Of the Vortex Born: Chapter Six
Jul. 17th, 2008 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberfocus
Chapter Six: Sleeping Arrangements
“I like your home. It’s lovely, Dr. Tyler,” Luke said as he looked around Rose’s abode. One living room wall and the ceiling were made of glass and opened onto an unobstructed view of the dome wall, and through that a gorgeous view of the surface of the moon and the stars above.
“Thank you, Luke,” Rose said with a smile. "You're welcome to call me Rose." She led them through the rest of the house, pointing out Jamie’s room, the washroom, her own bedroom with its private washroom, a tiny little laboratory/office for Rose and the kitchen.
“Mairi and Landon don’t live here, then?” the Doctor asked.
“No, they both live over in university dome Phi. Mairi’s attending classes and Landon’s a part-time science professor. His full time job is with U.N.I.T. but since they recruit from the university they like having him there to keep an eye on the up and coming talent.”
“Doesn’t Mairi work for U.N.I.T., too?” the Doctor asked. “I thought I saw her with a U.N.I.T. badge.”
“Yes. She’s my personal assistant while she’s learning the ropes. She’ll probably take over Landon’s role when she’s done with Uni and he’ll move to my position when I...” She glanced at the Doctor quizzically. “When I move on.”
She sighed. “Is anyone hungry? I can make us a light meal or we can troop down to the communal kitchen.”
The consensus was for Rose to make something up and she rapidly put together soup and sandwiches that everyone made short work of. She glanced at the clock. “Well, Jamie has school in the morning so best we get the sleeping arrangements sorted out.”
Rose led the way out of the kitchen. “I can make up a bed for Luke on the sofa,” she said as she stopped by a small closet and retrieved linens. She folded the back of the sofa down flat with the seat and rapidly laid down the sheets and blankets and retrieved a pillow.
Luke settled in and Rose turned to her daughter, giving her a light hug and kiss. “Night, James,” she said.
“Night, Mum.” Jamie gave her father a quick hug, too and said good-night to him and Luke before disappearing in the direction of the bathroom.
Rose pulled the Doctor back into the kitchen and made some hot chocolate. The Doctor watched her quietly, his eyes lighting up when she grated chocolate and cinnamon into the mugs and added whipped cream on top.
“You remember how I like it,” he mused.
“I remember everything,” Rose said as she sat down. “I don’t think I could forget anything about our time together.” She reached across the table and gave his hand a quick squeeze. As she withdrew it he reached out and captured her hand in his, his fingers threading through hers.
“I haven’t,” he said, meeting her eyes. “I’ve really missed you, Rose.”
Rose felt herself blushing at the intensity in his eyes in a way she hadn’t done in nearly thirty years. She smiled softly at him. “I have a good life here, Doctor,” she told him. “I’ve got three wonderful kids and a job that I love and some dear friends. Life has been pretty good to me since I came to the moon.”
“How long have you lived here?”
“Twenty years. The first colony started twenty-five years ago. Then U.N.I.T. put a base here twenty-one years ago after an incident with an alien race called the Judoon. I was pregnant with Mairi or I would have come up then. We emigrated as soon as she was a couple of weeks old. U.N.I.T. had a special cocoon that we put Mairi in and it protected her from the g-forces as we left the Earth.”
Rose yawned and rubbed at her face then stood up and looked back at the Doctor. “I best be getting to bed. I'm still drained from the regeneration. I know you don’t need much sleep, Doctor--.”
“Oh, I could sleep,” he said. “It’s been a while.” He got to his feet.
“I can go bunk in with Jamie. Mairi’s old bed is still in there,” Rose said with another yawn. “And you can take my bed.”
“I don’t want to kick you out of your own bed, Rose,” the Doctor said. “I can sleep in the arm chair in the living room.”
“It’s hardly comfortable,” Rose said making her way to her room. “My bed’s big enough for two,” she added off-handedly. “We won’t even have to scrunch up together. If you don’t mind sharing space with a blanket hog.”
“Never did before,” the Doctor said and Rose laughed.
