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rumpelsnorcackTitle: A Long Life (But One Worth Living)
Author/Artist:
rumpelsnorcack
Rating: PG-13 generally
Characters & Pairings: This chapter: Rory/Amy, Eleven
Word Count: 1933 this chapter
Summary: The story of Rory's life, from meeting Amy to death.
This Chapter: Rory's PoV on the broom fight in Vampires in Venice
Notes: Many thanks to the wonderful
a_phoenixdragon and mollywheezy who have been extremely supportive through this whole process. I've been writing this on and off for a while. It's still not finished, but is getting there. Not sure how many chapters there will be, but each one is intended as a short one-shot in its own right so all can be read independently. However, they do all build together to give a picture of Rory's life, complicated timelines and all. It's all roughly chronological, but each piece doesn't necessarily exist in the same timeline as each other piece. So some are pre-reboot, some post, some exist in a universe which includes Mels, others don't.
Disclaimer: Sadly none of the characters are mine, I just enjoy hanging around in their sandbox.
How he allowed Amy to get him into these situations Rory didn’t know, but he did know he found them extremely uncomfortable. His heart was beating with a sickening thud in his chest and his palms were slick and sweaty. He definitely didn’t feel like any sort of hero – and surely heroes were the ones who were supposed to deal with these sorts of situations? Frustratingly, Amy was ignoring his carefully worked out, though terrifying, strategy to get her away safely. While he faced down the weird space fish vampire thing she was supposed to be running away, but was she? Oh no. Not Amy – Amy was hanging around and making herself a target. In desperation, Rory started taunting the beast.
‘The only thing I’ve seen uglier than you is … your mum.’
The creature turned to him. Its eyes were cold and its fishy origins were clear in the blankness of the inhuman stare. Rory felt a moment of absolute blind terror when he was sure his heart actually stopped. He backed away as quickly as he could from the menace he could feel pouring out of the thing’s eyes, trying to avoid tripping as he kept the thing’s eyes in sight at all times. Rory had a paranoid fear that if he looked away it would turn from him and focus on Amy. These things did seem overly obsessed with girls, after all.
‘Did you just say something about Mummy?’ the creature said, almost casually. The casual tone was belied by the sharp glare, and the very cold eyes. Rory gulped – his body had tensed and he could feel its instinctive desire to flee kicking in as it became aware that he was in a very dangerous situation. He cast around, fighting to find something, anything to help him deal with this. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Amy lurking. He ground his teeth, frustrated. Amy was supposed to be getting out of there, and he’d hoped she would take the opportunity to find the Doctor to help them. He was irrationally upset that she wasn’t leaving.
For a start, he didn’t want to look terrible in front of her and there was no way he could possibly come out of this situation looking anything but terrible. He was awkward and bumbly, always had been. Sports had never been Rory’s strong suit, and here he was faced with pretty much the most extreme sport ever invented – fighting for your life. He was in no way equipped to deal with this. Secondly, he was floundering and losing ground to the creature’s superior strength and speed. He could feel it, and he knew that as soon as the fish thing had dealt with Rory – which would be very soon – it would turn its attention to Amy, and then he had no way at all to save her. Everything was getting beyond his control and if there was one thing Rory hated it was having no control over a situation. His life had been so perfectly ordered until the Doctor turned up that he was finding it very difficult to cope with the chaotic, dangerous, ever-changing world he was now faced with. He knew he looked like a fool, but he also knew there was nothing else to do. He had to keep fighting this thing to give Amy the best possible chance to get away.
He grabbed a nearby broom and started waving it at the fish man. He wasn’t entirely sure what the broom was supposed to accomplish, but there was nothing else. Besides, anything which distracted the creature’s attention away from Amy was alright in his book. Unfortunately, the broom was quickly sliced in two by the creature’s sword, and, despite everything he tried in his attempt to get away, Rory fell over backwards.
As his head cracked onto the cobbled stones, he yelled, fully expecting to die as the creature leaped at him. I’m sorry, he thought, hoping Amy could somehow sense what he was thinking. I’m sorry, it’s going to kill me and then you. I couldn’t stop it. Suddenly, the creature disintegrated and the stench of rotten fish and salt exploded all over him. Gagging, nearly choking on the foul stuff, Rory sat up. He dusted himself off, still choking on the putrid dust, but also looking around. Where was Amy? His prime concern was to keep her safe. He needed to find out where she was.
‘Why’d you make the sign of the cross, you numpty?’ Oh, there she was – judging him again. All his pent up rage from her betrayal flooded back to Rory and he gritted his teeth. He’d kept it all inside, trying to see it from her point of view (and he could in many ways understand what she’d done and why), but he still felt hurt. She had run off, left him behind, barely acknowledged him when she did return and now … now she was ridiculing him? Well, screw her, and screw her bloody Doctor too. Rory mounted the stairs to her, intending to tell her exactly what he thought of her ridiculous comments.
