The Hidden Well, Chapter Five
Jul. 26th, 2007 08:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kalleahPairing: Ten/Rose.
Rating: PG
Betas:ivydoor, np_complete, platypus, and sensiblecat
Previous Chapters
In this chapter: The Doctor's winning way with the atmospheric converters, if not with Connor, and the rest of Rose's first day at the nursery.
Rating: PG
Betas:
ivydoor, np_complete, platypus, and sensiblecatPrevious Chapters
In this chapter: The Doctor's winning way with the atmospheric converters, if not with Connor, and the rest of Rose's first day at the nursery.
Connor Trabane was having a very, very bad day.
He gave a bleak look at the portable display in his hand. Hexafluoroethane production was up by nearly two tenths of a percent over the week before. Normally, that would make his engineer's heart leap with joy, but today, he couldn't credit that improvement to his team.
It just had to be the company flunky, didn't it?
"Just look at this," continued the flunky in question excitedly from his position behind one of the main exchange consoles. "If you raise the temperature of the fluorination catalyst by point-oh-oh-three-eight degrees as it enters the first exchange unit, you'll get another point-oh-one-seven percent increase in production." His head popped out from around the console and he gave Connor what was most likely meant to be a winning grin. "How much chlorotrifluoromethane are you adding per second?"
Connor provided a number, suppressed a sigh, and waited for the inevitable flood of helpful suggestions. Somewhat to his surprise, it didn't come.
"Exactly," said the other man, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "All right then, what's next?" Connor was reminded briefly of the look on Ian's face when he had finished unwrapping one birthday gift and was eagerly anticipating the next one.
Patience is a virtue. "We have samples of the regolith from outside the atmospheric shell," he said. "The oxygen release is steady. We're quite pleased with the warming from the mirrors focused on the north polar cap." He handed over his portable display with another suppressed sigh, which he possibly suppressed less successfully than the other one. Or two.
His opponent looked up at him and shook his head. "Am I really that bad, Connor?" he asked in a somewhat injured tone.
"Dr. Tyler?" he asked with some surprise.
"I'm not the enemy, you know. I'm actually trying to help."
"You're here to look over my shoulder and second guess my whole operation!" The statement burst out despite all his earlier resolutions to hold his temper.
"I'm not, really I'm not. And stop calling me 'Dr. Tyler.' It's just the Doctor."
As if there's only one, thought Connor, but the matter wasn't worth pursuing. He took a moment to compose himself. "My impression," he said stiffly, "is that you are here to double check the efficiency of our operation. You've done nothing but suggest petty adjustments all morning. I'm sorry, Doctor, but we run a pretty damn efficient operation as it is and I'm not particularly happy about some outsider coming in and telling me what to change!" Well, he had started out holding his temper at the beginning of that tirade at least …
"Continuous process improvement is incremental," said the Doctor mildly. "Connor, I'm not here to one-up you and I'm not here to bully you out of a job. Come on, aren't you having any fun at all?" He scrunched up his nose. "Even a little? All this chemistry?"
Connor gaped.
"Oh, you love it," said the Doctor, waving a hand dismissively. "You wouldn't be as good at what you do if you didn't. Admit it."
"Well," he said with some reluctance, "hexafluoroethane production is up by nearly two tenths of a percent."
"And you're dancing on the inside about it." There was a teasing light in the other man's eyes. "Let's go and take a look at the regolith measurements."
Connor shrugged, and gave in with a grin. Perhaps the day was looking up after all.
…
Rose had considered herself to be in good shape, with a high energy level and good stamina. She did, after all, journey on adventures across time and space with a hyperactive alien genius. After the day she'd had, though, she'd be grateful for a nice, soothing angry mob or even a mythological beast or two.
"It's my turn!" cried an indignant little voice, and Rose hopped up from the miniature chair she had been sitting in to mediate a dispute between two of the girls. Someone, it turned out, was not happy about someone else's having sat in the blue chair when it was clearly not her turn. Although she had pegged him early in the day as quiet and shy, Brandon Turner was an effective disciplinarian. He waited until Rose had restored some peace to the world and then sent both girls to sit facing the wall for a time-out.
