Imaginary Worlds

"We have a deal," Smiling, he moved closer to the Doctor and settled against him, yawning tiredly and closing his eyes. Time for bed it seemed and wasn't this just wonderful.

"Up for bed now?" the Master asked with a small curious expression, not sure if the other man was tired or not.

"Surprisingly? Yes. I can definitely sleep right now." he murmured softly. And really? He couldn't be blamed. He was generally warn out by such activities

The Doctor settled down and tugged the blankets up around them, content with the Master being close by. And so what if he happened to be cuddling a bit? He was a cuddler.

The Master fell asleep rather swiftly and lay beside the Doctor as he finally nodded off, glad the other man wasn't going to sit up all night... it was just a tiny bit weird.

He woke up around 5 when he heard knocking on the bedroom door and he sat up, rubbing his eyes, Marnal was outside knockig the still locked door. "John? Your kid is up."

The first thing that John did was look to the clock and groan. Marnal didn't have to be at his nursery until nine and he didn't work until ten. They could get three more hours of sleep easily.

What? If the Doctor was goin to sleep, then he was sleeping properly. That didn't mean that he didn't get up, pulling on a pair of sweats and making himself presentable before he opened the door just enough to slip out, Pest quickly slipping in. "Hey, kiddo, what's up?"

"You locked the door," Marnal whined unhappily before he clambered passed the Doctor and onto the bed with Pest. Marnal usually climbed into bed with his dad this thing to lazily lie with him.

Sadly an overactive imagination like Marnals made everything scary, especially a dark house, and he never did like being locked out. The Master rolled over and moved up for Marnal could lie in the middle with his cat.

Oh boy. They hadn't had this problem until they'd moved away from Iros. Probably because the man would snap at the kid for trying it. There was a reason to lock the door.

"Marnal, I love you dearly, but we need to work on this." the Doctor sighed, getting back into bed and leaving the lad be. He said that every time this happened. He usually wasn't woken up before his alarm went off though.

Marnal didn't seem to care, he just curled up closer. He didn't like locked door, Iros locked him out of everything and that left him more upset than anything, he didn't want Mr Saxon locking him out either.

Pest and Marnal happily slept away most of the morning and the Matser didn't wake up till the Doctors alarm went off, beeping loudly and annoyingly.

The Doctor shared the sentiment, knocking his alarm to the ground roughly. Yeah. Should have seen that coming. He got up careful and left to get ready for the day, taking about fifteen minutes before waking up Marnal.

"Go get in the bath and dress. I'll have eggs for when you get up." he assured softly. With that, the Doctor headed down to cook. He was trying not to disturb the Master.

Marnal got right into the bath while the Master woke up with a yawn and rubbed at his eyes. Oh Monday, the day he got his son back, it was odd really, he was getting used to the lad being away.

It made spending time with the Doctor so much easier. "Doctor? Can I catch a ride to work? I need to see Koschei and make sure he's fine before I head off."

The Doctor returned shortly and offered the other a plate of eggs with toast and bacon. "Hey. Thought you were staying here today and I was going to bring Koschei back." he mused softly.

"Did that change?" the Doctor asked lightly, offering a small smile. What? He was just checking. He honestly just didn't care if the Master did one thing over another.

"Nah, I just worry about him... look, let me know if there's a problem and I'll stay here and pick up Koschei from school," the Master assured, he still had his car with him.

"So it's 12 he finishes? I'll give him dinner then and I'll call of anything goes wrong," which it shouldn't but it was wise to have a plan in action and besides, he needed to be careful

"Alright. I don't expect you to have anything going wrong. And thank you." the Doctor said sincerely, offering a small smile. The Master would be perfectly fine.

The Doctor couldn't help but to worry about this. The other was one of those people that brought that side out in him. "It's going to be fine." he assured softly.

Once Marnal was dressed and ready, breakfast all eaten, he hung back in the kitchen, clearly not wanting to go but knowing he had too. School was never a happy occasion.

