Everyday Fantastic: A Time Lord's Guide to the Slow Path (11/15)
Title: Everyday Fantastic: A Time Lord's Guide to the Slow Path (11/15)
Author: Roxyk630
WARNING: There are S4 spoilers beyond this point.
Character/Pairing: Ten II (10.5, Human!Ten, Blue!Ten)/Rose, Appearances by: Jackie, Jake, Pete, Tony and others
Rating: PG-13 (for sexual situations)
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who nor any of the characters contained within. All rights belong to the BBC. I do inflict humiliation upon my dalek action figures and make them wear silly hats and aprons. So... even more concern than the BBC coming after me... is the Cult of Skaro, an encounter I definitely would not survive.
Betas: otahyonifor this chapter. Thank you! <3 Special thanks to swankkat, who cheered me on through this entire thing!
Summary: The Doctor learning to live day by day on the slow path with Rose.
Author's Notes: The Doctor suffers a nasty blow to his ego.
Previous Chapters: Teaspoon, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 , Chapter 9 , Chapter 10
CHAPTER 11
He wakes early enough the following day to watch Rose sit up blearily before stretching with a yawn. She seems surprised to meet his eyes allowing it to form into a brilliant smile.
“Morning.” Her eyes meet his and then trail to his hairline, her brows lifting the way they do before she laughs. She laughs with a gesture to his hair. “S’got a mind of it’s own, doesn’t it?”
“Wha-?”
“Your hair.” Her giggle prompts an annoyed sigh before he gets up and dashes swiftly to the en suite. He’s pretty sure his groan can be heard throughout the house.
When Rose walks up behind him, she’s eyeing him in the mirror with an amused grin as he fluffs at his hair, trying to get it to stick any direction other than where it’s sticking.
“Don’t we have anything to fix this?” He begins frantically searching through cabinets.
“Doctor, I’m not sure we remembered any sort of product. I don’t really use much, save this.” She hands him a bottle of mousse with a shrug.
If he wasn’t so frustrated with the outcome of the mousse and hair combination, he’d be giggling the way Rose is. His hair is standing on end, just with a more ‘controlled’ upright look. Nothing like what he’s going for. He misses his space age hair products. He’d been almost giddy to be able to purchase them again, finding that the same things that worked for his previous incarnations didn’t always work for this one. Now he has a limited time zone to work with, not to mention location, century, and species. He frowns into the mirror, glancing at his hair.
“Right, sit.” Rose is still obviously amused by his hairline torment as she plops him down on the toilet seat lid and grabs various tools from a drawer. A drawer that, if he didn’t know any better, might be bigger on the inside considering the amount of stuff she seems to pull from within.
She pulls out a comb and the mousse again before shoving aside a ghastly amount of hair ties, bobby pins (one of which he palms when she isn’t looking), and a diffuser. He mentally questions why he knows exactly what a diffuser is for before sighing and rolling his eyes. Donna always had hair with good volume.
Rose gives him an amused grin as she wets her hands and promptly runs them through his hair.
“Mmmmm.” He gives a satisfied grin, closing his eyes at her ministrations. “That feels nice.”
“Gonna try to re-wet it so it doesn’t stick up so high. Did you go to sleep with wet hair? I could have sworn-” Her words stop and he notices she’s staring at him, his eyes having darted open at her words.
“I um… yes.”
“Yes, what?” Rose asks, confused, picking up the comb from the counter at his side.
“Yes I slept on it wet,” he says, hoping for a nonchalant tone. It comes out quickly and breathlessly.
Rose shrugs, setting down the comb and reaching for the mousse. “Showering in the middle of the night? Then again, I do remember you coming back,” she adds absently.
An extended silence falls as Rose continues her work, tongue poking out the side of her mouth as she concentrates. She meets his eyes every once in awhile before skittering away.
“Did you- “She starts, pausing and taking a deep breath, her eyes moving from his.
He decides, in the brief seconds he has to think, that she’s obviously figured him out by her amused tone and is just trying to come up with some sort of witty tease, or is possibly just as embarrassed to broach the subject as he is. So with a deep breath he decides, to just tell her.
