Imaginary Worlds

"You do realise you have to go to the local court here! He's my kid," the Master called after her, trying to suppress his laughter. When she understood that the ball was in his court here, she might make better progress. As the parent, they have to go to his local court. And as the man not found guilty of neglect with a great job and a well raised son, he had no fear.

If he felt she was a threat, he could easily bring it to the court, it would be submitted to a panel and it would set back the trial date. He knew this because his social worker advised him on it back when Koschei was two. He'd ring her later, she was a clever spark. Getting to his feet, he shook his head and went into the boys bedroom to make sure all was well. "How are you kiddo?"

Koschei was positively beaming when the Master came in. "Look! She helped me paint a picture!" he declared, showing it off proudly. Yeah...The Master was in for one hell of a time with all of this.

"I like her. She says 'm welcome to visit if you said okay. Oh! I have a sister!" he declared proudly. Yeah...Definitely not an easy one to deal with here. Because Koschei actually liked her.

It hurt but the Master didn't let it get under his skin. Worst come to worst, she would have him and Koschei would learn a very hard lesson about wishes. But the Master merely watch the boy before smiling.

Why trouble him with it all. "Great Kosch, look you need bed. It's almost 9 and you have tutoring and I have to deal with you mom," the Master remarked as he grabbed the boys pyjamas and offered them to him.

Koschei frowned softly as he took the clothes and started to change. He didn't want to go. He wanted to see his mother some more. "You still need to feed me." he deadpanned. Really. That should have been obvious.

In his pajamas, he sat upon the edge of his bed and sighed. "An' why do you? I like her an' you said I could spend time with her." he informed pointedly. Yeah...Koschei wouldn't drop that.

"What do you fancy? Its a bit late, we could have a quick snack? Cheese on toast?" the Master suggested with a small smile, gesturing for the boy to follow as he headed into the kitchen.

"Erm, best we don't discuss it," he didn't need the boy thinking he was doing something wrong again. He tried to be honest, he tried to lie, either way it backfire because the kid was an awkward bleeder. Like his mom.

"That's fine...Does this mean I can't go see her next weekend? She said that I could. I wanna see my sister." he murmured softly, giving a bit of a frown. Surely the Master wouldn't turn him down on that one.

And if the man did? Well. Koschei wasn't above having a fit and a sulk the next few days. Not that the Master would care. It would just be tedious and annoying.

"Sure, you can see them," the Master offered as he put bread in the toast and turned around to the boy, smiling before he crouched down and gestured for him to come over to him.

"Koschei, I love you. And you know that more than anyone. I don't love anyone more than you," the Master assured him with a small smile because he just wanted to make that clear. "But your mother really doesn't like me and I'm not fond of her. But that won't stop me letting you visit her. If you're curious, you're curious. But she isn't very nice to me and she never was, she hurts me often, I do have issues with her but you can see her when we can set it up. Promise."

Koschei eyed the other as he approached, nodding slowly. "I wanna go to her house this weekend." he said firmly. And maybe he would like it, maybe he wouldn't. Didn't change a thing. Well...It might make her ease up a bit.

But that was beyond the point. "I know where she lives." he offered softly. She'd given him her address to write and the like. "I like her. She seems nice." Koschei stated softly. He didn't get the Master's problem.

Shame, it really as. He thought his son was smarter, he usually read people on the spot. He was obviously distracted. "You can, provided I have contact if anything goes array and go over everything with her."

He wasn't risking anything going wrong. Getting to his feet, he grabbed the toast and added the cheese quick so it melted on. Passing to down to the boy, he sighed slightly. "You love me, don't you?"

Koschei took the toast and frowned softly. "Yes...Why?" he asked in confusion. It didn't make any sort of sense to him. "I...I just want both parents." he murmured with a small shrug. That simple.

He didn't want to have just one parent. The Master wasn't going to settle down? Fine. Koschei would seek out his real mother in order to form a relationship there. He didn't understand why he couldn't have both of them equally.

"So, if in theory, she came back into your life permanently then you would like to live with her half the week and the other half with me?" the Master asked, dreading the answer. Because he didn't think he could cope with that.

"I mean, that seems to be what she wants. Well, she wants you back anyway," the Master said solemnly and it wasn't hard to see that the Master was struggling with this. It was unfair! Incredibly so.

Koschei eyed the other at that one, frowning softly. Sure, he was selfish, but the Master didn't seem as happy with this as he was. "Am I allowed?" he asked slowly.

He wouldn't mind, that was for sure. Not like he had friends or an actual school to attend. And she didn't live that far. Just down in the valley. Same jurisdiction and the like. It just took a while to follow the roads down there.

