Imaginary Worlds

"Why don't we go in? I mean, we see it, in a way, so why not together?" the Master asked with a small frown because being curious simply overtook all other impulses.

And all he wanted was to just go in there and find out what it was. But, oddly enough, he was kind of scared.

"We can't. It's locked. I managed to pick it once, but it locked again and it was as though the lock had changed. I couldn't pick it the same way again." the Doctor stated.

He knew a key or something existed. He just couldn't find the damn thing.

The Master focused on it and moved closer, jiggling the handle until nothing happen. Turning his head back, he gave the Doctor a small frown cause this was mad.

"Something is keeping us out... that isn't normal, John! We need to ... I don't know, break it down," the Master stressed, hoping the man was going to agree.

"You want to break down the strange door to the room where something unknown is actively keeping us out. Are you insane?" the Doctor shot back incredulously.

That wasn't right. "Look. I'm sorry I brought it up. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't insane." the Doctor assured.

Well he couldn't just forget about it, could he? But for ow, yeah, he supposed he could just let it all go cause it would make things just a tiny bit easier when he broached the subject later.

"Fine, fine, you're right. Let's go to bed?" the Master suggested, even if this wasn't far from the end of this.

The Doctor knew that it would come back to him. How could it not? But for now, he was happy to forget about the strange basement door.

"Right. Let's go to bed." he agreed, heading back up that way. The Doctor didn't intend to bring up anything else that struck him as odd in that house.

The Master dropped down in bed and lay back, contemplating what that door must mean. Too many odd things happening to be a coincidence, he didn't buy it.

He knew the Doctor wouldn't be happy so he tried to make him happy now by making sure the man knew he was up for cuddling. "Back to as we were then?"

The Doctor only hesitated a moment before settling in close to the man. It was better than dealing with the tension from before. He shouldn't have said anything.

"I have to stay out late tomorrow." the Doctor reminded softly. It was his way of saying the Master was welcome to stay again.

"I have tomorrow off, I'll watch Marnal and then we can spend some of the night together but I have to pick Koschei up the next morning," which meant getting sleep in.

Driving all day was tiring and horrible and frankly, he didn't really like it.

Right. The Doctor forgot how that day overlapped when he'd asked the other to watch Marnal while he attended his appointment. No matter.

"Say hi to the lad for me. Though I highly doubt it'll mean much to him." the Doctor stated lightly, shrugging a bit with a smile.

"I will, just one more day and he's back," the Master remarked as he closed his eyes and settled against the Doctor,trying to settle and keep his mind off the door.

"I'll keep Marnal amused till you get home," the Master assured, or he'd try anyway, he could never tell.

The Doctor hummed softly as he nodded. He could agree to that. "It's fine. Promise. I appreciate it and so does Marnal." he assured.

The Master was going out of his way here and he was grateful toward the man. How could he not be?

"No problem," the Master offered as he closed his eyes and lay there, more than happy to let the day just wash over him because he had a new clue to this whole mess.

And he would get the answer before this month was over, he was sure of it.

The Doctor settled down in order to try and get some sleep. If only because he was up and about at an ungodly hour of the morning getting ready and slipping away for the day. He'd said it was going to be a long one.

And really? When he had interviews and meetings to plan and attend, it was bound to be busy. Not to mention the Doctor still had to finish his paperwork from the day prior.

The Doctor was gone by the time the Master woke up and Marnal was staring at him from the doorway, clearly not sure what to do. He had accidentally slept in and missed saying bye to his dad.

Either way, the Master made the kid breakfast, put on the cartoons and let him amuse himself while the Master went on his laptop to keep on top with his departments paperwork.

It wasn't until close to seven that the Doctor returned home. "Hey, kiddo, want me to cook something up real quick?" he asked lightly as he located his son.

And really? That was the life he'd been accustomed to. Go to work or school and then come home to deal with the house. He didn't even consider the Mazter might have taken care of anything.

"Already had dinner," Marnal declared as he hugged his dad tightly, it felt like forever since he'd seen his dad and he had two hours till bedtime so he was a little dejected.

"I had a burger," he admitted, the Master wasn't a cook but he sure knew where to get fast food. It wasn't healthy but the kid didn't have it that often really.

"Oh. Well. Suppose that's good then." the Doctor said lightly, not sure how to go about that one. He wasn't accustomed to it in the least.

"No matter then. So I have to go to an appointment tomorrow and Mr. Saxon is driving out to pick his son up, which means a sitter. Do you want me to schedule the same one as last time?" he asked softly.

"Sure, Marnal said with a sigh. He had barely seen his dad all week and he hadn't gotten to do anything either, it was starting to look like another crummy holiday.

but then that wasn't uncommon, when the Doctor worked, he had to just wait. Which got a little old, a little faster. The Master looks up from the sofa and offered the Doctor a smile. "I brought you a burger too if you fancy it, left it in the oven to keep warm."

"Thanks, but you didn't need to do that.0 the Doctor assured as he stood up and bit his lip. Right. He'd have to eat later. But first?

"Alright, Marnal. We have a short period of time before bed. What would you like to do with it?" the Doctor asked lightly.

Marnal just shrugged his shoulders. "I'm gonna go play with dinosaurs," the boy said before hopping off the sofa and heading off to find some, he wasn't really in the mood for group play it seemed.

The Master, on the other hand, seemed interested in playing with the stray army man on the floor. "Your kid has cooler toys than Kosch."

Well. That was odd. "What can I say? I like to buy his forgiveness from time to time." the Doctor replied as he fetched his food and sat upon the couch.

He hadn't expected Marnal to take distance. "Did I miss something?" he asked softly.

"Dunno, kids can be flippant and sulky," the Master remarked as he shrugged, sipping his cup of tea and just enjoying the moment of peace he had today.

Mostly he'd been running around after the kid ad trying to amuse him. "Maybe he's tired, it is late, wouldn't stress it."

The Doctor nodded softly as he picked apart his burger. "Thank you for watching him. It means a lot to me." he murmured softly.

And it did. Because it meant Marnal was happy. "So. How was your day?" he asked lightly.

"It was okay, we played with blocks, I read some more and then we played in the garden and ordered dinner," the Master wasn't good at being responsible or adult.

But he wasn't too awful at playing and just generally spending time with kids without having to play parent. "You?"