Imaginary Worlds

"No." the Doctor said firmly, pulling the kid back close. He wasn't going to play that one. He knew better than to let it drop. He'd spent enough nights curled up in his bed throughout the night, terrified of what wasn't really there. He didn't want or need that happening to Marnal.

"I need to know or I can't help you. What is it that you're hearing or seeing at night that has you scared?" the Doctor asked again. "I can't help if you don't tell me. Just as I can't help if you don't wake me up. If I don't know you're in my room, you know that I could get up and accidentally kick you at the end of my bed?" he asked softly. He wasn't reprimanding. He was asking and informing.

"But I dunno, its scary and dark," it was quite dark of a night, the only light in the house when the Master and Doctor when to bed and the faint one from the lamp across the room. Other than that, it was pitch black. On top of that, the noises were terrifying and his mind kept over-reacting to every little noise.

Leaning over, he whispered to the Doctor like it was a massive secret. "I think something is downstairs... and sometimes the stairs make noise and there's something outside of my room. And I can't see in the dark but your room is safe."

"Our house makes noise. It settles and that's normal. And we have a dog and a cat, neither of which are overly small, that move about during the night. It's normal." the Doctor assured softly. "Nothing is going to hurt you in here." he said softly.

And that was that. The Doctor had no other way to fix this. He'd struggled with Koschei and now he had Marnal doing it as well. He just wasn't being kicked all night. "I want you to do me a favor. Try and stay in here tonight as long as possible. If it gets too much, then you can come wake me."

"I will," Marnal said with a heaved sigh like he really didn't like the idea of this. Giving the Doctor a small childish frown, he cocked his head to the side before getting to his feet. "Cereal now? Master needs to come down for cartoons."

He had a routine and breaking it was not something that he enjoyed doing. And who would? Fortunately, the Master had just gotten up himself and he didn't bother to poke his head in and see what the Doctor was doing... he went straight downstairs to get the TV on.

"Yeah. Cereal and cartoons today." the Doctor assured, lifting the child and heading downstairs. He took a brief moment to kiss the Master and offer a small smile. "Morning. I need to go and get ready for work. I'm sure that you can handle things from here." he joked. He didn't need to go to work though.

He was going to try and take care of Koschei early so that the kid had a week to get over it and adjust. But he didn't need either of the two to know about it. He'd deal with the Master when that time came. Until then? The Doctor took to getting ready and heading out, coming home in the early afternoon. He was tired and just a little high strung, but that wasn't anything that he couldn't hide or repress.

The Master took Marnal in and picked him up early as he only had a half day. The boy was napping on the sofa rather contently and the Master gestured for the Doctor to come into the kitchen.

Shutting the door, he greeted his with a smile before sighing loudly. "Took me ages to get that kid asleep and-- erm, are you all right?" the Doctor looked shattered?... Did the mice get out their cage or something?

The Doctor wasn't sure what to think when he was led into the kitchen. The Master wasn't going to figure it out that quickly, was he? Apparently not. He offered a small smile at the question and shrugged, kissing the Master softly before he pulled away to make himself a quick snack.

"I'm fine. Don't worry. Little hungry, a little tired, a little sore. But perfectly fine. And how was your day? Difficulties in the napping area aside, I mean, but it's understandable considering how much Marnal slept last night." the Doctor stated lightly, shrugging.

"Oh yeah well Marnal just needs a bit of sleep," he Master reasssured, Marnasl was fine. It was just that he got cranky not lonh ago and started to sulk for no reason. Hence the impromptu naptime,

"So what have you been up to at work? Anything really interesting?" the Maser asked and he clearly meant oy. He didn't have much of an attention to the small stuff, he liked to be amused.

The Doctor hummed softly and shrugged. "Same old. The schedule for today was continuing the radiation experiments. What about you? Did you do anything interesting today?" he asked softly, finishing his sandwich up. So what if he was trying to change the subject?

He wasn't comfortable lying about it. But he also wasn't particularly comfortable in telling the truth either. He didn't know how well the Master would take what he had done. Sighing softly, the Doctor offered a small smile. "So. Do you have to work tonight? Or no?"

"I did some work, just a bit while Marnal was at school. Same as before, you know, no big deal," the Master offered with a small shrug before sparing the Doctor a small smile and a quick kiss on the cheek.

"So radiation is far more exciting. Why are you using it? Medical or just curiousness?" the Master asked because science always did interest him and hey, he wanted something to discuss.

The Doctor sighed softly at that one and shrugged. "I don't know. A little of both, to be completely honest. We're trying to find a type of radiation that can help without as many adverse effects." he murmured. This was easy enough.

"You're welcome to come by next time Marnal is in the nursery. You can take a look on what we're working on." the Doctor offered. He didn't think the Master would, but he didn't mind either way.

"Sure, we'll have to move things around and see what we can do?" the Master shrugged his shoulders before settling down on a nearby chair and exhaling softly because while he was shattered, he was somewhat pleased to have an adult here.

"I'm going to work full time on friday though so can you pick Marnal up?" the Master asked, he was going to do all his hours in one day then drop down to see Verica and offer her an explanation for why they've been so distant.

Being left alone and expected to care for a small child less than a full day after he'd worked on Koschei. He could handle that...Right? Right! How hard could it possibly be? "Alright. Okay. Picking up Marnal. Don't worry. I can do it. Have fun." the Doctor said lightly, taking a seat himself.

