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chocolatequeennk · 7 years

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Projected Longing, 3/3

Based on a prompt from @otpprompts: Person A can read minds and person B is always thinking about kissing them. Chapter 1 was all about Reluctant!Doctor and Interfering!TARDIS. Chapter 2 is Bad Wolf!Rose and… well, still Interfering!TARDIS. Chapter 3 is all Bad Wolf!Rose

This fills @doctorroseprompts “Bad Wolf reveal” prompt and @legendslikestardust “That was mine!” prompt.

The first part of this was betaed by @lastbluetardis–thanks, Ashley!

AO3 | FF.NET | TSP | Ch 1 | Ch 2

Previously...

Rose leaned against a pillar. What she was about to ask would change their lives, and she felt the tiniest bit of guilt for springing the question on him without any warning. Then she considered that he obviously hadn’t told her the truth about what had happened on the Game Station, and the guilt was easily banished.

“Rose?”

She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. I was just wondering, Doctor… You’ve never told me what really happened on the Game Station.”

The Doctor froze and his eyes widened, blown pupils revealing his sudden panic. “What really happened?” he asked, his voice squeaking.

Rose pushed off from the strut and strolled towards him. “Yeah. See, I know something happened, because I’ve heard your voice in my head ever since.”

He swallowed hard, making his Adam’s apple bob.

She hopped up on the jump seat leaned forward, pressing her palms into the worn leather. “So, I think it’s time you told me the full story. Don’t you?”

Chapter Three

Reeling from the revelation that Rose was apparently telepathic, the Doctor considered lying to her. But, as if she’d read his mind—and he had to admit that was a possibility—she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

He tugged on his ear and pointed to the corridor. “Right,” he squeaked. “Absolutely. Why don’t we go sit down in the library and I’ll tell you all about it?”

Rose pursed her lips and studied him, but she seemed to decide he was sincere, because she slid off the jump seat and led the way down the corridor.

The Doctor kept his word. Sitting in the warm comfort of the library, he told Rose the whole story, from his point of view, starting with the moment he’d realised he would have to kill everyone on the Game Station to stop the Daleks. His immediate decision to send her home, how Jack and a few brave souls had fought off the Daleks, the Dalek Emperor’s challenge—coward or killer?

He stared into the fire. “And then, just as I thought the Daleks were finally going to exterminate me once and for all, I heard the most beautiful sound in the universe—the TARDIS engines.” He smiled wryly. “The Dalek Emperor was furious, thinking I’d found a way to escape. But I hadn’t—it was you who had found a way to rescue me.”

He chanced a glance at Rose, and the deep furrow between her eyebrows told him the memory block he’d placed in her mind was holding.

“But how?” she asked. “I remember… I remember talking to Mum and Mickey, and telling them I couldn’t just stay there while you were on the Game Station dying. And then…” Her face scrunched up, but eventually, she shook her head. “I can’t remember anything else.”

The Doctor blew out a breath. This was the part he didn’t want to explain, but she deserved to know at least some of the truth. “You looked into the heart of the TARDIS,” he told her. “Opened her up and looked into the Time Vortex. You merged with her, and together, you flew back to the Game Station. And then you used the power of Time itself to wipe every last Daleks from existence.” He carefully steered clear of thoughts of Jack, not prepared for that conversation tonight.

Rose pressed her hands to her temples. “Why can’t I remember?” she asked, her voice muffled. “I’m trying, but things get hazy after I told Mum and Mickey I was gonna come back, and then the memories are just gone until I woke up in the TARDIS right before you regenerated.”

The Doctor swallowed hard. This was the part of the story he’d been dreading most. He was under no delusion that Rose would appreciate him mucking about in her brain without her permission. He only hoped she would understand when he explained how much danger she’d been in.

“No one’s meant to look into the Time Vortex,” he explained, his voice soft. “That kind of power… If a Time Lord did it, they’d become a vengeful god. But you, Rose… you were a goddess of life. You came in and you saved us all.”