“Have a nightmare?”
“Masturbate?”
His words rush over hers at the same time, and her eyes widen. She blinks several times tilting her head and staring straight in his eyes.
“Rose?” he questions, ridiculously nervous because he’s not exactly sure how she’ll react.
She blinks at him again. “What, seriously?” Her voice is incredulous.
He doesn’t answer, just drops his head and brings his hand to play at the nape of his neck. Her snort of laughter is what makes his head rise, a blush tinting his cheeks.
“Well, that’s a relief.” She smiles at his blush.
“How so?”
“All that snogging and-” She pauses. “-rather innocent touching.”
He gives her a skeptical brow.
”Not completely! I just figured…” She gestures. “I mean-you’d leave the room, have some excuse, or bring up Mickey whenever I tried anything! I didn’t know what to think!” She smiles.
He sighs, moving his hand to run through his hair before Rose’s hand stops him at the wrist.
“Sorry, just got that fixed.” She grins. “Means I get to mess it up first.”
After a pause, she speaks again. He’s embarrassed enough to keep his mouth shut.
“So?” Her tongue pokes out in a rather distracting manner before she beams mischievously.
“Rose, are you asking me how it was?” His brow quirks and he looks at her curiously, feeling a rather un-dignifying heat in his cheeks.
“I might be. Middle of the night, shower. What- “She bites her lip. “What brought that on?”
“I’m not-why?” He looks at her.
She’s still grinning from ear to ear as she takes his hand, squeezing it lightly. She sways gently from side to side and wiggles her toes. He remembers that grin, it’s the one that got him to come to Pete’s house the first time he came to this Universe. The cheek!
“Oh, fine.” He sighs and gives her a small grin, still flushed. “I woke up from a dream, if you must know, a little-ahem-bothered.”
“Hot and bothered?” she adds with a quirked brow and a giggle.
“Look if you’re going to- “ He rolls his eyes.
“Sorry! I’m just not used to seeing you like this! It’s adorable. I love it.” She smiles.
He stands at her words, not angry but obviously frustrated, inches away and meeting her eyes directly.
“You love seeing me tormented by lacy knickers, your sleepy messy hair, your smile, you pressed up against me and-and every time you touch me? Add that to all the dreams I’ve had and then the one last night with you and jam! These hormones are all new and frustrating! You know how hard it is to deal with that on a daily basis? And don’t even get me started on your lips or that thing you do with your- “
He’s speaking quickly in the lecturing tone that allows him to build up his frustration before they stop whatever particular species has chosen to bring that out in him. And while normally it’s directed at those who would quake in fear at his Time Lord Authority, it evokes an odd reaction in Rose. She stops him mid sentence with a kiss. It’s quick and intense and he figures that later he may give her a lecture on oral hygiene before a morning snog. When she pulls away, his eyebrows are in his hairline.
“-tongue,” he finishes belatedly.
Rose gives him a heated smile and he quickly forgets oral hygiene as she releases her fists from his shirt, and rests her hands on his chest. Had he been wearing lapels, he’d wonder if she’d kiss him the same way every time-like he might run away so she grabs him before he can. Like her life depends on it.
“Jam?” she questions.
“Amongst other things.” He releases the words on a sigh, giving her a smile and rubbing his hand along her side.
“And lacy knickers? Same dream?”
He chuckles. He’d love to tell her that it’s some sort of Time Lord superpower inherited from his meta-crisis-‘What knickers your companion is wearing’-but it’s not. He remembers all too well.
“No, the lacy knickers were a reality. You’re a bit restless in your sleep. Your shirt came up a bit and your trousers, well, they might need a tighter tying next time.”
Rose bites her lip.
“What?”
“S’not a fair trade,” she counters.
“What isn’t?” he says, confused.
“You’ve seen my knickers, but I certainly haven’t seen yours.”
His hands leave her waist and hold his pajama bottoms to his form, in the guise of putting his hands on his hips and standing stiffly.
Rose watches him curiously for a moment. “What, worried I’m going to go looking?”
