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.

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And yet, it's one of those things he keeps constantly running into with his companions. Coincidence? Probably not, Doctor. You wouldn't have anything to do if your companions listened and heeded.

Now see, if he told her that, there'd be no chance of ever being anything except blonde and yes, man in a suit would be infinitely more helpful however it's not one of those things she automatically jumps to when she thinks about him. The great hair and the tall both take precedent over the suit. She'll have to work on giving a more general description of him, one that the average by-stander would recognise.

"Complicated game of hide and seek, yeah?"

The introduction of this idea will end well.

It's clearly because he's just got a face nobody listens to rather than any sort of being-wrong on his part. Or possibly it's a defining human racial characteristic to require learning absolutely everything through personal experience rather than being able to gain knowledge second-hand. Although, yes, the constant having to rescue companions does account for quite a bit of his usual schedule.

Has he not? He'd assumed it was inherent in the telling her she was beautiful; which come to think of it might have itself been somewhat inherent in the telling her she was brilliant... Grow up in a culture of people who change their face a dozen times, commenting on individual beauty might fall a little by the wayside. And also he's just very crap about assuming things are apparent or understood through actions.

'Professional hide and seek. Challenging hide and seek. The sort of hide and seek where you actually get to use all of your physical senses instead of just the basic five.'

Yes, totally.

And the face before this one was the same kind of face, despite being a very different face. Right. Of course. Although, really the defining characteristic might be true as well.

She's a young human woman in love with someone she is often absolutely in awe of. It's one of those things that she's never going to completely get on some level probably, even as she gets more confident both in herself and in them as a couple. She does like when he compliments her, regardless of whether it's by telling her she's brilliant or beautiful. It makes her preen a bit. That kind of culture really isn't so bad. Most of the time, she gets the apparent and the understood through actions sorts of things. He's quite lucky in that respect because she does know.

Sometimes he forgets, she only has the five but she'll gladly indulge his other ones while flying blindly with her five. "Yeah? Ought to get a game goin' sometime."

Already put it on the list. She will make the rules up as they go since she's the one at the disadvantage.

Very lucky in that respect. He seems to consistently run across people who, while perhaps not always having the best self-confidence or esteem, still manage to not require constant verbal reassurance. He's all for the being there and the actions, mostly because it makes more sense personally. He's constantly looking up to make sure she's watching before he does something impressive or starts talking in earnest about something interesting. But yes, very much quite lucky.

Someday he'll show her how to be more aware of the minor senses she's got that most humans don't consider senses. There's not a whole lot to be done about not noticing most of them - there's a reason most people don't consider them as such - but maybe a little. For the most part it is just forgetting you're not how everybody who looks like you is sometimes.

'Yeah, we should. Proper, full city game. Hide anywhere. Bit of a small playing field, but we're both very clever.' At this point, he's mostly just resting his hands on her leg, having gotten to both of them in fairly equal measures. Also his hands are a little tired and one's sore from beating himself up, and no I will not get tired of pronoun fun.

That is just cheating off the get-go, even if he does have unfair natural advantages.

It took her a little while to realise what those things meant but eventually she worked out that it's the Doctor's version of a note passed in class: Do you like me, check yes or no. Noticing all of those things was obviously checking yes.

She'd apply herself to those lessons as much as she does all of the things he teaches her which is to say, she'd learn fairly well. Not that she'd ever be any competition for him in hide and seek but she'd get better.

Just resting his hands on her leg is allowed, encouraged even. She's just glad he's touching her instead of shying away or closing up. She'd really like to ice that hand. She reaches out to pick up one of his hands in hers, rubbing at the knuckles lightly.

"Ought to be fun for a coupla hours at least. Might even find something new in the City."

Psh that's what makes it interesting. He's going to cheat to find her when---never mind. Suffice to say the cheating on both sides will be beneficial.

Effectively, yeah. A very roundabout way of being very direct. Which just entirely seems to sum the pair of them up in several different little ways.

Well she's the closest interesting thing and quite touchable anyway to boot. This body is very much about the tactile in nearly every form, for all its intellectualism and ethereal/ephemeral/effervescent thought processes. He looks down to watch her take his hand and continues watching for a few more moments afterward.

'Bonus points if it's dangerous. And we offend it by accident. Extra bonus points if it's dangerous, inanimate, and we offend it by accident.'

I have the feeling they have quite a bit of mutually beneficial but playful cheating in various places for various reasons.

It's appropriate for them and really, as long as it works fairly well for them, there's no sense in changing it. Although the bit where he let her feel what he's feeling did go a very long way toward making her feel more secure in his emotions where she's concerned.

She really likes that he's so tactile as well. It's made an impact on nearly every aspect of her life as well. She's turned into someone who's entirely too touchy for most people, not inappropriately touchy just...touchy, hands on arms and running across shoulders or down lapels. She wears fabrics that are more tactile: satin, particularly soft cottons and wools, lace, that sort of thing.

"Extra extra bonus points if we end up runnin'." She bites her bottom lip, watching him as she massages his hand, probably not as effectively as he did her feet and legs. "What we usin' our points for?"

Good point and agreed.

Yeah, if he ever picks up on precisely how helpful that actually was, there's a decent chance he'll try and do it a bit more regularly. Like he's recharging her awareness as to how he actually feels about her, periodically.

That's one of the few things he does enjoy about her working at Cinna's shop. Some of her clothes are so soft or slick or just sheer fun to slide his fingers across now. It's brilliant.

He blinks. 'Not sure. What do you want to use them for? Hadn't thought that far ahead.' Maybe not as effectively but he still appreciates it.

