The Devil of Jersey, Tag: Rose

Standing at the console, John was dressed in his usual. This consisted of his brown leather jacket, striped shirt over a tee, denim trousers, and white trainers this time. Constantly grinning, he had to admit to himself that there were definite perks in being bound. He'd had his idea for Bowie a bit over a couple of days ago, but he and Rose got too distracted with quite literally losing themselves in each other to have gotten started sooner. Not that they were complaining.

Glancing over at Rose in one of the jump-seats come couches, he couldn't help but smirk at the look on her face as she lounged. She reminded him of a Cheshire Cat, but then he had no doubt that he was equally afflicted in the face department. They both could tell that the other one was completely and thoroughly, not to mention quite blissfully, shagged out. "I would say 'penny for your thoughts', but that phrase pretty much lost all meaning with us," his smirk morphed into a light leer.

Shaking his head quickly, he came out of his internal musings. "Right then, Ziggy Stardust before we lose that thought." Pausing, he glanced over at her again. Wanna help? He chuckled as she shot out of her seat. Together, they flipped switches and rotated this and that. At the keyboard, he entered some coordinates and relayed the coordinate system to her mentally.

Standing back, he held his hand out to the brake. "Allons-y?" He laughed when she pulled it and sent them through the vortex. With the bond wide open, they danced around the console with the controls.

There was a quiet bang, and the ship veered in a wide circle. "Whoa!"

*Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!*

Looking up, John asked the young dear, "What's the matter?"

*I don't know. It's like someone dented 1969!*

"But we're heading for..." he paused as he had to grab the console again. "1972!" A chatter and warbling accompanied the images she sent out. Whatever the dent was, echoed both ways along the vortex. And like a ball in a groove, they were along for the wild ride. "Land! No, I don't care where, just do it before you pop a zeiton crystal! Damned things are expensive!" Looking over at Rose, he shouted. "Hit the brake!"

The grinding of the brake was rather high pitched, and the thunk of landing sent John sprawling into the railing to flip backwards over it. He ended up doing a two hundred and seventy degree, involuntary reverse flat somersault over the guard rail. His stomach hit the edge of the upper level platform, and all the air left his lungs in a great big whooshing gust. Diaphragm temporarily stunned, he lay there unable to groan and had his mouth opening and shutting like a salmon. Interestingly enough, he didn't feel the desperate need to breathe. That cinches it. Respiratory Bypass is in full effect, but bloody hell if that didn't half hurt!

Rose was on him in an instant, helping him up. Thanks. M'fine. Gimme a minute, and it'll start up again. Flexing backwards, his back sounded like a zip with the amount of popping that went up his spine. Blimey, he grunted and was helped to sit in the nearest jump-couch. Bending down, he put his head between his knees and mentally kick started his diaphragm. This caused a rather huge influx of air before he bellowed. "OWWWWWWWWWUH!" He felt the back of his jacket and shirts go up, then heard Rose hiss. "Yeah, that's gonna bruise a lovely colour," he rasped. "Nothing's broken though, so it'll be fine. Mmph."

Dear? Where the hell are we?

*Uhm* A rather embarrassed hum filled the ship.

What...

*Rahway, New Jersey, the United States of America, September 12... * she paused. *1950*

"Nineteen Fifty? Overshot, which is unusual for going backwards. Takes more power, and no comments about Queen Victoria, thanks." Groaning, he sat up and found himself being held. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Oh hell, you can feel this can't you? Sorry. You okay? Don't seem to be feeling much from you other than appalled worry." Looking up, he asked their ship, "You all right?"

*I need a nap. That hurt.*

"Tell me about it," he mumbled.

Rose lounged on the jump seat with her legs hanging over the armrest as she watched her husband fiddle with the TARDIS controls. As excited as she was about going to see David Bowie live in concert, her mind kept wandering back to the past few days, which accounted for the cat-that-literally-got-the-cream smile on her face. When John inquired about said thoughts, Rose's grin broadened. "My thoughts are worth a bit more than that, but as you already own them, you're right. Moot point." When she saw the leer his smile had become, she blushed and shifted in the seat; if they weren't careful, the next few days would be a repeat of the previous few (not that this was necessarily a bad thing, but Rose did need to rest some time, and they were out of cupcakes and frosting).

When John asked if she wanted to help fly the TARDIS, Rose was out of the seat and at the console before he could finish the thought. She knew it was their TARDIS of course, but Rose was so often used to sitting and watching (and normally content to do so). Now, what with the way her life had done a one-eighty in less than a week and the things that happened to make it that way, Rose wanted to dive headfirst into everything. The innocent shop girl in her was long gone.

"Allons-y!" she agreed, releasing the brake and pulling the demat lever with great relish (and perhaps a bit of over-enthusiasm). She was just beginning to enjoy their strange little dance around the controls when a bang and a wild veer sent her staggering on her feet. It felt like the vortex travel equivalent of blowing a tire and swerving all over the road. The ship lurched again, and as Rose scrambled for something to grab onto she was vaguely aware of the conversation between the TARDIS and her husband. As best as Rose could tell, it was like they'd been smacked into reverse by a pinball flipper or been roller-derby-whipped around a track. Metaphors aside, they had apparently bounced off 1969. "What the bloody hell happened in 1969 to throw us back this hard?" Rose called to the TARDIS over the sounds of a few klaxons and a whistle going off. The TARDIS chirped a shrug in her head.

They finally shudder-screeched to a halt, and the only injury Rose sustained was to her pride as she was sent sprawling on her rear. Her husband, however, was a different matter. "JOHN!!!" she cried out in panic, moving to kneel beside him so fast she might as well have teleported. His comment about the Respiratory Bypass and his thanks at her assistance when she put his arm over her shoulder to help lift him did absolutely nothing to comfort Rose. In fact, it only served to worry her more. The proof that John at least indeed had a Respiratory Bypass and Rose's recent acceleration of thought processes (and sudden newfound knowledge of time and space, for that matter) along with their ability to see timelines and feel the world turning confirmed Rose's suspicion that their interaction with the poorly-shielded Schism had changed them more than they'd initially realized. She wasn't worried, per se, but she wasn't sure how to feel about this steady loss of her humanity. But, as was per usual when her thoughts went tangential, this was not the time.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Rose fretted as she helped him sit. When his yell of pain echoed throughout the TARDIS (if the TARDIS herself could have taken a step back in surprise, she would have) Rose actually jumped, her eyebrows hitting her hairline. "Blimey, I think your past three regenerations heard tha'." She cringed when she saw the raw skin of John's back. "You're gonna want a good soak later," she said, running a gentle hand over his wounded skin and kissing his cheek.

The TARDIS's report didn't exactly startle Rose, as it was far from the first time it had happened, but it did make her frown with curiosity when considering John's comment about more power required to overshoot backwards. "I wasn't going to say a thing!" Rose protested when John stuck the pre-offensive chastisement on the end of his sentence. "That was a fixed point in time that needed to happen in order for the relevant timelines to maintain their stability and our presence there was required to..." she trailed off in horror as she realized exactly what she was saying and the complexity of the explanation she had meant to be simple. "Oh my God..." she groaned, burying her face in her hands. A moment later, she shook herself and stood a little straighter. "Right forget that...I bet we went as far back as 1879 that time because that TARDIS was much older, and probably had a lot more power, too - no offense," she added to their ship, who chirped a conceding mental shrug.

Rose plopped onto the jump seat next to John, taking his hand. "Right - what happened in New Jersey in 1950?"

Rose's quip about his volume almost made John snicker. "Wouldn't put it past seven. He was always observant, and just a bit mad about it," he grinned. Her mention of a soak was countered with a quip of his own. "Wouldn't work. You'd last all of five minutes before joining me, which would be counterproductive in getting muscles to relax. Wouldn't complain much, mind you." There, that's good. Flirting should reassure her. Then John realized that she probably caught on to that thought and cringed. Changing the subject, he focused his attention on the ship and where they ended up.

