Imaginary Worlds

"You don't even have to play with the kid! I mean, at best, play hide and seek and leave him hiding or something. Just be nice, well get the money and then everything will be better," the Master suggested with a small frown.

"Look, I know it sucks but-- I don't mind the Doctor, he's weird but not bad. Marnal is a bit much and his dad is insanely over-protective-- look at it this way, you could easily exploit a kid like Marnal," bad life lesson but he had to appeal to Koschei."

Koschei sighed softly and nodded as he started tiger himself cleaned up. "I said I'll play nice." he grumbled softly. Yeah. He was a bit of a pain qt times. But the Master had said the magical phrase.

He could exploit the brat. Finished, Koschei got up and started to dry off so that hecould dress. He wasn't looking forward to the next day in the least.

"Now stop sulking, things will pick up. You've just got a bit of a rubbish week ahead," the Master ruffled the boys hair before draining the water and heading out of the room.

"If you need me tonight, you know where I am," was all the Master offered, smiling before he headed into his room, swiftly followed by Sigma who was happy to sleep on his masters bed.

Koschei nodded and finished dressing before heading to bed. It was a restless night. But that much was expected. Because really? The Master sprung a bit of a shock on him. Since when did his dad like the Doctor to any extent?

The next morning had Koschei waking early and getting ready for school. But really? He wasn't looking forward to it in the least. Even if he still headed down to get his food, sighing softly. He wasn't too happy.

The Master was up just as early, he found his mind was too wide awake to sleep and his phone had kept buzzing through the night. so many calls to return today. On the plus side, he already made Koschei's breakfast.

He made the boys favourite, just in the hopes that it would at least cheer him up in some day. Even if it was a long shot, it as worth getting up early to make it. "How you feeling?"

"Tired. I don't wanna go." Koschei admitted softly. But he knew that he had to. Which meant that he wasn't happy. At all. But, again, he knew what he had to do and he was going to work on it.

Sitting down, Koschei took to picking at his breakfast. "Thank you." he said softly. It was the least that he could do. The Master had gone through the trouble.

"I don't want you to go, if I'm honest. Would rather you were with me," the Master would be the first to admit that he was a bit attached to his sons company. It drove him mad sometimes but his son was a bit like a friend he just had to watch over.

Koschei was so much like him, he couldn't help but be over-protective. It was just how he was "Tell you what? You have a bad day today then tomorrow, we'll fake you an ill till we get things sorted. Hows that?"

Koschei nodded softly in agreement as he finished up and stood. "Kay...I can go another day." he assured softly. And really? That wouldn't be too bad. If he didn't like the school, then he didn't like the school.

He couldn't be blamed. "Let's go." Koschei said softly, grabbing his bag up and heading out so that he could get settled in the car. This wouldn't be too bad.

"And if they try to stick you in a cupboard again, fight back and lash out. Don't worry about getting in trouble, I'll come to school and back you up," the Master promised, sighing somewhat in worry.

He didn't want his boy being bullied, he knew what that was like. He could vividly remember a childhood of being bullied, ridiculed and mocked and he didn't want that for Koschei.

Koschei sighed softly at that one and nodded. "I can handle it." he murmured firmly. Yeah. Doubtful, but he was going to damn well try. How could he not? He was determined to handle this.

He had a feeling he couldn't handle this. When they pulled up, Koschei looked to the Master and sighed softly. "See you at three." he murmured, slipping out to head into the building. He wasn't happy about this.

"Good luck!" if anyone hurt his son today, that was officially the end of that school. Taking off, the Master headed to work and went straight inside. Last night had been awful and this morning wasn't much better.

After all, he was up all night worrying about Koschei and now he was half asleep! Sighing, he rubbed at his eyes and turned his head to the stack of work he had to do. So many calls to return as well.

Yeah. The Master wasn't going to be so lucky. It wasn't ten minutes before the Doctor poked his head in with a small smile. He couldn't help it. Not really. Mainly because he knew this wouldn't go over too well.

"So. Two things? One, I need that program." he admitted softly. As for the second agenda? "I have a woman in my office looking for you about that planet." the Doctor informed lightly.

"The system is on my laptop, I'll email it along," the Master offered as he booted the damn thing up and scribbled a note to remind him to get that sent off and sort it. Running his fingers through his hair, he tried to keep himself nice and awake.

After all, he had a lot of explaining to do and frankly, he was pretty exhausted. Heading out the office, he grabbed the Doctors jacket and yanked him along with him. "Who is she? What does she want to know? Do I need notes?-- I don't have notes."

