InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "He's going with me."

Rose M. Tyler (jeopardysfriend) wrote in vas_captio_rpg,
@ 2009-10-11 22:10:00

Entry tags:

!active, day 26, location: gas station, rose tyler, the doctor (ten)

Who: Rose Tyler and the Tenth Doctor
What: Confessions? Confrontations? Whatever, it could get messy or be adorable, we don't make the call
When: Day 26, 11am
Where: Gas Station
Rating: PG-13 for Rose's mouth
Status: Incomplete

It was chilly again. Sure, they didn't have decomposing bodies lying around, why not have it be nice and cool again? Idiots. The smell probably would have bothered her more if she hadn't been dealing with reeling emotions. Chris had just been bitten by the zombie woman lying beside him, and then there was her own wake-up gift. And she was on her way to see him. Alive and well. And she wouldn't be able to deny any longer that it wasn't simply because she worried for her still-living friend that she'd panicked on seeing him dead.

The truth was, Rose wanted to still be angry with the older, younger-looking Time Lord. She'd been hurt. Devastated, even. Once again treated like a small child who couldn't take care of herself. But she'd thought about it. She'd listened to what Chris had said, what Jack had said, and eventually even what her Doctor had said. As angry and hurt as she'd been, Rose knew why he'd done what he had. That didn't make it any easier to deal with the fact that she'd been lied to. Or that he'd listened to her and she'd trusted him even with him knowing who he would eventually be to her.

And yet, she was walking to the gas station as it neared eleven, her hooded jacket pulled tightly around her, her arms crossed protectively over her chest. She didn't think he could ever hurt her. Not physically, at least. But it was the emotional scars he'd left that she feared reopening. It didn't matter. She wanted this. She wanted to talk to him, to have her questions answered and to hear what he had to say. For better or for worse, right? What was the worst that could happen?

Well. Other than the row to end all rows leading to her not traveling with his regenerated self.

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fromgallifrey
2009-10-12 03:37 pm UTC (link)

John Smith had spent the morning with himself talking about modulators and power amplifiers and the stupidity that would be stealing technology enabling them to travel back to Gallifrey (which should be impossible given the Time Lock and the fact that the entire planet has been wiped from space and time... try not to wrap your heads around that one, it only makes it hurt.)He'd been walking around now with that TARDIS sign under his shoulder like an award and he'd eventually turn up at the Gas Station.

She'd see him coming alright, from the direction of the carnival. Sign in hand, suit looking somehow cleaner (alright, it was a Cajun with a washboard who thought he was doing favors), John Smith approached the appointed meeting place with an expression that only seemed to get more and more serious as he did. He knew he had a tongue lashing coming. He knew he probably deserved it from Rose's perspective. Still, it didn't make it any easier to take.

So, up to the door he'd poke his head inside and try and give a friendly smile. They were friends still, right? On some level, she couldn't really hate him, could she. Then again, she hardly knew him. Only this persona he'd made up to protect her. Only half assed stories. Only that he'd told her that he loved her. And kissed her.

And that would be while the smile trickled away to a look of self doubt and a touch of discomfort. He'd told her. She knew. And she wasn't his Rose yet.

"Hello," he'd say quietly, giving a wave of his free hand.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-10-12 05:53 pm UTC (link)

Oh, she'd wanted to ignore him. Other than a few catty comments to him via journal, she hadn't spoken to him at all till he'd turned up missing. And then, you know, dead. For a while, all she'd wanted was for him to go away and leave her alone and never bother her again. Maybe a small, anxious part of her still did. And she had every right to, considering. Keeping the facts from her was one thing. Outright lying and creating an entire person and an entire life? That was another. Worse, he'd earned her trust, talking to her constantly, making her care.

But Rose had been thinking for several days before this encounter. And she knew she wanted to get to know this Doctor, too. Ten, they apparently called him. How mad was that? Nine faces before the one he wore now, one which she'd spent most of her time with. A few Sarah Jane had seen long before she'd even met the Time Lord. How did he live like that? It didn't matter. She wanted more. She had so many questions, ones she knew most people wouldn't answer even if she begged. But maybe a few might slide out. Maybe.