“I chose to forgo my ‘knickers’-” He accentuates the word as he leans toward her, hands still resting on his hips. “-when I took my shower last night.” He drops the sentence, leaving the air heavy between them as her eyes look down and shift back up to his.
“You’re not wearing any pants?”
He shakes his head, watching her eyes with a mischievous grin.
She arches a brow at him and places her hands over his, sliding her fingers towards the drawstring of his sleep pants and playing with the string, tugging at it lightly as she watches his eyes.
“So, what was I doing with all that jam?”
He gulps visibly at her words and sucks in a breath, allowing his hands to move back to her waist.
“It’s more what I was doing with the jam.” He realizes he’s quickly losing control of the situation.
He feels the string on his pajama bottoms tug a bit tighter as Rose’s fingers move to play at his waistband. He finds himself wishing she had more devious intent as his fingers dip below her nightshirt to tickle at her skin.
“I trust I was pleasantly surprised. Did you put your tongue to good use?” The tone of her voice is less affected than the look on her face.
She’s adopting a mock innocence he manages to find seductive. He decides her smile is far too guiltless, the tease, as one of her fingers errantly strokes at his hip.
“Yes,” he whispers.
Her eyes don’t leave his as her hand presses tenderly into his upper thigh before caressing up and dipping under his shirt. Her fingernails lightly graze through the hair that peeks from the front of his striped pajama pants before drifting farther up his torso.
As she moves, his hands are less than idle as he moves delicately from her hip across her stomach, flattening his palm as he touches. Rose releases a trembling sigh and closes her eyes when his fingers drift further up her side, feeling his hand move against and count her ribs. His thumb brushes tentatively at the underside of her breast, causing her to gasp but not open her eyes.
He releases a shuddering breath of her name when her hand moves again, drifting from his side, her fingers dancing over his skin. At her name, Rose’s eyes open to meet his. He’s watching her with a look of awe.
“Come with me,” she whispers, taking his hand and pulling him back into her bedroom, towards the bed.
They spend another hour tangled in one another, fully clothed, kissing and caressing. Learning with little loving touches what makes the other gasp.
He’s never going to think of these pajama pants the same way again.
They’re both disheveled and still completely clothed, Rose laid back against the pillows of the bed. His earlier aches have been replaced with a delicate hum that could build into something all consuming. He’s somewhere near Rose’s hip, watching her as she meets his eyes, bites back a moan, and rests her head back against the pillow. He’s overwhelmed with the desire to move his body along hers and kiss her, so he does. Her hands are caressing his back, moving, finally, to tug his shirt up towards his shoulder blades.
His hand is halfway up the left side of her shirt when they both freeze at the sound of the door knob twisting.
“Oi! You two up yet? You’ve slept half the day away-Oh my God!”
The Doctor flops quickly and ungracefully to Rose’s side, which unfortunately happens to be over the other side of the bed, his foot still tangled in the bedclothes. Rose darts up, tugging her shirt back to its former location, and she and Jackie are both shouting in a matter of seconds.
“Mum! Knocking!”
He rubs at the bump he knows is slowly forming on the side of his head from swiping Rose’s night table on the way down. Jackie may not mind him kissing her daughter, but finding him halfway up her shirt when she just ‘happens’ to walk in the room? She must have a sixth sense where her daughter’s virtue is concerned, or she really wants a glimpse of the action.
The situation only worsens when he hears Pete’s footsteps and concerned voice coming from down the hallway, carrying what sounds to be a giggling Tony.
“Pete, it’s all right!” Jackie’s trying to block him from coming in the door. The Doctor can feel himself still gaping like a codfish.
The Doctor decides in his reeling that this must be what complete and utter embarrassment is like. Time Lords have no capacity for embarrassment since they tend to be too sensible to do things like be caught feeling up their girlfriend in her own bedroom. He grins at the thought. Rose is much more than his girlfriend, but he’s not completely sure what the appropriate term is in this situation.
“Doctor? Oh my God, are you all right?” Rose is looking at him, concerned, as she untangles his foot from the sheet, allowing it to flop to the floor.