‘Oh, right. Now I’m being reviewed, am I …’ he had more he was going to say. He was going to review her – let her know how shitty he had found her behaviour, how much he was hurting. But he found his words cut off by a kiss. It seemed to last forever and no time at all. He barely had time to register it was happening before she’d pulled back and smiled at him, brushing her hair off her face in a way that made him want to grab her right then and there and who cared what other fish creatures might be hanging around to see them. He had forgotten, in all the fear and rage and pain, how much he loved being with Amy. Kissing her felt, as it always had done, like he was home. He sighed. He knew it was sappy but it was the truth. He was never truly alive when they were apart.
For that reason, Rory felt another sickening swoop in his heart when everything was finally over and they were walking back to the TARDIS. Oh yes, Amy had laughed in delight and hugged him when The Doctor had achieved his goal of saving Venice. But it seemed the kiss after the fish creature died, and then the hugs, had been just ‘in the moment’ things. As they walked and the Doctor talked of getting them married and she stayed silent and withdrawn, Rory knew he could never compete. His adventure with the fish thing had proven one thing to him – he was incompetent, and Amy thought so too. Why else would she pick apart how he’d acted? His shoulders slumped in resignation.
‘It’s fine, drop me back where you found me. I’ll say …’
‘Stay,’ she said. Her voice was sincere, warm; and when his head snapped up to her she was staring at him, her gaze open and caring. She was acting as though they were the only two people in the world. ‘I want you to stay.’ Rory could feel a grin developing on his face. He glanced over at The Doctor, aware that he was the one who had the real say in whether Rory could travel with them.
‘Fine with me,’ he said as his face creased in a huge smile. He looked genuinely happy to have Rory go along. All jealousy he had felt leached away in the face of the other man’s obvious desire to have him along – even if only as Amy’s plus-one.
‘Yes. Yes, I would like that.’ He could feel the silly grin blossoming on his face as he said it. As terrified as he had been, he had to admit it had also been strangely exhilarating. Once it was over. Once he’d been sure, quite sure, that Amy was in no further danger.
‘Nice one,’ Amy said as she planted a kiss on Rory’s lips. ‘Hey, look at this. Got my spaceship. Got my boys. My work here is done.’ She turned into the TARDIS, as supremely confident as a queen entering her throne room.
‘We … are not her boys.’ Rory said it not because he believed it, but because he didn’t want the other man to know quite how much Amy was in control. The Doctor, however, seemed perfectly at ease with the idea. It was with an intensely casual air that he said, ‘Yeah we are’ as he pushed Rory ahead of him towards the TARDIS.
Rory found himself nodding along with The Doctor, as they finally got inside. Amy was puttering around with the kettle. The Doctor disappeared into some other part of the giant ship and Rory was left alone with Amy. It was a weird tradition this tea thing, he mused, as he watched her lithe body flit through the kitchen. But it was one they’d shared in the past. Just as his father always had, Rory would make tea whenever something big happened. Happy, sad, disastrous, momentous. They all called for a slow down and a nice tea. He chuckled. It was funny how Amy had picked up on it too. She’d spent so much time at his house with Rory and his dad that she was now almost as steeped in Rory’s traditions as he was. The thought made him happy.
He went to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. For a long moment she settled back into him, her body molding to his the way it had so often over the last few years but which had been missing these long days since his stag party. He sighed and dropped his head into her hair, drinking in the sweet scent of the sun-warmed strands. Standing like this he could almost forget the weird things that had happened over the last few days and imagine them back in Leadworth as the kettle began to whistle. Had it really been only a few days since the Doctor burst out of his stag cake? It felt like a lifetime. Amy was so full of life and energy, and the Doctor matched her pulse for pulse, that it sometimes felt to Rory that he’d been with the two of them, here in this bizarre ship, forever.
He squeezed, accidentally clasping her too tightly and she squeaked. He immediately pulled back.
‘Sorry. I didn’t mean …’
Amy spun around in his arms and smiled at him. ‘It’s okay. I like this. I like you being here. It feels … right.’
Rory’s heart beat faster. As scary as the Doctor was, as upsetting as this new life had been, she was right. This did feel right. It felt like the three of them were supposed to be together, at least for a while. He grinned.
‘I like it, too.’
‘I meant it you know. I’m happy you’re staying. It’s been great running down corridors with the Doctor, but I did miss you.’
Rory’s heart soared as she reached up to him for another kiss. She’d never told him exactly how much she cared for him, but it was in moments like this one that she showed she cared. She’d missed him. It was enough. He let her go and carefully poured tea for both of them, losing himself in the calm enjoyment of the ritual. So long as he didn’t have to lose his home comforts he could be happy anywhere – so long as Amy was there too.
