Title: Does this look like mistletoe to you?
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Doctor (10)/Jack
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Written for
mercurystar for
adventchallenge for the prompt 'Christmas memory that does NOT involve the Invasion'. Which I radically interpreted as Christmas away from earth.
"You want just me to come with you? No women? No blondes you like better than me?" Jack asks. He shouldn't, he should just take this without asking, but he can't resist, he has to poke at this, it's still like a wound, the way the Doctor just left him, even if he left of his own choosing the last time. Jack can't let it lie.
"Yes, just you", the Doctor says, looking mildly irritated. "No women. No... blondes." Jack thinks about it for, like, half a second.
"Where are we going?" he asks.
"All of time and space is waiting", the Doctor says, holding out his hand, and Jack takes it.
*
"All of time and space and we end up on the planet 'Christmas overload'?" Jack says, eyeing a person selling some kind of foodstuff warily.
"All the Christmas and solstice traditions collected on one planet. It's brilliant!" the Doctor exclaims, and runs down the crowded street. Jack maybe shouldn't have let him have that last piece of cake. Jack sighs and walks after him, careful not to touch anything that looks suspicious. Most things look suspicious, actually, but then, Jack is not a big fan of Christmas. He usually spends it at the Hub, getting drunk and pretending he's not lonely, and now the Doctor wants to spend it in a multiplanetary way, or whatever the word is. Jack is not very pleased.
"Come on", the Doctor says, having suddenly appeared, and he's tugging on Jack's hand. He's acquired a hat from somewhere, and Jack vaguely recognizes it as G'norkigan in origin. It looks ridiculous, but Jack can't help smiling when the Doctor looks at him like that, looking so happy.
"Yeah, ok", Jack says, because what else can he say?
*
They are sitting at a table somewhere in a crowded restaurant, according to the traditions of some kind of space ants. Jack has no idea where they come from, and mostly no idea what they look like, because this version of their celebration is changed to be accessible to humanoids, so there aren't any space ants around. They're eating something, it's good, but the Doctor flat out refused to tell him what it was, claiming he'd be better off not knowing. Which, ok yeah, might be true.
"So then I sat at the table, and pretended I liked whatever food they where eating", the Doctor says, and just like that, Jack is back to feeling disappointed again. "I mean, human food is so... strange. And Christmas food mostly consists of grease." The Doctor looks wistful for a second, and Jack thinks 'second best, rub it in, why don't you'.
"Anyway, I like this better", the Doctor continues, and puts one of the deep fried... somethings in his mouth. He chews without closing it first, and that should be gross, but it's really quite endearing.
"Yeah, this is, it's nice", Jack says, trying not to let his emotions, any of them, shine through in his voice. Judging from the look on the Doctor's face he's not entirely successful. He doesn't say anything about it though, just smiles, a much milder smile than his usual one, and offers Jack one of the deep fried things from his plate. Jack takes it.
*
Jack is drunk. He knows this, not only because he's been drinking Beldurian wine, but also because he can no longer see properly. Plus, everything is very funny. Even the Doctor trying to explain himself, for the fifth time, and trying to apologize, is suddenly funny.
"Jack!" the Doctor says, sounding irritated. "Are you even listening?" Jack smiles.
"Yeah, you're funny", he says, sounding slurred to his own ears. "Hey, is there mistletoe? There should be. Best earth custom in the entire universe!" He's sure there's something wrong with that sentence, but he's not sure what. He's too busy looking for mistletoe.
They're sitting on a hill, probably artificial, the way everything here seems to be, and there is no mistletoe to be found. Or so Jack thinks. He's not actually sure what mistletoe looks like, and anyway, everything is sort of fuzzy. He does find something green-ish, and he decides it'll have to do.
"Hey, does this look like mistletoe to you?" he asks, because the Doctor would know that.
"No, that's..." the Doctor starts to way, but Jack decides that he doesn't need mistletoe anyway, it's Christmas! So he kisses the Doctor square on the mouth. The Doctor freezes for a moment before he kisses back.
"Merry Christmas", Jack whispers against his mouth, before dragging the Doctor down on top of him for more kissing.