Imaginary Worlds

And that wasn't always the best sign. Because it showed that the lad was being neglected to a degree. Sighing softly, he lifted the kid up with a small grin. "Hey. Sorry about that, but you couldn't come with today. We're working with radiation." he murmured softly.

Glancing to the Master, he just gave a small shake of his head. "No. Thank you, though, but I'm going to go help Marnal feed his frog." the Doctor assured, carrying the kid in question up the steps. Eh. Why not?

When the Doctor came in, it was obvious why the Master hadn't spent time with Marnal. He'd clearly taken things into his own hands and painted Marnals walls sky blue and the ceiling black for whatever reason.

Marnal looked around with an expression of awe. The Master had asked him what colour he liked but he didn't know his walls would change. "My room is different. Masters been finger painting?"

Marnal wasn't the only one taken by surprise. Oh, somebody was in for a bit of praise. Smiling, the Doctor sat the child down and nodded. "Something like that." he stated, putting the crickets into the cage with the boy's frog.

Another nice thing was that they would chirp throughout the night. A sound the Doctor found soothing. "These are crickets. Your frog eats them to stay healthy. But they're also believed to be good luck and to ward off evil spirits by some people. They'll help keep you safe at night." he said softly.

"They will? This is so cool! My room is blue and I have something to keep the bad things away," Marnal declared as he looked around before moving closer to have a good look at the crickets and frogs.

The Master came in and looked around before shrugging to the Doctor and lifting Marnal up. "As much as I want you to admire your room, Marnal, the paint is wet. So how about you and I want cartoons with the Doctor while he eats dinner?" Turning his head to the Doctor, he offered as amused smile as Marnal cheered.

The Doctor returned the smile as he stood and shrugged. "Not really hungry, to tell the truth. I ordered in while working." he admitted sheepishly, shrugging. "But I can watch something with you guys." he assured, kissing the Master's cheek and offering a small smile as he slipped out to head downstairs.

Yeah. The Master had definitely managed to score a few major points with him. And the Doctor wasn't going to hide that. It's why he took Marnal to get the kid settled on his side so that he could cuddle up to the Master, wrapping an arm around the man's shoulders with a grin.

"I'm going to finish it all up tomorrow but I think while the paint drys, he should sleep in our room. Just one night," they hardly needed the kid inhaling fumes all night. The frog would be fine, it was fairly sealed off. It was just safe to keep Marnal with them.

Smiling, he settled by the Doctor and nodded his head in agreement. "It should be brilliant when its done. I figured, you know, we made Koschei a nice room so why not make Marnal one too. White isn't fitting for a young kid."

((Off to bed!))

"I had a white room growing up. Well, white and gray. It was distracting to have colors and toys when I was meant to be working on various projects and assignments." the Doctor murmured. He was agreeing with it. He didn't want Marnal living the life he had.

Shifting slightly, he gave a small shrug in response to that. "Or I can make it dry quicker so that he can enjoy his new bedroom." the Doctor said lightly. It wouldn't be hard. Quite the opposite, really. So why not do it?

{Night!}

"Wasn't the best environment for a kid though, was it?" the Master remarked with an amused expression before offering the Doctor a small pat on the back. Now that would actually be rather brilliant actually.

"You could, I have a few extra things to do but if you want to then have at it," the Master remarked with a small shrug, he didn't mind what the Doctor did, it was all a matter of working it out.

And that was just as odd. Because since when did he help in the projects that the Master took up? Never. It was...Odd. Shaking his head softly, he offered a small smile, tilting his head to lay it upon the Master's shoulder with a soft sigh.

He was admittedly content at the moment. "Alright. I'll dry the paint and we can let Marnal sleep in there tonight. It was sweet of you to do it." the Doctor murmured, tilting his head to kiss the Master's cheek softly.

"I want to add something extra before he goes to bed but sure, go for it. Besides, Marnal is my boy as well so I'm hardly going to leave him in a blank room," Turning his head, he noticed the boy was sprawled out on the sofa with his legs in the Doctors lap watching the cartoons and just enjoying himself... no kicking at all.

It was oddly peaceful. Marnal couldn't of been more different to Koschei and the Master hadn't intended that but the young lad was calming when compared to the stress Koschei gave them... though he still missed Kosch.

The Doctor smiled softly and nodded a bit. Except he didn't think it mattered to the Master. It was easy to tell who favored what kid. So he didn't think of Marnal as being the Master's son. Just as he thought of Koschei as more the Master'e kid than his.

"It was still sweet." he murmured softly. "Don't try to talk me out of thinking you did something nice that you didn't have to. You might be surprised why it's a good idea to let me continue on." the Doctor said lightly.

"I do get your reasoning, really I do. I wish I could say that it wasn't only boredom but well, I may not ... you know, as much as Koschei but I do care," the Master shrugged his shoulders, he didn't know if Marnal knew or not.

He was always going to favour Koschei and he really hoped the Doctor would favour Marnal. It was just how life would be now and he felt no remorse for this. They both had kids, just lived together and loved was all.

(Gonna try and get to sleep in before the nigt ends <3)

{Night again~!}

The Doctor sighed softly and shrugged. "I know. He knows. It's not that big of a deal. Look at Koschei and I, I mean. I care for the brat, but most definitely not as much as I do for Marnal. Or even you. It's hard to." he murmured softly.