When Rose started getting gobby, John's eyes grew round and he had a bright grin on his face. He looked up at his wife in pure amused humour. When she blanched and covered her face, he patted her leg. "There there. All married couples have a tendency to pick up habits from their significant other. Don't fret over it too much." John was doing his best not to snicker, ending up with a rather strangled expression of amusement on his face. "That's a good point though. The old dear does have larger power stores. Still," he stood up slowly and rubbed his back, "That doesn't account for whatever it was that whiplashed us through the vortex." His back and stomach were protesting the movement, so he sat back down. "Yeah, okay. Sitting's good," he grumbled.

Looking to the time rotor, he wanted to grab the keyboard and start typing. Was a bit out of reach though, so he asked the ship about it instead. "Were you able to record anything? Feel or sense whatever might've caused all that?"

The young dear hummed in thought. *I want to say it was another time capsule. In all honesty, it felt like I was being shoved rather hard. Could it have been my Matron?* she asked, referring to the Doctor's TARDIS.

"That's a possibility," he conceded. "Wouldn't put it past either of them, but wouldn't you know if it was?"

*Not if she didn't want me to. Then there was that convergence we were shoved around. The energy frequencies nearly matched what you programmed in about fixed points, but the station archives never mentioned the inverse propagation waves that popped my proverbial bum like that.*

"Hmm." John pondered that rather quietly. He didn't get too far when Rose sat next to him and asked about the local history. Glancing at her fondly, his thoughts shifted and he went into lecture mode. "Well, McCarthyism has just started up: The daft Red Scare that put the Western World on edge along with the Cold War for decades. Not that communism is bad in itself, when done properly. But you know people. Give them power, and they'll get a rush out of it and bollocks up the whole thing for everyone." He shook his head with a chuff of a chuckle, marvelling how that seemed to be a universal constant.

"Actually, a lot happened in 1950," he continued. "As far as Communism goes, The People's Republic of China was becoming recognized by the major powers. Poland was still touchy about the second World War and wanted to kick out anyone of German descent. The Soviets caused a stir by claiming to have atomic weaponry," he scratched behind his left ear, frowning. "South Africa passed the Group Areas Act, which started Apartheid, (ghastly); Truman ordered American forces to South Korea, starting a police action that everyone knew was a War in all but name only; England lost to America by the single goal in that game in the FIFA World Cup." He pursed his lips and looked sidelong at Rose. "Bout the only thing I can think of that wasn't all that dreadful was Charles Schulz starting up the Peanuts comic strip next month. Good 'ole Snoopy..." he trailed off and sighed.

"I haven't the faintest clue," he finally conceded with a touch of frustration. "If we landed in Berlin, I'd say we'd have something to do with the Communist riots that started today. But..." he looked up to the ceiling and put his hands out, "New Jersey?" Blowing out a breath, he asked the ship, "Dear, how long do you need to rest for?"

*Maybe twenty hours? I need to reset some systems.*

"Which ones?"

*My block transfer growth protocols have been disrupted, halting sectional fabrication. They need to be rethreaded.* A groaning noise filled the console room, which was the dear's version of a yawn. *Sorry.*

"Oh nonsense. Don't be sorry. Just rest a bit and let things settle and whatnot. We can get a taste of the local flavour while you're tending things." He smiled wide at his wife, revelling in the fact that she was now. "What you think? Care to try American French Fries? Not as good as chips, granted, but still. Could be fun?" He grinned, then planted a peck on her lips. In leaning over though, he pulled sore muscles in his back. "Mmph. Yeah, okay. We can take it easy. I'd promise, but then things would happen to make me a liar," he snickered.

Rose rolled her eyes when she heard John's quip about soaking, but what little amusement she felt vanished when she realized that his attempt at humor was just that: an attempt to reassure her. She caught his eyes with hers as she rested her hand on his cheek, letting him know with those small gestures alone that she was right there with him, and whatever they'd landed in was something they'd get through together, and that he needn't worry for her, or either of them, for that matter. When his own reassuring hand patted her leg her mind went a little fuzzy for a moment, but she immediately forced herself to remain level-headed. "Right, so I was channeling you," she ceded, though she still wasn't sure that was entirely true. Knowing that John caught onto that thought, she purposely filed it in the place in her mind marked, "we'll talk about this later; there are more important things to worry about right now," taking a moment to glower at her husband's expression as she did. It was her turn to smirk, however, when he stood up as he thought aloud only to sit just as quickly. Rose reached over and began to massage the tense muscles of his back. "Better?" she inquired. The responding noise that came from him nearly made her burst into laughter.

Rose tried to focus as her husband and the TARDIS conversed, picking up what she could understand and attempting to fill in herself what she couldn't. "Ok, so whatever happened in 1969 has the energy signature of the...'original' TARDIS, let's say and the markings of a fixed point. But you're telling me that the energy is sort of...arranged or spread out in such a way that we were flung backwards?" She bit her lip, thinking. "Maybe...maybe it's that whatever's happening...happened...whatever that fixed point is is so...momentous, I guess, that whatever runs into it bounces right back off. Like..." Rose found herself actually snapping her fingers, an idea coming to her. "Like a fixed point within a fixed point: two simultaneous occurrences that needed to occur, either by themselves or in tandem with each other, and the gravity of the two - that is, the necessity, the importance, the fact that they're anchored in time - creates a sort of...knot, I guess - like a really dense segment in the timeline. And if our TARDIS felt the energy signature of the Doctor's TARDIS, maybe the reason we bounced off isn't just because of the combined fixed points but because the Doctor is...will be...was the catalyst for one or both of them - like when you and Donna made sure Vesuvius erupted and destroyed Pompeii." Rose stopped herself there, really hoping that she was just channeling her husband again, if that was indeed what had happened the first time. Still, she could have sworn she felt the TARDIS raise a metaphorical eyebrow at her, though that could have been because none of her thought processes had caused her to stop massaging John's sore back.

Glad to no longer be the one rambling, Rose listened patiently as John listed the highlights of 1950, most of which were political and exceedingly dreary. She had never heard of Apartheid, but whatever it was, John didn't seem to like it. As for the aftermath of World War II and the Americans starting a war they didn't want to call a war, well, that didn't surprise her much. It was the little tidbit about FIFA that made her scowl in disgust. "One goal?! I'm ashamed for our country," she groaned. The mention of Charles Schulz made her smile, though. "'Good old Snoopy' indeed," she agreed.

Rose winced when she heard what the TARDIS needed to fix, and freed up one hand to lovingly pat the console. "Rest up, dear, take all the time you need." The TARDIS chirped a very grateful thanks, and barely a minute later, the 'yawn groan' had become a 'snore groan.' Rose burst into giggles, muffling the sound in John's shoulder.

"I am a bit hungry," Rose admitted at John's suggestion of American fries. "Aren't diners a big thing in the fifties? And drive-in cinemas? Ooh, maybe Harvey's still playing!" she exclaimed, remembering one of her favorite old movies. "We could pull out the motorbike and go on a good ol'-fashioned date," she teased, grinning so her tongue poked between her teeth. "You, me, some chips - er, fries - and a chocolate milkshake to share." She returned his quick kiss enthusiastically, but winced when John almost promised no trouble as he did his best to pull his back again. "No," Rose insisted firmly, pulling him back into the chair and working at his muscles with her fingertips. "No jinxing the impromptu field trip, especially since you're not in the best shape to run," she quipped, though the kiss she planted on the back of his neck radiated concern, revealing exactly how much his injury upset her.