He stared at the fire, the flickering orange and red flames reminding him of Rose as the Bad Wolf. An echo of fear shot through him when he remembered the tears in Rose’s eyes as she confessed that her head was killing her, and he had to clear his throat before he could continue.

“But it was killing you—literally burning out your mind. I had to take it from you.”

And he’d done so with a kiss, with the most perfect first kiss ever. The fact that Rose would never remember that kiss hurt, but that was the price he had to pay for keeping her alive.

“Doctor,” Rose whispered, her voice strained. “Is that… is that when you… why you…” She stared up at him, her eyes finishing the question her mouth couldn’t.

The Doctor smiled gently and brushed a strand of hair back over her ear. “Yes. No one is meant to hold that power—not a human, and not a Time Lord. But it was worth it, Rose. I mean… I know we’ve had a rough few days, but we’re both still here. If I hadn’t taken the Vortex from you, I’d be alone.” Tears glistened in her eyes, but she nodded.

A moment later, her frown deepened. “But you still haven’t explained why I can’t remember.”

The Doctor shifted in his seat. “Ah. Yes. Well… Even though I took the Vortex out of you, part of the danger lies in the memory. I didn’t know how much danger the memory of being Bad Wolf would carry, so I… mighthavehiddenyourmemories.”

“Say that again… slower.” Rose’s low voice indicated she’d understood him just fine, but couldn’t believe her ears.

The Doctor flinched, then said, “When I took the Vortex out of you, I went into your mind and hid your entire memory of being Bad Wolf—from the moment you saw the graffiti on the playground, which is why your memories start to go fuzzy before you opened the heart of the TARDIS.”

There was a long, long pause, during which the Doctor didn’t dare look at Rose. He could feel her anger buffeting against his mind, and he simply sat in his corner of the couch and waited for her explosion.

It never came.

“Give them back.”

The Doctor whipped his head around at the quiet words. “What?”

Rose’s jaw was set. “Unblock my memories.”

“But—”

Her eyes glinted gold, and he snapped his jaw shut.

“You had no right, Doctor,” she said, enunciating each word so clearly, he could almost feel them cut into his skin. “You went into my mind and took something that belongs to me without asking. And you did it not because you knew it would kill me, but because it might be dangerous. You had no right.”

The repeated words shook with anger. The Doctor wanted to argue, but Rose was correct. He had gone into her mind without her permission, and he hadn’t had the right.

He nodded. “All right. I’ll unlock them, but you have to promise to tell me immediately if you feel any discomfort at all. Any headaches or dizziness, anything.”

He couldn’t control his fear, and after a moment, he felt Rose’s anger abate a little. She took his hand.

“I promise. But please, Doctor. Give me my memories back.”

Rose held her breath and waited while the Doctor raised his hands to her temples. There were lines around his eyes, and she knew he was terrified for her, but she needed to know what had happened. She’d fudged the truth earlier when she’d told Mickey that flying the TARDIS was blocked off, like it was forbidden. Truthfully, she hadn’t remembered flying the ship until Mickey said something.

The Doctor closed his eyes, and a moment later Rose felt a slight pressure in her mind as he formed a telepathic connection between them. She let her eyes close instinctively, and then she could see them both in her mind’s eye, standing in a room that looked like the console room.

All right, I locked your memories away under the console, the Doctor explained. He moved around the console-in-her-mind and pressed a few buttons, and then a panel opened and familiar golden light streamed out of it. It’s not real, of course.

Rose opened her mouth to snark at him for stating the obvious, but as the light surrounded her, she felt the memories fall back into place. She remembered it all—staring into the heart of the TARDIS, becoming the Bad Wolf, the determination she and the TARDIS had shared to keep the Doctor safe.

And she remembered something else she had done. With the Time Vortex in her mind, she’d been able to see every moment of Time in an instant—all that is, all that was, all that ever could be. She’d seen the moment she would be separated from the Doctor, and the fragmented timelines that went on from Canary Wharf… and then she’d reached through the possibilities of “all that ever could be” and selected a different path.

