Imaginary Worlds

"Nothing I didn't already know." the Doctor said simply, shrugging. Oh...Touchy, touchy subject. Not to mention dangerous. "It's fine. There's won't be any other problems with him." he assured. Of that the Doctor would make sure of.

Until then, it was honestly best to keep the Master out of it as much as possible. "The kid's alright. Just...Trust me that I have it handled?" the Doctor asked softly. Hopefully, the Master would be willing to grant him at least that much.

Well, none of this really took a genius to work out, did it? "It's Zen, isn't it? I knew it! It's always him! I knew it, I knew he'd do something like this, screw up yet another kid. Utter bastard, like I said!"

Yes, probably best to keep the Master out of it. After all, he got a little too invested in this one, it was a vendetta that he just couldn't drop. It cost him a friend and he was willing to stick by it now and prove that Zen was a useless waste of a life and better off dead.

"Yes, it's Zen. Zen. As in, not Verica. She hasn't the slightest of ideas of what's going on from what I've worked out. She will when I take Epsilon home." the Doctor said slowly, keeping his voice low pointedly. He really didn't want to explain the concepts of abuse to their son or to upset Epsilon.

"I have it taken care of. Do you think Verica will stay if he's hitting Epsilon? Or, better yet, do you think that social services won't step in should she stay for whatever reason? The kid will be fine and, should it work out, Zen will be dealing with the consequences to his actions." the Doctor assured firmly.

"Or, better yet, I destroy him. Slowly and painfully," For revenge, of course. That bastard made him lose his only friend just for trying to assist. He didn't care what the Doctor said, Zen had gotten on his nerves from the start and he wanted to crush him like a useless insect and leave him to disappear into nothingness.

Course, he wasn't an idiot. The Doctor was giving him that look and he didn't want to upset him after everything. Taking a deep breath, he gave the Doctor an annoyed look. "Fine, I'll let you handle it. But make sure Verica knows that yes, I was right."

"Thank you...And while on this topic, what the hell do you mean by screw up another kid?" the Doctor inquired slowly, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. Oh...Danger. "Because Zen only has the one. Epsilon. Who happens to be no more screwy than usual." he pointed out.

"The man that Zen is modeled after? I'm pretty sure that I wasn't screwed up by my father." the Doctor pointed out. He actually took offense to that. Not because it was his father. No. His father was one of the few he didn't regret seeing killed off. But it was the implication he was screwed up.

"No offence but come on, you were unhappy a lot of the time. I'm sure your dad was the reason behind all your issues at the academy," the Master remarked tactlessly. Yes, he was referring to the Doctor being expelled and running off but come on, his dad had always been a negative influence. And Zen was the exact same man in most ways.

"I'm not saying you're screwed up now-- well, no actually, you are," the Master added, once again without a shred of tact or thought put into his words. "I mean, come on, what Time Lord isn't screwed up?"

"Okay. First off? Most people at the academy hated me. Including professors. Then I was dealing with Anzor and my cousins. Only issues back then were when he was angry or pushing me to do that whole follow my one true destiny nonsense." the Doctor pointed out slowly.

And as for now? The Master could use just a bit more tact there. "I am not screwed up! I'm a perfectly stable being." the Doctor protested. And he would continue to protest that. Any issues he had currently were minimal.

"Oh yes, sure, right. Makes total sense, you've never even been a little bit unstable, have you?" the Master mocked, looking amused at the very idea. Neither of them were stable. Why was that such a big issue? The Doctor was worse than him sometimes! He just got away with it more than the Master did because he represented the good side.

"Look, I'm sorry but its true. Look at us, we're not exactly stable or good role models or ... well, anything positive half the time. Rassilon knows, you try more than me," the Master remarked, waving his head in dismissal. He had to hand it to the Doctor, he did try.

The Doctor sighed softly and shook his head a bit. "I prefer to think myself normal...Mind, normalcy is socially constructed and, seeing as I made this society, I'm pretty sure I can define myself as being normal." he stated simply. There. He said it. Finally voiced the words aloud.

He'd made the society they lived in. Yes, the Master started it, but the Doctor had truly created it and made it flourish. As such, he was the normal one and they could all deal with it. "So. Want to help me cook?" he asked hopefully. That was a normal request.

"Don't be daft Doctor, you can make your own universe but you'll still be weird. Cause you are. And so am I," they were seen as outsiders, Koschei found that out at public school. They were isolated in the middle of nowhere, had endless money and didn't really interact socially with anyone any more. They were isolated and weird.

They probably didn't have the best reputation. Sighing, he shook his head and wandered after the Doctor for a lack of better things to do. "I suppose I can... what are we making?"

"Spaghetti. Epsilon apparently likes it. He just never gets it. According to him, Verica can't cook and Zen simply won't." the Doctor stated simply. Which was a bit of a laugh in his opinion. Because the poor kid was stuck in the middle with poor food and take out.

Stepping into the kitchen, he cast a glance toward the dishes in the sink and shook his head, gathering what he needed to cook with. He would deal with them afterward. Simple enough. "You know you could have just asked me to clean those last night, right?" the Doctor deadpanned.

"Ah yes, Zen. What a top bloke," the Master remarked sarcastically as he sat himself on the table and rested his feet neatly on the chairs and turned his head to get a good look at what the Doctor was doing-- oooh, yeah, he forgot about those.

"Well, you know what I can do now," all it took was a brief wave of his hand and all the dishes were clean. He was still bubbling with energy and any excuse to use it really. Even cleaning dishes. He'd probably crashing a week or so but until then, he wanted to play around. Was that such a crime? "There! All done."