She scrambles next to him, eyeing the side of his head and moving his hand rather delicately while Jackie and Pete speak at a furiously fast speed in the corner.
“I should have knocked! Sorry, love.“
“Jackie, come on, lets leave them alone for a bit.”
“Oi, Doctor?” Rose looks at him, her tone sharper than before. “You all right? You aren’t answering me.”
“Course, I’m fine, Rose. Why wouldn’t I be?” he snaps.
“You’re bleeding.” Rose pulls her hand away from his head and shows him a small bit of blood that must be coming from where he hit the nightstand.
The last thing he hears is Rose’s shout to Jackie before the room goes black.
“Mum! Grab me a cold flannel!”
He blames the faint on a concussion from the nightstand.
When he comes to, the entirety of the Tyler family is looking at him. Rose still looks concerned but smiles when he looks at her.
“You all right, love?” Jackie asks, concerned, the same way he remembers from the Christmas he regenerated, before her eyes drift back to Tony.
Tony’s eyes are wet and he’s sucking his thumb like he’s been crying. Pete rubs Tony’s head and gives him a wink before leaning down to Jackie. Clutching Jackie’s shoulders, he whispers something in her ear before taking Tony and helping Jackie up off of the floor.
“Yes, I’ll be fine.” The Doctor’s surprised that he sounds perfectly calm and oddly like Donna. Convincing yet comforting and firm.
“If you need anything, aspirin, paracetamol- “
“He’ll be all right, Jacks. ‘S more embarrassment than pain, I’m sure. We’ll see you for breakfast in a bit.” Pete smiles.
The Doctor couldn’t be more grateful.
Rose watches them as they leave the room, silent until her eyes turn back to him.
“So, fainting at the sight of blood? That one’s new.” Rose raises a brow, still dabbing his head lightly with the flannel.
“I didn’t faint! I’m concussed from hitting my head on the end table!”
Rose stifles a laugh.
”You saw that horrendous gash! Amazing I survived with the loss of blood! Must have caught the corner…”
“You okay?”
“That all you can ask me?” He grimaces as he sits up, then gives her a small smile.
“Until you answer the question, yeah.”
He grimaces. “Head aches but otherwise, I’m fine.”
“I know a few cures for headaches…” She gives him an impish grin.
His brow quirks, and he registers a slight pain at the action. “Yeah? Sure your mum’s ‘Jackie Sense’ won’t tingle and she’ll come bursting into the room again? She’s just dying to see us snogging, apparently.”
“There is a lock on the door.”
“I have a feeling, like many other terrifying things in this universe, that the door would be no match for Jackie Tyler.” He chuckles.
Rose shakes her head and rolls her eyes at his statement before pressing a kiss to his very minor head wound.
He grins. “That seems to be helping.”
“Does it?” Rose’s grin is positively devilish.
“Might make a full recovery yet.” He smirks, then kisses her, pressing her gently to the floor.
They manage to get up for the morning, though with a few pleasant distractions. Rose finds a plate with a glass of water and two aspirin outside the door. Jackie and Pete left the door slightly open when they left, but neither the Doctor nor Rose had heard Jackie return and leave him the medicine. The Doctor assumes Jackie listened in at the door after helping Pete with Tony. Rose decides not to think on it.
Jackie beams when they come downstairs. Rose seems happier than she’s seen her since she arrived in this universe, and more than ever, Jackie’s realizing that her daughter’s place is with the Doctor. She’s just happy the other Doctor granted Rose a chance to be with her family as well. He may not have been thinking of that when he left them here, but Jackie likes to think it was at the back of his mind, and she’ll always love him for that. He kept his promise, after all. With a small smile, she hopes he’s all right, both the one she left aspirin for, and the other still saving another universe.
“Morning.” She glances at them askance, “Tea’s on the table. Bev and I will have breakfast over in a mo’.”
She smiles when they both sit at the table, talking to Pete and greeting Tony as if nothing had happened. Jackie, however, rests secure knowing that, like many other terrifying things in the universe, she probably could take on a locked bedroom door one way or another, but won’t need to.
