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There it was again, that incessant, distressed-sounding humming. Rory rolled out of bed and went to go find the Doctor. It was the middle of the night, or at least the middle of the time when Rory should be sleeping. He’d just gotten married; he should be in bed with his wife. Instead, he was wandering down a brightly lit corridor in search of a Time Lord who could hopefully sonic away whatever was making the noise. The humming seemed to quiet down as he walked further along down the hallway. He reached the console room and looked around for the Doctor.
He assumed he would be in the console room--the Doctor always seemed to be there. Rory wondered that he had an entire ship at his disposal, but he never seemed to use any other rooms. He joined them in the kitchen sometimes, but it was rare to see him away from this central part of the TARDIS.
When he didn’t see the Doctor, he turned to leave, hoping that maybe the humming had stopped on its own.
“Rory!”
Rory twisted back around to see the Doctor racing over to him, grinning and wearing those ridiculous goggles. What did the goggles even do?
“You’re awake!” the Doctor exclaimed in that excited-little-boy voice he sometimes had, “Where’s Amy?”
“Still sleeping, Doctor,” Rory replied, “I’d like to be doing that as well, but your ship keeps making these odd noises.”
“Oh?” the Doctor said, taking off his goggles and looking into Rory‘s eyes. The tone in his voice sounded a little too innocent, in Rory’s opinion.
“Yeah. Can you make it stop?”
“Rory, Rory,” the Doctor said, shaking his head and talking to Rory as if he were a small child, “All you have to do is ask nicely.”
“Please?” Rory tried, because he wasn’t above begging if it meant he could get some sleep.
“Not me,” the Doctor said, in that same patronizing voice that was beginning to grate even on Rory’s usually infinite patience, “Her.”
“The TARDIS? You want me to ask the TARDIS?”
“Well, not unless you don’t want to get back to sleep. You could stay up with me. You could help me reconfigure the hyper-geometric stabilizer. It’s easy. Well, easy for me, at any rate. You could hand me things, though, if you wanted?”
Rory almost winced at the hopefulness of the Doctor’s suggestion. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he was disappointing the Doctor in some way. Still, he was only human, and he knew that his body wouldn’t be able to cope with their strenuous adventures if he didn’t catch a few winks every now and then.
Rory paused, then asked, “How am I supposed to talk to her, then?”
By that time, the Doctor had already turned away from him and was rummaging through a box of gadgetry that was sat near the console.
“Found it!” the Doctor said, holding up something that looked like a cross between a can opener and a soup ladle, only with blinking red and blue lights, “Now, what were you saying?
“How do I talk to her?”
“Oh,” the Doctor said, “But…we could, instead…hyper-geometricity…”
“Doctor, it’s not that I don’t want to help, I’ve just got to get some sleep. Don’t you sleep?”
The Doctor turned away toward the console so that Rory could no longer see his face, “Of course I do. No, it’s fine. You go, I’ll make sure it’s quiet for you.”
Rory sighed inwardly and walked up to the Doctor, putting a hand on his shoulder. As much as his body was willing him to just leave the Doctor alone and go back to bed, he couldn’t help but offer the Doctor some comfort. He could tell he needed it, and after all, he was a nurse, caring was as much a part of him as the urge to go out and explore new things was a part of the Doctor and Amy.
“It’s like that for you all the time, isn’t it?” Rory said.
“What is?”
“Your sleep--you’ve got to deal with those nightmares all the time, don’t you?”
“I’m fine,” the Doctor insisted, all but pushing Rory away, “I don’t actually need sleep…much. I’m not like you, I’m not just a--a human.”
Instead of taking offense, Rory recognized the Doctor’s insult for what it was. He was lashing out so Rory would leave the subject alone. Well, too bad, because now Rory was on to something. Catching the Doctor by surprise, Rory pulled him into a hug.
“So what?” Rory said, “So what if you’re not? You know that massive brain you’ve got, the one that’s almost as big as your ego? I’m betting it’ll function a whole lot better with some rest. You’ll wear yourself out, you know.”
“I can’t,” the Doctor said petulantly, reminding Rory of the time he spent working in pediatrics. Still, the Doctor leant into the hug, burying his head in Rory’s shoulder.
“I can’t believe I’m about to do this,” Rory said, mostly to himself.
“Do what?” The Doctor looked up at Rory’s face.
“Come on, I’ve really got to lie down before I fall down from exhaustion. And so do you.” Rory pulled out of the hug and grabbed the Doctor’s hand, leading him back down the corridor to the bedroom.
“Rory?” the Doctor said, looking both amused and a little bit wary.
“Wait here,” Rory said, stopping outside the bedroom door. He wasn’t entirely sure the Doctor was going to listen to him, but it was worth a try. Rory opened the door and walked as quietly as he could into the bedroom.
“Rory,” Amy mumbled, “Where’d you go?”
“I was summoned,” Rory said, sitting down beside where Amy was lying on the bed and running his hand through her hair.
“What do you mean?”
“I think…well, I’m pretty sure the Doctor was trying to get my attention, or, well, our attention. Listen, I know this is going to sound crazy, but he can’t seem to sleep on his own, and, well…I think it might help if, you know…”
“You want to invite him in?” Amy said, sitting up and looking at Rory with bleary eyes.
“Just to sleep,” Rory clarified.
“Sure,” Amy shrugged, lying down on her pillow again. Rory nodded to himself, getting off the bed and going back over to the door. Really, he knew that she wouldn’t have a problem with it, she was easygoing like that. She’d always had a relaxed attitude toward affection. It was Rory who usually had hang-ups about this sort of thing. Still, he couldn’t help being comfortable around the Doctor. It seemed they were always hugging, or touching, or brushing against each other. Sleeping in the same bed didn’t seem so outlandish when he thought about it that way.
Rory opened the door to find the Doctor had taken off his jacket, bowtie, and socks and shoes.
“Couldn’t help overhearing,” the Doctor said brightly, stepping into the room, “Superior Time Lord hearing, you know.”
“I’m sure,” Rory said.
The Doctor flopped down onto the bed and grinned up at him. Rory sighed fondly and sat down next to him, tugging the blankets over them both.
“I hope you don’t snore,” Amy said from the other side of the Doctor, “Or I’m kicking you both out of bed.”
“Time Lords never snore, “ the Doctor said haughtily, “That’s entirely a human trait.”
“Ahhh!” Amy squeaked, “Your feet are freezing. Get them off me!”
“Lower body temperature,” the Doctor explained, “I can’t help it.”
“Whatever. Go to sleep already,” Amy said, “Tomorrow you’re taking us to Rio. I mean it this time.”
The Doctor didn’t answer, choosing instead to snuggle deeper under the covers.
“Good night, Amy,” Rory said.
“Good night.” Amy leaned over the Doctor and gave Rory a peck on the cheek. She hesitated a moment before doing the same to the Doctor.
“Technically, it’s not night, because--” the Doctor started to say, but Rory interrupted him by putting his hand over his mouth.
“Good night, Doctor,” Rory said, giving him a kiss on the forehead before removing his hand. He felt the Doctor cuddle up between them, and couldn’t help feeling that he’d done the right thing.
“Good night.”
Fin