Doctor Who Fic: Smaller on the Inside (1/1)

[lunarsilverwolfstar]

Title: Smaller on the Inside (1/1)

Author: silverlunarstar

Pairing: Ten/Rose

Rating: G

Genre: Romance/Humor/Fluff

Words: 1,188

Disclaimer: I claim no rights to Doctor Who. I simply use the characters for my own fun and give them right back. ;)

Summary: The one time the TARDIS is actually smaller on the inside is when Ten and Rose rode together. Fluff with a Doomsday fix-it

Author's Note: Dedicated to my callistawolf after she watched Doomsday for the umpteenth time and liveblogged it. Thank you foxmoonfade for the idea! This is for you too! Summary is Foxy’s words, by the way.

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Was it just him, or did the TARDIS suddenly seem smaller? Ever since they'd left Mickey Smith in the alternate universe, the Doctor felt as if there was no way to avoid one Rose Tyler. Not that he was actively avoiding her, of course. Well, maybe just a bit. Tiny bit only, mind. It seemed as if his Old Girl had other ideas.

The first time he noticed was when he and Rose had come back from another adventure, and they'd gone straight to their respective bedrooms to shower. While he was cleaning himself off, he heard a lovely tune that was definitely not his ship. He listened closer and was surprised when he realized it was Rose, singing in her shower. The Doctor had never heard her sing before and wondered why that was. She had a lovely voice.

It wasn't until he'd changed into a clean brown, pinstriped suit that he realized that their showers weren't next to each other. Her room was right across the hall from his (granted, he still wondered why Rose had been given that room in particular when most of his companions had always had their own hall). He looked up at the ceiling in suspicion, but the TARDIS simply hummed innocently, and he felt her need to ‘conserve water’. Since when had that been an issue?

There were various other times after that when it seemed like there was no helping running into Rose. If he wanted to do some tinkering with a hover board, he had to use his study in the library, door removed, while Rose lounged in one of the comfy sofas, reading Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood again. If he wanted to do some moping alone and went to one of the other galleys, stirring his cereal in contemplation, Rose would soon find him and comfort him, later telling him she didn't even know he was feeling out of sorts, that the TARDIS had placed this galley in the regular spot of their usual one.

Even the console room seemed quite small. It felt like they were literally living in a box. Rose would be painting her toenails, taking care to not spill a drop of nail polish, and teasing the TARDIS that the pink would brighten her already beautiful coral colour. His hearts warmed when he heard that. He loved it that his two favourite girls got along so well.

Finally, one morning (or what counted as morning in the time ship), the TARDIS actually combined their bathrooms, so when the Doctor had been in the shower scrubbing the grease off him after fixing the wiring of the lights in the wardrobe (the TARDIS had squirted him when he'd accidentally grabbed the wiring for the temporal clutch – was it his fault they were of similar colour?), he froze when he heard Rose coming in and using the toilet. She must have been half-asleep still, for it wasn't until she flushed and the Doctor yelped as the water scalded him that she realized he was in there.

"Doctor! What are you doing in my bathroom?"

The Doctor stuck his head out of the stall, soap still in his hair. "Me! You’re in my bathroom."

"No." She went to the sink. "My toothbrush." She waved the pink stick. "And my-" Rose cut herself off as she saw the dark blue towel next to her pink and yellow one.

He looked at the direction she was looking and pink blossomed on his face. "I, uh, I must've mixed something up while I was working on the wiring. I'll recalibrate her as soon as we come back from Houeirf."

"What's Houeirf?" she asked, her interest piqued.

"Oh, it’s a city in Ijo, on the planet Feroli. You'll love it, Rose!" He grinned at her.

She laughed. "Alright, just let me brush my teeth and I'll get ready."

Slipping back in the shower, the Doctor once again yelped at the change in the water's temperature. This time it was ice-cold as a pouty time and space ship punished her Time Lord for being such an idiot.

It wasn't until they'd finished helping Elton and came back to the TARDIS after a cuppa with Jackie that the Doctor finally couldn't take it. Walking the now narrow hallways to their bedrooms, he turned to Rose.

"What's-?"

This time he cut her off by grabbing her face between his hands and planting a kiss to her lips. At Rose's gasp, he parted, thinking he'd gone too far. It was his turn to gasp when her hands went to his shoulders and she came to press her lips on his. His hands moved from her face to her waist, bringing her closer, groaning as her own dived into his hair.

Finally parting, the Doctor had to do everything in his power to seize from rolling his eyes as he felt his ship's smugness. "Good night, Rose Tyler."

"Relative," she mumbled right before she entered her room.

---

"Hold on! Just hold on!" Rose screamed at the Doctor.

"No, Rose! Stay there. Don't-" His shoulders tensed, his knuckles pale white as he held onto the lever. Stupid Dalek, stupid Torchwood. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He just thanked his lucky stars that it'd been his lever that the Dalek had bumped into and not Rose's. It was taking all of his strength just to hold onto it, resisting the suction of the Void. He was sure Rose, as strong as she was, would not have been able to hold on as long as he had.

Finally, finally, the gateway to the Howling closed and he let go, his arms turned to jelly. They barely managed to grip his blonde girl as she ran to him, holding him like he'd disappear right before her eyes. He buried his face in her hair, taking in her scent, her very essence. He'd almost lost her today and he thanked all the gods he didn't accept existed, overall thanking her, the one thing he did believe in, for staying.

---

"She's gone." Rose's eyes were filled with tears she had yet to let shed, her cheeks already trailed with those she had. Even though she knew she had made the right choice, she couldn't get that white wall out of her mind.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor looked at her, face gloomy as his hearts broke for her. This was what he'd wanted to avoid. He was sure she regretted it.

"Don't! Don't be sorry." She turned to him. "I promised you forever and forever is what you're gonna get."

He startled when she raised her voice, but couldn't help the joy he felt as she assuaged his fears, pulling her in for a hug, arms tightening around each other.

The TARDIS hummed in contentment. She would do everything in her power to make sure that her Thief and Wolf would be together forever, even if she had to mess with the dimensions and continue to make herself smaller. That was her promise; though she was sure the dense Time Lord finally understood that it would be the three of them always.