Imaginary Worlds

Don't worry about it, I'll watch the kid," well, not really. But he was probably going to try to anyway and that sort of worked for him, anyway. Well, he wasn't going to read the boy a story or anything but eventually the boy would get tired.

When the Doctor left, the Master smiled playfully at Koschei. "Go play with your new friend I'll work on the roast... hey, we got a free dinner. That is what you wanted."

The Master did not expect that of him. Free food or not, Koschei wasn't interested. Period. "Can I help with dinner instead?" he asked hopefully. It was worth a shot. Because the other option was being with Marnal.

That wasn't going to happen. Not willingly, at least. Because he wasn't wanting to put up with that small freak of a child. The kid gave Koschei the creeps.

The Master smiled and ruffled the lads hair. "No, play with Marnal or keep an eye on him," Crouching down, he whispered in Koschei's ear. "Just play with a puzzle and let him sit near you. That's all."

Leaving the boys too it, the Master went off to check on the food. Marnal sat on the floor and, as Koschei always complained about, he stared and stared at the other boy. The boy his fingers in his mouth and kept on staring.

That wasn't fair! Or right. Koschei stared back and bristled a bit, even as he slowly sat down as instructed to do a puzzle. This wasn't going to work.

In fact, Koschei lasted about five minutes. "Why are you staring at me?" he asked pointedly, shooting Marnal a rather annoyed look.

Marnal stared a bit longer before plucking his fingers from his mouth and frowning. "Is my dad gone forever or just a bit? Marnal was still having trouble grasping the concept of time. He didn't even answer Koschei's question.

Probably because he wasn't sure how to. The Doctor had taught him to look, not touch. And now he did it to the extreme.

"A bit. He's not leaving you to us." Koschei stated firmly. Yeah. Not happy. He never was when he had somebody staring at him to such an extent. It set him on edge when he was constantly watched.

Sighing, he shifted away a bit, shooting Marnal another annoyed look. "Stop staring." he asserted firmly. Yeah. Koschei was just a little annoyed.

"Sorry," Marnal offered before getting up and fumbling around till he managed to turn the TV on. Dropping on the floor, he decided to just stare at that instead until dinner was done.

When the Master came back, he merely shrugged. Hey, both kids were busy enough, weren't they.

It wasn't often when a kid made Koschei seem normal. What did the Doctor do to him? It was strange. It was different. It made him hate the man even more.

Glancing to the Master, he put on a rather hopeful look. "Is it done yet?" Koschei asked. What? He was hungry. And more than just a little bit bothered.

"Another five minutes," the Master remarked before shrugging. "Want go set the table?" If he was that desperate to get out of the room with Marnal, he'd give him an easy task. The Master just went and sat by Marnal.

It was easy, they didn't have to talk, play or anything. Marnal just watched the TV with a small curious look. The boy was, to be frank, a very odd little humanish boy. The Master found it remarkable... did the Doctor adopt an alien?

Koschei nodded and got up to do just that. Yeah. He was that desperate to get ou of there. Marnal would deal with it. Because he didn't want to deal with that brat.

He returned once done and tugged the Master's shirt lightly. "Time?" he asked softly. Koschei was hungry. He really was. Not like he could be blamed much.

"Come on, Marnal," the Master got to his feet and tugged the small boy with him. Dinner was something they were all waiting for and the Master made sure both boys were sat properly before they started.

Curiouser and curiouser, the boy actually ate with his fingers. The Master raised an eyebrow, looked at Koschei before leaving him too it. Hey, he wasn't here to play mom to the kid, he was just making sure he didn't die.

Koschei stared at that one. It was so...Weird. "Why don't you use a form like a normal person?" he asked rather pointedly as he picked through his meal.

It was a valid question! The Master couldn't fault him on that one. They were stuck Marnal for almost thirty minutes now. How long did a date honestly take?

A long time, especially if they're going to do a little bit more than eat dinner afterwards. The Master watched as Marnal dropped his roast back on the plate and grinned brightly at Koschei.

