Dang, this was a long one
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He was seething. Absolutely seething. As if it wasn't bad enough already. First the tiger, then the coat and now him. Oh, perhaps I should explain a bit further.
The Doctor and Rose were both at a glamourous ball, with sparkling dresses, mysterious masks and wondrous music. They had entered together, only to get separated when Ten had to get non-toxic drinks. He had searched for Rose and ended up finding her with some humanoid alien. He had been watching the two for the past fifteen minutes; glaring, narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth. He hated to admit it, but he may or may not have felt a tiny winy, teensy weensy bit jealous. Tiny bit, yeah.
Ten's frown nearly brought down his whole face as he saw the alien's slimy hand cup Rose's elbow. This whole jealous phase started this morning, with a fierce opponent. Of course, he wasn't really jealous. Just a little protective. Or at least, that's what he told himself. A tiger. He had to compete with a tiger for Rose. There's something you don't see everyday. But maybe you should at least know about it, for a little giggle session.
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The Doctor grinned. He had found the perfect place for their next destination. A planet with hospitable people, great weather conditions and a grand celebration just around the corner. Of course, the banana caverns only added to the pleasantries. He knew they had been exhausted for quite some time now so he decided to have a break. Of course, everytime that happened, they still had to run and rescue.
'But this time is different.' He whistled, walking down the corridor. 'This time, it will be good.' He grinned again when he pictured Rose's smiling face, blonde hair twirling in the wind... He shook his head, slightly alarmed at how easily distracted he was becoming. Anyways, it was time for her to get up already; he opened the door to her room, carefree.
Ten froze, seeing Rose's sleeping figure; but that wasn't why he froze. He had seen her asleep lots of times: on his shoulder, on his lap, in the library, on the couch, in the kitchen, at Jackie's - Wait, he was getting side-tracked again. No, he had become a Doc-sicle because of what was sleeping with her. She was hugging it.... tightly. Like she really loved it. Like it was the most precious thing ever. Like she would never let go. Ever.
'Of course, lots of humans had stuffed animals.' A rational voice reasoned in his head.
'But not many at Rose's age.' Another voice debated. 'And not holding it like that.'
'So what? It's jut a toy. Probably to help her sleep.' Rational argued.
'If it's just a toy, then why freeze when seeing her hug it? Why have this debate at all?' The other voice had won, even though it did Ten no good. He simply stood there, observing Rose's smile as she snuggled the tiger plushie, sighing in content. When he saw her hug the tiger, bringing it to her neck, his eyes darkened.
Roughly, Ten shook his head. The Doctor, trying to kill a stuffed animal? How preposterous, how ridiculous, how.... 100% true. Slowly, he crept forward, tiptoeing to the Tyler (Say that ten times fast). He lightly poked her cheek, feeling giddy when he saw her grin in her sleep. He poked again, only to feel murderous when she pulled the tiger closer to her, squeezing it. Ten sneakily tugged it away from Rose, only for her to whine in her sleep and try to get it back. He jumped back when she reached out, grabbing at air.
Fortunately for Rose, the Doctor had fast reflexes; which came in handy when she fell off her bed. Faster than a Weeping Angel in the dark (Not really), he caught her before she hit the ground. He ignored his hearts as they quickened their beating pace, staring at Rose as her eyes fluttered open. As half-lidded hazel looked at charming chocolate, a grin spread across her face.
"Hello."
"Hello." He replied, grinning back.
"So? What's all this then?" She waved to their current position.
"Right, well," Ten raced through different excuses in his mind, only to find the most simple and effective one on his tongue already. "I was coming to wake you up and you were about to fall off the bed, so I caught you."
"Ooh, my hero." The tongue-between-teeth grin was back again. "S'that why Olaf's on the floor, nearly ripped up?" She raised a eyebrow. Ten cringed until he caught the name.
"Olaf? You named that thing?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, he is a white tiger and I loved the movie, so why not?" She shrugged, or least tried to in her position. "But don't go changing the topic here."
"Of course not." He nodded, not saying anything more.
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That was quite the experience. Him, jealous of an inanimate doll simply because his companion hugged it in her sleep. The masked Doctor mentally chuckled at the mere thought, until he saw that alien smile at Rose. It was even worse when she returned his smile. Thankfully, it wasn't that teasing-tongue-teeth smile. No, if it was that, he probably would've gone insane and ripped up his hair. Ahem, not that it was that frustrating for her to socialise with other men. No, no, not at all. He felt the exact same denial before, with the coat..... Why not, you can't have too much giggling, right?
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Right, so he had told Rose about the destination and hoped she would forget about that little throwing-evil-toy-across-the-room situation. She acted like she had but Rose Tyler was full of surprises. They had been talking about the planet's culture, from the Flower Year to the Butterfly Festival, which was the one they were going to. It was going to be gorgeous, he had said. But not as gorgeous as you, he had thought.
