(Come) Pick Me Red Roses (1/1)

[tromana]

Title: (Come) Pick Me Red Roses
Author: tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Doctor/Romana
Spoilers: None
Summary: The Doctor has an uncanny habit of picking suitable flowers for Romana... This is vaguely inspired by ‘Flowers for Romana’ by nostalgia over on Teaspoon.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Otherwise, Romana would be back and everyone would die of fluff.
Notes: FANFIC:100. Prompt: Red. Beta'd by fifth_sister. Thanks a bunch!

 

 

(Come) Pick Me Red Roses

 

1.

 

She was cold and wet and frozen to the bone. Her normally glossy dark locks hung limp around her face, as she bit her lip pointing the tracer in vain. He’s wet too, but more used to the different weathers forced upon you by space and time travel, rather than living the confines of the Capitol.

 

“I think it’s developed a fault, Romana,” he whispered.

 

She nodded, bitterly, refusing to allow him to see the tears of anger building up in her face. Dejectedly, she allowed him to guide her slowly back to the TARDIS, avoiding the bogs on such a damp planet.

 

“I’ll go fix this then,” she mumbled, once inside.

“Yes, Romana,” the Doctor replied, distractedly.

Once out of sight, he eyed his other companion, the small robot computer, K9, was sitting mute underneath the control panel. Throwing his scarf over his shoulder, he scurried underneath to join him.

“Ah! K9.”
“Master?” queried K9.

“How should I go about cheering up a young woman, hmm?”

K9’s ears whirred as he accessed his data-banks. The Doctor sighed, growing increasingly annoyed at the amount of time K9 was taking to answer such a simple question.

 “Some women like flowers, Master.”
“Thank you, K9.” The Doctor set about setting controls; not hearing the automaton continue speaking, “although if you are talking about the Romana-mistress, she would probably prefer a trans-dimensional spanner.”

 

Needless to say, Romana was rather bemused when she returned to her room to be greeted by a bunch of pink carnations, spotted with a few dark pink roses. She couldn’t fathom why the Doctor thought it would be a good idea to leave her parts of a plant’s reproductive system in her room. Surely the whole plant would serve more purpose? Despite that, she did remember vaguely studying the effect of colours on the mind – pink was meant to help relax and relieve tension. And they did brighten up the room a bit. However, the concept still needed more investigation.

 

She wandered to the library and soon found a book. It was only a small tome, despite all the plant species that existed in the Universe. Then again, it did only specialise on known plants on Earth at a certain point. Shrugging her shoulders, she took it back to her room, she’d be more comfortable there.

 

Carnations: One of the most popular flower varieties enjoyed. They are durable and delicate - no wonder they are one of the World’s longest cultivated flowers. Available in a variety of colours, they never cease to fascinate.

 

She stopped to finger one of the petals gently. It was quite pretty, she supposed. She skipped some of the text.

 

There are many different meanings to this flower. They include fascination, distinction and the age-old message of love. Different colours have different messages. White indicates luck, along with purity whilst pink expresses gratitude, often with the message of not wanting to forget someone.

 

A small smile traced across her lips. She hadn’t realised the Doctor could be quite so thoughtful. Now, for the roses.

 

Roses: A highly celebrated flower and the definitive symbol for love, the rose…

 

She slammed the book shut. Well, even texts couldn’t get everything right, could they? And even if that was the meaning, the Doctor couldn’t mean that? Still, as soon as she’d showered, she would thank him. After all, they still had four more segments of the Key to Time to find.

 

2.

 

He felt quite guilty about the fact that she had been tortured on the Shadow planet. Her nerves were fraught, and she seemed entirely out of character. She had been less than impressed with the first two places the randomiser had taken them, too.

 

Admittedly, he couldn’t help it that white was a banned colour for clothing on Zadnea, putting her through a repeat torture so soon after she’d been dealt with the Black Guardian’s cronies ministrations. And they both would have burned to death on Gradlow if it wasn’t for K9.

 

Still, she’d seemed rather pleased with the flowers last time, if a little confused. He could override the randomiser every so often, just so long as he didn’t do it too often.

 

“Cosmos,” he mused, “that seems ideal for someone travelling the time and space continuum.”

 

The florist stared at the Doctor as if he was quite mad, but nevertheless bunched up his selections of flowers and handed them over. He headed straight to the TARDIS and nearly flattened a rather annoyed looking Romana.

 

“I got you these.”
“Oh.” The Doctor looked quite disappointed at the lack of response. “They’re very nice,” she added, “purple. Very calming.”

 

Without another word, she returned to her room. She’d left that book in there and she wanted to look up what these flowers meant again. It was all rather complicated, this flower giving business. Perhaps she should give some to the Doctor at some point?

 

Lisianthus: Also known as eustoma. The name for this flower comes from the Greek for ‘lysis’ and ‘anthos’ meaning flower. This beautiful flower has relaxing undertones, implies that you like someone’s outgoing personality and holds an important role in communicating deep, heartfelt romantic desire.

 

She snorted a rather undignified snort as she looked up the other flower, and soon identified it as the Cosmos – the name the Doctor was so taken with.

Cosmos: This Mexican flower blooms twice a year. ‘Cosmos’, derived from the Greek, means order, balance and regularity. Its meanings include peace and modesty, but above all it is the flower of love.

 

Romana couldn’t help but begin to think that humans – and the Doctor had very funny thoughts about flowers.

 

3.
 

The Doctor smiled as he squeezed Romana’s hand across the Parisian café table and she beamed back. He wasn’t quite used to that smile; her regeneration had caught him off guard, but nevertheless, she seemed a lot happier now. Now that the whole business with the Jagaroth was cleared up, they could actually return to their holiday.

The café was small, quiet, with a sunflower on each table. They spoke about nothing in particular; dimensional stabilizers, K9’s logic patterns, art. The Doctor complained loudly about the quality of his tea before exclaiming that his bouillabaisse was the best he’d tasted in the Universe, much to Romana’s embarrassment. Swiftly, he popped the sunflower behind her ear and she blushed furiously. She couldn’t help but feel an itching sensation develop in the back of her mind, desperation to go look up the meaning behind it.

 

If she had had the chance to do so, she would have found out that amongst its meanings, the sunflower has warmth, happiness and adoration.

 

4.

 

“Erm. Thank you, Romana.”

The Doctor looked utterly confused as he accepted the deep purple carnation from her. She smiled. She had finished reading her book on flowers a while back, and decided it was a rather apt gift in return for the flowers he had adorned her with since she had been made to join him on his travels. Not that she minded now; in fact she quite enjoyed it.

 

“It means capricious. Amongst other things.”

 

She had blurted it out before she could stop herself. Distractedly, she started fiddling with a loose strand of her blonde hair.

 

“Right. To the TARDIS, then?”

“Oh yes, lets,” she replied, still not entirely sure what the Doctor had made of her frankly well-researched (albeit frivolous) gift.

 

5.

 

“Are you trying to woo me through flowers or is this just quite accidental?”

Romana took the perfectly formed closed rosebud from him and flushed slightly. She couldn’t help but curse herself – she’d been taught to have far more control over her emotions than this. She could remember vaguely reading about the fact that they were highly celebrated, symbolised love, perfection and that the rosebud specifically represented purity and beauty.

 

“I… uh, just thought you’d like it,” the Doctor replied earnestly.

 

She smiled and kissed him gently on the cheek. He was a daft creature sometimes. And if he had been trying to woo her, she wouldn’t have taken offence at all. In fact, she had a feeling she may have quite liked it.

 

6.

 

She still had the rosebud, and still couldn’t tell what colour it would be. It hadn’t bloomed. She didn’t think she wanted to know, it’s been three days since she left the TARDIS for E-space. So, Romana dropped it, before running to catch up with the Tharils. She has work to do. She had also taken the book of flowers, for nostalgia’s sake. She didn’t think the Doctor – or the TARDIS would miss it. That and K9 would serve as suitable memories for moments missed.

 

7.

 

The Presidential suite was quiet, too quiet. It had taken a long haul to get here. Half her still didn’t even know if she wanted it or not… but still She could change Gallifrey. She could open their eyes, welcome in the Universe; and was that a TARDIS materialising nearby or was that just dumb hope?

 

A face appeared through the door that should have been locked for security purposes, along with a mess of long curls and a bouquet of red and yellow roses.

 

“Doctor,” she addressed him. “You should not be here, you’re a renegade, and it is illegal for you to be here.”

Her eyes smiled, betraying her sentiment. She took the flowers from him and placed them on her desk before placing a kiss on his cheek.

 

“A present for the new President,” he grinned. “Not that I think it’s wise you taking office. In fact, I think you’re quite mad to do so.”
“I thought you’d say as much.”
“Is the office driving you mad yet?”

“Yes,” she whispered, quietly. “I’ll cope.”

“I know you will.”

 

He took her gently in his arms and ran a hand through her blonde hair before kissing her gently on the lips. She had to catch her breath from the unexpected physical contact as he stroked her cheek gently, before letting go.

 

“Now, as you so rightly said, Madam President,” he stated formally. “I’m not meant to be here, I’ll see you again.”

8.

 

“Ah,” she murmured.

“Yes, I’m quite surprised they let me in too.”

“I see you’re back to the romantic body, rather than the rainbow.”

 

He smiled and sat at the foot of her bed. He’d forgotten how emaciated she’d looked when he’d left her. Rather liked he’d forgotten to give her some flowers. The shopkeeper had recommended the peonies; all pink and relaxing and represent health and good fortune. It had only taken him a couple of regenerations to remember to visit after the Dalek torture on Etra Prime, after all.

 

“I suspect you’re feeling better.”
“I don’t need to rest, I need to work. Besides, you forgot.”
“Yes, I’m sorry Romana.”

He placed a kiss on her forehead, before gently massaging her aching shoulders. The peonies lay forgotten on the floor for quite some time.

 

“Now, I really should leave you.”

She nodded. As soon as he left, she pulled out a battered old book. It had been quite some time since she had last looked up flower references; she hadn’t the time. And well, with forcible bed rest, she might as well.

 

Peony: A lush, full rounded bloom. In China, the word is ‘sho yu’, which translates as ‘most beautiful’.

 

She laughed gently. Her body was scarred and covered with bruises. She certainly didn’t feel beautiful. But then again, she did suspect the Doctor only chose his flowers on a whim.

 

9.

 

The daisy holds among its meanings innocence and purity, and often used when confessing undying love. It is rather unique in the fact that it holds no negative attributes.

 

The Doctor stood proud in front of Romana, picking the petals off the daisy one by one. He stared her squarely in the eye whilst she watched him like a hawk. Neither seemed intimidated by the other, despite the unconscious attempts to scare the other. The last petal floated to the ground of a planet it did not belong on.

 

“War Queen, I think not.” The Doctor pulled the head from the flower before giving her the stem. “Good luck Romana, you’re going to need it.”

 

10.

 

He swore he could feel it, their thoughts disappearing from his mind; her’s being burned from it. Its agony and he wished he was a stronger telepath to block out the pain.

 

He still keeps a bunch of a dozen virtually perfect red roses, hand picked, in stasis. Just for the remote chance he comes across her again.

Complete