blue skies #23: "sepulchasm!" (Doctor Who, G)
Title: “Sepulchasm!”
Author: fannishliss
Prompt: Blue Skies prompt #23, photo of cracked mud
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters & Pairings: Nine/Rose
Rating & Warnings: G
Word Count: 700
Summary: The Doctor tells Rose about games he played on Gallifrey.
~*?*~
They were stuck in the Vortex while the Tardis ran a maintenance subroutine. The Doctor had patted the console and whispered some encouraging words when he didn’t think Rose was listening, and they had gone off to the library to while away the interim.
The Doctor meandered the stacks, touching the spines of his books as if they were old friends. At intervals he’d pull one off the shelves to pore over and savor some favorite passage. Rose secretly admired him as he bent to read, the line of his neck handsomely framed by the breadth of his shoulders under the black leather jacket.
Rose didn’t feel like reading. She produced a deck of cards she’d packed the last time she’d been home.
Rose looked up now and then from her cards as the Doctor moved from shelf to shelf. Eventually he spiraled down onto the chair across from Rose, looking on with a supercilious air as Rose dealt herself the umpteenth game of Patience.
“What? didn’t they play cards on Gallifrey?” she laughed.
Something froze on his face before he looked away. Rose tried to give no outward sign of her inward cringe, and played on. As she covered the King of Spades with the Queen of Hearts, he finally spoke, his voice hushed but relaxed.
“We built houses out of fortune-telling cards, and we’d play against our own precognition.”
Rose pictured oversized Tarot cards with garish Gallifreyan illustrations, probably covered with that lovely, inscrutable, swirling script, propped up into peaks and floors, fluttering down to reveal a prophecy to skeptical Time Lord eyes.
“So if you lost, you were a rubbish Time Lord?” Rose offered, watching him from the corner of her eye.
The Doctor smiled, hanging his head. His moods changed so swiftly, like a summer rain with the sun shining through. “I was always a rubbish Time Lord. Huge disappointment to my House.”
“Never!” Rose exclaimed, irate on his behalf, but he shook his head. Rose was happily surprised when he went on.
“Then there was Sepulchasm, where the game board would crack open and swallow up the pieces. You were meant to keep your markers hovering, so you only fell in if you were weak. Rubbish at that too,” he added.
“Violent games,” Rose commented mildly, moving up her Ace of Swords.
“In the old, old days, the playing fields were covered in white sand to show off the blood,” the Doctor said flatly.
“Lovely!” Rose snorted, only a bit shocked. From all she’d heard about the Galllifreyans, the Doctor sounded like quite an oddball to his race. He said nothing, his expression distant but open.
Rose kept playing. She was always grateful when he entrusted her with some facet of his past, but it wouldn’t do to let on.
“Oho!” Rose exclaimed at a run of good luck, uncovering the buried cards from two of the deepest stacks.
“You’re cheating,” the Doctor observed as she dealt from her deck.
“Just using every resource at my disposal, Doctor,” Rose grinned, biting her tongue at him. She loved when the tips of his ears turned pink.
The cards lined up in short order after that. “I won!” she said.
“Cheater,” he accused with a serious face, but his eyes gave him away.
She dragged the cards together, bridged them and ruffled them back down.
The Doctor wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Card sharp?” he asked.
“Wanna learn Black Jack?” Rose grinned, showing her teeth.
“Lots of arbitrary rules?” the Doctor asked, leaning forward.
Rose nodded. “And penalties,” she said, glancing up at him from the cards as she shuffled.
“Are you going to cheat?” he asked, blue eyes challenging, assessing. When he looked at her like that -- a girl could get ideas.
“You’ll have to catch me to find out,” Rose answered saucily.
“Let’s play,” the Doctor said, gazing confidently into her eyes. Rose shivered as she dealt out the cards.
The Tardis took much longer with her maintenance than was strictly necessary, and the library rang with laughter all the long afternoon.
~*?*~
Notes: The photo prompt made me think of Sepulchasm as soon as I saw it -- a surreal board game from Marc Platt’s Lungbarrow. For American readers, Patience = Solitaire, and Black Jack is a Crazy Eights variant. I didn’t have this story britpicked... I apologize if there are glaring errors.
