Flower and Willow: Chapter 12
Oct. 5th, 2011 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timelord1
Title: Flower and Willow
Rating: Teen
Pairing: 10/Rose
Category: Drama, Romance, Humor, Action/Adventure
Summay:On their way to visit old friends, the Doctor and Rose come across a mystery in one of Kyoto's geisha districts in US-Occupied Japan, 1948.
Notes: This chapter was posted without a beta, so if there are any errors, they are completely mine. Also, I know the tension is doing a slow build, but it will pay off in the end. :)
The Officer’s Club was dim and sparsely populated. A few men sat at a small bar in the far corner of the room, while a handful of others were seated at some of the other tables. There was a raucous poker game going on near the door where the Doctor entered, but the rest of the room was quiet except for the music coming from the radio and the murmurs of conversation. His arrival warranted no more than a few passing glances as he made his way to the bar and had a seat.
He ordered a beer and surveyed his fellows at the bar. At the end furthest from him there were two men with their heads bowed towards one another, deep in drunken conversation. Next to them was a young man who was clearly new to the Officer’s Club experience. He was sitting straight up on his stool like a prairie dog, looking around with a grin on his face like he couldn’t believe his luck and when were the good times going to start? Directly next to the Doctor was a man a bit older than Johnny New Kid, but not by much. He had a round face and an easy smile with bright blue-green eyes that were trained on the Doctor. The nametag on his uniform read “Pace,” while the rest of the trappings on his shirt indicated he was a Lieutenant as well.
“How ya doing today?” the young man asked. “You’re new.”
The Doctor nodded. “My CO sent me here to help with what’s been going on. Not stepping on any toes, mind, but just helping out in an investigatory capacity.”
“Right,” Pace said, dragging the vowel. “How’s that working out for you?”
“Just got here,” he answered. He took a drink of his beer and swallowed, pushing his tongue out slowly to get the taste off. “What are they using as the substitute for beer these days?”
“Drippings from the latrine,” Pace said with a smile.
The Doctor took another drink. “Mmm. Malty. So, what do you know about the situation?”
Pace smirked. “I didn’t get your name.”
The Doctor held out his hand and Pace shook it. “Lieutenant John Tyler, Army Air Corps. Nice to meetcha.”
“Loo,” the Lieutenant said, taking a long sip of his beer.
“How’s that?” the Doctor asked. “Loo? No, I’ve been, thanks.” Odd thing to say.
Pace swallowed the beer and leaned in close to whisper to the Doctor. “It’s pronounced lootenant. Not leftenant. And I’m thinking you’d know that if you were actually in the Army Air Corps, Mister Tyler. Now, I have a gun in my belt, and so does every other man in this building. But I notice that you don’t, so that makes things interesting. I’m not one to cause trouble where there doesn’t have to be none, so why don’t you tell me what you’re doing here and we’ll keep this between us for now?”
The Doctor grinned. “Oh, you’re very good, aren’t you?”
*****
Rose went over her dance steps several times with Sumiko before she felt confident enough to move on to the rest of the things she would need to know to fake her way through a night at the teahouse.
“The more mysterious you are, the better,” Sumiko said as Rose practiced her handiwork with the fan. Ichisumi had told her how the Doctor was always mesmerized by her ability to handle a fan, and had shown Rose every trick she could show her in three days. She was going to be lucky to remember half of them.
“Do not worry about talking a lot,” Sumiko went on. “The greatest point in your favor is that your clients are going to be American GIs. They will not know if you slip up, if you do not let them know that you’ve slipped up. Your greatest challenge will be the proprietor and the other geisha in attendance, and they will not call attention to you in front of the guests. You will make your entrance after the GIs have arrived, so the only time you will have to investigate will be after they have left. That is when your performance must be flawless, when you are alone with the proprietor and the other geisha. If there is the slightest hint of danger, leave as quickly as you can. I’m certain Abunai-san will be waiting for you nearby.”