Who wanted to sit alone all day and be called names when they tried to join in? The Master stay on the sofa with his laptop, already getting to work on his proposal to the grants office. "See you soon, John."

The Doctor just smiled softly, making quick work of the dishes before lifting Marnal and heading out. He did feel bad for the kid at times. How could he not? Marnal didn't do well with others.

Pulling up outside the school, he looked to his son and smiled softly. "So. Are you okay? I mean, with Harry having stayed this weekend?" the Doctor checked softly.

"I am, Harry is nice," Marnal remarked as he bit his lower lip and looked out into the school yard where all the kids were heading inside with their friends or having a kick around of the football on the tarmac.

"Iros wasn't, I didn't like him. And I don't like being locked out, what if a monster eats me and you're not there?" Marnal pointed out with a very serious expression on his face.

The Doctor sighed softly at that one. Right. "Sorry. But I can't promise anything. Sometimes grow ups need their private time. A monster won't get you. Promise. And I'll always come help when uou call for me." he assured softly.

He couldn't promise much else. But the Doctor wasn't going to leave his bedroom door open and unlocked every night he had his boyfriend about. Marnal would have to accept that.

"Okay dad, I believe you. I'll see you when you get home," Marnal nodded his head and bit his lower lip, wondering if he could possibly stall for any longer... probably not.

Marnal sighed and picked up his bag and hopped out of the car. He hesitated before waving at his dad and running off to class. There was no joy in school but it was something that had to be done

The Doctor smiled softly and waved before heading off for his day. It was mostly busy work. He even got Koschei on his way home, getting off early at three and headig home.

And he knew that the Master would be upset when they walked in, Koschei's arm bandaged tight from wrist to elbow. Didn't seem that the child would be ice skating for a while. At least it wasn't broken.

The Master had spent the evening with Marnal, trying to teach him chess but in the end, he just kind of settled for watching cartoons. As soon as the door opened, he was there.

And no, he wasn't very happy. Crouching down, he looked it over before taking a very deep breath... what the hell? "... What happened to your arm Kosch?"

"I fell while skating. But 'm 'kay. I went to see a doctor and she said it's just a sprain an' a few stitches. They look cool!" Koschei declared brightly.

Only a kid would find that of interest. "Hey. Thanks for watching Marnal for me. Think you want to stay for dinner?" the Doctor offered softly, earning a sharp glare from Koschei.

"Your mom should of rung me," the Master insisted, it was on the bloody agreement that if anyone was injured, she had to ring him. Oh if she thought he wasn't going to bring this to the courts and her social workers attention then she was a fool.

"We're staying, I fancy dinner," And Koschei would just put up with that, he was going to have to get used to it. "What are you doing?"

"She did. She left a message when you didn't answer." Koschei informed fully. It wasn't their fault that the Master hadn't been home all weekend long.

Sighing, the Doctor nodded lightly. "Fish. I feel like something healthy today." he admitted softly.

The Master frowned, he checked his answer machine the day he went home and the sunday via his phone, it must of been late into the afternoon when she'd done it. For the love God.

"Well, you're not going ice-skating for a very long time. And I mean long," the Master said bluntly as he headed into the kitchen, that was the last straw. "Fish sounds good actually."

"But I want to! I like doing it. It's fun." Koschei whined. And who could blame him! He'd found something enjoyable to do that wasn't solitary.

He didn't even bother when the Doctor slipped away to cook, continuing his silk in full. The Master had it coming this time around.

"Koschei, you've really hurt yourself and I don't fancy you coming home hurt. How are you going to even write in school tomorrow? Or wash? We're going to have to keep it dry," the Master pointed out, it was awkward and poor form.

"Look, its the same as if you';d of nearly drowned in a pool or nearly been eaten at a zoo, I'm taking precautions and as your father, I say you can't go for a while, at the very least until you've healed!" the Master pointed out. A parents job wasn't to be popular, it was to make the best choices.