tampered | Log ongoing; closed

Log ongoing; closed

When; Oct 8
Rating; PG-13 at the most
Characters; Rose Tyler, The Doctor
Summary; Rose ends up with 'Last Man Standing' curse while the Doctor ends up with Nightmares the next day. It's all a wreck.
Log;

When Rose woke up that morning, the City was a deserted ruin. When faced with an apocalypse, or if you're Rose Tyler, the first order of business is always to find the Doctor. She checks City Solutions, the ship where they get chips then Donna's flat followed by Amy and Rory's as well as the TARDIS'. When all of those come up empty, Rose begins to get worried. By afternoon she's panicked, having searched the City over. Come evening, she's a wreck and that's when her device decides to start broadcasting. She's in tears, tracks of mascara on her cheeks. It's like losing him at Canary Wharf all over again but somehow this is worse. She's losing everything she could have had with him that she never even imagined she'd get before.

“I need you back. Please. Doctor please, find me.”

She sits on a bench for a moment, giving into the absolute wreck of a girl she is inside then wipes at her cheeks with the heels of her hands, takes a deep breath and stands up. Rose Tyler doesn't wait for the Doctor to find her. She finds him.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She'll be more than happy to spend the rest of the day and night and really forever cuddling. It's not as if that's something she's ever going to get tired of.

His comment makes her grin and nod. "We do, don't we?"

In fact, speaking of cuddling, she's going to lean back against him as they wait for the tea to brew. She wraps one arm back around his waist and looks up at him, her chin resting a bit against his chest. "What you think? Ought to stay standing up or take our tea and sit down for a bit?"

He's shifting his weight back and forth a little bit - standing still is just difficult no matter when it is. 'Easier to fall asleep sitting down but get sleepy faster standing all the time.' He considers the options for a few seconds and then continues. 'I feel like I'll spill standing up right now though. Better sit, at least for a bit.'

"Sitting then. Perhaps in the chair 'stead of the hammock?" At least they'll be vertical.

She unwinds from him, picking up her tea mug and starting toward the chair slowly enough to give him a chance to pick his mug up as well.

He follows suit, grabbing his mug and following her to the chair. He sits down with a bit more care than normal - he usually just sort of flings himself into chairs like this and hopes his aim was right - but he's holding tea and doesn't think that would be a very good idea. So, sitting, then leaning back against the back of the chair. The parts of the nightmares that were more familiar - he does have them fairly regularly even without the aid of such helpful curses - are still visible in the forefront of his mind, flickering in and out. They'll fade out though, hopefully. He's thinking with her here - thank god she's here and not stuck somewhere else really - that process will pass faster than normal.

'Forgot to get anything to nibble on with the tea. Love nibbles.'

She actually hesitates, setting down her mug on a small table near the chair then reluctantly lets go of his hand.

"I'll go get some biscuits. I think we've got some in the cabinet."

Then she walks toward the kitchen much too quickly for a normal, average day but then they haven't had a normal, average day. There's some rummaging around in the cupboards before she comes back with a tin of biscuits, actual relief zipping across her face when she sees he is still there, and promptly sits down in the chair next to him.

The difference in presence is so much more noticeable than he was expecting - although he hadn't had really any expectations when saying that thing about nibbles. He just sort of watches her walk back into the kitchen and then looks down into his tea while he stirs it until she comes back.

Thankfully she does come back quickly. Her return gets a small grin and the tin of biscuits gets another. 'Ohhh, yes, those! Good choice.'

The grin is good, sort of assures her that her paranoia isn't unfounded or at least is mutual. She sort of carefully plops down in the chair next to him, glad that it's not really a chair made for two because it requires them to be close. She drapes her legs over his--it's her favorite seated position lately--and picks up her tea, hands wrapping around the mug.

"Good for nibbles." She blows across her tea and then takes a careful sip. "I used to have nightmares about that day at Canary Wharf and then later 'bout Bad Wolf Bay. Tea usually helped."

It didn't really but it gave her something to do while she was up in the middle of the night much they way they're using it right now.

He's getting to be a fairly big fan of these little chairs if they're going to mean she keeps sitting like that. Might make working a bit difficult but he does most of his tinkering at home in his room anyway. Or on the counter in the kitchen.

He goes for a biscuit first before the tea while it cools down a bit. Tea's quite good for that sort of thing. He must have picked it up from all the British humans he's become friends with over the years, although other cultures have some similar practices.

