Fic: Gift Wrapping
Title: Gift Wrapping
Author: aibhinn
Gift For: pyrebi
Pairing: Ten/Jack/Rose (post-Doomsday, post-reunion)
Summary: Just a normal day in the TARDIS: Christmas gifts, flirting, and a bit of Doctor-babble. Did I mention flirting?
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Author's notes: It's Christmastime, which means it's time for silly fluff. pyrebi, I hope you enjoy this!
"So what am I getting for Christmas?" Jack asked, leaning over Rose's shoulder as she sat at the TARDIS's kitchen table, putting the finishing touches on her gift for Toshiko. Several other wrapped gifts, presents for the rest of the Torchwood team, were stacked nearby. Jack might not be their full-time director any more, but he wasn't completely divorced from his former team; they occasionally called the TARDIS crew in on a consult, and whenever the three of them were in Cardiff, they always looked in on the Torchwood lot, as much for friendship's sake as anything else.
"Coal," Rose said cheekily. "Big lump of coal in your stocking. That's what naughty boys get." She arranged the ribbon just so and leaned back, looking at it critically. "That'll do," she said in satisfaction, holding it up for Jack's inspection. "I thought Tosh would appreciate the scroll we bought at that space-station market we went to last week. She'll have the fun of translating it, and then she gets to read it."
"What is it?" Jack asked. "I mean, is it a story or a history or what?"
"A story. Something like the Cinderella story on Earth, the bloke told me. Apparently, traditional stories don't change much over species barriers, at least if the species are reasonably compatible. I think it'll be a nice stocking stuffer." She looked up at him and grinned. "But we'll have to be careful when we wash your stocking-don't want coal dust all over everything."
"And why would you want to give me coal?" Jack protested, pulling up a chair beside her and sitting down, feigning a wounded tone. "I've been awfully nice to you recently." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and hooked a foot around the leg of her chair, pulling it closer so he could tug her into his lap.
Laughing, she let him settle her onto his thigh, her legs draped over his and her arm around his neck. "I'm not the one who decides," she told him. "Father Christmas brings coal to naughty boys and girls, and you have to admit, you have been naughty." She gave him a wicked smile.
"Mm, so've you. And nice," Jack purred into her ear, nuzzling her hair. "So I guess we'll both get coal. Now if the Doctor gets some as well, we can set up a nice romantic fire…."
"Starting without me?" the Doctor's amused voice said from behind them. Rose and Jack turned their heads to see him standing in the doorway, one forearm propped up against the doorjamb and ankles crossed casually, watching them. He reminded Jack a great deal of his former self in that position. "Don't let me stop you," he added, letting his arm drop and sauntering in, empty teacup in hand. "Just wanted a cuppa."
"Aw, c'mon, Doc. Why would we go on with just the two of us, when it's so much better with three?" Jack asked with his patented flirtatious smirk.
The Doctor grinned as he slid the kettle under the tap to fill it, and Rose laughed again. "You just want more coal," she accused.
"'Course I do. More coal, longer fire, more romance." Jack's hand slid over her hip suggestively. "Can't get much better than that."
"Coal?" the Doctor asked, plunking the kettle down onto the base and flipping the switch.
"Naughty children, Christmas time," Rose said by way of explanation.
"Ahh." The Doctor rinsed out his cup in the sink, then pivoted, turned a chair around, and straddled it, shifting so he sat close enough for Rose to touch him. "That's a tradition that dates back to the Victorian era. Coal was so common in the house that it was hardly a gift-rather like giving someone a glass of water for Christmas."
"Or a satsuma?" Rose asked mischievously.
"Or your favourite frozen dinner, wrapped and under the tree," Jack added with a chuckle. The other two looked at him blankly and he waved a hand dismissively. "Obscure movie reference. Forget it."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "You're not better off dead," he said deadpan. Jack laughed, startled that he'd got the reference, though Rose still looked confused. Jack ran an apologetic hand up her back as the Doctor went on, "Anyway, the tradition has continued, even though very few people in the twenty-first century have even seen coal. It's still commonly used in the production of electricity, but it's near impossible to buy unless you're a power company."