That and she couldn't lie. She was intrigued. Maybe even slightly attracted. Okay, definitely attracted. Half this town had already told her he loved her. He'd definitely kissed her. What all had happened between the time her Doctor became this one and that moment in front of the theater? Again, so many questions, most which had no answer.

But she wasn't angry. Not really. Not any longer. So she smiled reassuringly when he said hello and pulled herself up onto the counter where sometime years ago, some little old man had probably rung up goods and petrol for his customers. Or not. Likely just a prop made by the Management. Rose nodded to the sign he carried. "Knicked it with your friends, did you?" she teased, reminding him of the story he'd concocted when she'd caught him with it. Already it felt like forever ago.

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fromgallifrey
2009-10-13 01:01 pm UTC (link)

John Smith stayed fairly close to the door, wincing a little as she called him on his little fib. "Oh, I did knick it," he looked to the sign. "Whole thing, knicked it out of a museum. With my granddaughter, Susan." You didn't know that, did you Rose? Moving closer to a shelf he set the sign down - not because it was particularly heavy, but because he felt he didn't really need to hide behind it.

"So..." he pursed his lips a little, putting all those important thoughts in order. There was a fantastic bruise that ran up under his jaw and it took a lot of effort to remember that he couldn't very comfortably scratch at his cheek at the moment. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, taking that step forward and giving Rose Tyler a sincere look. He wasn't hoping for anything in particular - and he certainly wasn't holding out for outward forgiveness. No, he was fully prepared for Rose to take her time and beat him up a little.

"Did they send you someplace interesting yesterday?" Apology over, time to talk about something else.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-10-13 02:09 pm UTC (link)

Granddaughter? No, no she hadn't known that. Her eyes widened a little, but really, it made sense, didn't it? He was what, nine-hundred and some odd years old? If she thought about it, which she found she didn't really want to, he'd probably been married, had a good dozen kids, grandkids... How long could Time Lords reproduce for, she wondered? Rose was betting it was a great deal longer than the forty or so years that humans could.

She watched him for a few moments, considering that and about a dozen other things. For a minute, she simply kicked her legs absently against the counter beneath her, tapping it with her heels before swinging them again. In that position, she looked every bit of nineteen and probably about as vulnerable as she felt.

"No, not really," she admitted with a shrug, glancing up at him before looking back down at the dingy old tile beneath them. "Was back home. My first day at Henrik's, actually. Didn't even know you yet." There. She'd said it out loud. Her first actually admittance that there'd come a time where her Doctor would become this Doctor. It had taken time, but Rose had come to terms with it. Sort of.

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fromgallifrey
2009-10-13 02:22 pm UTC (link)

He watched her eyes go wider there as the realization that maybe there was more to this Time Lord than even she knew properly. There was lots, in fact, he knew she didn't know yet. That she'd never know, actually. Things he just didn't have the time or the will to tell her outright. Not about Gallifrey and it's obscure and powerful artifacts, about the companions who came before or would certainly come after. No word on the loneliness or rage or any of that -- No, the Doctor didn't see fit to open the TARDIS door more wide than he already had.

As she watched him, the Doctor started at plucking some of the stock on the shelf and moving them around - organizing. He needed something to keep his hands busy, at least for a little while. If his hands were busy than maybe his mind could be occupied and he wouldn't blurt out what was running through his head.

"You still don't know me yet," he said quietly with a knowing look. You didn't know him yet, Rose Tyler. It'd taken him a while to get to know himself - how could she in a few days with half baked stories and quarter truths?

"They sent me back with you," he said in a quiet, albeit higher tone - something intended to be gentle, almost endearing. "Well, not the whole time anyway. Spent a lot of time in a pit with a creature who fancied himself as Satan." The Doctor stuck his lower lip out a little, considering. He could have been Satan, nothing to keep that chap's parents from naming him that, afterall.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-10-13 05:22 pm UTC (link)

Rose watched him putter about. She didn't know him? Ha. Who was he kidding? Sarah Jane had been right. That? Was something his younger self did just as much. Refused to sit idle, refused to allow himself time to just relax. Never mind that no one had bothered organizing this stock, ever. He had to keep busy.

