Chapter Text
Well, at least the Doctor knew Mickey wasn't in the picture anymore, she thought, scrubbing herself down in the shower. A post-adventure routine, she liked getting all the dirt and sweat and adrenaline washed off. It removed herself from all the scary details and helped her put all her thoughts from the day in the right place.
Finished, she turned off the water and started drying herself off.
He still didn't seem to get it though. Short skirts had him staring, sure, but he really needed to buy another clue.
Maybe she should try something on the TARDIS this time. Drying her hair, her eyes looked around her room, and stopped at the scented candle at her vanity. Her mum had given it to her saying she probably needed something to clear the air what with all that alien testosterone. But- mood lighting! Mood lighting and a picnic in that room with all the butterflies. She'd plan it for dusk, with supper, and maybe she could nudge this romance along a b it.
.-.
The Doctor was neck deep in TARDIS code, under the center console. He was still trying to find that glitch that appeared when they hit turbulence. There was this nagging feeling that he should recognize it.
A telepathic nudge came from the TARDIS.
It booted him out of his trance a couple seconds before Rose announced her presence.
“Doctor! Dinner time!”
“No time on the TARDIS, Rose!” He shouted his response as he untangled himself from cords and scooted back out from under the console.
“Yeah yeah. It's still time for you to eat, Time Lord.” He could hear the hands on her hips. “TARDIS snitched and told me you haven't eaten since breakfast.”
He cleared the edge of the console and rolled his eyes. Rose leaned down and grabbed his arm, intent on pulling him along to meal time if he insisted on being stubborn.
“C'mon! I got a surprise for you!” She tugged on his arm.
He sighed good-naturedly and got up, “Just one mo'. Have to save my progress.” With that, he turned and with a some taps to the keyboard and a twist of a bobbin, he had saved his current search. He looked back to Rose once he was done. Rassilon slay him dead, if that grin on her lips with her tongue poking out didn't make him want to kiss her.
“So,” weakly continuing, “You got me banana pudding?”
Rose rolled her eyes and smiled. “I really don't know how you can stand that.”
He assumed an injured expression, and said, “Bananas are good, Rose! Excellent source of potassium.”
“So you keep telling me.” She smiled softly at him, and his hearts fluttered a bit. His face started heating up at the look on her face. She broke eye contact with him and yanked on the arm she still had a hold of.
“Yes Doctor,” she answered, “I got banana pudding for you.”
“Fantastic!” She pulled him along down the corridors, and hey-
“Wait, Rose! That was the galley door!”
“Yeah it was. But we're not going there Doctor! “
“Where are we going?”
“It's a surprise!” She grinned. Eyes twinkling, she slipped her arm loose to join hands.
The Doctor leaned in to the grin on her face, and whispered, “Run!”
Laughing as they dashed through the halls, Rose felt her heart soar. Giggling when he tried to lead them the wrong way, she yanked his arm to set him straight. Still running, they skidded around a corner and almost crashed to a halt, when the doorway popped up in front of them. She was out of breath from running and laughing. The Doctor had his head tilted back, big bellowing chuckles escaping him.
There was a moment, with the Doctor laughing so freely, she swore she'd find a way to make him laugh like that every day. He didn't laugh nearly enough.
Gasping for breath, she finally managed a, “Surprise!” and flung the door open.
Multicolored thousands of butterflies were alight in the evening air of the room. Mating dances, evening snacks, and seeking to find a perch for the night—their dance was chaotic and magnificent. Bushes and trees were already half covered, making them look like giant multi-hued organisms. Rose tugged on his hand and smiled up at the Doctor. “
C'mon.” She led him down the path to where the valley started to dip down towards the river. Earlier, she had laid out a blanket and the picnic basket. (Helpfully provided by the TARDIS.) There aren't a large number of candles. She couldn't get them to stay upright on the ground, but the effect of the 6 or so is still beautiful and rather intimate. Rose squeezed the Doctor's hand and nudged him to sit down. Leaning over to reach the picnic basket, she pulled something out...
“Banana pudding!” It's worth anything to see that delighted smile on his face. She'd also made banana and peanut butter sandwiches and basically anything else banana to go along with it. They set to munching their dinner, interspersed with stories, humor, and compliments.
Later, as the meal is winding down, there's a moment, as they laugh at some shared joke. Their eyes meet. More intimate than any kiss she's had before, it feels like he can see inside her. Like he caresses her heart with his eyes. Breathing stops and they're so close. She'd only have to move a couple more inches...
./.
The Doctor.
He's drawn in... pheremonal desire and an intimate rapport built up by friendship and life and death. The only thing to do would be...
He leans in, just a touch. He can feel her expectant tension in the air, but he hesitates at the last second. He's a damned soul, and instead lands a chaste kiss at the corner of her lips. He hopes she doesn't hate him.
./.
It's a balm to her maddened soul. The touch soothes her enough to hold back her tsunami of emotions that shout at her to tell him of her love. He won't accept it right now. She instead throws herself at him—holds him, hugs him. After a second, he clings back. For what feels like an eternity they hold each other, offering comfort. Eventually, the hug lessens and they gently part. She finds the one banana slice he hasn't eaten yet, and offers it to him with a smile. He playfully eats eat out of her fingers, his smoldering eyes a hope for later.
The meal wraps up and Rose slowly starts to put all the food containers away in the basket.
"Rose?"
She looks up and the Doctor puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you, for this." He gestures at what's left of their meal.
Rose just smiles softly at him. There aren't enough words and phrases for everything she's feeling. 'Anything ' she wants to promise him. 'Of course' she wants to assure him. She settles for a tight, squeezing hug.
"I'll take back to the galley and wash up. G'night, Doctor." She masters enough courage and pecks a kiss on his cheek. Blushing now, she scurries out of the room with the basket, not seeing the heart shattering expression of a man lost to awe and long-thought-dead emotions.
.-.
“Why didn't you tell me, Doctor? I told you forever, and I meant it.” The Doctor jerked himself awake, sitting up and clutching at his chest. Pained at the hurt on Dream-Rose's face, he promised—he didn't know what he'd promised. There'd been death... his death. And then, pushing away Rose, like her promises meant nothing. He'd been having this nightmare in all its vagueness for the last week. Every night, like something left undone, haunting him. Face in his hands, he wracked his brain. Was his time sense trying to tell him something?