, and pulls back a bit, 'cause what is up with him and holding her face? "I was talking with Jack. We thought it sounded like a good idea."

[timelord_lastof]

Jack. Of course, Jack would be able to help with this. Jack's no Time Lord, but he's still pretty good at figuring these things out. And the Doctor is - though he'd never admit it - at a loss.

"Stay right here," he says quickly, and turns around and walks off quickly.

Five minutes later, he's back, dragging Jack along, pushing him into a seat beside Rose. And then he stops. Looks at his eyes.

"Oh, not you too!"

"What?"

[theresme]

"He's gone all weird," Rose says to Jack. "Obviously not very musically inclined."

What? The Music sulky that it can't get him?

Whyever would you think that?

[timelord_lastof]

"Obviously."

"I can play instruments they haven't even invented on your planet!" the Doctor snaps, frustrated. "That's not the point! You're not even acting like yourselves."

No one acts like this, without being possessed. And... looking at Jack, he's pretty sure he's high. Somehow, he resists the urge to go and hit his head against the wall several times or something of the sort.