Imaginary Worlds

Koschei still hated the man. "You better." he mumbled, standing and taking care of his dish. He returned and grinned. "'M moving my pet and 'm gonna take a bath before bed." he said softly, taking to doing just that.

Why not? He was tired. He also knew he had to get up early the coming morning to tag along with the Master. A thing he wasn't too sure about. Because he didn't want to go and put up with all of that.

"Don't take the rat into the bath! You might drown it or it might fall in. Just put him in his cage," the Master remarked as he got to his feet and started to clean up whatever was left around.

After washing up the left over dishes of the day and cleaning everything away, he went after Koschei to make sure the boy was all right. They had a long day tomorrow. "You ready for bed, kosch?"

"He's not going in the bath!" Koschei called back. Just into the ball to run abou the bathroom floor and glow. It was fascinating to the boy. How could it possibly not be?He was careful. He didn't want to screw this up.

That was one good thing about him. He was overly careful with animals. He had just gotten dressed and his rat settled in when the Master approached him. "Yeah. 'M gonna go now." Koschei assured as he crawled into bed.

The Master made sure to tuck the boy in and unplug anything that might be in. He left the rat safely aside and nodded to Koschei. "Good night, I'll some and get you tomorrow morning for work."

Shutting the door to, the Master headed into his bedroom and clambered onto the bed, falling asleep on the top of the bed. When he finally woke up, it was 6:30am and he was still shattered,

Koschei sighed softly when he got up the following morning. He hated the mornings. He didn't like having to get up and ready. But he did. Because he knew his father needed this. Didn't mean that he had to like it.

He was just...Koschei wasn't looking forward to the day. Heading into the livingroom, he put his pet inside the orb, figuring he could take his rat with him. Why not? It would distract him.

The Master finished up showering and got changed, making sure to grab a bag so he could pack them both a lunch for both of them and maybe take a book or two. Loading up on things to keep Koschei amused, the Master headed downstairs.

Pouring the boy some cereal, he left Koschei to it while he made them lunch and shoved it into the bag. Tossing Sigma a treat, he turned his head to Koschei. "Are you going to bring the rat?"

Koschei sat down and picked at his food, shrugging softly. "Yes. I wanna take him. I'll watch an' care for him. But he'll be lonely all alone here." he asserted. Nope. He wasn't going to just leave his new pet behind.

Besides, it would be alright. They'd gotten the creature from the lab. So why couldn't they take him back for a few hours? At least it would keep him quiet for a little while and out of the way.

(on the phone, may be delayed >.<)

"Fine, you can take the rat with you, if you want," the Master suggested as he finished packing everything up and leant against the counter, waiting for the boy to finish breakfast so he could wash up.

As soon as he was done, the Master put the bowl in the sink and shrugged his shoulders. "Keep the rat nearby then. Now come on or I'll be late. Go get your shoes on and I'll be in the car."

(Sorry. Had to run to town.)

The child nodded softly at that one. Alright. He could go with that easily enough. Standing, Koschei picked the ball and rat up before heading to get his shoes on so that he could get settled in the car to go.

"I'll watch him really close an' take good care of him." the child assured brightly. As if it were that easy. Koschei didn't know how much effort honestly went into havin a pet rat. Hopefully not too much.

The Master waited for the boy to put his seat belt on before they took off down the road. The Master had to take it slow as he remembered where he was going but he got there eventually.

Parking outside, he turned his head to Koschei. "Ground rules. No running around, no leaving my side and don't touch anything unless I say it's safe. All understood?" the Master asked as he gave the boy a serious look.

"Play with my rat and be bored. Got it." Koschei deadpanned. What? That's essentially what he was being told. He slipped out and frowned softly. Looked like the Doctor was in based off of the vehicle parked there. Damn.

He'd hoped against that. But no matter. He could play nice. Koschei understood that he didn't have much of a choice. Which was the only reason that he wasn't complaining at the moment.

"Don't sulk, Kosch. If you really have to, you can always play with Marnal," the Master teased playfully as he guided his son inside. He didn't know what exactly to go or what to do but he went to find the Doctor.

When in doubt, report to the highest authority and wish for the best? Heading far inside, he approached the Doctor and Marnal with a small curious look. "Hey, sorry were a tad late."

Smiling softly, the Doctor nodded and motioned the man to follow him. "No worries. You essentially can build your own schedule. Your department will basically be dealin with astrophysics and the like. You settle on experiments and whatnot to be cleared through me and build schedules." he said lightly.

He opened the door to another area not made with glass and smiled. "This is where you'll be working from. You will also hire your own employees and the like. Free reign." the Doctor said simply, shrugging. Why not?

