"Are you serious? You want us to go out with these people and stomp through the bleedin' forest hunting for a gigantic dangerous lizard thing – "

"Not a lizard, more like a dinosaur. Just to give you an accurate picture, you know. Well, actually, I suppose that's not really –"

"WhatEVER. – just so you can climb up on it and touch its whatzit – "

"Ooh now, Miss Tyler!"

"GOD! You are twelve with nine hundred years' experience, I swear. – anyway, so you can try to do some weird mind-meld with it FOR FUN in the seven seconds before it knocks you off its head and squashes you on the rocks and I get stranded here on Retro Caveman Prime – "

"Umcirillax, actually. And there's no other planet in the system, so it couldn't be called Prime anyway…"

"Aaaaaugh!" And, with that, the morning's first conversation came to a screeching halt as one very irate Rose snatched her trainers up, flipped her damp hair out of her face, and stomped out of the cottage in her stocking feet before she gave in to her impulse to club one very loquacious and thrill-seeking Time Lord over the head and drag his skinny arse over the hills and back to the TARDIS.

What the hell was he thinking? Rose fumed. She perched on a beautifully-carved bench in the village center, brushed dirt and bark off her socks, donned her shoes, then fumbled in her pocket for a hair clip. Leave it to him to get caught up in their mumbo-jumbo and want to go do something that's bloody likely to get him killed...

The Day Before Yesterday

She'd been perfectly happy to have a new adventure the other day, when she'd strolled into the console room blearily munching toast after sensing that the TARDIS had finally materialized after six days in the Vortex. Good job, that; since the Doctor had been absorbed in rebuilding some capacitor and hadn't emerged much, there was only so much a girl could polish her toenails and read back issues of OK!.

The Doctor had been hopping maniacally around the rotor, checking readings. "Aaah, Rose! Morning! Come see what we've happened on! Well, you know, not as if I didn't pick it, obviously, but what a find! Remember when we went back to the Cretaceous? Well, here we are again. Only not. This is Umcirillax, which is currently remarkably similar ecologically to Earth's Mesozoic era – but with humanoid civilization, and with certain larger species that have low-level telepathic abilities. Wanna go see?"

His brown eyes twinkled with excitement as he held out his hand, fingers wiggling. She'd grinned, stuffed the rest of her toast in her mouth, slid her hand into his, and they'd quickly made their way out into the lush valley in which he'd hidden the TARDIS.

Since the civilization wasn't highly advanced, the Doctor had parked well away. The land was stunningly beautiful and the lifeforms they'd seen amazing, but they'd walked for most of a day and Rose was footsore and exhausted when the Doctor called a halt. "Ah! I see the village that showed up on the scanners. Perfect timing; we can spend the night here and ask our hosts to give us the tour tomorrow, eh? Not far now!" And, with his usual endless supply of energy, he'd hopped up and rocketed off down the slope. About halfway down, he'd realized that Rose wasn't keeping up and turned back. "All right?" At Rose's tired nod, he wrapped an arm snugly around her and set off again, more slowly.

Ten minutes later they'd arrived at the small but neat village. Their arrival was noticed by a young man who was hauling water from a well near the outskirts, but thankfully, on this "first contact" there were no threats, shouts, or outright attacks. He had merely looked curiously at them and asked "Greetings; are you from this village? I did not know of any parties out, and the nearest settlement is two days' walk. In any case, come and sit. It will soon be dark, and I know that Duleian will want to speak with you." He'd led them to a charming gathering place in the village center, filled with ornamental plants and carved wooden and stone benches staggered around a central low platform. "I will find Duleian. Make yourselves at ease; there is water in the cistern there."

Rose had sunk down heavily onto a bench and promptly rested her head in her hands, too tired to care much. The Doctor had lowered himself down next to her and draped his overcoat around her shoulders; with the two small yellow suns beginning to slide below the horizon, the temperature was dropping. Though their hiking exertions had kept Rose from being bothered by it, he knew they'd need to get somewhere inside fairly soon, since she hadn't brought anything heavier than her cotton hoodie…and a cold Rose was a grumpy Rose.

"Thanks. Didn't realize it was getting so cool…" She shivered and pulled the coat tightly around her, enjoying the scent that was distinctly Doctor as much as she enjoyed the warmth.

"Anytime." His soft, cheeky smile was, like always, an immediate mood-lifter, and she lifted her head with a bit of renewed interest just in time to see a portly but regal-looking man walk up, accompanied by the young man who had greeted them.

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