“I can haul out a sleeping bag for you. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Rose said, reaching under her bed and starting to haul out the bag.
“I’d rather you didn’t, Rose,” he said.
She turned startled eyes on him. “What? Why?” Sshe asked him.
“It’s been too long, Rose. If it’s okay with you, I’d just as soon hold you in my arms tonight. I don’t want to wake up in the morning and think even for a second that this was all a dream,” he told her.
“It’s not a dream, Doctor. You’re really here. With me. I’m really real. I know, because I’ve got bruises on my arm from where I’ve been pinching it all day,” she admitted. Rose tucked the sleeping bag back under the bed and turned to a closet.
“Landon keeps a change of clothes here for when he stays over.” She rummaged on a top shelf and pulled out a pair of pajama bottoms. She tossed them to the Doctor. “Do you want the top, too, or do you sleep without one?”
“Don’t you remember?” he teased.
“It’s been eighty-seven years for you, Doctor. Things might have changed. And it’s not like I was in the habit of noticing your evening wardrobe habits.” That was actually a lie, she had noticed but she certainly wasn’t going to admit it at the moment.
“I don’t need more than this,” he told her.
“Okay.” She hurried over to a chest of drawers and pulled out a night gown, then headed into the bathroom to change. She was nervous. Although she and the Doctor had slept in the same bed before on a few occasions, it had always been strictly platonic. Well, except for that one time when he’d somehow managed to wrap himself around her and she had felt his interest in her. An interest that he had quickly hidden when he’d woken up.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about this. Her feelings for the Doctor had been kept compressed in a small little box under deep pressure, buried in a dusty corner of her mind. She had loved him desperately once. If she let that box open, even a little bit, she didn’t know that her heart wouldn’t get broken to pieces again when he left.
His request to hold her that night left that little box straining to burst open. She sighed and slid into the nightgown, easing the silky fabric over her skin. She washed her face and brushed her teeth and then took a brush to her curls. “Ouch,” she called out rather sharply as it snagged.
“Are you okay, Rose?” the Doctor asked through the door.
She opened it saying, “I’m not used to the new hair. It snarls so easily.”
Her breath caught at the look on his face when he caught site of her in the dark green nightgown. His eyes glittered before he caught himself looking and shifted his eyes to her face. “Here,” he said holding out his hand for the brush. “I’ll help. I’ve had curls before.”
She handed it to him. “Come sit down on the bed.” She did and he climbed up behind her and started working his way through her curls. “It takes some getting used to, is all. You might want to get yourself a pick or some better combs. Brushes and curls don’t really mix well.”
“When did you have curls?” she asked to distract herself from the fact that his hands were in her hair and how good it felt.
“Let’s see. My third incarnation was kind of curly, but not nearly as much as my fourth. Those ones were ridiculous. Then my sixth was very curly, and the seventh and eighth were both very wavy. I probably still have some things in the TARDIS you could use.”
Very gently he had worked his way through her hair as he talked. When he had finished he lifted her hair off the back of her neck and leaned down and kissed the nape. “All done,” he said gently.
Rose stood up reluctantly and took the brush back to the bathroom. When she emerged the Doctor was under the covers. She turned off the lamp and slipped into bed beside him, easing her way towards him in the dark. His arms came out and encircled her and she snuggled up against his side. She curled one arm over his chest and settled her head against him, yawning softly, her eyes growing heavy. They were silent for a long time, just wrapped up in the warmth of the other. Finally the Doctor spoke.
“I know you have a good life here, Rose. I know you’ve got a family and a job and everything. But I want you to think about coming back with me. You and Jamie and the others, too if they want to come. I want to get to know my children. I want you back in my life. Not having you with me has been harder than anything that came before it. I need you, Rose. And I…well…I love you,” the Doctor said.
When Rose didn’t react he worried that he had blown it, rushing to declare his feelings for her. “Rose?” But then a soft snore issued from the love of his life and he realized she’d fallen asleep. “Finally get the nerve up to tell her all of this and she’s asleep,” he muttered. He blew out a long breath. “There’s always tomorrow.” He tightened his grip on Rose, cleared his mind and triggered the chemicals in his brain that would lead to sleep.