"Why don't you go back with Jonah for a bit and try finger painting," suggested Brandon. "There's some paper in my right-hand cabinet for him. It's the textured stuff."
Rose gathered up the paints and paper, which was gently ridged like very fine, flat papier-mache, and sat down in the reading corner next to him. Jonah was sitting on his feet, leaning forward and focusing steadily on his blocks. He had arranged them in a series of precise equilateral triangles.
She spread out the paper just to the side of the blocks and tried to get his attention. "Jonah," she said in a normal voice, "I've got some paints. Want to help me?" He let her gently steer him away from the blocks, and to her surprise, he reached out quite readily to trace an invisible circle on the paper.
Once she had the jars of paints opened for him, he put one index finger into the purple jar and then made a light gesture across the paper. Rose beamed at him, thrilled to see him taking an active notice of something. She put another sheet down next to his and dipped her finger in the green paint. "I'm going to paint a flower," she told him. "What are you painting?"
He didn't reply, but his finger continued to dab paint onto the paper. She painted and watched him, adding commentary to her work as they continued. "It's a rose," she said. "It's my name. Have you ever seen one? It's a big flower, lots of petals all bunched together and smells really nice."
His finger hesitated for the briefest moment, almost undetectably, before he added yellow above his purple square, and then to the sides. As she reached for the pink, he did, too, and their hands bumped. She let her hand linger against his and watched him cover his finger over with the pink paint. A smudge of the previous colors worked its way into the paint's surface, and Rose skimmed it off with her thumb. "We're making a right mess, aren't we?" she said, laughter in her voice. "It's fun. I haven't done this in years and years."
A commotion from the front of the classroom caught her attention and she snapped her attention back to where a very familiar form stood opposite Brandon.
"Nice to meet you, Brandon," he said, shaking hands vigorously. "I'm the Doctor." He spotted Rose and his face lit up with delight. Her stomach still turned over when he looked at her like that. She gave him a slowly unfolding smile in return and a small wave. Brandon, who clearly recognized a force of nature when he saw one, went back to the table with the children, and the Doctor wandered over to the reading area.
"Hello," he said, easing onto the floor with them and stretching his long legs out in front of him. "I'm the Doctor."
"This is Jonah," explained Rose. "He's the strong, silent type." The Doctor gave her a brief, barely perceptible nod of understanding.
He smiled at Jonah and spoke to him in quite a normal tone, or at least, normal for him. "That's my girl you're painting, you know," he told the little boy seriously. "I'll take all comers."
Rose's mouth hung open as she studied Jonah's paper and realized that the Doctor was quite right. She could now see her face, her yellow hair, even her purple shirt and khaki trousers. "Jonah," she said, taken aback and moved beyond belief. "That's really, really lovely. Thank you." She emphasized the last two words, wanting so much to make a connection with him, and realizing that he had, in his own silent way, already done so.
…
Rose held back a grin and stroked Jonah's back gently as the Doctor adjusted his glasses and continued his dramatic reading of Further Adventures of Freddie the Furmot.
"And what do you think happened next?" he asked the wide-eyed circle of children seated in the reading area. One little girl's hand shot up so hard that her bottom actually lifted off the ground for a moment. "Yes, Rebecca?"
"Freddie sees a girl furmot!" cried Rebecca excitedly. Several boys made groans of protest and one put his hands over his eyes.
"So he does." The Doctor angled the book toward the reading circle and made sure everyone saw the illustration of Freddie getting his first glimpse of his lady love. He continued reading, assuming a high, squeaky voice for Felicity the furmot and provoking a fit of giggles from the children.
Rose listened, fascinated at this new aspect of him. She had seen him interact with children before, but never so deliberately and, well, happily. When he put down the book, she too let out a tiny sigh of disappointment.
"All right everyone," said Brandon, assuming his commander persona, "let's get ready to go." He hustled everyone out of the reading area, where there was a fairly efficient flurry of cleaning and packing activities.
Jonah went back to lining up his blocks. "Will you stay with the Doctor?" Rose asked him.
