Who Fic - It’s a new life (and I’m feeling good)
Title: It’s a new life (and I’m feeling good)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating/warnings: PG
Genre: fluff, humour
Characters: Ten, Rose, cameos from Jackie, Mickey and Shareen
Spoilers: set between “The Christmas Invasion” and “New Earth”
Summary: In the days between Christmas and New Years the Doctor and Rose begin to re-learn each other and in the meantime, they discover that his new body seems to have several surprising new abilities including...re-plastering walls? But certainly not dancing, no definitely not - this Doctor will not be doing any literal or metaphorical dancing.
Authors Note: Thought we could all do with something a bit lighter at the moment. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all associated characters/situations etc do not belong to me, I’m just borrowing them.
~*~
Christmas had never been an extravagant practice in the Tyler household. For as long as Rose could remember Christmas Day had involved opening the small pile of presents under the tree and after a day of admiring their new belongings came the roast dinner - just enough turkey for two - followed by shop bought Christmas pudding and ready made custard. On Boxing Day they traditionally ate the leftovers from the day before and blobbed about in their pyjamas, watching the telly and painting each others nails.
Whilst it had been a comfortable tradition for years and one she usually looked forward to, Rose was almost disappointed to be at home for Christmas this year. Eggnog and crackers - whilst quaint and nostalgic - couldn’t really compete with alien invasions, nor with the Doctor’s sudden transformation from one man into another. And she’d barely had any time to get to know this new him - at least not properly.
There had been little things of course - the way he had easily joined them for Christmas dinner without one scathing remark about ‘domestics’, the donning of a paper party hat, the way he’d seemingly ignored his cutlery for most of the meal and then gotten distracted by the telly. He also readily agreed to go and join in with the revellers gathering in Trafalger Square but as soon as Rose got caught up in a gaggle of old school friends he melted into the crowd without her even noticing and she had one hell of a time finding him again.
“Where’d you sneak off to then?” she said, digging him in the ribs as she squeezed into the space beside him.
“Just taking it all in.” he said, offering her a vague smile and then casting his gaze out over the crowd. “History! That’s what this is Rose. History all around us...”
“Yeah well you could’ve stayed a bit longer.” Rose chided. “My friends all wanted to meet you but you’d already snuck off.”
The Doctor gave her a strange look and had just opened his mouth to speak when he paused and raised a hand carefully towards her.
Despite herself, Rose caught her breath in anticipation of his new palm pressing against her cheek - a caress much like his old self had often bestowed upon her. Instead, he merely plucked at a strand of her hair with new, long fingers.
“Ash.” he explained in a low voice and Rose felt a foolish blush suffuse her cheeks. She was almost glad for Mickey’s interruption a moment later when he told them he was heading home and did they want a lift? She was also somewhat glad that he insisted on walking her back to her mums flat even though the Doctor was with her. As usual, his intentions weren’t merely chivalrous however. Rose couldn’t help but roll her eyes when he plonked himself in front of the telly with Jackie and tucked into the leftover pudding.
There was a benefit to Mickey’s bottomless stomach however - having finally stuffed himself full, Mickey all but passed out on the couch and Jackie staggered off to bed not long after. This left Rose and the Doctor to their own devices so they crept into her old room together so as not to wake anybody and drank hot chocolate with marshmallows, the two of them sitting cross legged on the bed.
Having had more than enough time to collect herself by now, Rose seized the opportunity to talk to him properly without her mother or Mickey dogging the conversation. She told him everything that he’d missed out on whilst he’d been busily recuperating from his regeneration. How they had taken care of him, getting attacked by the robot Santa’s while she was out shopping with Mickey, steeling herself to parlay with the Sycorax leader without the TARDIS’s translation circuit...
“Rose Tyler.” he said fondly at this point, his new, dark eyes shining proudly. “Defender of the Earth!”
In turn he explained - if a little falteringly - the true reason behind his sudden transformation. How she had looked into the TARDIS and become the Bad Wolf, turning the Daleks into dust with just a wave of her hand. And then, just as she had begun to be overwhelmed by it, he had taken the power out of her to save her life - in turn ending his own.
“You did that for me?” she said, amazed. “You just...died for me?”
“Oh, just a regeneration.” he shrugged it off. “I didn’t really die. Well, I say I didn’t die. I suppose I probably came close for a split second or two...” at this Rose looked truly alarmed and he began to babble rather hastily. “But don’t worry - still got a few more left in me yet! Anyway, I think I might like this body better than my last one. For one thing it’s got a smaller set of ears.” Rose chuckled uncertainly at that and he grinned. “And. It’s just about bubbling over with energy. I love it!”
“Tell me about it.” Rose eyed his leg where it was bouncing restlessly against the covers.
“Mind you.” the Doctor said, suddenly deep in thought. “That’s probably your fault too.”