“No, they both live over in university dome Phi. Mairi’s attending classes and Landon’s a part-time science professor. His full time job is with U.N.I.T. but since they recruit from the university they like having him there to keep an eye on the up and coming talent.”
“Doesn’t Mairi work for U.N.I.T., too?” the Doctor asked. “I thought I saw her with a U.N.I.T. badge.”
“Yes. She’s my personal assistant while she’s learning the ropes. She’ll probably take over Landon’s role when she’s done with Uni and he’ll move to my position when I...” She glanced at the Doctor quizzically. “When I move on.”
She sighed. “Is anyone hungry? I can make us a light meal or we can troop down to the communal kitchen.”
The consensus was for Rose to make something up and she rapidly put together soup and sandwiches that everyone made short work of. She glanced at the clock. “Well, Jamie has school in the morning so best we get the sleeping arrangements sorted out.”
Rose led the way out of the kitchen. “I can make up a bed for Luke on the sofa,” she said as she stopped by a small closet and retrieved linens. She folded the back of the sofa down flat with the seat and rapidly laid down the sheets and blankets and retrieved a pillow.
Luke settled in and Rose turned to her daughter, giving her a light hug and kiss. “Night, James,” she said.
“Night, Mum.” Jamie gave her father a quick hug, too and said good-night to him and Luke before disappearing in the direction of the bathroom.
Rose pulled the Doctor back into the kitchen and made some hot chocolate. The Doctor watched her quietly, his eyes lighting up when she grated chocolate and cinnamon into the mugs and added whipped cream on top.
“You remember how I like it,” he mused.
“I remember everything,” Rose said as she sat down. “I don’t think I could forget anything about our time together.” She reached across the table and gave his hand a quick squeeze. As she withdrew it he reached out and captured her hand in his, his fingers threading through hers.
“I haven’t,” he said, meeting her eyes. “I’ve really missed you, Rose.”
Rose felt herself blushing at the intensity in his eyes in a way she hadn’t done in nearly thirty years. She smiled softly at him. “I have a good life here, Doctor,” she told him. “I’ve got three wonderful kids and a job that I love and some dear friends. Life has been pretty good to me since I came to the moon.”
“How long have you lived here?”
“Twenty years. The first colony started twenty-five years ago. Then U.N.I.T. put a base here twenty-one years ago after an incident with an alien race called the Judoon. I was pregnant with Mairi or I would have come up then. We emigrated as soon as she was a couple of weeks old. U.N.I.T. had a special cocoon that we put Mairi in and it protected her from the g-forces as we left the Earth.”
Rose yawned and rubbed at her face then stood up and looked back at the Doctor. “I best be getting to bed. I'm still drained from the regeneration. I know you don’t need much sleep, Doctor--.”
“Oh, I could sleep,” he said. “It’s been a while.” He got to his feet.
“I can go bunk in with Jamie. Mairi’s old bed is still in there,” Rose said with another yawn. “And you can take my bed.”
“I don’t want to kick you out of your own bed, Rose,” the Doctor said. “I can sleep in the arm chair in the living room.”
“It’s hardly comfortable,” Rose said making her way to her room. “My bed’s big enough for two,” she added off-handedly. “We won’t even have to scrunch up together. If you don’t mind sharing space with a blanket hog.”
“Never did before,” the Doctor said and Rose laughed.
“I can haul out a sleeping bag for you. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Rose said, reaching under her bed and starting to haul out the bag.
“I’d rather you didn’t, Rose,” he said.
She turned startled eyes on him. “What? Why?” Sshe asked him.
“It’s been too long, Rose. If it’s okay with you, I’d just as soon hold you in my arms tonight. I don’t want to wake up in the morning and think even for a second that this was all a dream,” he told her.
“It’s not a dream, Doctor. You’re really here. With me. I’m really real. I know, because I’ve got bruises on my arm from where I’ve been pinching it all day,” she admitted. Rose tucked the sleeping bag back under the bed and turned to a closet.