'Yeah, lets the mind auto-pilot for a bit, that sort of task. Drink enough of it, you can get anemic and then you'll really be able to not focus on whatever it is that's bothering you. Probably not a very good idea though.' Science babbling over addressing things just mentioned.

They'll never own a proper couch or loveseat just lots of chairs too big for one person and not quite big enough for two. She doesn't cook enough to invade the kitchen as a workspace and at least for the moment his bedroom remains Rose free.

It's a comforting sort of ritual.

"Think it'd interfere with the runnin' a bit, bein' anemic. Rather avoid that."

She didn't exactly expect him to take the opening and talk about the nightmares but it would have been nice. Really it was more of a gesture to let him know that he's not alone in having them. She understands. At least in some part.

That sounds perfect. He probably has something happening in... most of the rooms. But there's at least something in the kitchen because a lot of cooking is kind of waiting on stuff to happen. I wonder if he's actually cooked much or if she knows he can do it.

'I'm thinking it might. Definitely lower the instinct for knowing which way to do it in.'

It was nice of her to mention it - he feels a little less silly about them in general. He will soon though. He does actually want to in some part but it'll probably be somewhat unprompted.

I suspect maybe he hasn't and she doesn't because of the constant going out for chips and milkshakes and burgers.

"Best to avoid it at all. Fairly certain we eat enough chips, biscuits and the like though."

Really they tend to eat a great deal. Or at least it seems to be a great deal. Unprompted talking is good, encouraged even and at least that part of her goal was accomplished.

Good point.

'We do eat quite a lot, don't we? Did we eat this much before? It feels like it's happening a lot.' Not that it makes any difference. If he gained any weight he would absolutely quietly flip out.

In all likelihood it will be within this conversation, particularly if they wind up staying awake and not sleeping for the rest of the night.

His question has her twisting her face up a bit, pondering the answer.

"I think so. It was just sorta spread out over different planets." At least that's her theory. There's no possible way he could gain weight. He's far too spastic and constantly in motion. On the other hand, she very well might and could. She'll flip out equally as quietly, hoping it'll escape his notice and decide that she needs to take up running as exercise. Of course if she sells it right, he might go running with her.

She's going to try and keep them both awake in hopes it is a curse and when midnight rolls around, he'll be able to sleep without nightmares.

Well now that the topic in general has been brought to his attention it's somewhat more likely he will but just as unlikely he will really care. And yeah, she might have to sell the 'running for pure running's sake' thing since that seems a bit... boring. She does have the spend-time-with-Rose bit on her side from the get-go though.

'I suppose if this sort of thing keeps happening then pure adrenaline use and the extra energy required to remain conscious will counteract all the eating.'

Sleeping without nightmares is always fun. He prefers it when that happens. You get so much more bang for your sleep that way.

As long as they don't cease eating entirely or cut out chips completely, she's not likely to notice or care. She'll have devise some sort of other reason for running. She's not crazy about the idea of running for running's sake either but she's less crazy about gaining weight. At least not in noticeable amounts.

"Good point. Think I'd prefer ten pounds." Over the fear of losing him again and watching him go through this sort of pain, yeah she'll take weight gain.

Funny how that works. She's going to attempt to work something out with him where they sleep in the hammock a couple of times a week. At least then she'll be there when and if he does have nightmares.

Nahhh, neither of those will ever cease. I don't think they can stop running or eating chips and maintain any semblance of normalcy. Or maybe even sanity.

He laughs a little bit, lightly and dryly; then lower, 'Yeah, I might go for the running myself if it keeps up. I'm used to twice a week or more but... Not sure I'll make it long on no sleep at all. Time Lords don't need much but when they don't get that little bit of it, you definitely start to notice.'

His teacup is empty by now since he mostly drank it when he wasn't paying attention to anything, and he looks down into it, then leans over and sets it on the small table they apparently have.

He makes like he's going to ask a question and then holds off on the wording for a couple of seconds before carefully asking her: 'When did your... 's. Yours, stop?'

Rose is making a note of the sleep schedule he's letting slip here.

She fiddles with her own half empty mug of tea, gnawing on the inside of her lip before she speaks. "Closer we got to actually findin' you the less I had 'em but when I did have 'em--" She pauses because she might as well be honest about how these things are going.

"Do have 'em they're more...intense. More real when I do have 'em. They've been less though. With you here."

She smiles a bit at him. "Maybe after this we'll schedule a coupla nights so or when we sleep in the hammock. Got to stay in runnin' shape."

Yeah he'll be annoyed later when he realises he let that slip like that.

