Imaginary Worlds

Koschei took to getting himself ready, not exactly pleased. He still didn't like the man but he'd gotten it into his head that the Doctor could help his father and he was running with it. He didn't need the Master to approve.

"It does. We can go now." Koschei assured with a curt nod, making his way for the car. He had a lot to do over the next couple of days. He figured he may as well get started.

When the Master got into work, he led Koschei straight to the Doctors office and knocked the door. Looking down at Koschei, he gave him his best stern look. "You behave, understand? No smashing things."

He was going to try and be around but he could only help out so much, he had plenty of things he needed doing but he could still poke his head around to have a check.

The Doctor opened the door and offered a hesitant smile. He wasn't sure how to deal with this at the moment. The Master hadn't been in the best of moods the day prior. He really wanted to avoid a scene.

"Morning. I can take him from here." the Doctor assured softly. He couldn't offer up much more than that.

"Sure, I have work. Erm, tell me when you're done? Should take a few hours, right? I want to talk to you before I get Koschei lunch," the Master offered though he didn't know what to say at all.

After all, he didn't want to ask for help but he was losing so badly now that he had no idea what to do but to go and beg for help... real classy, wasn't it?

"Few days, more like. But I won't keep him more than a few hours at a time. I'll have him back to you shortly." the Doctor assured with a small nod. He was lucky Marnal was in nursery. Meant he didn't have to worry about his own son.

And he didn't keep the kid too long. He returned to the Master's department shortly before noon, letting Koschei go to his father's office to see the man. He still felt a bit awkward, but that was beside the point. The Master had said that he wanted to talk.

The Master had a lot of trouble getting the words together, he got Koschei his dinner from the fridge, sending out the sandwich for the boy to collect so that he could have it now.

"Hey, sorry for the delay and everything but I-- I erm, okay, this was harder than I thought it would be, asking for help always was. "I dunno, I think this was a bad deal.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow as he regarded the man, simply leaning against the door frame. "Your son can be very talkative." he stated calmly after a moment, shrugging lightly. That should explain away enough.

"Coming from the man who told me to be assertive...A thing that proved to be a bad thing when trying to make amends with somebody, by the way. Just tell me what you need for me to do, and I'll do it. Do you need money? Do you need moral support? Time off? I have a wonderful lawyer." the Doctor murmured. It was amazing just how many lawsuits he could get into.

The Master had to laugh, in theory it all seemed easy but what the hell was the point, really? The kid just didn't get it ad he didn't fancy being bad guy any more. Why would he want to be?

"I suppose I just need a lawyer who isn't totally incompetent. Does matter how good my lawyer is I have to have it all equal for her," the Master remarked, making it obvious how much he hated the idea. But, sadly, it was what everyone but him wanted. "Does matter what I want. Why should it? No like I didn't watch him alone for five years and-- oh wait, yes, I did!"

"Listen. You're right. You shouldn't have to do things this way. Just tell me what you need me to do. I'll give you the number to my lawyer and I can guarantee that you will have a fighting chance." the Doctor assured with a small frown.

And that was another point, wasn't it? "Nice thing about money. Do you want to let her have Koschei to any extent? Because your budget is what determines how much can be dug up to make her look like an incompetent fool that isn't fit to have a child full time, let alone part time." the Doctor pointed out slowly.

The Master sighed, if only it was just that easy. "Koschei wants to be with her and he'll never forgive me if he can't get to know her. He's excited because he doesn't get it and he never will."

Sighing, he dropped his head in his hands. He hated losing, he hated bring in these circumstances when he'd done nothing wrong. "So what, stupid bitch just waltzes back in and decides she wants him. She doesn't! She told me she just thought rich people might feel sorry for single mom. Who would use their kid like that!"

"Sounds like Somebody I know." the Doctor scoffed. "Listen. She sounds like a particular breed of gold digger. Tends to marry for money and the next thing you know, she's widowed. Draws people in with false insecurities and the like." he murmured, shrugging.

He knew well enough that people could be like that. "How about...I take care of Koschei? You don't want to share your son with her and I can't blame you. He already hates me. There's nothing wrong with being the bad guy for you."

"Because I don't want you to be the badguy again. I mean what if--" The Master stopped dead. He was a bit surprised at himself, he almost said what if they got back together? He couldn't say that, could he.

Running his fingers through his hair, he got to his feet and shrugged. "I just don't get why it has to be so hard with him, sometimes I think life could be easier without him... and then I think I'm nuts because I love that little brat and I couldn't live without him."

It didn't take a genius to put together the Master's unfinished sentence. "Trust me. There's nothing against me playing the bad guy here. We aren't going to be together again. Too many issues, remember?" the Doctor asked dully, shrugging slowly.Yeah...That had definitely struck a chord or two with him. Because it had hurt and it helped cement the thought that they didn't stand a chance anymore.