A near-death experience. Go figure. "So some things never change," she joked, though her voice was quiet. "As usual, you go taking on the galaxy. Fighting evil... Who were you protecting, hmm? A whole planet? A spaceship? A satellite?" Maybe she didn't know this new version of him. And maybe she didn't even know the one she'd been with that entire time as well as she might have. But he should at least give her the credit she deserved. She did know you, Doctor. Just not the way you wanted her to. Not the way her future self would.

Biting her lower lip, Rose hesitated before looking back at the nearly-pouting Time Lord. He looked awfully cute that way, lower lip sticking out like a child deep in thought. And she sort of hated herself for thinking that. "Did you make me stay where I was safe and sound there, too?" The words were, perhaps, meant to goad him a bit. But she was also genuinely curious. "Or is that just something the other you does? Nine, they call him?"

Because if Rose had decided one thing in her time away from the museum, it was that she was done with this John Smith nonsense. He didn't exist. The tall, lanky man was the Doctor, for better or for worse. And she really, really hoped it was for better.

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fromgallifrey
2009-10-13 05:51 pm UTC (link)

He pondered a moment - that question about who he was protecting. It hadn't been about protecting anyone, really. It'd been about exploring, about finding out that maybe in the end he didn't know everything afterall. He certainly hadn't been trying to protect the Ood. No, valient as he might be they weren't really more than a blip on his radar as he rappelled down into that pit. Then there'd been all that Comm silence as it was then just him and Ida Scott - talking about faith and the workings of the universe.

"It was a planet, an impossible planet, hanging just outside a black hole," his eyes looked far off. "And a station, settled in there, it had a crew, of course and there were the Ood." Of course Ood wouldn't mean anything to her. He paused, as if considering running the whole thing through. Practicality demanded he didn't. "Long story short, you wind up on a rocket bound for Earth, I wind up in a pit with a devil. Not quite sure why the people here would want me to relive that."

The Doctor had stopped playing with the stock and instead put his hands in his pockets. "From what you told me, the crew made you get on that rocket, actually," he said abruptly in response to if he'd made her stay some place safe and sound. "Good thing they did, too - I only had time for one trip, and I'd assumed you'd be on the rocket."

The wild haired Doctor, shifted a little coming up to stand in front of her. "There's no 'they,' you know. We're both just the Doctor. It's sort of silly to go 'round being called by a number, don't you think? Besides, he's not just the Doctor, he's your Doctor." He'd been so very deliberate about that, Rose and maybe now it was starting to make a little bit more sense as to why - because as much as he was your Doctor you were his Rose.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-10-13 08:08 pm UTC (link)

She closed her eyes to try and imagine it. The scene he was painting. It was a bit like when his little self had told her about Gallifrey. Her listening to the words and trying to picture what he said. A planet hanging at a point in gravity where it shouldn't even exist. She could almost see it. Of course, she had no idea what Ood were, but she figured they were some fantastic other alien species.

There was a theory flitting through her head. Why they'd have sent him back. They hadn't sent him to before their meeting, or even when he'd been the other one traveling with her. They hadn't sent him to some time after they'd been together, either. It was him and her. Whatever had happened between them had been good enough to have them send him back to relive it. To relive what couldn't be.

But then, theories weren't Rose's strong point apparently, so how would she know? For all she knew, they'd just sent him back there because it was fun to watch him battle some Satan-like creature.

Rose bit her lower lip when he came closer. Her smile was small and hesitant, but it was there just the same. "There's plenty of 'they's, Doctor," she reminded him. "All those people out there?" She nodded towards the door leading back into the main square of their prison. "They all know you two by one thing or another. And... I don't care. You're both the Doctor and you're both the same man whether you want me to think so or not."

