strong enough [crossover]

xvii. all of this is temporary

trigger warning(s): none afaik

*

When they get back to the TARDIS after their day on the beach, Rose and Jack pretty much immediately head for bed — after giving MJ another hug each.

The Doctor turns on the stabilizers and parks them in space as per usual. Then he turns to MJ, who's still only wearing her bathing suit, and smiles a bit awkwardly. "You off to bed too?"

"Not yet," MJ says with a shake of her head. "Since I got my hair wet and went into the ocean, I figure I might as well make this a wash day."

He tilts his head. "A wash day?"

"Well, I don't wash my hair every time I shower," she explains. "Twice a week, I do a wash day, so that's deep conditioning if my hair is feeling particularly dry, shampoo, conditioner, detangling, then style with curl cream and gel, then I plop my hair for about twenty minutes, and then I usually let it air dry for a few hours."

The Doctor scrunches his face up. "That sounds like a lot of work."

She shrugs, leaning against the railing. "Eh, it's not that bad. People whose hair is more textured than mine have it worse. Besides, I like it think of it less as a chore and more of a way to pamper myself. Me, Annabeth, and Zelda, we'd always hang out together on our wash days. They'd help me with my hair on mine, and I'd help with their hair on theirs. Annabeth's hair always took the longest, but Zee and I never minded. It's a really good bonding experience, actually."

"Is it more of a chore when you're alone?" he asks.

"Not really, but it's a lot more boring," MJ says. She sees the hesitation on his face and can't help the stupid smile that curls her lips. "Would you mind keeping me company, Doc? At least until I get in the shower, anyway."

He perks up. "Yeah, sure!" Face flushing pink, he tries to play down his excitement. "I mean, if really you want me to, I s'pose I don't have anything better to do."

She giggles and holds out her hand. "C'mon. I need to rinse this saltwater out of my hair stat."

The Doctor eagerly takes her hand, trying and failing not to look so happy about being invited along. MJ supposes it has been a while since they've hung out just the two of them — probably because she's been purposely avoiding being alone with him. Unfortunately for her already wounded pride, she misses him too much to maintain her boundaries. For tonight, anyway.

When they get to her room, MJ drops her beach bag by the door and, since she's barefoot, heads straight for the bathroom. She turns the shower on and rinses her hair, then turns the water off. She doesn't see the need for a hair mask, so she grabs her shampoo to get to work.

The Doctor appears in her doorway. "Do you, um, want any help?"

MJ hesitates. The only people who have ever helped her wash her hair — besides hairdressers, that is — are her mom, Thalia, Annabeth, Zelda, and Silena once. All girls, even the hairdressers, and all Black. Not even Luke in their ten years of friendship ever participated in a wash day. To him, that was 'girl stuff' and nothing he needed to be a part of, which MJ was perfectly fine with. She never wanted his help with this particular matter anyway because well, hair has always been sacred to her and someone helping you wash your hair outside of a salon setting tends to feel very intimate. She trusted Luke with a lot, but not washing her hair. Or touching it ever, really.

"Yeah, that would be great," MJ says. "Can you grab the chair by the vanity for me?"

The Doctor wastes no time in complying while MJ fetches a towel to drape around her shoulders. She has the Doctor put the chair with its back right up against the sink and then she sits down and leans back. He gulps, then gently pulls her hair into the sink. He turns it on briefly just to wet his hands.