Author: Roxyk630
WARNING: There are S4 spoilers beyond this point.
Character/Pairing: Ten II (10.5, Human!Ten, Blue!Ten)/Rose, Appearances by: Jackie, Jake, Pete, Tony and others
Rating: PG-13 (for sexual situations)
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who nor any of the characters contained within. All rights belong to the BBC. I do inflict humiliation upon my dalek action figures and make them wear silly hats and aprons. So... even more concern than the BBC coming after me... is the Cult of Skaro, an encounter I definitely would not survive.
Betas: otahyonifor this chapter. Thank you! <3 Special thanks to swankkat, who cheered me on through this entire thing!
Summary: The Doctor learning to live day by day on the slow path with Rose.
Author's Notes: The Doctor suffers a nasty blow to his ego.
Previous Chapters: Teaspoon, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 , Chapter 9 , Chapter 10
CHAPTER 11
He wakes early enough the following day to watch Rose sit up blearily before stretching with a yawn. She seems surprised to meet his eyes allowing it to form into a brilliant smile.
“Morning.” Her eyes meet his and then trail to his hairline, her brows lifting the way they do before she laughs. She laughs with a gesture to his hair. “S’got a mind of it’s own, doesn’t it?”
“Wha-?”
“Your hair.” Her giggle prompts an annoyed sigh before he gets up and dashes swiftly to the en suite. He’s pretty sure his groan can be heard throughout the house.
When Rose walks up behind him, she’s eyeing him in the mirror with an amused grin as he fluffs at his hair, trying to get it to stick any direction other than where it’s sticking.
“Don’t we have anything to fix this?” He begins frantically searching through cabinets.
“Doctor, I’m not sure we remembered any sort of product. I don’t really use much, save this.” She hands him a bottle of mousse with a shrug.
If he wasn’t so frustrated with the outcome of the mousse and hair combination, he’d be giggling the way Rose is. His hair is standing on end, just with a more ‘controlled’ upright look. Nothing like what he’s going for. He misses his space age hair products. He’d been almost giddy to be able to purchase them again, finding that the same things that worked for his previous incarnations didn’t always work for this one. Now he has a limited time zone to work with, not to mention location, century, and species. He frowns into the mirror, glancing at his hair.
“Right, sit.” Rose is still obviously amused by his hairline torment as she plops him down on the toilet seat lid and grabs various tools from a drawer. A drawer that, if he didn’t know any better, might be bigger on the inside considering the amount of stuff she seems to pull from within.
She pulls out a comb and the mousse again before shoving aside a ghastly amount of hair ties, bobby pins (one of which he palms when she isn’t looking), and a diffuser. He mentally questions why he knows exactly what a diffuser is for before sighing and rolling his eyes. Donna always had hair with good volume.
Rose gives him an amused grin as she wets her hands and promptly runs them through his hair.
“Mmmmm.” He gives a satisfied grin, closing his eyes at her ministrations. “That feels nice.”
“Gonna try to re-wet it so it doesn’t stick up so high. Did you go to sleep with wet hair? I could have sworn-” Her words stop and he notices she’s staring at him, his eyes having darted open at her words.
“I um… yes.”
“Yes, what?” Rose asks, confused, picking up the comb from the counter at his side.
“Yes I slept on it wet,” he says, hoping for a nonchalant tone. It comes out quickly and breathlessly.
Rose shrugs, setting down the comb and reaching for the mousse. “Showering in the middle of the night? Then again, I do remember you coming back,” she adds absently.
An extended silence falls as Rose continues her work, tongue poking out the side of her mouth as she concentrates. She meets his eyes every once in awhile before skittering away.
“Did you- “She starts, pausing and taking a deep breath, her eyes moving from his.
He decides, in the brief seconds he has to think, that she’s obviously figured him out by her amused tone and is just trying to come up with some sort of witty tease, or is possibly just as embarrassed to broach the subject as he is. So with a deep breath he decides, to just tell her.
“Have a nightmare?”