With a deep breath, she brushed her hair back behind her ear. Her eyes were wide, possibly even anxious as she continued. "And I may know him now? But I'm going to know you. I already partially do. I..." Glancing away, she shrugged. "I trusted you. Almost from the very beginning. Why else would I do that if I hadn't known, somehow, that I could?"

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fromgallifrey
2009-10-15 12:32 pm UTC (link)

"Well, that 'they' doesn't actually exist. At least not to my face anyway. You're not going to seriously start calling me ten, are you?" It was sort of a morbid, thought really. 'Ten.' He'd hit double digits. When had that happened? It was sort of like when humans started rolling over the hill.. Or down the hill. Or off the cliff. Whatever, you hit double digits you knew you were close to the end of the line - just three more goes at it before-- well, before there weren't anymore goes left.

when she said that they were both the Doctor, well it was sort of a relief, answered his question quite properly. At least she wouldn't go running around calling him 'Ten' all the time. Hopefully the fad wouldn't catch on, either. He'd have to kick whoever had brought up the whole numbering convention at all, see if they wanted to be known as 1967 or something similar.

"We're similar men," he corrected. "Had a whole lot go on since I was last him." He swayed a little, mirroring that small smile of hers and it'd hang there as long as hers did fading as she looked away. He'd follow her eyes and come back again, brown finding hazel in a familiar pattern.

"You've always sort of had that Spidey-Sense, haven't you?" He was trying to make light, Rose, forgive him. "You trusted Jack when I probably wouldn't have given him a second look and see how that turned out?" Well, you didn't know the half of how it turned out, you'd just have to believe him on that one.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-10-15 01:28 pm UTC (link)

She smiled a little more brightly when he teased her for her so-called Spidey-sense. Maybe he was right. Maybe she did. But she also knew there was more to the faith she'd put into John Smith. "I have to confess, if Jack hadn't had those dimples, I might not have been so ready to trust him either. Plus, he was a pretty brilliant dancer." And hey, he'd saved her from crash-landing in the middle of 1940's London and plummeting to her death. You tended to trust a man after that. "Makes you wonder what was so trustworthy about you."

Rose hopped down from the counter, closing the distance between them. She looked up into those dark brown eyes, trying to find traces of the blue-eyed Time Lord behind them. It was there. If either of them knew it, she didn't know, but they both shared what Sarah Jane had called a haunted look. And it was enough to soothe her tired, frayed nerves.

Gingerly, she reached up a hand, tracing the skin just beneath the dark bruise spreading over his cheek. "You're hurt," Rose said softly. "Have to be careful about that. You regenerate here and it'll be all kinds of weird. Hard enough explaining two of you as it is, isn't it?" See? She could admit he had his own struggles to deal with. "I'm sorry," she added a breath later. "I was angry. And hurt. I thought you didn't trust me. I... I'm just really sorry."

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fromgallifrey
2009-10-17 01:25 am UTC (link)

John Smith breathed out his nose a little as she mentioned John's dimples and dancing. "I'll have you know I'm a pretty brilliant dancer myself," he retorted. But, you knew that already, didn't you Rose Tyler?

He was sucking his teeth a little, rocking back and forth on the edges of his feet as she came up closer, looking deep and searchingly into his eyes. He couldn't help it, his breath hitched. What was she looking for? Perhaps that's why his expression turned a little concerned, looking back and trying to get a read on the hazel ones his opposite. "Hello." He said again quietly. You saw him in there, didn't you, Rose?

There was a sharp, involuntary intake of breath as her hand came up warm against his cool skin, reminding him of that bruise he'd earned. He had enough restraint not to lean into that touch, he didn't have enough to keep his eyes open, though. They slipped shut a moment in response, taking comfort in that gentle attention.

Though, when that half-serious joke came flitting out of Rose Tyler's mouth, the Doctor's eyes came back open again, the wall was back in place. "Me,too," he'd reply in a low voice.

