Imaginary Worlds

"It's alright. Promise." the Doctor was quick to assure. He didn't want to have Marnal worrying about him.

That wasn't his son's job. "Look. I'm fine. I promise I'll get help if I need it." he stated lightly.

"Okay then... can I go to bed when I'm done?" Marnal asked, a sleepless night had left him unsettle and exhausted, unlike the Doctor, he did need sleep. He needed a very human amount of sleep.

"But we could watch a film first or read a book together?"

He really hoped to watch the results of the election. "We can watch a film. I'll even let you sleep on the ouch tonight." he assured.

What the hell? They'd both had a fought time as of late. He might as well start making it up to the kid.

"Really?" Marnal grinned he loved that, he loved nights where he had that sort of easy but fun reward, if he was older it wouldn't of sounded so great but it worked for him.

"Can we have popcorn while we watch the film?" Nothing ventures was nothing gained.

"Of course." he murmured softly. He tried not to think about how he'd never been shopping as he made the snack. Everything he needed was simply...There.

"Come on and you can choose the film." the Doctor informed as he headed to the living room to sit down. Again. Why the hell not?

He picked out an action film they hadn't seen yet and came back in, passing it to his father with a small smile because it was something that he wanted to see for a while now.

"Thanks for spending time with me," he offered as he dropped down on the sofa and waited for his dad to get settled.

The Doctor peaked at the rating before giving a curt nod and putting it on. What? He didn't want to accidentally show something inappropriate.

He settled with a hum and ruffled Marnal's hair a bit. "Oi. You know I don't mind spending time with you." he said firmly.

"I know but I don't see much these days... but I know you love me so I don't worry," he offered because he didn't want his dad to feel bad at all, he wanted to cheer him up.

"I just like it when we're together," he admitted because it was nice to have some alone time with his dad.

Right. The Doctor sighed softly and absently brushed at the lad's hair, trying to coax the boy back to sleep. Why not? It only made sense to do so.

"I know you do. And you know I don't mind that. But you also know that I'm in a relationship again." the Doctor cautioned. Because it meant sharing.

"I know but Mr Saxon isn't like Iros," Marnal confessed with a yawn. The Master didn't hit, he didn't yell, he more sort of humoured him and spoke down to him a bit.

Like he was special needs or something. He didn't mind that too much. Closing his eyes, he zoned out from the film and settled against his father. "I don't mind sharing."

Of course the man wasn't Iros. They wouldn't be together if that was the case. The ;9,594 let his son relax, knowing the lad would soon fall asleep.

At which point, the Doctor waited for the film to finish before heading up the stairs. He would simply read a book for the night.

Marnal woke the Doctor up the next morning, rubbing at his eyes as he had clearly been disturbed from his sleep. And once again, he was holding out the house phone.

"Dad, Mr Saxon... again," Marnal mumbled, passing the phone to the Doctor before climbing onto the bed and burrowing under the covers so he could go back to bed.

He had actually been sleeping for once. "Hello?" he groaned softly as he sat up, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Ugh. He so hated being disturbed at times. "Sorry. Just woke up." he muttered softly.

"Check the news when you get the chance. And I won't be in today, got work to do at home," the Master remarked, giving nothing away because it was more fun like that.

"Oh and this is kind of revenge for all those early morning calls I used to get. Have a great day though," the Master teased playfully, clearly amused with himself.

"Yes, but you were actually sleeping on a nightly basis." the Doctor deadpanned. Though he bid farewell and disconnected, looking to Marnal with a small smile.

"Hey, kiddo. Want to go check out the reason for this early morning disruption with me?" he asked lightly.

"Do I have to get up?" Marnal mumbled from under the blankets. He did, eventually, poke his head out and nod because he was always a curious kid and he couldn't help it.

"Okay but you hafta make me breakfast after," Marnal insisted as he crawled off the bed and grabbed his dads hand.

"I will." he assured, leading the way downstairs and turning on the news. He was admittedly curious himself.

"What would you prefer for breakfast?" the Doctor asked, waiting for the story in question to come about.

"Toast and egg?" Marnal asked, he was pretty hungry today and he was eager to have something nice. He could even add some ketchup if he had too but he'd see.

"Look, it's Mr Saxon!" Marnal pointed out with an amused smile, he couldn't read the TV but the man was on news. Something about elections but either way.

And there would be the story he'd been looking for, a smile coming into play over his features. Well. Would seem the man wasn't completely unlucky.

"And that would be why we were woken up. He won the election." the Doctor mused. Probably helped this place had been designed to have the Master rule early on as a tactic for keeping the man put.

Marnal laughed playfully because it was funny to see someone they knew on the TV. He frowned at the word election but judging by what the TV said, he got a childish idea of it all.

"Mr Saxon is a king?" Marnal asked innocently with a small cock of his head, trying to work out what had happened.

"The people decided to make him a leader. Come on. I'll make you your eggs and toast." he granted lightly.

Why the hell not? It was shaping up to be a decent day. He had to meet up with Iros lately to go over what he'd missed, but still.

Marnal happily sat down and waited for breakfast, devouring it the moment it was placed in front of him He really did think this would be a good day as well.

It was panning out to be a pretty good one. "What changes now that Mr Saxon is all in charge and stuff?"

"Whatever he wants to change." he murmured. Hopefully their relationship wasn't one of those things.

The Doctor didn't know what to expect. And really? It only made sense that he would be curious.

"I think it's cool, he's like a king. He's way cooler than Iros," the boy insisted, everyone was in his eyes but part of him felt that holding Saxon up and talking Iros down would keep Iros out of his life.

Then his father would surely never go back to him or ever invite him around again. "Will he move into a castle or something?

"Again. It's up to him if he wishes to leave." the Doctor murmured. It wouldn't be hard to move away now.

A small thing he honestly hoped against. Because the Master had mentioned it before.