“My fault?” Rose felt an uneasy tug somewhere in the region of her stomach that she was pretty sure had nothing to do with the mass of soggy marshmallows that had settled there. “What, because you died saving me? Did I like, imprint myself on you or something?”
“Nah. Well sort of. I spent a lot of time with you in my last body though.” he stretched out his long, long legs before refolding them and although he sounded flippant his eyes were soft. “Think of this new one as sort of a...well, by-product of the influence you’ve had on me since we’ve been travelling together.”
“That why your voice changed?” Rose said wonderingly but then began to tease him. “An’ you got younger?”
The Doctor shrugged. “Well at least now people will stop thinking I’m some sort of degenerate, dirty old man.” he grinned at her suddenly. “Just as well I don’t look my real age eh?”
“Yeah.” Rose grinned back. “You’re not doing bad for nine hundred.”
They laughed quietly together and then paused just as suddenly, both seemingly surprised at just how quickly they’d settled back into comfortable banter with each other again. “Um...” Rose offered and the Doctor began to babble to cover the clumsy moment.
Rose was grateful for his newfound chattiness, but all too soon her eyes began to droop from tiredness and when the Doctor disappeared to put their mugs in the kitchen sink Rose seized the opportunity to don a pair of pyjamas and clamber into the bed.
“You’re not going to stay?” she mumbled when he bade her goodnight. Often when they were travelling and they had stopped off somewhere so she could catch a few hours of shut eye the Doctor occupied the other half of the bed, reading or tinkering.
Or at least his previous self had.
“Nah. All fired up now! I haven’t slept that much in years. Still,” he tugged thoughtfully at his ear - an endearing new habit he seemed to have developed. “It’ll be good for you to get some rest in your old bed. I should really get back to the TARDIS for a while - ’fraid my driving skills weren’t up to much chop today. There’ll be a fair bit of repairs to do on the old girl.”
“You’re always fixing her up.” Rose yawned widely and, on a sudden impulse, held her arms out for a hug. The Doctor complied, if a little bemusedly and Rose squeezed him tightly. His new hair tickled her cheek and when she breathed in he smelt of turkey and ash. “Don’t go anywhere without me,” she warned him. “You’re not allowed to leave me alone with my mum. I’ll kill you.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” he said, pulling back and grinning at her for a moment - that new mad grin that was very much growing on her. “Sleep well.”
“Yep. See you in the morning.” Rose mumbled as he trod softly across the room and closed what remained of the door, peeking in through the hole that the remote controlled Christmas tree had smashed its way through earlier.
He wiggled his fingers at her through the hole in farewell and Rose giggled. Looking pleased, the Doctor disappeared from sight and Rose settled down under the covers for some desperately needed sleep.
~*~
Boxing Day dawned bright and cold and when she rolled over to see if she’d been joined by her travelling companion Rose was sorely disappointed. Huddling further under the blankets she tried to get back to sleep again and settled in for a restless doze.
Sometime later the door creaked open and in her half sleep she heard trainer clad feet creeping across the carpeted floor to her bedside. A moment later a pair of cold fingers wrapped around her nose and Rose gave a wild snort as she struggled to breathe through her mouth instead.
When she heard the Doctor giggling at her, Rose smacked out at him blindly, pleased when she felt her hand connect with something bony - possibly a shoulder. Carefully ungluing her eyes, Rose did her best to glare at him but it was somewhat difficult as all she could see of him over the tangle of her blankets was a pair of dark, sparkling eyes and his ridiculous new mop of hair.
“Morning sleepyhead.” his eyes crinkled with a smile. “Happy Boxing Day!”
“S’time?” she groaned, pushing him aside to look at the alarm clock. “S’not even seven yet!”
“But its Boxing Day!” he said, all giddy enthusiasm. “Don’t you want to open up your presents? You know in all the fuss you never did get around to doing that yesterday.”
“Presents?” she said blankly as the Doctor methodically set about yanking the blankets off her and pulling her onto her feet.
“Course.” he said cheerfully. “Slippers and dressing gown for you then I’ll brew us up a cup of tea.”
“Tea?” Rose repeated hopefully as she retrieved a hoodie and a pair of thick socks. Taking the hand he offered without even thinking, she allowed herself to be led to the door and then stopped abruptly causing the Doctor to glance back at her questioningly. “The wall’s been fixed.” she said, running an amazed hand over the fresh plaster. “From where the tree smashed through yesterday.”
“Well would you look at that!” the Doctor said, eyes all wide and innocent. “Maybe Father Christmas knows a good plasterer?”
“Did you do this?” Rose demanded and when he shrugged bashfully she shoved at him. “You clever thing! How’d you manage that without waking me up?”
“Oi!” he protested, although he didn’t really look offended. “I’m brilliant I am. Now about that tea...”
