Starting Over (2/?)
Title: Starting Over (2/?)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: K+
Genre: Romance
Characters/Pairings: Ten.5/Rose, mentions of Ten and the Tylers
Spoilers: Up to ‘Journey’s End’
Summary: In their first months together, Rose and Ten.5 can’t seem to break the ice.
A/N: Woop! Second chapter! This one’s a little shorter than the last one, and there should be one or two more after this. X-poster everywhere, so sorry for repeats.
The Doctor had travelled with many young women in his time, and had escorted each of them to numerous parties, balls, shindigs and hootenannies throughout space and time. And yet, even with all of that experience under his belt, the Doctor had failed to learn one single, basic truth:
When a woman dresses, and claims to be “ten minutes, tops!”, she really means “give me half an hour, at least.”
Usually, the Doctor’s attention span (or lack thereof, because who needed patience when you had a time machine?) resulted in the promised ten minutes expiring, and then a flurry of banging on doors, whinging, and repetition of the question “but how long can it take to put on a bit of lipstick?”
Tonight was no exception, although the Doctor, with his great and legendary mind, had failed to account for the wisdom and practicality of Rose Tyler. The aforementioned whinging, door-banging, and questioning had resulted simply in her sticking her arm around the door, and chucking something small, brightly-coloured and very hard at his head.
It was a yoyo. “There!” she called, “That should keep you occupied!”
As if he was some child who needed entertaining and - ooh, that was clever. Look at how the colours mixed together as it whirled up and down, up and down, and look at all the pretty tricks you could do with it!
Twenty minutes later, after her date had mastered three well-known Earth tricks, as well as several others outlawed on hundreds of planets, Rose emerged from her bedroom.
And yes, she definitely beat any entertainment value the yoyo had had to offer. She was perfection wrapped in a floaty pale pink dress, her make up pale and understated, her hair swept up at the back with just a few curls left hanging, framing her face and brushing her jaw line.
“Right?” the Doctor recovered quickly, a fact he was very proud of, in retrospect. He’d forgotten - how could he have forgotten? - how utterly beautiful Rose could be when she was all dressed up and excited.
And perhaps she didn’t look like she did before, when they’d gone to that formal on Tanaknowa 5, or the bonding ceremony on Mehal 9, or the hundreds of other parties he’d taken her to, before they were separated. She looked… older, more mature, like it wasn’t the dress making her look even prettier that usual, it was something inside, making the dress just another accessory.
“Yep, ready to go?”
“Always.” He grinned, and she took his offered hand, in that wonderfully familiar way she had that warmed him from the soul outwards.. He pulled her gently out of the front door, and down the stairwell and out onto the car park.
The night air was fresh and cool, the humidity banished in the wake of the thunderstorm that had struck that afternoon. The streetlights glowed off the water left on the streets, lighting everything that unique shade of day-glo orange and fluorescent white. She kept glancing up at him as they walked, making eye contact and smiling shyly, making him want to sweep her up and dance with her, right there on the tarmac.
They finally reached his car, and he tried not to notice her surprise as he unlocked it. He had resisted things like buying a car, hunting for a larger apartment, even working at Torchwood, in the hopes that if he didn’t do human things, then he wouldn’t truly become one.
After six months here, he had noticed how much that was hurting Rose. How his very presence was tearing her up inside, how she was slowly shrinking away from him, back into a tough, protective shell he hated to realise she had built while he was gone. He had considered leaving, packing up, going off travelling again, alone, leaving her to pick up the pieces and carry on as it was before he had shown up and ruined her life again.
Until he remembered the dimension cannon. She wanted to be with him, the real him, in the TARDIS, and his Time Lord self, in all his self-sacrificing, short-sighted wisdom, had decided what was best for her - for them both. They could grow old together, and she wanted to, he knew that deep down. She loved him, and he loved her, and no one ever said that relationships were easy.
He opened the passenger door, and helped Rose to climb inside, before moving around and sitting down in the driver’s seat. “All set?” he asked.
She clicked her seatbelt into place, “Yep.” Then she froze. “Wait, you’re driving?”
