Imaginary Worlds

"My, my someones popular," the Master joked as he followed after the Doctor. He never got that, even his regular take out placed didn't know who he was half the time but he never made a fuss.

He was often too tired to even try. So are you famous or do you have rich parents or what?" the Master asked inn a blunt manner, the man was an insane amount of money.

"I use to be married. They came with the money, but...Well, I have Marnal and that's good enough." the Doctor murmured softly, shrugging. Yeah. So the Tardis hadn't been so kind for his past.

Sitting down, the Doctor gave a small smile. "It's nothing. Really. So. Get whatever you would like. Cost and the like isn't an issue." he assured with a small grin. What? The Doctor didn't mind.

"Sorry bout that," The Master had no idea what to order, part of him was wondering what Koschei would like-- course then he remembered the boy wasn't here to split food with him. He was free to just pick whatever.

"I'll have what you have, I don't think I know any of these," outside the generic food, the Master had never actually eaten in a place like this-- course, he loved it and he wished he could, it was just his moneys issue.

The Doctor smiled softly at that one and shrugged. "Don't worry about it." he assured lightly. This was definitely nice. He only ever went out with Marnal and he didn't take the child to places like this. Outside of birthdays and holidays, that is.

He ordered a specialty tea, not wanting to order anything alcoholic, and some steak and shrimp dish. A thing that was easy enough to amend upon request. He just didn't know the Master's tastes and whatnot. "So, out of curiosity, if a person was looking for a house around here, what would be the best place to look?" the Doctor asked softly.

"Round here? Well, any neighbourhood by the academy works, all round that area is nice. I think theirs a nice place about 10 minutes from where I live, right by the park so if you have young kids, it's great," And the place was generally nice.

He wouldn't recommend his street. It wasn't dangerous or anything,, it was just a bit to average and dull, it wasn't exactly exciting or interesting. It was just a boring old street and the Master sort of hated that.

The Doctor smiled softly and nodded at that one. He couldn't quite complain over this one. He had some decent company and he had some more places that he could look for a house. Because his little flat wasn't doing it for him.

"I'll check around then. I'm trying to find a place that Marnal can enjoy. Somewhere with space." the Doctor admitted softly, shrugging a bit.

"I have a friend called Verica and she lives in a lovely neighbourhood. It's not far from mine so I walk through it a lot, seems good for kids," the master offered but frankly, he had no idea what the Doctor wanted.

His son was very good at being anti social and therefore his knowledge of good places around here was very lacking. Mostly because they never really played in the park with other kids or took walks around the place.

The Doctor smiled softly and nodded. "Right. I'll check those out. Not that it makes much of a difference. Marnal doesn't make friends." he admitted softly. It wasn't exactly a pleasant fact. He couldn't do much other than hope that Marnal would mellow out as he got older.

"Thinking about it...I think that the kid has a birthday coming up. I should probably know that." he murmured with a soft frown. Yeah. The Doctor was a little absentminded when it came to this sort of thing.

"Koschei has his in the summer so I have a good-- hmm, 5 months until his," the Master admitted with a sigh of relief because he really didn't want to deal, to be honest, he didn't have the money.

"How old is Marnal?" The Master asked, he was a young lad and honestly, he wasn't too bad. The Master had sat with him and while he could be a bundle of energy, when he calmed down-- well, he wasn't bad.

The Doctor froze at that one. Well. Should know that one as well, shouldn't he? "I believe four, soon to be five...Yeah, that seems right. I swear I'm a good father. I just...Lose track of time. A lot." he admitted sheepishly.

He was honestly grateful when their food was brought to them. It gave him something to focus on and pick through. At least it was good food. "So...Is it good? If not, you can get something else." the Doctor offered lightly.

"I always forget Koschei's age more than once. I'm sure its seven now but I always think he's older. I dunno why, he just acts like he's a lot older," And it was definitely very odd for him.

Most kids were happy little kids and -- well, Koschei was very isolated and uninterested and that often left him pretty worried actually. Smiling, he tried some of the food and shrugged, it wasn't bad. "Don't worry yourself over it all."

The Doctor smiled softly at that one and nodded. "I was just checking. I know that I wouldn't eat something if I didn't like it. Even if somebody else was treating me." he admitted. Rude? Perhaps. But why shouldn't he enjoy his food?

As for Koschei? "I'm sure that he's fine. He's a lot calmer than Marnal is, that's for sure. That kid does my head in all the time, but I adore him." the Doctor admitted softly. It was just frustrating and hard at times.