Author/Artist:
rumpelsnorcackRating: PG-13 generally
Characters & Pairings: This chapter: Rory/Amy, Eleven
Word Count: 1933 this chapter
Summary: The story of Rory's life, from meeting Amy to death.
This Chapter: Rory's PoV on the broom fight in Vampires in Venice
Notes: Many thanks to the wonderful
mollywheezy who have been extremely supportive through this whole process. I've been writing this on and off for a while. It's still not finished, but is getting there. Not sure how many chapters there will be, but each one is intended as a short one-shot in its own right so all can be read independently. However, they do all build together to give a picture of Rory's life, complicated timelines and all. It's all roughly chronological, but each piece doesn't necessarily exist in the same timeline as each other piece. So some are pre-reboot, some post, some exist in a universe which includes Mels, others don't. Disclaimer: Sadly none of the characters are mine, I just enjoy hanging around in their sandbox.
How he allowed Amy to get him into these situations Rory didn’t know, but he did know he found them extremely uncomfortable. His heart was beating with a sickening thud in his chest and his palms were slick and sweaty. He definitely didn’t feel like any sort of hero – and surely heroes were the ones who were supposed to deal with these sorts of situations? Frustratingly, Amy was ignoring his carefully worked out, though terrifying, strategy to get her away safely. While he faced down the weird space fish vampire thing she was supposed to be running away, but was she? Oh no. Not Amy – Amy was hanging around and making herself a target. In desperation, Rory started taunting the beast.
‘The only thing I’ve seen uglier than you is … your mum.’
The creature turned to him. Its eyes were cold and its fishy origins were clear in the blankness of the inhuman stare. Rory felt a moment of absolute blind terror when he was sure his heart actually stopped. He backed away as quickly as he could from the menace he could feel pouring out of the thing’s eyes, trying to avoid tripping as he kept the thing’s eyes in sight at all times. Rory had a paranoid fear that if he looked away it would turn from him and focus on Amy. These things did seem overly obsessed with girls, after all.
‘Did you just say something about Mummy?’ the creature said, almost casually. The casual tone was belied by the sharp glare, and the very cold eyes. Rory gulped – his body had tensed and he could feel its instinctive desire to flee kicking in as it became aware that he was in a very dangerous situation. He cast around, fighting to find something, anything to help him deal with this. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Amy lurking. He ground his teeth, frustrated. Amy was supposed to be getting out of there, and he’d hoped she would take the opportunity to find the Doctor to help them. He was irrationally upset that she wasn’t leaving.
For a start, he didn’t want to look terrible in front of her and there was no way he could possibly come out of this situation looking anything but terrible. He was awkward and bumbly, always had been. Sports had never been Rory’s strong suit, and here he was faced with pretty much the most extreme sport ever invented – fighting for your life. He was in no way equipped to deal with this. Secondly, he was floundering and losing ground to the creature’s superior strength and speed. He could feel it, and he knew that as soon as the fish thing had dealt with Rory – which would be very soon – it would turn its attention to Amy, and then he had no way at all to save her. Everything was getting beyond his control and if there was one thing Rory hated it was having no control over a situation. His life had been so perfectly ordered until the Doctor turned up that he was finding it very difficult to cope with the chaotic, dangerous, ever-changing world he was now faced with. He knew he looked like a fool, but he also knew there was nothing else to do. He had to keep fighting this thing to give Amy the best possible chance to get away.
He grabbed a nearby broom and started waving it at the fish man. He wasn’t entirely sure what the broom was supposed to accomplish, but there was nothing else. Besides, anything which distracted the creature’s attention away from Amy was alright in his book. Unfortunately, the broom was quickly sliced in two by the creature’s sword, and, despite everything he tried in his attempt to get away, Rory fell over backwards.
As his head cracked onto the cobbled stones, he yelled, fully expecting to die as the creature leaped at him. I’m sorry, he thought, hoping Amy could somehow sense what he was thinking. I’m sorry, it’s going to kill me and then you. I couldn’t stop it. Suddenly, the creature disintegrated and the stench of rotten fish and salt exploded all over him. Gagging, nearly choking on the foul stuff, Rory sat up. He dusted himself off, still choking on the putrid dust, but also looking around. Where was Amy? His prime concern was to keep her safe. He needed to find out where she was.
‘Why’d you make the sign of the cross, you numpty?’ Oh, there she was – judging him again. All his pent up rage from her betrayal flooded back to Rory and he gritted his teeth. He’d kept it all inside, trying to see it from her point of view (and he could in many ways understand what she’d done and why), but he still felt hurt. She had run off, left him behind, barely acknowledged him when she did return and now … now she was ridiculing him? Well, screw her, and screw her bloody Doctor too. Rory mounted the stairs to her, intending to tell her exactly what he thought of her ridiculous comments.
