The Calm Before the Storm (Chapter Fifteen)

[kalleah]

Definitely longer than the last chapter and admittedly low on plot movement, but again, I think we need some illustration of the good times that Rose and the Doctor share, rather than just glossing over them.

Previous chapters:
( Chapter One )
( Chapter Two )
( Chapter Three )
( Chapter Four )

( Chapter Five )

( Chapter Six )

( Chapter Seven )
( Chapter Eight )

( Chapter Nine )

( Chapter Ten )
( Chapter Eleven )

( Chapter Twelve )

( Chapter Thirteen )

( Chapter Fourteen )

Jacob had understated the "good distance" to the ruin, Rose thought after a good hour or more of walking briskly through the forest.  She would have used the word "hiking" to describe their activity, but walking hand in hand with the Doctor, clad in his usual long coat and Chuck Taylors, seemed too lovely an activity to saddle with an outdoorsy connotation.  Rose couldn't stop smiling, feeling the warmth of the sun filtering absently down through the tall pines onto her head and shoulders and the strong grip of the Doctor's hand in hers.  She occasionally broke into a skip, tugging him along with her, laughing and jubilant.  His hair bobbed up and down as they moved in unison.  When had he last been so unabashedly open and joyful with her, she wondered.  His delight at showing her the world was strangely childlike, for all his centuries of experience.  He would present her with a new sight, a new taste or experience, and watch her face for her reaction, his eyes bright with expectation.  She loved showing him her own wonder at his offering, seeing her own astonishment mirrored in him.  Hers for the novelty itself;  his for, she thought, her reaction.

The green forest around them radiated life and palpable energy.  Rose stopped counting animals, including innumerable birds, a few squirrels, a rabbit, and one, hauntingly lovely mottled doe who looked straight at Rose before turning tail and leaping off into the trees.  The metronomic crunch, crunch, crunch of their shoes on the leaf litter below provided a low undertone to the harmony of the bright trills of birdsong and the chatter of insects.

"How much further?"  Rose asked.

"Not more than, oh," the Doctor squinted into the distance and then up at the steadily rising sun, "another few minutes, if we keep up this pace.  In a hurry?"

"Nope," she replied.  "Just thinking about sitting down, is all."

"Not too long, then."

They continued walking, hands clasped.  Rose let her mind wander freely, thinking about all that had transpired between the Doctor and her and Jacob's unforeseen blessing of their new couplehood.

"Penny for your thoughts," interrupted the Doctor.  Rose murmured something indistinct and tried to shrug it off.  "Oh no," he said, eyes wide in mockery at her.  "Don't shut me out, remember?"

"That's you," she said, caught squarely in her own trap.

"Fair's fair," he deadpanned, not batting an eyelash.  "You made me talk, remember?"

"I was thinking about Jacob, if you want to know."

This, for whatever reason, did seem to surprise the Doctor.  "Our chicken-tending friend?"

"Yeah.  He said," she stopped, and flushed, glanced over at him, still watching her with one eyebrow carefully raised and amusement lighting his face.  "He figured it out."

"It?"

"Us," she said, suddenly self-conscious.

"Ah," he pronounced, drawing out the word in all apparent seriousness, except that she knew very well that he wasn't in the slightest bit serious.  "And that troubles you, does it?"

"Sort of, yeah," she mumbled.

The Doctor's hand tightened in hers and he swung their joined hands in an arc between them.  "It's the religious guilt thing, isn't it?"  He sighed.  "He's a monk, not heartless.  I told you when we first talked about him that he's one of the least judgmental humans I've ever met.  Really, least judgmental person of any species.  Didn't you believe me?"

Rose shrugged again.  "I guess I thought ... well, with him being a monk and all, that he might not appreciate," oh, I am not having this conversation!  "Might not approve of, well, sex."

The Doctor's mouth tightened and Rose thought for a fleeting moment that he might be angry, but then she looked in his eyes and realized he was holding back laughter.  His mouth worked with effort.  "Just because he's celibate," he started, then gave up and dissolved into peals of laughter.  Rose smacked him in the stomach, a little harder than she meant to, and he stopped laughing with an "ooof!" and a wounded look at her.  "No need to get violent."  Rose muttered something about violence under her breath and he swept her into a quick, tight hug.  "Sorry for teasing, really.  I just was surprised you'd get a complex about Jacob, that's all."

"I don't have a complex."

"Mmm," he said, doubtfully.  "Sounded like a complex to me.  Sex, religion, guilt, oh my.  Next thing you know we'll start talking about your mother."  A horrified look crossed his face as soon as the words left his mouth.  "Wait, I really, and I mean, really really really, didn't mean to bring her up."