~*~
Mickey was still snoring on the couch so Rose and the Doctor jumped up on the kitchen bench while they sipped their tea so as not to wake him.
“So what other new skills have you got in this new body of yours then?” Rose nudged his shoulder with hers and swung her legs. “Sword fighting, plastering walls...”
“Dunno yet.” he said around a mouthful of biscuit, brushing crumbs off his trousers. “Like I said - dodgy process, regeneration. I never can tell what I’ll end up with. I’ll be discovering new personality quirks for, oh the next...”
A sudden shriek from the other end of the flat shattered the early quiet. Out in the lounge, Mickey woke up with a yelp and they heard a thud as he, presumably, fell off the couch.
“Mum?” Rose hurriedly slid off the bench and set down her tea, the Doctor bounding at her heels. They met a sleep-dazed Mickey in the hallway and then crept up to Jackie who had just emerged, sleep frazzled, from her bedroom.
“Mum?” Rose said again, advancing carefully down the hallway. Her mother was staring straight ahead, eyes popping. “You alright?”
“What happened to the wall?!” Jackie demanded hysterically, pointing a shaking finger at it. “There was a bleeding great hole there just yesterday from that mental tree! Where’s it gone?”
“Fairies!” the Doctor piped up suddenly and everyone stared at him. “Must’ve been the Christmas fairies. I thought I heard them skittering about last night. Didn’t I Rose?”
Mickey grinned but Jackie looked about ready to murder. Her hands even rose and then fell again as though she had been about to slap him and then forgotten to. Her words seemed to fail her then as well as her hands because she began to splutter incoherently at him.
“I-bu-whuh-”
“Easy Jackie.” the Doctor frowned, ducking back a little. “You’re spitting on me.”
Jackie went a magnificent shade of purple and Rose quickly put a restraining hand on her mothers arm.
“The Doctor did it.” she explained firmly. “Last night while we were asleep.”
“You plastered a wall?” Jackie demanded. “You?”
The Doctor’s hand jumped into his hair. “Well eight hours is a long time. And...I might’ve got a bit bored with fixing frayed wires in the TARDIS.”
“Well at least you’re fixing up after yourself for once.” Jackie conceded grudgingly. “Not like that coffee table I had that you smashed to bits...”
“Ah - now in my defence.” the Doctor held up a hand. “I was trying to save Rose from being smothered to death by a plastic ar-”
“By breaking the furniture?” Jackie sniffed and then set her sights on the kitchen. “Anyone think to put the kettle on yet? I’d murder a cuppa. Mickey?”
“Tea’d be brilliant Jacks.”
Mickey padded obediently after Jackie but before Rose could follow too the Doctor drew her in close to his side and leant down to whisper urgently to her.
“She didn’t slap me. Why didn’t she slap me?”
Rose eyed him in bemusement. “You fixed her wall. Why would she slap you?”
“Because that’s what your mother does.” the Doctor’s lip curled slightly in thought before lowering his voice even further. “Think she’s been replaced by a Slitheen?”
Rose rolled her eyes and chose not to answer, instead following her mother and Mickey into the kitchen with the Doctor tailing her plaintively.
“Rooooose...”
“Something wrong?” Mickey asked from his vantage point near the toaster.
“The Doctor’s just bein’ daft.” Rose hoisted herself up on the bench only to earn herself a sharp look from her mother. Rolling her eyes, Rose slid off again just as the Doctor appeared at the doorway looking wounded.
“I’m not daft.” he said, seeming quite put out.
“Course you’re not.” Rose leant against the kitchen bench. “You’re brilliant and clever and also not the least bit terrified of my mother.”
The Doctor looked mortified but Jackie seemed pleased. “As he should be.”
Mickey sniggered but a glare from the Doctor sent him scrambling for condiments.
“Ooh have you got jam?” the Doctor said with great interest as Mickey lined up the jars on the bench. “I’ve got a sudden craving for raspberry.”
“I think I’ve got some strawberry.” Jackie said vaguely as she spooned sugar into mugs.
The Doctor grimaced but took up the jar nonethless. “Suppose it’ll have to do.”
And to everyone’s shock he prised off the lid and licked the residue off the inside of it.
Jackie didn’t even have to say a word. The Doctor got one look at her expression and quickly put the jar down, the lid rattling ominously against the bench top.
“I’ll just...” he backed slowly through the doorway. “TARDIS...got to...repairs...”
And then he bolted.
~*~
Jackie washed the jam lid three times in sudsy water and once in bleach before she was convinced that it was clean of any alien germs.
Rose for her part rolled her eyes a lot and after breakfast Mickey headed home to take a shower and change his clothes.
The Doctor waited a good three hours before daring to venture back inside the flat.
