For maiasmuses: Oh the Job

[rude_not_ginger]

The Doctor is in his tuxedo.

His cursed tuxedo.

He really does love this tuxedo, even if it is obviously cursed. How obviously is obviously? Well, he put it on to head to this party in order to talk to UNIT head Francis Raderio, but was promptly pulled aside by two UNIT agents who not only knew who he was, but also why he was there. It took some smooth talking on his part to get away (by smooth talking it was "I have to go to the loo, be right back" and he rushed back to the party).

He was going to have a long night of ducking them, it appeared.

He ducked around another person, some blonde woman, trying to find General Raderio. He had to be around here somewhere.

Comments

[maiasmuses.livejournal.com]

"'Scuse me," she retorted, stepping back so as to avoid spilling her glass of champagne as the skinny bloke in front of her nearly body-checked her back into the crowd. "In a hurry?"

She was almost sure he wasn't her client. Chucks with a tux wasn't really the sort of look most of her clientele favoured. Shame, though, he was cute. More Hannah's type than Belle's, but she could enjoy the view nonetheless.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Just a bit, you haven't seen any UNIT-official types wandering about in-----"

Oh!

Right, so the person he least expected to see standing in front of him? Yeah, Rose Tyler would certainly be the least expected person. Her hair was longer, a little darker, and she was dressed in something----well, not something he'd have anticipated from Rose.

How did she get here? From her outfit choice and the fact that she was pretending she didn't know him, that must've meant she was on some sort of a job. A job that cannoned her here to this universe? That was brilliant! But that meant bad things for the universal barriers and---

Oh, wait, he was staring.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm the Doctor, nice to meet you."

[maiasmuses.livejournal.com]

A warm smile curled her lips, one cultivated from years of practice -- faintly feline, intimate. "Pleasure," she purred. "I'm Belle, nice to meet you, Doctor."

He looked like the love-child of her best friend, Ben, and Alex, and that was a slight twinge of regret in her heart -- brushed aside and there was his question. "UNIT? Um, yes, I believe there's some men from there around at the party." In fact, her appointment for the evening was with a UNIT general.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

Belle? Well, Beauty and the Beast was one of Rose's favorite movies. The smile on her face was perfectly insincere, but she was apparently acting at any rate.

UNIT men around the party. That must be code for something. What was she trying to tell him?

"Well, if they ask if you've seen me, the answer is 'nope' because I may or may not have insulted their red berets earlier, but what can you do? They're all lopsided."

[maiasmuses.livejournal.com]

The smile he offered her was goofy, and the look in his eyes had a blatant longing -- a hunger, even, that surprised her in a stranger. "Oh, the berets are cute," she demurred, dragging her lower lip between her teeth and waving across the room upon recognising her client.

"I'm sorry; you'll have to excuse me." She started to slip away from him, sparing a brief what-if thought -- might've been nice if he'd been the client tonight.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

Was that the general he needed to speak to? It was! What luck! Wait, what was she doing waving to the general?

She started to slip away and he touched the side of her arm.

"There's an observatory down the hall," he said. "You know, if the party isn't to your liking."

They could talk there.

[maiasmuses.livejournal.com]

Belle glanced back over her shoulder, "I'm sorry, I have to--" she gestured with a slight tilt of her head to the general at the other side of the room. "It was nice to talk to you."

And he was still looking at her like she was his whole world. "Have we met before?" she frowned, trying to remember his face. "You just seem -- faintly familiar...?" Bit of a lie, but if he remembered her, it would be rude for her not to remember him.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Right, no, shouldn't keep you."

He turned to leave himself, but her question caught him off-guard. Did she really not recognize him? No, no, she had to, right? Faintly familiar, that was just another code.

"Yes, we met at the Powell Estate a few years ago," he said. "My hair was shorter, you were going by a slightly different name...well, a very different name but one chooses one's own name, right?"

[maiasmuses.livejournal.com]

A different name? That resonated faintly with Hannah and she bit her lip, trying to place him. "Powell Estate? Where's that, Cambridge?" A wrinkle in her brow -- she'd been an Oxford girl, but had spent a little time in Cambridge... maybe he was someone she knew from university?

But no. No. Getting her head turned by blokes when she was off on the job -- another bloody doctor, no less -- was what got her into a lot of trouble with Alex and, yes, alright, broke her heart. This was really stupid of her. (So why was she having difficulty walking away without his answer?)