Title: Surface of the Moon
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Frank Martin
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 100moods
Prompt: 14, Cheerful
Author's Note: Frank didn't have a last name on the show, so I took the liberty of giving him one. Slight spoilers for Daleks in Manhattan & The Evolution of the Daleks.
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 Frank Martin, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

"So, where are we heading to first?" Frank asked the Doctor as they both looked down at the console. "I'd like to see the future -- but there are a lot of things I'd like to be able to see. It's really up to you where we go. I'm not sure where we should set our sights."

"I'll take you any place that you'd like to see, Frank," the Doctor told the young man, his voice soft and full of promise. "To the past .... the future .... any place you'd like to see in the present time. I can take you to other galaxies, other planets. Any place at all."

"Can you really go to other planets?" Frank's eyes widened, his jaw literally dropped in amazement. The Doctor couldn't help but smile as he looked at the young man; clearly, Frank hadn't expected what it would be like to go off on an adventure with an alien.

"Of course we can!" the Doctor said, laughing. "This is a spaceship, you know. We can go to any place you'd like to see!" He'd almost forgotten that Frank had never experienced anything like this before; the Roaring Twenties weren't exactly a time for space exploration.

"What about .... the moon?" Frank asked him, his expression almost rapt. "I've spent so many nights just laying back and looking up at it in the sky, so big and bright and full, and wondering what it was like. It's always seemed like it was close enough to touch."

"Well, now you can go there -- but you have to remember that there isn't oxygen on the surface," the Time Lord cautioned him, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched the young man. "We'll have to wear spacesuits so we'll be able to breathe."

"Oh." Frank looked sheepish, blushing as he glanced over at the Doctor. "I'd forgotten about that. I know there's no oxygen on the moon -- I guess I'm just so excited about all of this that it's hard for me to get it all straight in my head, the things I should know already."

"It's hard not to be excited about a new experience," the Doctor said softly, smiling at Frank's obvious enthusiasm. Had he ever been like that about the idea of going out into space? Sadly, no. He'd grown up with the idea of space travel; it wasn't a novelty to him.

"Were you excited when you first started going out into space?" Frank asked him, bending over the console again to study it. "I want to know all about this, Doctor. I want to find out so much about space and different planets and places I never even dreamed of before."

"You will," the Doctor told him, his smile growing wider. He'd had so many companions in the past who had been enthusiastic about seeing the universe, but none who were so eager to jump into it with both feet as Frank appeared to be.

They hadn't even gone anywhere yet, and this young man was already radiating a vitality and energy that the Doctor had hardly ever seen in a human. Frank made him feel much younger and less jaded, as though he, too, was starting out on his first adventure.

The world had been so open to him then, even though he'd thought that he already knew so much about it from his studies at the Academy. But once he'd gotten out there, he'd discovered that there was so much more to see than he ever could have imagined.

Frank would feel the same way, the Doctor thought, his smile widening. He would discover all of the many wonders of the universe -- and he would be by the young man's side to see it all. He would rediscover the galaxy right along with his new companion.

And not only that -- but it seemed that Frank was interested in being much more than a companion. That kiss they'd shared was still on his lips, a kiss that felt .... well, unfinished in a way. A kiss that seemed to be waiting for something more to happen between them.

"What are you looking so cheerful about?" Frank's voice jerked him out of his thoughts and back to the present; he glanced over at the young man to see that Frank was watching him, a bemused smile on his face. "I've never seen anybody smile so wide."

"I'm thinking of you," the Doctor told him, his gaze resting on the young man standing so close to him. "You -- and me. And the fact that we're going to be seeing the universe together. I may have already been to the places we'll go -- but I'll see them anew through your eyes."

"And I'll see them for the first time with you," Frank murmrued, turning to stare into the Doctor's eyes. The Time Lord almost gasped at the intensity he saw there; he hadn't expected Frank to gaze at him like that, with such .... well, with such longing.

How long had this young man waited for him to come back and claim that kiss he'd been promised? It had seemed like only a few days had passed since he'd been there, but even a few hours might have been like a lifetime for someone who was waiting for him.

He swallowed hard, searching for the right words to say. He was always useless with words at moments like this, the Doctor thought, his mind coming up blank. There was really nothing he could say other than what he thought, and those words definitely didn't fit the moment.

Frank solved the problem for him by stepping forward, his arms sliding around the Doctor's waist and pulling the Time Lord close against him. Before the Doctor could say a word or even make a sound, their lips met, the kiss taking his breath away.

The Doctor didn't want the kiss to end; he'd never been kissed quite like this before. This was an answer to his questions about that first kiss; he'd been told in no uncertain terms, with no words being spoken, that Frank wanted more from him than mere friendship.

He'd known that already, in his hearts, hadn't he? He really didn't need to ask, and he didn't need the kiss for confirmation. But it was nice to know, even without words, that the two of them were both on the same page and that they both wanted the same thing.

When Frank's hold on him finally loosened, the Doctor took one hesitant step back, his gaze focusing on the young man's face again. Frank still looked cheerful, but that eagerness had a bit of a dreamy glaze to it, a sense that the rest of the world could wait.

"Do you still want to see the moon, Frank?" the Time Lord asked softly, wondering just what the answer would be. If that kiss was any indication, the moon might have to wait; even that bright temptation couldn't compete with a kiss like the one they had just shared.

"I think that can go on the back burner for a while, don't you?" Frank said, his voice just as soft, his eyes not leaving the Doctor's. "The surface of the moon would be interesting to see -- but I think I'd like for us to get to know each other better before we go on our first little adventure."

The Doctor couldn't have agreed more, and he was sure that Frank could tell that from his face. Slipping his hand into Frank's, he turned and led the young man from the control room to the corridor that led to his bedroom, his hearts thumping erratically in anticipation.

***