“Masturbate?”
His words rush over hers at the same time, and her eyes widen. She blinks several times tilting her head and staring straight in his eyes.
“Rose?” he questions, ridiculously nervous because he’s not exactly sure how she’ll react.
She blinks at him again. “What, seriously?” Her voice is incredulous.
He doesn’t answer, just drops his head and brings his hand to play at the nape of his neck. Her snort of laughter is what makes his head rise, a blush tinting his cheeks.
“Well, that’s a relief.” She smiles at his blush.
“How so?”
“All that snogging and-” She pauses. “-rather innocent touching.”
He gives her a skeptical brow.
”Not completely! I just figured…” She gestures. “I mean-you’d leave the room, have some excuse, or bring up Mickey whenever I tried anything! I didn’t know what to think!” She smiles.
He sighs, moving his hand to run through his hair before Rose’s hand stops him at the wrist.
“Sorry, just got that fixed.” She grins. “Means I get to mess it up first.”
After a pause, she speaks again. He’s embarrassed enough to keep his mouth shut.
“So?” Her tongue pokes out in a rather distracting manner before she beams mischievously.
“Rose, are you asking me how it was?” His brow quirks and he looks at her curiously, feeling a rather un-dignifying heat in his cheeks.
“I might be. Middle of the night, shower. What- “She bites her lip. “What brought that on?”
“I’m not-why?” He looks at her.
She’s still grinning from ear to ear as she takes his hand, squeezing it lightly. She sways gently from side to side and wiggles her toes. He remembers that grin, it’s the one that got him to come to Pete’s house the first time he came to this Universe. The cheek!
“Oh, fine.” He sighs and gives her a small grin, still flushed. “I woke up from a dream, if you must know, a little-ahem-bothered.”
“Hot and bothered?” she adds with a quirked brow and a giggle.
“Look if you’re going to- “ He rolls his eyes.
“Sorry! I’m just not used to seeing you like this! It’s adorable. I love it.” She smiles.
He stands at her words, not angry but obviously frustrated, inches away and meeting her eyes directly.
“You love seeing me tormented by lacy knickers, your sleepy messy hair, your smile, you pressed up against me and-and every time you touch me? Add that to all the dreams I’ve had and then the one last night with you and jam! These hormones are all new and frustrating! You know how hard it is to deal with that on a daily basis? And don’t even get me started on your lips or that thing you do with your- “
He’s speaking quickly in the lecturing tone that allows him to build up his frustration before they stop whatever particular species has chosen to bring that out in him. And while normally it’s directed at those who would quake in fear at his Time Lord Authority, it evokes an odd reaction in Rose. She stops him mid sentence with a kiss. It’s quick and intense and he figures that later he may give her a lecture on oral hygiene before a morning snog. When she pulls away, his eyebrows are in his hairline.
“-tongue,” he finishes belatedly.
Rose gives him a heated smile and he quickly forgets oral hygiene as she releases her fists from his shirt, and rests her hands on his chest. Had he been wearing lapels, he’d wonder if she’d kiss him the same way every time-like he might run away so she grabs him before he can. Like her life depends on it.
“Jam?” she questions.
“Amongst other things.” He releases the words on a sigh, giving her a smile and rubbing his hand along her side.
“And lacy knickers? Same dream?”
He chuckles. He’d love to tell her that it’s some sort of Time Lord superpower inherited from his meta-crisis-‘What knickers your companion is wearing’-but it’s not. He remembers all too well.
“No, the lacy knickers were a reality. You’re a bit restless in your sleep. Your shirt came up a bit and your trousers, well, they might need a tighter tying next time.”
Rose bites her lip.
“What?”
“S’not a fair trade,” she counters.
“What isn’t?” he says, confused.
“You’ve seen my knickers, but I certainly haven’t seen yours.”
His hands leave her waist and hold his pajama bottoms to his form, in the guise of putting his hands on his hips and standing stiffly.
Rose watches him curiously for a moment. “What, worried I’m going to go looking?”
