dw fic: Smoothie (Eleven/Rose) G

[fannishliss]

title: Smoothie
Author: fannishliss
pairing: Doctor/Rose, also, Amy/Rory
Spoilers: none
Rated: G
344 words

Summary:  An old recipe calls up memories in the Doctor.

Written for  Then There's Us 002   and for Who Contest: Trace

--

There was a lovely smell in the air.  A fruity smell.   His nose fell to the allure.  He followed it.

Amy and Rory were reclining poolside.  The Tardis was shining hot Earth sunlight.  Amy had on white framed movie star sunglasses, looking lanky and adorable in an emerald green one piece racing suit.  Rory was showing his pale, furred belly, fast asleep on a chaise longue with his mouth hanging open.  Amy was reading a novel, her chaise right up next to Rory's.  On a small round glass-topped table on her other side, there was a pinkish purplish smoothie in a tall, sweating glass.

One frozen over-ripe banana.
A double handful of frozen strawberries.
Three dollops full fat yoghurt.
Fill with orange juice.
Trace of acai just for tartness.
Blend.

The strawberries they'd picked, itchy from heat and sweat, filling basket after basket, carting them back to the Tardis to wash and bag and freeze.  The taste of sunshine frozen, stored up against a colder, rainier day.

"Did you make a smoothie?" he asked, voice soft and steady despite the tightness around his lungs.

"Yeah, found these strawberries.  D'you want some?" Amy asked.

Rory tossed and grumbled in his sleep, groped one blind hand toward her, satisfied and subsiding on the smoothness of her thigh.

"Where did you get the recipe?" he asked.

"Dunno, it just came to mind," she said carelessly, resting her free hand on Rory's.

Meddling old Tardis.  Well, he would.  He just would then, if she was so insistent.

"Yes, I rather fancy a strawberry smoothie," he said, just as carelessly, and whirled toward the galley.  All the ingredients were to hand and popped into the blender.

He closed his eyes and filled his mouth. The taste overwhelmed him, rich and sour and sweet.  So many hundreds of days past, months, years, lives.

He refused to spit it out.  He insisted upon savoring it, against the will of his sensitive tongue and tender mouth.

He would savor, and remember, and remember, and savor.  Just until the bottom of this one cold glass: a surfeit of sweetness, the tart trace of remembrance.

Comments

[desertport]

Aw! It's wonderful to catch a moment of Eleven thinking of Rose. I imagine he does often and I have been intrigued by the idea of them meeting again. What an interesting reunion that would be! Especially since I have this headcanon that the Doctor's sexuality changes with each regeneration. I see Eleven as leaning toward the asexual side of the spectrum, but I think Rose would be unbothered, since she loves him so.

Anyway, back to the fic! I enjoyed the sensuality invested in a simple drink, compounding the emotional resonance that comes with the memory of Rose and her smoothies. This kind of killed me:

So many hundreds of days past, months, years, lives.

Life goes on, and there's something incredibly tragic about that fact.

I'm in a Sherlock place lately and have been bookmarking your recent DW work for when the mood hits. It's good to have something to look forward to!

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

I am also in a Sherlock place. Having read a lot of Sherlock recently I find that the Sherlock characterization kinds of seeps into my Doctor. :) It's really nice to hear that you are bookmarking me for when the mood hits! :D

Do you follow 221B_recs? Swissmarg hardly ever steers me wrong.

The smoothie recipe had tears rolling down my face, that visceral reaction where smell and taste lead back to the kinestetic/body memory ... I can so easily imagine Ten picking strawberries with Rose and being just so ecstatically happy about it.

I agree that Eleven gives a strong asexual vibe. Again with the Sherlock! :) Then I started to laugh because I imagined charting how lusty the Various Doctors seem:
Nine, Ten, Four, Three, Six on the lusty end.
Eight, Five, Two in the High Minded Romantic love middle.
Seven, One and Eleven toward the asexual end. With Eleven seeming the most uninterested of all.

Then I realized with amusement that how sexual they seem to me correlates strongly with how I rank them as my personal favorites -- though not completely:
Nine, Ten, Four, Eight, Five, Seven, Eleven, Two, Three, Six, One.
I was surprised to find that Eleven has moved up considerably in my rankings from vying for dead last. I've grown to know him. :D

Now I think the Sexuality continuum might be amusing to experiment with the various outcomes in each Doctor were locked in a room for 36 hours with Jack. :D Jack Harkness is giving Jayne Cobb a run for his money as my pairing Little Black Dress. :D

[desertport]

I love 221B_recs! There's too many good recs to even keep up with. My bookmark folder for Sherlock fic grows by the day. This is not a bad thing.

I'm only familiar with the new Who doctors. Nine and Ten both present as pretty lusty, while Eleven somehow manages to be debonair while all but wearing a sign flashing "let's just be friends."

Haha! Give me Jack making out with practically anyone and I'm on board. Watching him seduce Eleven, though, would be really amusing.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, lovie...this was gorgeous. And a perfect answer to the prompt!

*HUGS*

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

thanks so much for your lovely comment -- I really appreciate it!

[paynesgrey.livejournal.com]

This was really cute, and clever too. I especially loved this line, "He refused to spit it out. He insisted upon savoring it, against the will of his sensitive tongue and tender mouth." This totally explains why the Doctor spits things out to me, because it's too overwhelming to him. Which makes more sense then him just not liking things.
Fantastic job.

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

thanks so much for your lovely comment!

There has to be a reason he spits everything out, so I'm really glad my reasoning worked for you. It must be a bit disappointing for him, since he used to enjoy tasting things so much.

[shaviva.livejournal.com]

This was nice because I think it's good to have that idea in mind, that just because he's moved on to other companions and has a different face, what happened before still counts, still matters. Well done

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

thanks so much for your comment -- I'm glad the idea resonated with you. :)

[mahmfic.livejournal.com]

interesting. i love the memory recall because of taste and smell.

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

thanks! I'm glad the way that sense activates memory worked for you. :)

[tardisjournal.livejournal.com]

Lovely and bittersweet--the smoothie AND the memories it evokes. Powerfully done. <3<3

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

thanks so much for your lovely comment -- I'm glad you enjoyed it!