http://shewashuman.livejournal.com/ (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
shewashuman.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tampered2009-11-10 03:06 am
shewashuman.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2009-11-10 03:06 am
log | complete
When; Evening of Saturday, October 31 2009 ( Really back dated and in parts)
Rating; PG-R
Characters;![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
neverendingbeat and shewashuman
Summary; Doctor bonding and mind raping.
Log;
It was just yet another strange dimension to add to her growing list but instead of exploring it, Rose headed directly to the chippy in search of answers and to really get a better feel of the place via a meeting with someone. It had been a bit overdue this but she intended to make good on her word while she still had the time.
Reaching the chippy she found a booth and slid in, idly picking up the laid out menu and glancing over the various items offered all while waiting on a certain supposed Time Lord to show up. There was still a lot that she didn’t know about him since her knowledge was limited to hearsay and well the Doctor hadn’t really warned her had he? Absolutely not. Besides he did seem friendly. What sort of harm could this really do anyway? And so she continued with the waiting mulling over on what she was going to have with her tea. Maybe some chips.
It took the Master two minutes just to mentally prepare himself for standing up off the armchair because he knew how much it was going to hurt. After being completely drained by the events of Thursday, it was taking him longer than usual to heal the mess that had been made of his back. It was all right as long as he didn't move...
This required moving. Even if Rose didn't exactly live in the City any more, if she kept darting back in like this, he still might be able to manipulate the situation to hurt the Doctor somehow. The Doctor deserved it more now, not letting the Master even say anything particularly hurtful to the man from the trap...
He yelped quietly as he finally stood up off the chair, grabbed his coat (black with red lining, he'd found almost an exact duplicate of the one he'd had on Earth) and headed out the door, making sure to lock it behind him as precaution against any possible mad ransackers. Walking to the chippy he'd shown up at the previous, not excruciatingly painful Thursday, he opened the door, searched out Rose, waved, and headed over.
Upon seeing the man, Rose shot him a smile and waved back. Everything about her manner read polite and far from scared despite the one warning that the Time Lady had given her but she could’ve been wrong about this one. She didn’t have one clue as to Harry’s real intentions. "Hullo, Harry. Glad to see that you’ve made it." she said with a grin and then motioned for him to sit across her.
She really had no idea what she was in for. Her memory of this place was vague in some spots at best. The curses she remembered and knew they could be just awful. And then she also remembered having to carry two jobs. Only now that was all in the distant past and best forgotten.
"So," she started out looking up at him almost apologetically. "Sorry about the last time. It was sort of out of my control." It was the truth. One moment she was walking down a street and then the next she had simply vanished. There was nothing she could do about it.
"Were there any bad curses lately? Run into anyone interesting?" She was certain he had a lot to say.
"Perfectly all right," said the Master, sliding into his seat, taking care not to rest backward. A booth was not nearly as soft as an armchair. "There's nothing at all you could possibly be blamed for. This City can be quite callous with the lives of its citizens." He graced her with a warm smile. "I'm so glad you're alright."
He pondered her next question for a moment, wondering how exactly to answer. Well, he was always ready to take the 'sympathy' angle. Ready to exploit what had just happened to him, no matter how humiliating (well.....almost), as long as he could twist it to fit the situation.
"Most of the curses were fun," he admitted. "Except for the horrendous one on Thursday..." He paused, purposefully, drawing her attention to it before he sighed and said, "But today's is nice! I've met myself twice already. I wasn't aware the City did that."
Rose leaned back against the comfort of the booth. It was nice to hear that he had been worried or so it seemed so. “Yeah, well, I’m a tough one.” she said giving him half a smile.
She knew some curses could be enjoyable and rather silly like one where people just started singing for no particular reason at all. It was still fresh in her mind. But she also knew that they could also be terrible. Could make you act and say things that weren’t really in your nature to say. Or cause you to wake up in a strange place only to be tortured. She tried very hard not to even think of that prison, pushing it down and taking another glance at the menu instead despite already knowing what she was going to have.
