Imaginary Worlds

"Yes, you can bring the rat but you can't wonder off unless I'm there, got it? It's a lab, hence dangerous. So you and I will stick together," the Master remarked before taking a left so they could get to the pet store.

"Look, I just want you and your rat to behave tomorrow, you can't stay at home and I have no babysitter," the Master pointed out. And even if he enrolled Koschei in a school, they would want to wait till the end of the week anyway.

The child wasn't too happy with that one. Pouting, Koschei gave a small shrug and leaned against the window, allowing his new bet to crawl over his arms and shoulders. "I don't wanna go." he mumbled softly, glancing toward the Master and sighing.

"But I will." he added. No need to upset the man. Particularly after putting him through so much trouble with everything. Koschei at least knew when to quit while he was ahead.

"It won't be that bad, promise," the Master offered as he pulled up outside the vets and gave his eyes a quick rub. He was shattered but he had to keep on going, despite how much his head hurt and how little pride he felt he had left.

Some strange just pay off his own debts... why would he bet that stupid? What if he extorted it? No man gave away free money. "Right... so cage and food," the Master remarked as he got out the car with a small sigh.

Koschei honestly didn't get it. How could he? He didn't know what it meant that the Doctor had just forked over a large sum of money for the Master to pay off various things. How was he supposed to truly comprehend that?

"Right. Cage an' food...An' toys. Bedding, too. He needs to be comfortable." Koschei said firmly, giving a bit of a curt nod as he stepped from the car, his new pet held close.

"Okay, tell you what, you pick out whatever you think he needs and I'll get it," the Master suggested, knowing he'd regret it but it was kind of worth it, he supposed anyway.

Offering the boy a playful ruffle of his hair, he let him go into the shop while he went to get the food rats would eat. Well, he knew that part... the rest was all on Koschei or he got nothing.

Koschei went about and gathered various things that he would need for his new pet. Not much, actually. The cage, bedding, and a few toys. He knew better than to over do it. He didn't want the Master to pay too much. That he at least understood.

Which is why he really didn't bother getting anything too pricey. The cage should be big enough, at least. The rat would fit in it and that's what mattered, right? That was the problem with sending a kid off to get what was needed. They never had a clue.

The Master met up with Koschei and had to smile at the rather small cage. The rat would go loopy in that. He placed everything else on the till and dashed off, trading the small one for one that was spacier, but just a tiny bit more pricey. He put it all on the till and offered the man behind it a small nod and handed over his card.

While it was clocked up, he turned to Koschei and smiled. "Sigma gets the whole house to wonder around in, only hair that your new friend gets a nice spacey place to live, right?"

Koschei blinked owlishly at that one. Oh? Huh. He hadn't thought about it that way. He didn't want to have a rat that wasn't happy. "He can come out of his cage though." he said softly. Why not? He saw no reason against the idea.

Particularly when he wanted to have something to hold and play with. In hindsight, this might not have been the healthiest thing for him. Because Koschei was essentially replacing a person with an animal.

"Of course, you can have him out but just be very careful and try not to lose him. We'll discuss ground rules later," he'd tell the boy about washing his hands before and after using the rat or eating and not losing him.

Once everything was paid for, he lugged it to the car and set it all the back seat before getting Koschei settled in his seat. As they drove home, he sighed somewhat. "We should name the rat, you know?"

Koschei ducked his head and bristled a bit, shrugging. "Has a name. I don't wanna talk about it." he mumbled softly, absently stroking his new pet. He didn't want to. Because it was stupid. He could even see that.

But he missed his friend. And now he had a way of coping with that loss of a friend. Sort of. "It's fine. He doesn't need to be called by name." Koschei assured firmly.

"For the record, the unspeakable name? I actually think it suits him. But, we can hide him behind a title then? He was be the duke of the Saxon empire," the Master joked with a playful smile, he knew full well what was happening.

And he just found it easier to play along and humour the poor lad than make it worse. And besides, he found humour was the best way to tackle such a tricky situations.

Yeah. Humor was much better than trying to push on the matter. Because he wasn't too sure how to handle the topic himself. "Yeah...It does. But a title is good. He'll go by that for now." he agreed with a curt nod. He could agree with that one.

When they came to a stop, Koschei got out of the car to help in taking things in. Mainly because he had a ball he wanted to put his rat in so that it could run about freely. What? He was a kid and he wanted to play.

"When you have him roaming free, keep him from the stairs. We don't need the poor sod having a tumble," the Master advised as he took the top of the cage off and started sorting it out right away for Koschei.

He put down the sawdust, the straw and the bedding, adding a bowl of food and set any toys inside as carefully as he could. Once he'd attached the water bottle, he turn it around so Koschei could have a look. "All sorted?"