"Kids are naturally curious about their parents. Marnal has asked me about his mother in the past. The difference? He can't go stay with her. Instead I try to replace her so that we can both be happy and the one time I meet my standards, his son hates me and he ends things. So I lower my standards, try to be a bit more assertive, and get dumped publicly. Would you like me to take care of Koschei?" the Doctor asked slowly.

The Master had to look. There he was, calling the Doctor pathetic, which he kind of was, and look at his shithole of a life. He hardly had anything good going for him right now. He was being punished for something he didn't even know, he was sure of it. Why else would everything keep going wrong for him?

"You can, if it helps. But he'll never forgive me either," the Master remarked before sighing slightly and dropping his head in his hands. "Marnal might have better luck than Koschei. At least his mom isn't trying to use him... I know she passed on but I really wish Koschei's mom would just drop dead."

"I miss her." he admitted softly with a shake of his head. And he really did. "Look. I'm sure everything will work out for the best. You aren't a bad guy. This is just a small bump along the way." the Doctor assured softly.

He knelt before the other and frowned softly. "I just want to fix things. That's all. Your son already hates me. I can hook you up with a good lawyer. Just say the word and I'll take care of it." the Doctor assured firmly. And that was all he could do.

"You know what, you're better than you think you are. You didn't need that idiot, you don't need any of those idiots you date. You can be happy alone," the Master asserted to the man because he owed him that much. "When you do things like that, you make yourself less than what you are and you shouldn't."

The Master tipped back in his chair and nodded, he could use a lawyer right now. "It's ironic really, the other day he was desperately trying to get us back together, might not soon."

"I can't stand being alone. Does that make me pathetic? Quite possibly. But I can't stand to be alone. I never could. I grew up that way and then I fell in love, and was alone again. I have high standards and nobody seems to meet them." he murmured, standing up again with a shrug.

And as for Koschei? "I find it hard to believe he would want us to be together after everything that happened. Here. Spend the rest of the day with your son. Come around tonight. I'll have everything figured out for you to deal with everything." the Doctor offered.

"Being alone isn't bad. And for the record, when you date someone that fast after dating someone else... kind of dickish," the Master offered with a small smile, it had helped him get over things but it did feel a tad insulting.

Bowing his head, he nodded before hauling himself to his feet. "I'll be there and you may never buy it because it is insane but he wanted us together," the Master muttered. he stood in front of the Doctor awkward for a while before going in for a hug. Was it obvious he didn't do hugs often by the body language?

The Doctor wasn't sure what to think about that one. He returned the gesture rather awkwardly and had to laugh softly. "It wasn't that I was dating him." he admitted softly. "I was trying to make amends for having blown him off after the first date we had. First date was the other night and it was ended poorly on his part." he murmured.

And wasn't that the truth? "You forget? I dated you less than a week after that failed date and we really only had two actual dates before it blew up. I'll see you tonight." the Doctor assured as he headed out. He wasn't trying to be an ass. He was simply putting things back into perspective.

"Well, in all fairness Doctor, that was the first and longest I've dated in 6 years now," the Master pointed out as he pulled back and dropped back down on the chair, adjusting the papers he had in front of him.

"I, erm, don't gel with people well. Never will," he was good at breaking hearts and avoiding dating, the Doctor, oddly, was quite along term one in his books. Hell, the longest one he'd had was Lucy and that was three months before he got bored of her.

The sad thing was that that had been the happiest the Doctor had felt in...Well, since Marnal had been born, really. It wasn't often he made it past a first date, either, and very rarely with somebody he'd been getting to know before that point. That's what made it the hardest.

Koschei approached carefully with the Master gone, looking to his dad with a small frown. "'M done. Don't have anything to do." he admitted with a small frown as he regarded the Master in a rater expectant manner.

"We get to go home apparently," the Master remarked with a small amused look before offering Koschei his hand. He didn't know what to do with that time off but he did want to do something great.

"So, want to do anything? We could go for a walk or to the park?" the Master asked, curious to see what Koschei fancied. It was a nice day, it was warm and yes, it may be a bit muddy from the spring drizzle, but it would be nice to get out.

Koschei gave a small shrug at that. "I dunno. Can we go to the park?" he asked softly, cocking his head. It would be nice enough. And they could spend time together.

"Can we go out to eat tonight?" Koschei asked softly. That was a decent enough request. Other than the whole having to go to the Doctor's thing. But he was trying here.

"Park sounds good, we should get Sigma as well, he never gets a chance to get out any more," the Master always ran him around but it was nicer to get out and let the dog tire himself out.

"Go out? Well, we have to swing by the Doctors but afterwards, we can? Anywhere you fancy?" The Master tried to remember the places his son loved but they were most places they avoided because of running into the Doctor.

The Doctor's place? Again? "Why? I thought that you didn't like him anymore." he murmured softly. Really? Since when had that changed? "You said he's pathetic." he reminded as an afterthought. It made sense.

"Fine. I don't care where we go." Koschei assured with a small smile. And he didn't. He learned to not be picky. Just because he asked for things, it didn't mean that he didn't understand that they couldn't afford a lot.