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A Rainy Afternoon In London, Nine/Rose, G
"An ice cream. In the rain. After you promised Jackie you'd be home for tea…yeah, this is great idea," 1,203
It was raining.
She shouldn’t have been surprised; it was a frequent enough occurrence. Outsiders and out-of-towners were under the impression that the rain was perpetual, after all. Still, it made her sigh as she pulled the hood up over her head and hesitated at the door.
"What's wrong?" he asked from where he'd clambered under the console as soon as she'd turned toward the door.
"Nothin'. S'just raining," she replied, but made no move to leave.
"Shocker, that," he said, but she could hear the grin in his voice. When the door still didn’t close, he climbed out from under the console and was halfway to her before she turned to face him.
Before he could ask her again if something was wrong, she grinned. "You wanna go for a walk with me?"
"In this?" he asked incredulously. It wasn't exactly coming down hard, but he could easily think of a million and one things he'd rather be doing than slogging off through the streets of London in the rain.
"You won't melt," she assured him. "We can go get an ice cream!"
"An ice cream. In the rain. After you promised Jackie you'd be home for tea…yeah, this is great idea," he muttered, but it was almost painfully obvious to both of them that she'd won. With an overdramatic roll of his eyes and a few more mutterings about how he was likely to get slapped again when it wasn't even his fault, he held out his hand. "Lead on, then," he said resignedly, trying not to smile at the way she bounced to him in happiness.
"Thought you were homesick?" he asked as they walked along hand in hand. The rain wasn't actually that bad, more of a drizzle than anything else, and for all his grumbling he found himself rather enjoying it. Or maybe he was enjoying Rose's enjoyment, because she looked positively giddy about the entire situation.
"I was, but I'm home now," she said with a slight shrug. "Every time we come for a visit it's just to see Mum. And I love her, don’t get me wrong, but I miss the city too. All the time."
He sighed, but there was no real oomph to it. "You’re telling me that with a time machine and all of time and space at your disposal, you want to go to the place you started from." She glanced at him and nodded a little shyly, as if she were afraid he'd tell her to stay here, then. But he did nothing of the sort, and smiled at her instead. "Makes sense."
He didn’t know how long it took them to reach the ice cream parlor, mostly because he was so fixated on the feeling of Rose's hand in his. But it didn’t matter much. The rain wasn't heavy enough to have soaked them through, and by the time their banana split was ready her sweatshirt had started to dry out anyway. He gave her all three of the cherries and the entirety of the chocolate scoop, and she gave him three fourths of the banana, and all in all it was a very, very good trade. Not that he cared much about the ice cream (although it was surprisingly good, the banana especially) as much as he liked watching Rose eat it with such glee.
When they'd finished, she didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get back, although the rain had picked up just the slightest bit. Without giving it much thought, he draped his jacket over her shoulders and wouldn’t allow her to protest. It didn’t take much convincing; she'd pulled it around herself against the chill before they'd gone a block.
"There anything you want to see?" she asked before they'd gone far.
"Me? This is your trip."
"Yeah, but technically you're the tourist," she said, smiling up at him mischievously. He'd have retorted, but her attention was fixed on something up the road. Before he could ask, she'd grabbed his hand and started pulling him along. A bit worried now, he tried to get her to stop, but she was much too insistent for that, and didn’t stop until they'd made it to the corner. Before he could ask, she pointed to the sign tacked to the post.
"You can't be serious," he said in something close to a whine. "A tour bus? Rose, it's raining..." But she looked so pleased with herself and her idea that he didn’t have the heart to tell her that he was pretty sure he'd seen all the sights the tour offered more than once already and had little to no desire to see them again while a tour guide on tape told him all about the historical significance of things, and that the tapes were mostly wrong anyway. And the damn thing was pulling up, right on time since no one else in their right mind was riding it. "Fine, but I'm not sitting on the upper level!"
"They have rain jackets!" was all she said as she paid the driver and took his hand, leading him up the narrow staircase and back into the open air. And rain.
"More like bin bags," he muttered, but put one on anyway. He was starting to get a little chilly without his jacket. The bin bag wasn't much of a help for that, but Rose snuggled up to him as the bus rolled through the city was better than wearing the jacket himself.
He paid absolutely no attention to the attractions, and neither did she, falling asleep on his shoulder before they'd gone too far. He put his arm around her, bin bag and all, and held her as the bus wove through the streets. They'd arrived back at the starting point far too quickly for his liking, and judging by her sleepy face, Rose's as well. Making an executive decision before they'd stepped off the bus, he told her firmly that they were getting a cab back to her mother's. Rose said not a thing in protest.
"She probably heard us materialize," he said as the cab neared the Estate. "She'll have my head." But the afternoon had been too good for him to hold it against her.
"You can park further away next time, then," she replied, opening the door and scooting out of the taxi before he could say anything. Not that he really had anything to say; she did have a point.
"You can always come inside. She won’t slap you. Already thinks we're together and you did give me your jacket for the rain…"
"Nah, got some repairs to make. Important ones," he said, not meeting her eyes for fear she'd see the lie. "You take as much time as you need, though." She grinned and leaned back into the cab to hug him, gone before he could tell her to keep the jacket for the walk back. He gave the cabbie a good tip and waited until he'd driven off before he walked back to the TARDIS, wondering just why he'd ever thought there was anything he might want to do more than slog through the rain in London with Rose Tyler.