He's watching carefully - not obviously but still closely - as she fiddles and gnaws and answers. The tense shift is mildly surprising - people having nightmares about him at all is something he rarely considers. That they would happen on anything approaching regular and persist even while he was still there is kind of mentally staggering for someone who salves his losses with the 'they'll live better lives and forget me' mantra. Even if it is Rose. It's been a while out of City since he saw her anyway, for him at least.

'I'm sorry.' What else do you say when someone is having nightmares about you? He put his teacup on the table and now he hasn't got anything to awkwardly fiddle with. Damn. He looks over when she starts talking about sleeping occasionally in the hammock, together. 'It does already have a bit of a dreamcatcher about it, yeah...' He glances back down. 'Not a bad idea though. See how it works out.'

If she's good, and careful, he won't actually realise it.

Silly, silly Doctor. Perhaps in some cases his salve is accurate, not all, but definitely not in Rose's case. When she said forever, she meant forever and not just for his sake but for hers as well. It was a while our of the City for her as well, years but it hadn't mattered.

She shakes her head at his apology. "Not your fault. You didn't mean to lose me." She has to believe that. She has to believe that he wouldn't have left her, not on purpose. Later, that will be more problematic but for the moment, she wants to believe that when he agreed to forever, he meant it. At least for as long as her forever lasts.

She gives a glance over at the hammock and nods. "Think it might work. For both of us." That's part of her plan, making certain he knows it benefits her as well.

Well, Rose has always been a special case, hasn't she?

He does a fairly good job not looking all shades of guilty after her first statement. He really hadn't meant to originally, and oh how much easier things would have been if he hadn't. The second time it wasn't lost, per the general meaning of the word, though that's obviously a thin distinction. 'Suppose not.'

She does have good plans. Being for the benefit of Rose makes things so much more likely to happen. 'That would be... really very nice, if it does. More things ought to have solutions like that, supposing it works.'

As long as that's special as in unique and not short bus.

She doesn't have any reason to suspect him of guilt so he gets away with it. He won't forever though. There will be some answering for it on his part.

She nudges him a bit with her shoulder. "Things like that, always better with two. 'Specially when the two's me and you."

Pft. Like that's even something she ought to be worried about.

That's still going to be a 'fun' conversation. Given how many times she seems to have mentally counted things as okay given that they weren't separated on purpose, he's going to be in quite a bit of trouble.

'Quite right. Most things are better with two. Makes it easier to count off, anyway. Keep track of companions, share things. You get a lot of things packaged in sets of two. Mind, sleep deprivation isn't something I ever thought would be counted amongst the "Good When Shared" list.'

So much trouble. He'll be digging himself out for a good bit. Although really, guilt will probably do him in. I suspect her nightmares will come back in full force once she finds out. Really though, part of her counting things as 'okay' because they weren't separated on purpose is more about reassuring herself that a)she's not going to be like other companions. He won't abandon her and b)once they're out of here, he'll take her with him again.

"Guess we've got to add to that list, yeah?"

It'll probably take some convincing after she learns but he really isn't ever going to leave her ever again at this point. Not voluntarily, anyway. Possibly not even involuntarily. It's a good thing she likes him so much because he's going to follow her everywhere. Digging out might be decent motivation for him to step up to this relationship a bit anyway, since right now it feels like it's mostly her doing a lot of the work.

In response to her sort-of-an-actual-question he nods a bit, then adds, 'It's a fairly extensive list anyway, I think. One more won't hurt it any.'

Definitely some convincing probably spread out over a period of time. She won't actually argue with that. Well...she might at first, a couple of snide remarks about his clone and wouldn't be nice if he could just send metacrisis Doctor in to fill in for him but that's not likely to happen more than once. She just doesn't have it in her to be mean to him even when she's hurt and angry.

"Ought to be safe and just put 'everything' on there."

Log ongoing; closed

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you can tell how often I actually make tea; totally forgot it needed to sit before adding shit to it

Hee! No problem. Fortunately/unfortunately? I am a tea addict

tend to drink more milk/lemonade/sodas, myself.

Apparently they've a small table as well :D

they've just slowly been accumulating furniture without telling anyone

Eventually they'll have a flat full

won't that be... domestic.

He'll be mortified if he ever realizes it

yes, he will. and she will probably laugh at him

So much laughing

not nice Rose.

You would do the same Doctor!

Of course he would but that's completely different.

Of course it is, Doctor

i sense patronisation...

What? Never!

uh huh. UH HUH.

It's inspired what can I say

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