And that's all there was to it. They had two kids that they favored respectively. The two kids were polar opposites and they got on with different types of personalities within children. For example? Marnal was sprawled across him and he was bruise free.

"Can't blame you, he's a little git," the Master admitted as he watched the boy napped on the Doctor sprawl out with a content smile. The boy didn't look like he'd be awake longer but there wasn't really a big deal.

"Must be nice not to be kicked," the Master remarked as he settled against the Doctor, watching the TV with half interest. He had to wonder what this would be like if Koschei was here and wasn't a horrible little brat.

"It's amazing not to have a kid cuddle me just to hurt me. I understand that things may be a bit...Off. But I can't help it. Do you even realize how guilty I feel for loving one hold more than the other?" the Doctor asked softly.

It was a nightmare. Because it was something he knew and acknowledged. It wasn't just him, either. But he still felt bad. That was the part that he wasn't entirely sure was normal. "I can't help it. I just...Prefer Marnal over Koschei." he mumbled.

"I do know... only its worse for me. Marnal is a lovely little lad, he's a normal kid... so why can't I love him like that little bastard Koschei?" the Master asked with a honest and baffled expression because it stumped him in all honesty and he couldn't help but be a bit confused as to why he felt this way.

"I don't think I'll ever love Marnal like I love the Doctor... but I do like him, he's a good kid," the Master offered with small shrug of his shoulders because he had a fair bit of fondness for him and he'd never mistreat the lad. He just wasn't Kosch.

The Doctor sighed softly and shrugged a bit. "I don't know. We're two screwed up people trying to raise two possible damaged children. No offense. But Marnal seems a bit...Attention needy." he murmured softly. It wasn't a problem or anything he couldn't deal with.

But he was still worried over the kid. "We'll do fine. Koschei will get better and Marnal is well loved. But there isn't much else that either of us can honestly do at this point." he murmured softly.

"Doctor, he's four. All four year olds are like that, well human ones, I mean if we went to Earth and stood in a class of four year olds, it would be rare for one not to be seeking attention," the Master pointed out because it was admittedly impossible. Marnal was a normal kid... to the Doctor and the Master, he was odd. Because he wasn't a time lord child.

"Its because we had Koschei, who is abnormally independent and frankly acts like he's 14, not 7. I mean, we're Time Lords... can you remember having a proper childhood like Marnal and Koschei have?" the Master couldn't, he was loomed at 6, spent two years being tutors and then off to the academy where he had no youth. It was never deemed childhood.

"When my mother was around. she tried to make sure that I had one. But I don't know. It seems odd to have him so...I don't know. I get it. Normal for a human. But we aren't human. Neither is Koschei." the Doctor pointed out.

He'd made the kid a Timelord unintentionally. Which might explain par of the clash with Marnal. Never mind how alike the child was to the Master. "He'll get over it eventually." the Doctor murmured softly.

"Marnal is normal and normal is odd. He probably won't fit in for a while... but who knows? You're a Time Lord and you love those thick apes. I've found affection for some... Maybe Koschei can find some for Marnal," it was a chance, not a big one, but it was possible.

"I assumed you'd like a human better than a time lord child. You always did like humans," after all, humans were the Doctors favourite and neither of them liked the Time Lords, it was nicer being away from the Time Lords.

Right. There was hope yet. Sighing softly, the Doctor nodded and looked down at the kid once more. "He's going to be up in the middle of the night, you know. Not exactly a positive when trying to sleep." the Doctor murmured.

That was the downside. He carefully got up, lifting the kid as he did so. "I'm going to take care of his room and put him in bed properly." the Doctor informed softly, heading in that direction with the sleeping child.

"Oh hang on, I want to do something first. Just give me five?" the Master ran upstairs and left the Doctor holding Marnal as he put the finishing touches on the ceiling. Bouncing along, he smiled at amusement.

"Come see," he whispered and invited the Doctor in to see the glow in the dark stars he put on the dark ceiling. "We always did like the sky so Marnal now can enjoy what we used to enjoy."

The Doctor waited patiently, coming when bid. The sight was definitely enough to make him smile. "It's nice. Really nice. You know that you didn't have to do that." he murmured softly as he tucked Marnal in.

It was pleasant. Not to mention that the lights would help at night. Always pleasant. He took hold of the Master's wrist, automatically remedying the action by taking the other's hand instead, and tugged the other to their own room. It really only took one bad experience to stop that habit. "Come here. I want to lay down with you."

The Master smiled as Marnal seemed to settle under his fake stars and relax in his newly decorated room. It still needed work but not too much, the Master would finish up tomorrow then the tyke went to nursery.

The Master followed after the Doctor with an amused smile, wondering what the Doctor was after. Course he didn't mind, he was just happy to wait and see. "Do you now?"

"Yes. I want to lay down with you and forget our problems. I don't care what you say, either. What you did for Marnal was really sweet. And you didn't have to. Especially since I said I would when things calmed down." the Doctor state softly.

Dropping onto the bed, he tugged the Master down beside him, kissing the other with a small grin. "See? I'm happy. And I'm happy you did something nice." the Doctor murmured in a rather fond manner.