Imaginary Worlds

"We can play chess but I'm not hiking," the Master asserted, pulling a face at the idea. He liked travel but he wanted to do it in style, not by his own movements. That as boring.

"Chess, films, cabins and after dark amusement work for me," the Master offered before shrugging his shoulders somewhat. And he was open to anything else if need be.

"Alright. Well Marnal should be finished soon, so I'm going to start the film for him to watch. Sorry about that, by the way, but he's been craving my attention as of late." he murmured softly, heading to the livingroom to get that going.

Usually when you invited your boyfriend over, taking care of a kid wasn't exactly what the aforementioned boyfriend usually had in mind. The Doctor just couldn't help that one. Even if he had wanted to.

"Doctor, I'm a dad too. I'm not going to judge you," the Master admitted, turning his head to watch the boy scamper downstairs, all dressed up in his turtle pyjamas and ready to watch a film.

And, as expected, he went straight to his dad for some attention. "I got dressed by myself and everything is all right," the boy proclaimed proudly, beaming at the older man. He usually got so little attention that this weekend made him oddly overexcited.

"And you did a very good job." the Doctor praised, sitting on the couch and pulling Marnal up to sit beside him. It was definitely a relief to have another understand.

He settled back and started the film, not really all that interested. He just put it on for his son to watch and be entertained by. It was the right thing to do.

Marnal loved it, he ended up half lying on his dads lap as he only just made it to the end of the film and by the time the credits rolled, he was nearly asleep, his eyes not open but his breathing soft. The Master grinned.

"Poor sod, he really hung in there," the Master remarked with amusement, part of him ever so slightly amused. Marnal reminnded him a lot of Koschei sometimes, it was sweet.

"The Little bugger always does. I'll be right back." the Doctor assured softly, carefully lifting Marnal. He returned as soon as he got the kid settled, putting in the action film before he returned to the couch.

"It's easier to date another single parent, I'll admit to that. It's a lot less trouble taking care of Marnal argue same time." the Doctor admitted softly.

"I dated this women for about a week but she got frustrated that I had to move things around for my son... that's the moment when you know they're wrong for you," the Master remarked with a small smile, knowing that pain too well.

"I hate people who can't deal with parents, the kid always comes first. Sad but true. Doesn't mean you can't love someone else," the Master remarked, smiling at the Doctor.

"It's hard. Worse when they don't get it when I tell them that they can't stay over night. Other than Iros, you're the only one who has been able to, and he was only because we started living together." the Doctor murmured softly.

It definitely meant something to him. He hated having Marnal exposed to anything that he didn't trust. Which happened to be most things.

"So Iros? The one I met right? The jackass that used to hurt Marnal?" Or so that was what he had gathered. It sounded like Marnal had been pushed around at the very least.

"You've dated some bastards," the Master added before settling back comfortably. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah. I mean, I knew he had a temper from the day he threw a vase at my head. I though I made my point when I'd thrown it back. But Marnal never said anything and Iros never bothered with the kid. I didn't know what was going on." the Doctor murmured softly.

"I still do a lot of business with him. Have to. His company has the best. But he hated my intelligence and whatnot. I dealt with it." the Doctor murmured softly.

"He seems like a good kid, mind. Doesn't seem to of effected him," not that the Master could see, the kid seemed to like the Master but he did seem irrationally afraid of the bigger children.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he exhaled. "I find it hard to ignore stuff like, I couldn't do it. Anyone who touches my boy doesn't last long enough to say sorry," the Master insisted with a smirk.

"It's not that I ignore it. It's that I never even knew. I was working toward a degree in teacher and had to work as a TA for a while. I don't know everythin that happened. Didn't even leave for Marnal. I left because the bastard tried to hit me." the Doctor scoffed.

He did know when to draw a line. To protect Marnal and himself, the Doctor had no problem fighting back and cutting ties in every way that he didn't directly benefit from. "I've always been attracted to the ones that tend to be a bit cruel, I suppose." he admitted with a small shrug, his past wife not included in the category.

