Ficlet: Because the Night (1/1)
Title: Because the Night
Author: karenor
Character/Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13 for talk of sex
Setting Late Series 2. Say... post The Satan Pit and pre the finale.
Summary: Terribly rude of us, as visitors, not to participate.
Disclaimer: BBC owns all. Including my soul. I'd like it back one day, please. Maybe.
Betas: My beloveds, requialexa and missperkigoth who are made of awesome.
Author's Notes: My beta told me this title and concept has been fluttering about quite a bit in fandom lately. I’ll say that I wrote this in a bubble, being totally unaware. No ideas nicked from anywhere, except in that the concept isn’t terribly original. ;) The song title prompt was randomly picked by principia_coh in a drabble meme (though this grew too large for a drabble pretty quickly). This one’s for her!
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
~Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen
Rose steps out of the TARDIS into total darkness. She looks about uneasily for a moment, until she feels the Doctor’s hand at her back, gently urging her forward as he whispers in her ear, “Look up.”
She does to find the most amazing array of stars she’s ever seen. Nothing but white pinpricks against the inky sky, but billions of them. It’s nothing she’s ever seen on Earth; their light is absolutely dazzling, but not enough to light up even the ground around them.
“It’s beautiful,” she says, hearing her awe colour her voice. She’ll never tire of moments like these. “Where are we?”
“Blimnonniva,” he over-annunciates.
She takes several more steps away from the TARDIS. All she can tell is that there is some sort of grass beneath her feet, the air is warm around them, feels a bit thick almost, but comfortable. The field, or whatever it is they’re in, seems to go on forever.
“We here for the stars, then?”
“We’re here for the night,” he answers as they walk further into the distance.
“I don’t-”
“Just listen,” he says reverently, and slips his arm around her waist.
She’s not sure what she’s meant to be listening for, but then she begins to pick out the sounds coming from all around them. She gasps as she realizes.
“They’re…” she begins.
“Lovers. All around us, people are making love. The festival of their love goddess. Even I have trouble pronouncing her name. Requires a tongue even more flexible than mine.” His voice is a low murmur, slipping hotly past her ear.
She turns out of his grip and in a circle, trying to see, to correlate picture with sound, but she can’t really make anything out in the darkness.
“You knew about this, then?”
“Mmm,” he agrees offering no further explanation. She feels rather than sees his hand out by her side, seeking hers. She slips her fingers into his cool palm on instinct, and he urges her to walk again.
He’s still oddly quiet after several minutes, and she’s a bit bewildered and more than a bit curious.
“Are you… you know, into that sort of thing? Watching, being watched and that?” She still knows so little about him, really, and their physical relationship is still so new. Perhaps for him, things like this are a lot more normal.
He gives a small chuckle. “Not particularly, no. I can see in the dark a fair sight better than you and-Oh, see what I did there? A fair sight? Point is… I can’t see a thing either. Neither can they. This festival is held on the very darkest night of the year here, which, lucky for them, comes midsummer instead of midwinter like on Earth. Long story-has to do with the sun and this planet’s orbit and a polar shift about three hundred twenty-three million years ago.” He rattles and she blinks at him in the darkness, trying to see.
“Anyway,” he goes on, “apart from some sounds, these people have total privacy. And they’re giving glory to their god, blessing their unions, all that. Terribly rude of us, as visitors, not to participate.”
“They wouldn’t know if we didn’t,” she feels inclined to point out, though already she can feel any resolve she might have had slipping away. Her hand is growing warmer in his, her clothes begin to feel too close to her skin. It’s no surprise that just his voice and simple touch can do this to her, but it still catches her off guard at times.
“Oooh, good point, Rose. Well done.” She can’t see it, but she’s sure he’s giving her huge grin. “You’re right. They wouldn’t know. Truth is, they won’t know either way anyway.”
“What to do you mean?”
She feels him turn, so he’s in front of her. He grabs her other hand and guides her over a series of natural steps in the earth. They’re higher now than they were, though there is still little to differentiate this spot from where they’d been.
He pulls her safely away from the ledge and then lets her go.
“Listen now,” he says, causing a shiver to run through her.
Nothing. She looks up at the stars, tilts her head this way and that, but there are none of the sounds she’d heard before. Just what seems like it might be wind through trees. They’ve wandered far from the couples honouring their god. They’re alone.
“What do you say, Rose Tyler…” The way his mouth caresses her name, it feels like he’s already touching her. “Worship with me?
It’s possible she lets out a small whimper then, but she ignores it. She’d really like nothing more than to fall back into the grass and drag him with her. But she feels compelled to play the game.
“You don’t believe in gods,” she says.
“No, but…” he pauses and for some reason she gets the impression that he doesn’t know if he should continue. Like he’s about to say something terribly important, irrevocable.
She waits, her blood rushing in her ears, blending with the sounds of the night.
