Title: Planets of the Universe
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ross Jenkins
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4, 50ficlets
Prompt: 24, Universe
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 Ross Jenkins, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Ross stepped out of the Tardis and looked around him, his eyes widening in wonder. Of all the places that the Doctor had taken him to in the short time they'd been together, he liked this one the best -- at least by what he'd seen in the first glance.

The lush vegetation around them reminded him of a rainforest on Earth -- though this place didn't have the stifling heat that he'd heard existed in such places. It was cool and shady, and he was sure that he could hear the sound of a waterfall somewhere near.

The sun glinted down through the leaves of the trees -- trees that were green, just like those that he was used to on Earth. Maybe his planet wasn't so different from all the others in the galaxy, he thought with an inward smile.

He stepped out of the Tardis, looking around him cautiously. It was taking a while for him to get past the military training of looking at each new place as a potential threat; he supposed that would stick with him for a while, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

After all, there were plenty of places in the the universe that could be dangerous. He'd already seen enough proof of that; some of the places that the Doctor had taken him to had been devastated by war, completely barren with no signs of life left.

Ross hoped that they wouldn't see much more of that, but he knew that it was inevitable. It wasn't only human nature to destroy; it was something that all of the races in the universe seemed to have in common, a trait that wasn't good in any of them.

But he didn't want to think about any of that now. It looked as though the Doctor had brought him to a place where they could relax and forget about the bad things that they'd seen, a place that was made for lovers to lose themselves in each other.

"It's beautiful," Ross whispered, turning to the Doctor as the other man joined him just outside the door of the Tardis. "When you told me that this was a place you thought I'd like, I didn't imagine anything like this. I thought it would be another adventure."

"I suppose that pleasure planets could be called adventurous -- in some ways," the Doctor said softly, a smile curving his lips. "I'm sure that we can make our own adventures -- probably without even having to leave the suite that we'll be staying in."

"A suite?" Ross asked, raising his brows in question. "I thought that you didn't have money. How are you going to pay to stay here? And this --" He waved a hand around them, indicating the lush greenery. "It's like a jungle. Where are we going to stay? Camping out?"

"Of course not," the Doctor told him, laughing softly as he linked his arm through Ross' and led him away from the Tardis and deeper into the tropical plants around them. "I just don't have the sort of money that's used on Earth. I have an intergalactic credit card."

"I didn't know something like that existed," Ross murmured, feeling embarrassed. He should have known that the Doctor would have some way to pay for things; after all, a Time Lord couldn't be destitute, could he? Well, apparently only when he was on Earth.

"It doesn't exist in some time periods," the Doctor told him, smiling. "But you forget -- I can go far, far into the future. And you wouldn't believe some of the things that exist there. That's the next place we're going to go. There's so much for you to see!"

Ross could feel his spirits rising at the Doctor's words; he wanted to laugh out loud, to let the happiness he was feeling out into the universe. What was it about the Doctor that could make him feel this way? His enthusiasm and gaiety were infectious.

"So, are there a lot of planets like this in the universe?" he asked, wondering how many pleasure planets that the Doctor had traveled to -- and also if he was the first lover the Time Lord had taken to a place like this so that they could relax and spend time together.

He quickly turned his thoughts away from that question. Of course the Doctor had brought lovers to this sort of place -- he was, after all, a grown man. He couldn't have been expected to save himself for Ross for over nine hundred years!

"It's a big universe, love, with plenty of planets that cater to both pleasure and .... well, the flip side," the Doctor told him, his voice soft. "But this is the place where we are now, and I want us to concentrate on that. And on enjoying ourselves for the time that we're here."

"Oh, I think that we'll find plenty of ways to enjoy ourselves," Ross answered, his voice low and husky. He could think of many ways to enjoy himself with the Doctor -- and he was sure that he would be able to put many of them into practice during their time in this littler corner of the universe.

***