So he had shown her the clothes he had picked out, cringing ever so slightly when she squealed. For him: a purple cape with gold designs and lining, the same swirly design on his purple and gold mask, a white collar shirt, a white waistcoat and a black tailcoat (with black trousers). Think of a magician in a tuxedo. As for Rose: her bracelet from Omiqe, a matching silver arm band with a blue four point star, a silver mask with a similar sapphire in the top centre of it. The dress was stunning; sweetheart neck line, mid-thigh, midnight blue and a dim jade sash loosely tied around the waist. Think of one of the hardest things he's worked on for her.
Ten had left Rose to changing in her room, waiting in the console room. He had already finished and looked quite marvellous if he said so himself. His hair was upright and fluffy, just so he could see Rose stare at it in wonder. He clicked his tongue and set off to get her. It was taking too long and no, he was not impatient to see her in the dress. Not at all. Nope, never. Wellll, maybe a little. Just a bit.
The Doctor quietly creaked her door open, the sight before him shocking his brain. An odd rage exploded in him. There stood Rose Tyler, laughing and dancing with... a coat. He seemed to be planning a lot of inanimate objects' deaths lately. She was twirling and holding the coat as if a real person, grasping the right sleeve in one hand and holding the left shoulder with the other. She had her eyes closed, so she must have been imagining it to be someone. But who? (See what I did there?)
Ten waited in the console room, raging openly at the coat. Until he realised, it was clothing. It was a simple piece of cloth that kept her warm in autumn. There was no need for any anger towards it.
'Unless you wished it was you she was dancing with....' The other voice came back.
"Shut up!"
"Doctor?" The Doctor turned, becoming stunned and astonished.
His breath was taken away when he saw her. When he saw the dress that fit her perfectly; when he saw her wearing the bracelet with pride; when he saw her curled hair in a loose bun with strands shaping her face; when he saw her cheeks glow with a cherry blush.
"How do I look?" She bit her lip nervously.
".....Brilliant. Utterly brilliant, Rose Tyler." He breathed out, causing her blush to strengthen all the more.
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Ten gripped his glass when he saw the alien wink at her. Alright, that was enough. Oh wait, she was shaking her head. That was good news, right? Right? Maybe he really should go and check up on things. Just for her protection. Every hospitable species has its bad seeds.
"Hello, Rose." He smiled, edging in closer to her.
"Where have you been? I've been waiting for ages." She nudged him with her shoulder. "Ooh, Doctor, this is Waden. He's a teacher here."
"Nice to meet you." Waden held out his hand. "Rose has told quite a lot about you. And when I say a lot, I mean an encyclopaedia." The Doctor was suspicious at first but soon relaxed once he heard that.
"Good to know. She always did like speaking with strangers." He shook the hand, happily grinning at her murderous yet blushing face.
"Yeah. I warned her about that, but I wouldn't really blame any strangers for talking to a diamond like her." He winked again. A fury ignited inside the Doctor, spreading the fire to all of his body. His fingers gripped Waden's tie; his eyes were dark, menacing blades; screaming at him to back off because The Oncoming Storm is here.
"Listen here." Ten whispered threateningly into his ear. "You will not look at Rose, you will not speak to Rose and you will most definitely not flirt with Rose. Rose Tyler is mine. Do you understand?" Gulping, Waden nodded. Satisfied, The Doctor took Rose's hand and led her away from him.
"Oi, what was that about? Doctor? Doctor!" Rose tried to pulled out of his grip but he was too strong. He halted, turning so he could face her.
"He was not safe. Believe me, you're better off without him."
"Doctor, stop lying." She said, her anger dissipating. "What happened?"
"Nothing, Rose." He sighed. He finally got that Waden fellow to back off with his threat and - hang on, did he just say his Rose Tyler? The Doctor mentally groaned at his own foolishness; he had just claimed that Rose belonged to him. Because he was jealous. No, wait, he wasn't jealous. He was -
"Oooh, it's starting! Come on, Rose!" Ten tugged on Rose's hand as a melodious bell sang a tune.
"What's starting?" She looked around confusedly as everyone in the ginormous hall glided into the garden. The garden which was like a huge field; must've been three to four football pitches. "Doctor, why are we out in the garden?"
"Wellll, we can't have a Butterfly Festival without butterflies, now can we?" He grinned at her and placed his fingers on her temples, guiding her vision to the far back of the garden where giant flower buds were. As Rose watched in awe and the others in anticipation, the buds began to glow. Some pink, some red, some mauve, even some TARDIS blue ones, Their centre's glowed with a mysterious light.
Rose gasped as all the flowers began blooming in front of her eyes. The petals fell gracefully, revealing the glows to be luminous orbs. When Rose squinted, she could see groups of butterflies huddled together, surrounding the lights. They all flew off, trails of colour tailing each one as they flapped their wings. Sparks wafted from the orbs and simply floated, like fireflies in the night. Rose spun as a silver butterfly rotated around her, a sliver of light twirling after it.
Everyone ran forward, eagerly chasing the flying beauties, regardless of their prim outfits.
"What on Raxacoricofallapatorius is going on?" Rose watched in puzzlement as all the prim folk sprinted, some falling but all chortling.
