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When Rose woke up on that first morning aboard the TARDIS, she was immediately confused.
Her room was absolutely lovely. The walls were smooth and pale pink, with a white chair rail and white bead board below it. She was snuggled into a plush beige duvet with shiny iridescent threads woven into a lovely floral pattern that complemented the walls. It was gorgeous. Looking up, she saw that the pink walls morphed seamlessly into the TARDIS coral above her head. It was like nothing she'd ever seen.
It confused her because when Rose had gone to bed, it had been in a perfectly serviceable, plain guest room with coral walls and all the round things. (The Doctor had muttered that he hadn't had time to figure out what the round things were yet when he showed her to her room, immediately after complaining about apes and their sleep cycles.)
Maybe she'd sleepwalked. Or he moved her, which was a more than a bit disturbing.
Rose propped herself up on her elbow and looked around. Immediately her eyes were drawn to the pile of clothes on the floor, which hadn't changed. The hoodie and jeans she'd dropped on the floor next to her trainers also hadn't changed.
So, unless he'd moved her, or she moved herself and replaced her clothes on an identical floor just the way she'd dropped them, the room had changed itself. Oddly enough, (or perhaps not so oddly after taking a trip to the end of the world and meeting Charles Dickens) it seemed as plausible a reason as any for the interior design change. She had no idea why or how the ship could have done it, but that explanation felt right.
Also, her stomach was growling. She thought she'd better get up and do something about it. It occurred to her that she didn't know where the kitchen, or galley, (whatever the Doctor called it), was located. Rose hoped it was close, she was hungry and didn't really want to wander all of the relative dimensions in space to find food.
After throwing her clothes back on she stepped out into the corridor. The Doctor was nowhere in sight, and no other doors appeared to be along the corridor. She wasn't quite sure which way to go.
At least, until a light blinked on at the end of the corridor on the left. “Doctor?” Rose called out. She received no answer. She crept toward the light cautiously, still unsure of what to expect on this strange place. She began to move a little faster when lights behind her started going out in a wave, as if they were pushing her toward the corridor. She began to wonder of the Doctor was playing a game with her. Lights were going dark behind her. She jogged toward the lighted corridor.
Once she entered it, she smelled the scent of bacon frying and her stomach growled again.
Rose stepped up to a door and opened it cautiously. On the other side was a fully equipped kitchen. It was small and utilitarian, but still more posh than the one in her mother’s flat.
It smelled of bacon frying on the stove and toast and coffee. She dashed over to the stove and flipped the bacon before it had a chance to burn.
“Wasn't gonna burn. Was here the whole time, me. And the old girl wouldn't have let it anyway.” The Doctor’s voice startled her. He'd stepped out of a pantry she hadn't noticed.
“S’startin’ to scorch,” Rose disagreed. “And what old girl? I didn't see anyone else on board. You might not want to call her that, by the way.”
“The ‘old girl’ is my TARDIS, and she's older than me. She's not offended.”
“The ship? The ship was cooking for you?” Rose looked around at the coral wall, confused.
“Nope, not for me. She fixed this for you. Very domestic of her.” He glanced up at the ceiling, as if disgruntled it. “She must like you. Normally I have to fend for m’self.”
Rose followed his gaze upward. “Thanks,” she murmured hesitantly. “Is she...readin’ my mind? M’still not sure how I feel about that...” She began to wonder if the TARDIS had turned off the lights to shepherd her toward the kitchen.
“She likes you. She doesn't intend to make you uncomfortable.” the Doctor repeated. “She's a sentient ship, and she's apparently decided to keep Rose Tyler as happy as possible.”
Rose smiled, her tongue poking out. “She's a smart ship, then,” she said with a laugh. “Thank you.” The thought of her room crossed Rose’s mind. “Would that be why I went to sleep in a plain guest room and woke up with pink walls and the nicest duvet I've ever wrapped up in?”
The Doctor’s brow furrowed. “Your room’s changed?”
“Believe it's what I just said. Not that I'm complaining. S’lovely. Just a bit surprising, that's all,” Rose replied. “You looked a bit surprised,” she chuckled, smirking. “Hand me a couple of plates, would ya please? Ta.”
The Doctor muttered something about domestics under his breath but handed her two plates anyway. Rose quickly served up hot, sizzling bacon on the plates the Doctor offered her.
******
Rose and the Doctor tucked into breakfast, and he tried to explain how the TARDIS liked to get up to mischief, and how she occasionally switched rooms around so he had to search for them. He still had no explanation for the room change. He was slightly relieved when she finally excused herself to go shower. The domestic situation in which he was finding himself was starting to be a bit too...domestic.
“And you,” he addressed the room at large. “Y’never did that for anyone else on the first night. What gives?”
He was enveloped by a warm wave of affection from his time ship.
