Imaginary Worlds

The boy leapt off the bed with an excited smile and the Master peered out from under the covers, giving the kid a small frown. "Marnal! Don't you dare jump on your brothers bed or he'll just shove you off again."

The Master sighed and turned his head to the side, smiling at the Doctor in amusement as he listened to the boy padded along the hallway and push his way into Koschei's room. "My money goes on him jumping on the bed anyway. Honestly, some days its hard to get up. I will get up... just give me half an hour," the Master joked, pulling the Doctor down and giving him a quick kiss ... only breaking when he heard the definite sound of bed springs bouncing. Yep, Marnal jumped on poor Koschei's bed.

The Doctor returned the kiss and sighed softly. "I know what you mean." he deadpanned, cringin sympathetically when he heard a rather painful sounding thud. Right. Koschei apparently didn't play nice when he was being annoyed. He made a quick mental note to wake the kid up from then on.

"I'm going to go cook. Maybe we can relax tonight when the kids are taken care of. Just curl up and watch a movie or something." the Doctor murmured before slipping out. Right. Things to do. Cooking was easy, even if Koschei was glaring sharply at him from the table. Yeah. Koschei still didn't seem too fond of him.

The Master rolled his eyes and dropped back down onto bed, listening to the noise of their two kids and his boyfriend moving about. Marnal seemed more than happy to follow the Doctor around, he even stood by the man he called dad while he cooked so he could watch every step. Course there was a reason the Master stayed in bed for breakfast, dealing with two young kids wasn't fun at all.

"Can I help? Can I have a look? What are you doing? Daaaaad?" Marnal yammered away, yanking at the Doctors trouser leg to try and get his attention. So when the Master made a boy for the Doctor love and visa versa, maybe he went a little overboard on the way the boy loved the Doctor but hey... it was a good way to keep him busy. The complete opposite of Koschei."

This was definitely an oddity for him. And Koschei seemed more than just a little annoyed by all of this. "Can I go back to bed? Because this is not something that ins happy with. At all. Will you shut up already?" Koschei snapped sharply, shooting a glare Marnal's way.

Sighing softly, the Doctor shook his head and simply pulled over a chair to lift Marnal onto it. "Don't touch anything. I don't want you to burn yourself. But I might let you help me cook something else later. Koschei? Be nice. Your breakfast is almost done." he said firmly, not looking away from the bacon.

When the Master did finally get down, he didn't even need to look at Koschei to know that he was unhappy and Marnal was probably grinning like an idiot. Sighing, he dropped at at the table in his dressing gown and spared the Doctor a tired smile. "Hows breakfast going? Has Koschei behaved? If he stays good then I'll take him out today. Maybe rude the train to the museum or something?"

"I want to go too," Marnal whined because he was at that age where being left out was not an option. Usually the Master just humoured him and thus he simply smiled and shook his head. He promised Koschei they'd do it alone because really? A day out with Marnal and Koschei was like enduring a blood bath.

"I'll show you where you can go." Koschei growled under his breath, glancing to the Master with a pout. "I'm behaving. See? I'm being nice. Haven't hit him once." he declared as though it were some grand accomplishment. Then again? Knowing Koschei, it probably was.

The Doctor sighed softly and took to plating and serving the food, offering the Master a hesitant smile. He just needed a couple of days to fully adapt. "I was actually going to take you to work with me. If you felt like going, that is." he admitted, glancing toward Marnal. That was going to be one of those things he adapted to.

"Koschei, just don't go to hit him. Behave! Its not that hard. Behave for another month and I'll get you something you want. But it has to be morally possible," he wasn't going to accidentally make a deal to get rid of Marnal again. That was too tricky to get caught up in. Koschei was not that fond of his brother but the Master would keep on prompting him.

"I'll go to work with dad then. We'll save people and be science people," Marnal declared, sticking his tongue out at his brother. Marnal never meant to goad Koschei but Koschei had never been that nice to him so he couldn't help taunting.

And taunting the psychopathic brat definitely made behaving difficult. The Doctor would need to look into a psychiatrist if Koschei wasn't already seeing one here. He still didn't regret the mental institute. "Marnal. Be nice. We're having a pleasant breakfast without having anybody going after anyone." the Doctor said firmly.