"Hey, I'm not judging," the Master offered with a small smile, shuffling close to show that he meant no ill will. Because he actually didn't, he knew the Doctor wasn't really like him.

He was less up front and obnoxious than the Master. "When did you work it out? I mean, did Marnal tell you?" the Master liked to think Koschei would tell him but sometimes he wasn't sure he would.

"I figured it out once I'd left. It took a few days toget Marnal to talk to me. The first two weeks were spent working it out and assuming so that I could help him. The third was making sure he understood he could talk to me." he murmured softly, relaxing a bit.

Did he feel horrid over all of that? Yes. He just couldn't think of a better way to fix it. "It was rough at first. And it hurt knowing how much I'd screwed up the poor kid." the Doctor stated with a shrug.

"He's five, Doctor. He's not screwed up yet. When he's 16 and nuts, then you can say you screwed up. Like Koschei. I mean, yeah, the kids a bit psychotic but I'm hoping he'll grow out of it," Or so he seriously hoped anyway.

The problem with raising kids was it was hard to tell if things would go to hell or not, the Master favoured thinking positively. Which was rare from him, admittedly.

The Doctor sighed softly and nodded his head a bit. Alright. He could go with that. Easily or so he hoped. It wasn't exactly easy to get over.

Smirking, he cast the Master a quick glance, raising his eyebrow a bit. "So. Are you even paying attention to the film?" he asked lightly, because he knew that he sure as hell wasn't.

The Master shrugged his shoulders. "The films just background noise to keep us amused when theres a lull but thus far? I think we're managing," he joked playfully, knowing what he wanted to do.

He just wanted to talk and get to know the man, get a good handle of what he was getting himself into and all that.

The Doctor hummed softly and nodded a bit. That's what he thought. "Alright then. tell me about yourself. We've been talking about me so far." he murmured softly, shrugging a bit.

He couldn't quite help himself there. Not really. The Doctor wanted to know more about the man that he was dating. He couldn't quite help himself.

"Tell you what, exactly? I told you everything. Youngest of my family, bullied at school, never had a meaningful relationship and I have a son," the Master summed up as bluntly as possible because there wasn't anything to say.

"I mean... I don't know what to tell you. What do you want to know?" the Master asked, offering a small curious look on his face.

The Doctor just shrugged. "Anything. What do you like? Dislike? Why are you interested in the stars? What are your aspirations? Just basic things really." he assured. That was it. He just wanted to know what the Master wanted from life.

And could be be blamed? The man was interesting to him. He really was. It wasn't something that he could easily explain away. It was just the way that the Doctor worked.

"I like Russian literature, dogs, cosmology, kids shows and jelly babies. I hate comedies, being tied down, geology, being broke and the noise in my head," the Master summed up swiftly with a small smirk, making it rather easy and simple.

"I like the stars because they remind me of home, like I belong there. And I aspire to know everything. Impossible, yes, but not a bad idea," he explained in an even manner.

"Noise?" the Doctor asked softly, cocking his head to the side a bit. He didn't get that. It wasn't often that he had trouble following along with another.

"But I know what you mean about the stars. I use to watch them all Igbt when growin up, just imagining leaving and being amongst them." the Doctor said softly.

"I never fancied running away or leaving or anything, I just wanted to see them and know them," And call them his own. Call him childish but he wanted to own every single star.

"The noise? Remember, tinnitus. I hear drums," the Master reminded softly as he tapped his own head four times. He knew that it wasn't really that deep down but try telling his GP that.

"I remember that, but tinnitus usually presents with ringing. Not drumming. I'm just curious." he assured softly. Right. No making a science project oh of his boyfriend. He had a hard time with that.

Settling down, the Doctor sighted softly and closed his eyes. He couldn't complain too much. Not really. He was enjoying himself for the time being.

"That's what I said but apparently it's not always ringing, it can present itself as a whistling, clicking or drumming," the Master remarked before moving closer and smiling somewhat.

"It hurts, like a never ending headache, I usually cope quite well," Listing his head up, he pressed their foreheads together and closed his eyes. "If only you could hear it, no one knows what it's like... It's not in my ear and it's not minor. It's right there in my head and it hurts."