"An ice cream. In the rain. After you promised Jackie you'd be home for tea…yeah, this is great idea," 1,203
It was raining.
She shouldn’t have been surprised; it was a frequent enough occurrence. Outsiders and out-of-towners were under the impression that the rain was perpetual, after all. Still, it made her sigh as she pulled the hood up over her head and hesitated at the door.
"What's wrong?" he asked from where he'd clambered under the console as soon as she'd turned toward the door.
"Nothin'. S'just raining," she replied, but made no move to leave.
"Shocker, that," he said, but she could hear the grin in his voice. When the door still didn’t close, he climbed out from under the console and was halfway to her before she turned to face him.
Before he could ask her again if something was wrong, she grinned. "You wanna go for a walk with me?"
"In this?" he asked incredulously. It wasn't exactly coming down hard, but he could easily think of a million and one things he'd rather be doing than slogging off through the streets of London in the rain.
"You won't melt," she assured him. "We can go get an ice cream!"
"An ice cream. In the rain. After you promised Jackie you'd be home for tea…yeah, this is great idea," he muttered, but it was almost painfully obvious to both of them that she'd won. With an overdramatic roll of his eyes and a few more mutterings about how he was likely to get slapped again when it wasn't even his fault, he held out his hand. "Lead on, then," he said resignedly, trying not to smile at the way she bounced to him in happiness.
"Thought you were homesick?" he asked as they walked along hand in hand. The rain wasn't actually that bad, more of a drizzle than anything else, and for all his grumbling he found himself rather enjoying it. Or maybe he was enjoying Rose's enjoyment, because she looked positively giddy about the entire situation.
"I was, but I'm home now," she said with a slight shrug. "Every time we come for a visit it's just to see Mum. And I love her, don’t get me wrong, but I miss the city too. All the time."
He sighed, but there was no real oomph to it. "You’re telling me that with a time machine and all of time and space at your disposal, you want to go to the place you started from." She glanced at him and nodded a little shyly, as if she were afraid he'd tell her to stay here, then. But he did nothing of the sort, and smiled at her instead. "Makes sense."
He didn’t know how long it took them to reach the ice cream parlor, mostly because he was so fixated on the feeling of Rose's hand in his. But it didn’t matter much. The rain wasn't heavy enough to have soaked them through, and by the time their banana split was ready her sweatshirt had started to dry out anyway. He gave her all three of the cherries and the entirety of the chocolate scoop, and she gave him three fourths of the banana, and all in all it was a very, very good trade. Not that he cared much about the ice cream (although it was surprisingly good, the banana especially) as much as he liked watching Rose eat it with such glee.
When they'd finished, she didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get back, although the rain had picked up just the slightest bit. Without giving it much thought, he draped his jacket over her shoulders and wouldn’t allow her to protest. It didn’t take much convincing; she'd pulled it around herself against the chill before they'd gone a block.
"There anything you want to see?" she asked before they'd gone far.
"Me? This is your trip."
"Yeah, but technically you're the tourist," she said, smiling up at him mischievously. He'd have retorted, but her attention was fixed on something up the road. Before he could ask, she'd grabbed his hand and started pulling him along. A bit worried now, he tried to get her to stop, but she was much too insistent for that, and didn’t stop until they'd made it to the corner. Before he could ask, she pointed to the sign tacked to the post.
"You can't be serious," he said in something close to a whine. "A tour bus? Rose, it's raining..." But she looked so pleased with herself and her idea that he didn’t have the heart to tell her that he was pretty sure he'd seen all the sights the tour offered more than once already and had little to no desire to see them again while a tour guide on tape told him all about the historical significance of things, and that the tapes were mostly wrong anyway. And the damn thing was pulling up, right on time since no one else in their right mind was riding it. "Fine, but I'm not sitting on the upper level!"
"They have rain jackets!" was all she said as she paid the driver and took his hand, leading him up the narrow staircase and back into the open air. And rain.
"More like bin bags," he muttered, but put one on anyway. He was starting to get a little chilly without his jacket. The bin bag wasn't much of a help for that, but Rose snuggled up to him as the bus rolled through the city was better than wearing the jacket himself.
He paid absolutely no attention to the attractions, and neither did she, falling asleep on his shoulder before they'd gone too far. He put his arm around her, bin bag and all, and held her as the bus wove through the streets. They'd arrived back at the starting point far too quickly for his liking, and judging by her sleepy face, Rose's as well. Making an executive decision before they'd stepped off the bus, he told her firmly that they were getting a cab back to her mother's. Rose said not a thing in protest.
"She probably heard us materialize," he said as the cab neared the Estate. "She'll have my head." But the afternoon had been too good for him to hold it against her.
"You can park further away next time, then," she replied, opening the door and scooting out of the taxi before he could say anything. Not that he really had anything to say; she did have a point.
"You can always come inside. She won’t slap you. Already thinks we're together and you did give me your jacket for the rain…"
"Nah, got some repairs to make. Important ones," he said, not meeting her eyes for fear she'd see the lie. "You take as much time as you need, though." She grinned and leaned back into the cab to hug him, gone before he could tell her to keep the jacket for the walk back. He gave the cabbie a good tip and waited until he'd driven off before he walked back to the TARDIS, wondering just why he'd ever thought there was anything he might want to do more than slog through the rain in London with Rose Tyler.