Written for Bonfire Night, finally edited and ready to be posted!!! Thank you to @homeisabluebox for helping me edit it and reminding me what name I picked for human!thirteen way back.
Also tagging @doctorroseprompts
Summary: this is a human!thirteen au. Rose attends a firework party and ends up getting more than she anticipated.
Pairing: human!Thirteen x Rose | Words: ~900
Rose watches as the fire burns through the wood that Jack threw onto the pile, reveling in the increased heat which radiates off the bonfire. Other than dangerously madeāand very likely illegalāones, Rose never really saw any bonfires when she was growing up, so at age 23, theyāre still a novelty to her. She found a nice little section in Jackās garden to quietly appreciate the warmth of the fire before re-joining her friends.
āMy cousin once got burnt by Guy Fawkes,ā Rose is startled by the sudden and rather cheerful voice breaking the silence. Rose stares at theācute, she immediately notesāblonde, whoās dressed rather flamboyantly in a long coat and bright clothes, whoās appeared almost out of nowhere next to her, their elbows brushing, as the blonde pushes her hands into her pockets. āI say Guy FawkesāI, of course, donāt mean the actual Guy FawkesāI mean he may be old, but not that old, I mean a Guy Fawkes at my auntās bonfire.ā The blonde carries on, as if they were old friends, in the middle of a conversation. She pauses, turning her head to look at Rose, a wide playful grin plastered ear to ear across her face. Rose finds herself staring at the smileāor, rather, at her lips.
āIt fell on top of him.ā The blonde concludes. Thereās a sparkle in her eye, which, despite the topic, makes Rose smile back at her. The energy radiating off her causes a lightness in the air, a lightness in Rose, making the rather awful topic feel enjoyable.
āWas he okay, your cousin?ā Rose asks.
The blonde shrugs. āSuffered second-degree burns.ā She tells her, and Roseās eyes widen, her smile fading slightly. āDonāt worry, heās an idiot. He deserves it. My aunt told him he shouldnāt get that close or mess around near it. Heās fine, trust me. Even brags about his ānear death experienceā as if it wasnāt because of his idiocy.ā The blonde looks at the bonfire, almost thoughtfully. āNever gone near one again.ā
Thereās a silence for a moment. āYou got any bonfire horror stories then? Everyone always has at least one,ā she asks, her eyes finding Rose again. Rose shakes her head, not even having to think for a second. For all the bonfires the estate made was dangerous, surprisingly nothing ever happened. At least, not because of the bonfire. Breaking their eye contact, Rose looks at the bonfire in front of them. She debates if she should make up a story; Rose doesnāt want her to think that sheās disturbing her, that thisāunexpected and suddenāconversation isnāt wanted.
From the corner of her eye, Rose sees the blonde smile again. āWell, you can have mine then,ā she says, a casual shrug accompanying the words, and Rose finds that the corners of her mouth form a smile again. This time, a small blush accompanies the smile, as her insides twist at the words. The thought of sharing something with this strange woman excites her, even if itās as little as a story. Rose would wonder whatās gotten into her, but the puzzle is solved with a look. The woman is cute and, well, Rose has always been rather useless around cute women.
They fall into a silence again, as Rose tries to contain the giddy feelings brewing. After a few seconds, Rose turns her attention back to her, wanting to take a closer look. She doesnāt get very far before the giddy feeling rises again; the coat sheās wearing is well fittingāalthough that doesnāt stop it flaringābut itās the sleeves that get to Rose. The womanāRose really needs to get her nameāhas rolled up her sleeves, showing off her forearms. That, alone, is enough to cause Roseās stomach to do summersaults and Rose has to remind herself to get a grip. The rest of the outfit does nothing to subtract from the attractiveness and is, in fact, enhancing it. Thisāsheāis one fit woman standing in front of Rose.
Despite the distracting contractions of her stomach (actually, at this point, itās no longer her stomach), Rose manages to focus on not letting the conversation dieāand therefore, letting this cute blonde get away from herāand takes notice of the design on the top sheās wearing. Rose smiles, brilliant, bringing the beer sheās holding to her lips.
āI like your shirt,ā Rose tries to casually compliment, a smile dancing on her lips and the cute blonde grins back. Itās a happy, knowing grin full of that energy. Rose suspects she wears it as a certain kind of icebreaker.
āIām Theoāshort for Theodora, and yes, my parents hated me. But it was better than the alternative,ā the attractive blondeāTheoātells her. The words are spoken with such a playful energy, accompanied by such a delightful grin, that the urge to kiss the stranger (did she really just meet her a few minutes ago?) surges. Rose has a track record for falling for pretty people way too fast, but this must be a world record, let alone personal.
āTheoāI like it,ā Rose grins, testing how the name sounds on her lips. And oh how she likes it. āIām Rose,ā She tells Theo a second later. In fairy tales, names hold power, and Rose feels like now sheād follow Theo anywhere.
āRose,ā a shiver goes up Roseās spine, āI like it.ā Theo grins back.