Koschei gave a little smirk at that one, looking to the Master. "I am behaving. Marnal started it." he deadpanned with a scowl. Seriously! Half of what he did could be blamed upon Marnal. The other half was on the Doctor.

"Its easy to behave. We just don't attack people, say mean things or we end up talking to a shrink and taking medication," the Master lectured as he took his plate of food. He ate in silence, watching as Marnal childishly used his knife and fork, not really doing a great job of cutting. And Koschei... well, he was glaring and looking around the table with mistrust. Always a cheer soul, he was.

The Master turned his head to the Doctor and playfully kicked him under the table, just so the Doctor knew he was there. Childish but hey the Master could be childish too. He still felt a pull, a need to be near the Doctor and gave the Doctor acknowledge him. "So after your day with Marnal and my day with Koschei, what should we do together? I was thinking we could play chess... I got a new set, Marnal mauled our last one."

They were just a sickeningly happy little family. Marnal massacring his breakfast, Koschei acting more paranoid than before, and the Master trying to keep his attention. Something hard when he was watching to make sure Marnal didn't saw his finger off with a knife.

"That's fine. Whatever you want to do." the Doctor assured, not taking his eyes from Marnal as he spoke. He was kind enough to nudge the Master back beneath the table gently, showing he acknowledged the Master's existence in turn.

They were s far from perfect in any way. Marnal was probably going to end up hurting himself one of these days, he much more friendly and talkative than Koschei but so much more lacking in co-ordination. He was clumsy enough to hurt himself. Which he did twice in the process of eating dinner. Fortunately none were serious, little cuts if that! And Koschei, their little psychopath, was glaring all the while. The Master was rather amused by their mental family.

Only they could have a family like this! Where everyone had some sort of problem and everyone just sort of... well, tried not to kill one another. Once the Master was done, he set his plate aside and gave the Doctor a small look. "No rush today so don't stress yourself out, just let me know when you want a lift."

((Off to bed!))

{Night!}

Right. Because he worked on the weekends. Always fun for him. He cleared the table and shrugged lightly. "Marnal. Go shower and get ready." he instructed as he took to the dishes. "Just let me get ready and get Marnal going and we can head out." he said lightly.

The Doctor didn't mean anything by it. But he would rather get everything done and over with soon enough. Finishing those as Koschei snuck off to get ready himself, the Doctor shrugged lightly and regarded the Master a bit. "So. Work then chess. You don't need to worry about picking us up. The weather is nice enough that I might walk." he murmured, ducking his head to steal a quick kiss before heading up to steal a quick shower and get the two kids ready to go.

The Master wasn't offended at all cause hey, sometimes people were like this. He just shrugged his shoulders and kept on trucking as he cleaned up bits of the kitchen and got changed himself, showering in the bathroom downstairs to save some time. He headed upstairs and track down Koschei and make sure he wasn't 'play' fighting Marnal.

"Koschei? Come on! Make sure you have everything you need ready because I'm not driving us back home," the Master called out, Koschei had been rather good lately in the sense that no one had been attacked so he bared no ill-will towards the psycho. He may have been a total write off morally but he was still a 7 year old boy at the end of the day.

Koschei stepped from his room and gave a light shrug. "'M ready. An' 'm behaving." he said softly, as if it meant the world. And it sort of did. He was trying here. He was trying to play nice and not cause trouble. So what was the big deal?

He opened his mouth to say just that, snapping it shut again when the Doctor stepped out with Marnal in his hold. "Right. Ready to go? Because I'm thinking that we're as ready as we're going to be." the Doctor stated lightly.

The Master lead Koschei down the stairs and left the Doctor to handle Marnal. After all, the boy didn't much respond to the Master, the Master only ever told Marnal off. But that was how he had always really planned it. He wanted to give the Doctor the chance to be a loved parent and what was wrong with that?

"I'll see you when I get back, try not to spend all day at work," the Master warned as he opened the door and let Koschei outside. "And when you sit in the backseat with your brother, don't play any games that involve hitting."

It was a little sad that they had reached this point. It was so different when compared to before. And yet it was still the same. It was a lot to take in as he got Marnal settled into the car beside Koschei. And, in Koschei's defense, he was trying to behave. The kid just sort of slumped against the car door and glared out the window.

"I'll try not to be too long." the Doctor assured. Well. That sounded like a problem that they had in the past. That would be fixed. Along with his schedule. He didn't particularly want to be working the weekend shifts when they had two kids.

