Chapter Text
First Fall Foliage by paperlessprinter
Summary: Now that the adrenaline of Rose's first day on the TARDIS has finally worn off, it's time for the Doctor to show her to her room and plan a surprise. Written for the TARDIS Ficathon on Tumblr.
Rating: All Ages
Categories: Ninth Doctor
Characters: Rose Tyler
Genres: Fluff
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2013.05.31
Updated: 2013.05.31
First Fall Foliage by paperlessprinter
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
In 900 years, the Doctor had never had chips as good as what he just ate. Rose had led him through the throngs of Saturday afternoon shoppers. She said she knew a place that she frequented. He didn't question her as they passed a few larger stands with crowds of tourists. Instead they stopped in front of a little hole in the wall with a greasy looking sign sticking out of an alleyway.
Both of them were feeling rather subdued. It had been a long day.
The events on Platform One had taken a lot out of the Doctor, but somehow admitting to Rose that he was the last of his kind had taken even more. He stood at the console, leaning into it more than usual. He felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. Across from him, Rose quickly stifled a yawn. She slumped in the jump seat.
"Tired?"
Rose nodded. "Dunno why though. It's barely what, 6?"
"Yeah about." It was 5:54 and 37 seconds. 38. The Doctor didn't answer with the exact time. He had been around humans long enough to know they preferred to round whenever possible. "When was the last time you slept?"
Rose fell silent as she tried to figure it out. Instead she yawned. "We left on a..."
"Thursday. And it's-"
"Saturday. Blimey I haven't been up this long since that one time in school when I was trying to cram for my Maths GSCE and..." She shook her head and slid off the jump seat. With a loud groan she raised her arms above her head and stretched. Her shirt, which usually hugged the top of her jeans, rose a couple of inches, revealing a belly button and the beginnings of sculpted hips.
Not that the Doctor noticed. He looked intently at the console screen as Rose came down from her stretch.
"Would you like to see your room?" he said.
"My room? You mean there's a room just for me?"
The Doctor looked up at her and flashed a grin. "Of course you have a room. Did you think we slept here?"
"Well." Rose slowly spun around. Then she slid up to the Doctor. "Do you have a room?"
The Doctor pushed a button or two before answering. "I've got loads of rooms. There's the library, the swimming pool, the squash courts, oh and wait until you see the observatory! Best views of the galaxy." He flicked another switch on the console. "But come on, I'll show you to your room." He lead her down the ramp that was opposite the door and into the corridors.
The maze of the TARDIS was home to him, but it was Rose’s first time, so he walked slower than usual. There were several winding turns he needed to take to get Rose to her room.
"How do you keep track of where you're going?" Rose asked after the sixth left.
The Doctor tapped his temple. "I've got a map in here." They approached yet another intersection so he stopped to point to the corner. There were a few small pictures with arrows going in different directions. "These help. Just follow the signs. There's the console room, library, one of the kitchens. She'll help you get where you want to go..." The Doctor trailed off.
"She?"
"The TARDIS."
"Uh huh," Rose yawned. Which was a good excuse as any to hurry up.
The corridor was just like any of the other corridors he had led her down, but he stopped in front of a plain looking wooden door. This one was painted a slight shade of pink. He knew before opening the door that it was Rose's room. The TARDIS had set it up for her already. He grinned to himself. That was rather quick. She wanted to make sure he had someone with him.
"Here you go." He opened the door and let her go in first.
He was surprised at how much pink there was. A bright pink quilt covered the bed, the walls were the same shade of light pink as the door was and there even was a shag rug.
Rose sank onto the bed and looked around.
"Alright?" He leaned against the doorframe.
"Yeah, it's fine. Reminds me of home. Where's the closest bathroom?"
The Doctor pointed to door further in the room. "Should be an ensuite. Everything you need." He paused, shifted. "Well, goodnight."
"Goodnight. What about yourself?"
"Oh, I'll be alright."
The Doctor ducked out of her room and closed the door. He started walking without really caring where he ended up. His feet and his ship led him eventually to his workshop.
His workshop was a mess of a room, mainly because he hadn't felt like cleaning in ages. Projects that he had started and long since abandoned lay scattered about: an internal combustion engine that he had tried to build from scratch when he had the idea of building himself another car, various sonic screwdriver prototypes he had come up with before settling on the final design. He spent more time here than in his bedroom. This room was more his than the one he occasionally slept in.
As he had led Rose through the corridors of the TARDIS to show her to her room, he could sense a wave of confusion from her. He didn't even need to be slightly telepathic to notice it. She had held his hand tightly and walked instep with him rather than behind. She kept looking around, trying to keep track of all the twists and turns that they had taken. For him walking the TARDIS was second nature - he could do it blindfolded - but for Rose...
The Doctor had an idea. He wanted to show Rose more of his ship but he didn't want to overwhelm her. He hoped she would get used to living and traveling with him. Near the center of his workshop was a computer terminal that he could use to access the TARDIS systems without going all the way back to the console room. He brought up the holographic schematic and zoomed in on where Rose was. A static, steady dot signified her most likely sleeping in her room. The Doctor zoomed out slightly and made a note of what rooms were near Rose's right now.
Occasionally he would rearrange sections of the ship, or the TARDIS would do it herself. But with all the years the Doctor had spent traveling with his old girl, he had never gotten lost transversing her corridors. He always had a mental map of where he was within his ship. His companions weren't so lucky.
One room caught the Doctor's eye. The arboretum. Rose would hopefully love that -- a living forest within a space ship. He grabbed the room and moved it closer to Rose's within the schematic. Any changes he made to the hologram would be saved and the TARDIS would make the corresponding changes herself.
He held off on making any more changes for now, figuring the grand tour of the ship could wait. Instead, The Doctor searched high and low for some parchment, finally finding some Gallifreyan stationary beneath one of the books he had taken from the library and forgotten to re-shelve.
Clearing off some space on his desk, the Doctor scribbled a quick note to Rose, making sure to write clear directions for her to follow to get to the arboretum. He glanced at the schematic once or twice, counting the doors Rose would pass to get to her destination. There wasn't really anything interesting that she'd be missing, except maybe the swimming pool that had found itself in the same corridor, but that was for the tour later on. He signed the note and folded it in half.
The Doctor stopped by in one of the many kitchens on his way to Rose's room. He found an old picnic basket in a cupboard and started to raid the fridge, packing all sorts of snacks and breads and cheeses. He wondered if wine would be a bit much, then decided to hide a bottle in the bottom of the basket just in case.
The basket was probably overly full by the time the Doctor left the kitchen, but he didn't care. It wasn't as heavy as it looked; after the last time he’d used it, he’d made it bigger on the inside. The red wine bottle was safely at the bottom of the basket buried beneath a picnic blanket and many things to snack on.
As he approached Rose's room he slowed, put the basket down on the ground, and quietly put his ear against the door. He could not hear anything behind the wood. She was still asleep. Quickly he slipped his note beneath the door and made his way to the arboretum.
He didn't often visit. Really only once in a blue moon when the mood struck him, or when he had insomnia and would roam the ship. With all the wonders in the galaxy he could visit, it was hard to be wowed by a forest inside a ship. Hopefully Rose would like the idea of having a picnic beneath the rainbow of red and yellow leaves.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
This story archived at http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=50657