Imaginary Worlds

"Really? Well, great," the Master assumed, wrongly, that this was part of his plan to give him some time off. Picking up the phone, he smiled somewhat. "Guess who wants to come with? Come pick him up in an hour and... well, could you give him dinner?"

Well, it was worth an ask. It was better than following them there to make him some.

That was surprising. Enough to cause the Doctor to laugh. "I'll take care of everything. I have one more house to look at and then I'll be around." he assured softly. "Just...Next house is a bit out of the way, but I should be about an hour." he stated before disconnecting.

"So. Mr. Smith is taking me to the zoo? An' you're staying home?" Koschei asked, looking for clarification and nothing more.

"Course you do understand that if this is one of your cunning plots, you will be in trouble for pissing off my boss and me?" the Master reminded because he was no idiot and he did have his doubts.

And, of course, he was talking specifically about that little bastard perhaps plotting behind him. "But I've decided to trust you so behave or you're going to be in trouble. And be nice to Marnal too."

Koschei bristled a bit and shook his head slowly. "No. 'M not gonna do anything bad." he said lightly. By whose standards was a completely different point. He wasn't playing nice when he didn't have to.

And he definitely didn't have to. "'M gonna go get ready." he assured firmly, heading up to do just that. What? He liked it. He wasn't willing to let the Doctor have it easy. Even if he'd agreed to let the Master have his friend.

(Sorry, got no email notification :/ my emails are playing up)

The Master left the boy be and decided to just trust him as he settled on the sofa, tugged the blanket off the side over him and lazily watched the TV. It was a bad thing for a father to do but he really was shattered.

When Koschei seemed ready, the Master got up reluctantly and headed up to find him in his pyjamas still, hair ruffled everywhere. He was not getting up at all today.

Koschei smiled ssoftly as he met his dad in the hall. He didn't know why the Master was so sleepy all the time, but it was a common occurrence. The man was constantly shattered. They should probably look into that.

"'M ready to go. Don't worry." Koschei assured, starting down the steps as the bell rang. It was goin to be a long afternoon. But no matter. He could do this. Easily.

The Master used sleep more as an escape. If he slept then Koschei's problems and his money problems didn't bother him, when he was awake then often he was just stressed. He has slept enough today, now it was mostly about being lazy and not standing up.

"Be nice and play nice!" the Master ordered as he opened the door with little regard for his appearance and greeted the Doctor with a small nod. "Okay be nice and take care!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow before smiling. "I'll have him back in a few hours, don't worry. Oh! Here. He starts going on Monday. This is all the information...The tutor is going to come about the lab to teach him." he assured as he handed over a folder.

Yes. He'd gone through the trouble and fixed it. Also? "I'm not going to be in Monday, but you can call if you have any problems. Bought a house just outside of town. I'm going to move in this weekend and settle in Monday." he stated lightly, smiling when Koschei came out. This would work. "I'll be around later, Mr. Saxon. Oh. And there's something oddly...Endearing about your ruffled appearance right now." the Doctor stated as he headed for the car.

That was definitely odd, the Master raised an eyebrow before smirking playfully and calling after the idiot. "I like the speak my mind asserting thing that you've got going here. Keep it up!"

It was a little weird but hey, he could of done worse of a friend. The Master spent the day tidying lazily around the house, watching some TV and then finally getting changed around 4ish after he finished up cleaning Koschei's room. Kids made such a mess!

The Doctor's day was...Interesting. Complete with making very clear he wasn't going to let some kid dictate him. He definitely didn't make any friends with the little psychopath. Then again, he didn't particularly care.

He returned the child about half after four, Koschei getting out and heading to the house with a bit of an attitude. He even slammed the door on the way up to his room. Because thongs really hadn't gone according to his plans.

And the Master, being an expert on the subject of Koschei by now, headed out to greet the Doctor with an amused look. "So, what did he try then? Threaten you away? Blackmail? What did my favourite little psycho try to do?"

He hated the Doctor but agreed to go to the zoo with him? Yeah, it didn't take a genius to work it out. "Sorry if he was a handful for you and Epsilon, he always is like that so don't worry, it's not just you."

The Doctor just smirk as he leaned against his car, keeping an eye on Marnal. He definitely spoiled the lad. "Nothing much. I put a stop to it rather quickly. He's been in a mood since, but I don't particularly care, no offense." he stated.

Yes. The Doctor had made Koschei back down. He wouldn't say how, but he'd done it. "It was a lovely day nonetheless. I hope you enjoyed having a bit of a break." the Doctor said lightly, offering a small smile.