"Though, if there's anything I believe in, Rose Tyler. Anything I trust, it's you." It was a sincere, warm tone that you probably hadn't heard from him before - mostly because everything he'd said prior had been coated in a bit of fabrication and these words were webbed in nothing but truth.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-10-17 01:35 am UTC (link)

He'd never know how much she needed to hear that. Everyone had been telling her, over and over again, that this was the man he'd become. That, before long, the one she knew and trusted with her life would turn into the one standing before her. She'd wished so desperately that she could be angry about that. That she could just turn her back on him when the time came and not go off with this relative stranger. But she couldn't. And it was more than the fact that he was physically attractive. Which she couldn't deny. There was a reason Rose hadn't stepped away, though her hand dropped slowly to her side.

But she wanted to believe in him. She wanted to believe that this person she'd allowed so close to her was the one who was going to take care of her. Maybe he wasn't her leather-clad friend, but he also sort of was, after all. And he'd been so good to her before she'd found out the truth. Offering her comfort when it was needed, boosting her confidence when she was obviously not feeling it on her own. If that was what this regeneration thing would do to him, could she really fight that?

"I still don't understand why," Rose admitted quietly. "Why me? Hell, why ask me along in the first place? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change a day of it. I just... I'm just me, that's all. And you seem to have so much faith in me..." And, as anyone who knew her well knew, Rose Tyler had so very little faith in herself sometimes. But not with him. No, as fabricated as he might have been, John Smith had offered her up plenty of confidence. And so did the Doctor. Really, it was a wonder she hadn't put two and two together days earlier.

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fromgallifrey
2009-10-17 01:51 am UTC (link)

This tenth Doctor, he was a charmer, wasn't he? Perhaps it was the wiley smile or the unruly hair? Even when he wasn't trying to be the glowing mystery man, there was still some sort of spark in his eyes. Then again, that could have just been what happened when he looked at Rose Tyler.

"Because you're brilliant. Because you saw things I couldn't. Remember that Eye of London, big as life? Didn't see that... Wasn't looking at it the right way. But you? You saw. Brilliant. You always see the things I don't." You hear that, Rose Tyler? Your genius of a friend just called you smarter than him. Would you ever let him forget that? Though, it didn't seem worth mentioning that the cheeky blonde already had a way of smoothing the rough-edged leather bound man and that was something grand.

It seemed almost logical that the question as to why she'd come would follow; though the Doctor didn't ask. He never asked why - because he always assumed it was the allure of Time and Space - and for Rose he was certain it was no different. "Besides, I've good reason to have faith in you, saving my life and all against impossible odds." His smile was sudden and accompanied by a jumping brow. "Like it was normal. Not used to that."

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jeopardysfriend
2009-10-17 02:01 am UTC (link)

Rose gave a bashful little smile at that, glancing down at the ground beneath his feet. "If the things we do together with you as you are half as brilliant... Well, you'll need saving, won't you?" she teased, her eyes bright. He was just as mad as his predecessor, and she found she didn't mind it, either. "I mean, honestly. Trying to reason with an enemy with a weapon in your pocket. What were you thinking?"

Of course traveling the whole of time and space had appealed to her. For a simple shopgirl from London, how could it not? She'd never been further than Paris, and that was simply for school. The very first time he'd taken her anywhere, it had been to the year five billion. Pretty impressive, she had to say. But the truth was, she found the man himself intriguing. Her meeting with Clive had definitely implanted him in her head. A mystery, definitely. A brilliant mystery. But in person, he was so much more. Risking himself for a ragtag little planet with no idea they'd even been in danger half the time. And she had to admit, from the very beginning, Rose had wanted to get beneath that top layer and find out more about the man underneath.

And this tenth Doctor? It was a pretty good start. Not half as brittle as the one Rose knew already. Only half as angst-filled. And a tiny flicker of hope that she'd had something to do with that ran through her.

"It was normal for me," she reminded him. "It's exactly what you would have done. Why wouldn't I?" Rocking back on her heels, she looked back up at him, her eyes twinkling. "Where do we go? You don't have to give me details, I know you're not allowed, just... Is it somewhere fabulous? Do we meet anyone amazing? Like Charles Dickens, let me tell you, that's a story for the grandkids. Anyone like that?"

