Chapter Text
Rose wiggled awake in her bed, sighing as she stretched out her arms. She and the doctor had decided to land on some random planet for a rest day. She smiled to herself as some thunder rumbled outside, she had missed those storms back home. Even if it wasn't typical rain, the familiar thunk on the roof, and growl of thunder that rumbled under your feet, were close enough.
She stood and immediately set out for the doctor, she knew he had a fascination for thunder storms. And, she wouldn't mind putting on a raincoat and trudging through some mud puddles.
However, he wasn't in the control room. Rose was about to call out when the Tardis beeped somewhere behind her. Rose thanked her silently, and followed the various beeps and whistles, leading her to a small room.
She heard a sniffle and pushed the door open. The doctor jumped, pulling his hand away from his mouth, where he was chewing on his nails. Rose raised an eyebrow.
"Doctor? Are you ok?" She stepped closer, making him shuffle back. He sniffled again, tears falling down his cheeks. "M'fine Rose, I'm jus, m'fine." He ran his hand up and down his chest, in a, rather rough, soothing motion.
Rose shifted on her feet, she had never seen the doctor like this, and she couldn't do much without knowing what's wrong. "Doctor, you can talk to me. I promise, I won't judge you." She crouched down, not moving closer, but getting down to his level.
He pulled his legs to his chest. "You won't understand." He hiccuped. It was pretty obvious, to Rose at least, that he wanted to be comforted, he was just scared. She smiled softly.
"Tell me." She used a soft but firm voice, one that told him he was safe, but that she couldn't help him without knowing why he's sad. He wrapped his arms around his legs, making him look even smaller.
"I do this thing, where my brain makes me feel," He struggled for words. "Younger, like I'm not grown-up anymore." He pulled his hand up to his mouth to nibble on his nails some more. "I'm scared, of the thunder." He looked up at her, his owlish eyes were so full of fear. Rose's heart just broke.
"Oh, oh that's age regression." She smiled when he perked up a bit. She stumble on her words anxiously, "I, I do that too." She locked eyes with him, for a moment, time seemed to stop.
He nibbled at his thumb again. "M'sorry." He mumbled around the finger between his teeth. Rose shuffled forward, this time the doctor stayed where he was. "Oh doctor, don't be sorry. You can't help it, I understand." She reached her arms out, inviting him to a hug.
He immediately threw himself into her arms. She squeezed him, and ruffled his already messy hair. "How can I help? Unfortunately I can't stop the rain." She scratched his scalp, just like her mum used to do when she was upset.
He just whined, and snuggled closer to her. Rose fist pumped mentally, due to the physical affection. However, she'd have to fully celebrate later, she had a scared timelord to take care of for now.
"Well," She breathed. "How bout you tell me how old you feel right now?" She kept running her nails along his scalp, noting that his hair was quite soft.
The doctor buried his head into Rose's neck, and held up four fingers. Rose nodded, she could do that. "Alright, four then. Now, I need you to tell me how I can help." She moved her hand down to scratch up and down the doctors back.
The doctor wiggled, then raised a hand to his ears, mimicking a turning motion around them. Rose realized quickly that he was probably non-verbal.
"Do you need headphones? Or music?" She silently prayed that her assumption was correct, she wasn't too good at charades. Luckily, he nodded furiously into Rose's neck.
She let out a breath. "Is it ok if I use speakers? I'm not sure I have headphones." Of course, if he needed headphones, she'd turn the Tardis upside down looking for them. But, he just nodded again, and shifted out of her arms so she could locate the cds he had stored.
She pulled out the box, and shifted around in search of some good music. She eventually pulled out David Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' album, and held it up, raising her eyebrows. The doctor nodded, looking a little less scared.
She popped the cd into the player, which Rose suspected didn't originally come with the tardis, and skipped ahead to 'Starman'. It was a particular favorite of the doctors.
As the guitar began, Rose walked over to the doctor. Who already looked more comfortable. Again, she crouched down to reach the timelords level. "Alright, would you like to snuggle? It's alright if not, but, you seemed to like it earlier." She smiled again, trying to comfort him.
"Yeah, I'd like that." It surprised Rose to hear him speak, but she hoped it meant he felt at least a wee bit better. "Alright then," She looked around the room to find a mattress, not unlike the one in her room. "Is there ok?" She pointed over to the mattress, that had a collection of pillows and raggedy stuffed animals.
"Mhm, thank you." He wiggled his way over to Rose. She scooped him up bridal style and stood, he was surprisingly light. It was a short walk to the mattress, but he still snuggled up close.
When she toed the mattress with her sock, she lowered the doctor down pulling the blanket that had been in a basket nearby over him. She sat next to him and flattened herself into a laying position, waiting for him to cuddle up in her arms.
It didn't take long, he wiggled over and buried his head into the crook of her neck, tickling her with his soft breaths. Rose smiled, muttering under her breath; 'hey that's far out, so you heard him too' she felt the doctor smile against her skin.
"How're you feeling? Better?" She moved her hand up to his head again, moving her nails in a circular motion. He mumbled, but it was a definite confirmation. She smiled again, continuing to mutter along to the music.
After a few minutes, the song had changed, leaving the room in silence. Of course, as 'luck' would have it, a particularly loud Crack of thunder rang through the room. Causing the doctor to jump and snuggle in closer to Rose.
"Hey, hey, it's alright." She squeezed him close, hoping she was actually helping. "Sort of silly, huh? I mean, why does the sky tell us when there'll be lighting?" She was almost thinking out loud, but if she made the thunder seem less intense, maybe it'll help.
"Prolly to warn bout the lighting, I wouldn't wan' get struck." He looked up at her, this time he popped most of his thumb into his mouth. Rose giggled, "Seems you always gotta know things." She smiled absent-mindedly. "That's one thing I always liked about you, you have an answer for everything." She moved her head down to look into his eyes.
He smiled. "Thank you." He whispered, Rose really hoped this wouldn't be the last time she could take care of him like this. "Don't mention it, really." She scratched at his shoulder. "I know you'd do the same for me." A little fear gnawed at the back of her mind. Would the doctor pretend this never happened after, would he drop her home?
She pushed it to the very far end of her mind, mentally praying that she was being dramatic. The doctor stirred, bringing Rose out of her mind. She looked down to find him trying to stifle a yawn.
"Hey, are you tired?" She pat his head, making him look up at her. "You'll stay? Please?" He mumbled, his eyes were barely staying open. Rose made a mental note to remember that. "Of course, I might fall asleep though." His yawn made her realize how tired she was. "You'll wake me up if you need me?" She pat his head again.
He nodded, setting his head back down into the crook of his neck. Rose smiled to herself, continuing to mutter under her breath;
'And lady Stardust sang his songs, of darkness and disgrace.'