Knowing that his amusement wasn't taken all that well, John did his best to tamp down his knowing smirk. However, his attempt at standing got a reciprocating look from Rose. "Yeah, yeah. Touché." However, all coherent thought pretty much fled when her fingers did a brilliantly fantastic dance along his back. Her inquiry over it was met with a ridiculously sounding murmuring, "Muh-huh guuuuhhh," with a light nod of his head. His back also flexed involuntarily like a cat, stretching into her ministrations.

Rose's initial rambling over how they were popped backwards so hard was met with a soft, "Possibly." Then, when she got on a tear over it, his eyebrows went up. 'Well, not really a knot, but a double fixed point would...' he thought to himself, before she nailed it with the 'dense segment' and earned a slightly rapid nod from him. "Yes, yes, yes." When she got to the comparison to Pompeii, his head shot up with, "Exactly! Ooh, that's brilliant!" he praised unabashedly. "Speaking of brilliant, those fingers need to be bronzed or something, because that's absolutely fantastic."

When the TARDIS started softly snoring and Rose was on his shoulder giggling over it, he couldn't help the grin he was sporting despite the situation. "Poor thing's completely knackered." Instead of reaching for the console like she did, he sent out a small probe that grazed the ship's consciousness like a hug. 'Sleep well, love.'

John nodded about the diners and drive-ins, then commented "We can find out," about the movie. "Always liked a big rabbit." His near promise was met with a bit of scorn and chastisement as he was pulled back into the seat. He was going to protest, but her fingers got to working again, and John ended up leaning down to let her at it - even taking off his jacket to giver her more to work with. "Yes, right. No jinxing. Jinxing bad. Fingers... so good. Guh, I completely adore you."

It was preternatural how her fingers worked on the knots that had formed since the crashing back flip, and he let her go at them for quite a while - doing little more than sending both audible and mental feedback on how she was doing. One spot made his head jerk, however, as a rush of pleasure went through him with the soft sinking pop that happened when she pressed hard 'just so', aligning the problematic vertebra. "Ooh, sweet bananas that's glorious," he cooed.

"Right, let me test that out," he said while sitting back upright. Twisting and flexing himself, he was pleased to discover that his back seemed to be operating rather well. It was still on course for a good bruising like his stomach was doing, but still... this was far better than it was before. Turning a rather drunken smile towards Rose, he wrapped her up in a hug and snogged her. "That was brilliant, love," he said when they broke apart. "Thank you so much."

Standing up with her hovering over him, he did another flex check on his feet. "Okay. Brilliant. Not perfect, but then again nothing really is except you," he said to her rather truthfully. "Now lets see what it was, exactly." Two steps over, he was at the keyboard and typing rapidly. Bleeps and pops, and the screen was reporting just about what Rose had said, verbatim. "Bang on, Rose," he said with a smile. Flipping through the logs, he found what it was when a bunch of numbers filled the screen. "She was right too," he said, petting the console's supporting coral.

"That," he said, pointing to the screen, "is the old girl's basecode." Typing again, he had a finger on the screen, flipping through the readings. "Looks like she saw us coming, then snagged us to whip us past it when we very nearly fell in the middle of whatever he's doing. Interesting. Didn't know she could do that, but it makes sense I suppose. Okay, now to see the outside."

Turning on the outside scanner, the picture of a street came up. It was lit with a streetlamp, and appeared to be somewhat late. This was confirmed by the clock setting that came up in the corner, reading 3:57AM. "Hmm. What say we take the young dear's example and rest up a bit from that. Can have a quick soak and a change of clothes for the period too. What you think?" he asked her with a sparkling grin. "Can do you up as a post war worker type, with dark jeans, a button up, and a wrap for your hair? Not that cold out."

Rose's eyebrows shot to her hairline when she heard the sounds John was making in response to her massage. She smirked as she mentally added said massage to her list of "ways to have John at her mercy." Even as John agreed with her about her theory as to what caused their little time rebound, she could tell he was far more concentrated on her fingertips - a hypothesis that was proven accurate when he commented on her skill. Rose's smirk widened. "Well, if you bronzed my fingers, I wouldn't be able to do this, would I?" she teased, rubbing extra hard at a particularly stubborn knot in his back.

Rose shook her head as John agreed with everything she said rather eagerly, though she did blush a bit when he told her he adored her after emitting further noises of delight. As she kneaded his sore muscles, Rose twisted a bit to stretch her own back a little, not wanting to show how tense she'd become, both out of worry for him and because she'd crashed on her backside. Deciding to conduct an impromptu experiment, Rose widened the bond between her and John just so, opening only certain connections a little more than others. A moment later, she could feel what John felt, and it felt for all the world like she was somehow massaging her own back. It was more than surreal, but damn John had been right about her hands, which was a complete surprise to her. Still, the realization along with her minor telepathic success only served to broaden her smile.

Rose nearly gasped in relief herself as John's spine realigned itself properly, but managed to hold it in as she watched her husband test his range of motion. She would have been startled by his quite thorough snog had his loopy smile not provided a warning. When he pulled away, thanking her softly, it was Rose's turn to smile a little drunkenly, happily dizzy from the kiss. She meant to say "any time" in reply, but instead it came out as, "Always."

John's almost offhand comment about her being perfect prompted another eye roll from Rose (she wondered if John was even conscious of the fact that he made these comments), but she found herself beaming when he confirmed her and the TARDIS's speculation. Still, that once again prompted her worried musings about whether or not this newfound understanding of the intricacies of the Vortex was hers or her husband's, but Rose rather forcefully shoved that train of thought from its tracks and into a ravine to deal with later.

When John commented that he didn't realize that the old TARDIS could pull such a complicated move, Rose arched an eyebrow. "I suspect there are quite a few things neither you nor the Doctor know she can do. I think she's a lot older and wiser than she's let on to any of us." Rose grew quiet for a moment, her memory drifting back to the time she spend aboard the "old girl" and how, no matter how crazy things got, she'd never let them down. Unbidden, the image of the console panel opening and revealing the heart of the TARDIS came to the forefront of her mind, and Rose felt a pang in her own heart for the oh-so-brief connection she'd had with the ship. Once again derailing that train of thought, Rose covered her momentary wistfulness with yet another eye roll in relation to "whatever the Doctor was doing." "The words 'mucking about' come to mind," she quipped a little sourly, trying to recall what major events happened in 1969 and which of those the Doctor was caught in the middle of.

Seeing the time on the street-side clock nearly prompted a yawn from Rose, but she held it in, instead replying to John's inquiry with a small snort of laughter. "You know as well as I do that any 'quick' soak we try to take will last for hours," (Rose recalled with no small delight the activities 'a quick soak' had led to on her birthday) "and as for the period outfit, who do you want me to look like, that American women's war model or whoever? What was her name...Ruby the Riveter?" Seeing the rather pleading look in John's eyes, Rose grinned even as she shook her head. "Fine - a quick soak, though we both know that's never gonna stand, and a bit of a kip. I'll choose my own outfit, thanks," she giggled.

Any attempt at replying to Rose's teasing was pretty much lost to her fingers. However, after she fixed his back he felt her baulk at his comment about her being perfect, and he had to say something. Turning his head as he typed, he gave her a 'look'. "You are, so there." He would've said more, but got completely distracted with the readings of the events that hooked them into 1950.

Rose's suspicions on the older TARDIS' capabilities made him tilt his head back and forth, completely agreeing with that. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if the old girl stole him instead of the other way around, what with how she always seemed to land him in a crisis that needed tending. He paused though, looking up slightly, and felt the truth of that thought a bit more plainly than he initially realized. Smirking at that, he thought Rose's first assessment of his back was a rather good idea.

"You know as well as I do that any 'quick' soak we try to take will last for hours," she quipped.

"Which could be a tossup as to who's fault that was," he grinned. "Rosie the Riveter," he chuckled. "Thought it was fitting," he teased, mocking pain at the whap to the arm she gave him.

"Fine - a quick soak, though we both know that's never gonna stand, and a bit of a kip. I'll choose my own outfit, thanks," she giggled.

As it turned out, Rose was absolutely one hundred percent correct, and it was a coin flip as to who's fault that was. Still though, it did work out the more stubborn kinks in their backs from the near crash - not to mention the silly grins on their faces. However, the nap that followed was a touch longer than they expected. Rose did put her foot down on showering solo though, saying that she was hungry and to hurry up.

At any rate, John double checked the TARDIS chameleon circuit, and changed it to match other entry doors in the area. The building they were up against was a dark red brick face, and was nearly at the centre of town.

Stepping out, John had to compliment her again. "I swear, you can fit in absolutely anywhere. Love the pink." He flitted his fingers over the material. She caught his hand when he did, then held it up to him with a question on her face. "What?" She dangled his hand by a finger. "Oh! The ring! Well, it may not be official just yet but you're my wife. Personally, I'd like to avoid people assuming we weren't, and I don't want to have to explain to the local magistrates why you deemed fit to claw the eyes out of some woman. Or, you doing something similar because some bloke got a broken nose for being a grabby prat." Changing the subject, he pointed. "Oh look! A diner! It's past ten. Wonder if they're serving lunch yet?" As he lead her over, a young man came out from behind a rubbish bin with wide eyes.

Entering an establishment called Speedee's, John grinned at the bell over the door. "You're gonna love this, Rose," he said quietly. "I think this is one of the chippies that combined with a few others to form McDonald's." Taking a seat at a booth, he grinned when a waitress walked up. He let her order first, then asked for a cheeseburger and double chips fries, with a chocolate milkshake.

His ears perked up when he heard a whirring. Looking over, he pointed with a huge grin on his face. "Oh loooook. Real ice cream shakes. Brilliant. Too early for that processed mixture rubbish." He was going to thoroughly enjoy this.
________________
[ Outfit ]

Upon hearing that the bandana-ed American icon shared her name and that her husband "thought it was fitting," Rose made a face and smacked his arm. "Only Jack calls me Rosie, but I'll beat him out of that someday," she commented with a wink. "Oh, and you'll be the one to blame if we're in the bath all night."

The soak didn't last all night, but Rose maintained quite stubbornly that it really wasn't her fault at all, and that her craving for white chocolate had nothing to do with the amount of time they luxuriated in the tub. Fault aside, though, it wasn't surprising that their intended nap turned into a rather good night's sleep. In the morning, Rose, as if to reinforce the fact that the previous night's epic soak was really most certainly not her fault, literally shoved John out of the shower, insisting that she was more interested in food, as the epic soak had left her (un)surprisingly hungry.

When Rose stepped out of the TARDIS and in front of John, she smirked when he quite openly gave her the once-over, even as she was not-so-subtly admiring him. "You're not so bad yourself, handsome," she teased, tongue poking between her teeth. "I'd've worn the heels, but they're inconvenient for running." seeing his grin, she couldn't help but grin in return, realizing that he had been thinking exactly the same thing at exactly the same time.

It was then that she noticed the ring on his hand, and she swore she could feel her heart freeze and her breathing stop. "And what's this?" she inquired, trying to sound casual and inwardly cursing at the tiniest of tremors in her voice that she knew John would notice. When he explained his reasoning, Rose's breathing and heartbeat started again, but double-time. She beamed at him, eyes shining, feeling completely over the moon. Not caring if anyone saw, She grabbed the sides of his jacket and pulled him down for a rather fierce kiss. Mineminemineminemine, she thought in response to John's comment about broken noses and clawing.

She was thankful for John's distraction in the form of a diner, as Rose was pretty sure that, had there been no distraction, she would have dragged John back into the TARDIS for a repeat performance of their post-crash soak. As it was, the diner was only the first distraction; out of the corner of her eye, Rose could have sworn she saw something or someone move behind a rubbish bin. She sent her husband the information through the bond as they walked towards the diner, just in case; it could very easily be nothing, but it could very easily be something.

The diner was homey and welcoming, so when John told Rose it may later become McDonald's her jaw dropped. "Seriously? This place? It seems far too nice." After a pause and a sigh, she continued, "Then again, 1950." She briefly squeezed John's hand, almost as if to mourn for a moment that the inevitable progress of time would turn such a lovely place into a fast food chain. Then the spell was broken as they found a booth and a waitress came by to take their order. Rose decided on a burger with "fries" and a chocolate milkshake, and wasn't terribly surprised when John ordered something similar. "We should've gotten less so we could save room for pie. Aren't diners famous for apple pie in America?" she inquired. When John pointed out that they were going to be having real chocolate shakes, Rose could actually feel her mouth beginning to water. When the shakes were served and she took a sip, her eyes literally rolled back in her head as she let out a little "mm," of contentment. "This is divine," she said aloud, even as through the bond she quipped, though tenderly, Chocolate shake and chips...why does that seem so familiar? She smiled around her straw and winked at her husband, running her foot along the inside of his calf under the table.

Rose caught movement out of the corner of her eye again and glanced out the window next to the booth she and John occupied. A boy was leaning against a tall rubbish bin, apparently reading the morning paper, but she could have sworn he'd been looking at her a second ago. Feinting a turn of her head but keeping the boy in her peripheral, her suspicion was confirmed as she saw him look away from the paper to stare at her and John. "John," she murmured, "remember when I thought I saw something moving behind the rubbish bin? Well, it's a someone, and he's watching us." She tilted her head ever-so-slightly to the side to indicate the direction of the boy outside. "What do you think he wants? Do you think he saw us land or heard us talking?" She couldn't help but sigh as she took another gulp of her shake. "It's always something, isn't it?" she asked, giving her husband a rather resigned smile.
------------------------
Outfit

Rose's near animalistic snog with the repetitious chant of 'mine' in his head almost made him want to turn them back around and into the ship again. Almost. The diner was a welcome distraction to the both of them, though. Because, honestly, they had to get out among people once in a while. Walking arm in arm towards the promise of food, he heard her internal comment on seeing something back there, and went on a mental version of mauve alert.

Entering the diner was a complete wash into nostalgia for the both of them. Still though, chippy chains and the knowledge that they could eat in such a place that would most likely use 'Mc' in front of darned near everything was a bit odd. All the same, it was still nice. The look of covetousness on Rose's face matched his own when their shakes arrived. Her comment of divine was countered with his sighing statement of "Completely heavenly."

Chocolate shake and chips...why does that seem so familiar? she asked him with a smirking grin and a wink. Because I made a promise, and I wanted to keep it dammit, he answered cheekily, poking his tongue out at her.

Her foot stopped rubbing his calf, and he heard her sigh. "John," she murmured. "What's the matter?" he asked, concerned. "Remember when I thought I saw something moving behind the rubbish bin? Well, it's a someone, and he's watching us." She tilted her head ever-so-slightly to the side to indicate the direction of the boy outside. Taking her cue, he 'borrowed' her vision to get a peek at whom she was speaking of, and was surprised at how young he looked. "What do you think he wants? Do you think he saw us land or heard us talking?" She sighed and took another gulp of her shake. "It's always something, isn't it?" she asked, giving him a rather resigned smile.

"Doubt that it's real trouble, though," he murmured. "Some people are too smart for the perception filter." He cringed as he remembered not checking to see if it was clear out there before he changed the outer shell. "Or... he saw our girl change in front of him and is understandably curious."

They were interrupted by the bringing of their food. "Oh, that smells lovely," John said, marvelling at his plate. "Thanks for switching to lunch early," he said to the waitress, whose name tag read 'Cathy'. "Stomach's still on London time for us."

"Why the visit?" she asked. "Got relatives over here or something?"

John beamed and held up his hand, showing her his finger. "Honeymoon!" he crooned. "Wanted to see what you Yanks do, when your not saving our collective backsides."

