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The Doctor gaped at Rose, shock and horror welling within him and written on every inch of his face. He couldn’t quite credit what he was hearing. If it were true, he had been the victim of betrayal-most-foul.
“What did you say?”
“I said,” she explained, flipping a page of the magazine she was looking at, “I don’t like marshmallows in my hot chocolate.”
“But...I don’t…” he stammered, then rallied. “How could that be!?”
Rose shrugged, unconcerned by his distress. “I just don’t.”
“But Rose,” he tried to reason, coming to sit beside her on the jump seat. “Marshmallows are sweet little bits of heaven that float around in a sea of warm, delicious chocolate!”
“Very descriptive, Doctor. Well done.”
“It’s true!” he insisted.
She shrugged again, licking her finger (lucky finger) and flipping another page. “I think it’s gross.”
He stared at her for a few moments, nonplussed, then came to a resolution. He nodded in self-satisfied understanding. “Clearly you’ve never had it the right way.”
“No, that’s not it,” she said absently, still not looking at him, turning another page. “I had it every time it snowed when I was a kid. It was a tradition on Christmas Eve, too. We each had a mug, then left a mug out for Santa. I know well enough what I like and don’t like. I like the pouches - without the hard little marshmallows inside.”
The Doctor was stricken, his hand brought to his chest in abject consternation. “Oh, Rose Tyler,” he lamented. “The next thing you’re going to tell me is that you made your hot cocoa with boiling water.”
“Usually.”
The Doctor squawked in indignation - actually squawked. A manly squawk, but still...
Rose cracked a knowing smile at his expression. “What’s wrong, Doctor? You appear to be vexed.”
“You just… I can’t… Rose!” he finally managed, his eyes wide and shocked.
She blinked innocently. “What?”
“I should go have a talk with your mother. That’s...that’s...you don’t do that to someone you love!”
“Oi!” Rose sat up straight. “You sayin’ my mum didn’t love me?”
He crossed his arms. “Maybe she didn’t.”
“You take that back,” she growled. Rose’s brows formed a deep V between her eyes and he backed down, putting his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
“I’m just saying if she’d loved you the way you deserved, she’d have made your cocoa with milk.”
She tossed her head. “Milk was expensive.”
He felt about three inches tall. He forgot, sometimes, that she’d had a difficult upbringing and money had been anything but plentiful. They’d fought for everything and hot cocoa was probably a big treat - however she got it. But Rose didn’t like to talk overtly about growing up poor, so he changed the subject.
Rather, took it back where he meant for it to be.
The Doctor shook his head in disbelief. “So you don’t like marshmallows at all?”
“No,” Rose said, as if he was a simpleton. “I like them just fine other ways. Like in trail mix or roasted over a fire. They’re lovely that way...when they’re a little crispy on the outside but all gooey in the middle. Mmm. Love that. It’s just in hot chocolate that I find them gross.”
“Why do you hate love, Rose? Because that’s all this is: a refutation of love. Marshmallows in hot cocoa are love.”
Rose snorted a laugh at his indignation. “It’s just in my nature, I suppose.”
“Blimey.” The Doctor sagged against the back of the jumpseat and let his arms droop, looking off into space. “You think you know a person...”
She finally looked up from her magazine. “You sayin’ you don’t know me anymore?”
He sat back up, agitated and animated. “I thought I did! But this revelation, Rose Tyler... this revelation has rocked me to the very core of my being.”
“Overreacting a bit, are we?”
“Not a bit,” he huffed, then he clapped his hands in front of him once. “Right. That does it. I’m taking you to Laimen III.”
“What’s Laimen III?”
He didn’t look at her when he answered, just continued his little dance around the console. “They have the best marshmallows in the known universe, and I’m certain that you’ll love them in your hot chocolate.”
She rolled her eyes. “Good luck with that.”
“We’ll see.” He winked, pushing forward the lever that would take them into time and space.
Rose still seemed unimpressed. “Yeah. We’ll see.”
~*~O~*~
The Doctor had Rose try multiple types of marshmallows in her hot chocolate, always finishing her cup when she turned her nose up after one sip. Despite visiting two other planets after Laimen III that specialized in Christmas, cold, snowy weather, and chocolate beverages, Rose was steadfast in her dislike of marshmallows in hot chocolate.
She did discover, however, that she liked a healthy dollop of whipped cream on top of her cocoa, preferably with chocolate syrup drizzled over the top of it.
The Doctor was pleased with this. He was willing to compromise, after all. And the marshmallows in the TARDIS were henceforth used - entirely appropriately - as projectiles during the boring bits of films.