Imaginary Worlds

"I don't care if they can handle me, I'd rather be dumb that like Koschei," What? Koschei was always mad and always yelling, it must of been a sad existence to live.

At least he had fun. "I just hate seeing your dad, he always tells me."

"I know. But it's going to be that way whether you like it or not. He's still family." the Doctor said firmly.

He didn't take that lightly. The man was his father and, whether he liked the guy or not, he was stuck with the man.

"If you were mean to me, when I grew up, I'd just ignore you," Marnal informed his dad, he probably wouldn't, he wasn't really able too. But if someone was that mean?

Well, he'd hardly give them the time of day, would he? He never did like people who were cruel just to be cruel.

There was just one issue there. "I'm his son. You need to at least humor him." he asserted firmly.

The Doctor tended to be drawn toward people with a cruel streak. He couldn't wuite figure out what the hell he was looking for. By it explained why he didn't distance himself from his father.

"Then you spend a weekend with him, he's not my dad," Marnal protested because why did he have to do this sort of thing? He wasn't interested in the horrible old man.

Nor was he interested in the Doctors family. "Can't I just stay here? Please!"

The Doctor got it. He really did. Thing was that he wouldn't give in. "I know it's hard and you don't like it, but he's still your family. Either he or my brother will be who takes care of you should anything happen to me." he pointed out.

And really? He did feel bad about that. But he had nobody else. The Doctor wouldn't burn bridges.

"Why can't I go to my moms family? She has family and if family has to stay in touch then they should want me!" Marnal protested, it had to be true right? The Doctor just said all that stuff about family.

So why couldn't he go see them? Or stay with them? "You're not allowed to die, I don't want to be stuck with them."

"I don't plan on dying anytime soon." the Doctor assured firmly. What? He wasn't going to complain that his son was unhappy.

"One weekend and that it." the Doctor said softly. He couldn't ask for much else.

"Promise me it will only be this weekend and then I won't have to see him for a while," the Doctors dad wasn't a pleasant man, no child would want to be in his company.

He sighed with a pout and took off into the living room to put the cartoons on, not like he'd get to watch them at granddads.

Damn. "Marnal, you know that can't be promised. But I will do my best to keep you from having to go." the Doctor assured.

He headed into the kitchen to cook, not feeling too up to being social when his son was upset with him. Th Doctor was willing to let Marnal relax again.

Marnal sighed and lay on the sofa to watch TV, knowing he had to go there always put him in a bad mood and he couldn't help but sulk because it really wasn't fair.

But hey, he always got over it, the Doctor was very lucky there.

The Doctor came out shortly and sat on the edge of the couch, offering over a miniature pizza. He was trying here. He couldn't ask for much else.

"Hey. I get it. You're unhappy. But I can't do anything about that right now." he murmured.

Marnal took the offered pizza and pulled it apart in his hands, smiling once more as he looked at his dad. He never was good at staying mad at him, not really.

"I love you dad," Marnal chirped out happily before taking a bite. He didn't get why, he just could not hate his dad.

The Doctor smiled softly and brushed at his son's hair. "Hey. It's just the one weekend. I promise you." he murmured.

He couldn't really say much. The Doctor felt bad for his son. He didn't even want to spend the weekend with his father.

Marnal sighed, he understood but he didn't like it, he'd never like it. How could he? He didn't know how the doctor put up with that sort of thing as a boy, he couldn't.

"I'm sorry you had to spend time with him too," Marnal offered with a small smile.

(Sorry for the delays today, I promised my friend I'd help them complete a game and they just wouldn't leave >.<)

(I'm at work so don't worry about it.)

And didn't that just make him wonderful. "Don't worry about it too much. The weekend will be up before you know it." the Doctor assured.

What else was he to say? The lad had every reason to dislike this scenario.

"Then you promised the park! The park annnd the zoo?" What? He had to see granddad so he was upping the prize here because it was more fair to get something out of it.

"Just me and you," because they never got to do much alone these days and as much as he liked everyone, he loved them alone.

"Just the park this time." the Doctor murmured softly. "But I was thinking that we could go look at puppies." the Doctor informed with a slight cringe.

Oh, how he hated that. And really? He knew it was his own damn fault. He tended to buy his son various things to make up for this stuff.

"Puppies? Can I get a dog? Am I getting one?" Yep, that definitely put a massive grin on his face because he was excited, he really did love the idea of having a dog like sigma by his side.

"Can we really?" Marnal checked, just to be careful. "Pest will be okay with it, promise!"

"We can try. I'm not saying we get one right away. But we can look." the Doctor asserted.

He didn't need to be misunderstood. They would see if they found one. And if they didn't, then they'd try again later.

"Okay!" Looking was still the first step towards getting a dog and yes, he was indeed excited. He just wanted to see the dogs as well, it might make this weekend worth it.

"Can you maybe ring when I'm at granddads? I miss you sometimes," Marnal confessed, a little call to have a friendly voice sounded nice.

"I'll call tomorrow before I leave to go to the banquet and I'll see you Saturday evening. It'll be just fine." the Doctor assured.

And Sunday woułd see them looking at dogs. Though he didn't think he'd get one. He doubted that he would.

Marnal smiled playfully and nodded his head before finishing up his mini pizza. He really did love when his dad spent time with him and sunday made all of this worth it.

Though his attitude would probably change with it came to getting closer. "Want to see my drawings?"

The Doctor didn't want anything to do with those drawings. Period. He didn't want to get into it again when he liked to avoid those dreams.

"Sure. You can show me." he granted softly. Because Marnal was still his son.

Marnal showed his dad some very poorly drawn pictures, some were of the dream they all spoke of and the Doctor looked almost like a monster in the pictures. But some were a bit nicer.

There was one with the Doctor, Koschei and the Master in front of a much bigger house that he passed over. "We lived together then!"