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fromgallifrey
2009-10-17 02:14 am UTC (link)

Always in need of saving, in more ways than the obvious - and the blonde woman was just so good at that. He was good at saving worlds and she was good at just saving him. There was history between them, history she didn't even know. That didn't make it any less real for the Time Lord.

"I'll have you know that was a brilliant plan," he retorted. "Amazing." Grin. He was flying by the seat of his pants, just like always - there was no plan. Half dumb luck half smiling fate - it seemed to be a trend.

"Well, you shouldn't have been able to do it because I sent you away," yes, he admitted it, he'd packed you up in that TARDIS, wished you a fantastic life, and mailed the whole thing back to two-thousand-something. Though, he next question kept him from replying further, and made him break into a smile.

"Queen Victoria I'd say was a highlight. She was not amused. New New York was quite the sight. There was the Olympics... And your Dad." Pete Tyler. Well, he wasn't quite the Pete Tyler you knew - but, he had his face, his drive. He was also successful with his dreams. He was more than life had let your father be and that seemed almost a bit surreal. Funny things parallel universes. He was smiling away in memory, his mind going back to his time with his Rose - and it seemed for those few moments that she was standing right in front of him.

Perhaps that's why his face turned down with a nearly bashful smile, he'd been working very hard at not thinking of this Rose as her; but, fates be damned, it was.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-10-17 03:28 am UTC (link)

Oh, but she was the same woman, Doctor. At least, she wanted to be. She knew she didn't have the memories that he did. She knew that her future self had lived a life so much more fulfilling than her own. But she still cared about this tall, lanky Time Lord with the beautiful smile and the crazy hair. She wanted to know about those things he was remembering.

"Queen Victoria?" she blurted, her eyes wide. "We met the bloody queen?" Future Rose was in for a good old time, wasn't she? Or...rather, had already had one. A year spent with this bloke and she still couldn't completely wrap her head around the whole time thing. Including how he could be living it and not remember having lived it as his previous self. That part would never make any sense.

And he had also said the magic word. Reaching out, she rested a hand on his arm, giving it an inquisitive squeeze. "My dad? Again? We met him again? Was he alright? Did we...was it his childhood or something?" Okay, she had sworn not to ask for details. But come on! It was her dad they were talking about. The only time in her life she'd known him, he was giving his life to save all of humanity. She wanted so much more.

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fromgallifrey
2009-11-10 02:14 pm UTC (link)

The Time Lord shrugged, his hands deep in the pockets of his brown coat. "Banished us. Not sure we deserved that." His mouth went a little mushy and he frowned a little.

Though, the wishy-washy expression was short lived as Rose's hand landed on his forearm and the Doctor was looking up from very conveniently placed trainers to lock on those hazel eyes his opposite. "It was a different Pete Tyler. I don't know if happier is the right term; but, he was certainly different. Had a different life in another universe." The Doctor's tone was warm, it his meaning was a bit ellusive.

"Still got plenty more adventures left in us," the Doctor said quietly stepping back a little to reclaim his space. He was back to fiddling with the rack again, fingers turning the pouched cupcakes and pastries. Processed sugar, this place was at least good for that.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-11-23 05:47 am UTC (link)

Her head tilted, watching him curiously. In her heart, she knew he needed his space. But she still couldn't help feeling jilted, like he'd just given her the ultimate brush-off. Maybe it was wrong, comparing the two, but she couldn't help pondering whether or not that was something her current version of him would have done. What had happened between them to cause that reaction?

Or, for that matter, that would cause him to kiss her?

"Do we?" Rose said softly, her eyes closing for a moment. "I got the impression that... That I'm not in your life anymore." Why else would he kiss her now and not then? Why else would that have been the first exchange between them that even seemed somewhat romantic? Simple. He never got the chance to do so again. "If that's the case then... Well, that limits the plenty of adventures, doesn't it? Unless you count here."

Here. That horrible glass prison. How could adventures count for anything in there?

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