~*~
And so Boxing Day came and went without any more universe shattering personal events (or alien invasions for that matter). The Doctor spent the better part of four days working on the TARDIS, even conceded to being driven around to various places in Mickey’s car in order to pick up parts that could be used or converted in order to replace the ones that had been destroyed or broken due to his crash landing.
Rose spent a lot of the time catching up with her old girlfriends, all of whom seemed desperate to meet the mysterious man she’d been travelling with for almost two years now (at least in their timelines). Somewhat pointedly, the Doctor moved the TARDIS to a more secluded spot so that none of them would stumble inside by accident and Rose couldn’t call upon him to come up to the flat and meet them.
It was all very well and good to be around Rose or Mickey or - heaven forbid - even Jackie by himself. They were used to him. But he was a tad wary about the new gob he’d acquired with this regeneration and he didn’t much fancy the idea of offending Rose’s girlfriends before he learned how to get his rude streak at least somewhat under control.
Not that he’d ever cared about offending people up till now but still. He didn’t think Rose would be very pleased with him if he got introduced to one of her mates and blurted out something tactless about their clothing. Or their weight. Or the way they smelled. Or anything else that was equally as embarrassing. And despite how well she seemed to be accepting the whole regeneration thing now he really didn’t want to push her away again.
So he worked on the TARDIS and came back to the flat to brew himself a cup of tea when he needed a break and more often than not he sat and had dinner with Jackie and Rose and then watched telly with them afterwards for a while if he could be bothered and then he’d hug Rose goodnight and go back to the TARDIS and work on her some more.
On the day of New Years Eve however he was underneath the console when there was the scratch of a key in the lock and then the creak of the TARDIS door opening. Intrigued as to what had brought Rose down to see him, he scooted out from underneath the console to see and was just dusting himself off a bit when he stopped dead.
Rose was standing just inside the door watching him with her hands in the pockets of her jeans and when she saw him she said “Hi.”
Eeverything about her from her posture to her intonation screamed awkward and the Doctor wasn’t sure what to make of this so he said, “Hello.” back but then noticed that something about her had changed quite dramatically since teatime yesterday. “You’ve cut all your hair off.” he blurted and one of Rose’s hands flew to it self consciously.
“It’s not too short is it?” she said immediately, looking anxious. “Only I had loads of split ends and mum had to touch up the roots anyway so...”
“No!” he practically shouted and then winced and mentally reminded himself to bring his voice down to a more acceptable level. Very shouty this body. Definitely liked a good shout. “No no no, it looks good. Better than good. Brilliant, in fact.”
Oh shut up Doctor. He clamped his mouth shut just to make sure nothing else fell out. Really, this was ridiculous.
Rose didn’t seem all that perterbed by his outburst. In fact she almost looked flattered. She smiled hesitantly and fiddled with the shortened ends of her hair shyly. “Thanks.”
“So.” the Doctor said, unconsciously mirroring Rose’s posture by putting one of his hands into his pocket and playing with his hair with the other. “What brings you down here then?”
“I was just wondering how you were getting on with her.” Rose’s eyes went towards the console where the time rotor was still and dark.
“Oh you know.” he waved a hand around as though it might help to illustrate his point. “Getting there.”
“Right. Cos...there’s this thing tonight...” Rose trailed off into a mumble. “An’ I just thought maybe...we could go. If you wanted. You don’t have to stay for the whole thing or anything but it’d be nice, you know, if you came to a bit of it.”
The Doctor pursed his lips in contemplation. “What...kind of thing are we talking about here exactly?”
“Just a New Years thing.” Rose clarified, helpfully not explaining anything at all. “I mean, you don’t have to. It’s not like...I mean, it’s not important or anything.”
The Doctor frowned and pursed his lips even further. “Riiiight...but what kind of thing are we talking about - exactly? Pub crawl, nightclub, street party, rave party? Tea party?”
“I...dunno exactly.” Rose admitted, laughing, then paused to gnaw on her lower lip, smiling her embarrassment out. “Um. My mate, Shareen, she’s having drinks at her place and I think they might be going out later. Depends. I mean you don’t have to come if you don’t...I just thought I’d...ask. But if you don’t...you know, its-its fine.”
The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, considering. Much as he didn’t fancy getting bombarded with questions from her friends, the truth was that he could probably do with a break from the TARDIS. And he wasn’t going to dare go to the flat if Rose wasn’t going to be there to rescue him from her mother. The very thought made him shudder with barely repressed horror. He didn’t have to stay all night at this party if he didn’t want to either - she’d said so herself. She was probably expecting him to refuse the invitation.
His last self would’ve.
“Yeah.” he blurted. “Alright.”
Rose’s eyes went very wide. “Serious? You’ll come?”
“Welll...” he leant against the console. “I should probably take a break anyway. Breathe some fresh air, be sociable, go talk to a person instead of just chatting away to the TARDIS. Now that I think about it, I haven’t done New Years for a regeneration or two - might be fun!”