The Doctor edged over and surveyed the careful lines of blocks. "We're fine," he said without looking up at her. "Mind if I help?" The question was directed to Jonah.
Rose left the two of them to whatever mad designs they could plot and tried to help Brandon with the end of day activities. He had everything well in hand, but she did greet some incoming parents and assist a couple of children with gathering up their packs.
Emelia wasn't the last parent to arrive, but she was the last one to leave. She gave Ian a hug, exchanged a few quiet words with Brandon, and finally came over to peer over the shelf separating the reading area from the rest of the room. "Hello, Jonah," she said.
"Sorry, hold up," said the Doctor, without looking up from the blocks. "We're almost finished."
Emelia shot a questioning look at Rose, who shrugged. "How was he today?"
"I don't know how he is normally," she said carefully, "but we finger painted this afternoon."
"He loves that," said Emelia with a smile. The two women stood companionably next to one another, watching the man and the boy precisely arrange blocks in rows of bright color.
He gave a bleak look at the portable display in his hand. Hexafluoroethane production was up by nearly two tenths of a percent over the week before. Normally, that would make his engineer's heart leap with joy, but today, he couldn't credit that improvement to his team.
It just had to be the company flunky, didn't it?
"Just look at this," continued the flunky in question excitedly from his position behind one of the main exchange consoles. "If you raise the temperature of the fluorination catalyst by point-oh-oh-three-eight degrees as it enters the first exchange unit, you'll get another point-oh-one-seven percent increase in production." His head popped out from around the console and he gave Connor what was most likely meant to be a winning grin. "How much chlorotrifluoromethane are you adding per second?"
Connor provided a number, suppressed a sigh, and waited for the inevitable flood of helpful suggestions. Somewhat to his surprise, it didn't come.
"Exactly," said the other man, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "All right then, what's next?" Connor was reminded briefly of the look on Ian's face when he had finished unwrapping one birthday gift and was eagerly anticipating the next one.
Patience is a virtue. "We have samples of the regolith from outside the atmospheric shell," he said. "The oxygen release is steady. We're quite pleased with the warming from the mirrors focused on the north polar cap." He handed over his portable display with another suppressed sigh, which he possibly suppressed less successfully than the other one. Or two.
His opponent looked up at him and shook his head. "Am I really that bad, Connor?" he asked in a somewhat injured tone.
"Dr. Tyler?" he asked with some surprise.
"I'm not the enemy, you know. I'm actually trying to help."
"You're here to look over my shoulder and second guess my whole operation!" The statement burst out despite all his earlier resolutions to hold his temper.
"I'm not, really I'm not. And stop calling me 'Dr. Tyler.' It's just the Doctor."
As if there's only one, thought Connor, but the matter wasn't worth pursuing. He took a moment to compose himself. "My impression," he said stiffly, "is that you are here to double check the efficiency of our operation. You've done nothing but suggest petty adjustments all morning. I'm sorry, Doctor, but we run a pretty damn efficient operation as it is and I'm not particularly happy about some outsider coming in and telling me what to change!" Well, he had started out holding his temper at the beginning of that tirade at least …
"Continuous process improvement is incremental," said the Doctor mildly. "Connor, I'm not here to one-up you and I'm not here to bully you out of a job. Come on, aren't you having any fun at all?" He scrunched up his nose. "Even a little? All this chemistry?"
Connor gaped.
"Oh, you love it," said the Doctor, waving a hand dismissively. "You wouldn't be as good at what you do if you didn't. Admit it."
"Well," he said with some reluctance, "hexafluoroethane production is up by nearly two tenths of a percent."
"And you're dancing on the inside about it." There was a teasing light in the other man's eyes. "Let's go and take a look at the regolith measurements."
Connor shrugged, and gave in with a grin. Perhaps the day was looking up after all.
…
Rose had considered herself to be in good shape, with a high energy level and good stamina. She did, after all, journey on adventures across time and space with a hyperactive alien genius. After the day she'd had, though, she'd be grateful for a nice, soothing angry mob or even a mythological beast or two.
