Title: Light Up the Room
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Bob Melnikov
Fandom: Doctor Who/ReGenesis
Rating: PG
Table: 1, prompt_palooza
Prompt: 61, Smile
Author's Note: Continuation of This Charming Man.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Bob Melnikov. Please do not sue.

***

The Doctor looked around him as he sat at the table of the coffee shop he'd agreed to meet Bob at, wondering where the other man was. It was five minutes before six o'clock, so he wasn't late, but the Time Lord was starting to get a bit worried.

He shouldn't be, he told himself, trying to reach a state of calm. Bob might have been held up at work, though he had no idea what the young man did for a living that might cause such a thing to happen. It was one of the many questions he'd have to ask.

That was, if Bob actually showed up .... He couldn't keep himself from tapping his foot under the table, feeling that he might have come on too strong and maybe scared the other man away. If he had, it would be a huge regret in his life.

Now, why was that? he asked himself, propping his chin on his hand. Was it simply because he found Bob attractive and wanted to spend time with him?

No, there was more to his feelings than that. He was interested in this young man, in everything about him, and not just because he was pleasant to look at. There was something about Bob that he was attracted to that went beyond just his looks.

Though the Doctor had to admit that his smile was arresting. He hadn't been able to look away the first time Bob had smiled at him -- there was something about that smile that drew his attention, made it impossible to see anything else.

He'd focused on that smile when they were talking and trying to stay out of the rain, convinced that the sun should come out from behind the clouds and chase the rain away the instant the full force of that smile was turned on him.

Even now, his hearts were racing in his chest as he remembered it. What was it that was so utterly devastating about something as simple as exercising the muscles of a face to make lips curve upwards?

It wasn't the smile itself, he finally decided. It was the person, the particular face that was smiling at him. He hadn't seen many smiles that affected him in the way that Bob's did.

Did he have a boyfriend? Or was he single, unattached, and possibly free to come with the Time Lord out into the stars? Just the thought of being able to take on a new companion -- and perhaps have them be more than a companion -- made his mouth go dry and his hearts thump in his chest even harder than they already were.

The Doctor didn't think that Bob had acted as though he was attached -- after all, if he was, then he wouldn't be meeting a strange man for coffee after work, would he? But humans did all kinds of strange things, so he was going to tread cautiously.

That was, if the other man ever got here. The Doctor frowned, pulling back his sleeve to look at his watch. He almost laughed aloud at the incongruity of that -- a Time Lord, worried about someone being late to meet him and looking at a watch.

What if Bob had decided that it was best for them not to meet, and he wasn't coming? It was starting to seem as if that was a distinct possibility.

But no .... he hadn't appeared to be the sort of person who made a commitment like that and then thought better of it, the Doctor argued with himself as his eyes moved slowly around the coffee shop again. He'd be here. He was probably held up at work, that was all.

He couldn't help wondering just what Bob did for a living. He'd seemed highly intelligent, though his speech had veered between being hesitant and then somewhat manic. He certainly seemed like the sort of man who would be in some intellectual field.

Maybe he was a teacher, and he'd had to stay late to help a student? No, that couldn't be it. There was no school around the area -- at least none that he'd seen or heard of -- and even though the Doctor didn't know the area well, he was learning a bit about it.

Why was he so interested? he asked himself, frowning slightly. Was it simply because he was so taken with someone who lived here, and he wanted to familiarize himself with the things that Bob was used to having in his life? Or was there some other, deeper reason?

The Doctor sighed, looking towards the door again. He didn't need to search for a deeper reason. This was nothing more than making a new friend, that was all.

Oh, all right, so he had the vague notion of showing Bob the Tardis at some point and asking him if he would want to travel in time and space. But he had to get to know this man a bit first, to find out if he was the sort of person he wanted as a companion.

He'd already decided that, hadn't he? Something about Bob had struck him from the first moment they'd started talking. It was more than that devastating smile -- it was an aura about him, a way of speaking and moving that captivated the Doctor.

There was no way to single out just one thing about Bob that had made him take such notice -- unless it was that smile. His thoughts kept coming back to that; there was something in that smile that had made his hearts seem to warm up and turn over in his chest. He wasn't falling in love, he was sure of that -- but he definitely liked this man.

What if he was somehow falling for Bob? It wouldn't be the first time he'd experienced an instant attraction, and he didn't think it would be the last. But he didn't want to jump into anything; this time, he would be cautious.

His hearts began to beat faster when the door opened and Bob entered the coffee shop, looking around as though searching for him, though the place wasn't crowded.

There was that smile again, that incredible smile that seemed to light up a room. It was turned in his direction, making his hearts seem to skip a beat before they settled back into their steady, thumping rhythm.

The Doctor raised his arm, waving to Bob and feeling an answering smile spread across his own features. What was it about that smile that made him feel he had to smile in return, that lit up the area around him like the sun at its apex?

He'd find out, he told himself as he watched Bob approach the table he was sitting at. He had plenty of time to get to know this man, and from what he could tell, he wasn't going to want to leave Toronto for a good long while.

***

Next story in series - Listen To Your Heart.