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Can't believe I've managed to post fic again... I still have two stories I got back from a beta sitting in my inbox waiting to be looked, but I just don't seem able to find the time for it - or even the muse. Then again - I didn't think I'd get so far over the minimum of 1000 words for this one either.
Title: Happy New Year – 51st century style
Author: JE / ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
immortalje
Pairing: Jack/Rose/9
Summary: Jack, Rose and the Doctor celebrate the new year 51st century style.
Rating: FRT
Words: 2692
AN: This was written for tardismate as part of the OT3 Ficathon 2009 on LJ. My prompt was: "Ten, Rose and Jack celebrate the New Year in the far future on Earth. Do not want: angst"
I hope this meets expectations as the plot came along nicely, but for the longest time the words just wouldn't cooperate to make this a nice read instead of just plot.
Happy New Year – 51st century style
(or How many tries does it take to have three-way New Year's Kiss)
This had all started with another one of Jack's stories about the New Year celebrations he had participated in throughout his travels and for some reason Rose had wanted to know how people in his own time celebrated a new year starting. Naturally, since he was trying to avoid that century all together, he had tried to talk it down and make it seem as insignificant as possible. However, the Doctor with his insufferable grin had latched onto that idea and as the designated driver had the last word on the matter. Not to mention the threats of sleeping on the couch while Rose and the Doctor were comfortably wrapped up in bed doing all kinds of things he didn't want to miss out on.
Clearly, he had been at a disadvantage to begin with. In his defeat, he had demanded to pick the year at least and while the Doctor had threatened him that he better not pick a downright bad party to simply prove his point, Rose had been confident that he would pick the best – he prided himself into having attended some of the best parties and there was never a dull one with him around after all. Jack grimaced as he thought back to that; Rose certainly knew how to get him there. He just couldn't pick a dull party for them! His pride depended on it. With a vague promise to himself to brag a little less in the future, he feverishly thought of a good year to go to as well as a nice location. There were several colonies that he could think of that had great parties.
Facing his two lovers, Jack grabbed at all possibilities without really coming up with one and just as he was about to make a suggestion, Rose said, "I want it to be on Earth though! I mean, you've most probably been to the most exotic New Year's Parties that exist, but I want to know how it developed on Earth."
"You're not making this any easier. Since I grew up in a colony I never really made it to a New Year's Party on Earth," responded Jack. However, Rose requesting an Earth party reminded him about the New Year's party of 5056 and the magnificent light show they had had which had been splattered all over the intergalactic news. Smiling, Jack added, "There's one I've read about though when I was a kid. It was supposed to have the best lightshow in decades if you believed the news. It's also a 24 hour party."
"Well, in that case we should be well rested before joining the festivities. Don't want to miss the new year after all," added the Doctor with a grin.
Jack grinned back, "Which one of the 24 new years? There are still time zones on Earth and there's a lightshow every time one on Earth starts into the new year."
At this, Rose eyes shined, "Really? I read about parties on planes that did that and always wished I could do that. What about fireworks though? You just mentioned lightshows."
"I'm not sure when exactly, but at one point they switched from real firework to lightshows along with sound effects to reproduce that feeling. It was during one of the waves where people tried to make things as ecological as possible to harm the environment as little as possible," explained Jack.
Rose was a bit disappointed to hear that, but her curiosity made up for that as she wanted to know if the lightshows came anywhere close to what she loved about fireworks.
Having agreed on the year, the Doctor sent Jack and Rose to bed, promising that they would have arrived by the time they woke up.
Hour 1
Getting onto PartyStation 57 was easy enough with the help of a quick flash of the Psychic Paper and when they stepped into the main hall, they could see that they were still amongst the first to arrive as there were enough empty tables that they could pick one with a nice view of Earth. While the Doctor and Rose headed to the table they had picked, Jack went to get drinks which were luckily included in the price – not that they had had to pay for it. He really loved travelling with the Doctor.
When he returned to the table, Rose asked, "So, what else can we expect from an Earth party in this century?"
"I wouldn't know. I've never been to a New Year's Party on Earth," answered Jack.