"Oh, that's so sweet!" she grinned. "Tell you what. When you're done eating, I'll bring over some pie on the house. We've got Apple, Rhubarb, and Chess today. Just let me know what you want."

John shared a look with Rose, then grinned back at the waitress. "Thanks! We'll do that!" After she walked away, John got the giggles. "Seriously, best thing we ever did," he commented while tapping the table with the ring. John's eyes rolled back when he bit into the hamburger. Oh my God, this is gorgeous! Chewing and basking in the flavors, he thought to Rose. Let's worry about our little shadow after we eat, eh?

Despite the fact that John waved off the little boy's curiosity as "no real trouble, Rose was still uneasy about the whole thing; experience had taught her many, many times that it was usually - hell, almost always - something. She arched an eyebrow at her husband. "I can understand if he saw our dear change, but since when can some people see past the perception filter? I thought that was only possible if the person already knew the object affected by the perception filter existed or had seen it in that particular time in place without the filter present." Realizing that she had once again gone tangential, Rose clamped her mouth shut as the waitress came over with their meals. It was a good thing she did, too; the minute she saw her cheeseburger, her mouth began to water. John wasn't wrong about the food smelling lovely.

When John grinned as he showed off his ring to the waitress and declared rather proudly that he and Rose were on their honeymoon, Rose couldn't help but beam as well. Her heart once again went double-time, feeling light in her chest and fit to burst with love. The waitress and John both seemed to notice this, and when John's smile changed to one of fond adoration, Rose couldn't help but blush. The word "pie" immediately caught both their attentions, however, and their grins were soon back full force. "Really? Thank you so much! I've always wanted American apple pie!" she said, turning from the waitress to John and smiling at him with her tongue between her teeth (oh, she did like to see him squirm).

The waitress laughed. "Apple it is, then, dear. And what kind would you like, sir?" Rose couldn't help but smirk when John had to take a moment to find his voice before replying with his preference. "Lovely! I'll bring it out as soon as you're done with your lunch, all right? Enjoy!"

"Thank you, we will!" Rose replied. She felt she should be embarrassed for being so overenthusiastic, but really, John was taking her out to lunch in a '50s diner and had just declared that the two of them were on their honeymoon - she had every right to be elated.

"Seriously, best thing we ever did." Rose gave him an incredulous grin before bursting into giggles. "Best mistake we ever made, you mean," she corrected, smiling that "special smile" again as she (also again) trailed her foot along the inside of his calf under the table, though a little higher than before. She couldn't help but chuckle at the glazed look in his eyes, thoroughly enjoying his reaction.

Her cheeseburger was indeed one of the most heavenly things she'd ever tasted in her life. Oh, definitely, she replied to John's thought. No arguments from me, she added with a cheeky wink. Rose picked up a fry from her plate and ate it slowly before taking a sip of her milkshake, purposely licking her lips with great relish. "That's actually quite good!" she exclaimed with a grin. Then her appetite won over her desire to tease and she dove into her meal.

After the size of Rose's lunch, she wasn't sure she'd be able to eat any more, but when she saw the delectable slice of apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, she couldn't help but dig in, devouring the dessert even as she tried to take her time and savor it. Now this is gorgeous! We need to bring some back to the TARDIS to see if she can replicate it, or at least so we can keep some for later!

"Done already?" the waitress said with amusement when she took Rose's plate.

Rose found herself blushing. "It was absolutely divine. Um...could we maybe get one for the road? And some fries too, if it's not too much trouble?"

The waitress threw her head back and laughed. "Want to remember your time in the States, do you? No trouble at all, dear - it's quite the compliment!"

Rose found herself grinning for the God-knows-whatever-'nth time as the waitress bustled off to fill the rest of their order. After she'd left, Rose turned to John and pursed her lips in a fair mimicry of his mannerism. "So how are we going to approach him?" she asked quietly, taking a quick glance at the boy outside. He was actually sitting on the dumpster at this point as he "read the paper," but the way he was looking at them over the top of the pages made his ruse rather ineffective. "What do we even say?" she continued. A moment later, she ceded, "You know what? I'm just going to leave it to you and your talented gob." She leaned back in her booth seat and crossed her arms over her chest, smirking as she did. "You're the one who said it's probably nothing big," she added with a teasing wink. Oh, no matter what happened, this little excursion was going to be fun.

Sitting there and sipping his shake with much enthusiasm, John couldn't help but chuckle at Rose's doubt over his flippancy over it not being any real trouble. Goodness knows there's always something turning up. Even still, she had brought up a rather good point about the perception filter. All the same, he was doing his best to not sound too pleased over her new-found gabbiness. To be rather truthful, he thoroughly enjoyed it and was hoping that this was either an aspect of their bonding, or their rather harried run in with the schism. In any case, he needed to answer that.

"Perception filters work by having people ignore something that is right in front of them. The eyes slide right around it. If you know it's there already, then it isn't a problem to pick it out. But, if a person is intelligent enough, then they can pick up on the subtle differences and force themselves to see what's actually there. However, since I've had to enhance those filters by a factor of three - to counteract the young dear's somewhat problematic use of the chameleon circuit - the question is not that he's a genius, but more of how much of one he is. He, in this instance, being that young lad out there." Noticing the waitress coming to them with their food, he pulled back from lecturing to completely savour what she was carrying.

The slight inhale Rose made when he proclaimed them being on their honeymoon wasn't unnoticed, and John couldn't help but look at her with the utmost fondness. Her slight flushing was so goddamned adorable, he wished there wasn't a table in the way of the snog that was threatening to come out of him. She didn't help at all with that bloody tongue of hers sticking out of her teeth. Shifting in his seat, he wondered if it would be considered rude to just pull them together over the table and have at it.

Cathy the waitress seemed to pick up on this, and ramped things up all by herself with the offer of free pie. Rose's enthusiasm for it was immediately shared by him, but then the name 'Chess Pie' piqued his curiosity. He had a fondness for chess in general, even remembering when it was first formed as a method of strategy, but he hadn't ever partaken of the confection that shared its name. That decided things for him, but then he stumbled all over his gob. "Chestpiece, uh... I mean, Chess please." The smirk that evoked out of Rose could be considered illegal in at least two star systems, and a backwards island in the general vicinity of Fiji. While her rather fetching dress wasn't all that revealing, his mind constantly filled in what was out of sight.

If the waitress noticed his verbal slip up, she didn't comment and proceeded to take that order with some well practised grace, thankfully. "Lovely! I'll bring it out as soon as you're done with your lunch, all right? Enjoy!"

"Thank you, we will!" he said at the same time Rose did, chuckling over it. All in all, aside from some strange lad that had taken an interest in them, this was turning out to be a date that he would remember fondly. The smile on her face proved that she felt the same, even though he didn't really need to look to her appearances to know the difference any more.

"Mistake? Hardly. Only mistake there was, was not doing it sooner, I'll have you know." The tone was teasing, but there was a stifled inhale when he felt the tip of her shoe just above the inside of his knee. Swallowing nervously, he had to say something. "Much as I love that, just remember that this is the fifties and public displays of affection aren't taken well." he murmured softly. And, if you keep that up, I will not be held responsible for my actions, he added along with the image of the pair of them have a rather good time on top of the diner table.

Focusing on lunch, John's tongue was dancing to the flavours of both the burger and fries. Almost as good as chips, but not quite. Still though, it was rather glorious. Eyeing his shake thoughtfully, he took one of the fat fries and dipped it in before popping it in his mouth. "Oh, yes. Brilliant," he sighed. A happy nameless tune went through his head as he thought about how this was a rather perfect day. He with his wife, in the cornerstone of the twentieth century, enjoying a meal. Call him sentimental, but damn if he wasn't enjoying himself.

