Brooding? Well, the Doctor hardly had a corner on that market, and a particularly broody Captain happened to wander into exactly the same cafe, a bit desperate for a caffeine fix but also the chocolate croissants they sold there. Seriously, one of those could turn any day around. Jack placed his order and stepped aside, waiting for his order to be finished. He cast his eyes around the cafe, glancing around to catch a glimpse of normal life.
Except this time, he caught a glimpse of his old friend.
“Doctor?” he asked, forgetting about the coffee and croissant and heading over to the Doctor.
The Doctor looks away at the view and raises a brow in surprise. “Speak… or in this case, think of the devil and he will appear… Hello Jack.”
He gave him a slight smile, hoping to hide his brooding from his friend. “Here to have some coffee? I myself prefer dark hot chocolate or black tea.”
He takes a sip of his English breakfast tea. “Oh and i think your order is ready, feel free to join me when you get it.”
Yeah, he could try and hide it, but it wouldn’t work. Still, Jack paused in his observation of the Doctor’s new look to hurry back to the counter and grab his coffee and chocolate croissant before coming back to sit in the chair across from the Doctor.
“So what brings you to misty Cardiff?”
“Oh you know… This That… The view, the people, the coffee…. the Rift… And 21st century Cardiff seems to be the most pleasant so thats a plus… Im Giving her 24 hours to soak up what ever excess there is, you should have a quiet week at the minimum… or only 3 spikes in this month alone.”
He wasn’t going to say that he came here because the fog on the bay was the perfect backdrop for a brooding TimeLord, while he broods over things and morns his wife once again.
Helping Jack have less work also was a plus… he should really do that more often.
The Master sits grandiosely slackened, legs crossed, arms behind his head, lounging defiantly in the personal space of the Doctor’s TARDIS, all a calculated maneuver of appearing independent and invincible.
All a facade, for a mind as permeable as soil to water. He could not stand apart from the only true friend he ever had if he tried.
But he will try, anyway, because the Master tilts at windmills.
“I robbed you of your latest human pet in the most violently cruel way possible, all to foil your plot to convert Missy into some diluted goody-goody version of herself, and you still come back for more? Doctor, I never knew you to be a masochist … persecution complex, maybe. Savior complex, definitely. But this? How d’you know I won’t exact excruciating vengeance upon you, eh?”
–//–
The doctor is stood, facing away from his oldest friend, Fiddling with buttons and dials, as he thinks about what he wants to say.
“Yes, i guess you did… And as upset as i am about Bill, because im very upset about that, she was a girl with massive potential and and was getting good grades under my tutoring….” He sighed “As upset as i am about that, im also a sentimentalidiot, who desperately wants his best friend back…”
“Call it what you will, but Perhaps i am a masochist…” He shrugged, knowing full well that he didn’t really want to even regenerate when the time came.
“Tho, what you did do, was open my eyes to the fact that i was going about it compleatly the wrong way… I shouldnt have had her in the vault all this time, people DONT learn through isolation, you just wallow in it… no… Traveling would have worked much better, practical lessons, where she would learn by herself… learn from her own mistakes and change on herown… Because… im not god and neither you nor Missy need FIXING…” they were perfect the way they were and it took him TOO LONG to realise that.
He was angry at himself that he didn’t realise what he had been doing to the woman, that he had been unknowingly cruel and un-doctor like.
He waves him off. “Thats of no matter, ill sleep when im tired or have the time.” Also known as of course he hasnt, but Kosch’ didnt need to know that.
“Nothing, its not funny at all, i’m just glad i finally got it… A bit slow today.” He shrugs like it was nothing.
The Master looked at him for another twenty seconds, clearly judging him. Eventually, he spoke again, and his voice was oddly soft.
“You used to be a better liar.”
The doctor Looks at him for a long moment and walks away from him without saying anything. Shrugging or pretending that he had no clue what he was talking about would just confirm it.
Theta was hunched over the console. He had dropped off Bill at her home, told the university that he was resigning… and parked the TARDIS, after collecting his stuff from his office, Out side the university grounds so that Bill could still find him.
But now that he was blind… He had no idea what to do… He couldn’t exactly do traveling… Especially now that he couldn’t even see the console itself…
He was grounded till he regenerated… And that was something he did NOT want to do.
Everything had rules, from the tiniest chemical reaction, all the way to the entire universe. Generally, everything knew to follow those rules – but occasionally, there were things, unspoken, small things that only those who lived long enough picked up on, like the subtle change in the general feeling of the universe when the Doctor was not out and about in his TARDIS to explore it.
And the Master had certainly lived long enough for that.
So when he went to find the ship and the Doctor – to gloat, of course, not because he was worried, obviously, that would be ridiculous – it didn’t take him long. The wood of the TARDIS was cold as he knocked – she seemed upset.
“Theta?”
The Doctor’s shoulders tensed at the sound of the familiar voice, The TARDIS door clicking open without his permission and he made sure that he had the Console and the screen, between him and the door, so he could pretend to be busy.
“What… How are you here?” he asked having quickly shoved sunglasses onto his face and peered around the column to ‘look’ at the other. “Actually, why are you here…”
The Doctor practically pouts as he gently held the babe. “Yeah well, i tried that once, but the Goblin King doesn’t exactly like to share does he… he said no…” he rolled his eyes at the memory.
“Have you fed her yet? Her majesty says she’s starving and her servant isn’t feeding her… thats you by the way.” He points at her.
“You speak baby?” she asks, looking at him curiously for a moment. Not the weirdest thing she’s ever heard of, honestly, so she shrugs in acceptance, simply going with it.
“Well, little miss princess cheek,” the demigod lilts teasingly as she addresses the baby directly. Again, not the weirdest thing she’s ever done. Nor does she talk down to children like so many others, so they tend to listen more to her more often than not. Though in this case, it seems not, “I do believe I told you from the start that I am neither your mum nor your nursemaid, so I must rely on the clock or you telling mewhen you’re hungry. So who’s fault is it if you’re more hungry than you wish to be, eh?”
With a sigh, she signals for the other to follow her to the kitchen where she sets to warming up a bottle. “Well, come on, Time Lord. You’re already carrying her. Might as well make yourself useful. And you know, the only way to get a babe from the Goblin King is by trickery. He’ll never give permission to merely take them away, as that’s how he acquires them himself in the first place.”
He smiled slightly at the interaction. “I dont think she cares..” he chuckled as he followed after her and then quietly cooed at the child.
“And as for the goblin king… oh it dosn’t matter…” he kissed the babe’s head “Its probably for the best if i never be a dad again… might get them killed…”
drapetxmaniia - The Urge to run away 