Koschei was more than happy to put the creature into its ball, watching the rat run about as Sigma followed, sniffing curiously at the new addition. It was entertaining to watch, actually. He quite liked his new pet.

Speaking of...Turning, Koschei cocked his head to regard the cage. Huh. "I like it." he said brightly, fetching the rat to introduce it to its new home. And now for the more...Skeptical point. "Can we turn the lights off?" he asked slowly. He wanted to make sure that the animal actually glowed.

The Master smiled and nodded his head, running around the living room and doing up the curtains, fortunately it was getting dark and darker early outside every passing night so it wasn't hard to test.

Switching the lights off, the rat most definitely glowed in the dark, much to the Master amusement. Chuckling, he gave Koschei an amused look. Well, well, that was impressive.

Koschei had a white rat that doubled as a blue night light. He had a pet that was luminescent. That was beyond awesome. "He glows!" he declared brightly. Because he honestly hadn't believed the Doctor that it would happen.

It made him almost hate the Doctor a tad less. Almost. Not quite warming up yet. "Thank you! I love him!" Koschei chirped rather brightly. Typical kid. Easy to get out of a slump with the right motivation.

(Sorry, fell asleep >.< off to bed now!)

The Master smiled and gave Koschei a half hug before turning the light back on and heading into the kitchen to get some food on, they hadn't eaten since breakfast so he swiftly heated up some pizza left over from yesterday and brought it out to Koschei.

There was only enough for the lad so he made himself an sandwich with what was left. "Remind me, we have to get some food in tomorrow or we're going to starve," the Master remarked as he took a seat on the sofa.

"Need food. Got it." Koschei said with a curt nod as he took the food. He wasn't going to complain. He was quite fond of the pizza. And he didn't mind shopping. It was fun. He liked seeing the various things that were available and whatnot.

Settling down, he smiled softly, looking to his new pet fondly. It was fun. He liked getting new things like this. "Thank you." Koschei said again, actually quite happy.

{It's fine. Night.}

"No problem," the Master offered as he took a bite out of the rather questionable sandwich he'd pulled together. He was sure half of it had to be out of date but he never did get around to shopping much.

"I like it when you and I aren't in trouble. I know it happens a lot with us, we're not exactly people fans but it's nice to have a night where we're not worrying or angry," the Master admitted, he knew he and Koschei were never perfect but they always got there eventually.

This wasn't too bad. In fact, it was rather pleasant. Koschei didn't get along with many and it was a miracle when he was calm for once. Always a positive note in his book. Particularly after everything else.

"An' you gotta work tomorrow." Koschei murmured softly. He didn't want to go to Verica's. He didn't want to deal with Epsilon again. Particularly with everything else going on and his trying to cope.

"And you're coming with me as my helper tomorrow," Like the Master would be that cruel and make him stay with Verica and Epsilon. No, he'd wait some more time before even attempting that one.

The Master smiled and shrugged his shoulder before finishing up the sandwich. "Koschei, don't worry so much. Focus on the good. I mean, you got a rat, you have a few days off and we're somewhat less in debt. Could be worse!"

Koschei nodded softly, pausing for a moment. Huh. Something was off with that one. "Why did he give you money?" Koschei asked lightly, cocking his head to the side. Because it just didn't make sense to him.

The Master hadn't done anything for the man. Nor had he exchanged something for the money. So why had it taken place? "I don't get it...Is it 'cause we took the rat?" Koschei asked in a relatively puzzled manner.

"I can't answer, Koschei. I don't know... he just offered and I'm broke, I needed it-- course, this will probably come back on us but hey, keep spirits high," the Master asserted because, for all he could know, the man might try and extort it.

"We'll soon find out either way... maybe he's just very generous," Which didn't seem right to the Master, he didn't believe in nice people, he simply believed in the concept that everyone was a jerk, some people just hid it better.

Koschei's expression gave away just what he thought on the matter. Because that wasn't right. What kind of person just handed out money? It was a good thing he didn't know the amount. Otherwise he'd have a few more things to say in that regard.

"Right...Maybe. It's odd. 'Cause people don't do that. Is he insane? You don't wanna work for somebody who's insane." the child pointed out softly. Don't deal with the Doctor. Here's a legitimate reasoning.

"Koschei, I'm beyond broke here and eve more so now, I need a job that pays like this one. I mean, did you see him? He's not exactly menacing," the Master asserted, he was going to this job, even if it killed him.

"Just don't worry, worst comes to worst? I can take him," the Master joked somewhat with a small amused look because it was worrying him too but he really did need the money. Wasn't like he'd sold his soul.