amberfocus | Wolf Moon: Chapter Twenty-Three (Reply)

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Morning After

The Doctor had wanted Rose to wake up in his arms but he’d also wanted to make her breakfast in bed so he cheated. He brushed his fingertips lightly against her temple and encouraged a deepening of her sleep cycle before slowly and carefully easing his body out from beneath her soft curves, from the thigh that was between his, the firm stomach tight against his groin, the arm that circled his waist, the silken strands of her light brown hair as her head nestled into his chest.

He told himself that it wasn’t technically going into her mind because he wasn’t trying to read her thoughts. He wasn’t sure she’d view it that way but she wouldn’t be aware of it and he was going to be selfish for once in his life and have his way. Besides, she hadn’t protested his little push last night that had sent her over the brink. Although lost in their passion as she had been, perhaps she hadn’t noticed.

He made his way to the kitchen wondering if he ought to bring that up if she didn’t. Rose was so protective of her mind. He wondered at that. She’d said her other Doctor had never gone into her mind despite the fact that he knew she’d loved him and was pretty sure that that him had loved her, too. How could he not have? But she hadn’t allowed him into her mind after knowing him for two years. Perhaps that him had made a mistake with her somewhere along the way, something strong enough to cause her walls to go completely up. Idiot self.

He’d have enough to deal with when he made his own mistakes with Rose, and he knew he’d make them, without having to worry about what that other man had done to the woman he…wanted forever with. He didn’t want her to feel echoes of anyone else, even if it was another version of himself. Didn’t want to think of anyone else loving Rose, either. Not that he thought he loved her exactly, it was just that Rose was…well, Rose. And she was his. His to have and hold and touch and kiss and to take when she was ready. His to fall in love with. His to spend a life with, to have children with. His.

He was grateful that she never had let the other Doctor into her mind, but he hoped that didn’t mean she would never let him in. He wanted in. He wanted her in his own mind, her burning golden heat a flaming beacon that would never leave him alone again. He froze. That thought shook him deeply. His mind had been abandoned since the Time War and Rose…Rose could fill that empty space with her smile and her laugh and her heart and soul and the thoughts that made her the very precious creature lying in his bed right now. It frightened him to think that she might even fill it better than his own people ever had.

The Doctor forced himself back into motion and pushed his thoughts aside. Reaching into the refrigerator he started pulling out the ingredients for a major breakfast. He set water boiling for tea, diced, seasoned and fried potatoes, onions and bell peppers, made batter for pancakes and grilled them to a golden brown dusting them with brown sugar, fried up bacon and sausages, poached a half dozen eggs, and made several slices of toast. He warmed a pitcher of pure maple syrup, dug out several types of preserves from the cupboards and grabbed a half gallon bottle of milk.

Placing everything on a tremendous tray table he carried it to his bedroom and set it down next to Rose’s side of the bed. Then he slipped back into bed with her, pulled her back into her previous position against him, brushed her temple to remove the injunction to sleep and kissed her eyelids until she woke up. She opened her eyes and gave him a sleepy smile. “Hello,” she said softly. She kissed his neck and then pulled slightly away from him so she could look in his eyes.

“Hello, my beautiful Rose.” She blushed but raised her face for a kiss and he eagerly took her up on her offer. Finally she sighed against him and pulled away.

“Something smells divine,” she said.

She stretched her body against his and he felt the stirrings of an erection. Down boy, he told himself.

“Made you breakfast.” Her grin washed over her face.

She rolled over to look at the table and said, “You trying to impress me?”

“I have to try now?” he asked with a fake sulking expression.

“Not really,” she said with a grin. “I already think you’re impressive.” She sat up. “Back in a minute.” He watched as she disappeared into the bathroom and returned a few minutes later, freshly scrubbed and hair somewhat tamed, but wearing a Japanese kimono that he was pretty sure had not been in the bathroom last night. The TARDIS must have provided it for Rose. Interfering ship. He’d rather liked the way she looked in her red and black bra and knickers.

Still the kimono was loose and gapped nicely at the top when she sat down on the bed again, so he wasn’t horribly put off by the change in attire. He could still see her cleavage quite nicely. He shook his head. He was turning into a randy old man. Then again, he was supposed to be randy with Rose. It was part of the package.

“Like what you see, Doctor?” Rose asked wryly.