He was not accustomed to being manhandled. The Doctor resisted the urge to chuckle. "It's fine. I thought that would be easier to mention than some scientist." he admitted lightly. And speaking of her...

"Her name is Christiana Jameson. She's on a comity and wants to discuss your planet. Location, any information or theories you have, and how you discovered it." the Doctor said lightly.

"Oh fantastic! Next time warn me, I would of actually put on a tie or something," he had basically rushed out without thinking today, which was clear by the casual dress, the fact that his hair was sticking out everywhere from the constant tugging and he had bits of food on his sleeve from making Koschei breakfast.

Heading into the room, he put on his best charming smile and shook the womens hand, it was all about lying and putting on a show. "Hello, I'm Harold Saxon, follow me to my office and I can show you what I've found."

Wow. That actually somewhat hurt. "You say that like I knew she was coming." the Doctor grumbled. "Not my fault she likes to sneak up on people." he added pointedly. Yeah. Not exactly happy.

Christiana stood and shook the Master's hand with an overly sweet smile. "Why of course. I'm sure Mr. Smith has filled you in." she stated lightly, honestly just looking for the Doctor to have screwed up.

The Master hadn't meant it to be harsh, he was just like that. Always blunt, especially when he hadn't slept in a while. Looking at the Doctor over his shoulder, he frown before turning back to the women.

Well, he could bluff. "He did, briefly, I came in late. My fault. So anyway, would you like to come and see the findings? We can talk in depth after but it'd be better if you saw the planet," in other words, he wanted her to just hurry up and get everything sorted.

"Not a very good handle on your staff." she tsked in what could be taken as a playful manner before nodding to the Master. "But of course. Lead the way." she said lightly, opting to follow after.

"I do apologize for the short notice. I figured you would get my message. I just need to check a few things and make sure that this is all legit. Surely you can understand." Christiana said lightly.

"Well I have nothing to fear so I have no worries," the Master remarked casually, the Master could do one thing and one thing only better than any man on any planet. And that was lie. He was an expert.

"The co-ordinates are set in the telescope, feel free to have a look. I already checked and it isn't found yet, I've been on the phone with people to confirm this, they fax the papers over. They're on my desk. I'm calling it Utopia," the Master explained as he sat on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms, smirking proudly.

Christiana nodded softly and littered about a bit, checking over this and that. It seemed as though everything was in order. Unfortunately. Nodding slowly, she regarded the Master, offering that same overly sweet smile.

"You'll be hearing from me again, Mr. Saxon, I can assure you. Everything seems in order right now. But, before I go, may I ask why Utopia?" Christiana inquired softly. It was a legitimate line of questioning.

"My little boy Koschei gave me the idea, we were discussing it and I intend to show him but he asked if it was beautiful and I said yes-- kind of trigger a load of thoughts and I ended up with Utopia," the Master lied but he did it with such a pleasant and convincing smile.

"My boy Koschei is a big fan of planets. I'm going to set up a telescope at home to show him tomorrow," the Master lied once more but hey, he couldn't say he brought his son to work. He doubted that would be allowed!

She nodded slowly once more and shook the Master's hand. "I'll leave you be for now. Do tell the Doctor I'll be dropping in again." Christiana bid as she turned on heel sharply, heading for the door.

And it was that simple. Really. Christiana was goin to be a problem for the Master due to no other reason than he'd gotten mixed up with the Doctor. The Tardis really hated the Master.

The Master frowned for a while, knowing when he was in trouble because that bitch clearly didn't like that the Master had no holes in his story. Well, he was a profession blagger, what did she expect?

Heading into the Doctors office, he sighed and leaned against the door. "She doesn't like me. Or you. But she buys it all as far as I can so hopefully, fingers crossed, I won't get any hassle."

The Doctor gave a small shrug, already working on sorting a few things out. "You'll be fine. She's not after you. We worked together in the past and I started teaching instead." he said simply.

A petty grudge that was easy to deal with. "She likes to drop in on people. That's all. Her goal is to keep everyone from passing her up. Hence her showing up now." the Doctor admitted softly.

"She seemed like a bitch," the Master said as bluntly as ever before shrugging his shoulders. "Gonna go back to work. If you want me, just shout. I'll be finishing up my notes."

Hell, he needed something to present to the astrology committee and he had to write down everything properly so he didn't stumble in his lie at any point. the Master headed off without another word, he wasn't very chatty today admittedly.