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Rose was dead asleep when it started. Just exhausted following a four-day trek in a hot, humid jungle in the middle of the planet Esperion, tracking down the stolen relic of the Anhu people that a wayward Time Agent had thought to use as a bargaining chip.
When everything was resolved, they headed back to the TARDIS and even the Doctor had looked tired. As Rose and Jack walked in the direction of their respective rooms, more than ready for a shower and a bed, the Doctor had only shrugged before disappearing below the console. He grumbled about electric discharge and frying cables, but Rose was too tired to care and just nodded, before following Jack.
She briefly wondered if the Doctor really slept, or if he had lied to her all those months before. Once she opened the door to her room, the question dissolved in her mind as suddenly as it appeared. A few hours later, as she was violently woken up by blaring alarms and smoke in her room, she briefly wondered that maybe she should have paid attention to what the Doctor said.
She fell off her bed, panic gripping her heart, and, without thinking, she sprinted out the door, instantly colliding with Jack, who, for some reason had his room right in front of hers. This worried Rose even more since his room was normally two corridors down and at least a hallway over. The situation was probably even more dire if the TARDIS felt the need to put them together.
“Are you okay?” shouted Jack, as alarms continued to blare loudly around them.
She nodded, trying to see through the smoke coming from her room. It took her almost a minute to realize that Jack was completely naked in front of her. Rose covered her eyes by reflex. She loved Jack, but she had seen enough of him to last a lifetime, thank you very much. “Oh my god Jack, where are your clothes??” She shouted back.
He had the decency to look sheepish. “I sleep in the nude. It’s not like I was expecting you to see it.” He knew the Doctor would have killed him otherwise. Or chucked him straight into a supernova. Speaking of the alien…
“We have to look for the Doctor!” Rose shouted, eyes firmly glued to the ceiling, like she had been reading his mind. Before he could respond, she ducked back into her room and he saw his life flash before his eyes for a second as he thought about explaining to the Doctor how he had let Rose succumb to smoke inhalation under his watch. Thankfully she was back only half a minute later, with a heart-shaped pillow in her hands.
She held it out for him, a meaningful look on her face, and so, with a wicked grin and a wink, he covered the most important part of himself. Jack found it incredibly hilarious that he was now the cover of bad romance novel, before turning to the direction of the console. He was stopped by a worried-looking Rose.
“The Doctor hasn’t appeared. We need to find him.” She said, her eyes darting in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go, her whole demeanor betraying how much she was worried. Jack didn’t want to tell her but the fact the Doctor hadn’t appeared next to Rose the second the alarms started blaring was worrisome. “We need to go to his room…” And she was right, their rooms seemed to be the central source, as the hallway was completely clear of any smoke.
“Problem. We don’t know where his room is. Do you think we can ask the TARDIS?” He started to put his hand on the wall -ready to plead if necessary- but Rose stopped him and started to drag him with a very resolute step, making sure he stayed behind her as the pillow was only covering so much.
He slowly started to smirk to himself, as he could see Rose’s ears getting redder under his scrutiny. “Rosie, are you telling me that you know where the Doctor sleeps? How scandalous of you!” He waited a second before adding with his most suggestive tone of voice. “Please tell me he sleeps in the nude.”
She snorted, her whole neck becoming as red as the t shirt she was wearing. If he was honest with himself -well, more in the far back of his mind, he wanted to live thank you very much- he had hoped some to find her wearing sort of lingerie or something. Alas, Rose Tyler was apparently a simple t-shirt and basketball shorts sleeper.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Jack.” She said in a smaller voice. “I only know where his room is because…well, a few weeks ago I had a very difficult time and…he didn’t let me out of his sight. When he decided to grab something from his room, I followed. Only time I’ve seen it, I swear.” It had been an exceptionally hard day with losing both her dad and the Doctor in 24 hours. The horrific nightmares she had following that day had the Doctor worried enough that he refused to let her sleep in her room alone for at least three days. She still didn’t know what was more confusing, the Doctor watching over her sleep, or waking up to him cussing up a storm because he nicked himself shaving.
“Aww let me dream, Rose!” Continued Jack, sagely deciding to not press the subject. “What do you think he sleeps in? A full set of armor? One of those nightshirts that conceal absolutely everything?”
“With a matching sleeping cap?” She sniffed at the image. Talk about anti-sexy. “Nah, I am sure he would sleep in his day clothes if that was the case. I don’t think he really sleeps. I’ve been with him for around nine months and never once even seen him even doze off.”