“Landon keeps a change of clothes here for when he stays over.” She rummaged on a top shelf and pulled out a pair of pajama bottoms. She tossed them to the Doctor. “Do you want the top, too, or do you sleep without one?”
“Don’t you remember?” he teased.
“It’s been eighty-seven years for you, Doctor. Things might have changed. And it’s not like I was in the habit of noticing your evening wardrobe habits.” That was actually a lie, she had noticed but she certainly wasn’t going to admit it at the moment.
“I don’t need more than this,” he told her.
“Okay.” She hurried over to a chest of drawers and pulled out a night gown, then headed into the bathroom to change. She was nervous. Although she and the Doctor had slept in the same bed before on a few occasions, it had always been strictly platonic. Well, except for that one time when he’d somehow managed to wrap himself around her and she had felt his interest in her. An interest that he had quickly hidden when he’d woken up.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about this. Her feelings for the Doctor had been kept compressed in a small little box under deep pressure, buried in a dusty corner of her mind. She had loved him desperately once. If she let that box open, even a little bit, she didn’t know that her heart wouldn’t get broken to pieces again when he left.
His request to hold her that night left that little box straining to burst open. She sighed and slid into the nightgown, easing the silky fabric over her skin. She washed her face and brushed her teeth and then took a brush to her curls. “Ouch,” she called out rather sharply as it snagged.
“Are you okay, Rose?” the Doctor asked through the door.
She opened it saying, “I’m not used to the new hair. It snarls so easily.”
Her breath caught at the look on his face when he caught site of her in the dark green nightgown. His eyes glittered before he caught himself looking and shifted his eyes to her face. “Here,” he said holding out his hand for the brush. “I’ll help. I’ve had curls before.”
She handed it to him. “Come sit down on the bed.” She did and he climbed up behind her and started working his way through her curls. “It takes some getting used to, is all. You might want to get yourself a pick or some better combs. Brushes and curls don’t really mix well.”
“When did you have curls?” she asked to distract herself from the fact that his hands were in her hair and how good it felt.
“Let’s see. My third incarnation was kind of curly, but not nearly as much as my fourth. Those ones were ridiculous. Then my sixth was very curly, and the seventh and eighth were both very wavy. I probably still have some things in the TARDIS you could use.”
Very gently he had worked his way through her hair as he talked. When he had finished he lifted her hair off the back of her neck and leaned down and kissed the nape. “All done,” he said gently.
Rose stood up reluctantly and took the brush back to the bathroom. When she emerged the Doctor was under the covers. She turned off the lamp and slipped into bed beside him, easing her way towards him in the dark. His arms came out and encircled her and she snuggled up against his side. She curled one arm over his chest and settled her head against him, yawning softly, her eyes growing heavy. They were silent for a long time, just wrapped up in the warmth of the other. Finally the Doctor spoke.
“I know you have a good life here, Rose. I know you’ve got a family and a job and everything. But I want you to think about coming back with me. You and Jamie and the others, too if they want to come. I want to get to know my children. I want you back in my life. Not having you with me has been harder than anything that came before it. I need you, Rose. And I…well…I love you,” the Doctor said.
When Rose didn’t react he worried that he had blown it, rushing to declare his feelings for her. “Rose?” But then a soft snore issued from the love of his life and he realized she’d fallen asleep. “Finally get the nerve up to tell her all of this and she’s asleep,” he muttered. He blew out a long breath. “There’s always tomorrow.” He tightened his grip on Rose, cleared his mind and triggered the chemicals in his brain that would lead to sleep.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 06:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-19 12:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 06:46 am (UTC)When he had finished he lifted her hair off the back of her neck and leaned down and kissed the nape. “All done,” he said gently.
Aaaawww.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-19 12:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 02:01 pm (UTC)Even though I've read what you've written over at Teaspoon before, it's soooo easy to see where there will be major conflict, since the Doctor has to get Luke back to Sarah Jane but Rose and the children have a life where they are. Break our hearts, why don't you!! (Pre-angst angst?)
*Hugs*
no subject
Date: 2008-07-19 12:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 10:56 pm (UTC)