“Oh, yes!” he said without hesitation and she laughed.

“You know what the loveliest thing about you is, Doctor?” she asked him. He raised his eyebrows and waited. “No mixed signals. A girl knows where she stands with you.”

“If it were up to me there’d be no standing at all for you, Rose Tyler. I’d be keeping you firmly on your back,” he said decisively.

“Does that mean no bending me over the back of the sofa then?” she asked with a saucy wink reminding him of his comment of the previous day.

“I made you this lovely breakfast, Rose Tyler, but you aren’t going to get to eat a bite of it whilst it’s still anything resembling warm if you keep up that type of talk,” he growled at her.

“Promises, promises,” she told him, but she moved towards the food with interest. “This looks gorgeous,” she told him.

They sat on the edge of the bed and ate breakfast in relative silence after that with just a few glances and the occasional touch between them. “You are an excellent cook, Doctor.”

“Ah, I’m good at breakfast. Passable at everything else, really,” he said.

“More than passable at some things,” Rose said.

“You flirting with me again, Miss Tyler?” he asked.

“That a problem?”

“Never going to be,” he assured her. “But…I need a shower and you might be wanting one, too, since you managed to get maple syrup down your front. So unless you want to join me…” he trailed off.

“Thought you might want to lick it off,” she teased. Taking that as an offer he bent his head down and ran his tongue across her upper chest until he’d cleared the sticky substance from her skin.

“Syrup tastes good,” he said. “But you taste better.”

“You’re pretty fast with your tongue, Doctor,” she told him unsteadily.

“Oh, Rose, you have no idea what I can do with my tongue,” he informed her as he pushed her hair out of his way and licked the side of her neck. Rose shivered. “What I’d like to do with my tongue,” he added lustily.

“Okay, cold shower time, Doctor,” she said pushing him lightly away from her.

He laughed, stood up and strode to the bathroom door. He turned back to look at her. “Just checking,” he said, “But have you changed your mind about having sex yet?”

“You’ll be the first one I’ll tell,” she told him waving him on. With a grin he walked into the little room, stripped off his underwear and stepped into the shower. The entire time he was in there he kept hoping Rose might surprise him by joining him. He was disappointed. As intimate as they’d been the night before, there were still some things his Rose wasn’t ready for. Thinking about when she was ready changed the nature of his shower and he sincerely hoped Rose wasn’t out there waiting for him because this was going to take a while.

Rose took her herbal supplement, did her pelvic strengthening exercises and then slipped into her own shower. The hot water felt good beating down on her skin and she spent far more time letting it soak the tension from her muscles than she ever would have back at home. Though home was the wrong word really for her flat. It had never felt like home to her. Nothing in the alternate universe ever had felt like home.

This TARDIS felt like home almost as much as the old one had. And every day she felt a strengthening of her relationship to this one. It would never be quite the same as the one she had temporarily shared a soul with, but she could tell that this ship already cared about her. She wished the ship cared more about her Doctor. Oh, she knew that there was some kind of thing between the two of them that kept them together but without a proper bond she didn’t know how the two functioned. It certainly wasn’t the symbiotic relationship the other Doctor had shared with his ship.

Rose stopped in mid-soap, her breath hitching just a little as she realized that she’d just thought of the other Doctor as simply that. Not her other Doctor or her old Doctor, but the. The Doctor. Just the Doctor. And this man, this one, she’d thought of as hers. A pang of guilt wracked her mind. Ten years later and it still seemed something of a betrayal. The steadying hum of the TARDIS intruded on her thoughts and she heard a gently whispered, “No guilt, Rose. He is yours. The other one could not be.” She clutched at her head, the intruding words throbbing as they fell. A regretful hum of apology came from the ship.

She gasped and turned the water cold, pressing her head under it to ease the ache. As it began to recede she told the ship, “I’m honored that you chose to speak to me, but my brain can’t handle it. I can interpret what you mean well enough by your tones and hums and lights, but you best be staying out of my mind outside of translating duties or I’m going to end up with a killer migraine.”

The TARDIS hummed dejectedly and Rose stroked the wall of the shower. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, dear one. My mind just doesn’t respond well to telepathy. Even his trying to use it with me when we got separated on that planet gave me a headache. Maybe that’ll change once we’ve mated.” The TARDIS tone turned affirmative and encouraging and Rose smiled.

