Title: Rain Coming Down
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Michael Cutter
Fandom: Doctor Who/Law & Order
Rating: PG-13
Table: VRD challenge - Purple, 5_prompts
Prompt: Purple rain
Warning: ongoing story, past non-con
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Michael Cutter, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

Mike squinted up at the sky above him, wondering how he was supposed to be able to tell if it looked like rain. It just looked odd to him; the sky was a lavender color, the clouds scudding across it a mixture of white and cotton-candy pink.

He would never have believed that different planets could look so .... well, different from Earth. Seeing a sky that was so vastly different from the one he was used to was a bit disconcerting, but he felt that he was doing a good job of learning to deal with differences.

He'd managed not to stare when he'd been introduced to the ruling family of a planet who had all looked like elephants -- complete with trunks. He'd even managed not to flinch when he'd been expected to shake the trunk as though he was shaking hands.

The creatures with tentacles had scared him a little at first -- until he'd discovered that they had saved the Doctor's life in the past. Then he'd felt benevolent towards them, and he'd even thanked them for preserving the life of the man he loved.

And then there had been the planet where the sky had been yellow, the grass red, and there had been some very odd-looking food. But he'd accepted all of the strange things he'd seen without a murmur of protest, looking at it all as a new experience.

An experience he wouldn't have had if he wasn't here with the Doctor, Michael told himself, letting his eyes roam over the landscape in front of him. The silvery grass looked odd, but he had to admit that it was lovely in its own way.

"Does it look as though it might rain, Mike?" the Doctor called from inside the Tardis, making Mike turn around with a slight frown furrowing his brow. "I don't want us to go out exploring and end up getting soaked. You know how I hate getting caught in the rain."

He did indeed know that; the Doctor was like a cat, disliking rain more than anyone Mike had ever met. He supposed that he couldn't blame the Time Lord for that; soaking wet clothes that stuck to one's skin weren't very pleasant.

He himself didn't mind the rain too much -- but then, he had always been the sort of person who planned ahead for contingencies and carried an umbrella. He'd noticed that teh Doctor never did things like that, which surprised him a little.

Shrugging his shoulders, he took a few steps back into the Tardis, standing at the bottom of the three steps that led up to the control room from the door. "I can't really tell. The sky out here isn't the kind that I'm used to seeing," he admitted.

The Doctor bounded down the steps to join him at the door, peering out at the purple sky. "It looks a bit like it could rain," he mused, frowning. "Maybe we should wait for a while before we go out. I don't want to get caught in a shower when we're not near the Tardis."

"Why don't you carry an umbrella with you?" Mike suggested, wondering if the Doctor even possessed one. He'd never seen an umbrella on the ship, but that didn't mean that none were there. "That way, we don't have to worry about getting soaked."

"I don't like to carry things that I might not need," the Doctor explained, squinting as he looked up at the sky. "And besides, I have a tendency to put whatever I'm carrying aside -- and then I walk off and leave it there. I've lost lots of things because of doing that."

Mike couldn't help laughing at the other man's words; he himself had done that a few times in his life, but he could imagine that someone with as active a brain as the Doctor had would constantly lose some of his belongings from having that tendency.

"Maybe you're right, and we shouldn't go out right now," he murmured as his gaze followed the Doctor's. "Unless I miss my guess, those look like storm clouds. Though I'm not used to seeing cloud that color. But let's not take the chance."

The Doctor nodded, raising a hand as though he expected raindrops to fall on his palm at any moment. They both stood there, watching the sky, wondering if Mike was right and the heavens would suddenly open up and pour rain down on them.

"I think it might be all right for us to explore a bit --" the Doctor began, only to be cut short by an ominous rumble of thunder. Just as he glanced at Michael and opened his mouth to speak again, the first few drops of rain began to fall.

Mike shook his head, laughing and pulling the Time Lord back into the shelter of the Tardis. They stood at the door, looking out at the rain that had begun to fall steadily, going from a few drops to a torrential downpour in a matter of seconds.

"What was that about it being safe to go out?" he asked, holding out his hand to let the rain soak his skin. He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn that the rain was -- purple. That was something he hadn't seen before.

Yes, it was purple. A lovely shade of pale lavender. Mike stared at the wetness on his hand, almost unable to believe that this was actually rain. It looked so different from any rain he'd ever seen -- on Earth, people would probably think it was toxic.

But the sight was beautiful, even if it was a little strange to him. That was one of the things he loved about being with the Doctor -- being able to see all of these places and sights that he would never have thought existed when he was living on Earth.

Michael moved closer to the Time Lord, sliding his arms around his lover's waist and pulling the other man against the warmth of his body. "Purple rain," he murmured, smiling. "That's something I thought I'd never see. Even though I've always liked the song."

"Should we stand here and watch the rain coming down -- or should we go back into the Tardis and, errr, find something to occupy our time?" the Doctor asked, his voice husky, his dark gaze fixed on Mike's face. "I'm sure we can think of something to do."

"I don't think we'll have a problem finding something to keep us busy," Mike answered, his own voice soft and full of promise. Turning back to the interior of the ship, he swung the door firmly closed, hoping that the rain would continue to come down for quite a while.

***