The conversation was interrupted by the sound of an alarm in the distance, combined with smoke coming under one of the doors at the far side of the corridor. They both ran as fast as they could, suddenly afraid that the Doctor was injured, or worse, inside. As they opened the door, the smoke was less intrusive than they were expecting, and the alarms blared, but not as loud as in Rose and Jacks bedrooms. More importantly, the room was empty of a certain Time Lord.
“He is probably in the console room already,” said Rose, relieved to see that nothing had happened to him. The bed in the far corner seemed to be a bit disrupted, so maybe he slept from time to time after all. She had been afraid when he has been nowhere in sight, but now she was pretty sure he was probably already deep inside the TARDIS, trying to resolve the issue elsewhere. It was the equivalent of the middle of the night from Earth perspective. Maybe he had hoped they would sleep through it? He had some interesting ideas about humans and sleep.
“So, back the other way?” Proposed Jack, sounding as relieved as her.
‘Yeah, let’s go.” She stopped him before he could take a step. “But please, for the love of everything, walk behind me. That pillow is not full coverage.” She waited a few seconds, pondering on something. “Also, I want it cleaned before you give it back to me. Who knows what you were up to ...”
He put one hand on his chest, in mock outrage. “You wound me, Rose! I would expect that from the Doctor, but you? You are just killing me dead.”
Rose laughed as they started to walk back. “Yeah right, Casanova. Let’s go, I am dead tired and I am not plannin’ on walking around all night. Especially now that it’s starting to get chilly.”
He looked down at the pink heart-shaped frilly pillow that was concealing his manhood. He had to admit, it was not the worst look he’d ever worn, but it wasn’t necessarily the best. He was also pretty sure that if the Doctor appeared right at that instant, he had maybe five seconds before he said goodbye to said manhood. They needed to speed up the pace.
“I wonder why the Doctor didn’t try to check on us.” He asked after a minute of silence. No wonder he got lost the first day, these corridors were neverending.
She shrugged, but he could see she was still worried. “He probably thought he could resolve the issue before we realized what was happening.”
She brightened when they started to hear an alarm blaring in the distance, this time fortunately with no smoke, and she started to walk faster. She knew it was irrational, but she was still worried by the fact she had not see him when the emergency started. Since they had been travelling together, he was always right next to her at each crisis. Not having him at her side was making her itchy.
As they approached the console, the alarms again so loud that not even a Time Lord could have heard them enter, she stopped so quickly that Jack collided with her with a grunt, almost losing the pillow in the process.
“Rose, warn a guy next time you decide to stop!” He grumbled as he readjusted himself. When he turned back to Rose, she was still as a statue. “Rose?” He asked, a bit of worry in voice. He turned his head, and followed her line of sight and he suddenly felt he had been hit with a baseball bat. Under the console was the Doctor, who had definitely not realized they were both in the room with him.
“I…am I dreaming?” He asked in a strangled voice. It was the only logical solution. That, or he had been slowly dying from smoke inhalation and some god had decided to do him a solid before snuffing him out permanently. Either way, he was weirdly ok with it.
Rose was too busy feeling her brain rebooting to respond outside of a choked moan.
The Doctor was laying down under the console, his usual armor of leather and jeans nowhere to be seen. Instead of the expected layers she had seen every day since he first told her to run, his lean and toned body was on full display in front of her eyes, with only tight black boxer briefs separating him from indecency. As she followed the line of hair disappearing into the waistband of his underwear, she felt her heart skip a beat. The weirdly calm and rational part of her brain was surprised on how fit he was for a man that size. She knew he was a runner, but imagining and seeing for herself were entirely different ballgames.
“Should we do something?” Asked Jack, his mouth directly next to her ear so she could hear above the alarms. The way he said that made her look at him askew.
“If you start to propose anything even remotely suggestive, I’ll be the one to throw you out of the airlock.” She responded back and he took a step back, his free hand in the air as a sign of placation. Thank god he didn’t use his second hand, because she was not sure she would have been responsible for her actions at that point. Her brain was probably a few seconds from exploding with that much of the Doctor in view.
But before he could defend himself, the alarms suddenly stopped ringing and it took a few seconds for Rose to realize that the Doctor was talking. She thought for a moment that he had finally noticed them, but he was still under the console, his face obscured by different cables. It took another second on her sleep-addled brain to registrer that he was not using English, as his words were melodic and higher-pitched than his normal voice. Like he was singing but in a distorted way.