The Master raised an eyebrow. This was great... too great. there had to be some hidden catch and that alone left the Master extremely unsettled. Looking around, he nodded his head before ushering Koschei inside.

"So, tell me, what's the goal of this lab? What are you looking for? You have to have a target or a desire or something?" It couldn't just be for larks. And if it was just research then shouldn't he have a specification or was it truly free reign.

The Doctor just smiled. Because the Master wasn't getting it. "I assure you. This isn't some joke. There isn't a catch. This lab is meant for general research. Something somebody can come in and place in a portfolio for later down the road." he said simply.

"I have other labs that have more direct purposes. I have labs that have none. This is one of the latter. Relax. Have fun. You make your own schedule. You make your own work. It's as free as you're going to get as far as jobs go." the Doctor pointed out.

"... You sure this isn't a meth lab?" the Master whispered as if it was some sort of underhanded skill. Okay, so maybe he was over thinking it but this just wasn't what jobs were meant to be like.

"Hey, whatever you say but no offence, giving employees free reign usually ends badly. My friend Verica does it and it works little in her favour," the Master theorised, just to try and help him out. shrugging his shoulders, he guided Koschei along. "Come on kiddo, let's just explore a little bit, find our footing."

"That'd be the chemistry lab." he deadpanned in turn. Because really? "Look. People have second jobs, families, school...Giving free reign allows people who are passionate about this field the chance to expand and learn in it." the Doctor said softly. "And if they're truly passionate about it? Then they'll be willing to get work done." It was that simple.

It was all a bit odd. Even Koschei could see that. The child went along, glancing up at his father. "We sure he isn't mad?" he asked slowly. What? It was a legitimate question! He wanted to know.

"No, we're definitely not. If he goes mad and starts throwing money and sweets at us... we should run," the Master muttered in return as they peered around what appeared to be his new work station.

He was sure Koschei, much like himself, was not used to such a friendly man giving them stuff. The world was not this easy and usually the Master had to fight for everything. Now ... well, he was just being given it.

This wasn't normal. At all. Because he was stuck dealing with the fact that the Doctor was genuinely kind. And what sort of concept was that? One didn't give things out. One didn't help another. Not without some sort of catch. Koschei just couldn't find it yet.

Sighing softly, he shook his head and looked up at the Master. "This isn't normal." Koschei said simply. As if that mattered. The Doctor was giving his dad everything the Master could possibly want while asking for nothing in return. Koschei hated it.

The Master wasn't sure how to respond either, he kept looking over at the Doctor like he was about to trap the Master in and make him into an experiment. Who willingly gave stuff without a profit or a goal? It was madness!

A weird communist style work force? Didn't exactly do it for him, he appreciated a strong leadership that crushed it's employees dreams... that was the Gallifrey he knew and loved. "Well, either way, let's just get settled and maybe keep an eye out."

Koschei watched the Doctor take Marnal away in a suspicious manner, slowly shaking his head. He didn't trust it in the least. "Ask him." he said simply, shrugging? Why not? There was a catch. There was always a catch. So why not just ask what the Doctor wanted?

It made sense to him. "He might say." Koschei offered softly. And the man might. There was no reason not to. At least, not if the Doctor wasn't up to something illegal.

"We're not drawing attention to anything like that, we're just going to humour him," the Master remarked with a small shrug of his shoulders, looking around before playing with the nearby telescope. He needed to set the co-ordinates.

He supposed there was plenty he could study but really, he didn't know where to start. Dark matter was always interesting but so over done and he never did like being cliche. "Take a seat somewhere, Kosch."

The kid just scoffed at that. Right. Sitting down and being bored. Even if he did as bid. Didn't mean he liked it. But he had something, at least. He just took out his rat to hold and play with. Much better than his other options.

Mainly getting in trouble or doing nothing at all. The Master was busy and that's all there was too it. Though he could only sit still for so long. "'M hungry." Koschei eventually announced, squirming about in his seat.

The Master looked from the telescope and sighed. Really? It was only 10.30am and he wasn't going to eat dinner on time... but he didn't want the whining. Grabbing the bag, he pulled out a bar of chocolate he'd packed for himself but tossed it to the boy.

"Look, play with your rat? Or maybe I can get Marnal or some of his toys? I'm sure he has some," the Master muttered as he looked through the telescope with a small frown on his face.

Well. That was awfully dismissive. Frowning, Koschei took to the chocolate, not the least bit pleased with that. Really? How easily could he be brushed off? Fairly, by the looks of it. No matter. Fine.

He settled in a corner to play with his rat. He was bored and he was tired. He would rather be at school or with another. Because this was boring. Horridly so. But he wasn't about to make a fuss.