She looked at the Doctor. I made my choice a long time ago, and I’m never going to leave you.

He pressed his lips together, and the muscle in his jaw flexed. That’s impossible, he said, his voice short. You’re human, and I’m…

Rose shook her head, interrupting him. There would be no separation for them, ever. Not at Canary Wharf, as UNIT officials received an anonymous tip from Bad Wolf that the agency had far overstepped its bounds and put the entire planet at risk.

Not even the ravages of Time would part them. Rose brought the Doctor’s mind closer to hers and let him see the memory she’d just recovered.

The exposure to the Time Vortex had begun changing her physically the moment she’d looked into the heart of the TARDIS. With the same power that had destroyed the Daleks and given Jack immortality—she glared at the Doctor for a moment, but let that go for another day—she’d poured the essence of time into herself and the Doctor, giving them both the traditional twelve regenerations of a Time Lord.

A flash of shock went over their connection, and then Rose felt a jolt as the Doctor’s fingers accidentally moved from her temples. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

The Doctor’s mouth hung open. “What?” He shook his head and raked his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, what?”

The repeated words would have made Rose giggle, if she hadn’t recognised the emotion in his eyes as he stared at her. His eyes were wide and shining with shocked amazement, but his jaw was tense. She’d seen that combination of awe and fear on his face before—when she’d stepped out of the TARDIS as Bad Wolf.

And now one final memory slotted back into place. The Doctor reaching for her as the power of the Time Vortex burned through her mind. Tugging her close, then bending down to press his lips to hers. Pulling the Vortex out of her, starting the process of his own regeneration.

She quickly shoved down the guilt stirred up by that memory. He’d died for her, just as she had been willing to die for him. She couldn’t deny him the right to sacrifice himself when she’d been determined to do the same.

“Why would you do that for me?”

Rose’s heart broke when his voice cracked on the last word. She scooted closer, eliminating most of the distance between them, and cupped his jaw in her hand. “Because you were right,” she told him quietly. “I do need a Doctor. I will always need a Doctor, no matter what you look like.”

She held her breath, waiting for him to realise that if she remembered everything, of course she remembered that perfect kiss. The Doctor’s forehead furrowed adorably, but a moment later, a blush spread across his face, showing freckles that had been hidden before.

“Ah. That. I realise it’s not… I mean, kissing you when you wouldn’t remember… I suppose I shouldn’t…”

Rose moved her fingers to cover his mouth, giggling a little when his lips kept moving under her hand. “Doctor, it’s fine,” she told him. “I’d been wanting to kiss you forever.”

To her surprise, he blushed even harder. His mouth moved again, and she pulled her hand away to listen to him ramble.

“Well… I might have known that, too. That is to say… you know I’m telepathic. Well of course you know I’m telepathic, now that you are too.” He tugged on his ear and stared over her left shoulder, instead of looking right at her. “And Time Lord telepathy is typically limited to touch telepathy, unless we have our barriers down and someone nearby is thinking about us.”

Rose bit her lip and tried to work through what he’d just said. He’d been embarrassed when she told him she’d wanted to kiss him forever, and then he’d rambled about telepathy…

“Oh, God,” she groaned, dropping her head into her hands. “You heard all the times I thought about kissing you?” An’ more than kissing? she added silently.

The Doctor squeaked and reached up to loosen his tie. He’d certainly never heard any of those… other thoughts from Rose, and now he couldn’t decide if he felt like he’d been cheated, or if he were grateful Rose’s privacy hadn’t been invaded to that degree. With a reluctant sigh, he settled on the latter after a moment.

“Not all the times?” he said, his voice higher pitched than usual. “I asked the TARDIS to help me block them, because I wanted you to have your privacy.” He reached out and with a hand on her jaw, encouraged Rose to look at him again. “I promise, Rose. My mistake on the Game Station notwithstanding, I have always respected your privacy.”