"It's my turn!" cried an indignant little voice, and Rose hopped up from the miniature chair she had been sitting in to mediate a dispute between two of the girls. Someone, it turned out, was not happy about someone else's having sat in the blue chair when it was clearly not her turn. Although she had pegged him early in the day as quiet and shy, Brandon Turner was an effective disciplinarian. He waited until Rose had restored some peace to the world and then sent both girls to sit facing the wall for a time-out.
"Why don't you go back with Jonah for a bit and try finger painting," suggested Brandon. "There's some paper in my right-hand cabinet for him. It's the textured stuff."
Rose gathered up the paints and paper, which was gently ridged like very fine, flat papier-mache, and sat down in the reading corner next to him. Jonah was sitting on his feet, leaning forward and focusing steadily on his blocks. He had arranged them in a series of precise equilateral triangles.
She spread out the paper just to the side of the blocks and tried to get his attention. "Jonah," she said in a normal voice, "I've got some paints. Want to help me?" He let her gently steer him away from the blocks, and to her surprise, he reached out quite readily to trace an invisible circle on the paper.
Once she had the jars of paints opened for him, he put one index finger into the purple jar and then made a light gesture across the paper. Rose beamed at him, thrilled to see him taking an active notice of something. She put another sheet down next to his and dipped her finger in the green paint. "I'm going to paint a flower," she told him. "What are you painting?"
He didn't reply, but his finger continued to dab paint onto the paper. She painted and watched him, adding commentary to her work as they continued. "It's a rose," she said. "It's my name. Have you ever seen one? It's a big flower, lots of petals all bunched together and smells really nice."
His finger hesitated for the briefest moment, almost undetectably, before he added yellow above his purple square, and then to the sides. As she reached for the pink, he did, too, and their hands bumped. She let her hand linger against his and watched him cover his finger over with the pink paint. A smudge of the previous colors worked its way into the paint's surface, and Rose skimmed it off with her thumb. "We're making a right mess, aren't we?" she said, laughter in her voice. "It's fun. I haven't done this in years and years."
A commotion from the front of the classroom caught her attention and she snapped her attention back to where a very familiar form stood opposite Brandon.
"Nice to meet you, Brandon," he said, shaking hands vigorously. "I'm the Doctor." He spotted Rose and his face lit up with delight. Her stomach still turned over when he looked at her like that. She gave him a slowly unfolding smile in return and a small wave. Brandon, who clearly recognized a force of nature when he saw one, went back to the table with the children, and the Doctor wandered over to the reading area.
"Hello," he said, easing onto the floor with them and stretching his long legs out in front of him. "I'm the Doctor."
"This is Jonah," explained Rose. "He's the strong, silent type." The Doctor gave her a brief, barely perceptible nod of understanding.
He smiled at Jonah and spoke to him in quite a normal tone, or at least, normal for him. "That's my girl you're painting, you know," he told the little boy seriously. "I'll take all comers."
Rose's mouth hung open as she studied Jonah's paper and realized that the Doctor was quite right. She could now see her face, her yellow hair, even her purple shirt and khaki trousers. "Jonah," she said, taken aback and moved beyond belief. "That's really, really lovely. Thank you." She emphasized the last two words, wanting so much to make a connection with him, and realizing that he had, in his own silent way, already done so.
…
Rose held back a grin and stroked Jonah's back gently as the Doctor adjusted his glasses and continued his dramatic reading of Further Adventures of Freddie the Furmot.
"And what do you think happened next?" he asked the wide-eyed circle of children seated in the reading area. One little girl's hand shot up so hard that her bottom actually lifted off the ground for a moment. "Yes, Rebecca?"
"Freddie sees a girl furmot!" cried Rebecca excitedly. Several boys made groans of protest and one put his hands over his eyes.
"So he does." The Doctor angled the book toward the reading circle and made sure everyone saw the illustration of Freddie getting his first glimpse of his lady love. He continued reading, assuming a high, squeaky voice for Felicity the furmot and provoking a fit of giggles from the children.
Rose listened, fascinated at this new aspect of him. She had seen him interact with children before, but never so deliberately and, well, happily. When he put down the book, she too let out a tiny sigh of disappointment.