"Just as well," Rose said, wrinkling her nose. "Horrible filthy stuff, wasn't it? Polluting and all?"
"Oh, yes," the Doctor said. "London pea-soup fogs were called that because they literally were a greenish colour from all the coal soot in the air. But don't knock it; the human race would still be stuck in the eighteenth century if it weren't for coal. It was the fuel-literally and figuratively-for the Industrial Revolution. Without coal for steam power a good portion of humankind's scientific discoveries, let alone technological advances, would've been impossible."
The familiar rhythmic vibration of the TARDIS's flight shifted slightly, and the Doctor's face lit up. "Speaking of which," he said, bouncing to his feet, "we've got ourselves a new destination. I don't think even you've been to this one, Jack."
"Oh, probably not," Jack admitted cheerfully. "My assignments with the Agency weren't usually the sightseeing sort. Though I must admit, there are a few sights here I wouldn't mind seeing again." He leered at the Doctor while simultaneously running a hand up over Rose's flat belly towards her breasts.
"We'll get there," the Doctor said. "Come on! You don't want to miss all the fun, do you?"
"Where are we going?" Rose asked.
He beamed. "You'll just have to wait and see. Have I ever led you wrong?"
He whipped out of the kitchen without waiting for an answer, heading down the corridor with his usual burst of far too much energy. Rose and Jack grinned at each other, and Rose climbed off Jack's lap. "Come on, then," she said. "It's got to be good if he's putting off sex for it."
Jack shook his head, rising to his feet. The kettle clicked off, and he eyed it. "Figures he'd go off leaving things on the boil," he said with more rueful humour than rancour.
Rose stood on tiptoe and kissed him. "Don't worry," she said cheekily. "I'm told coal does a slow burn; once it gets started, it lasts for hours."
"Promise?" he said suggestively.
She took his hand, laughing, and they headed down the hallway towards the console room.
Author: aibhinn
Gift For: pyrebi
Pairing: Ten/Jack/Rose (post-Doomsday, post-reunion)
Summary: Just a normal day in the TARDIS: Christmas gifts, flirting, and a bit of Doctor-babble. Did I mention flirting?
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Author's notes: It's Christmastime, which means it's time for silly fluff. pyrebi, I hope you enjoy this!
"So what am I getting for Christmas?" Jack asked, leaning over Rose's shoulder as she sat at the TARDIS's kitchen table, putting the finishing touches on her gift for Toshiko. Several other wrapped gifts, presents for the rest of the Torchwood team, were stacked nearby. Jack might not be their full-time director any more, but he wasn't completely divorced from his former team; they occasionally called the TARDIS crew in on a consult, and whenever the three of them were in Cardiff, they always looked in on the Torchwood lot, as much for friendship's sake as anything else.
"Coal," Rose said cheekily. "Big lump of coal in your stocking. That's what naughty boys get." She arranged the ribbon just so and leaned back, looking at it critically. "That'll do," she said in satisfaction, holding it up for Jack's inspection. "I thought Tosh would appreciate the scroll we bought at that space-station market we went to last week. She'll have the fun of translating it, and then she gets to read it."
"What is it?" Jack asked. "I mean, is it a story or a history or what?"
"A story. Something like the Cinderella story on Earth, the bloke told me. Apparently, traditional stories don't change much over species barriers, at least if the species are reasonably compatible. I think it'll be a nice stocking stuffer." She looked up at him and grinned. "But we'll have to be careful when we wash your stocking-don't want coal dust all over everything."
"And why would you want to give me coal?" Jack protested, pulling up a chair beside her and sitting down, feigning a wounded tone. "I've been awfully nice to you recently." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and hooked a foot around the leg of her chair, pulling it closer so he could tug her into his lap.
