tampered | log; ongoing

When; Friday, August 8th, evening.
Rating; PG for now
Characters; The Master (

master_supreme) and Clow Reed (

i_themagician
Summary; Clow takes Harry out on a "date" and it becomes a contest to see who can pretend to be more drunk and act like more of a failure to make the other guy underestimate him.
Log;

Unpredictability is an important part of strategy. If your opponent doesn't know what to expect of you, he won't know how to defend or counterstrike until it's too late. Hence, while there is not an unlimited number of strategies to try in any given situation, and especially not ones that will work, it is generally a good idea not to use the same one more than once in quick succession no matter how well it worked the first time.

... Unless you are making a conscious effort to look like an idiot.

This would be the third time that Clow had pulled the 'not-so-coincidentally meeting someone at a random place' trick, although the Master had no reason to know about the first two. This time, however, Clow employed neither the shock value of showing up on the Time Lord's doorstep nor the brazen disregard of getting "caught" drinking some place sacred to him. The fact that he couldn't do either of those things this time was irrellevant - it was in this case to Clow's benefit, anyway.

Thus, it was on a seemingly random street near an alleyway that Clow waited patiently for his date to show - and he would show, just any second now...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Ahaha! No, I really don't watch a lot of films," Clow replied casually. "I can't even remember the last time I went into a theater. Stage plays are another story."

Another sip of drink. "But that's not what I meant at all. No, no, surely there's some reason why I remind her of you."

"Hm. And I hear the City has quite an active theatre community," he remarked. To be honest, while he had enjoyed and appreciated a good play in his previous regenerations, the Master's current one was a bit too... impatient with his entertainment to really sit through a play, most days.

The Master allowed a twitch to show, then, as Clow made mention of the fact that Lucy had compared the two of them. He took another swig of his drink, much, much larger this time, and set the nearly empty glass down with a wince.

"Oh?" Then he smiled cheerfully again, losing the nasty and detached demeanor. "Well! She certainly has a type. But I don't know what goes on in that batty head of hers, really." He finished off the first drink then, and shoved the glass away dismissively for the 'help' to take away. "Do you have a penchant for destroying the world? Time travel? Dancing?"

Clow had been wondering how the Master would react to that, and that twitch was more or less the response he was hoping for.

"Is that so?" he asked, referring to the Master's statement about not knowing what goes on inside her head. She is quite the mystery, but Clow thinks that he gets closer and closer to understanding her every day. "Well, I do enjoy dancing, but I get the distinct impression that she prefers older men."

He punctuates this with a long sip of his drink, as if to let that sink in a bit. Come on, Master, you can't be that dense. How do you think Clow knew where to find you in the first place?

"And how old are you?" he drawled, although his voice implied a general disinterest in the subject matter-- perhaps the Master just liked talking about himself too much, or perhaps he was just putting on an act. "Honestly, any revelation beneath 500 years old wouldn't surprise me. I never took you for a normal human, you know."

"Now, if you were older than me..." He took another drink and grinned. "Tell me more about yourself. Waitwaitwait. Another drink! This one's boring." He got up and bounded over to the bar, ordering another odd thing. The Pan Galactic... somethingorother. Sliding back into the booth easily, he affected a look of great interest and said, "Continue."

In the few seconds that the Master was gone, Clow shot his discarded other pint of mysterious beverage a look of distaste that was really meant for its former owner.

Do you hate him? he thought at it. I hate him, too.

Upon the Time Lord's return Clow gave him one of his smarmiest smiles as if to say, glad you could join us again. Even if there really wasn't an 'us'. Perhaps the now-personified liquor counted as a third person in his mind? Who knows?

"Is that how old you are?" Clow hadn't known what to expect, honestly, but he wouldn't have been surprised if the Master were twice that age. "That would make us about the same age, then. See? Something in common!"

By this point, the magician had gained quite a nice blush to his cheeks from the alcohol - perfect. Anything he tried from here on could pretty much be written off as drunkeness.

"Let's see, what else...?" Resting his cheek on one hand, he swishes the liquid around in his glass, watching it for a moment as if lost in thought. "Oh! I know - that whole 'destroying the world' thing. What's the attraction? I still don't quite get it."

"Older," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, although the Master didn't feel like divulging just how old he was.

"I thought you were to be talking about yourself," came his flat response to the question. Honestly, the reasons for destruction were so varied. Sometimes, it had a purpose; others, it was just fun. "As a Time Lord, it is my right to do as I please with other worlds, species... And there are so many worlds; destroying one, two, twenty-- hardly makes a dent in the universe at all. Now, back to you. Magic is your trade, is it not? Tell me about it. We don't have such things where I'm from."

"It's boring if one person talks about himself the entire time," Clow remarked. The Master's statements left little to comment on (perhaps intentionally), so they went by without more than a raised eyebrow - is that so? - but were filed away for later.

"What about it? If you really want to know specifics, I do teach a class on theory at the academy." Though, he doubted that the Master cared too much. "In any case, I suppose at its core it's best summarily described as a product of force of will combined with a genetic predisposition. It's not wholly uncommon on my world, but rare enough to have gone unnoticed by most aliens - and humans, for that matter."

That last sentence was probably extraneous, but Clow couldn't help but imply that if there is magic in the Master's universe he is just one of those who hasn't figured it out yet. You can't prove a negative, after all.

log; ongoing

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject