tampered | closed: motives and with-actions can within

closed: motives and with-actions can within

When: Boxing Day eveningish. Right after the best display of literal self-loathing any curse has yet been able to produce.
Rating: S for Scolding, with an occasional pSH for post-Scolding Hug.
Characters: The Doctor (with the hair)

am_i_being_rude and Rose Tyler

iam_thebadwolf
Summary: Ten ran into the kitchen to get ice for Rose's face and didn't come back.
Log:

Jumping on the excuse to leave the room, he'd all but bolted into the kitchen entirely under the presumption that he was really going to get some ice and then go back out there. A few minutes later now, and all he had was some melting ice in a bit of square cloth he couldn't identify as either a dishrag or a washcloth, supposing there even was a difference. The entire sequence of events was still playing out repeatedly in his mind, mostly out of sheer disbelief, as though going back through it enough would show him the point where it didn't actually happen. And it wasn't really so much just this single incident. Things had been building to a head like this for a while now, and now that they were here, he found he really wasn't very sure what to do about them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He was definitely sort of expecting her to sit next to him against the counter as well, not that what she's chosen instead is a bad thing. 'Fast learner.' Which is a slight deflection; there's a certain amount of disbelief that she could possibly have that many positive feelings about him or them or anything, and yet it's kind of hard to argue with the evidence. The concern is waved off though. 'You didn't hurt me. Took me by surprise, sure, but the only danger of injury is from whatever I hit on the way down.' Although the headache thing might pan out. Probably nothing he doesn't really deserve for being so dumb about everything.

It's kind of funny, the differences sheer age will bring about. There's a definite amount of self-assuredness at both ends of the spectrum though, which is likely part of what they're running into. 'One day I'll stop underestimating you in that particular respect.'

She sort of wanted to be able to see him without turning her head. His expressions and body language are important right now as he's not likely to be incredibly verbal. "Told you I was when it's important to me." She learned an incredibly amount about theoretical physics, dimensions, time and abnormalities in those things in an astoundingly short amount of time. Several months really, it wasn't as if UNIT was going to wait on her to catch up. She's far an expert but she's no longer just a girl without A-levels either.

She can't argue with that, especially if the resulting headache teaches him not to be so dumb.

"Yeah? I'll mark that one on the calendar." She's teasing him, nudging his knee lightly with hers. It's time to introduce a little bit of light into a tense conversation.

For the most part he's still being quite reserved and a bit cagey in body language, but it's starting to bleed out as things feel like they're returning to normal. 'Yeah. Yeah, you did.' Which works out pretty well for her and also seems to mean she feels fairly strongly about a lot of things, as he doesn't really recall her ever having been a particularly slow learner. Stubborn, sure, but never out of ignorance. There's a bit of gratitude mixed in as well, what with having just said he was important to her, even though that's really not the first time she's done that. Just feels a little different after that exchange of emotions.

Hah. Well maybe it will.

He gives her a bit of a wry grin at that. 'You ought to. It'll be a momentous occasion. Planets will turn against their axes.'

That's a good thing. She doesn't like not being able to glean various bits of information from those things. It's like having an extra cue into what he really means. Or maybe she's just normally a fast learner and when she feels strongly about a lot of things, she's incredibly fast. That's a good thing then. Possibly he's actually getting the message. For better or worse, she's staying.

"Probably end up havin' to save the Universe from it." She's going to scoot a little closer now that he's relaxed, more out of wanting to be close to him than concern.

He'd bet on the normally-fast-and-occasionally-faster theory over anything else. There hasn't ever been any evidence to disprove it, and in fact quite a lot toward the opposite.

'Now that, that seems like it might be a little distracting from the ultimate point. Never remember if you wrote the date down for the universe-saving or the other thing.' Things are loosening up, although he's watching her possibly a little more carefully than normal still.

She's not really sure what the watching her more carefully thing means. In any case what it accomplishes is that she's less 'touchy' than usual, 'less touchy' clearly just means that her hands aren't all over him since neither one of them knows how to be in the same vicinity and not touch in some way. She's got one hand still on his forearm, the other fiddling with the cuff of his jacket, actively not touching his skin after what just happened. She also doesn't crawl in his lap the way she normally would when they're both seated. It makes meal times likely ridiculous though they probably are attempting to be more circumspect when the other Doctor is around out of respect or embarrassment or something, the way most couples are more reserved around parental figures. Back to the point though, she's not sure what it means that he's watching her more carefully and it makes her a little nervous given the circumstances.

"Guess we'll just have to let the Universe fend for itself that day." She bites her bottom lip and sort of pulls it between her bottom teeth as she watches him from beneath her lashes, not looking directly at him but watching him none the less.

"Are you scared of me now? To be close to me? Because of the thing I did?"

It's really not that he's watching her because he's wary of more contact - he's a little buzzy from it still but slammed shields up out of instinct and if she isn't directing anything then nothing happens anyway. The watching is really more because he doesn't know what else to do, and wants something to focus on. She's the main person he sees right now as having been affected by the recent events, so she's the one he's going to observe for reactions more than anyone else. Hyperawareness tends to make people stay in the present instead of dwelling or turning inward anyway.

'It does so well with that normally, too.' It's a throwaway sort of statement, mostly, but that's just because it looks like she wants to say something else. e doesn't have too much of substance to mention right now anyway. The question might prompt something though. He looks down to where she's got her hand on his forearm and puts his other hand on top of hers.

'Little bit more wary of being an idiot maybe, but never scared.'

It's much better that he stays in the present rather than dwelling or turning inward. In that case, he should continue to watch her carefully. She doesn't mind really, as long as it's not for particularly bad reasons, like he's scared of her or overtly worried about her.

She turns her hand so that she can entwine her fingers with his.

"Wary of bein' an idiot's not a bad thing. Really didn't know it'd do that to you. Just sorta...thought you'd get the point."

Yeah she still feels guilty about nearly knocking him down with it and forcing him to throw his shields up out of instinct. She doesn't like when he's closed off from her in anyway. She's a little bratty like that.

'I don't think anyone's ever done it before. To me, anyway. Probably wouldn't have considered it myself.'

They're coming back down, but sort of in the way that cats try and climb back down things they've gotten themselves stuck up in. It's quite gradual and a little tentative despite what he said about not being worried or injured at all. A decent amount of auto-pilot thinking there was some sort of mind-invasion happening is to blame.

'There's you though, being the exception.'

'Least now we know I can do it? And I know not to do it. Sorta established a line not to cross."

Gradual and a little tentative is only natural really and he's not wrong about some sort of mind-invasion being to blame. Neither of them are aware of it. Though if he's honest with himself, it was bound to happen regardless. Honestly, given the way the other Doctor reacted to finding out about them, she's surprised it didn't happen sooner. She hesitantly scoots a little closer, still holding onto his hand and making certain not to direct any sorts of feelings toward him.

"Beginnin' to wonder if you're lettin' me be an exception." She says it teasingly, lightly, but it has occurred to her in a more serious sort of way. Not that she minds, not at all. There's just a difference between naturally being the one exception in all of time and space and him letting her be the one exception. They're both amazing. The first is just slightly more 'yes this is what I was meant for' affirming than the second.

'We do at that! Very well. Great power and responsibility and all that.'

It was, really. It just wasn't something he'd given any thought to. Too busy looking at everything else and enjoying what was happening to remember something that he didn't think would apply given that one of the parties involved doesn't have part of what would theoretically be needed in the first place.

She gets closer and mentions that at about the same time and the pair combined seems a little more pointed than they would have been otherwise. Letting her be the exception wasn't something he'd considered either. (Running into a lot of that tonight. Revelation evening all around.) He takes the opportunity to look down at their hands again. 'Maybe. Not sure how if I am.'

"So now m'a super hero?" She teases him lightly because it's still better than being somber.

There's nothing wrong with that. Most of the time there isn't going to be someone to come up and challenge that.

Maybe a little unconsciously pointed.It's one of those nights. They need them every now and then or they'd never be serious about anything. "That's okay. Long as it's true."

He laughs a little bit. 'As though that would be anything new.'

The levity, however slow, is welcome. It's probably a good thing it isn't just zooming back into things, because the whiplash that's already taken place is disorientating enough. But, too much more seriousness and things were likely not going to resolve all that nicely.

'Well it's not not true.' He's a bit too tired and sore to bother saying anything else at the moment. It's a lot of effort to be evasive and closed off.

Oh well that does it. She knows he's closing off now and she's not going to let it happen. She slides close so that there's not much space between them, legs all tangled up and the like, puts her hand against his cheek and leans in so that her forehead almost touches his.

"Doctor, you do love me and I am an exception. You can't close off with me. Not now. I know how you feel. I've felt it."

Sometimes a girl has to confront things like this head on.

Not totally expecting that. He doesn't pull back at all, but he wasn't quite expecting her to do that. In retrospect he's not sure why he wasn't, but for the moment, he looks levelly back at her until she finishes talking and for a couple of moments after, then closes his eyes for a few more. She's right, but then that's not really unexpected. He'd not been meaning to close off, really, it's just the default setting for everything at this point. Difficult to override.

'Yeah.' It's on the much quieter side - well, she's literally right in front of him anyway - and it's a few seconds later, but he looks at her again just afterward. 'Sorry. Reflex.'

She's glad he doesn't pull back. She might have started guessing herself if he had and really when Rose starts guessing herself with the Doctor, things end up a mess, more so than they started out. He's had a lot of years to develop the closing up default so she understands that he can't change it overnight. It's part of her on going project with him, not even so much for herself, but she thinks he should have someone he can trust, someone that he can let his defenses down with. Granted he's always going to have to maintain things to a degree because she's human but she hopes that one of these days he won't close up and pull away from her.

She shakes her head at his apology, fingertips ghosting lightly over the spot he was hit. "S'all right. Don't mind remindin' you every now and then."

She's the one watching him carefully now for signs that he's closing up and pulling away from her.