“What?” he said, mock-affronted, “We’ve barely met, remember? And you’re already criticising my superb driving skills?”
“Okay, okay, sorry.” Rose apologised, “You’re right, I’m sure you’re a fantastic driver, Doctor.” She said all that, and still managed to keep a straight face, and the Doctor nodded, mollified.
“That’s better.” He put the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking space, pulling out onto the street.
The sound of the tyres on the road was almost enough to drown out her voice, muttering “As long as we don’t end up in 1879 again…”
***
Rose wasn’t sure where they were going, but they’d been on the road for a long time now, and she wasn’t entirely sure that the Doctor wasn’t lost.
Again.
Still, at least this time they only had the present and the United Kingdom to worry about. That definitely narrowed it down a bit.
The kept sneaking glances at him, as they drove out of the city and into woodlands. “So, where’re we going?” she asked, finally, curiosity getting the better of her.
“It’s a surprise.” He flashed her that knee-liquefying grin, and she smiled back, unable to feel nervous when he looked at her like that.
“Right.” She nodded. He seemed relaxed, more relaxed than she’d seen him in years, in fact. He settled back in his seat, one hand on the steering wheel, the other occasionally coming up to ruffle his already perfectly-mussed hair. He was smiling too, a hint of a full beaming grin pulling at his lips, making her want to kiss him so much she could barely breathe.
She almost wished that they’d never reach their destination, that they’d just keep driving forever, and she could just stay right there, in the passenger seat, feeling like all of the stuff that had been between them had melted away, leaving just the two of them, humans on a first date, a beautifully normal life opening up before them.
As if sensing her thoughts, the Doctor glanced down at her, smile still in place, locking his eyes on hers. Her heart stuttered, and his smile widened before his eyes returned to the road.
They finally pulled up at a large house in the woods, on a hillside. It had a rustic feel to it, covered in dark wood panelling with golden light seeping from the windows. The Doctor hopped out and opened Rose’s door.
“My Lady.” He bowed with a smirk, offering his hand once more.
“My Doctor.” She replied, with a soft smile, taking his hand and rising to her feet.
Chapter One
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: K+
Genre: Romance
Characters/Pairings: Ten.5/Rose, mentions of Ten and the Tylers
Spoilers: Up to ‘Journey’s End’
Summary: In their first months together, Rose and Ten.5 can’t seem to break the ice.
A/N: Woop! Second chapter! This one’s a little shorter than the last one, and there should be one or two more after this. X-poster everywhere, so sorry for repeats.
The Doctor had travelled with many young women in his time, and had escorted each of them to numerous parties, balls, shindigs and hootenannies throughout space and time. And yet, even with all of that experience under his belt, the Doctor had failed to learn one single, basic truth:
When a woman dresses, and claims to be “ten minutes, tops!”, she really means “give me half an hour, at least.”
Usually, the Doctor’s attention span (or lack thereof, because who needed patience when you had a time machine?) resulted in the promised ten minutes expiring, and then a flurry of banging on doors, whinging, and repetition of the question “but how long can it take to put on a bit of lipstick?”
Tonight was no exception, although the Doctor, with his great and legendary mind, had failed to account for the wisdom and practicality of Rose Tyler. The aforementioned whinging, door-banging, and questioning had resulted simply in her sticking her arm around the door, and chucking something small, brightly-coloured and very hard at his head.
It was a yoyo. “There!” she called, “That should keep you occupied!”
As if he was some child who needed entertaining and - ooh, that was clever. Look at how the colours mixed together as it whirled up and down, up and down, and look at all the pretty tricks you could do with it!
Twenty minutes later, after her date had mastered three well-known Earth tricks, as well as several others outlawed on hundreds of planets, Rose emerged from her bedroom.
And yes, she definitely beat any entertainment value the yoyo had had to offer. She was perfection wrapped in a floaty pale pink dress, her make up pale and understated, her hair swept up at the back with just a few curls left hanging, framing her face and brushing her jaw line.
“Right?” the Doctor recovered quickly, a fact he was very proud of, in retrospect. He’d forgotten - how could he have forgotten? - how utterly beautiful Rose could be when she was all dressed up and excited.