“I believe in you,” he finally says.
FIN
Author: karenor
Character/Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13 for talk of sex
Setting Late Series 2. Say... post The Satan Pit and pre the finale.
Summary: Terribly rude of us, as visitors, not to participate.
Disclaimer: BBC owns all. Including my soul. I'd like it back one day, please. Maybe.
Betas: My beloveds, requialexa and missperkigoth who are made of awesome.
Author's Notes: My beta told me this title and concept has been fluttering about quite a bit in fandom lately. I’ll say that I wrote this in a bubble, being totally unaware. No ideas nicked from anywhere, except in that the concept isn’t terribly original. ;) The song title prompt was randomly picked by principia_coh in a drabble meme (though this grew too large for a drabble pretty quickly). This one’s for her!
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
~Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen
Rose steps out of the TARDIS into total darkness. She looks about uneasily for a moment, until she feels the Doctor’s hand at her back, gently urging her forward as he whispers in her ear, “Look up.”
She does to find the most amazing array of stars she’s ever seen. Nothing but white pinpricks against the inky sky, but billions of them. It’s nothing she’s ever seen on Earth; their light is absolutely dazzling, but not enough to light up even the ground around them.
“It’s beautiful,” she says, hearing her awe colour her voice. She’ll never tire of moments like these. “Where are we?”
“Blimnonniva,” he over-annunciates.
She takes several more steps away from the TARDIS. All she can tell is that there is some sort of grass beneath her feet, the air is warm around them, feels a bit thick almost, but comfortable. The field, or whatever it is they’re in, seems to go on forever.
“We here for the stars, then?”
“We’re here for the night,” he answers as they walk further into the distance.
“I don’t-”
“Just listen,” he says reverently, and slips his arm around her waist.
She’s not sure what she’s meant to be listening for, but then she begins to pick out the sounds coming from all around them. She gasps as she realizes.
“They’re…” she begins.
“Lovers. All around us, people are making love. The festival of their love goddess. Even I have trouble pronouncing her name. Requires a tongue even more flexible than mine.” His voice is a low murmur, slipping hotly past her ear.
She turns out of his grip and in a circle, trying to see, to correlate picture with sound, but she can’t really make anything out in the darkness.
“You knew about this, then?”
“Mmm,” he agrees offering no further explanation. She feels rather than sees his hand out by her side, seeking hers. She slips her fingers into his cool palm on instinct, and he urges her to walk again.
He’s still oddly quiet after several minutes, and she’s a bit bewildered and more than a bit curious.
“Are you… you know, into that sort of thing? Watching, being watched and that?” She still knows so little about him, really, and their physical relationship is still so new. Perhaps for him, things like this are a lot more normal.
He gives a small chuckle. “Not particularly, no. I can see in the dark a fair sight better than you and-Oh, see what I did there? A fair sight? Point is… I can’t see a thing either. Neither can they. This festival is held on the very darkest night of the year here, which, lucky for them, comes midsummer instead of midwinter like on Earth. Long story-has to do with the sun and this planet’s orbit and a polar shift about three hundred twenty-three million years ago.” He rattles and she blinks at him in the darkness, trying to see.
“Anyway,” he goes on, “apart from some sounds, these people have total privacy. And they’re giving glory to their god, blessing their unions, all that. Terribly rude of us, as visitors, not to participate.”
“They wouldn’t know if we didn’t,” she feels inclined to point out, though already she can feel any resolve she might have had slipping away. Her hand is growing warmer in his, her clothes begin to feel too close to her skin. It’s no surprise that just his voice and simple touch can do this to her, but it still catches her off guard at times.
“Oooh, good point, Rose. Well done.” She can’t see it, but she’s sure he’s giving her huge grin. “You’re right. They wouldn’t know. Truth is, they won’t know either way anyway.”
“What to do you mean?”
She feels him turn, so he’s in front of her. He grabs her other hand and guides her over a series of natural steps in the earth. They’re higher now than they were, though there is still little to differentiate this spot from where they’d been.
He pulls her safely away from the ledge and then lets her go.
“Listen now,” he says, causing a shiver to run through her.
Nothing. She looks up at the stars, tilts her head this way and that, but there are none of the sounds she’d heard before. Just what seems like it might be wind through trees. They’ve wandered far from the couples honouring their god. They’re alone.
“What do you say, Rose Tyler…” The way his mouth caresses her name, it feels like he’s already touching her. “Worship with me?
It’s possible she lets out a small whimper then, but she ignores it. She’d really like nothing more than to fall back into the grass and drag him with her. But she feels compelled to play the game.
“You don’t believe in gods,” she says.
“No, but…” he pauses and for some reason she gets the impression that he doesn’t know if he should continue. Like he’s about to say something terribly important, irrevocable.
She waits, her blood rushing in her ears, blending with the sounds of the night.
“I believe in you,” he finally says.
FIN