[fic] Repairs and Maintenance (DW, 1/1, G)

[rynne]

Title: Repairs and Maintenance
Author: Rynne
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: G
Summary: She would assist him, but she wasn't his assistant. Ten and Rose, post-GitF.
Notes: I originally wrote this for the second challenge at doctor_rose_las back in September, but that went sort of defunct, so now it was for the first challenge at writerinatardis. The prompt was: The Doctor shows Rose a room in the TARDIS he's never shown anyone before.


"Rose, could you get me some replacement secondary power couplings from storage?"

Rose put her magazine down, taking her feet off the console and straightening up on the jump seat. She was a bit tempted to refuse--Sarah Jane's voice echoed in her mind, calling her his assistant, like she was only good for being able to fetch and carry while he took care of the more important things.

But this time he was asking her to help with the TARDIS, and not just holding buttons down. It wasn't as much as he'd let Jack do, but it was more than she'd done before, and she wasn't about to pass up the chance to learn more about his ship. "All right," she said, coming over to stand above him. "So what do these things look like, then, an' where's storage?"

He looked up at her, his glasses on but slightly askew, his mouth open and his tongue visible. He looked like he was really concentrating, and she suppressed a smile over how adorable he was.

Her desire to smile vanished, however, at his tone when he spoke again. "These," he replied shortly, pulling a few things away from the mess of parts. "To get to storage, go right, three lefts, two more rights, up the stairs, down the hall, one more left, then the third door on the right. And do hurry, would you? I need to get this done if we're going to get off this planet any time soon."

Then he got back to work, and she let out a small huff. He didn't have to sound like I should have known all that already and am such a stupid ape to need reminding, she thought, annoyed again. Well, she'd do this for him, but then see if he got her to do anything like it without being a bit more polite. Her mum always taught her to never put up with things like that from a bloke.

She left the console room, soon passing Mickey's door. He'd gone off to his room to play video games when it became clear that whatever the natives had done to the TARDIS was going to keep them from taking off until it could be repaired. Rose had instead opted to keep the Doctor company, but she was beginning to regret that. At least Mickey knew better than to order her about like she was his...assistant.

She gritted her teeth as she stomped down the corridors, counting off turnings. She just wished she could understand him lately! First he let Mickey come, despite his clear--and unreasonable--jealousy. Then there was that business in France, and how he let her and Mickey go back to a ship full of murderous robots while he swanned off to a party with another bloke's mistress. Rose didn't blame Reinette for that--she knew how difficult it was to stay away from the Doctor--but she couldn't help feeling hurt, confused, and apprehensive. Normally the Doctor was much more protective of her, and though often she thought it annoying, it had always warmed her to see how much he obviously cared for her.

And now...now he was distancing himself, and treating her like an assistant. What did this mean, for them?

She reached the storage room, and was jolted out of her thoughts by the complete chaos. Parts were haphazardly stacked, cables were strewn about, and the entire room seemed to scream that it was the private space of someone who knew where everything was and didn't need to worry about anyone else having to find something. She just stared at the clutter, not even knowing where to begin to look.

A voice behind her saying her name made her whirl around, and there was the Doctor standing in the doorway, looking sheepish.

"I didn't mean to be rude," he said, coming to stand beside her. "I was just angry, at Mickey for leaving the door open and the Tipherians for messing things up. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

She nodded, figuring that was all the apology she was likely to get. At least he gave her this much. "It's fine," she replied. "But how did you expect me to find anything in this?"

He glanced at her, then quickly looked away, a faint flush colouring his cheeks. He coughed. "I, ah, forgot," he said quickly, uncomfortably. "This is my private storeroom--you know, for the nifty things I find but don't have an immediate use for, as well as spare parts. I don't mind letting people go most anywhere in my ship, but this is one of the places that's just mine. I normally send people who help me with the TARDIS to one of the other storerooms, one that's a bit more organized, but..." He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged, still flushing.

She bit her lip. "Do you want me to leave?" she asked tentatively.

Now he looked at her, and smiled. The flush was fading on his cheeks, but his eyes were very soft. "Oh, you don't have to," he said. "You're already here, so I might as well show you where a few things are."

Affection for him bubbled up within her, replacing the residual anger and hurt. He'd sent her to a place that he normally considered just for him, without even thinking about it. Like it was completely natural that she should be there, in his space. Now he was letting her stay there, this time knowingly. He'd even given her a semi-apology for his behavior earlier.

"All right then," she said, grinning at him. She stepped forward and pointed to some random part. "Tell me what this is?"

He grinned back, then launched into a lecture, which mostly went over her head. But she listened to him talk, loving his enthusiasm, his willingness to share with her. Maybe she didn't know exactly what she was to him, but at least she knew he cared.

Comments

[ladychi.livejournal.com]

Ah, lovely. Perfect as a cup of tea.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

[electrictoes.livejournal.com]

Perfect <3

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[shinyopals.livejournal.com]

*Squish* Yay for some cute.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Cute is always good. :D

(This is also the fic that I was trying to awkwardly explain to you months ago when I wrote it. Glad that apparently it comes across better than it did when I was explaining it. :p)

[shinyopals.livejournal.com]

Heh, I did wonder, but I don't remember all the details of that conversation anyway! XD (Don't expect me to remember anything that happened before last week!)

[tardiscontrol.livejournal.com]

Yay, just the perfect bit of fluff to start my day. :D

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[sundance201.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely lovely. I like how even in his agitated state, he didn't even think twice about sending her to his private storeroom. :)

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That was really the point. :)

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

Aww, lovely. <3

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[jaradel.livejournal.com]

The Doctor is a bloke, after all... but you can't help but love him.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Hee, yes. Thanks!

[starlightmoonla.livejournal.com]

Hee! Love the cuteness of these two! Great job!

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. :)

[np-complete.livejournal.com]

I like this! It's an interesting variation on the theme of the room no-one else has seen: it's a private space of a different kind. And I can see why it would be heart-warming to Rose. It's a kind of intimacy, though quite different from his intimacy with Reinette. It might be better.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it, since I was trying to do something a bit more original than, say, the Doctor's bedroom. :p