PSL With Giac

[pinkandyellow]

Rose tightened her hand around a small, black device and let out a tremendous sigh. The rift had been more or less inactive in the last few weeks, and today, while she was sleeping, apparently it decided to let out a teeny, tiny blip. A small, insignificant, pointless thing that apparently warranted a one-man investigation. Apparently, she was that man. She took another left turn as she wandered, the clicking coming from the device picking up ever-so-slightly in her hand. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing but radiation, or maybe it'd burped up a parallel universe's soda can.

She groaned when she hit a dead end, and took a moment to flop herself down on a crate. She was tired. All there was in this stupid alleyway was a crate, two dumpsters, and a statue someone decided to chuck out. She couldn't blame them, really. The thing looked... creepy, peering out from behind it's hands with blank stone eyes. Looking at it, actually, was starting to put her on edge. With a frown, she stood up, and started to back out of the alley.

Stop being stupid, Rose. It's just a statue. With a final glance, she turned her back on the stone angel, and made to move out of the alley.

At this point, she was nearly run over by a carriage.

"Oi! Watch it!" She snapped, annoyed.

She was nearly run over by a carriage.

A carriage.

A carriage.

"Wait... what?"

-

After about three hours of pinching herself and wandering around the city, Rose was convinced she was neither dreaming, nor drunk. This was not the England she'd left. This was...

This was the bloody 18th Century. She sat down in a local pub and began to take inventory. She had six quid (useless), a Torchwood-issue walkie-talkie (pointless), a mag-light, a taser, and a dead mobile phone. It was nearly noon, and she had no money to rent a room in the inn. With a little help from the nice (and ogling) barman, she found her way across town where some Italian bloke was, apparently, looking for a tenant.

Comments

[loves-each-one.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't be difficult to tell where this Italian bloke's home was, as already there stood a line of women stretching outside the house, and a small knot gathered to apparently gawk on the street.

A tall, dark skinned man who might be somewhat familiar stood near the end and shouted in a distinctly Italian accent by the time Rose would have neared. "Alright, alright! Five more and that's it. Or we'll be here for days."

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

Rose, quite fed up with her day already, was in no mood to deal with a gaggle of girls who had only showed up to apparently ogle this bloke who- she squinted her eyes. No, it coudn't be... He was a bit far off, so it must be her eyes playing tricks on her. Besides, this bloke was dark skinned, and his hair was... floppy. She sighed, and rubbed her eyes. If she could just have a sit down...

She shoved her way (perhaps rudely) through the crowd and toward the door, where he was blocked from view by a few rather tall (and handsome) ladies.

[loves-each-one.livejournal.com]

For a man who was presumably about to have his choice of paying tenants for his spare room, he looked somewhat miffed. By the time Rose made it up front, he was announcing there were only two more slots in the line left, and some of the crowd looked like it might have been beginning to disperse.

"Oi! Oi, you, no cutting! You'll all get your chance, and if you wanted to be further ahead you should have come earlier, shouldn't you! One more!"

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

"Well, I only just found out about it an hour ago, didn't I? How was I to know all of Britain's female population suddenly required lodging? I've had a bloody bad day, okay, mate, so do us a favor and let me in to look at the room." She looked as annoyed as she sounded, with one hand on her hip and the other massaging her temple as if trying to expel her headache by force.

[loves-each-one.livejournal.com]

For a moment, the man stands and stares at her in surprise, and the women nearby whisper in indistinct but clearly scandalized voices. One or two even glare. After that, however, the man gives a deeply amused laugh.

"Alright then. In you go. Last one. But no more cutting in line! There'll be no fights breaking out in this household, or you'll be paying all the damages."

With that, the man wandered off down the line and vanished into another room.

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

Well... that was surprisingly easier than she thought it'd be. She shrugged, and walked in, pointedly slamming the door behind her. The women outside did not look amused.

Where the hell did that bloke go? And why, exactly, did he look like that Captain from the planet orbiting the black hole? She shook her head, and leaned her back against the door. Brilliant. Another line.

[loves-each-one.livejournal.com]

Well, hopefully she'd be alright with waiting in that line.

And waiting.

And

waiting.

Rose would have wound about halfway through the room with an assortment of disappointed or agitated women making their way back past her, by the time the man reappeared once more. "The room's been rented! You can all go home!"

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

"You have got to be kidding me!" She snapped, and, without really thinking about it, shoved her way through the crowd of women rushing past her toward the door.

"Hang on a minute!" She yelled to the man, and pressed her palm against a door he was clearly intent to shut. "Listen- have you got another room? Extra couch space? Anything, really. I'll scrub the floors- whatever you want, I haven't got anywhere else to go."

[loves-each-one.livejournal.com]

Through the indignant squawks of the other women, there might be heard an exasperated sigh, before the man turned back around to face Rose. "Oh...you again. Look, like I told you, if you wanted a chance you should have been here earlier, and as for space, we've got four people living in a townhouse meant for two as it is, so no matter how much yelling you do, you're not going to get any--" a different voice, also heavily accented, cut in.

"Rocco! Where did you grow up? You're going to teach Giac horrible manners if you start talking to women like that in front of him." If that voice sounded oddly familiar, well...it would become obvious how once its owner leaned into view behind the other man. "Hello!"

