Scotland's Mist

Chapter 25

Luckily the Doctor's time sense was completely back to normal, and he could tell how long he had been working on his new sonic.  Rose had looped her arms around his neck and was leaning over his shoulder to watch him.  Any lookings-on from the Master would make it appear as though Rose were still trying to seduce him.

However, she was just watching.  Looking at him tinker had unlocked a sense of curiosity that overrode the air, so the Master had probably stopped pumping it in.  She asked him low questions though, that could've been seen as sweet nothings or something.  Either way it was holding anything bad at bay. 

The Doctor was able to start molding the thin metal he had cut, taking care to not cut his hands.  The Gallifreyan writing was sentient, he knew, and so he whispered long, melodious words to it as he tucked the pieces of paper into the rolled metal. 

Rose seemed to catch on to the fact that she was supposed to be loving on him enough that it wasn't obvious what they were doing, and occasionally she would lean and bite his neck or catch him for a kiss.  From the outside it simply looked as though the Doctor was hiding from her, trying to restrain himself.

The tricky part of building the new sonic was cutting a balled piece of metal thin enough to be the top.  He thanked every deity he could think of for the papers that could read through it, understand what he wanted. 

They sat in that uncomfortable position, the Doctor squatting with Rose slung over him, for about three and a half hours.  His legs started to shake at the precarious stance, and when he had finally shaved the metal sheer enough with the boxcutter, he breathed a long sigh of relief.  He nimbly molded it into a dome and covered the body of the sonic with it.  He slid it into the drawer of the nightstand and stood up, taking Rose with him.

He stretched his legs out and pulled Rose to him in a hug.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and shifted her ear closer to his mouth.  He smiled at her intuition.

"We've got to let the sonic breathe," he murmured against her ear.  "It's got to grow.  Give it about five hours.  Fancy a nap?"

Rose nodded.  "I think we should snog first, just so he knows we're still interested."

The Doctor chuckled and pushed her away only to pull her up against him to kiss her.  She hummed contentedly and wrapped her arms around his neck and hauled him completely flush against her.  He locked his forearms behind her, getting her as close as was possible.

Eventually he pulled away and pressed a kiss to her forehead.  "Think some of that air's still going through you?"

She reached up a hand to ruffle his hair fondly.  "Probably."

He grinned at her and she immediately went to shimmy out of her jeans.

"Rose!" He hissed loudly, averting his gaze.

"Doctor, I can't sleep in my jeans," Rose replied patiently.  "You might want to get down to your shirtsleeves, yourself."

The Doctor was a little frustrated that she had a point.  He pulled off his coat and jacket before maneuvering his tie out from under his collar.  He draped them over the bedside table and looked over to see Rose already under the covers.

"Had to protect your honor," she said cheekily, winking at him.

He blushed and toed his shoes off.  "Well, thanks for that," he mumbled before crawling into bed next to her.

She immediately curled into him, resting her head against his chest and wrapping her arm around his waist.  He only let himself linger on the thought that she wasn't wearing trousers for a few moments before returning her embrace and cuddling her back. 

He closed his eyes, hoping to get some natural rest.  And as he listened to the steady beat of Rose's hearts and her gentle breaths, he smiled and was able to drift off.

***

Rose awoke several hours later, and was shocked to find that she could calculate it exactly.  Each moment with her eyes closed she could catalog, figure everything. 

She sat up, almost knocking the Doctor's chin.  She looked down at his sweet sleeping face and smiled a little to herself.  She leaned down and brushed her lips across his, and as she felt him start to wake up, she pressed her mouth down harder over  his. 

He wrapped his arm around her waist and stroked up her back, a loving caress.  He pulled away from her to gaze up into her face.  He moved his hand from her back to cup her face.  "That's a good way to wake up," he said breezily, his voice rough with sleep.

She smiled and ducked down to capture his lips briefly again.  "We've slept for four hours and fifty eight minutes," she said, sounding quite pleased with herself.

The Doctor's face slowly lit up until his smile completely reached his eyes.  He shot up and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly.  "You've got your time sense!" He said excitedly.  "That's brilliant, Rose!"

She smiled at his approval.  "Sonic," she whispered in his ear. 

He nodded and pulled back to kiss her fiercely before springing out of bed to replace the rest of his clothes.  "Right then!" He said excitedly.  "Get your trousers on, Rose Tyler!"

She giggled and climbed out of bed herself before pulling on her jeans and shoes.  Turning to him, she saw him tie his tie at lightening speed and throw his jacket and coat on.  He held his hand out for Rose and she rounded the side of the bed to take his hand.

The Doctor opened the bedside drawer and snagged the sonic.  He ran his thumb over part of the metal and heard it buzz a familiar sound. 

Without saying anything, he pulled Rose towards the door. "Coming to see you, old friend!" He shouted at the ceiling.  He buzzed the sonic over the doorknob and the bar across the door.  The bar popped off and the doorknob pushed out from its cave, and the Doctor flung the door open before throwing a manic grin Rose's way.  "Run!"