Title: Sweet Inspiration
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Jethro Cane
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: VRD challenge - Purple, 5_prompts
Prompt: Iris
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 Jethro Cane. Please do not sue.

***

The Doctor sat up in bed, blinking and looking around him with a frown. Jethro wasn't in bed with him; that was unusual, given the fact that his young lover rarely left their bed early. But today seemed to be some sort of exception to that rule.

They were on Earth, though not in the time period that Jethro came from. The young man was a native of the 25th century, a time that the Doctor hadn't been involved in extensively, but one that he knew quite a bit about, despite not being a presence there.

It was strange how some things didn't seem to change on Earth, even in over four centuries, the Doctor thought, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Even when the goth look was long out of style, Jethro still liked wearing black clothes and nail polish.

Not that he had a problem with that, the Time Lord told himself, pulling the covers up around himself and leaning back against the pillows. He liked those little idiosyncrasies; they were part of what made Jethro the person he was.

And actually, he thought the black nail polish was sexy. The Doctor couldn't help chuckling; he would never have told Jethro that, but he liked the way those nails looked against his pale skin. They were eye-catching and unique -- well, unless they visited certain time periods on Earth.

His eyes widened as he heard the slam of the Tardis' door; it appeared that not only had Jethro gotten up early, but he'd been out and about already, before the Doctor was even awake. Now that was something he would never have expected to see.

Not because his boyfriend was too lazy to get out of bed -- though there had been mornings when the Time Lord had almost had to pull Jethro out of the warm cocoon of blankets. No, he was surprised at his lover's absence because Jethro didn't usually go out on his own.

Especially when they were in a time period that he wasn't used to. Still, they'd been out yesterday, so maybe that had given the young man enough confidence about finding his way back to the ship for him to go out and do a bit of exploring.

The Doctor sighed, sitting up in bed debating whether he should throw the covers back and get up. He didn't particularly feel like starting his day yet, but if Jethro had already been out, maybe he'd found some sort of interesting situation that they should look into.

As he was preparing to toss the covers back, Jethro appeared at the doorway of their bedroom, carrying a bag that obviously held food, and balancing two cups of coffee on a small tray. "Hi, Doctor. I decided to go out early to get us breakfast."

The Doctor's eyebrows raised as he realized that Jethro was conspicuously keeping one hand hidden behind his back; he couldn't help but wonder what the young man was so ostentatiously concealing, and hoped that it was nothing that could get them into trouble.

Jethro approached the bed, putting the coffee cups and the bag down on the small bedside table and sitting down beside the Doctor. The Time Lord waited expectantly, wondering just why Jethro was still hiding something behind his back.

"You realize what today is, don't you?" the young man said softly. Without waiting for the Time Lord's answer, he continued, "It's a year today since we ran into each other again on Midnight. It's our first anniversary of being together."

"Oh!" The Doctor's eyes widened in consternation; he couldn't believe that he'd completely forgotten about such an important date in their personal history. "Jethro, you should have reminded me! I'm not good with dates -- at least those that concern myself."

"It's all right, Doctor." Jethro laughed softly, leaning forward to brush a gentle kiss across the Doctor's lips. "I wanted to get you something that symbolized all of what you mean to me -- and not only to me, but to the world. So, this is what I came up with."

He brought his hand from behind his back, displaying a bouquet of purple irises, the flowers still fresh and dewy. "Do you know what irises are supposed to symbolise?" Jethro asked quietly, his eyes on the Time Lord's face, as if watching for his reaction.

The Doctor shook his head, reaching out to take the flowers and bury his nose in them. They had a sweet scent, but not overpoweringly so; he raised his face to Jethro's a smile curving his lips. "They're lovely, sweetheart," he said softly, his voice husky. "And no, I don't what they mean."

"Faith, hope and valor," Jethro murmured, his gaze holding the Time Lord's. "And inspiration. You inspire all those things, Doctor. You've given so many people hope -- and people have had a lot of faith in you. The valor part, well, that doesn't need any explanation."

The Doctor looked down at the flowers in his hand, a blush spreading over his cheeks. He hadn't thought that Jethro would say something like that, and he didn't feel as though he deserved such a compliment. But he would take it, all the same.

"Thank you, love," he whispered, finally looking up at his boyfriend again. The look of love in Jethro's eyes almost made him want to cry; it was obvious that the words weren't just empty compliments, but that they came from his heart. "That's beautiful."

"Not nearly as beautiful as you are," Jethro said softly, leaning forward to kiss the Doctor again. "You know, in a lot of cultures, purple irises mean passion between lovers. And since you haven't made it out of bed yet, I'd like to find out if that's actually true."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," the Doctor said with a smile, laying the flowers carefully on the table beside their coffee cups and holding out his arms to his boyfriend. Within a few minutes, he and Jethro were lost in an embrace, proving that irises could indeed be a sweet inspiration.

***