“Was your last one fun?” Rose put her hands on her hips and the disbelief was only heightened by the angle of her hip, the quirk of her eyebrow.
The Doctor considered. “Welll...it had its moments I s’pose.”
“Right.” Rose said and then seemingly ran out of things to say. “Right.”
“Right.” the Doctor echoed back and then grinned. “Back under the console I go...”
“Yeah. I’ll see you later.” Rose called out to him as he slithered in through the gap.
“Yep!” he called, pulling out his sonic again.
“Don’t blow anything up while I’m not here to get you a fire extinguisher.”
There was a smile in her voice but the Doctor still couldn’t resist hoisting himself back up to glare reproachfully at the door as she disappeared through it. “Oi!”
~*~
As with most things in his life, Shareen’s New Years Eve party turned out to be an odd affair for the Doctor. Least of all because he simply didn’t fit in with the crowd of twenty-something year old blokes present, all of them in jeans, holding beers and showing their overwhelming obsession with football by talking about nothing else but.
The girls were better, marginally, but he was a little unnerved by their tiny skirts, their staring and the hooded looks several of them kept shooting him. Worse was when one of them detached herself from her gaggle of friends and asked if he wanted to come and dance with them. Although he declined on principal, he still felt Rose stiffen indignantly beside him and he caught her shooting a rather impressive glare at the back of the girls head as she retreated back to her friends.
“You know,” he said conversationally as they ducked through the crowded lounge room of Shareen’s tiny flat. “When I agreed to come along to this...shindig? Bash? I dunno, New Years thing, I wasn’t aware that there was going to be dancing.”
Rose glanced up at the Doctor in bemusement and then looked back to the small crowd of people bopping around the CD player together. “It’s just a party Doctor. An’ you don’t have to dance if you don’t want to.”
The Doctor grumbled quietly and Rose was just about to roll her eyes at him when they were interrupted.
“Roooose!” came a shrill voice and the Doctor winced as the frequency of it hit just the right spot to hurt his overly sensitive new ears. A moment later the owner of the awful voice was all but tackling Rose in an enthusiastic hug. “You look gorgeous! Oh my god - I love. Your haircut. Oh and you brought that fella of yours along as well! Hiiiiii!”
“Oof.” was all the Doctor could manage as a girl with badly bleached hair threw herself at him and kissed his cheek sloppily in greeting.
“Ooh he’s a looker he is.” she said, eyeing him up from head to toe when she finished his assault on him and pulled back to finger a lapel on his jacket. The Doctor tried to scrub her soggy kiss off his cheek without her noticing even as he leant away a little from her exploration of his suit. Did this girl even have a concept of personal space? “Sharp suit too.” she continued in her blaringly loud voice. “You’re not a door to door salesman or something are you?”
Rose burst out laughing and the Doctor spluttered with indignation. “Actually.” he said with as much dignity as he could muster. “I’m a Doctor.”
The girls eyes nearly popped out of her head. “What, for real? Oh well done you!” she crowed, turning back to Rose and shoving her playfully. “Found yourself a nice doctor eh? He give you regular check ups?”
“This is Shareen.” Rose explained, laughing. “She get’s a bit...excited when she drinks.”
“Oh she’s just being nice.” Shareen said, slinging an arm around Rose’s neck and squeezing her into an awkward hug that was closer to a stranglehold. Strangely, Rose didn’t seem to mind. “I go a bit mental on the piss actually. You’ll have to excuse me. Oh, my god. Juuuuuulie! Hiiiiii! Nice meetin’ ya, go grab yourself some punch or something yeah? I’ll have to chat later. See ya!”
And she tottered off through the crowd as fast as her skyscraper-high heels would allow.
The Doctor watched her go and then turned to Rose in baffled consternation. “Is she always like that?”
Rose shook her head, her cheeks flushed with laughter as they made their way over to the punch bowl together. “Nah only when she’s been on the piss. She’s brilliant though. She’s been my best mate since we were kids. Been through a lot with her.”
“Welll...suppose I can’t really talk.” the Doctor mused to himself as he discreetly sonicced the punch bowl for traces of anything potentially nasty. “One of my childhood friends turned out to be a right proper nutcase. In the end.”
Rose looked intrigued at that and to stem any further questioning the Doctor shoved a hastily retrieved cup of punch into her face. “Drink?”
“The sonic screwdriver approves of the chemical combination?” Rose teased him as she took the cup from him and tasted it.
“Just checking to make sure nobody’d spiked it.” the Doctor said, a little defensively. “You never know what somebody might put into one of these. I don’t much fancy having to look after drug addled humans thanks. Especially not that friend of yours, she’s bad enough already.”
Rose laughed and then abruptly spotted someone over the other side of the room. “Oh my god, that’s my friend Keisha! Alright if I go say hello? I haven’t seen her in ages.”