When their meal was done, Cathy came back with their pie and he couldn't help the lilting 'ooOOooh' that came out of him at the sight of the ice cream topped treat. "Thank you ever so much," he grinned up at her, then helped hand her the spent plates. After Rose made a comment on taking some to the ship for later, he agreed. Not sure if she can recreate food just yet, but I'll work on that. In any case, I'm not opposed to stocking up in the least. There's more than enough space in the temporal cupboards. A slight shudder went through him when he took the first bite of pie, and he sighed. Oh, yes. We're stocking up. "You have to try this," he said. "It's heavenly." Forking out a bite of pie and ice cream, he leaned over and held it up for her. He noticed her being a bit flirty in the way she took it, but the sigh she had at the combination of warmth and cold was even better to see. She reciprocated with hers to him, and he was delighted to note that there wasn't any sort of preservatives in amongst the flavours. "Oh that's just brilliant," he said after he swallowed.

When Cathy returned to take their plates, he was slightly amused and embarrassed as well over their enthusiastic consumption. "One whole pie each, please," he added. "I don't mind telling you, but that was simply gorgeous." She seemed to look at the two of them like she thought they were a happy novelty, and couldn't help grinning when she came back with the pies and fries. Noting the bill, he raised his eyebrows. "Is that all? Surely, not." Fetching his wallet out, he thumbed to the proper year and country and plucked out three tens. Handing them over, he smiled wide. "Don't you dare say no to the tip. This place is delightful, and you're a credit to the entire experience." Watching her stutter out a thank you, he couldn't help but grin.

Once she was gone, he noticed Rose's glinting smirk at him. "What? She's nice, and thirty dollars in this economy would do her some good."

"So how are we going to approach him?" she asked quietly, taking a quick glance at the boy outside.

He shrugged. "Carefully, so we don't spook him. Be a mess if we did."

"What do we even say?" she continued. A moment later, she ceded, "You know what? I'm just going to leave it to you and your talented gob." She leaned back in her booth seat and crossed her arms over her chest, smirking as she did. "You're the one who said it's probably nothing big,"

John couldn't help but roll his eyes. "That's going to nip my backside later, I just know it. C'mon. Let's get these back home and see about our shadow at the same time, shall we?" Standing up, he helped Rose stand and gave her a small hug, and whispered a small 'Love you' in her ear. Taking the pies, he handed her the chips, then escorted her out arm in arm. At the door, he looked over his shoulder. "Thanks so much! This was truly wonderful!" He nodded when Cathy waved, then led Rose through the door.

The walk back to the TARDIS was short, but he could hear the slight bump of a shoe on metal and assumed the lad got off the bin to follow them. Don't think he's used to following people around, he's making an awful racket. All the same, when we get to the ship, please do me a favour and lock these up in a null time cupboard. I'll wait before talking to him. Noting her slight growl, he pursed his lips at her. I promise I'll wait.

When she took their purchases inside, he sat on the stoop and made for nonchalance while popping his neck. He wasn't surprised to find that the lad was actually not that far away. What did startle him, was when the boy actually came up to him and started talking. "You sound British, but you're not, are you?" Even though he had enough courage to speak to him, John could tell he was scared by the way his voice trembled.

Raising his eyebrows, John turned to him and grinned. "You're very observant. Hello there." Internally, he got Rose's attention. Well, so much for my promise. The boy just came up and started talking to me. Stretching his legs out, he kept himself nonthreatening by leaning back on his elbows. Still though, he kept Rose in the loop by letting her hear what was going on. "Name's Tyler by the way, John Tyler. Rose, my wife, will be out in a bit. What's your name?" Inwardly, he was surprised at how smoothly that came out, saying his name like that. He could tell Rose was pleased though, so he continued on... still with a huge grin on his face.

"Eddie," the lad said. "Eddie Zagan."

"Zagan?" he said with his brow up. "That a shortened version of Zaganofski or something along those lines?" Eddie nodded. "So, what's so fascinating about the pair of us that you'll watch us eat?" Noting his startled look, John chuckled. "Sorry, but you're no Dick Tracy when following folks about."

Blinking rapidly, Eddie looked behind John to the door when it opened. Seeing Rose though, he relaxed a bit. "Your apartment was a lamppost," he flatly stated.

"Ah." Cringing at that, he noticed Rose taking a seat beside him on the stoop. "Sorry about that. Not something that regular people notice. Then again, you're not regular people are you?"

"W-what do you mean?" he stammered.

John held a hand up. "Nothing bad, I assure you. You just pick up things quicker than most, don't you? This being a workday and you not being in school, tells me either you're a layabout who scoffs at education in general - or - You're the kind of person that finishes their work so fast and has grades above and beyond your classmates, to have free time to help the family out with work. Just happened to be blind chance that you happened upon us when we... uhm... made adjustments on our home, as it were." John fiddled with the back of his neck. "So, when you saw that, your curiosity over it compelled you to investigate. Question is, is there something going on around here that makes you want to investigate?"

Blinking rapidly through John's spiel, Eddie handed him the paper he'd been reading. While John looked at it, Eddie pointed to the article in the lower corner. 'Still No Word On Missing Children' was the sub-headline, and John shared a knowing look with Rose. Looking back to Eddie, John asked, "Did you think we had something to do with this?"

"N-no," he shook his head rapidly. "Been going on for more than a month. Besides, even if I hadn't seen that kaleidoscope, I still would've followed you." He looked at Rose. "You look like my sister if she were blonde. Thought you were at first, but then you weren't with Alex, so I ruled that out. You two super spies or something? I mean, you sound like you're from England, but I don't think the British Government has anything like your house."

"Oh, I like you," John said, grinning his face off. "Not spies, though. We tend to find stuff like this," he held the paper up, "and try to help out where we can."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Swee'hear', I know exactly how a perception filter works; I'm just surprised that a young boy can see through it, that's all. Of course, he could've just seen the TARDIS change, in which case we're going to talk to the old girl about being careful and be just as careful ourselves." She pointed the tip of her straw at him accusingly, but there was the hint of a smile on her lips.

When John attempted to order something that most definitely wasn't pie, Rose's smirk grew to a full grin, tongue-in-teeth and all. When the waitress had walked away, Rose arched an eyebrow at her husband. "Something else you had in mind for dessert?" she asked oh-so-innocently as her foot coyly teased him. "Much as I love that, just remember that this is the fifties and public displays of affection aren't taken well." John replied, adding in her mind, And, if you keep that up, I will not be held responsible for my actions. The image he sent her of the two of them getting wild and wicked on the table immediately shut her up, and she could feel herself blushing. She was so very glad Cathy didn't say anything when she brought them their pie, because the woman had to have noticed.

When John held a forkful of pie out for her to taste, Rose's heart suddenly went double-time. There were so many little, intimate things they hadn't done yet - not the bedroom activities (though those were certainly enjoyable), but things like this: like feeding pie to each other as they had a fifties lunch at a fifties diner in...well...1950. Ok, so maybe that wasn't exactly a typical little thing, but seeing John smile at her like that, eyes sparkling as he offered her the piece of chess pie made her heart fill with more love than she knew was possible for one human to contain. Every time she thought there was no possible way she could love him more, he did something that only made her fall that much harder and love every minute of it.

As Rose fed John a piece of her apple pie, an image came unbidden to her head: the two of them, their wedding day, feeding each other pieces of pie instead of cake, not caring about anything or anyone but each other. She found herself blushing again, but the smile she gave John this time was pure happiness, though barely a fraction of what she actually thought. That happiness she sent down the bond bit by bit so as not to overwhelm him in public; that might very well have led to them recreating John's mental image of the two of them on the table. As it was, they managed to contain themselves.