Rose pulled away and began walking again.  "Sounds like a mother complex," she giggled.  "Want to ask her for her blessing?"  Thunderstruck, the Doctor couldn't even form words for a rebuttal.  "I think we can move on past the guilt issues, yeah?"

"Yeah," agreed the Doctor, much chastened.

With impeccable timing ("Time Lord," thought Rose with a smirk), they arrived at the ruin.  The trees opened up abruptly and they stood overlooking a low valley, covered with grass and dark, irregularly spaced and shaped lines.  In parts, the lines swept upward into crumbling walls or pillars, separating the space out into what must have once been rooms.  Rose tilted her head and tried to make sense of what she saw.  The Doctor, seeing her interest, jumped in to explain.

"It's the original monastery," he said.  "They abandoned it about three hundred years ago for the newer site."

Rose glanced over at him.  "But the buildings aren't that old."

"No, they've mostly been repaired and rebuilt, getting updated piecemeal as the years went by.  A bad fire, a rickety building, and it makes sense to put up a new one on top of the old foundation.  Here, they just moved the whole monastery."  He pointed at one end of the valley.  "That was the original church.  See the large open space that would have been in between those two walls?"  Rose nodded.  "And there, that's the old library.  Lots of narrow hallways between rooms filled with books."  Another gesture.  "Sleeping quarters, mostly communal, and then the outbuilding that was kitchen and dining hall.  They kept that separate and at a distance from the other buildings in case of fire, same as today."

"That's why the library's on the other end of the valley?  In case of fire?"

"Point to you, Rose!  Yes, the books would have been the most precious possessions -- well, still are!  Want to take a closer look?"  Rose nodded and they started down the hill toward the buildings.  As they approached, she saw the lines that had appear to be so slight gain size and breadth and morph into true walls, some taller than the Doctor.

She reached out one hand and touched a line of ancient brick, crumbling and rough under her fingers.  Lichen and moss grew abundantly in the shade, adding a velvet texture to the brick background.  Plants of every description erupted from broken and shifted stone floor.  A pine tree, shorter than its forest brethren but still graceful and tall, leaned away from a stairway leading eight or nine steps into the air and then dissolving into piles of brick and stone.  The Doctor seated himself on the second step and began rummaging in his pockets.  He pulled out one, then a second, wrapped packet and offered one to Rose.  She joined him on the step and felt the chill of the stone beneath her radiating into her backside.  She scooted closer to the Doctor and took the packet from him.  He placed his in his lap and then produced two amber bottles from his pockets.  He fiddled with the sonic screwdriver for a moment and the bottle cap popped off with a hiss of carbonation.  He handed it to her and repeated the process on the other bottle.

"Beer?" said Rose, incredulously.  "What else do you have in those pockets?"

"Supplies," he said, ambiguously.  "Another monastery makes fantastic lager, and they trade with this group.  I know a monk who knows a monk who got me a couple of bottles."

"Jacob?"

"Tomas, actually," he said with a grin.  "Jacob wouldn't approve."  She gave him an exasperated look (what complex?) and he relented.  "I'm joking, Rose.  Jacob likes his brew.  He just didn't give these to me."

Rose took a drink and decided it was quite nice, sharp and refreshing after a long walk.  She set the bottle down next to her foot and unwrapped the packet, finding a brown bread and cucumber sandwich with some sort of herb spread, an apple, and a hard-boiled egg.  She began peeling the shell off her egg.

"Nice picnic?" he asked, between mouthfuls of sandwich.

"Quite," she said, happily.  They ate in companionable silence for a time, hungry again after their morning exercise.  All I have done here, thought Rose, is talk, eat, and sleep.  She blushed.  Well, most of what I've done here.

The Doctor, predictably, caught her blushing but didn't call her on it this time.  When she finished, he took her eggshell, crumbled it into small bits, and piled them neatly on a nearby part of the wall with the shell bits from his egg.  "Shouldn't we clean up?" she asked.

"Everything else, yes.  The eggshells stay.  Birds will eat them."

"Birds eat eggshells?" said Rose in some confusion.

"Absolutely.  Great source of calcium.  Female birds need a lot of calcium to produce eggshells, and what better source?"

After their meal, he tucked his apple into a coat pocket, secreting it away like a squirrel with a nut.  Rose considered her erratic mealtimes over the last day and handed him her apple for later, which also disappeared easily into another of those seemingly bottomless pockets.

"Where do you keep all that stuff?" she asked, breaking down after he had carefully shaken out the last drops of beer from his bottle and addied that to a pocket for, presumably, later recycling.

"Bigger on the inside," he winked.

"Oh, you're kidding me," she groaned.

"Want to take a look?"  He opened his coat suggestively, like a flasher.