She'd appreciate it simply because affirmation is nice. And fair is fair, he gets a good dose of her feelings on a regular basis. Replaces the 'I love yous' quite well; better really when she thinks about it. I love comes with a memory of a cold beach and the worst day of her life. Getting a dose of his feelings brings exactly the opposite because the memory of the first time he shared that with her is one of the best days of her life.

She does bring home some brilliant things in amazing fabrics working for him. There are times she would swear she's functioning as Cinna's life-sized Barbie doll but she can't bring herself to complain. Also, she'd be lying if she said she didn't pick her clothes with the Doctor's tactile nature in mind.

Well she has to think about that one. "Most points gets out of dish duty for a week?"

Edited 2012-01-11 18:46 (UTC)

That'll work out well once he works out that he ought to do it a little more often, since somehow the mind sharing is much easier and natural than saying the words. That whole thing about the words being too breakable, like they'll hit the air and stay there for a moment and everything's okay, and then suddenly they fall and crumble and shatter and what was the point in saying them when it was obvious anyway.

Best not ever tell him she feels like Cinna's Barbie doll. He probably hangs around and bothers the poor man enough as it is.

'That's a bit... high stakes.' There is a very considering look on his face. 'Done.'

Maybe at some point she'll suggest it or ask why he hasn't or some sort of awkward discussion that will prompt the whole discussion and suggestion. She understands about the words. People lie with words. They can't lie with their feelings.

Oooh jealous, Doctor? She's pretty sure Cinna doesn't look at her that way. Besides, it's obvious to everyone that she's absolutely head over heels for the Doctor.

"Yeah. A bit." So much taunting grinning going on here. She knows she's probably going to end up doing dishes for a week.

Only to themselves.

He probably doesn't but that means fairly little when you're jealous. They've been doing quite well at not noticing things that seem obvious to nearly everybody else when it comes to each other so far; why ruin a near perfect record?

The best part is that whichever one offends or first runs into whatever this thing is, is a bit more likely to be injured and wind up not having to do the dishes anyway. 'So you like playing dangerous games then, do you? It sounds like the perfect time to cook whatever it is I can think of that uses all the pots and pans.' All.. maybe four of them. They can't have accumulated that many yet. Although, Christmas supper. Maybe a bit more.

And not very good at that. There's always that itch in the back of the mind that lets them know they're lying.

Hmmm good point. Jealousy isn't the most rational of emotions. In this case, the near perfect record should probably stay.

Hadn't thought about that but yes. It's hard to make injured people do chores around the house. You end up feeling a bit guilty. She elbows him lightly, teasingly. "Oi! Already countin' me out. Know what happens when you do that, yeah?"

Yes but probably far from a full set at this point; so yes, enough to make a mess but not enough to be truly horrible.

She's going to get a very playful reaction to that.

'Yes. Things go according to plan.'

They're not ever actually allowed to have a full set. It's far too domestic. Any time they start getting close to one, he'll suddenly 'need' to borrow some of the things for something he's making, since they're quick conductors of heat, or because he doesn't see the need to go get another when there's one right there anyway and then cunningly it will just never be returned to its proper purpose. Or it will melt because it wasn't made to the standards he was expecting.

She likes the playful reaction though. She smirks and sticks her chin out a bit.

"Fine. Go ahead. Underestimates me. I'll get sticky jam on the dishes you're gonna have to do."

That works for her because she doesn't cook. As long as they've got a tea kettle, she's happy with their cookware. She might wonder why he's melting pots though.

He leans toward her a bit, over where she's got his hand in hers. 'I like sticky jam.'

Not on dishes, obviously, because he doesn't like congealed sticky jam, but in general, yes, he does, and also there is a generic challenge-slash-oh-baby thing to be had there.

Well he's not melting them on purpose. They're supposed to be made to comply with Myaeriae Health and Safety standards, and it's not his fault the only ones here only comply with the Earth's odd system of making the individual manufacturers their own gauges of quality.

She smirks and rolls her eyes. "Nope, not sharin' my sticky jam." Because somehow it's now about sticky jam in general than jam on dishes.

It's a nice challenge-slash-oh-baby thing. He's right to pick up on it and run with it.

Shoddy Earth craftmanship.

Definitely not pouting. And then triumph. 'You can't hide it anywhere that I can't find it. I'm not worried. I'll have my sticky jam yet.'

Amazing Earthlings made it into space at all, as a whole, really, that level of quality.

"Then I'll just have to use it all." Sticking her tongue out at him now.

Hey now. She thinks she ought to take offense there.

'Hey now, that's just... Rude. Which is my job. No encroaching on my job.'

Of course not. It's not their fault. They've got to start somewhere, anyway.

She tilts her head back a bit and laughs. "Right. Sorry but sometimes a girl's just got to play dirty."

Well. Slight mollification.

'Well, you start eating all the jam and that'll probably be pretty easy.'

They are the current reigning champions of mildly-insult-then-slightly-mollify. They do it to one another just this side of frequently.

"End up spendin' all my time in the bath gettin' the sticky off. You'd be bored outta your mind."

It's true. They really do. It works for them though.

'And I wouldn't have any jam. This is increasingly a no-win scenario.'

It does. They're lucky. Good sort of bantering.

Rose ponders that dramatically for a moment before she sighs. "Guess I'll have to come up with somethin' else to get you back for underestimatin' me."

Excellent sort of bantering.

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am-i-being-rude.livejournal.com - 2012-01-14 19:58 (UTC) - Expand

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