Title: Tip of My Tongue
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Spencer Reid
Fandom: Doctor Who/Criminal Minds
Rating: PG
Table: VRD challenge - Pink, 5_prompts
Prompt: Cotton candy
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 Spencer Reid, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

"Spencer! Look! Cotton candy!" The Doctor was practically jumping up and down in his excitement; Spencer couldn't help laughing at his lover's exuberance. He hadn't expected the Time Lord to get this excited about going to a fairground.

"I didn't know you liked cotton candy," he murmured, following the Doctor to the vendor selling the sweet, fluffy candy. "Which one do you want, the pink or the blue?" He was sure that he already knew the answer to that, but he wanted the Doctor to confirm that thought.

"Why, the pink, of course." The Time Lord turned to him with a wide smile as Spencer took out his wallet and handed over the money for two large cones of the pink fluffy treat. Handing one to the Doctor, he took a tentative bite of his own.

They moved away from the vendor as other people pushed forward; Spencer slid an arm around the Doctor's slender waist, feeling a little ill at ease. He had never liked crowds, but the Time Lord wanted to be here, so he was going to make the best of it.

He looked over at the Doctor -- and had to suppress a gurgle of laughter as the Time Lord's nose seemed to vanish in a cloud of pink candy. He'd never seen his lover looking so relaxed and happy; maybe this was something they should do more often.

"Do you want to go on some of the rides?" he asked, wondering what the Doctor would say. He couldn't imagine this man getting excited about a roller coaster, but he wouldn't be surprised if the Doctor wanted to go on every single one of them.

"Of course!" The Time Lord lowered the cone of cotton candy to give Spencer a surprised look; the young man couldn't keep back another laugh as he reached over to brush a clinging bit of fluffy pink from the Doctor's cheek. "What's a fair without screaming on the rides?"

"You've done this before?" Spencer supposed that he shouldn't be surprised; after all, this man had been around for centuries, so he would obviously have been to a fair before. Was there anything that the Doctor hadn't experienced? He honestly didn't think so.

The Doctor nodded, swallowing a mouthful of cotton candy before he answered. "Yes, many times. But it's always fun to go to a fair, no matter how many times you've been before. And the roller coasters are fun, even if they don't really frighten me."

"They always scare me a little," Spencer admitted, looking over at the large roller coaster near where they were standing. "I guess I'm not what you'd call a thrill seeker," he added, hoping that the Doctor wouldn't expect him to go on all of the rides.

"We don't have to go on the rides if you'd rather not," the Doctor said softly, linking his arm through the younger man's. "We're here to have a good time, sweetheart. I want us to forget about any worries we're dealing with, and just have fun."

"So do I," Spencer said, laughing as the Doctor took another mouthful of cotton candy. "I'm having a good time just watching you eat that. Why does it always seem to end up on the tip of your nose instead of in your mouth?"

"Because it's an unwritten rule of cotton candy," the Doctor told him, twirling the cone in front of his face. "It's supposed to be messy!" He laughed delightedly as his nose disappeared into the pink fluffly cloud again, eliciting another rueful laugh from his companion.

"Well, then, I guess I'd better forget about trying to be neat with this," Spencer murmured, taking a big bite of the sugary confection. He'd forgotten how good cotton candy was, he thought as he closed his eyes, savoring the sweetness that was melting on the tip of his tongue.

"Who wants to be neat when we're focusing on having fun?" The Doctor's voice was muffled due to the fact that he was eating a mouthful of cotton candy, but Spencer could hear the words, even if they weren't exactly loud and clear.

"Then I guess we should throw caution to the winds and go on all the rides, too," he laughed, winking at his lover. "Hey, I'm all for living dangerously if you're up to it." Inwardly, he wondered if he was taking his life into his own hands by saying such a thing.

Of course, he took his life into his own hands every day by being with the Doctor, didn't he? Spencer asked himself. He'd done the same with the BAU. Maybe he was more of a thrill seeker than he might have thought -- even if it didn't always show.

"Onward to the rides!" The Doctor was already pulling him towards the line for one of the roller coasters; Spencer followed him with a smile on his face, taking another bite of his cotton candy and hoping that the sugar rush would last for a while.

***