‘Oh, right. Now I’m being reviewed, am I …’ he had more he was going to say. He was going to review her – let her know how shitty he had found her behaviour, how much he was hurting. But he found his words cut off by a kiss. It seemed to last forever and no time at all. He barely had time to register it was happening before she’d pulled back and smiled at him, brushing her hair off her face in a way that made him want to grab her right then and there and who cared what other fish creatures might be hanging around to see them. He had forgotten, in all the fear and rage and pain, how much he loved being with Amy. Kissing her felt, as it always had done, like he was home. He sighed. He knew it was sappy but it was the truth. He was never truly alive when they were apart.
For that reason, Rory felt another sickening swoop in his heart when everything was finally over and they were walking back to the TARDIS. Oh yes, Amy had laughed in delight and hugged him when The Doctor had achieved his goal of saving Venice. But it seemed the kiss after the fish creature died, and then the hugs, had been just ‘in the moment’ things. As they walked and the Doctor talked of getting them married and she stayed silent and withdrawn, Rory knew he could never compete. His adventure with the fish thing had proven one thing to him – he was incompetent, and Amy thought so too. Why else would she pick apart how he’d acted? His shoulders slumped in resignation.
‘It’s fine, drop me back where you found me. I’ll say …’
‘Stay,’ she said. Her voice was sincere, warm; and when his head snapped up to her she was staring at him, her gaze open and caring. She was acting as though they were the only two people in the world. ‘I want you to stay.’ Rory could feel a grin developing on his face. He glanced over at The Doctor, aware that he was the one who had the real say in whether Rory could travel with them.
‘Fine with me,’ he said as his face creased in a huge smile. He looked genuinely happy to have Rory go along. All jealousy he had felt leached away in the face of the other man’s obvious desire to have him along – even if only as Amy’s plus-one.
‘Yes. Yes, I would like that.’ He could feel the silly grin blossoming on his face as he said it. As terrified as he had been, he had to admit it had also been strangely exhilarating. Once it was over. Once he’d been sure, quite sure, that Amy was in no further danger.
‘Nice one,’ Amy said as she planted a kiss on Rory’s lips. ‘Hey, look at this. Got my spaceship. Got my boys. My work here is done.’ She turned into the TARDIS, as supremely confident as a queen entering her throne room.
‘We … are not her boys.’ Rory said it not because he believed it, but because he didn’t want the other man to know quite how much Amy was in control. The Doctor, however, seemed perfectly at ease with the idea. It was with an intensely casual air that he said, ‘Yeah we are’ as he pushed Rory ahead of him towards the TARDIS.
Rory found himself nodding along with The Doctor, as they finally got inside. Amy was puttering around with the kettle. The Doctor disappeared into some other part of the giant ship and Rory was left alone with Amy. It was a weird tradition this tea thing, he mused, as he watched her lithe body flit through the kitchen. But it was one they’d shared in the past. Just as his father always had, Rory would make tea whenever something big happened. Happy, sad, disastrous, momentous. They all called for a slow down and a nice tea. He chuckled. It was funny how Amy had picked up on it too. She’d spent so much time at his house with Rory and his dad that she was now almost as steeped in Rory’s traditions as he was. The thought made him happy.
He went to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. For a long moment she settled back into him, her body molding to his the way it had so often over the last few years but which had been missing these long days since his stag party. He sighed and dropped his head into her hair, drinking in the sweet scent of the sun-warmed strands. Standing like this he could almost forget the weird things that had happened over the last few days and imagine them back in Leadworth as the kettle began to whistle. Had it really been only a few days since the Doctor burst out of his stag cake? It felt like a lifetime. Amy was so full of life and energy, and the Doctor matched her pulse for pulse, that it sometimes felt to Rory that he’d been with the two of them, here in this bizarre ship, forever.
He squeezed, accidentally clasping her too tightly and she squeaked. He immediately pulled back.
‘Sorry. I didn’t mean …’
Amy spun around in his arms and smiled at him. ‘It’s okay. I like this. I like you being here. It feels … right.’
Rory’s heart beat faster. As scary as the Doctor was, as upsetting as this new life had been, she was right. This did feel right. It felt like the three of them were supposed to be together, at least for a while. He grinned.
‘I like it, too.’
‘I meant it you know. I’m happy you’re staying. It’s been great running down corridors with the Doctor, but I did miss you.’
Rory’s heart soared as she reached up to him for another kiss. She’d never told him exactly how much she cared for him, but it was in moments like this one that she showed she cared. She’d missed him. It was enough. He let her go and carefully poured tea for both of them, losing himself in the calm enjoyment of the ritual. So long as he didn’t have to lose his home comforts he could be happy anywhere – so long as Amy was there too.
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Date: 2015-01-25 02:26 am (UTC)*Happy!Hugs!*
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Date: 2015-01-25 04:02 am (UTC)