"Love it, thanks for that. And hey, you ever want to take the brat out and put him in a mood again, its fine by me," the Master joked playfully as he looked inside the car where Marnal was playing with his new animal toy.

Well at least someone had a good trip. "Well, we're definitely even now," the Master remarked, he watched Epsilon and Koschei went to the zoo so no need for money like he said. "When is Epsilons birthday, by the way? Koschei and I will go."

"Saturday. I was going to take Marnal out to eat, but I think that I'll make dinner at the new place instead. You know the odd manor just outside of town? Yeah...Something about it just...Call me crazy, but something about it called to me." the Doctor admitted softly.

Apparently it was a hard sale, most going along with the idea of the place being haunted. But the Doctor didn't care. "Feel free to come over. He'd love the company and attention." the Doctor stated softly.

"We'll be there, have a good day," the Master offered, nodding at the Doctor before shrugging his shoulders somewhat. "Hey, people live in weird places. Just enjoy it and you can give me the tour when I swing by."

After saying goodbye, he headed off inside and shut the door behind him. Now was the fun part, going to talk to his son. "Koschei? Are you done sulking yet?... Are you hungry?"

"Until then." the Doctor bid in turn, getting into the car and driving off. He couldn't complain. Even with Koschei. He'd never seen a kid so surprised before. It had been...Interesting.

Heading down the stairs, Koschei bristled and eyed his father. "I ate. Mr. Smith took us to eat. Never. Again." he asserted firmly.

"So the evil mastermind plan to scare the doctor off didn't work?" the Master guessed with a playful smile before sitting on the boys bed. "I knew you were planning something, you didn't factor in that he may never listen?"

The Master knew the boy didn't like him and he knew it would be awkward but that was life. "But we're still going to Marnals party."

Koschei bristled and glared, shaking his head slowly. Not going to work out too well. He was beyond not happy at the moment. However, he knew when to stop while ahead.

"I don't like him. He..." Koschei trailed off with a dark glare. The Doctor outsmarted him was the thing. Effortlessly. As if the man knew how to deal with him.

"He told you off? Well, seems like you had it coming," the Master remarked before sighing and waiting for the boy to get over his little pout. Wouldn't happen any time soon as well but that was just how it was.

"Look, when you're cheered up, you can come and find me. I'll be in the living room," the Master assured, he doubted Koschei would but he sat downstairs, put a film on and solely used the net.

It was another two hours or so before he headed down. "I don't wanna go to the party." Koschei murmured softly. And that was that. He would leave it alone. He knew better now.

He just needed to know one thing. "Why do you like him?" Koschei asked softly. It didn't make sense. The two weren't exactly alike in any way.

"Neither do I, we're only going for a little while. He paid off my debts, the least I can do is go to his sons party," Especially when he could guess that no one else would turn up their and that was just kind of sad.

"I dunno, he's an adult, we have things in common, we're both academic and... I don't know, Koschei. He reminds me of someone, like an old friend," the Master confessed, which was odd because he didn't have any friends to be reminded of.

Koschei's expression gave away just how much he doubted that one. The Master didn't have friends. Period. It didn't make any sort of sense to him. Though he just sighed and shook his head a bit.

"I don't get it. I don't like it. I asked him that, too. Same answer." Koschei mumbled in a rather dejected manner. Yeah. Not exactly the best situation. He really hated the Doctor.

"Sometimes it happens and I'm just sorry you hate him so much. He's educated and I bet he probably likes trains," the Master speculated, or perhaps he could get the man into it, either way. It seemed like things were changing more than either of them liked.

After all, he and Koschei didn't really social. It had always been the two of them and their own little world. The Master had never bonded with anyone proper except Koschei and Koschei was just-- well, basically him but smaller.

Trains were their thing. That wasn't a share with other people thing. He wasn't too happy at the moment. "Don't. I don't like him. I don't wanna share." he ground out firmly, clinging tothe Master at this point.

He didn't want somebody to take the Master from him. Irrational? Yes. But Koschei had never been too happy with that sort of thing. At least he'd liked Verica.

"Oh you daft berk," the Master remarked affectionately as he lifted Koschei up to prevent the clinging and pulled the lad onto his lap so they could talk properly. "Look, I love you Koschei... but I can't be just yours. But, if it helps, you're my top priority."

Koschei would always be number one and if he wanted to keep trains to just them then fine, the Master would be more than happy to do that and do it happy. "But he can't come to see trains with us, deal? And I won't neglect you to hang out with him. Promise."