"You're a nutter."

"But never boring," he said smugly.  She rolled her eyes and finished her beer, handing him the bottle without comment and watching as it, too, disappeared into a pocket.  "So," he said, putting emphasis on the word, "do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Want a look?"  He leaned down and caught her open mouth in a kiss.  He tasted of lager, not unpleasantly.

Rose pulled back slightly, still so close that she couldn't focus on his face, and said, questioningly, "Here?  Outside?"

The Doctor's nose gently rubbed against her cheek and his words were a light breath on her skin.  "It's just us, Rose.  If you're not comfortable, that's all right."

"I'm not," she said, a little shyly, "but I think maybe I could get over it."

Comments

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

Aww, lovely :))

I really grinned at this exchange:

"Mmm," he said, doubtfully. "Sounded like a complex to me. Sex, religion, guilt, oh my. Next thing you know we'll start talking about your mother." A horrified look crossed his face as soon as the words left his mouth. "Wait, I really, and I mean, really really really, didn't mean to bring her up."

Rose pulled away and began walking again. "Sounds like a mother complex," she giggled. "Want to ask her for her blessing?" Thunderstruck, the Doctor couldn't even form words for a rebuttal. "I think we can move on past the guilt issues, yeah?"

Her'es hoping you do change your mind on that canon issue - this is just too gorgeous to imagine them being ripped away from each other :(

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

And thank you for the VERY appropriate iconage for that comment!

I love that the Doctor is more afraid (or cautious) of Jackie than of most of the genuine threats he faces. Heh heh. Rose would definitely use that against him. Poor Doctor. It's so logical to go to the mother-issues psychology discussion without thinking first that he has waaaaay more issues about Rose's mum than Rose does!

Perhaps said rippage is fixable. I am not ruling it out.

[misssara11.livejournal.com]

That was just lovely. Especially the end. I don't want this to end!

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

The way I'm going, it might not. ;)

[katesutton.livejournal.com]

I'm totally with wendymr on this one; it was bad enough to see them ripped apart with the level of intimacy they had on the show. After this? Augh. The Doctor has laid himself open so much. Their separation would seem only to confirm all of his fears and send him right back into his old ways. Of course...that's what I thought about Doomsday too, so I guess it fits. And you've done such a lovely job with the emotions in this story that I'm confident you'll make his response believable without being too crushing.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

It is a little ... cruel ... to think about them being separated after all this, but then again some separation is absolutely inevitable. The Doctor's not deceiving himself enough to think that this really is forever. He's just decided it's worth pursuing in the time they have allotted to them. Whether that sends him into a downward spiral or not ... I guess that comes from being an optimist or a pessimist. The whole "it's better to have loved and lost" argument.

[ivydoor.livejournal.com]

I just love the imagery in this. Too many parts to quote.

He opened his coat suggestively, like a flasher.

The Doctor is such an old perv. *giggles*

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

With that coat, how could he not be? ;)

[platypus]

Mrowr! That was a great ending. Well, except, I mean, I didn't exactly quite want it to end right then, possibly. Because we need to find out what else is in his pockets, right? :)

(Random commentary on things like which words were awesomest to follow eventually.)

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

I expect you to bow down in sheer admiration of my ability to use "metronomic" correctly, and in context. HA! ::happy dork dance::

[dark-aegis.livejournal.com]

This is lovely :)

After their meal, he tucked his apple into a coat pocket, secreting it away like a squirrel with a nut. Rose considered her erratic mealtimes over the last day and handed him her apple for later, which also disappeared easily into another of those seemingly bottomless pockets.

"Where do you keep all that stuff?" she asked, breaking down after he had carefully shaken out the last drops of beer from his bottle and addied that to a pocket for, presumably, later recycling.

"Bigger on the inside," he winked.

Yay for transcendental pockets! :) Especially when they're used as innuendo ;) Love it!

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

I like the "squirrel with a nut" line myself, just because it is so very Ten.

While The Runaway Bride made me so sad in many parts, I did absolutely adore the pocket discussion, and couldn't resist. It didn't seem likely that the Doctor would carry a picnic basket when he could stuff his pockets full as chipmunk cheeks. I also have a mental image of him unloading said pockets much like the stereotypical lady with the giant purse, with heaven-knows-what inside. With the Doctor, the imagination runs rather rampant.

[eenigmatic.livejournal.com]

Oh noes it can't end there! Fabulous, once again!

Oh, and metronomic = teh win. And I was, like, a music major in college so I am totally qualified to pass judgment.

Hope you'll update soon! (hinthint)

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, one just Stops, rather than Ends. I don't know how much, er, detail about the pockets we'll get into, but more soon, hopefully.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

I promise to use my power for good. (Mostly.)