“I chose to forgo my ‘knickers’-” He accentuates the word as he leans toward her, hands still resting on his hips. “-when I took my shower last night.” He drops the sentence, leaving the air heavy between them as her eyes look down and shift back up to his.
“You’re not wearing any pants?”
He shakes his head, watching her eyes with a mischievous grin.
She arches a brow at him and places her hands over his, sliding her fingers towards the drawstring of his sleep pants and playing with the string, tugging at it lightly as she watches his eyes.
“So, what was I doing with all that jam?”
He gulps visibly at her words and sucks in a breath, allowing his hands to move back to her waist.
“It’s more what I was doing with the jam.” He realizes he’s quickly losing control of the situation.
He feels the string on his pajama bottoms tug a bit tighter as Rose’s fingers move to play at his waistband. He finds himself wishing she had more devious intent as his fingers dip below her nightshirt to tickle at her skin.
“I trust I was pleasantly surprised. Did you put your tongue to good use?” The tone of her voice is less affected than the look on her face.
She’s adopting a mock innocence he manages to find seductive. He decides her smile is far too guiltless, the tease, as one of her fingers errantly strokes at his hip.
“Yes,” he whispers.
Her eyes don’t leave his as her hand presses tenderly into his upper thigh before caressing up and dipping under his shirt. Her fingernails lightly graze through the hair that peeks from the front of his striped pajama pants before drifting farther up his torso.
As she moves, his hands are less than idle as he moves delicately from her hip across her stomach, flattening his palm as he touches. Rose releases a trembling sigh and closes her eyes when his fingers drift further up her side, feeling his hand move against and count her ribs. His thumb brushes tentatively at the underside of her breast, causing her to gasp but not open her eyes.
He releases a shuddering breath of her name when her hand moves again, drifting from his side, her fingers dancing over his skin. At her name, Rose’s eyes open to meet his. He’s watching her with a look of awe.
“Come with me,” she whispers, taking his hand and pulling him back into her bedroom, towards the bed.
They spend another hour tangled in one another, fully clothed, kissing and caressing. Learning with little loving touches what makes the other gasp.
He’s never going to think of these pajama pants the same way again.
They’re both disheveled and still completely clothed, Rose laid back against the pillows of the bed. His earlier aches have been replaced with a delicate hum that could build into something all consuming. He’s somewhere near Rose’s hip, watching her as she meets his eyes, bites back a moan, and rests her head back against the pillow. He’s overwhelmed with the desire to move his body along hers and kiss her, so he does. Her hands are caressing his back, moving, finally, to tug his shirt up towards his shoulder blades.
His hand is halfway up the left side of her shirt when they both freeze at the sound of the door knob twisting.
“Oi! You two up yet? You’ve slept half the day away-Oh my God!”
The Doctor flops quickly and ungracefully to Rose’s side, which unfortunately happens to be over the other side of the bed, his foot still tangled in the bedclothes. Rose darts up, tugging her shirt back to its former location, and she and Jackie are both shouting in a matter of seconds.
“Mum! Knocking!”
He rubs at the bump he knows is slowly forming on the side of his head from swiping Rose’s night table on the way down. Jackie may not mind him kissing her daughter, but finding him halfway up her shirt when she just ‘happens’ to walk in the room? She must have a sixth sense where her daughter’s virtue is concerned, or she really wants a glimpse of the action.
The situation only worsens when he hears Pete’s footsteps and concerned voice coming from down the hallway, carrying what sounds to be a giggling Tony.
“Pete, it’s all right!” Jackie’s trying to block him from coming in the door. The Doctor can feel himself still gaping like a codfish.
The Doctor decides in his reeling that this must be what complete and utter embarrassment is like. Time Lords have no capacity for embarrassment since they tend to be too sensible to do things like be caught feeling up their girlfriend in her own bedroom. He grins at the thought. Rose is much more than his girlfriend, but he’s not completely sure what the appropriate term is in this situation.
“Doctor? Oh my God, are you all right?” Rose is looking at him, concerned, as she untangles his foot from the sheet, allowing it to flop to the floor.