The Doctor sighed and shrugged. "Thank you." he murmured, going back to cooking dinner. If the Master did that with a wave of the hand, he would probably be sulking for hours, if not days. Couldn't help it. Not really.

Because he wanted to ignore the energy within himself, never mind the Master. Was that so much to ask? Well, probably. He didn't want to take it away from the Master. But he liked to do things the old fashioned way.

The Master resisted the urge to make the dinner, having a funny feeling that it wouldn't exactly be appreciated if he did. Why didn't the Doctor want to make life easier for the both them instead of making everything a chore. The Master smiled and offered the Doctor a small shrug, it was all a lot of work.

"Look, Doctor, we could have so much fun with these powers... why don't we?" what? It was a fair question, the Doctor didn't seem to want to play with him and that was admittedly frustrating.

"Because I don't want that. I want...To live normally. A relaxed life and domestic." the Doctor murmured softly. It wasn't too big of a deal for him. He liked the domestic life. He really did. It was the Master who seemed to find fault with it all.

"You don't get it yet. The more you use the energy, the more it takes you over. Remember what I was like? When I'd made my dog and Koschei? That's what happens." the Doctor explained softly. And he didn't like that. Didn't want that.

{Floors. I'll be back in a bit.}

"That won't happen, we'll be fine," The Master remarked, rolling his eyes. Now the Doctor was being awkward. He wanted be beyond average. He wanted to be beyond the domestic life. So much more.

"Look how Koschei worked out! From little acorns. After al, its one of those things. It could be so glorious," the Master declared, desperate for the Doctor to listen-- to acknowledge how fantastic they could truly be here. "Just imagine it - all powerful, ruling the world. You and me!"

((I'm on skype so no worries))

The Doctor gave the other a shuttered glance, nodding slowly. Yeah...That's what he was afraid of. He didn't like it. "If that's what you want." he granted cryptically, absently stirring his sauce. "If you want to go that route, then go tat route. I'm not stopping you from using the power you have." he mumbled.

No. That wasn't why he was trailing the Master and keeping the other in his sights. If the man wanted to do it, then fine. The Master could do it if that's what kept the other happy. He was doing it in fear that the Master would leave him.

"Oh Doctor, don't sulk. I said us! I always wanted to rule with you. Don't tell me that you're not interested still," He would of thought it would be different now. That the Doctor would be willing to join him if he wanted to, that the Doctor would stand by his side like Lucy... they were in love right? Why not do it together.

"You don't want to play with me?" The Master said with a childish pout, obviously trying to find some humour in it all because right now, he was starting to have a tiny bit of a panic. What if the Doctor didn't want to rule?

The Doctor sighed softly, ignoring the other for a moment. He put his sauce on simmer and got the noodles started instead of responding. Then, and only then, did he approach, leaning down and kissing the Master slowly, drawing back a bit and keeping is expression schooled while he shrugged a bit.

"Surprise me." he murmured simply. He wanted his domestic life and the research lab he was going to set up and their second child...He didn't want to see the outcome of ruling and having the Master use the energy. But that didn't mean that the Doctor wouldn't go along with it all regardless. "Just surprise me. I'll go through with whatever you want to do." he assured. So long as the Master was there with him, he would handle it.

The Master smirked because admittedly, he didn't know what to say. He could woah the Doctor, make him rethink everything. He was determined to surprise him, making him love it. That was that then, sure he'd still play domestic but that was it and no, he wasn't going run away and call everything off. He would still make the Doctor his son, he was just going to make him embrace what he wanted.

"Doctor, you will love it when I find the right way to show you my perfection," he was going to make this world all to their knees and he would have the Doctor, Koschei and Marnal at his side when he did so. He was a family man now.

"Just try not to kill anyone. I would rather not feel that. It actually does hurt when people die." he murmured. At least when they were destroyed through the energy and not their own natural causes or accidents. The Doctor really didn't feel like going through that right now.

He turned back to the stove, stirring the noodles as an excuse to not focus upon the Master. He got it. The Master would do it and try to make him like it as well. The Doctor wasn't too sure he liked that idea. The Doctor definitely didn't like that phrasing.

"Its going to be amazing, I promise. Don't doubt me," the Master declared as he leapt from his seat and dashed along to go get ready. Because he didn't have much time, he had to prove all of this to the Doctor as soon as he could, before the new kid arrived anyway. He just needed a way to do it.

He disappeared into his bedroom and gave the Doctor plenty of alone time as he theorised with his Toclafane... who was a somewhat useless thing to talk to but still had better responses that Sig, who merely barked at him.

Oh...Oh alone! The Doctor tensed and stared, horribly tempted to follow along after. He didn't like when the Master left like that. Worrying his lip, he finished the meal and called everyone to dinner, absently fidgeting all the while.

At least Epsilon was happy with the meal. And it wasn't as though the Master would try anything that night...Right? That would just be stupid...At least, that what the Doctor was betting on.

The Master headed down for dinner and dropped down beside Koschei, offering the boy a smile before twirling some noodles around his fork and tucking in. Oh he was hungry now, he was probably in need of it though, he was wasting a lot of energy.

He hadn't got a plan yet but he needed something, something that would make the Doctor want to join him. To play along and agree to rule this universe as kings instead of behind the scenes Gods. "Hey Koschei, know anything more on trains yet?"

"They fast. An' there's lots of them." Koschei offered. Yes, they were sort of working through the book. "Can't go upside down." he added. And mostly playing with the train set and track.

Chuckling softly, the Doctor picked at his food and grinned. "Right. Well you two can play with it tomorrow. Kosch, you need to actually read and do your work after dinner, and I don't want you two up too late." he said softly, yet firmly.