Rose's eyes widened in surprise as she asked, "Never?"
"Never. There really never was an opportunity and even though I spent a lot of time here while I was at the Academy, I was usually busy with other things when it came to New Year's Parties," responded Jack.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow and asked, "And you never bothered?"
"Well, there were plenty of other parties and adventures to go to," replied Jack with a grin and a suggestive wink, making Rose giggle.
Rose then picked up her glass and said, "In that case, to our first New Year's Party together."
They clinked glasses and grinned at each other. The evening promised to be entertaining and lots of three-way New Year's kisses.
Shortly before the first countdown, things didn't look as bright as Rose had been gone for nearly ten minutes in her plight for the toilet and it didn't seem as if she would make it back in time for the countdown and the lightshow. Both Jack and the Doctor were a bit disappointed, but made the most of it sharing a long kiss before watching the light show without loosening their embrace, both silently promising to themselves that they would make up for it in an hour. There were plenty more opportunities after all.
Hour 2
When a pouting Rose returned, complaining about having to wait forever and why there was still a long line of woman waiting in front of the toilet while there was none for the men (along with the unfairness of not being able to sneak into said toilet).
"Well, there are plenty of other opportunities and we know better now. How about a dance as compensation?" asked Jack.
Rose perked up at that and nodded happily. As soon as their arrived on the floor for the dancing, they could see that there were plenty of couples with more than two dance partners and Jack and Rose looked expectantly at the Doctor who just shook his head.
Shrugging, Jack leaned down and whispered to Rose, "I guess we just need to give him a good show until he joins us."
Rose grinned back, took the arm Jack offered and walked to the dance floor with him. Jack had no problems leading her through the steps which were very similar to the once she had learned, although they were heavily mixed with the rhythm she was used to in a normal disco were steps didn't matter at all.
Initially, they paid close attention to the Doctor's reaction to their dancing, going so far as to have as much body contact as possible, but eventually they got lost into the rhythm. They got so lost even, that when the Doctor suddenly stood next to them, they had no idea how much time had passed. Not that it really mattered as they adjusted their rhythm to fit the Doctor into their dance.
By the time they left the dance floor, they realised that they had missed not only the countdown, but also the lightshow and of course, their New Year's kiss.
Hour 3+4
Deciding not to miss out on the next one, they opted to explore the third floor where plenty of traditional games and rituals from all over the world were available. At every table there was a note of what was done along with when and where it was most popular as well as a general table with little facts. Rose had trouble keeping her laughter in when she read about how some traditions had changed and were represented. Nonetheless, she was determined to try every form of fortune telling out on top of all the other traditions that had developed.
They had so much fun, that when Jack left to get them a few more drinks, none of them noticed the time and so for the third time there was no three-way kiss to be had. While Rose didn't mind having the Doctor all for herself as Jack had earlier, she was still rather put out that he wasn't there with them.
As they spent the next hour exploring the rest of the floor, the Doctor apparently had a brilliant idea – not that he shared it with either Rose or Jack – and walked off muttering about something.
When he didn't return in time for the countdown, Rose said, "Well, I guess now every one of us has been missing for the countdown now. That can only mean that next time we're all going to be together, shouldn't it?"
"It better does mean that I'll finally get that three-way New Year's kiss. Now, how about a kiss worthy retelling and making the Doctor regret wandering off?" asked Jack, just as the crowed loudly cheered for the new year. Rose merely grinned in return and pulled Jack to her.
Hour 5
After the mishaps of the last four countdowns, they had decided to return to the lounge room and secure a table so that they wouldn't miss the countdown and none of them would wander off.
Rose, as the only one to have celebrated New Year's Parties every year of her life, kept them entertained with stories of previous parties, with Jack and the Doctor throwing in a story of their own every now and then, for the next hour. When it was time for the next countdown, Rose decided that she wanted to be closer to the windows to watch the lightshow and walked in a mostly straight line through the people that started crowding around them. It didn't take long for Jack to lose sight of her and to his utter despair, the Doctor announced, "There's a way," before disappearing in the crowd as well. Realising that, once again, the three of them weren't in the same place for the New Year, Jack despaired if they would manage to be at one place for the countdown at least once until the party was over.