The Doctor tried not to panic when Rose’s expression didn’t change, but at the same time, he was silently pleading with her to believe him, to trust that he hadn’t taken advantage of the unique insight he’d had into her desires.

And it’s not like I gave in and kissed you before, even though I wanted it just as much as you did, he added.

Rose tilted her head, and her hair fell over her shoulder. The Doctor’s hearts thudded painfully in his chest when she slowly licked her lips. He watched in fascination as she reached for his tie and played with the end.

“So…” she drawled, and her husky voice sent a shudder through the Doctor. “Will I need to spend the next year projecting thoughts about how tempting your bottom lip is before you kiss me again?”

The Doctor’s mouth when dry when she looked up at him through her eyelashes. He swallowed hard as he shook his head. “I don’t think that will be necessary,” he whispered. He leaned towards her slowly, giving her time to back away if this wasn’t what she wanted.

Instead, Rose pulled gently on his tie, and a moment later, they sighed in satisfaction when the longing they’d both felt was finally fulfilled.

#ficandchips #ten x rose #otpprompts #doctorroseprompts #legendslikestardust #cq's fic: projected longing #telepathy #bad wolf!rose is important to me #I really love how the reveal happens in this story #it's different from what I've done before #also!#I FINISHED A STORY!!#:D :D :D #fic by Nancy

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mrsteveecook · 5 years

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should we hire a candidate who lies, my fiance’s boss makes me cut her hair, and more

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go…

1. Should we hire a candidate who lied?

My husband has a company (technically I do too, but it’s not my field and I am support). We are hiring and going through resumes. It’s an extremely technical field and one position requires certain skills. We are having a disagreement over one candidate. He is pretty good but is missing one important skill. I asked why he pulled him in for an interview, and my husband said the skill was on his resume but when he asked about it, the candidate replied that he had read a paper about it.

I realize most people fudge skills on their resume, but this isn’t something someone can Google. They can’t read about it, learn it, and apply it. I think that is the equivalent of lying and my husband isn’t so sure about that. My point is if they are going to pretend they know a skill, what else will they pretend if you hire them? This is an important position with a lot of responsibility. If they are drowning and pretend everything is going fine but nothing ends up working with the product (a possibility because my husband doesn’t want to be checking the work … that’s why he is hiring), we are in big trouble.

My husband is having trouble finding the “right” person so may need to adjust his requirements. I think he should pick someone maybe not perfect but that is clear from reading their resume rather than someone who pretended to have a skill and it only came out because my husband was making chit chat.

Yep, I’m with you. I actually don’t think most people fudge skills on their resume, and what this guy did is pretty much a lie. If he’s willing to lie (or even just shade the truth) to make himself look appealing to a potential employer and get something he wants, I share your concerns about what else he won’t be transparent about when it would disadvantage him. Plus, it speaks to a bizarre naivete about how hiring is supposed to work — the idea isn’t to bluff yourself into a job you don’t meet the requirements for, it’s to find a job that you can actually excel at.

It would be a dealbreaker to me.

2. My fiance’s boss makes me cut her hair

My question is centered around my fiancé’s boss. I’m a hair stylist, he works in marketing. When his boss found out I do hair, she told him she wanted to come to me to get her hair done. He wasn’t sure at first because we try to keep our personal lives and work lives separate, but she insisted. She says I have to do it for free. She doesn’t just want a quick trim. I have to relax her hair, dye it lighter, cut it, and style it. The process of doing her hair takes hours and I can’t work on other clients during that time, and it costs hundreds of dollars. She doesn’t pay for it or leave me a tip. It ends up costing me money because I’m an independent contractor. I rent my chair in the salon and I have to give the salon a cut of all the money I get paid. She also snaps her fingers at me to get my attention and can sometimes be stuck-up to me and my colleagues and other clients. One time she got mad when I told her my hair color was mine and not dyed after she asked how I keep my bleached hair so healthy and she told my fiancé I had a bit of an attitude. She is not pleasant to work on or be around.