"All right everyone," said Brandon, assuming his commander persona, "let's get ready to go." He hustled everyone out of the reading area, where there was a fairly efficient flurry of cleaning and packing activities.
Jonah went back to lining up his blocks. "Will you stay with the Doctor?" Rose asked him.
The Doctor edged over and surveyed the careful lines of blocks. "We're fine," he said without looking up at her. "Mind if I help?" The question was directed to Jonah.
Rose left the two of them to whatever mad designs they could plot and tried to help Brandon with the end of day activities. He had everything well in hand, but she did greet some incoming parents and assist a couple of children with gathering up their packs.
Emelia wasn't the last parent to arrive, but she was the last one to leave. She gave Ian a hug, exchanged a few quiet words with Brandon, and finally came over to peer over the shelf separating the reading area from the rest of the room. "Hello, Jonah," she said.
"Sorry, hold up," said the Doctor, without looking up from the blocks. "We're almost finished."
Emelia shot a questioning look at Rose, who shrugged. "How was he today?"
"I don't know how he is normally," she said carefully, "but we finger painted this afternoon."
"He loves that," said Emelia with a smile. The two women stood companionably next to one another, watching the man and the boy precisely arrange blocks in rows of bright color.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 12:33 am (UTC)Rose held back a grin and stroked Jonah's back gently as the Doctor adjusted his glasses and continued his dramatic reading of Further Adventures of Freddie the Furmot.
And oh, how I can see this. [giggles]
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 01:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 10:30 pm (UTC)I'd be interested to hear your theory about Jonah.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 02:46 am (UTC)Rose and the Doctor making friends had me smiling he whole way through. The finger painting scene was adorable. Best way to make friends is over paint, though I may be biased to that regard.
Loved the whole things.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 10:32 pm (UTC)I don't know if I've ever made a friend over paint, but an art project is a lovely thing to bond over.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 11:47 pm (UTC):)
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 04:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 10:32 pm (UTC)Thank you. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 04:21 am (UTC):)
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 10:33 pm (UTC)I think Emelia's the only one who's managed a good, sustained distrust of the Doctor thus far, and we'll just have to see how that goes.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 06:47 am (UTC)This chapter was lovely. I like the idea of the Doctor and kids. It's somehow irresistible!
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 10:35 pm (UTC)There are certain people who are simply magnetic to small children -- I imagine the Doctor would be one of those. I started mulling over that when I saw him dealing so compassionately with the pig man in Daleks of Manhattan, in particular.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 11:17 am (UTC)And this? "That's my girl you're painting, you know," he told the little boy seriously. "I'll take all comers."
Made me "aw."
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 10:36 pm (UTC)Made me "aw."
I'm glad; I liked that one, too. I've done a couple of other (short) pieces dealing with the Doctor and Rose's very different ways of viewing the same image, and this is another example. Rose didn't recognize what Jonah was painting until she knew what she was looking for, but the Doctor saw it straight away.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 11:33 pm (UTC)i really liked the interaction between Rose and Jonah,and that she really wanted to connect with him , and she did, and i really liked how you wrote that it was The Doctor who pointed it out to her that jonah was painting Rose.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-29 12:35 am (UTC)Yes. He's got a different perspective on the universe, and what's obvious to him might not be obvious to Rose. The opposite is certainly true -- he misses a lot of the emotional cues of those around him.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-28 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-29 12:37 am (UTC)Thanks; I mostly made it up, but I did do a bit of research on greenhouse gases. While we may be wanting to significantly cut down on them here on Earth, it makes sense to release them into the atmosphere of a planet whose environment would need to be utterly transformed. I found a patent online for the production of hexafluoroethane and ran with it from there.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-29 12:16 am (UTC)This is a good chapter in a good story, and I look forward to reading more.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-29 12:33 am (UTC)I think that's critical. Children aren't stupid in general. Jonah is non-verbal, but we don't have any indication that he doesn't understand what is happening around him.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-01 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-01 02:08 am (UTC)I just wanted to make sure you had plenty of reading when you got back. :)