Author: fannishliss
Prompt: Blue Skies prompt #23, photo of cracked mud
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters & Pairings: Nine/Rose
Rating & Warnings: G
Word Count: 700
Summary: The Doctor tells Rose about games he played on Gallifrey.
~*?*~
They were stuck in the Vortex while the Tardis ran a maintenance subroutine. The Doctor had patted the console and whispered some encouraging words when he didn’t think Rose was listening, and they had gone off to the library to while away the interim.
The Doctor meandered the stacks, touching the spines of his books as if they were old friends. At intervals he’d pull one off the shelves to pore over and savor some favorite passage. Rose secretly admired him as he bent to read, the line of his neck handsomely framed by the breadth of his shoulders under the black leather jacket.
Rose didn’t feel like reading. She produced a deck of cards she’d packed the last time she’d been home.
Rose looked up now and then from her cards as the Doctor moved from shelf to shelf. Eventually he spiraled down onto the chair across from Rose, looking on with a supercilious air as Rose dealt herself the umpteenth game of Patience.
“What? didn’t they play cards on Gallifrey?” she laughed.
Something froze on his face before he looked away. Rose tried to give no outward sign of her inward cringe, and played on. As she covered the King of Spades with the Queen of Hearts, he finally spoke, his voice hushed but relaxed.
“We built houses out of fortune-telling cards, and we’d play against our own precognition.”
Rose pictured oversized Tarot cards with garish Gallifreyan illustrations, probably covered with that lovely, inscrutable, swirling script, propped up into peaks and floors, fluttering down to reveal a prophecy to skeptical Time Lord eyes.
“So if you lost, you were a rubbish Time Lord?” Rose offered, watching him from the corner of her eye.
The Doctor smiled, hanging his head. His moods changed so swiftly, like a summer rain with the sun shining through. “I was always a rubbish Time Lord. Huge disappointment to my House.”
“Never!” Rose exclaimed, irate on his behalf, but he shook his head. Rose was happily surprised when he went on.
“Then there was Sepulchasm, where the game board would crack open and swallow up the pieces. You were meant to keep your markers hovering, so you only fell in if you were weak. Rubbish at that too,” he added.
“Violent games,” Rose commented mildly, moving up her Ace of Swords.
“In the old, old days, the playing fields were covered in white sand to show off the blood,” the Doctor said flatly.
“Lovely!” Rose snorted, only a bit shocked. From all she’d heard about the Galllifreyans, the Doctor sounded like quite an oddball to his race. He said nothing, his expression distant but open.
Rose kept playing. She was always grateful when he entrusted her with some facet of his past, but it wouldn’t do to let on.
“Oho!” Rose exclaimed at a run of good luck, uncovering the buried cards from two of the deepest stacks.
“You’re cheating,” the Doctor observed as she dealt from her deck.
“Just using every resource at my disposal, Doctor,” Rose grinned, biting her tongue at him. She loved when the tips of his ears turned pink.
The cards lined up in short order after that. “I won!” she said.
“Cheater,” he accused with a serious face, but his eyes gave him away.
She dragged the cards together, bridged them and ruffled them back down.
The Doctor wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Card sharp?” he asked.
“Wanna learn Black Jack?” Rose grinned, showing her teeth.
“Lots of arbitrary rules?” the Doctor asked, leaning forward.
Rose nodded. “And penalties,” she said, glancing up at him from the cards as she shuffled.
“Are you going to cheat?” he asked, blue eyes challenging, assessing. When he looked at her like that -- a girl could get ideas.
“You’ll have to catch me to find out,” Rose answered saucily.
“Let’s play,” the Doctor said, gazing confidently into her eyes. Rose shivered as she dealt out the cards.
The Tardis took much longer with her maintenance than was strictly necessary, and the library rang with laughter all the long afternoon.
~*?*~
Notes: The photo prompt made me think of Sepulchasm as soon as I saw it -- a surreal board game from Marc Platt’s Lungbarrow. For American readers, Patience = Solitaire, and Black Jack is a Crazy Eights variant. I didn’t have this story britpicked... I apologize if there are glaring errors.