Laughing, she let him settle her onto his thigh, her legs draped over his and her arm around his neck. "I'm not the one who decides," she told him. "Father Christmas brings coal to naughty boys and girls, and you have to admit, you have been naughty." She gave him a wicked smile.
"Mm, so've you. And nice," Jack purred into her ear, nuzzling her hair. "So I guess we'll both get coal. Now if the Doctor gets some as well, we can set up a nice romantic fire…."
"Starting without me?" the Doctor's amused voice said from behind them. Rose and Jack turned their heads to see him standing in the doorway, one forearm propped up against the doorjamb and ankles crossed casually, watching them. He reminded Jack a great deal of his former self in that position. "Don't let me stop you," he added, letting his arm drop and sauntering in, empty teacup in hand. "Just wanted a cuppa."
"Aw, c'mon, Doc. Why would we go on with just the two of us, when it's so much better with three?" Jack asked with his patented flirtatious smirk.
The Doctor grinned as he slid the kettle under the tap to fill it, and Rose laughed again. "You just want more coal," she accused.
"'Course I do. More coal, longer fire, more romance." Jack's hand slid over her hip suggestively. "Can't get much better than that."
"Coal?" the Doctor asked, plunking the kettle down onto the base and flipping the switch.
"Naughty children, Christmas time," Rose said by way of explanation.
"Ahh." The Doctor rinsed out his cup in the sink, then pivoted, turned a chair around, and straddled it, shifting so he sat close enough for Rose to touch him. "That's a tradition that dates back to the Victorian era. Coal was so common in the house that it was hardly a gift-rather like giving someone a glass of water for Christmas."
"Or a satsuma?" Rose asked mischievously.
"Or your favourite frozen dinner, wrapped and under the tree," Jack added with a chuckle. The other two looked at him blankly and he waved a hand dismissively. "Obscure movie reference. Forget it."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "You're not better off dead," he said deadpan. Jack laughed, startled that he'd got the reference, though Rose still looked confused. Jack ran an apologetic hand up her back as the Doctor went on, "Anyway, the tradition has continued, even though very few people in the twenty-first century have even seen coal. It's still commonly used in the production of electricity, but it's near impossible to buy unless you're a power company."
"Just as well," Rose said, wrinkling her nose. "Horrible filthy stuff, wasn't it? Polluting and all?"
"Oh, yes," the Doctor said. "London pea-soup fogs were called that because they literally were a greenish colour from all the coal soot in the air. But don't knock it; the human race would still be stuck in the eighteenth century if it weren't for coal. It was the fuel-literally and figuratively-for the Industrial Revolution. Without coal for steam power a good portion of humankind's scientific discoveries, let alone technological advances, would've been impossible."
The familiar rhythmic vibration of the TARDIS's flight shifted slightly, and the Doctor's face lit up. "Speaking of which," he said, bouncing to his feet, "we've got ourselves a new destination. I don't think even you've been to this one, Jack."
"Oh, probably not," Jack admitted cheerfully. "My assignments with the Agency weren't usually the sightseeing sort. Though I must admit, there are a few sights here I wouldn't mind seeing again." He leered at the Doctor while simultaneously running a hand up over Rose's flat belly towards her breasts.
"We'll get there," the Doctor said. "Come on! You don't want to miss all the fun, do you?"
"Where are we going?" Rose asked.
He beamed. "You'll just have to wait and see. Have I ever led you wrong?"
He whipped out of the kitchen without waiting for an answer, heading down the corridor with his usual burst of far too much energy. Rose and Jack grinned at each other, and Rose climbed off Jack's lap. "Come on, then," she said. "It's got to be good if he's putting off sex for it."
Jack shook his head, rising to his feet. The kettle clicked off, and he eyed it. "Figures he'd go off leaving things on the boil," he said with more rueful humour than rancour.
Rose stood on tiptoe and kissed him. "Don't worry," she said cheekily. "I'm told coal does a slow burn; once it gets started, it lasts for hours."
"Promise?" he said suggestively.
She took his hand, laughing, and they headed down the hallway towards the console room.