And was he rambling again? Right. He should probably try and tone that down if he wanted to keep the Master from finding out what he'd done. "Tell Verica I said hello." he said lightly with a small smile.

"Doctor, I'm not working today, I said tomorrow. Look, I'm going to nip down now to get my times worked out with Verica so I should be back in an hour or two," the Master offered, giving the Doctor a kiss on the cheek. He just assumed the Doctor was a bit chatty today, he didn't assume anything else. Why would he?

The Master smiled and left the Doctor and a napping boy behind in the house because, as far as he knew, they were both going to be fine and how was he meant to know that the Doctor was playing around again.

Alright. Definitely needed to reconsider that.Because now the Doctor was bored. The Doctor was bored and alone in a large house with a small child, dog, and a cat. Well. He didn't have to be bored. He could always redecorate He did have a certain fondness for the color gold.

As for Verica, she was actually getting ready to leave when the Master showed up. She offered a smile and ruffled Epsilon's hair. "Wait in the truck, hon." she instructed gently. She didn't mind the minor delay.

"Hey there, sorry about dropping by just thought I'd come in seen as I haven't seen you in like ... twol weeks?" it had been a while, especially since the Master mostly work independent. He more just checked in with her whenever he had to.

Pulling out all his bills, transactions and the checks for the work, he offered them to Verica. "Its all ordered, sorted and signed off. Least I could do. Had a bit of a mad time with Kosch but everyones getting sorted slowly so works getting fixed up."

"I heard. I'm actually taking Epsilon out right now. I drop him off for a couple of hours and he helps keep Koschei up to date with school." Verica said softly, taking the papers with a small nod. "I assure you that everything is fine." she added as an afterthought.

Verica didn't want the Master to get the wrong idea. She understood having a problem with your kid. She was still struggling with Epsilon, even after having the child for so long. Not quite the same, but it allowed her to be sympathetic.

"Koschei is Koschei, he makes his own mind up and everyone else has no say. Unless he has a total emotional breakdown or he's really ill then I don't think I'm needed," the Master remarked with a shrug because he didn't think he was that needed at all.

"We're lucky we have Marna, I suppose," the Master remarked with a small shrug because at least they had a distraction. "Sometimes I get passed the point of caring. But oh well, never mind, I have a few more jobs to do so I should be in touch after all ofthat."

Verica sighed softly and glanced toward the truck where Epsilon was quietly reading in the back seat. "Trust me. I know all about having an odd one. Epsilon wants to skip a grade or two. I'm thinking of just sending him to a special boarding school. He takes an IQ test this weekend." she admitted softly.

Not so good for Koschei, but it was best for Epsilon. "Anyway. I actually need to get going. Feel free to come in and do them when you can and I'll see you when you're finished." Verica assured with a soft smile.

"You know, just a little friendly advice, but as a child genius? Any means of skipping ahead in life is fantastic ... until you realise you have no social skills, no ability to connect and eventually become bitter and isolated," the Master offered with a somewhat lacking smile.

Time Lord children never had a childhood... was it any wonder how corrupt they all ended up? They had hardly had the best chances in life, it was always working. Sighing, he offered Verica a smile before nodding and heading back to his car. "Tell Epsilon not to tell Koschei anything about him potentially moving until he has to? Cheers. See you later."

"I won't let your son know until it's absolutely necessary. Won't be until the new year if that's the route we went, anyway." Verica assured softly as she got into the truck to go. She knew better than to stress Koschei out any more than absolutely necessary.

And that was the least of the Master's worries. The Doctor had at least been careful not to wake up Marnal, moving the child to bed. But he had redecorated just a bit. Mostly in color. He'd just added faint golden undertones to their bedroom, feeling oddly contented in the room. Much better than before.

When the Master got back, it was 20 minutes later than planned but he'd swung by the shops and brought some stuff for tomorrow while he was at work. Just a few sweets for Marnal and some wine for the Doctor to have late on.

"Doctor, I'm--" well, this was new. Why was everything goldy. There was a weird tint to the living room. and the kitchen, Setting the shopping on the sofa, he dashed upstairs and looked around in confusion. "Doctor?"

The Doctor looked up from where he'd sprawled on the bed, absently putting one of Koschei's model cars together. He'd thought the kid might like it when he got to come home. A pleasant surprise, if you will. "Welcome back." he said lightly, offering a small smile as he motioned the other over.

"Come lay with me? I haven't gotten to see you too much today and Marnal hasn't woken up yet. It's a perfect opportunity to cuddle and the like." the Doctor said lightly. And it was. He honestly just wanted to curl up around the Master and be content. It was strange, how he was sort of just...Drawn to the other man. The Doctor had a feeling it was to do with the energy that the Master had now.

Oh Rassilon, the Doctors lost it. Wincing, the Master took a long exhale before sitting down by the Doctor and putting his head in his hand because seriously? what did he do today? It must of been big.

Was it-- oh no, did he do Koschei already? "Doctor, tell me you haven't dashed off and done Koschei today? I said I needed to be there," great! H needed to be there to rain the whacko in... fantastic. "Is Marnal safe in bed?"

"Why wouldn't he be?" the Doctor asked softly with a small frown. One would think that he had done something to the poor child. He wouldn't touch his son. To assume that was a bit of an insult, really. Rolling his eyes, he tugged the Master to lay down, wrapping an arm around the Master.

"I wanted to change a few things about the house. You don't need to worry about this. I can handle it." the Doctor murmured, shrugging as he kissed the other's neck softly. "I love you." the Doctor offered lightly.