Rose smiled as she caught the fan. “The danger part I can handle. That’s the easy bit. It’s all this getting ready and playing the part that’s got me scared.”
“Well, getting you ready is my job. Tonight I will be your otokosu – your dresser – and you will not recognize yourself when I am finished,” Sumiko said with a smile. “Abunai-san will go completely insane at the sight of you. If I do my work correctly, he will not even recognize you at first.” She looked at the clock. “We should begin.”
Rose nodded and followed Sumiko to her bedroom. It was not going to be difficult spending the night not talking, as she was afraid she would throw up from nerves if she opened her mouth too much.
She knelt on the floor while Sumiko brought out several cases and began arranging various brushes and boxes of powder and white paint. Rose tied her hair back, securing it with a headband, and Sumiko began painting her face, neck, back and chest with the white, using a wide brush. She covered everything, even her ears, leaving two v-shaped patches of exposed skin at the back of her neck.
“For Abunai-san to stare at,” Sumiko explained with a giggle. She started layering powder over the white and when she was done Rose thought she looked like one of the shop window dummies she’d encountered on her first adventure with the Doctor.
“This is almost as much foundation as my mum wears,” Rose said.
Sumiko worked for another half hour in concentrated silence, only speaking to tell Rose to look up or down or tilt her head one way or another. She turned the mirror away so Rose could not see herself.
“I want you to get the whole picture at once,” Sumiko said. “It will be fun for me, if you do not mind.”
Rose shrugged. “Like one of those makeover shows with the big reveal at the end, eh?”
Sumiko gave her a sideways look. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Sorry. I don’t mind,” she answered. “It’ll be a fun surprise.”
Sumiko’s expression was intense as she worked and she spent a lot of time staring at Rose’s face in between her attacks. Rose took the time to go over the dance steps in her head and work out a plan for what she would do after the GIs were gone. She wasn’t above hiding in a cupboard if the situation called for it, or slipping into the bathroom until everyone was gone. She realized that the few times she had gone to the teahouse with Ichisumi, they had left with the rest of the guests. Did geisha have to stay behind and do the dishes after tea?
She was about to ask when Sumiko put her brushes down and had Rose stand up. For the next several minutes Sumiko tucked and wrapped, untied and re-tied the several layers of the kimono, pulling and snugging things until Rose wanted very much to find all her old Barbie dolls at her mum’s flat and apologize to them. The only thing missing was Sumiko didn’t drop her on her head when she was finished dressing her. This kimono was a bit stiffer and tighter than the one she’d used for lessons with Ichisumi and she walked a few laps around the room in her socks to get used to the difference in the fabric. The massive blue silk obi tied at her waist forced her to hold herself with even more elevated posture than she’d been using, and she felt about two inches taller than usual.
The final step was the katsura; an elaborately styled black wig, complete with the alien kanzashi tucked into the right side. When Sumiko wrestled it onto Rose’s head, the blossoms hung on the right side, the longest of them just grazing her cheek.
Sumiko screwed up her face in thought and scrutinized Rose from head to toe for several moments without a word. She reached in and gave the kimono another tug, shifted a few hairs on the katsura, and after one more round of inspection she gave a brief nod and turned the mirror back around so Rose could see herself.
“That’s not me,” the geisha in the mirror said with Rose’s voice. She leaned in and the geisha in the mirror leaned in the same way. “Blimey.”
Sumiko appeared in the mirror next to her. “Very nice,” she said, tucking another fold of the obi. “You make a beautiful geisha.”
“I guess I do,” Rose said, turning to admire herself from all sides. She looked like a doll, like a figure from a painting brought to life. She grinned at Sumiko. “The Doctor is going to keel over and die, isn’t he?”
“Without a doubt,” Sumiko said.
****
Mercifully, the rest of the men sitting at the bar had drifted over to watch the poker game, as the stakes began to build to epic levels. The only one to hear them was the bartender, and he was washing glasses at the other end of the bar.