Jacob is NOT going to be in the next chapter. He's a tolerant fellow, but really. I thought you didn't want me to kill him off? ;)

[karuri.livejournal.com]

oooooooooooooooooh sexy and cute. I like
canon issue? oh dont do it. If I wanna cry, I'll pop in Doomsday..LMAO. Well, as long as theres something sweet post DD., after all, they never answered what being Time for a few minutes did to Rose.....

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

That bugs me, too. It KILLED the Doctor. I know, he sucked it out of her with Nine!Kissing but surely, something had to have changed.

[sensiblecat.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love this so much. Not least because happy hiking was very much the foundation of my own growing love for my partner many years ago. As I've recently discovered, it is very difficult to write a happy couple and keep them fresh and interesting. But, oh, this is lovely. So much tenderness, quiet relaxed humour and understanding there, because they spent so long as friends before the sex was consummated. The very best kind of relationship.

I really liked this:

The Doctor's mouth tightened and Rose thought for a fleeting moment that he might be angry, but then she looked in his eyes and realized he was holding back laughter. His mouth worked with effort. "Just because he's celibate," he started, then gave up and dissolved into peals of laughter.

Yes, the unshockability of the best monks and nuns is a strange paradox, isn't it? Also, the whole setting was very well realised, based on somewhere you've been, I'm sure.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

Going back and reading the Bible can be an eye opener. It's a bit of a soap opera in parts.

[joely-jo.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I've only just picked this story up... Where have I been? *sighs* An utterly beautiful exploration of true intimacy, conveyed with the flair of a real creative writer. At times I was nearly moved to tears, and that is an extremely rare thing for me. I enjoyed every minute I read this... and I read it all in one sitting this very morning. I adore stories like this, as they feel like a slip-out of real life and into some soft romantic embrace.

I look forward to whatever you have planned for them... though I wish Doomsday would just go away so that they can stay happy like this forever. Great job!

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

Well, I am glad you started reading, and thanks for the lovely compliments. I was surprised by others being moved to tears - not my intent - but it's flattering. So glad it's a nice escape for you.

[blaidd-wolf.livejournal.com]

<333
You know, I'd be perfectly okay reading new chapters of this until I'm 80. I don't want it to end! ;P

I love the way you write Ten and Rose; it's cute but not unrealistic. :)

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

The next chapter (just posted) has a lot of shared laughter. Well. Actually, more the Doctor laughing at Rose, but it's still funny. They have been best mates so long, and know each other so well. Sex is an extension of that, not everything.

[surrender-drthy.livejournal.com]

*grins* ohhh outdoor smut next,r ight? :D
yet again, a fantastic chapter.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

Al fresco sex, to use a phrase from a reviewer at Teaspoon, has just been posted. Enjoy.

[nostariel]

Sweet and brilliant, as always. I'm tempted to agree with the others who want the end of this to be non-compliant with canon, but I've read enough good Doomsday Fixeruppers (tm) to know that's not necessary for a generally happy ending. Just skip over a few years for the doctor - time machine! - and have him find a way. Or better yet, have Rose find one. She works at Torchwood now and I think will have no qualms about using that to her own advantage. Not to get her Doctor back, anyway. But I'm a sucker for a fictional happy ending, since we get them so rarely in real life. Have I mentioned that you are made of win? Because you are.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

There's definitely an appeal to the idea of having them be separated, despite all the angst and drama that implies, and then reunited. If anything, re-establishing the trust and intimacy they have established here would be challenging for them. I mean ... the Doctor threw up all these walls to keep himself from getting hurt, then loses Rose and has to come to terms with the inevitable consequences of that loss. If he then finds her again - what then? Does he keep her out, wanting to delay yet more inevitable hurt, or does he go with Jacob'scarpe diem philosophy again? Hmm. The wheels are turning. Anyway, got to get through this first, but it's an intriguing idea. ::rubs fingers together in glee::

[platypus]

The metronomic crunch, crunch, crunch of their shoes on the leaf litter below provided a low undertone to the harmony of the bright trills of birdsong and the chatter of insects.

Sigh. Lovely. (Metronomic!) And have I mentioned how much I love ruins? I think I may have at some point.

Using the sonic screwdriver as a bottle opener is both obvious (when I think about it) and funny (because I hadn't).

"Supplies," he said, ambiguously.

I so thought that was going somewhere different. :)

"Tomas, actually," he said with a grin. "Jacob wouldn't approve."

Your cocky, funny, full-of-himself Doctor is so spot on. I rarely laugh out loud when I'm reading, but this one got me. And of course, his mood translates well to the proposition at the end :).

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

I had the bottles out, and then it occurred to me that they needed to open it somehow ... and what better?