When the bill came, John nearly gave themselves away as being even odder than they probably already seemed, and that was just by being British. "Is that all? Surely, not." Rose cringed. "1950," she hissed warningly through clenched teeth before turning and smiling as she accepted the pies and chips. Still, she couldn't help but grin and shake her head; John's generous nature really was touching. When he tried to defend himself, she simply gave him an affectionate kiss on the cheek, returning his 'Love you' with a 'Love you, too.'

Sure enough, as Rose and John had both suspected, their little shadow continued to attempt said shadow routine, the sound of his shoes all but echoing behind them. Don't think he's used to following people around, he's making an awful racket. Rose couldn't nod without looking suspicious (or just plain strange, nodding at nothing), so she sent her feeling of agreement through the bond. All the same, when we get to the ship, please do me a favour and lock these up in a null time cupboard. I'll wait before talking to him. Rose shot him a bit of a glare. You'd damn well better.

The moment Rose set foot in the TARDIS kitchen, the inevitable happened: Well, so much for my promise. The boy just came up and started talking to me. Rose's shoulders slumped and she literally growled at him through the bond, and not the kind of growl he liked, either.

*It really wasn't his fault,* came the sleepy voice of the TARDIS as Rose put the pies and chips away.

I know, but it doesn't mean I can't have at him later, Rose thought wickedly. The TARDIS chuckled. Having opened the bond wide to listen in on the conversation (the boy had an accent of some sort she couldn't quite place, and she was very curious to know where he was from), Rose's heart went double time again when she heard John call her "wife." Sensing this, the TARDIS laughed once more before going back into her restorative sleep.

Rose came out the door just in time to hear, "Your apartment was a lamppost." Rose chuckled, patting the brick wall of the TARDIS's disguise fondly. "And such a pretty lamppost at that." She turned her warm smile to the boy. "Hello, there. I'm Rose Tyler." She held out her hand for him to shake, and he did so tentatively.

John took that moment to catch the boy's - Eddie's - attention and launch himself into babble mode. Rose rolled her eyes as she sat on the stoop, completely tuning him out. "He's trying to tell you you're smart and you're special in a good way," Rose finally said to Eddie, not wanting John's, ah, verbal diarrhea to scare him away. When John glared at her, she merely smirked in response, but then frowned when she saw the newspaper headline. Her face was grim when the two looked at each other, and not just because of the children. "Did you think we had something to do with this?"

Rose was relieved when Eddie explained himself and what was happening. When he made the comment about Britain and their house, Rose laughed, and she could hear the TARDIS giggle too. "I'm sure the government would love to have a house like ours, but one of their previous Queens decided it didn't amuse her, and so now the British can't have them. Their loss," she said with a wink at Eddie. When John explained that the two of them tended to find "stuff like this," she arched an eyebrow at him and smirked. "Oh, we certainly do," she said, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. "See, dear? I told you so."

Turning to Eddie, smirk fading, Rose leaned forward a bit and asked, "What and how much do you know about these disappearances, exactly? Where should we start looking and what do you think we're looking for?" She figured it would be better to put the ball in his court - make him feel less threatened by her and John, even if he didn't feel threatened in the first place. One thing was for sure: she had the feeling this wasn't going to be the nice little pit stop they'd thought it would be.

About halfway through his monologue over perception filters, John realized there was a hint of irritation. Rose's straw pointing remarks over it had him rubbing his neck. "Yeahhh. Force of habit. Sorry. So used to simply explaining everything, that I forget sometimes."

Pie decisions turned out to be an interesting stumbling point for his gob, causing John's ears to turn a light shade of pink. However, her teasing about it caused some other interesting things to happen, and it was her turn to flush. He couldn't help it, really. Whenever he'd think about it, she'd think about it. When she thought about it, he'd think about it. The loop they had going through their bond made it so that thoughts of that nature could be considered doubled. However, what with the idea of one thought generating another, the process could be considered exponentially active.

Shoving all that aside for the moment, 'the little things' about simply being with the one you loved were taking precedence. Small gestures became just as important than anything else. A simple thing of sharing food now seemed to share a level of importance with life saving adventures. The thought was a bit boggling, but it made a monumental amount of sense to John, even though it did seem ridiculous: Every time he came to what he thought was the limits of his affections, new levels were opening every time he turned around. All of that came into focus when he saw the look on her face on his offering of delicious confections.

As he bit into the extremely sweet bits of apple and crust, John caught the thought of having pie instead of cake at the reception. The happy burst of emotions he received were instantly reciprocated, both by feeling and the smile he gave her. I don't mind. However, let's not use chocolate cream. Too many things could go wrong, and I don't want to be the cause of Jackie's coronary. Don't think Pete would forgive me, and I know Jack would want to join in.

Bill paid and shadow watching, John was more than impressed with Eddie. The young lad seemed to be brimming with ideas and postulations, in addition to a rather enormous amount of reasoning skills. If this were another time, he had no doubt that Eddie would've been placed in some form of advanced education. Blinking a bit, he was going to spare a glance to see what sort of timeline the lad had. However, seeing the intense sparks as he talked about his sister resembling Rose, John's smile was on full blast. This was a boy to watch. "Oh, I like you," John said, grinning his face off. "Not spies, though. We tend to find stuff like this," he held the paper up, "and try to help out where we can."

"See, dear? I told you so." The elbow to the ribs that Rose gave him was answered by a rather grumpy, "Yeah, yeah." Sighing, he flipped the pages of the newspaper. "You know, just once I'd like to show up and have everything normal, or find someone that just wants to show us a great cup of tea... or something. Not often, mind you, but once in a blue moon would be stellar." Listening to Rose's rapid fire questions got a smirk out of him.

"N-not much," Eddie said. "Lizzie, Ana, and Mark all disappeared one right after the other over three days." He fidgeted, and didn't look at all comfortable.

John's eyes froze on page five of the admittedly small local paper. "Anything weird happen before then? I dunno, lights in the sky, odd earthquakes that shouldn't've happened? Anything like that?" While he was talking, he pointed out what he was reading to Rose: 'Jersey Devil Sightings Rise' the caption said over a really bad drawing.

"Not really, no." he said, confused.

Looking up at him, John sighed. "That would've been too simple, I suppose." He drummed his fingers on his knee, thinking. "Does the local library keep track of such things?" An idea was percolating in the back of his mind, but it needed a spark to set it off... Namely, any sort of pertinent detail, or any detail. Okay he was flying blind, but the mention of a mythological beast had him aiming towards some sort of alien influence. Details though would narrow things down considerably.

"Not really. Hate the library here. They think astronomy goes with science fiction," he huffed with a frown. "About the only thing they have a lot of, are a newspaper section and a collection of Old Farmer's Almanac's." Eddie's nervousness seemed to vanish when he was talking about it, replaced by a heaping of annoyance. "At least they didn't file all the The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac's with Jules Verne." The look on his face suggested that they could have.

"Oi. Don't knock Jules," John said in a hurt voice, amused. "That was one individual who knew how to spin a tale." Grinning over that, he switched gears. "But, I agree. Factual star and planetary movements don't need to be put in with 'The Green Ray'. Although, funny thing about that phenomenon, the prism effect by the atmospheric density gradient is so rare that conditions have to be just so in order to witness the event. Only saw one of the more mock-mirage, but it did surprise me. It'd be really interesting to see the ray though," he mused.

A slight clearing of a feminine throat got him to focus. "Right, anyway. You mentioned the almanacs, are you an amateur astronomer?" Receiving a small nod and a smile, he continued the thought. "Any chance there was something off up there," he pointed up, "like an unscheduled meteor shower or some other 'thing' that made said almanacs liars?"

Relaxing a bit at the more intellectual discussion, Eddie looked down in thought. "Hmm. There was a rather large meteor a couple of years ago. No one could find it, but what would that have to do with the little ones?" he asked.