"If you want, you can," the Master said simply before running his fingers through his hair. He couldn't believe this. She ditched him when he was two and now she was back in his life for a day and Koschei wanted to live with her? That was a bit hasty.

"When you're, erm, done. Just put the plate away," the Master muttered, feeling a bit numb as he took off from the kitchen. He couldn't deal with this, he just needed to be away from it all.

Koschei really didn't understand the full weight of the situation. To him, he was being told he could stay with his mother and get to know her. It wasn't out of love or attachment, he just wanted to get to know her.

Truth was? He didn't get it. Finishing his food, Koschei headed up to bed, getting settled in so that he could sleep. It was the phone going off early the next morning that roused him, resulting in him heading into his father's room. "Dad...Dad...Dad...Phone call....Dad..." he chanted, poking the Master pointedly.

Oh great, he could already guess who it was. He rolled onto his back and sighed before offering out his hand to take the call. He really wasn't in the mood for this shit, he was far too tired.

"What?" the Master said grumpily into the phone, hauling himself upright and ruffling Koschei's hair as a thank you.

"Hello, Harold, just a quick question for you. I'm still in town. Would you be interested in meeting publicly to discuss things civilly? Otherwise, I'll be heading home and taking care of things from there. I'd stay longer, but I'm getting Isadora back today." she said simply.

She was being nice and giving the Master a chance to do it civilly. She was even playing nice. "It can even be my treat. You don't have to bring Koschei, either, if you'd rather keep it between us."

"I have work," the Master pointed out as he rubbed at his eyes, trying to let his brain catch up. "I can take an early lunch at 11.30 for an hour, at the most. There's a cafe nearby. Do you know the costa outside the park from my place?"

He was being civil but he still hated her, none of this was fair. He raised that boy for five years and now he was being tramped over, of course it hurt and of course he was angry. But if Koschei wanted it, what could he do?

"Can you call in late for family matters? I can't stay any later than ten, and that's pushing it. Isadora's father will meet me on time exactly, or he will leave with her, and I do so hate getting the authorities after him." she sighed.

The Master wasn't going to get off easy with this one. "We have two options. We can meet this morning and work something out together, or we can go about it in an entirely different manner. I am trying. But I'm not having my daughter essentially abducted to meet over Koschei." she asserted.

"Look, don't talk to me like I'm not trying, its work, its not that easy," the Master snapped, more than a little frustrating that he was being spoken to like this when he was bloody well trying. "Call you back."

With that, he hung up and lay back on the bed, ring up the Doctors house phone. Marnal answered and chirped happily into it. "Hello Mister Saxon! I'll get daddy," he promised, pulling his head away and yelling for the Doctor.

The Doctor was not in the mood. Not really. He took the phone and looked to his son with a small frown. "Why don't you go get dressed, alright?" he dismissed before shaking his head.

Right. Phone call. "And how can I help you?" the Doctor asked into the phone rather dully. Alright. So it had been a rather long night. Not to mention ironic.

"I need to be late into work today, by an hour or a bit longer. I can explain when I get it, I wouldn't ask but... things are bad," the Master offered, whispering the last part of Koschei didn't over hear.

"I'll pick up the hours, I do actually have a lot of work to do. Rassilon, I don't need this shit either but I really appreciate any time off," the Master suggested, hoping he could just do this and be done with it.

Oh, if the Doctor wanted to, he could be a right ass. The Master did tell him to be more assertive. That was apparently a bad thing given the night prior. How was this even fair?

"Fine. Just...Fine. Take care of whatever you need and let me know if there's anything that I could do to help. Don't worry about it." the Doctor murmured over the phone. No point in denying it or anything.

"I'll see you at work," hanging up, he sighed and dialled up his ex once more with a small groan. This as just frustrating beyond all logic. He hated having to do all of this for her.

"There, done, I'm missing time from work for this. Same place as I mentioned after I drop Koschei off at his tutor," the Master explained, not giving her much chance to reply. He wasn't in the mood for chit-chat. "Bye."

Koschei eyed the Master when the phone was hung up yet again and bit his lip. Right. "Um...'M ready to go...I can wait downstairs." he assured softly. No matter. He would make himself a quick bowl of cereal.

With that, the kid headed down to eat, smiling softly. He was happy He got to go to his tutor and he got to know his mother. What more could a child ask for in this situation?

"Sure, I'll be down soon," the Master offered as he got up and had a quick shower. He dressed in his usual clothes for work, he had so many different suits but he never felt over-dressed.

Everyone else just felt under dressed to him. Shoving his wallet and his keys into his pocket, he headed down the stairs and greeted the boy while he finished up breakfast. "Ready?"