Who: The Doctor and Rose Where: Their apartment When: Mid-January - Night What: Even Timelords struggle with what's real or not Rating: TBD Open: No
Even though Rose, the Twins and John had been back for a few months now, the Doctor still couldn't shake the idea that they could disappear at any moment. Or that they weren't really back and he was hallucinating them. Not that he'd done that in the last two years, of course. He was almost treating the situation like Weeping Angels - Don't Blink. If he blinked they'd disappear and he'd still be stuck on this paradoxical island. Alone. Without his family.
Once or twice, Rose or John had found him standing over the Twins while they were sleeping, just staring at them, barely breathing himself. Another time - when the other adults had been asleep - he had reached out to touch the Twins several times but had always pulled back before contact: just in case.
Tonight, he wasn't standing over the Twins. Instead, he was lying on his back next to Rose. He could hear her breathing as she slept and a faint feedback from the bond but... It wasn't enough. It was too quiet. And his mind was whirring. What if...
The Doctor moved slowly and quietly, shifting until he was upright and leaning over his mate. His head tilted slightly to one side as he stared down at her. What if she wasn't really here? What if she was some kind of mental construct he had created in their absence to stop himself going mad. Or because he had gone mad?
This wasn't the first time he had done this. Stared at her. Contemplated prodded her physically instead of over the bond - because he could easily trick himself with his own mind but actual touch...
His hand reached out, nearly tapping her in the forehead with his index finger but retracted it before contact was made. But he still didn't stop staring, his face not far from hers and he could almost feel her warm breath on his cool skin. Almost.