“Now was that for the idea of my response to telepathy improving or are you encouraging me to mate with him?” she asked.

Amused chiming echoed at the edge of her awareness but the TARDIS did not indicate either way what she was thinking. Rose sighed wishing telepathy did not hurt, finished her shower and stepped out to get ready for the day. The TARDIS had left her with a change of clothing that was lightweight but sturdy and she skimmed the teal tank top over her body and wiggled the Capri length khaki cargo pants up over her hips. She slipped the leather thong with the vial of pink tablets around her neck and tucked it under her shirt. She transferred some of the herbal supplements into a small plastic box and put it in one the pockets of her cargo Capris.

“We landing today? Soon?” she asked the ship and the TARDIS hummed back affirmatively. “Hot planet?” The ship indicated that it was. Rose pulled on a pair of thick walking socks and then a worn but supportive pair of hiking boots that had been sitting next to the pile of clothing. After that she grabbed her trusty waterproof backpack and went to the kitchen to pillage supplies.

When Rose finally made her way to the console room she found the Doctor running his pre-landing check of the controls. He was hunched over the console and she couldn’t resist coming up behind him, pressing her body close to his and running her hands round to his chest, hugging him closely. When she loosened her hold he spun around, pulled her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly before letting her go again with a cheeky grin. She felt a rather dazed smile cross her face.

“Do that again and we’re not leaving the TARDIS today,” she said throatily. He reached for her with a wicked expression but she danced back from him with a giggle. “Quest, Doctor. First task. Loophole. Out of the pocket universe,” she reminded him.

“Sex will take us out of here, too,” he grumbled.

“Yes, it would,” she said crossing her arms across her chest and looking at him steadily. “But we accepted the Quest. We have responsibilities.”

“I’m sure Ambigere would understand,” he tried again.

“I’m not.”

“We could have sex and still go on the Quest,” he tried one more time.

“I want to. I’m just not ready, Doctor,” she said honestly. “I’ve got a plan in place though. I found a book in the library and it had some exercises in it to help strengthen my…insides and it recommended a supplement to help and I’ve started with that. The TARDIS gave it to me.” He raised his eyebrows at that comment. “The book said it would take a week to be partially effective and about two to get me to the proper strength to minimize damages caused by a misalignment in force,” Rose told him.

“Oh, please tell me you haven’t been reading that human sex book by that randy Boeotian time agent,” the Doctor said. “Shagged his way across the universe and then wrote a book about it. You’ll never get your mind back if you read him.”

“Time agent?” Rose said comprehension dawning. “Just a minute.”

She dashed to the library and pulled out the book in question. The author’s name was not Jack Harkness but Johnathon Ashford Kensington, III. Still, she’d always known Jack was an alias. She flipped to the back of the book, found an author’s page and sure enough the face smiling up at her was definitely Captain Jack. Maybe at age twenty-five. Reality did love its ironies. Still it wasn’t the first time she’d taken sex advice from Jack Harkness, she thought with a chuckle.

She made her way back to the console room. “What’d you dash off for?” the Doctor asked.

“Just checking a theory,” she told him. She was not going to tell him that she’d actually known the randy Boeotian who’d shagged his way across the universe. The Doctor flipped a few switches and the TARDIS came to a gentle landing on the surface of the planet.

“Atmosphere’s good. Temperature’s a bit hot. Did you have sun block in that bag of yours?” She nodded. “Put any on?”

“Yeah, when I was putting supplies in.”

“How many canteens did you pack?” he asked.

“Just the two. Why? Do you think we’ll need more?”

“With this heat, yeah. Back in a moment.” She stared at the view screen as the Doctor disappeared. The vegetation was tropical and lushly blue green. A brilliant purple flower that was shaped like an orchid but was the size of a volleyball swayed gently in the breeze.

“Here you are,” he said planting a wide-brimmed white hat on her head. He was carrying a second backpack and he shrugged his leather jacket off and pushed it inside then swung it up onto his back. “Do you have your pills?” She pulled the vial out of her shirt and showed it to him.

“Do you have the serum?” she asked in return. He patted the pocket of his jeans and nodded.

“Shall we?” he said, offering her his elbow. Arm in arm they stepped out into the oppressive heat of the lush jungle before them.

Ch. 24: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/15339.html