The Master started up the car, nodding his head as he shot off down the road. Marnal, who was never the best at understand when Koschei was trying to behave, was kicking his legs happily, humming under his breath and playing with what looked like a leaping frog toy.

Admittedly the noise and movement was annoying but Marnal was only young so the Master could stomach the annoyance of the brat, He just sincerely hoped Koschei didn't take anything in his own hands.

The Master had a valid reason to worry. Because Koschei couldn't handle it. Mind, he didn't strike Marnal. He snatched the toy with a sharp growl. "Knock it off!" he snapped, actually tossing the thing out the window. Alright. So behaving was just a little bit difficult.

"Koschei! You don't do that! Ever." the Doctor scolded, turning in his seat to level the kid with a stern expression. "Apologize. Now." he ordered, Koschei just glaring stubbornly back in turn. Yeah. He definitely didn't hold any of the weight where that one was involved.

Oh fantastic, Koschei threw Marnals toy out the window, the youngest one was crying and if he didn't punish him then he wouldn't learn. Did Koschei not realise that the Master found it boring to punish him as well? It was boring as hell to wait in and let Koschei be punished.

"Koschei, just say you're sorry," the Master insisted, keeping his eyes on the road he took a left towards the lab. Honestly, Koschei was such an awkward kid, he didn't want to take him back to the hospital and give up on him yet.

Koschei looked to Marnal and scoffed. "Sorry you annoyed me." he said sharply. Because Marnal started it. How he behaved was directly related to how he was woken up. And this morning was not a pleasant way for him to wake up. Which meant Marnal started it.

The Doctor sighed softly and shook his head. Because Koschei was being Koschei and Marnal was crying. He wasn't sure what to do. Well, other than don put those two together in a car. "Marnal, hush. It's fine. I'll...Get you a new toy." he attempted.

Marnal sniffled and shook his head sadly, obviously not happy that his favourite toy just went right out the window and probably crushed by all the other cars. "I want my frog."

"Then you'll get another frog but we can't go back for that frog," the Master asserted he was not having a wild goose chase on the freeway for a possibly still fully functioning froggy thing. Sighing, he shook his head in annoyance. "You had to throw his frog out the window? Come on Koschei, I don't throw your books or your bear out the window."

"That's different. You actually like me." Koschei sniffed. Yeah. Not the best thing to say while sitting next to another kid. So he threw something out the window. What was the big deal about that? He was annoyed with it and acted purely on instinct.

"Alright. Koschei? Just...Sit quietly. Do not so much as look at Marnal. Marnal? Same for you. I don't want you to so much as look at Koschei. Period. I'll get you a new frog. I'll get you a live frog. Just...Relax." the Doctor said softly.

"Don't say you hate him!" the Master complained but Marnal had heard it was was indeed crying still because who wanted their big brother to hate their guts? Sighing, the Master pulled up outside the lab and gave the Doctor a baffled look. Did he just offer to get Marnal a real frog? Maybe he hadn't heard--

"Can I get a green one?" Marnal asked, hiccuping softly and the Master could of bashed his head into the steering wheel. If the Dog or the cat ate it or if Koschei stomped on it, it was all on the Doctor.

The Doctor sighed softly and leaned over to give the Master a quick peck on the cheek. "Sorry for the morning and thanks for the ride." he murmured as he got it and took to getting Marnal out as well. "And maybe. You can pick one from the biology lab. But it will have to stay in it's cage unless you're being supervised." he murmured, lifting the kid and heading for the lab. And he'd wanted two.

And that left Koschei alone in the back seat to sulk. "He started it. He was annoying me an' jumping on my bed an' my head hurts an'--" he cut off with a sneeze, followed by a rather pathetic sniffle. "Does this mean no train?"

"I know Marnal is being awkward but he is almost 5, what do you really expect? He's a kid, he's gonna be like that. Just play nice and humour him. You don't think the Doctor annoys me? I let it go," or changed his mind and everything around him a few dozen times till he was forcefully happy? Worked for him.

The Master frowned with concern before pulling up into the nearest car park. Leaning into the backseat, he checked Koschei's forehead before wincing. Damn, that was not exactly a good sign. "I think you have a cold. Look, we can go on the train but it'll have to be short and when we get home, you'll have to promise to lie down and rest."