The Green Soul

Chapter 26

Rose woke up with a Time Lord using her as a pillow.  Somehow, in their sleep, they'd maneuvered so that he was completely curled around her side, his arm wrapped around her waist and head in the space between her shoulder and his chest.  Her arm had worked its way up around his shoulders, her face turned into his hair.  She grinned at the domesticity of it.

The Doctor hummed in the back of his throat and stretched, and Rose assumed that was his way of telling her he was awake.  She lifted her hand and ran her fingers though his hair in response.  She felt him smile against her skin and press a kiss to her collarbone.

"Good morning," she said, her voice groggy.

He shifted up so he was eyelevel with her on the pillows and stroked the backs of his fingers along her jaw.  "That it is."

Rose giggled and shoved at his chest.  "That's very cheesy."

"That's alright, isn't it?" The Doctor asked worriedly, his eyebrows drawing together.  "The cheese?"

She cupped his cheek softly and looked up at him, making it very clear that she was going to assuage his fears.  "It's you.  It's good."

He responded with a whoosh of a sigh and kissed her.  She responded eagerly until he pulled away from her suddenly and groaned, rolling onto his back.  "We need to get up or we... Will never get up."

She had to laugh because she knew he was right.  "Okay, let's get up and get rid of this thing."

The Doctor agreed enthusiastically and picked out a green dress for her to wear and, while grumbling, laced her into a corset.  The two of them were prepared in no time and headed down the stairs before Matthew could come up and fetch them.  

She liked how it felt, her arm tucked through his, properly belonging to him for the first time as they got down to the dining room, Marie and Ben already waiting down there for them.

"Are you feeling well?" Marie blurted out, pushing all formalities to the side, standing up to grab Rose's hands in her own.

Rose smiled in return and gave her hands a squeeze.  "Yes, I am.  I think I just needed some rest.  I apologize for my behavior yesterday, it was... Rash."

"You were under much stress," Ben said comfortingly.  "Come, sit, and eat, we can sort this out after breakfast."

Rose was hit again with how kind these people were.  Certainly, she hadn't behaved with decorum yesterday, and she was vaguely surprised that they wanted to keep them around.  She wasn't exactly a typical housewife, beating up on her husband.  Luckily, they'd not seen the bruise, thanks to the Doctor's superior biology.

They discussed Marie and Ben's life instead, and Rose really did try to not be bored out of her mind.  They lived such simple lives, and they liked it.  She supposed it was because they didn't know anything else.  All she knew was that occasionally they would look over at each other and seem so in love that her heart almost ached. 

She glanced over at the Doctor as Ben spoke of his (very boring) job, and found him already watching her, a soft smile on his face.  She snuck her hand under the table to squeeze his knee and his smile towards her widened before going back to his plate. 

"What are your plans to rid us of the Entity, Doctor?" Ben asked at the first opportunity to change the topic.

The Doctor didn't seem to be expecting that question.  He took a long gulp of water and lifted a shoulder.  "The plan is to trap it, and Rose and I can set it free."

"Where are you going to take it?" Marie asked worriedly, "Will it be alright?"

Rose nodded.  "We'll take it somewhere where it can be-" She cut a glance at the Doctor, "Secluded.  Someplace safe for it and everyone else in the world.  It'll be alright."

"But it will be alone, and that is exactly what it does not want," Ben pointed out.

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The plan was not to tell Marie and Ben exactly what was going on, to say that they were taking off to another world to deposit the Entity back to its home planet, and it was probably on Earth by accident.  He cleared his throat, "There may be another species, or another Entity, that it may be compatible with.  Rose and I will stop at nothing to find it."

"You are a very noble pair," Marie said, smiling at them.  Rose could tell, probably a bit more so than the Doctor, that she really did mean that.  If only she knew what they were really up to.  She would probably think them far less noble and far more stupid.

"Yes," Ben agreed with his wife.  "We cannot thank you enough for what you are doing here."

"It's our pleasure," Rose replied, before the Doctor could say something stupid.  

A moment later she promptly tried not to jump as the Doctor's hand landed on her knee.  She turned to look at him but he was not looking at her, playing it casual.

Oh.

The Doctor moved his thumb in a circular motion on her knee.  Didn't he see that she was trying to have an adult conversation and he was really, really not helping? 

Of course, he seemed to have adult intentions of his own, but nothing involving the universe saving that they had come here for to begin with.  Ignoring to urge to lean over and snog him within an inch of his life, she smiled.  "You're very kind to let us stay on here as we do our research."

"You are kind to help us," Ben replied, raising his eyebrows.  "You were not required to do so."

The Doctor's hand moved slightly up Rose's thigh and her eye twitched in response.

"Absolutely."

Oh, and there he was, sitting cockily in his seat and smiling and not even looking at her.  If they finished this today, the snogging-within-the-inch-of-his-life was going to become a reality.  She shifted slightly.  "Well, I think we'll be ready whenever the two of you are."

Ben checked a pocket watch that was attached to his waistcoat with a chain.  "Ah, yes, well, we can begin now, if Rose is feeling rested."

Rose nodded.  "Yes, I'm feeling fine."

"Alright, then," The Doctor said, grinning, running his hand all the way up her leg before clapping his hands and standing up.  "Let's start."

Rose shivered and watched as Ben and Marie stood up and started to lead the way towards the family room. 

Rose stood up and grabbed the Doctor's collar.  "You need to stop," she hissed at him.

"Why?" He threw her a crooked grin.  "Can't control yourself?"

She blushed furiously.  She lunched forward and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before following after them, a smiling Doctor trailing along behind her.