Imaginary Worlds

"No but if you go, you will burn yourself out, get sicker and sicker because you won't let yourself recover then eventually you'll end up in hospital and off school even longer," the Master informed him because it was a very likely problem at this point.

"Look, if you don't recover, you take even longer. Learn to relax Koschei, you have too. I used to be like you. I remember this one time at the academy, I got sick but I refused to stop. See I was top of my class and if I missed this test, I might slip down to second. Which was not an option. All that happened was that I got into the test-- and that was all I remember. Turns out I blacked out and woke up in hospital," the Master informed him, it was just a cautionary tale of his. Being the best and do well at school had always been an obsession to him and it definitely bit him in the arse.

"I'd be fine. 'M only sick 'cause I didn't see Epsilon yesterday." he grumbled. Because, yes, he was letting a miniature copy ofthe Rani test things on him if it kept his symptoms in check. And it had worked. Until he'd missed a dose.

But cluing his father in that he was taking experimental concoctions to keep from being sick probably wasn't a positive. Particularly when his father was the Master and Epsilon already had a slight record due to experiments and the like. But Koschei didn't know better. At least that's what he was saying.

"You-- what?! You've been sick and instead of telling us, your parents, you told Epsilon and he's been giving you medicine?" the Master growled and leaned down, grasping Koschei's shoulders firmly. "Koschei, now you listen to me and listen well. You never ever take drugs off people unless either me or the Doctor tell you its safe. Understand?"

Maybe skipping them ahead was a bad idea, Koschei didn't need to spend that much time with Epsilon, it always seemed to end badly. Pulling away, he sighed and offered Koschei a half smile. "Look, I know you trust me-- to an extent anyway. But you have to trust me on this because I don't need you getting sicker."

Koschei stared before scoffing. "No. He didn't give me medicine. We made it in a lab. We tested it first." he protested. So Theta came in hand for something. Trial testing before actually putting the stuff to use. "First two weren't as good." he admitted.

He didn't see anything wrong with it. He had watched it be made. He'd helped make it. He knew what was in it. So what was the big deal? He was almost as good as Epsilon in science. He just lacked the overall interest.

"Big deal, it doesn't matter. If you're sick, you don't make medicine and you don't ask your friend to. You come to me and I will take you to a Doctor. Koschei. I talked the Doctor into letting you come home, you have to do this for me?" the Master asked because he was trying his hardest to be a good dad and it was not easy right now.

"I love you, all right? But you're making it hard for me to defend your behaviour. I'll always have you back if you just promise me that I can trust you to at least listen to me," the Master requested, because he never wanted Koschei to be put away.

"No! 'M not going back!" Koschei snapped sharply, coughing into the crook of his arm a moment later. Right. Not pleasant. Far from it, in fact. He didn't want to go back. He didn't like it there. He didn't even deserve what they did!

Sighig, he shook his head and turned onto his side with a frown directed toward the wall. He didn't want to keep at it like this. "I can't miss school. I can't! Missed enough while away." he muttered softly as he drew his blanket close protectively.

"Then you should listen to me, just once. Just stop sulking and thinking you know better when you clearly don't. You're seven, I'm much older than you," the Master warned with a small frown because he still doubted that he'd be heard. Koschei was hard to talk to.

"You know, we should just change the subject," Sighing, he gave Koschei a sideways look. Because arguing would get them know where when Koschei was this sick. "We're going to take Marnal out on a play-date soon, well hopefully, we want him to make more friends. Hopefully he'll forget about badgering you and find someone else to annoy, right?"

"When you take him, can you leave him?" Koschei asked hopefully, shifting back over slowly to regard the Master. The Master started it with telling him that. He wasn't to blame in the least for going that route. It was inevitable.

"I don't like him. I don't like having a brother." Koschei mumbled softly, shaking his head a bit. He would even go so far as to claim that they weren't brothers. He lpoked to himself as the Master's kid and Marnal the Doctor's, not as two shared kids.

"No, he's your brother and he lives here. Get over it," the Master informed him, he knew Koschei would never accept him but it was worth a shot to try and get Marnal to find new friends who weren't like Koschei. The kid obviously craved affection.

"He;s my son, he's your brother. He's just like you, we decided we wanted him and we made him. Just be happy that the Doctor has someone to focus on," the Master dismissed because while he knew Koschei would never accept his brother, it would be nice if they could pretend to like each other some day.

The Doctor had somebody else to focus on. That was supposed to make him happy? "No. He should focus on me! Not him. Me!" Koschei said sharply, glaring. Damn. He didn't like that at all. Because the Master was just being ridiculous with that.

He didn't want to have the attention away from him. The Master didn't get that. "I don't care. I don't like Marnal." Koschei said bitterly with a glare. It wasn't a very pleasant event.

"All right, don't like him. Doesn't change anything. He's your brother, get over it," the master shot back calmly because he had no reason to get annoyed. they always knew this would happen if they had another boy.

And yet somehow he wasn't that beaten up over it all. He was rather cheery to be honest because it was a sign that Koschei wasn't too ill, he still remembered who he was. "Marnal and the Doctor will always love one another, I'll always love Marnal and we'll all love you. Its part of being a family, sucks but true."

Koschei sighed softly and shrugged a bit. Right. Because he was stuck having to deal with that. And then it happened. A faint croaking starting up and filtering through the bedroom wall from Marnal's side. It was slow and constant, causing him to twitch slightly.

The damnable frog. Evil thing. Horrid thing. "Make that stop. I don't like it." Koschei said softly, shaking his head slowly. It aggravated his had. It really did.

The frog was awfully annoying but he couldn't just steal it from the boy in the other room because it had Koschei irked, could he? Sighing, he got to his feet and peered into Marnals room. The boy was sleepily holding the box with the croaking frog, to remove it would wake him. They had no real options.

Returning to Koschei's, he shrugged his shoulders. "Your brother is sleeping with Frog next to him, I can't move it," the Master asserted, sitting on the edge of Koschei's bed. "Just turn up the volume of your TV and when Marnal wakes, he'll take the frog away."

"An' at night? When 'm trying to sleep? What then?" Koschei asked slowly. How was he meant to sleep at night and rest when he had to listen to that damn thing croaking all night long? It wasn't exactly a positive thing. No matter. He could get even.

He glanced toward the Master and frowned softly. "Can I have an owl? They're pretty. Doctor took Pest an' you have Sigma an' Marnal has his frog..." Koschei said softly with a slight pout. What? He could try and get a new pet. Particularly one that made a bit of noise in turn.

"Pest is your pet," the Master asserted because no, they weren't getting a bloody owl! It'd eat the frog and piss everyone off when they tried to sleep. No, it wasn't practical. Besides.... owls freaked him out.

"If you really want a pet, you can have something small. Like a hamster or a rat or maybe a mouse," but he was not giving he an owl just because Marnal had a noisey pet. "Hey, don't look at me, you're the one that broke his toy!"

"You're the one who can't keep your boyfriend on a leash." he grumbled bitterly. No matter. He'd just pout and sulk to the Doctor. The man usually gave in a lot easier. And if not an owl, something else. Maybe a parrot. He wasn't going to just play nice.

"An' Pest isn't mine. Doctor took him." Koschei grumbled softly. It wasn't pleasant. Because he was left with the fact that his cat wasn't really his. And the Master was saying he couldn't get a new exotic animal? Like that would work out.

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