The Doctor shrugged. “Go right ahead.”
“You gonna be alright if I leave you here by yourself?” Rose wanted to know. “Like, seriously? You won’t start taking apart the telly or anything?”
Bemused, he crossed his arms and leant against the wall. “Anyone would think you didn’t trust me.”
“Says the man who changed his face on me the other day with no warning...” Rose muttered. The two of them both took in a sharp breath and the awkwardness was suddenly, horribly, back between them. “Sorry.” she mumbled. “I didn’t mean...”
He waved it off. “It’s fine. Go say hello to your friend - Keisha wasn’t it? I’ll guard the punch.”
Rose bit her lip in apology and touched his shoulder once, awkwardly in farewell. “I’ll be back.” she promised but no sooner had she turned to leave than she turned back suddenly, shrugging off her jacket and passing it to him mutely, a smile of thanks already on her lips.
Nodding vagueley he watched her go, intrigued by her choice of dress. Not owning many pretty dresses or tops herself due a lingering tomboyish streak and a lack of money, she had shyly asked if she could borrow something out of the TARDIS wardrobe to wear tonight. He had, of course, let her (although he wasn’t entirely sure why she thought the wardrobe room might suddenly be out of bounds to her) but uncharacteristically she hadn’t even let him see her outfit, instead wearing an ugly puffer jacket over the top to keep her warm on the way to Shareen’s.
His disappointment then was more than assuaged now that he had discovered she had found an exquisitely beaded top that he might have picked up in a marketplace anywhere from Hong Kong to Shan Shen. The delicate fabric was cut quite high at the front but the back was almost bare but for delicate strands of glittering, pale pink beads that swayed slightly as she ducked through the crowd towards her friend.
Blinking to clear his vision of the sparkly dots of light reflecting off the beads, the Doctor snaffled the nearest vacant chair and settled down into it, delighted to learn that he was right next to a bowl of crisps. After he’d munched his way through several handfuls he licked his fingers clean and then glanced around. He was already feeling a bit bored but at the same time he was also worn out from the time he’d spent working on the TARDIS. He probably should have been resting a bit more these last few days, especially in lieu of how unwell he’d been after his regeneration - it was beginning to catch up to him.
Making sure his fingers were curled protectively around the collar of Rose’s jacket he leant his head back and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again it was to an extreme close up of Rose Tyler’s heavily made up and very concerned hazel eyes.
“You alright?” she wanted to know, voice anxious.
“Just resting.” he assured her mildly but Rose sank down onto the chair next to his looking thoroughly unconvinced.
“Sure? Saw you here with your eyes shut and I thought I’d better check on you. You know, just in case you were getting sick again or something...”
“Rose.” the Doctor said, bemused. “You don’t need to check on me, I’m fine.”
“You’re sleeping through a party.” Rose pointed out.
“Not really my kind of party.” the Doctor retorted.
“Yeah but you don’t really sleep normally. Or you didn’t anyway.”
“I sleep.” the Doctor said mildly. Stretching out his legs he took the opportunity to release the muscles in his back that were beginning to stiffen from sitting on such a hard chair.
Rose bit her lip, considering something, then blurted, “D’you wanna come dance?”
The Doctor laughed despite the wash of terror that initially flooded him at her words. He had just noticed Shareen and her other friend, Keisha, hovering near the CD player and looking their way - obviously waiting for Rose. “Nah you go dance with your friends. I bet I’m rubbish at dancing now anyway.”
Rose bit her lip again and he had to reassure her another three times that he was fine before she would even stand up, let alone go and dance with her friends. He watched her join them and then continued to watch as they began the awful side-stepping, hip-wiggling rubbish that passed for 21st century dancing.
Leaning back again, the Doctor felt a smile playing around his mouth as he settled in to watch.
~*~
“He’s watching you dance.” Keisha teased Rose mid-song and she was so startled that she whipped around instantly to see who. Half-expecting Mickey to have snuck in, she flushed when she realised that it was the Doctor staring at her with an avid expression on his face. Suddenly self conscious, she stopped bopping quite so energetically and tucked her hair back from her face, stopping short when she ran out of hair to tuck and remembered that she’d had it cut.
“Aw, look she’s all embarrassed!” Keisha grinned and Shareen took this as her cue to chip in.
“Go on Rose, give him a proper show!”
Rose blushed even darker and after several more agonising moments of awkward bopping to the music where she could practically feel his eyes boring holes into her (very bare) back, she seized on the first escape ploy she could.
“Hey Shareen, you got any tequila?”
Both her friends eyes lit up instantly.
“Shots?” Keisha said hopefully.
“Shots.” Shareen nodded sagely then ruined the effect by raising her voice to a dull roar and bellowing, “SHOOOOOOOTS!”