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

"And I told you, I only just found out about it a few hours ag-" She cut herself off at the voice, lips still curled up to tell him off. Her eyes widened and mouth dropped open when his head popped out behind the man.

This... was too much of a coincidence. His hair was different, his clothes were weird, but it was definitely him.

"...Doctor?"

[loves-each-one.livejournal.com]

"Doc...tor...?" He and the other man shared a brief glance, his expression dubious and the other man's bemused, before he apparently recovered and swept around to the front of the other, all smiles. "Ah! You've heard of my expertise, have you?" In his advance, he caught up Rose's hand and brought it up to place a light kiss to her knuckles, before offering another smile. "Is there something you needed?"

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

"Something I- what?" She asked blankly, staring at the hand he brought up to his lips. Was this some kind of game? Was he in trouble? Was someone listening?

...Or was this just some nutter that looked like him? No way. That was impossible. He somehow went and found Zak, and they've probably been stranded here for months. Maybe he'd know how to explain her getting here as well? Maybe there was some sort of... time... space... sucky... tractor beam or something. "I- needed- a place... to stay."

[inferredaccent.livejournal.com]

He frowned in confusion for a moment, though he didn't immediately release her hand.

The man, Rocco, spoke up. "As I was telling her, you've already rented out the room and we haven't got any others to rent, even if we wanted to."

The Doctor-look-alike arched an eyebrow at Rocco a moment, before letting Rose's hand down and turning his attention back to her. "How long would you need this place? Longer than an inn can provide?"

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

She glanced between the two of them, trying (and failing) to wrap her head around what exactly was going on here. When he turned back to her, she caught sight of his very blue eyes.

Whoever this man was, it wasn't the Doctor. She couldn't help but show a look of disappointment.

"Oh- I- I dunno. It depends on if I can find a way to get home, but... yeah, probably a bit longer than that."

[loves-each-one.livejournal.com]

There's a shrewd expression to the man as he considers her for a moment, clearly he's processing her look of disappointment and her words, but he makes no mention of the expression.

"Perhaps we might even be able to help you back to your home?" He smiled. "I've been told I've a knack for finding things."

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

She gave him a sad look, but nodded anyway. She had to stifle her first response, which was 'fat chance'. Instead, she says, "Yeah, maybe. Doubt it, though. S'a long way away."

She shifts her weight uncertainly onto her other foot, and glances back between the two men, wondering if this was still even remotely a good idea. "So, what's the verdict, then?"

[loves-each-one.livejournal.com]

His smile faded to a look of genuine sympathy, as if he might have read her mind and understood it. "Then it seems we share a goal. A home far, far away and out of reach."

The expression Rocco wore might have been exasperation...or it might have been a guarded sympathy. Regardless, he said nothing at Rose's question.

"I am afraid my friend didn't lie when he said we have no spare rooms for you. If you were to stay, there's no way around sharing a room."

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yeah, no problem. I can bunk up. I'm a good roommate. Always knock, never leave clothes lying about. Haven't got a cat." All of these, she assumed, were good roommate qualities. Though, she did quite like cats. "Actually, scratch that last one. Might get a cat."

She offered a half-hearted grin. They probably thought she was a nutter, a homeless nutter, bursting in, demanding a place to stay, calling him Doctor, and generally being unpleasant.

[inferredaccent.livejournal.com]

His smile seemed some shade between bemused and skeptical as she listed off her qualities, before he grinned and brought up her hand to kiss it once more.

"Then I have but one request, Madame. You name? If you would? I would not feel right to share a home with someone who I wouldn't know what to call."

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

Doctor or not, she couldn't hold back raised eyebrows and a blush when he kissed her hand again. She'd have to be careful around him, this bloke was a charmer. An annoyingly handsome probable womanizer. Best to up her game.

Right after she stopped being such an annoying shade of pink. "Rose, and I could say the same for you, sir. What am I to call you?"

She felt a bit silly, trying out the lingo and attempting to be debonair. It probably... didn't work. At all.

[inferredaccent.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, it didn't really work at all. But he found it charming anyway. The attempt and the failure. As was evidenced by his continued smile.

"Ah. I should have suspected a name so beautiful." He grinned right over her knuckles, before lowering her hand once more. "Call me Giac. Please. It is my great pleasure to make your acquaintance." He took a step backward, and gestured for her to step into the room. "Are you hungry?"

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

She bit her lip. Oh, he was good. It was probably mostly due to that stupid face. Also, maybe that accent. As soon as he brought up food, though, she let out a hungry little moan.

"Oh, I haven't eaten in ages." She left for the mission this morning on an empty stomach, mostly too tired to be hungry, and when she'd arrived here, she didn't have any money.

[loves-each-one.livejournal.com]

Those blues eyes of his sparkled at her response, and he held out a hand toward her. "I would be amiss as host not to ensure you were well fed, then. Rocco! I believe we could do with a lunch, couldn't you?"

The man snorted, and might just have rolled his eyes as he uncrossed his arms and started off. "Yeah. If you say so." Which might just have been to the tune of 'if you're willing to risk it'.

[huffpuffblonde.livejournal.com]

She glanced over at Rocco, and gave him an apologetic smile. She hadn't really intended to cause the man to wait on them, especially since she'd bossed her way in here in the first place, but her attention was rapidly turned back to Giac. Stupid pretty eyes.

"Thanks. Really, though, I mean it. I dunno what I would've done."