And perhaps she didn’t look like she did before, when they’d gone to that formal on Tanaknowa 5, or the bonding ceremony on Mehal 9, or the hundreds of other parties he’d taken her to, before they were separated. She looked… older, more mature, like it wasn’t the dress making her look even prettier that usual, it was something inside, making the dress just another accessory.
“Yep, ready to go?”
“Always.” He grinned, and she took his offered hand, in that wonderfully familiar way she had that warmed him from the soul outwards.. He pulled her gently out of the front door, and down the stairwell and out onto the car park.
The night air was fresh and cool, the humidity banished in the wake of the thunderstorm that had struck that afternoon. The streetlights glowed off the water left on the streets, lighting everything that unique shade of day-glo orange and fluorescent white. She kept glancing up at him as they walked, making eye contact and smiling shyly, making him want to sweep her up and dance with her, right there on the tarmac.
They finally reached his car, and he tried not to notice her surprise as he unlocked it. He had resisted things like buying a car, hunting for a larger apartment, even working at Torchwood, in the hopes that if he didn’t do human things, then he wouldn’t truly become one.
After six months here, he had noticed how much that was hurting Rose. How his very presence was tearing her up inside, how she was slowly shrinking away from him, back into a tough, protective shell he hated to realise she had built while he was gone. He had considered leaving, packing up, going off travelling again, alone, leaving her to pick up the pieces and carry on as it was before he had shown up and ruined her life again.
Until he remembered the dimension cannon. She wanted to be with him, the real him, in the TARDIS, and his Time Lord self, in all his self-sacrificing, short-sighted wisdom, had decided what was best for her - for them both. They could grow old together, and she wanted to, he knew that deep down. She loved him, and he loved her, and no one ever said that relationships were easy.
He opened the passenger door, and helped Rose to climb inside, before moving around and sitting down in the driver’s seat. “All set?” he asked.
She clicked her seatbelt into place, “Yep.” Then she froze. “Wait, you’re driving?”
“What?” he said, mock-affronted, “We’ve barely met, remember? And you’re already criticising my superb driving skills?”
“Okay, okay, sorry.” Rose apologised, “You’re right, I’m sure you’re a fantastic driver, Doctor.” She said all that, and still managed to keep a straight face, and the Doctor nodded, mollified.
“That’s better.” He put the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking space, pulling out onto the street.
The sound of the tyres on the road was almost enough to drown out her voice, muttering “As long as we don’t end up in 1879 again…”
***
Rose wasn’t sure where they were going, but they’d been on the road for a long time now, and she wasn’t entirely sure that the Doctor wasn’t lost.
Again.
Still, at least this time they only had the present and the United Kingdom to worry about. That definitely narrowed it down a bit.
The kept sneaking glances at him, as they drove out of the city and into woodlands. “So, where’re we going?” she asked, finally, curiosity getting the better of her.
“It’s a surprise.” He flashed her that knee-liquefying grin, and she smiled back, unable to feel nervous when he looked at her like that.
“Right.” She nodded. He seemed relaxed, more relaxed than she’d seen him in years, in fact. He settled back in his seat, one hand on the steering wheel, the other occasionally coming up to ruffle his already perfectly-mussed hair. He was smiling too, a hint of a full beaming grin pulling at his lips, making her want to kiss him so much she could barely breathe.
She almost wished that they’d never reach their destination, that they’d just keep driving forever, and she could just stay right there, in the passenger seat, feeling like all of the stuff that had been between them had melted away, leaving just the two of them, humans on a first date, a beautifully normal life opening up before them.
As if sensing her thoughts, the Doctor glanced down at her, smile still in place, locking his eyes on hers. Her heart stuttered, and his smile widened before his eyes returned to the road.
They finally pulled up at a large house in the woods, on a hillside. It had a rustic feel to it, covered in dark wood panelling with golden light seeping from the windows. The Doctor hopped out and opened Rose’s door.
“My Lady.” He bowed with a smirk, offering his hand once more.
“My Doctor.” She replied, with a soft smile, taking his hand and rising to her feet.
Chapter One