Rose led the way to the kitchen in relief, deliberately getting herself caught up in the hubbub as half the party jammed in there with them and Shareen lined up every single shot glass she owned while Keisha overturned the whole pantry looking for salt.
“Ready?” Shareen said once they were all supplied with salt, shot glass and a wedge of lemon. “One, two, three.”
The first shot Rose choked on. The second one went back easier and the third one was a treat. After the fourth one in under six minutes however she was starting to doubt both the brilliance of her plan and the steadiness of her feet underneath her.
“Another!” Shareen cheered and after that one Rose gave up on pretence and staggered out of the kitchen in search of a toilet bowl.
~*~
The Doctor had relocated himself to the dining area after a very drunk couple decided that they wanted to snog the living daylights out of each other on the chair next to him. On the way he’d barely survived an encounter with the rest of the male contingency at this party when they’d demanded he tell them what team he supported and he’d also had his tie stolen by Shareen in a very awkward manner.
He was now very much hoping that Rose would come and rescue him before Shareen came back.
“Hi.” A familiar voice came from behind him and he startled, wondering for a moment if Rose was possibly psychic. She tottered, pale-faced towards him with a frown on her face. “Where’d you go?”
“Away from the football yobbo’s.” the Doctor said, eyeing them warily from across the room and then letting out a great “whoa!” when Rose tripped over nothing and fell straight into him.
“Sorry. Hey where’s your tie?” Rose frowned, going slightly cross eyed as she stared at his chest, leaning heavily against him as she was to keep from falling over.
“You smell like tequila.” the Doctor observed, wrinkling his nose slightly as he propped her up, chin on his chest. “And bile.”
“Where’s your tie?” Rose asked again and as if in answer Shareen tottered past them, the leader of an impromptu conga line. The Doctor’s tie, it appeared, was being used as a makeshift band around a glittery cowboy hat that Shareen had summoned out of somewhere.
“How’d she get it off you?” Rose wondered and the Doctor grimaced heavily.
“You don’t want to know.”
“Fine tell me later. Come dance.” Rose demanded, tugging at his hand.
“Oh no.” he said, planting his feet very firmly on the ground. “No, no, no I don’t think so.”
“Come onnnn.” Rose whined. “You’ve been sitting down all night. Come dance with me. Please?”
Her bottom lip was stuck out petulantly and the Doctor made a variety of uncertain noises as he struggled to come to an ultimatum. “Oh all right.” he said finally and Rose’s smile was instantaneous as she dragged him over to the CD player.
“Dance.” she commanded and with a pained grimace he complied - with a great amount of trepidation and an even greater amount of dorkiness. He was all arm and legs and knees and elbows in this new body and they went every which way as he tried with all his might to imitate the sort of moves that he’d been observing all night. Rose stopped dancing immediately, her eyes popped, and then she started howling with laughter.
“Don’t you laugh at me!” he said, outraged but she was so hysterical that she actually fell over and stumbled into the sofa where another loved up couple had taken up residence.
“Sorry! Sorry...” Rose wiped at her eyes and then reached for the Doctor’s hand to help pull her upright. “You’re just...oh my god you’re too much for me.”
“Rose, are you drunk?” the Doctor asked, very seriously.
“No. Yes. Maybe?” she tried desperately to hold in her giggles and failed dismally. “I had five tequila shots and then had to go be sick. Then I had another two with Keisha.”
“Blimey.” the Doctor grimaced and used her hold on his hand to tug her towards the door. “Let’s get you out in the air shall we? That’s a bit much tequila for someone your size.”
Rose trotted along after him quite happily but shied back when the cold air on the balcony hit her bare skin.
“S’freezin’!” she protested and he rolled his eyes and shrugged off his coat before dumping it over her shoulders.
“There.” he said as he moved to lean against the balcony railing. Rose stepped closer, tugging the coat more comfortably over her shoulders as she came. It was close to midnight now, and the Doctor could hear the noise of several parties nearby as well as the hubbub from the open door behind them.
“What’s the last New Years Eve you did?” Rose wanted to know, looking up at him as she leant up against the railing next to him.
“1999.” he told her, then smiled a little as a remembered it - Grace and the Master and the end of the world. Mostly Grace though. She’d been quite excellent. “I was in San Francisco actually. Just regenerated, no idea who I was and I had to save the world.”
Rose smiled. “That happen to you a lot does it?”
The Doctor grinned. “Once or twice. What about you, how did you bring in the new milennium?”
“Off my face on whiskey I think.” Rose began and then laughed bitterly, suddenly a lot more sober than she had been five seconds earlier. “You know, I don’t really remember?”
The Doctor frowned in consternation. “Off your face on whiskey at fourteen? Your mother must’ve had a fit.”