Grinning in a bit of triumph, John's feet started tapping in unision. "More things in heaven and Earth, Eddie..."

"... than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Yeah, I know. That doesn't mean anything though. Stories are one thing..."

"Ahhh," John wagged a finger. "Lamp post house, remember? Open mind." Sharing a grin with Rose, he looked back at Eddie. "Don't suppose you know the general direction of where that meteor landed, do you?"

Eddie's puzzled look was still there. "West of here. No one found a crater though."

"Now isn't that interesting?" Standing up, John noticed that he was still wearing the watch Rose gave him. A split second of pondering over upgrading the inner workings flitted about, before he turned for the door. "Just be a minute, need to fetch some... 'Spock', he grinned at Rose over that, then headed in to locate that portable scanner.

"Blue moons aren't often enough, darling," Rose said with a smirk in response to John's complaint. "Besides, you never seemed to mind when--" She immediately clamped her mouth shut, horrified; she'd been about to say, 'when you were the Doctor.' Scrabbling for a lifeline, Rose found it in the newspaper, all but snatching it out of John's hand when he showed it to her and looking at the picture of a...what? Rose frowned at it, turning the paper to look at it from a couple different angles. "It looks like a...I don't even know what it looks like." She turned to Eddie and asked, "What's the Jersey Devil?"

Rose could feel her husband's brain going at a thousand miles a minute, and it irritated her to no end that she couldn't do much to help, especially when, according to Eddie, there were no strange occurrences besides the disappearances to give them any clues. One thing was for sure, though: if anyone could tell them anything, it was Eddie Zagan. The more Rose listened to him talk to John, the more she recognized how ridiculously smart he was for his age, and began to understand how it was that he - a child, of all people - had seen past the perception filter.

At John's comment about Jules Verne, Rose arched an eyebrow. Right - and I don't suppose you were involved with any, ah, 'tale-spinning,' now, were you? she teased in his mind; no need to confuse Eddie by talking about time travel, though he probably would have understood a bit of it on at least a basic level. She had a feeling, though, that whatever John was spouting was not quite as understandable and thus cleared her throat to get him back on track. Still, she tucked away the bit of info about prisms and rays and phenomenons in her mental box labeled, 'places John has to take me to/things he has to take me to see.'

When John asked about whether or not there was an event that proved the almanacs wrong, Rose felt that she shouldn't have been so impressed by his cleverness, as she'd seen it in action so often before. Still, she was mightily impressed at the roundabout way he was approaching the information in order to get what he needed. So there were no weird events recently, but there was a meteor a few years ago. It was a slim chance, but something to go by. She was about to speak when she was shocked into silence by Eddie's continuation of a quote John had randomly spouted. "You're really something, Eddie," Rose couldn't help but say. "You are so very smart."

When Rose heard that the meteor Eddie had told them about had left no crater behind, Rose's mind whirred into action. "Hmm, if no crater was left behind, then it may not have been a meteor, but a ship, and if the ship has anti-collision thrusters that sense ground impact velocity by utilizing the readings of technical and electrical anomalies, then it could easily have crashed without a crash, so to speak. Unless, of course, it didn't crash, but landed, and has its own perception filter or cloaking device or both."

When Rose saw the expressions her husband and Eddie gave her, she blushed, and simplified it for their new young friend. "Basically, three things could have happened: one, this 'meteor,' which is probably a ship, sensed that it was going to crash and protected itself from doing so. Two, the meteor-slash-ship could have landed on purpose. Or the people who went looking for the crater were just...digging in the wrong place." She paused. "Unless of course it was an escape pod designed to jettison upon location in a safe environment for whatever's in the pod, and if the creature flies, the pod could easily self-destruct without leaving too much of a trace depending on the level of technology and the location within the universe..." When she heard a masculine clearing of the throat, she scowled at John, but quieted nonetheless.

At John's announcement that he was 'getting some Spock,' Rose sighed as if in relief and grinned at him. "'Bout bloody time," she teased, tongue poking between her teeth. When he entered the TARDIS and shut the door, Rose turned back to a very nervous-looking Eddie. "It's all right," she said, smiling. "He's just gone to get something to help us look for...well, whatever we're looking for." She patted the stoop next to her, and Eddie shyly sat down. "Eddie Zagan...were you born here, Eddie? If you don't mind my asking, that is." Rose felt the need to make small talk, if only to get to know Eddie better and let him get to know her and John better - to trust them. She was a bit ashamed to realize that her desire to befriend him wasn't entirely because of her kind nature; without Eddie's knowledge, they might not be able to help at all...or not until it was too late.

"Tell me about it," John grumbled over the lack of consistency over dual azure moon sightings. While he caught her mortification, the mental door slam didn't quite make sense with the aborted sentence. Still though, he was distracted enough by her nabbing of the paper.

He grinned at her turning it about, trying to make sense of the drawing. "It looks like a...I don't even know what it looks like." She turned to Eddie and asked, "What's the Jersey Devil?" Intrigued, John followed suit with raised eyebrows.

Sighing, Eddie rolled his eyes. "A lot of theories are running around, but the oldest is from the eighteenth century. Said that there was a woman, known as 'Mother Leeds' who on the birth of her thirteenth child, shouted 'Let it be the Devil', and the baby either came out all demon like, or changed after and flew off."

"Sounds like you don't go in with that theory," John commented with a smirk. "Although, I can see a woman saying something like that if she's had a lot of children. Had to be more than a bit painful, putting out that many," he made a face at that.

"It's just stuff they tell kids to scare them into not staying out late, or mind their parents, or some other nonsense," he huffed. John tilted his head back and forth, agreeing.

Jules Verne came up in the context of the local library. After defending Jules, he heard Right - and I don't suppose you were involved with any, ah, 'tale-spinning,' now, were you? in his head. Smirking, he gave her an image of the Victorian Style console room when Eight was in charge. Well, not so much Jules, but where do you think Bertie got the idea for the Morlocks? he thought to her with a 'straight face'. Bertie was what the family called Herbert George Wells, he explained. Nice bloke.

Going into almanacs, star charts, and other possible explanations; Rose caught on to just how smart the boy was and told him so. Watching the boy flush at that, John just grinned. Careful, or there'll be another pretty boy after you, he chided her, grinning.

Meteors and no evidence got Rose on a tear on how that could happen. Grin all over his face, John simply turned and listened, nodding at her appraisal. Eddie on the other hand, was wide eyed over it. Seeing her blush over being stared at, she tried again. Still grinning and encouraging her, she went a bit overboard so he cleared his throat, earning a scowl. Looking to Eddie, John was still all grins. "Marry someone smart, and you'll never be bored. More often than not, they'll point out something you miss."

Going after some 'Spock', John chuckled at her retort over that and closed the door behind him.

Taking a seat on the stoop, Eddie shook his head. "I don't mind. From Brooklyn, but work there aint what it used to be. Dad moved us over here when the garment district went bust a few years ago. Started up his own business over here, and cornered the market a bit. Nothing like what's in the Big Apple, but it works. Mom wants me to take up the reigns after I get out of school though." His tone of voice was low at the last of that, and looked to be pretty apparent that wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"So, not spies, but you run around 'fixing things'?" Eddie gave her a bit of a sceptical look. "Sounds interesting. Could almost be something right out of 'Amazing Stories' or Fantastic Adventures.' Who are you two really?"

Inside the ship, John was in one of the storage rooms and was gathering various bits and bobs. It was slapdash, and even though the sonic could pick up extraneous power readings, he needed something that had a bit more oomph to it.

Pausing to listen to the conversation through their bond, John felt her trepidation over befriending someone for simple information. Sweetie, don't worry about it. He's a good kid and smart as they come. If anything, we can possibly guide him. His timelines are quite sparky. Almost done here, be out in a bit. Making a scanner. Should be able to narrow down the search by quite a bit.