“Start talking, fella,” Pace said. The smile hadn’t left his lips yet.
The Doctor reached for the psychic paper. Pace’s hand twitched to the gun in his belt and the Doctor put up his hands.
“Credentials,” he explained, leaving one hand up as he reached slowly into his pocket to pull out the folder. He handed it to Pace. “I’m with British Intelligence, and...”
Pace tossed the folder back. “Not according to that, you’re not.” The Doctor flicked a glance at the psychic paper only to find it was displaying moving circles of Gallifreyan writing. He picked it up and gave it a shake and it displayed John Tyler’s British Intelligence credentials in English.
“That’s lovely. Psychic paper with a short in it,” he muttered.
Pace took another drink of his beer. “I’ll give you this much; you’ve got me interested if nothing else. What’s with the crazy paper?”
“Psychic. Shows you what I want you to see, except when it isn’t working, like right now.”
Pace nodded, then picked up his beer glass and left the bar. “Let’s go talk in private.” They went to a table far removed from everyone else. When they sat down, Pace picked up the psychic paper and stared at its blankness. “How does this work? Or, I guess more to the point, why does it work? I never heard of psychic paper before.”
“You wouldn’t have,” the Doctor said. “What I am about to tell you is going to sound like utter insanity, and you only have my word that it’s true, so you’re probably not going to believe me.”
“Son, I have seen so much shit in the last five years of my life that very little surprises me any more,” Pace said with a chuckle. “Try me.”
The Doctor sighed and took another drink. “All right, Lootenant Pace. I’m the Doctor; I’m an extraterrestrial from the planet Gallifrey in a galaxy far from Earth. I’m here in a time-traveling police box in an attempt to find out why there are unusual pulses of temporal energy radiating from the Chrysanthemum Teahouse in the hanamachi.”
He had to take a napkin from the table to wipe off the beer Pace sprayed in his face when he burst out laughing.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 11:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 11:46 am (UTC)Nice touch with Left versus Loo... VERY good. I think I like Pace. He's going to be fun to have around.
The geisha dressing experience was fascinating. Two little patches of skin “For Abunai-san to stare at,” ... VERY sexy.
Off to review the previous chapter :D
no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 03:15 pm (UTC)Thank you - I'm quite fond of Pace myself. He was just going to be a drop-in character, but in upcoming chapters he's kind of found a bit of a place in the narrative. :)
The big geisha reveal is up next - at last!!!!! :D
no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 01:37 pm (UTC)>.> sorry. Love it!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 03:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 03:26 pm (UTC)Rose is going to have to save the day, isn't she?
Still, things are beginning to progress! So excited to see Chapter 13~
no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 03:44 pm (UTC)Poor guy - I do love it when thinking about Rose throws him off his otherwise perfect game, though. :)
Chapter 13 should be up today or tomorrow, with just a bit more polish. Thanks for reading!!!!! :D
no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 04:21 pm (UTC)Will check obsessively for the next bit, FYI...in a totally not-creepy way
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Date: 2011-10-06 04:39 pm (UTC)And I enjoy your creeping, so it's all good. Creep on, twin! :)
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Date: 2011-10-06 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 04:24 pm (UTC)Loved it! How funny that he blew the "loo" bit and couldn't pull off the psychic paper! He is off his game. Love your orig. Character. Oh my gosh the Rose becoming the geisha rocked! So excited for the next chapt.
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Date: 2011-10-06 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-06 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-07 03:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-07 12:59 am (UTC)I can't wait to see Rose razzle-dazzle the GIs and for the Doctor's jealousy. Also, I want to see Rose's reaction to the manly, hairy tat the Doctor gave himself. Pace is going to be interesting. Can't wait for more!
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Date: 2011-10-07 03:40 am (UTC)Finished the debut chapter polishing, and I think people will be pleased all around. :) I hope they will, anyway lol!
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Date: 2011-10-07 04:42 am (UTC)*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2011-10-07 04:48 am (UTC)