“She never knew.” Rose admitted sheepishly. “I was at my boyfriends places. Jimmy Stone. Real keeper that one.” she rolled her eyes and then pressed up a little closer to the Doctor as she continued on. “He was my first proper boyfriend...”
The Doctor wasn’t listening properly anymore however. Her hand was overlapping with his and she was pressed into his side and she was very, very warm and very close. Very, very close in fact, probably the closest she’d been since he’d regenerated. As she spoke he studied her face in profile, watched her lick her lips between sentances and her dark lashes flutter over pale cheeks when she lowered her eyes in embarrassment.
Such little details - old details really about Rose. And they seemed so much newer now that he was relearning her with this new body of his. It was the first time he’d been able to pause and catalogue the way she felt next to him, how warm and soft, how sweet she smelt (except for the alcohol of course), and how much he wanted to touch her, to kiss her, to...
Startled out of his internal monologue by that particularly errant thought, he blinked his surprise. He’d kissed Grace on his last New Year’s Eve. Kissed her lots of times in fact. Later he had brushed it off - he’d been unstable, caught up in the lingering regeneration energy, just going with the old Earth tradition of a kiss at midnight...
Despite himself he looked now to Rose’s lips. He had kissed the vortex out of those lips, her skin burning against his with so much more than simple body heat. She had crackled like electricity, burning him from the inside out with power that she should never have possessed. But now those lips had stopped moving and her face was turned towards him. He barely registered a flash of movement before something snapped loudly right in his face and he reeled.
“Doctor?”
“What?” he shook himself slightly. Rose had clicked her fingers in his face it seemed, trying to get his attention. “Sorry. You said something?”
“I asked you about the TARDIS?” she said slowly. “If she’s nearly ready to leave yet? I’m getting itchy feet.”
And then she grinned at him as though she’d just admitted to doing something incredibly wicked.
The Doctor grinned right back, glad for the distraction.
“Absolutely. Tomorrow morning if you’d like.”
“Really? Brilliant!” Rose beamed. A second later there was the sound of somebody yelling from inside the flat and a raucous countdown to midnight began. For a moment the Doctor considered correcting them (they were about thirty seconds early) but when Rose joined in, face shining, he didn’t have the heart to. As the revellers inside blew hooters and let off party poppers Rose leant up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to the Doctor’s cheek.
“Happy New Year!” she said, pulling a face when she settled back onto her heels. “Oh sorry...got a bit of lippy on you. Hang on a tic...” She swiped at it with her thumb, peering closely to make sure she’d gotten it all and then before he’d realised she’d done it she took hold of his hand, swinging it back and forth.
“Walk me home?” she requested.
Tightening his hand around hers, the Doctor gladly complied.
~*~
It really was funny, the Doctor thought, how much sensations changed from one regeneration to the next. Take for instance, the act of holding someone’s hand. It had always felt completely natural for him to slip his hand around Rose’s, almost from the time he’d first met her. This sensation hadn’t lessened with regeneration, in fact, it seemed to have grown until now he was hyperaware of every tiny muscle and tendon in her hand tensing and relaxing as she swung their joined hands back and forth.
“You alright?” Rose asked suddenly, glancing sidelong at him. “You’re being very quiet.”
The Doctor shrugged. “Just thinking.”
“That’s a worry.”
The Doctor chuckled but it was short lived as Rose went charging up the stairs two at a time, dragging him along with her. By the time they got to her front door she was breathless but smiling as she asked him if he wanted a final cup of tea before heading back to the TARDIS.
“I’ll be right. I would like my coat back though.” he nodded towards it and Rose looked down in surprise.
“Oh I left my jacket at Shareen’s! I’ll have to go get it tomorrow.” she realised, even as she slipped the Doctor’s coat off and handed it back to him, shivering slightly as the cold air touched her bare skin. “So...I’ll see you in the morning?”
“It is morning.”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Oh shut up. Good night then.”
“Good morning.” he countered cheekily, then, before his nerve could fail him he put a hand to her face and leant forward, placing a soft kiss on the opposite cheek. Pulling back slowly, he lingered perhaps a moment too long and was rewarded with a thundering response from Rose’s pulse. He grinned at her. “Happy New Year.”
He stepped back, the thudding of her pulse still sounding strong in his ears. The skin on his palm grew cold instantly without the warmth of her cheek beneath it and the sense of loss was sharp enough that it surprised him.
“Very happy. No alien invasions.” Rose noted as he began to walk away.
“Already had one for Christmas.” he called over his shoulder. “You can’t have it both ways.”
Chuckling, Rose let herself into the flat and dissappeared.
And as the Doctor resumed work on the TARDIS he kept his coat on, savouring the lingering warmth that Rose had imprinted on the lining. It tickled a little, sort of like static electricity or getting goose flesh. Admittedly, he liked it. In fact, if this was how his new body felt when he was with Rose he had a feeling that he was going to like this new body very much indeed.