She scrambles next to him, eyeing the side of his head and moving his hand rather delicately while Jackie and Pete speak at a furiously fast speed in the corner.
“I should have knocked! Sorry, love.“
“Jackie, come on, lets leave them alone for a bit.”
“Oi, Doctor?” Rose looks at him, her tone sharper than before. “You all right? You aren’t answering me.”
“Course, I’m fine, Rose. Why wouldn’t I be?” he snaps.
“You’re bleeding.” Rose pulls her hand away from his head and shows him a small bit of blood that must be coming from where he hit the nightstand.
The last thing he hears is Rose’s shout to Jackie before the room goes black.
“Mum! Grab me a cold flannel!”
He blames the faint on a concussion from the nightstand.
When he comes to, the entirety of the Tyler family is looking at him. Rose still looks concerned but smiles when he looks at her.
“You all right, love?” Jackie asks, concerned, the same way he remembers from the Christmas he regenerated, before her eyes drift back to Tony.
Tony’s eyes are wet and he’s sucking his thumb like he’s been crying. Pete rubs Tony’s head and gives him a wink before leaning down to Jackie. Clutching Jackie’s shoulders, he whispers something in her ear before taking Tony and helping Jackie up off of the floor.
“Yes, I’ll be fine.” The Doctor’s surprised that he sounds perfectly calm and oddly like Donna. Convincing yet comforting and firm.
“If you need anything, aspirin, paracetamol- “
“He’ll be all right, Jacks. ‘S more embarrassment than pain, I’m sure. We’ll see you for breakfast in a bit.” Pete smiles.
The Doctor couldn’t be more grateful.
Rose watches them as they leave the room, silent until her eyes turn back to him.
“So, fainting at the sight of blood? That one’s new.” Rose raises a brow, still dabbing his head lightly with the flannel.
“I didn’t faint! I’m concussed from hitting my head on the end table!”
Rose stifles a laugh.
”You saw that horrendous gash! Amazing I survived with the loss of blood! Must have caught the corner…”
“You okay?”
“That all you can ask me?” He grimaces as he sits up, then gives her a small smile.
“Until you answer the question, yeah.”
He grimaces. “Head aches but otherwise, I’m fine.”
“I know a few cures for headaches…” She gives him an impish grin.
His brow quirks, and he registers a slight pain at the action. “Yeah? Sure your mum’s ‘Jackie Sense’ won’t tingle and she’ll come bursting into the room again? She’s just dying to see us snogging, apparently.”
“There is a lock on the door.”
“I have a feeling, like many other terrifying things in this universe, that the door would be no match for Jackie Tyler.” He chuckles.
Rose shakes her head and rolls her eyes at his statement before pressing a kiss to his very minor head wound.
He grins. “That seems to be helping.”
“Does it?” Rose’s grin is positively devilish.
“Might make a full recovery yet.” He smirks, then kisses her, pressing her gently to the floor.
They manage to get up for the morning, though with a few pleasant distractions. Rose finds a plate with a glass of water and two aspirin outside the door. Jackie and Pete left the door slightly open when they left, but neither the Doctor nor Rose had heard Jackie return and leave him the medicine. The Doctor assumes Jackie listened in at the door after helping Pete with Tony. Rose decides not to think on it.
Jackie beams when they come downstairs. Rose seems happier than she’s seen her since she arrived in this universe, and more than ever, Jackie’s realizing that her daughter’s place is with the Doctor. She’s just happy the other Doctor granted Rose a chance to be with her family as well. He may not have been thinking of that when he left them here, but Jackie likes to think it was at the back of his mind, and she’ll always love him for that. He kept his promise, after all. With a small smile, she hopes he’s all right, both the one she left aspirin for, and the other still saving another universe.
“Morning.” She glances at them askance, “Tea’s on the table. Bev and I will have breakfast over in a mo’.”
She smiles when they both sit at the table, talking to Pete and greeting Tony as if nothing had happened. Jackie, however, rests secure knowing that, like many other terrifying things in the universe, she probably could take on a locked bedroom door one way or another, but won’t need to.