She almost immediately recognized he was probably speaking to the TARDIS in his own language and she felt her eyes well up at the idea. She had asked him once to say a few words in Gallifreyan, but the distant look in his eyes broke her heart. He simply told her he didn’t see the point, now that it was a dead language. Then he had disappeared right away into the bowels of the TARDIS, only to emerge a few hours later. She never approached the subject again.
Now, hearing him speaking it to probably the only organic being in the universe capable of understanding him, but one who could never talk back, was heartbreaking.
She probably made an involuntary sound, or else it was Jack, because the Doctor jumped a foot in the air and bumped his head to the console, releasing another string of melodic sounds, very colorful words given how the TARDIS flashed for a second.
He jumped to his feet and turned abruptly, looking stunned to see them.
“Rose?” He said, still visibly surprised, before his eyebrows climbed to his hair when his eyes met those of Jack. “Jack?…Why are you naked?” He asked before his gaze flicked to the very colorful pink pillow he was still clutching with his hand. The Doctor’s blue eyes became steel. “And why are you using Rose’s pillow?” His voice was hard and inflexible and Jack suddenly imagined a very realistic image of himself being used as cannon fodder by a very irate Time Lord.
“When my room blared a very mauve alert and I was surrounded by smoke, I didn’t really had time to think about clothes, to be honest.” He shrugged. “It’s not like it’s a huge secret that I sleep naked. You would know if you visited me sometimes.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at the Doctor who slightly relaxed at the explanation. With that movement, Jack felt like breathing again.
The Doctor crossed his arms and Rose felt the sudden need to giggle hysterically. Or faint. She was still unsure. “That still doesn’t explain the pillow.” Added the Doctor, thankfully not realizing Rose predicament.
It was Jack’s turn to shrug. “Rose was apparently not very keen on seeing that much of me, so she offered me her pillow to cover up. And I aim to please.” He also conveniently forgot to add that Rose had run into her smoke-filled room to get it. He was just back into the Time Lord’s good graces and he didn’t fancy plunging back into potential death and suffering.
The Doctor snorted, leaning against one of the coral struts with a grace that was almost too much for Rose, who had the vivid impulse to fan herself. She realized she probably made a sound, and a face to match it, as the Doctor looked at her strangely.
“I am sorry!” She finally exclaimed, overwhelmed by the Time Lord, well, everything. “It’s just…Where are your clothes?” As soon as the words flew out of her mouth, she had the extreme urge to just jump out of the front door of the TARDIS. She could hear Jack’s loud snort behind her and she closed her eyes, hoping the ground would open and swallow her. Or else, wake up in her bed. She was not picky. When she opened them again, the Doctor had retreated back behind the console and was looking wildly embarrassed.
The Doctor’s face was the picture of miserable. “I am really sorry, Rose.” He said, his voice slightly wavering. “I was sleeping when the emergency started and I thought the malfunction only extended to my room…” He looked down at himself, blushing to the tips of his ears. “Sorry you had to see me like this.”
“Don’t be!” Rose and Jack said in unison, before looking at each other with surprise and delight. Well Jack was delighted. Rose felt more mortified than anything she said that out loud.
“If you walked around half-naked more often, I definitely wouldn’t object at all.” Continued on the ex-Time agent, as he felt instinctively that the situation could take a sharp turn if he didn’t alleviate the atmosphere right now. He also smiled luridly for good measure, making the Doctor roll his eyes.
“Ok, fun time is over.” Said the Doctor, still trying his best to blend with the console. “You can go back to bed, lots of stuff happening tomorrow.”
Rose took a step forward, curiosity written all over her face as she looked at the stream of cable all over the place. “So what happened? I thought the TARDIS was on fire for a while.” She turned to Jack for a second before remembering he was almost naked and moved back in her original position, much to Jack amusement. “She even moved Jack’s room right in front of mine. That’s not nothing.” She patted one of the walls. showing she was really worried for the Time Machine, making a bit of the uneasiness melt from the Doctor’s eyes. He was really so far gone for the blonde, Jack snorted internally.
The Doctor shuffled a bit, his hand scratching uneasily his neck. “I soldered the wrong cables together but I was too tired to realize my mistake, so when the TARDIS did go on resting mode, the redirection overloaded the atmospheric convertor and short circuited the protection system.” He grimaced. “I really thought it was only in my room as there are different systems running my quarters and the companion rooms. But apparently, I was wrong.”
Rose still looked worried. “But she is ok now, right? She isn’t suffering or anything?”
The Doctor visibly softened at her concerned words and Jack decided it was a good time for him to graciously bow out before they remembered he was there, and naked, and kill him for it.
