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Rose poked her head into the lounge. The sight before her was unusual, because how often did the Doctor actually sit still? But there he was, cross-legged on the floor, in front of the television, video game controller in hand. He had his new headset on, talking nonstop. That part wasn’t unusual at all. She leaned against the door, smirking.
“Well, I don’t know, Tony… if I dig over here and...oh, come on, don’t tell me you’ve already donated that fossil to the museum! You have to leave some for me to do! Besides, I like to talk to that owl. Rather nice chap. Reminds me of me.” He moved his little round-eyed, spiky haired avatar around the computer-generated beach,
chuckling with delight. “I think I’m gonna plant some hyacinths, once my house is built. Love a hyacinth. What flowers are you going to get?.... Tulips, nice choice.” He looked behind him, noticing Rose. “Might plant some roses. Those are the best of all the blooms, y’know.” The Doctor winked at her.
Rose grinned back. “M’glad you and my brother are playmates, I really am… but you promised to help me with my spring cleanin’. Maybe take a break?”
“Lemme shake the cherry tree… Okay, Tony, your sister’s making me clean the house.”
“Oi!” Rose laughed.
“He says your mother is makin’ him eat shepherd’s pie. I’m definitely getting the better end of the deal.”
“Shut up,” she chuckled.
The Doctor said goodbye to Tony, then he saved his game progress and quit. “I’m all yours, Rose.”
“Just to make myself clear, I do love that you and my brother are best friends,” she pointed out.
“Is it weird to have a crush on your best friend’s sister?” the Doctor smirked, getting up from the television.
Rose laughed, “Not in this case.” He strode across the room to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and snogging her thoroughly. When they surfaced for air, she said, “Looks like you’re havin’ fun.”
“Oh, we are! Lovin’ it! I was never really into video games… well, I was there when Pac-Man was developed. They would’ve had pears in the game, if it wasn’t for my intervention.”
“Aren’t there pears in this game?” Rose asked.
“I have Tony shake all the pear trees so I don't have to.” He shuddered with revulsion. “That’s the only thing that keeps me from giving this game a four star rating.”
Rose chuckled fondly. “Well, I’m glad it’s a mostly good game.”
“Oh, solid three and three quarters stars. Eh, pears… three and a half. But regardless of that, you know why I like it?”
Rose had wondered about that. She wasn’t interested in video gaming at all, and she was frankly surprised the Doctor was. He was more inclined to take electronic things apart. And with that thought, she realized she was happier about his newly- found addiction than she’d originally thought. “I might have a suspicion,” she told him. He cocked his expressive left eyebrow. “You like the travelin’. We’re stuck here on earth, and it’s a way for you to go other places. Until we can travel time and space again, your companion is my little brother and you island hop together.”
The Doctor was silent for several seconds, ruminating on her words. After a bit, she wondered if she’d misread the situation. Then he spoke. “Erm… well…” He tugged at his ear. “What did you need help with?”
She frowned at his attempt to change the subject. “Movin’ the sofa.” With a sigh, she realized that she wasn’t all that surprised about his deflection.
“Why would we need to do that?” he asked, eyeing the large piece of furniture.
“Haven’t looked behind it since I moved in here ages ago.”
“On the TARDIS, things don’t end up behind furniture unless they're supposed to be there. Er… except for that one time. That was bad.”
“Invading aliens? Lemme guess… alien bugs.”
“ Pears, ” he said gravely. “I don’t want to get into it.” With no further explanation, he helped her scoot the large sofa away from the wall. After a few minutes of working, he murmured, “You aren’t wrong. About the game, that is... Bit pathetic, eh?”
Rose paused plugging in the hoover. “Not at all! First of all, nothin’ you do is pathetic! You have some downtime while the TARDIS is in this growing-stasis-thingy she’s in right now. Why not do a little virtual travelin.’” He grinned, then kissed her gently. “And you’re not takin’ the microwave apart again, so it’s a win for me.”
“I made it work better,” he argued.
“It melted all my plastic containers. And they weren’t even in the microwave at the time.” She came around the sofa to embrace him again. “Seriously, though… if playing a game helps you take a mental break, go for it. No judgement here. I took up knitting while I waited for the dimension cannon to work. Helped me get out of my own head.”
“Ooh, I used to know how to knit. I wonder if I still do! At any rate… I promise, we’ll get out there again, someday. I suspect the staid period is nearly over. I’ve recorded 2 centimeters of new growth, and before too long she’ll start singing. Immaturely, of course, but she’ll be ready to bond with us shortly thereafter. The shatterfry unit Donna thought up was brilliant and I am certain it cut our wait time down to a couple of years…”
She silenced his ramble with her finger on his lips. “I know we will. I believe in you.” His answering smile could have lit the room. “And in the meantime we’ll work and live and play games and knit… and shag…”
“Oh, yes,” he enthused.
“And have Sunday roasts with Mum…” She chuckled, having thrown that in just to see the slightly disgusted look on his face. She wasn’t disappointed. “...and before we know it, the new horizons we see will be on planets you haven’t seen with those eyes.”
“And it will be fantastic,” the Doctor proclaimed.