Work Text:
The Doctor opened the doors to the TARDIS and stepped out, on to the soil of a new world. He wasn’t paying attention to that however, as he was looking behind his shoulder, talking to Rose.
“And, so you see, it’s rather quite brilliant, Rose because--”
He was cut off as he turned his head, facing forward, to see where he was going, and got hit in the face. He was shocked and the sudden feeling of muck on his skin. It appeared that something, with the consistency of whipped cream, had been thrown at him. He scraped it off, while Rose was doubled over, laughing at him. He turned to look at her, with a pout, took the blue cream that he had wiped from his face, and rubbed it in her hair.
“Oi, I just washed that!” she shrieked.
Rose tried to look angry at him, however they both just started laughing hysterically again.
They stepped outside of the TARDIS, fully now, taking in the chaos around them. It wasn’t the the usual life threatening chaos they often faced, but the fun excitement-filled kind. Shrieks of laughter filled the air, smiles blossomed the faces of the locals, as they all ran around chasing one another, flinging coloured cream and powders everywhere.
“Ohhh, we’ve landed during the Klytoon’s annual love festival. They all make up these coloured creams and powders, then they throw it at each other, decorating the planet with it in the process. Wellll, at least until the rain washes it away. It’s great fun. A time to let loose with loved ones, brilliant, molto bene! It's all safe, doesn't sting your eyes. Aaand, it’s edible if you accidently ingest it. So, what’d you say, Rose Tyler, wanna--”
The Doctor cut himself short when he spun around to see Rose was no longer there.
“Rose?”
He turned again. There she was. A few feet away, joining in with the locals. The Doctor grinned brightly at the sight.
She was a picture of beauty, all multicoloured, head thrown back laughing. The Doctor ran over to a woman, who was giving out fabric bags filled with the cream, and then to a man selling coloured powder; also getting covered in mess in the process. Once he had the bags of coloured cream and powder the Doctor ran over to Rose. He snuck up behind her, lifted her up and poured some of the cream on her, as she shrieked and laughed loudly. He soon put her down, took a handful of powder and blew it at her. It went in her face, causing her to sneeze. He could see the powder glitter and sparkle in her eyelashes as she blinked. Beautiful.
They carried on in the festivities for a further three hours, until most of the locals had gone home. Rose had assumed it was because they were worn out. The doctor knew, however, that the custom was for lovers to go home and - ahem - partake in more grown up activities. A lot of the children were left outside, still playing, leaving their families in peace for the more adult celebrations.
“Look at all these kiddies runnin’ around,” Rose stated. “Isn't it dangerous? no one's watching ‘em.”
“Nah, it's fine. I know they look human, but it's a completely different culture. Leaving children alone at a young age is the done thing here.”
The Doctor sniffed and noticed a delicious scent wafting through the air.
“Oh, look! A bake sale!” he pointed to a stall, where two little ones were selling, or rather giving away, cakes and pastries.
“I’ll go get us some, yeah?”
Rose wandered off, towards the stall, leaving the doctor to look around at the multicoloured streets. He heard a clap of thunder and looked up as the first drop of rain fell and rolled down his nose.
“Excuse me.”
He felt a small hand tug at his coat, so looked down to see a little girl. The Doctor bent down to her level.
“Hello,” he greeted her, brightly.
The tot handed him a red rose.
“For your lady love.”
She then skipped off, down the street.
“She’s not my--” the Doctor began to call after her, “oh, who am I kidding?”
He placed the rose in his coat pocket, to give to Rose later. It’d be safe enough in there. Unlikely to get crushed, what with all the bigger-on-the-inside space.
The Doctor turned around, seeing Rose. The rain dripped and cascaded down her. It made the colours run, spreading further, staining her clothes with memories. Memories of this. Memories of them. Memories of rain. She looked stunning, or so the Doctor thought. Her hair was darkened from the damp, her skin shining. She wore a broad smile, filled with pride and something else - something the Doctor could just about recognise. He knew it well as it was a look he wore often, at least, when he was around his Rose. Yet, he dare not hope she felt the same, despite what the look in her eyes - the depths of her soul - whispered to him across the street. The Doctor swallowed loudly, his throat suddenly dry. He needed to remind himself to breathe.
Rose came back to him, practically dancing from all the giddy, unbridled, happiness that was left, hanging around in the atmosphere.
“Look what I found!” she practically shouted, bubbling with excitement. “Cakes with jam in the middle, aaand banana frosting on top!”
“Oh, Rose Tyler, that is brilliant!”
She handed the Doctor his cupcake, filled with a small sense of pride for knowing him so well. Instead of wolfing down his food, as he usually did, he watched Rose take a bite out of hers. Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was because it had been a long time coming. All the Doctor knew was, in that moment, it just felt right. He watched as Rose swallowed her mouthful. He dropped his cake to the floor, leant in and kissed her, licking away the traces of frosting left behind on her lips.
The Doctor pulled back slowly, eyes still closed. He was still so close to her, holding her at the waist with one hand, the other wrapped in her damp strands of hair. He could feel her radiating heat against him. When he did finally open his eyes he noticed that Rose’s own were dark.
“Sorry about your shoe,” she breathed against his lips.
“What?”
His brow creased in confusion. Looking down he could see that there, splattered on his shoe, was rose’s forgotten cupcake. He simply laughed.
“The rain will wash it away,” he took a deep breath, suddenly unsure of himself. “Rose, can I?”
The Doctor tilted his head to the left, his lips barely grazing hers.
“Yes.”
And then he kissed her again, not stopping until the rain died down and all the children had ran home. He didn’t know how long it had been exactly. That was the thing about Rose Tyler, she made him forget that time existed. When they were together, they were timeless.