| Date: 12 January 2008
Characters: The Tenth Doctor, Rowan Tyler Location: the park Link to IJ: thread #33472 |
 Rowan curled his toes, stretched out in the sun in a park near the hotel. He was soaking up the sun, eyes closed and sleepy. "If I fall asleep, wake me up, okay then?" he said, without opening his eyes, sensing someone over him. |
 The Doctor (all spiffy in his new brown pinstripe suit) looked down at the young man with a raised eyebrow. There was something vaguely familiar about him."Why? What're you afraid you'll miss?" |
| "Anything? Everything. There's always something to miss." |
| "Not a lot round here, though. I mean really. Nothing really happening here at all." |
| "I sorta like it," Rowan opened his eyes, "It's relaxing, Doctor." |
| "Oh yeah," the Doctor agreed happily, sticking his hands in his trouser pockets and rocking back on his heels. He squinted down at the young man. "Sorry, do I know you?" |
| "Pretty soon? I'm going to cry." He shook his head, "I'm Rose from another universe, if you know Rose." |
| "Yeah, I know Rose." The Doctor smiled fondly. "Nice to meet you, not Rose. Well, I assume you're not called Rose? Bit of a girly name for a bloke." |
| "Rowan," he leaned up on his elbows to shake with the other hand. |
| The Doctor flopped down to the grass next to him and shook his hand enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you, Rowan. Mind if I join you? I like this park. Seem to meet interesting people here." |
| "The sunshine's nice," Rowan said agreeably, "When is it for you?" |
| "Just regenerated. I was going to take Rose home for Christmas, but when I stepped out of the TARDIS, I stepped out into this place instead. What about you? Assuming you have a similar timeline, of course?" |
| "Pretty close. So you're still barking mad and exhausted then." |
| "Hey!" The Doctor looked offended. "A little bouncy, maybe, but not barking! And the exhaustion didn't last long. A couple of very nice cups of tea and a good long sleep took care of that. And I've been making the most of this place to have myself a little rest." |
| "You needed it," he nodded, studying the Doctor, "The tea thing was the key." |
| "Oh, definitely! I was lucky Jack just happened to be around when I arrived - you do have a Jack in your universe? - and he got me the tea, and the bed, actually!" And there was no way he was letting on that Jack had had to carry him to the bed. "And after that I was fine!" |
| "Jack's lovely that way," he agreed. |
| "He's great," the Doctor agreed cheerfully, and smirked a little bit as he thought about the second Jack he'd met here. That reminded him about the first Jack, though, and what he'd caused by leaving him behind. "I wish I'd behaved better to him," he said softly, to himself. |
| "When?" Rowan asked softly. |
| Somehow it was easier to admit it to Rowan than it would have been to Rose. The Doctor turned his head and looked at Rowan. "After she brought him back to life. Did you do that too?" |
| He nodded, "All the way back. I didn't know until later. Much, much later." |
| "When?" He wasn't actually planning on telling Rose what she'd done. She'd be horrified. |
| "Here," he admitted. "Actually." |
| The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "You ran into Jack? One of him, anyway?" |
| "I talked to Rose. Someone had told her." |
| "Oh! Was she all right? Er - are you all right?" |
| "We are. Her because she didn't believe it." |
| "Oh. I think I'd better try and find her at some point, have a talk with her. Haven't run into her yet. Well, haven't run into many people yet, truth be told, been too busy enjoying resting up. Oh, and clothes shopping with Susan." He gestured down at his new outfit. "What do you think?" Well, he would have asked Rose for fashion advice. Probably. |
| "I like the shoes," he said thoughtfully. |
| "Thank you!" The Doctor preened a bit. Then frowned. "But not the rest of it, right?" He wagged a finger at Rowan. "And be careful how you answer. My granddaughter helped me choose this." |
| "Your pardon?" |
| The Doctor looked confused. "I thought when someone asked you how they looked and you just singled out one thing to say you liked, that meant you didn't like the rest of it? Or am I getting mixed up?" He waved a hand dismissively. "Oh well, don't worry about it. Tell me who else you've run into here. I want to know who to look out for!" |
| "No, I mean. Your granddaughter?" |
| "Oh. Susan. She's from a very, very long time ago. A long, long time before I met you - er - Rose. She's... here." |
| "Sweet girl? Short dark hair?" |
| The Doctor beamed. "That's her. Lovely girl. Bit strong-minded, but... that does tend to run in the family." |
| "No kidding," he rolled his eyes. |
| The Doctor grinned. "It's nice to know so much is the same in your universe! I wonder how you turned out to be a boy instead of a girl. That's sort of unusual." He raised his eyebrows as a thought occurred to him. "You have a Mickey in your world?" |
| "Micki, yeah? My girlfriend." |
| He snorted. He couldn't help it. |
| "What?" |
| "Mickey's a girl?" |
| "...Well, yeah." |
| He giggled. "I'm sorry. I know it's not that funny, really, but... Is he pretty, as a girl?" |
| "....Is he pretty as a boy?" |
| "No." |
| "He's pretty as a girl. I mean. You disagreed." |
| "Oh. I'm sorry," he said, a bit awkwardly. "You still with him, I mean her?" |
| Rowan smiled, "No, I was a bastard with her. She's with Jake." |
| He frowned. "I don't think I know a Jake. A Jack, yes, but not a Jake." |
| "...Complicated," he half-smiled. "Go with that. You'll meet him." |
| "Will I? Oh, that's all right then." The Doctor lay back, flat on the grass, and squinted up at the sky. "How much further in the timeline are you from? You don't look much older than Rose." |
| "About two years, roughly." |
| "Really? Oh, well, it's nice to know you're still all right in another two years!" |
| "And so are you," Rowan smiled. |
| "Oh, right, yes, that's nice to know too," the Doctor acknowledged. He sighed, and closed his eyes against the brightness of the sky. "Though I'd be quite happy staying here for the next two years, really. 'Specially since Rose is here too. And Jack. We could all just have a nice quiet long holiday together and no-one would have to get killed or left behind or anything." |
| "Wouldn't you get bored though?" |
| The Doctor grinned, without opening his eyes. "'Course I would. Don't think I've ever stayed anywhere that long. Not by choice, anyway." |
| "Not by choice?" |
| "Er - I spent a few years stuck on Earth in the &)s, things like that. Not to mention a horribly long time stuck on Gallifrey before I was old enough to leave it. Remember how eager you were to go and see the universe, once you knew it was out there? It was like that, only for a lot longer." |
| He laughed, "You just like people." |
| "Yeah," he said lazily, rolling the word around his mouth. And that was about as much opening up as a Doctor could do in one session. He sat up abruptly. "Well, Rowan Tyler, it was very nice to meet you." He frowned. "I think I said that already. Ah well. It was! And I hope you find your Doctor here too." |
| "Me too," he said softly, then waved, "bye, Doctor." |
| The Doctor leaned over and brushed his lips lightly over Rowan's cheek. "Bye, Rowan," he smiled. And then he was up and away, looking for more adventure. |