I only said yes to doing her hair because my fiancé begged me to do it since she kept asking him and would not take no for an answer. I thought it would be a one time thing. I can’t keep doing her hair because I’m losing money and this is making me look bad in front of my colleagues and our other clients. It’s straining our relationship. I’m emailing you because I have had it. In order to get her to stop, what should my fiancé say? (I can’t do it because she’s not my boss and besides, if I do she’ll just run to him and get on his back about it.)

Actually, I’d try handling this yourself rather than going through your fiancé. The next time she calls you to schedule an appointment, why not tell her that the salon you work at is no longer allowing you to accept non-paying clients? Or that you’re fully booked for the next four months? Or even just say, “I need to let you know ahead of time that can’t do your hair for free anymore. My rate is $X. Would you still like to book the appointment?” (And there’s nothing wrong with adding a “jerk fee” on to your rate to account for the pain in the ass you know she’ll be.

If your fiancé thinks this will go over better if she hears it from him first, then he can certainly convey any of this to her. But the key for both of you is to just be matter-of-fact when you deliver the message. Don’t dance around it or try to sugarcoat it. Tell her directly and matter-of-factly as if of course this makes sense, because it does. If she pushes back, just cheerfully say, “Nope, sorry, I do need to charge!” (Or that you don’t have room in your schedule, or so forth.)

3. Can I find out my employee’s future plans?

I have a direct report whose partner is finishing his PhD this year, which she’s been open about. But that makes me wonder about his next step, and by extension, hers, since it seems like the odds are good he’ll be moving on to a new location. We have a pretty good relationship, but I can’t ask her where he’s looking for a job, and if she’d move with him, right? I just have to wait to see if she gives notice next spring/summer? I realize anyone can leave at any time, and I’m totally supportive of that, but this anticipation is killing me.

You can certainly ask, “Do you have any sense of your plans once Rupert finishes his PhD?” Just go into that conversation knowing that she may not be entirely transparent with you if she’s planning to leave because she understandably may worry about you pushing her out earlier than she’s ready to leave or otherwise limiting her during her remaining time. But if you have a good relationship, you can also say something like, “I want to let you know that if you do decide to leave the area, I’d totally support you in whatever you want to do, and if you ended up giving me an advance heads-up, I’d work with you to ensure that you can do that on your own timeline with no penalty from us.” But understand that she still may not feel comfortable doing that, because even managers who say that with the best of intentions can have that promise undermined by factors they didn’t anticipate. (For example, if she tells you she’s leaving next August and in May you find out that you have to lay off one person from your team, might you be tempted to pick the person who’s leaving anyway and save everyone else’s jobs?) So it’s tricky and you can’t expect complete transparency from her.

Also, you definitely shouldn’t keep pushing for information after bringing it up once, or that will make things weird and awkward for her. So one time, with the knowledge that you still might not get the info you want!

4. When should you give your references a heads-up?

I recently had a disastrous interview (the job posting didn’t match what the job actually was, the interviewer was very abrupt to the point of hostility, and more). At the end, just as I was thinking we’d be mutually glad to never interact again, he asked if he could contact my references.

I said yes, of course, but then I felt obligated to email my references and let them know that they may be hearing from the hiring manager, even though I thought the chances of him actually contacting them were nil. Also, this was after one interview, but he told me there would be a second round for finalists.

Did I make a mistake by alerting my references? I want to give these folks a heads-up when a reference check seems likely to happen, but I don’t want to bother them over and over again, or make myself look like a poor candidate by putting them on notice for calls that aren’t forthcoming. How do I gauge when an employer is serious enough about me to check my references?

Ideally you’d alert your references at the start of your job search, and that serves as one blanket notification. You don’t need to then notify them every individual time an interview seems like it’s getting to the reference-checking stage, as long as the original notification was in the last few months.

But it’s also okay to say something like, “I want to let my references know they may be hearing from you so they’re responsive about returning the call. Are you at that stage now, or will that not happen until after the second round of interviews?”