15Rogue - Day 6 - Dancing
I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do today. I already have two dancing fics so my head was a bit devoid of ideas. So I just started writing and this is the result. If you don't know what I'm referencing, it's the UK's Strictly Come Dancing (known as Dancing With The Stars in the US and various other names in other countries).
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OH and! An easter egg! There is a line in here that is an exact quote of the last line of the Target novelisation of the episode Rogue 😌
"So you're telling me if we stop dancing we lose?" said Rogue.
"No, no. Not lose," said the Doctor. "We die."
"WHAT?" Rogue nearly lost his grip on the Doctor's hand and if they were being scored right now they would certainly have been starkly marked down for gapping.
The moment they had walked out of the TARDIS, the Doctor had gasped and immediately grabbed both Rogue's hands, dragging him into a waltz. There were much more adventurous dances going on around them, conducted by people in all sorts of vibrant costumes. The Doctor and Rogue were the only ones a) in street clothes and b) who looked at all worried about the threat of death.
"Do these people not know…?" Rogue wondered aloud. "How do you know? Have you been here before?"
"It's a cruel joke from the TARDIS, is how we're here," the Doctor said. "I asked her to bring us somewhere good for dancing and, well… I mean, I barely made it out of here alive last time. River was dragging me and my floppy fringe around like a rag-doll by the end."
"Hmm… some prank," Rogue mumbled. He glanced at the TARDIS, quite far away in this mysterious cavern filled with pools of lava and shifting stone beneath their feet. Getting back to her amidst all these couples was not going to be easy. But Rogue wasn't about to be second-best. "Well, if River can do it… Come on then!"
He spun the Doctor into a frantic pirouette, catching up with him and spinning him into his arms, polka-ing around like it was the first dance of a ceilidh and everyone was raring to go. The Doctor rose to his new level, and grabbed him by the lapels, dragging him into the fluid lunge of an Argentine Tango.
"Judges are to your left, by the way," the Doctor whispered.
"There are people overseeing this? What kind of sickos-"
"Oh, they're just old. They see humanoid lifespans like humanoids see chickens."
"Ah." Rogue sighed, sank into a plié, then executed a quick rond-de-jambe and rose back up. The Doctor gripped his hands tight, and they spun away together.
On and on they danced. Rogue felt perversely warm and safe despite the danger, as long as he was in the Doctor's arms, spinning around and around, for ever. Other couples started to flag, perhaps ones who couldn't boast three hearts between them. The pools of lava increased ever wider and rocks opened at the feet of those who fell. The Doctor and Rogue sprang across the streams, jeté, jeté, jeté!
Suddenly, there was only one other couple left. Rogue was spinning around too fast to get a good look at them, and as he peered into the dark, he noticed something else blocking his vision.
The TARDIS! She was right there! They'd made it back!
The Doctor turned his head and saw her too. "That's great, Rogue, but we can't leave them."
The other couple. Rogue looked in their direction again. Both seemed to be women, one tall with slightly stiff posture, the other with a tanned face and a thick, dark fringe. Their dancing was… not good. But they were nonetheless doing it! And they looked like they could keep doing it. But… Rogue knew the Doctor. No matter how at peace they seemed to be with their fate, the Doctor was going to try and rescue them.
Rogue sighed, and quickstepped the Doctor in their direction.
"Hey!" the Doctor called. "If you want out of here we can help! But you have to hurry, before the Judges spot you."
"Oh no we're fine," said the tall, stiff one.
"Yes. All's well," said the one with the fringe. "And will be."
Looking at them closer, even as both he and they bobbed around, Rogue could make out a network of sashes piled over them. Years and years and years they'd been at this, and winning. Perhaps they never stopped even when they were the last ones standing.
Suddenly both dancers looked at the Doctor and Rogue at once and said, "Keeeeeep dancing!"
Rogue and the Doctor looked at each other, worked a shrugging motion into their jive, then headed off back towards the TARDIS.
"I guess Tess and Claudia are going to be just fine," the Doctor mumbled, as they reached the doors.
Rogue did a little solo-snake with his shoulders as the Doctor unlocked the door. "Who?"
"Oh, they hosted this Earth dancing show for years," the Doctor replied. "They tried to leave once, but I guess once you've kept dancing that long, it's hard to stop."
The Doctor got the door open, then he and Rogue moonwalked inside.