She's been doing a pretty good job with her project. Originally his reaction to someone trying to get him to stop closing up further would just be to do it even faster. So there's that, and then that the opening is happening more often on its own as well. Relatively slow going but she's managing quite well for changing a habit nearly a millennium in the making.

'That's good. That's probably something you'll need to continue not minding.'

He's not. For the moment. Every time he's done it during this conversation she's immediately been on him about it, and his learning curve isn't that terrible. There's not particularly a lot more opening happening right now, but definitely not any pulling back either.

She's very persistent and she worms her way in with smiles, hugs, soft touches and lots of silly conversation. She also expects a lot of him and expects that he'll live up to those expectations so he probably feels a bit badly when or if he doesn't.

"No worries there, Doctor. Not likely to change it anytime soon."

She knows her Doctor and the way he deals with these sorts of things. She also knows that he's harder to reach if she lets him retreat into himself. On the contrary, his learning curve is generally very good. At least as good as the rabbits and he doesn't require any actual bapping on the head. Usually.

"Come on, let's get some ice and go lay down in the room. Bit more comfortable than the kitchen. More private as well."

The other him might want tea or to wander about the flat. Might be better he didn't walk in on them . Not that they're doing anything wrong, just cozy.

She is very persistent. Amazingly so. He doesn't like disappointing people in general but obviously there is a 'particularly you' thing going on in this case.

Could she please tell Donna the bapping thing isn't necessary; not that Donna's been employing it really since their first meeting, but he's got a fairly good memory for it happening at all and he prefers when it doesn't. (Even if it does spectacularly get his attention.) The suggestion makes him look back over in the direction of the main room.

'Did you two already talk?' Not that he doesn't want to, or that it's a point he particularly wanted to make, but he's fully aware that he needed the conversation that just took place so the other probably does as well, and that it really wasn't that long after that she followed him in here.

It's a gift. Although really, she's probably more persistent with him than she is with most things. It's important with him. She can't afford to give up on him. She likes the 'particularly you' clause.

She'll work on it. Donna might not listen since she's...well...Donna. In fact, there very well could be retroactive bapping for this incident, not that Rose will tell her but it's Donna and she's got ways of finding out these things even if Rose doesn't tell her.

"Just a little on the roof." She bites her bottom lip. There's a slight stricken, guilty look on her face for a moment. She'd forgotten for just a moment that there was more than one Doctor here. "I--sorry. I should go talk to--I'll meet you our--the bedroom after?"

Yes that was an our just slipped out. It's how she thinks of the room now even if she's the one that occupies it 90% of the time.

If nothing else she'll almost definitely notice that somewhere between three and two of the three of them seem to be sporting lovely new temporary beauty marks and question them all until someone tells her what happens. I don't know which of them would do it first but her first reaction likely would be to find him and bap him for it, regardless of who told her.

He nods a little bit. He was really hoping that they'd either somehow gotten what needed saying taken care of or had made plans to talk later so that she wouldn't have to leave, but didn't really think either one of those was that likely. The question wasn't supposed to make her feel guilty at all though, which he probably ought to have considered beforehand. ''Course, yeah. Don't worry.' The 'our' would probably at just about any other time be commentable, but really right now doesn't seem particularly like a good moment for it. 'I'll meet you there.'

Good point. Rose is going to be hiding for a few days in any case. She's also going to look into make up with some good coverage. However, she's still fairly certain Donna will find out. Somehow. It's the power of Donna.

She very lightly kisses his bruised face and stands up. "I'll be back in a bit then."

[ooc: and Dove wants to just handwave the chit chat so s'up to you whether you want to pick up with them in the room or not from here.]

He would absolutely forget he had make-up on his face and wind up wiping or scratching it off by accident. It's much safer to just try and hide altogether.

He'll probably stand up with her, but stay in the kitchen for a little while to pick up the ice cubes he dropped on the floor and just sort of ruminate a bit before actually going back to the room.

[ooc: Yeah, I saw that. Iiii have nearly no idea what would happen but we can do that thing we tend to do where we try it and if it putters out we just drop it? idk how many things you have since you were going to tag into new stuff. /plurk stalker.]

After her pep talk with the other Doctor, Rose feeds the bunnies in their cages, brushes her teeth and washes her face in the bathroom then goes on into the bedroom, assuming the Doctor is waiting for her. She smiles at him when she steps inside, closing the door softly behind her.

"He's doin' all right."

She leans against the door, watching him for a moment.

[ooc: Plurk stalking is love and that works for me. Poly is dead right now with new posts and I always have time for more Rose. Demanding thing that she is.]

He's not very good at sitting still, particularly when even sort of waiting on something, and even more so when already in a state of agitation, so there's a handful of different things in progress. Granted, most of them were already in various states of progression, but he's bounced back and forth between them while she was gone. Lack of concentration in particular from all the activity and the headache it developed. He's sitting on the bed when she comes in, and looks up at her over his glasses from the thing in his lap.

'Good. That's good. Figured he would be, but...' At least, after a chat if he wasn't already. He's at a mild loss as to how to actually finish the sentence though, so he opts to start a new one instead. 'Are you?'

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