“Yeah, a bit of polishing, some good soldering and a pit stop at some point soon at Cardiff and she’ll be good as new!” His goofy smile was so charming that Rose wanted nothing more than just jump into his arms for one of their celebratory ‘everybody lives!’ hugs. But then he moved once again and his naked torso was back in view, making her second guess herself. She didn’t want him to realize she had feelings for him.
“Ok, crazy kids!” Jack exclaimed, making them jump and dissipating the tension he could taste in the air. “That was fun and all, but uncle Jack is really tired and needs his beauty sleep!” He smiled tiredly and made sure he was walking backwards so no one could make a quip about the airlock again. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do - and see you tomorrow.” He waited a second before wiggling his eyebrows in the Doctor direction. “I would not be opposed to see that outfit come out more regularly.” He disappeared with a cackle before the Doctor had time to throw something. Or else for Rose to main him- she was surprisingly strong for what was considered a feeble species.
“I wonder if we should get him neutered, sometimes.” Mumbled the Doctor as he looked at anything but Rose, who was still somewhat in shock, rooted in place near the console entrance.
But it’s like Rose brain had a clear mind of her own, as instead of saying ‘good night and see you tomorrow’ she had expected to utter before running back to her room, instead It’s “I know you have ‘superior biology’ and all, but aren’t you cold?” That came out, surprising the Doctor as much as herself.
“What?” He said bewildered, looking down and hunching in on himself.
She had the distinct impression she probably said something offensive, but now she was on a roll. “With the amount of layers you wear everyday, I thought you were chilly, maybe? Especially how cold your skin is. But apparently not?” She had not intended to end this phrase as a question but her brain was too busy trying to not swoon at the vision to be really useful.
He shrugged. “Not cold, me. I just.” He seemed to debate something for almost a minute before he sighed, visibly resigned. Like he could not stop himself. “I get nightmares. You know…”
“Following the war?” She offered compassionately, taking a step in his direction, wanting to comfort him but unsure how.
He gave a sad smile, his eyes losing the twinkle that she was so used to seeing every day. “Yeah. I don’t sleep much, me, but when I do, the nightmares come. And I tend to lose control of…Well I overheat.” He shrugged again, trying to do humor but missing the mark by miles as she felt her heart break for him. “It’s ok, I am used to it. Now go to sleep, it’s probably the middle of…”
“You could sleep with me!” She blurted out, cutting him off like a shot. His face would have been comical if not for the fact she felt her own face aflame with the embarassment of her words. She closed her eyes, regretting waking up today. “Like…as a friend. Having someone with you can help, you know.” Rose could not bear to see his disgusted face at her suggestion and turned around, ready to run and disappear until everyone could pretend this moment had just been weird dreams for everyone involved. The Doctor anticipated her action, as a strong hand grabbed her own. She opened her eyes and was shocked to see the Doctor directly in front of her, his face gentle and a faint smile adorning his face.
“Do you really mean that?” He asked with a soft voice. She could see the nervousness on his face, the vulnerability visible in him. She realized with a start that the alien had been facing those moment alone for years, decades even. Maybe even centuries - and now she was offering a small respite to his battled scared mind. She knew she was not telepathic, but maybe a physical presence was what he needed, at least so he could feel less alone in those vulnerable moments.
It was her turn to shrug, trying for non-chalance. Yes, she was in love with him, but right now his comfort was what more important, even if it was just as his friend.
“Of course. Nobody deserves to be alone with their nightmares, Doctor. So, if me being next to you helps even a little bit. Why not?”
His whole body seemed to melt in on itself, the tension that was keeping him upright since they had appeared in the console room vanishing with each second.
“I thought…” He finally said after a few seconds. “I thought you would be disgusted to see me like this.”
Disgusted? She thought with shock. Does he not know how gorgeous he is? She had to physically restrain herself to not jump him. How could she be disgusted? Then she saw the shame in his eyes and her indignation gave way to sadness.
“I would never be disgusted with you, Doctor.” She said softly. ‘Let’s go to bed, yeah? I don’t know about you, but I am knackered.” She tugged on his hand and after a small grunt, he followed willingly.
And as they walked through the corridor in silence, the light seemed to dim around them, Rose’s only thought was that the real emergency was maybe not the one they thought. Maybe the TARDIS felt it was time for the Time Lord to be helped as well. And with one last secret smile to the ceiling, she pushed open her bedroom door, making sure the Doctor was following.
They’d be alright.
Even if she had to start meditating before bed if she wanted to survive an half naked Doctor in her room from time to time.