"It's one of the legends here on Mystix. On the day of the Butterfly Festival, it is said that anyone who searches properly may find their counterpart."
"Counterpart?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yep," Ten did his special habit of popping the p. "Apparently, everyone in the universe has a counterpart butterfly. The relationship between the butterflies reflects the relationship between people they represent. That's how the people here find their supposed soul mates. But chasing is always fun, isn't it?" He finished his rant with a pull, the two guffawing as they ran around the glowing butterflies.
As Ten turned to rant to Rose again, he froze for the fourth time that day. Rose was spinning and laughing, a whole group of butterflies circling her. The sparks and butterflies' light trails illuminated her entire being. Her eyes were bright and reflected all the colours, like a mystic rainbow. Her hair was a sunshine golden, the bun slowly falling into curly tresses that tumbled down her back, framing her (True to the name) rosy cheeks. Her smile was brighter than ever, the glitter from the butterflies landing on her face like freshly fallen snow. Her dress drifted upon the wind beneath the butterflies' wings, as enchanting as a lake reflecting the starry midnight sky. He gazed at her in a mixture of awe, wonder, and adoration. To put it simply, he was lovesick. Positively, absolutely, without a doubt lovesick.
A butterfly, being the exact shade of the TARDIS, softly fluttered against his mask. Ten removed it, a finger lightly stroking the mini time travelling box before it flew off. He felt a strange yank in the middle of his chest, directly between his hearts, pulling him to follow the butterfly. He stumbled forward abnormally, looking like a drunk maniac.
Rose giggled, enjoying the thrill of the butterflies circling her. A captivating crimson one flew up to her face, tickling her nose. She giggled again, removing her mask and reached out to touch it. As it dashed away, a bizarre tug at her heart, not painful though, made her take a step forth. The ruby butterfly kept flying, causing Rose to keep staggering and blunder after it.
The respective azure and scarlet butterflies soared until they reached the other, swirling around each other; creating an entrancing, sparkling sight. They twirled upwards, avoiding the two respectively following them as they crashed into each other. Oddly enough, they didn't hit their heads and fall back; instead, they moulded into each other, perfectly fitting together. Rose's arms wrapped themselves around his neck as Ten's wound around her waist. The duo butterflies twirled around even closer now, somehow compelling the other two to tighten their grips.
"Um...hello," Rose smiled with a furrowed brow, confusion and a slight joy assorted together on her face.
"Hi," Ten gave her a lop-sided smile, not all that hateful to their position.
"So then," Rose nodded upwards to the twirling carmine and cobalt butterflies. "Looks like they're having fun."
"Yep," He gave a slightly impressed look. "Looks like it."
"Why not try it?" Rose cocked her head to the side, swaying slightly. "You still owe me a dance."
"Do I?" His eyebrows shot up and he grinned when he remembered the coat. "How rude of me not to ask you."
"Mmm, rude and not ginger." She teased him with her special grin. You know that one.
"Indeed," He grinned back, unwinding one arm and holding out his hand in between them.
"Would you care to dance, Madame Rose?"
"I'd be honoured, Sir Doctor."
All of the other guests had stopped searching and were observing our favourite duo as Rose placed one hand on the Doctor's left shoulder and he grasped her hip with one hand. They weaved their other hands together, taking a couple steps forward and some back and even some to the side. The sparks surrounding them added to the spellbinding atmosphere.
"Look!" One of the guests pointed up, to the spinning butterflies. "Their butterflies!"
"They must be soul mates!" Another one sighed, clasping her hands together and holding them to her cheek. "How romantic!"
"This is Stranger to Nauta. Come in, Nauta." A familiar humanoid alien spoke into his surprisingly Earth phone (IPhone 13X, cause he's that fancy).
"This is Sailor speaking for Nauta. Have you completed the mission, Stranger?"
"Oh yes, Gaudium. Mission Green Eyes was a success. With a little extra bonus."
"Return to base, Waden. We've got a lot more work to do."
"Yes, ma'am."
Meanwhile, Rose and Ten were having the time of their lives (And/or tenth regeneration). They danced in sync with their butterflies: spinning, lifting and all that waltzing.
"Told you I could dance."
"Better than last time, no offense."
"I practised."
"With who?"
"With a coat, dancing around my room." He teased. Her face erupted crimson, a rose indeed.
"You - you saw that?" She spluttered.
"Wellll, maybe." He grinned and whispered in her ear. "I just wonder who exactly you were dancing with." Rose mumbled, his ears not quite catching her answer.
"What?"
"I said, you." She muttered, looking down.
The Doctor's eyes brightened and he lifted Rose up, whirling her around. She laughed, her embarrassed blush now a simple sign of content.
"Shall we run?" He held his hand out, his lop-sided smile and fluffy hair all the more charming with the sparkles and butterflies.
"Let's," She grabbed his hand and they ran, they ran for all they were worth. They ran and held hands; their butterflies following them.
Even when they weren't together, they were still connected.