"Koschei manipulates me, emotionally blackmails me, hurts others and will bully people out of my life. He is not calmer," the Master asserted with a look of annoyance, unable to stop his annoyance.

After all, it was just a bit frustrating to lose all his friends and everything. "He hates you, you know? And he wants me to never see you so much so that he burnt himself-- that isn't normal. I would gladly take Marnals traits over that."

Oh...Oh. "I didn't know that...I mean, yes, I know he hated me. I didn't know he hurt himself because of me." he murmured apologetically. Yeah. The Doctor wasn't quite sure how he felt about that one.

Because Koschei hated him, yes. But to such an extent? "Is this a good idea then? It's to your discretion. But I figure that you know best in this regard since he's your kid. But I'm not going to leave you alone unless you want me to. Not because a kid hates me." the Doctor said slowly.

"Koschei is quick to hate, just ignore him," the Master offered, he wasn't going to lose a friend over this sort of thing. Koschei was always like that with new people in his life.

"Don't let him get to you," the Master offered before shrugging his shoulders playfully.

"I assure you. It's fine. Koschei isn't going to be any sort of problem for me. I don't care if he's going to hate me. Why would I?" the Doctor asked slowly, raising an eyebrow. Because he didn't have any other friends and he didn't want to lose this one.

"If it means anything, Marnal adores you. You made a great first impression upon him. Not many seem to handle Marnal very well." the Doctor admitted with a soft smile.

"Marnal isn't bad, shame Koschei doesn't really bond with kid, maybe they could of played together. Bet Marnal would like some friends at his birthday huh?" he had to wonder if the boy actually had any.

"I'm hoping Kosch is okay today," the Master confessed because he knew that the boy was going to hear some harsh news. "I hate being a dad sometimes, how do we cope?"

"It is a bit of a shame. Marnal could use a friend. And we cope. A lot of patience and hard work. There isn't much else to do. I mean...Kids are going to have problems. The best that you can do for them is to try and comfort them." he murmured softly.

The Doctor couldn't honestly complain. Marnal was much better to deal with than Koschei from the sound of it. Sighing, he offered a small smile. "So. Would you care for dessert? Or shall I catch the check and get you back so you can care for Koschei?"

"Well maybe we could try? I mean, perhaps they could play together once and see how it goes? Koschei is losing a lot of friends, he could use someone," And it was worth a shot really, maybe they'd have something in common.

"Nah, Koschei will call me if he wants me. Until then, I say we have dessert," why not? Did they have to always rush home to their kids because he couldn't deal with that at all.

"Suppose you're right. The sitter is going to wind up quiting anyway. Might as well bother." the Doctor mused, smirking as he flagged down their waiter to post their dessert orders. It was definitely nice. He really didn't get to go out often.

"And that sounds like a decent enough idea. We can see how Marnal and Koschei tolerate one another. It would be nice enough." the Doctor conceded with a small grin.

The Master smiled and took his dessert happily, at least he was out of the house. Setting his phone to the side, the Master enjoyed his time out of the house and he really did needed it. He was losing it there.

"Tomorrow is going to be hell for me-- so thanks for this, sort of softens the blow," the Master admitted with a small smile because it really did feel better this way.

The Doctor smiled softly at that one as he gave a small nod. "You're fine. Here. Come in tomorrow morning and file the papers for that planet. I might be able to help with Koschei somehow." he offered softly.

It didn't matter if Koschei hated him. It really didn't. He could try and do something. He would try and help the kid find a distraction for the child. "I can entertain him for a bit if you would like." the Doctor said lightly.

"Well he has school tomorrow but when I pick him up from school, he won't be in a good mood. If you can find something to amuse him?" Bringing a kid from school to work was never fun.

But he had to work around things for Koschei and Koschei had to put up with things for him. It was how they worked as a family and the Master was determined to help out as much as he can.

"I'll work something out." the Doctor assured. He could find something for the kid to do to amuse himself for a bit and the like. The Doctor didn't mind. He would need to keep Marnal out of the way anyway. So why not?

It meant that he had some experience in entertaining a stubborn child. "It's fine. I'll take care of it. I'll have something set up by the time that you get Koschei from school." the Doctor assured with a curt nod.

Once dessert was done, the Master felt much better on a whole. He felt less stressed, less worried and more sure about how tomorrow would go. Hopefully tonight would keep on going well.

"So any chance I can get a lift back to the lab? My cars there," the Master remarked with a small amused smile, he was ddefinitely have to try and do this again. Just to be out with an adult was great.