“Think you like her better than me,” he groused. He sensed that the TARDIS was laughing at him. “Maybe you better change it back, Old Girl. Can't have her gettin’ too comfortable around here. Won't be too long before I scare her off.” He sighed, looking down at his boots.
The TARDIS admonished him sharply, he could feel it. The subject was closed. She wouldn't be changing Rose’s room back any time soon.
The Doctor sensed a shimmer in the air. Looking up, he saw that the TARDIS had decided to create a window with cheery morning sunlight and crisp yellow and blue curtains over the sink. There was a clock on the adjacent wall now, one of those old fashioned clocks shaped like a cat with a swinging tail. It appeared as though the TARDIS was sticking out a metaphorical tongue at him.
“Oh, now, come on! Seriously?”
The TARDIS was clearly amused. The Doctor sensed that this was just the beginning of many changes on his time ship. He had the distinct impression that it was completely out of his
control.
Eventually it became clear that his suspicions were correct.
******
As time went on, there were indeed more changes. The library became cozier and friendlier with a comfy couch and Rose’s wooly tartan blanket. Foam covered the railing in the console room, for safety’s sake.
The kitchen took on the appearance of something out of an English stone cottage, very homey and throughly domestic. The Doctor was besotted enough by that point to bite his tongue when Jackie gifted him with a knitted tea cosy, much to Jack and Rose’s amusement.
The pool grew a heated cabana with a large chaise lounge made for two. The Doctor was slightly fearful of what that could lead to. However, he made sure, (particularly when Jack joined the crew) that everyone knew the seat next to Rose was his. Jack didn't seem to mind, though, giving them a knowing smile when the Doctor claimed his spot.
However, the biggest changes were still to come.
*****
On the morning (or whatever, time was relative on the TARDIS) after Rose had become a Bad Wolf to rescue her Doctor from the Daleks, Rose’s room changed once again.
Instead of pink and white and frilly, Rose woke to a room with deep blue walls. The bed was king sized, four poster. The duvet from her former room, grown in size, covered her. It was perfectly suited for a room which seemed to now be a combination of the man and woman sharing it. Her dressing table was still by the ensuite door, mirror still covered in pictures of her and the Doctor and Jack. Her makeup cluttered the top, just the same way she'd left it. The Doctor’s dresser was next to it. It was littered with metal gears and wires on which to perform some jiggery-pokery, just as it had been when he'd left it there.
Her trainers and his boots were by the wingback chair, and his jumper and jacket were thrown haphazardly across the seat. Her clothes lay in messy piles on the floor, except for her knickers. She had no idea where those had gone.
Rose couldn't remember much of what happened after she opened the heart of the TARDIS. She remembered power, and pain, and a kiss. She recalled nothing after that until she regained consciousness. The Doctor lay unconscious next to her and before she could fully panic, he began to swim up slowly from the depths.
Rose could hear distant singing in her mind, and the first words out of his mouth were “I heard the song.” They stared at each other, eyes wide, unable to process what had happened. Rose had felt another wave of panic as the Doctor closed his eyes again. “No, s’okay,” he whispered. He opened his eyes, sighing, and gazed at Rose.
The next thing she knew, she was being reeled in for another kiss. A much different, much more desperate one than the kiss she could barely recall.
That was what lead to her awakening in this newly decorated room. The room wasn't the only change.
The Doctor was spooned up behind her, his bare skin delightfully cool against hers. He was waking up, pulling her closer, kissing her neck. She turned over in his arms, wanting to look him in the eyes.
The love she saw there took her breath away.
*******
The Doctor gazed into Rose’s eyes and for once, he didn't question whether he deserved the love he saw in them. It simply was.
He couldn't recall what happened after he kissed away the time vortex in Rose, other than excruciating pain and a burning sensation. He expected regeneration was imminent. He had lost consciousness immediately thereafter.
No one was more surprised that he when he stayed the same. And no one was more surprised than Rose when what he had finally allowed to happen what he'd wanted for so long (perhaps as long as “there’s me,” certainly by that breakfast that first day in the kitchen).
He had no explanation for it. He was still in the dark about why he hadn't been consumed in regeneration. Why Rose was still alive, or even what the Bad Wolf power had been. That was a question for another time.
The Doctor was clever, though, clever enough to know he needed to hold onto Rose Tyler. She'd already saved him so many times.
As he settled over her, wrapped in her arms as closely as they could be, he kissed her deeply. The Doctor, who had scoffed at domestics so many times, was happy to wake in the arms of the woman he loved. He could sense the TARDIS’ approval.
****
The TARDIS had repaired herself swiftly after Rose's intrusion. She loved Rose deeply, so she could forgive. Together they'd saved their Doctor. She was willing to give her Wolf anything she had desired, and all Rose’s wishes were granted. As were the Doctor’s. Her Thief and her Wolf were finally properly together, and change was imminent.
Their time ship couldn't have been more pleased.