"Cause it's more fun. And forks are too big," Marnal had a point, the ones Koschei had laid out didn't really work for the boy. Well, he could eat with his hands then, as long as he didn't have any germs.

Koschei sighed and shot the Master a look. Seriously? He didn't appreciate this one in the least. But he'd leave Marnal be for now.

"When will Mr. Smith be back?" Koschei asked softly with a small frown. Soon, he hoped. Because this was t a positive on his list.

"Erm, maybe a while? Look, when adults date, they stay out all night," the Master pointed out and-- woops, bad choice of words, Marnal looked gutted at that. His dad never left and now he had to go to bed alone.

"Well, after dinner, we'll-- erm, do something fun," the Master said lamely, trying to avoid any incidents before frowning at the boy across from him. "Koschei, what do you want to do? Something easy."

"Go home." Koschei deadpanned. Because really? It was rather pointless to say something else. "Can we watch a movie?" he asked softly instead. That was fair.

It was easy and hopefully the Doctor wasn't out all night long. Koschei didn't think that he could handle that too well. Not really. It wasn't something that would end well for him.

"A film? Sure. We can do it," the Master offered, he'd have to put on something kids friendly. After all, Marnal was a bit too young for their usual kind of film and he hardly wanted to freak the boy out.

"'M done," Marnal declared as he clambered off his chair and back to the livingroom to sit down.

"Me too." Koschei chimed in as he got up and moved to the couch. And really? It was a small surprise. It was hard to believe the Doctor was rich when looking around his place to live.

Why didn't the man live some place nicer? Or have more things? It just didn't make any sort of sense to him.

The Master put the empty plates in the sink and headed into the living room, raiding the DVD collection before putting on a kids film. This would be dull for him but Marnal and Koschei might like it.

Sitting down comfortable, the Master lay back and sighed. "Koschei, try to stay awake while you're here, yeah?"

Koschei nodded softly and settled back to view. The Doctor returned about three quarters of the way into the film, keeping quiet in case the Marnal was sleeping. He didn't want to risk waking the poor lad.

"Can we go now?" Koschei asked softly, tugging his dad's sleeve again. Why not? The Doctor was back and Marnal was asleep. Why stay?

Marnal was fast asleep and the Master hushed Koschei before carefully getting to his feet and sneaking into the kitchen to grab the Doctor and pull him in to have a private word.

"Hey, welcome back. I'm gonna take Koschei home, Marnal is asleep on the sofa and I'll ring you tomorrow to discuss tutors?" the master asked, trying to flick through what they had to do.

The Doctor sighed softly and ran a hand through his hair. Well, damn. He'd hoped he'd make it in time to read to Marnal. "Sorry for asking you to watch him on such short notice." he said softly.

It hadn't even been worth it. He'd spent the time with a complete idiot. "That's fine. But wait a second before you go. The least I can do is pay you for tonight." the Doctor murmured softly, already digging through his pockets for his wallet.

"No! Seriously, don't. You've given me time off, you're giving me a loan. This is a favour. Friends do that," the Master asserted, not wanting to feel like a charity case. Patting the Doctor on the arm, he sighed slightly.

"You know, Marnal needs a proper hobby. Koschei used to be a bit listless then I got him into puzzles, trains and animals. I think Marnal is a bit lost and lonely," the Master remarked, just trying to help though he said it all in his usual blunt tone. "If you want Koschei to attent Marnals party, I think he'd love too,"... Lies but who really cared?

The Doctor sighed softly and nodded a bit. "Sorry. And I know. I've tried giving him things to do. And I'd appreciate Koschei coming around for it." he said softly.

He couldn't be blamed. He was honestly trying. But he was busy with work and he felt horridly guilty over having any sort of social life. Especially when Marnal didn't have one.

"If you need me to do it again, just tell me," it was obvious these two didn't get out much. Much like himself and Koschei, they had no social skills. Sadly neither seemed to be able to lie like they could.

Heading out the room, he offered Koschei his hand and tried to slowly sneak out. Marnal was waking just as they headed out the door and towards the car. "That was a hell of a night."