Vaguely, he remembered Rose words about one of them missing the countdown so far and how it would work out this time – clearly they hadn't considered the possibility that all three of them would be apart instead of simply one person missing. Not interested in the countdown and the lightshow, Jack went back to their table and ordered the next round. It would be better to just stay here instead of trying to search for Rose and the Doctor and getting lost in the crowd. He wondered if Rose and the Doctor had least found each other, but he doubted it as they had pretty much gone into two different directions.
Hour 6+7
If any of them had thought that they had learned from the past five hours, Rose thought, than they had been wrong. There was no other reason why she was on her own again as the countdown started around her. Crossing her arms in front of her in frustration, Rose sat on the stairs leading up to the floor with the games and New Year's rituals. No matter how much fun the party was in between the countdowns, it didn't really make up for the fact that they seemingly were unable to be together in place for the countdown.
When the crowd shouted, "Ten," in union, she saw Jack grinning widely and hurrying in her direction and by the time they said, "Five," his grin was brightening even more as he pointed to something just past her. Turning around, she saw the Doctor hurrying towards them. As the crowd cheered, "Happy New Year," for the sixth time since the party started, both men had reached Rose with wide grins.
Without any of them saying something, they embraced and finally shared their first three-way New Year's Kiss. To their utter relief, their luck held an hour later as they not only had secured a table close to the window so they could watch the lightshow comfortably.
Hour 17
After their luck holding for eleven hours straight, none of them worried overly much for the rest of the party, alternating between the lounge and the dance floor until a robot handing out information about various traditions started malfunctioning and the Doctor insisting on fixing it with his sonic screwdriver. Unfortunately, things didn't go as the Doctor had planned (although the robot most certainly worked fine afterwards) and he got sprayed with an oily substance, causing him to walk off towards the toilets to clean his shirt up.
By the time the countdown started, the Doctor was not only not back yet, but Jack and Rose were surrounded by the crowd so tightly that nobody was able to move through them, making it impossible for the Doctor to reach them even if he was done. However, Rose and Jack took it in stride, after all, they had managed it easily after their initial bout of unlucky tries and there were still a few hours and countdowns to go.
Hour 21
Over 20 hours of partying had clearly taken their toll on them as Jack was sitting more or less sluggishly on the right side of the couch they had claimed. The Doctor was pretty quiet as well, although he didn't look tired at all as he watched the buzzing around them from the other side of the couch. Rose on the other hand was curled up between them, her feet stuck slightly under Jack's legs to keep them warm and her head on the Doctor's shoulder. Without needing any words they had decided that they wouldn't wake Rose for this countdown as it was obvious that she needed the sleep and they could bear to forgo this one kiss when it meant that Rose would be up and about again when it came to the last kiss of party.
So, not moving from their locations, not even to kiss each other, Jack and the Doctor merely watched everybody around them be excited – although the crowd had thinned a bit as Rose wasn't the only one who needed a little break. After all, not everybody was meant to stay over 24 hours awake at a time and that's just counting the party and getting there. Jack didn't want to think how long some of the people he had seen on the party took to get ready for it. Rose had simply curled her hair while some of the people he saw had the most outlandish hairdos.
Rose's simple style for the night had one definite advantage – it most certainly wouldn't be ruined by her short nap.
When the crowd cheered loudly and Rose didn't so much as twitch, Jack wondered if they would have been able to wake her at all if they had intended to. A short look at the Doctor showed him that he had the same thought.
Hour 24
As the last countdown rang, the Doctor, Rose and Jack could clearly feel the excitement of the entire crowd. This wasn't just one of many countdowns – this was the last one for an entire year. Everybody had stopped doing whatever they were busy with and counted loudly with the crowd.
The three looked at each other with wide grins and when the cheer went up as the counting reached zero, they wished each other a Happy New Year and kissed. To all three of them, this was the best kiss of the entire party and all three of them knew what they wanted to happen for the next year of their travels, wishing that things would always remain this happy and exiting as they went from one adventure to the next.
The End
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