Imaginary Worlds

"Sure," he offered as they headed off towards the train station. He finished his ice-cream and wiped his hands on his trousers. Well, he'd change later anyway.

"Thanks for spending the day with me," he offered with a playful smile, just to be nice.

"'M happy to be out." Koschei responded sofly, frowning a bit. Right. Where to go from here then.

"Do you ever wish I was different? Marnal said I was nicer in his dream." Koschei mumbled.

The Master raised an eyebrow before shaking his head, leading the boy down towards the train station. "I've always loved you for who you are and that won't change."

Sure he missed that boy he knew at the beginning but he was growing up, that was life. "Do you wish I was different?"

Koschei just shook his head. "I love you." he assured firmly. And it was that simple.

He wouldn't change his father. Even if things became strained between them as he got older or they had a falling out eventually. Koschei would always love the man.

"I love you as well, Koschei," the Master informed him and he did, he really did. It was odd because sometimes part of him seemed to think it was insane how all of this was.

Like he wasn't meant to be a father. But how could he not be? He was rather attached to the boy. He was definitely his son.

It was going to be horrid when things were snapped back to normal. Koschei would be hot particularly hard. If only in knowing everything he'd done.

He sighed softly and shook his head a bit. "'M tired." he announced softly.

"Shouldn't be long now," the Master remarked, they were near enough to it, about 5 minutes to the station then an hour to get home. The boy could sleep on the journey.

"Want a piggy back?" he asked with a playful smile, it'd save the boy the energy needed to walk.

Yes. Yes, he would like that. "No. 'M not a little kid anymore." Koschei protested for the sake of protesting.

He couldn't just agree. He was getting too old for that and he knew it.

"Really? If you say so," the Master offered because he knew the boy did want one, what kid didn't? "You know one of the advantages of being short like us is that you can get away with that stuff."

Which was pretty true, Koschei didn't look his age much. "I got piggy backs till I was 10 off my dad," well, he was the runt, he needed the boost to see over everyone."

Koschei bit his lip and shrugged a bit. "Fine. If you're gonna insist " he muttered with a roll of his eyes.

It was the only way that he'd agree to it. Because it was embarrassing otherwise. And Loschei was definitely prideful.

The Master laughed and crouched down for him. "Oh yeah, I totally insist," he remarked playfully and a tiny bit sarcastically but by then, he had the boy on his back.

Lifting him up, he left him rest somewhat. The boy was short and sickly, who would really care. "But if you think you're too big for this then I'll cut back on them for you, promise!"

"I don't wanna stop. But I know it will." he mumbled softly with a bit of a cringe. He knew what happened when he got older.

Koschei was simply trying to get his losses out of the way early. "Tell me more about your dad?"

"My dad? Well, he was a writer and he was always making up stuff, I suppose it's a skill he translated into work," the Master remarked, it was the main thing he could remember of his father.

"I was the youngest and the smallest and despite how much I protested, he always insisted on making sure I joined in and got to see everything, even if I had to climb on him," And much like Koschei, he only did it when he could justify it with his pride.

"Why don't we know them?" Koschei asked softly. He got that his grandfather was gone.

But what of the rest of them? Koschei didn't see any reason not to ask about this.

"My fathers on Earth and ... well, he passed. My mother is still around but she doesn't like kids. Ironically," the Master remarked and he found it kind of funny.

"My brothers and I never had a fantastic relationship, they used to be quite cruel. My eldest brother wanted to meet you but... I wasn't sure," the man had been quite a bully, he didn't trust it.

"I want to meet them." Koschei informed. It might manage where his mother hadn't. He could at least try.

And maybe the other's family had changed with time. Hopefully. Koschei could be optimistic.

"Well okay, fine, I'll try and get in contact," he didn't like the idea though, he was the weird one in the family, the freak with the drums who couldn't seem to act normal.

The smartest one yet the least predictable, it used to scare both his father and his mother.

Koschei wasn't sure he'd do any better with them, but he would try. Nothing could be worse than what he'd heard of the Doctor's family. That man was screwed up.

And speaking of screwed up and the Doctor..."Why is Marnal so odd?" Koschei asked softly. He didn't mean it cruelly.

"Because he was raised by an odd man," the Master said simply and that was sort of true. "I don't know, he's not full blooded like us, he's half human and his father is a bit-- well, you've seen him parent."

It wasn't harsh, it was just the truth. "The Doctor's last partner didn't help, Iros wasn't all that nice to Marnal, must of damaged the kid a bit. I think the git knocked the sense out of the boy. Literally."

"I think he knocked the sense out of Mr. Smith." Koschei deadpanned. Because he had seen the man try to parent.

"I think he had more problems than you can handle." Koschei admitted. He didn't want his dad to burn out.

"It's okay, since I've been with him, he's improved a bit and it'll be okay, I kind of wanted to stick with them," he wasn't going to try and explain it to them at all.

"I like the Doctor and I don't hate Marnal like you do," the Master admitted, they were two very troubled people who needed a hand.

"Just be careful. I don't want you to get upset." Koschei said softly. And it was honestly that simple.

He wanted his dad to be okay. The idea that the Master would get hurt again bothered him.

"I'll always be okay, I won't let them upset me. And if they do, they can answer to you. You'll scare them off," he was sure of that one, he knew Marnal was fairly afraid.

And he was sure that the Doctor wouldn't want to deal with an angry Koschei either. "I promise I'll be okay."

((Off to bed))

"Don't promise. People break their promises." Koschei muttered. It was a fear he'd never rid himself of.

The two of them really had screwed the two kids up. Koschei couldn't even be upset about it in the end. Not without his memories.

"Fine, I won't and I don't," the Master offered as they rounded the corner towards the train station. He passed his return ticket over and stood to the side, waiting for their train to arrive.

"I was thinking that maybe next week we could go somewhere else as well? Maybe to the zoo or aquarium?" he asked with a small shrug.