To hear that Harry had gone through one of the less pleasing ones caused Rose to look back at him with a sympathetic look. This place was just really odd. And unfair. “You didn’t wake up in some prison cell did you?” It was a valid question. One that which she hoped that answer was no. That curse had just been the worst. “Twice, really?” she asked being rather curious about it and recalling that he was a Time Lord. So, right. Regenerations. “Which versions? Were you younger or older?” she inquired.
"I'm glad," said the Master, picking up the salt-shaker to fiddle with it absent-mindedly, shaking it from side to side and watching the rice grains move through the salt.
He glanced up in time to catch Rose's look of sympathy. Perfect. Although...versions... Oh Rassilon, she knew he was a Time Lord. The Doctor must have told her. Well, this changed nothing, really. She knew and she'd still come. So the Doctor must have chickened out of fully explaining their past. Good. His own utter carelessness would come back to bite him in the arse and that was perfect.
"Not a classic prison cell, no..." he said, drawing it out. "A room lined with mirror shards with the walls closing in on me. I..." He looked down again at the salt shaker. "I ended up with a wall of them raking through my back. Vastly unpleasant. I don't recommend trying it yourself." He looked up to quirk a half-smile at her. "That was after a man showed up and tore out my heart. It wasn't part of the curse, though. He was just a twat." His expression soured and he put the shaker back off to his side. "Apparently, the curses here aren't always funny." Carefully, he settled backwards. "As for meeting myself, both of the forms I met were younger, one of them VERY young. He wasn't even out of school yet."
She observed him for a moment taking in his words about that dreadful curse. It really did sound terrible. And it was just like this place wasn’t it? She couldn’t help but shudder at hearing the story turn even darker with his heart getting ripped. Clearly that had to have been painful. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” she said still appearing sympathetic, moreso than before. She couldn’t even imagine the pain he had to have gone though. It just must have been awful.
“Did you know him or was he just a stranger?” It was yet another curious question that spilled from her lips. She was pegging it to be a stranger having heard how some others could be around there especially when a given curse was around. “Tell me about it,” she remarked glancing at the glass of water before her and then picking it up to take a sip. She had a bit more sympathy for him knowing first hand how cruel these random things could be when they wanted it. There was just no real pattern to them and that’s what had baffled her even more. Just when you thought you had it, it changed on you.
“There was this one curse a while ago where you just said whatever you really felt and wouldn’t say other wise.” she informed focusing her attention back on her glass which was back down on the table. It had been a very good thing that the Doctor hadn’t heard her then or so she was telling herself. Even if he had eavesdropped he hadn’t said anything really and that was fine by her. No sense in setting herself up again for heartbreak a second time. She was convinced of his answer already and it hadn’t been like she had first thought. “It was just ridiculous.” Her focus shifted back on him trying hard not to let it bother her.
The school bit was new. The Doctor really hadn’t told her all that much or anything at all when it came to his past other than small bits and pieces. School not really being one of them. “You lot went to school? Seriously?” She couldn’t even begin to imagine it. Aliens. School. Still she reckoned it must have been interesting not that she was really an ace student when she had gone herself. “Must’ve been a bit of memory lane seeing yourself like that.” She gave him a smile before the waiter walked over to take their orders. Rose ordered her tea and chips and then looked over at Harry as the waiter awaited his order.
"Nearly a complete stranger," said the Master. "I had just spoken to him on the Network but I hardly think that warranted him stealing one of my quite vital organs. He did it to see what would happen, or so he told me at the time." The worst part, that he particularly wasn't going to tell Rose, was how the Doctor wouldn't let him do anything in retaliation. It was completely unfair. That Tyki bastard getting away scot free...it was against everything the Master stood for. But he didn't want to keep on about the incident: making her feel sorry and soft-hearted towards him was one thing, but pushing it into a sort of mothering instinct was too far. Charming, not pathetic.
"I can see how that might be somewhat annoying," he agreed. There was something she wasn't telling him about the curse but that didn't matter. He'd find out exactly what it was later. If everything went according to the basic plan he was starting to outline in his mind, he'd find out a lot of things, later.
"Of course we did," he said, instead, and then looked down to read Rose's menu upside-down as the waiter arrived. After Rose had ordered, he looked up to face the waiter. "I'll have exactly what Rose just ordered," he said. "I'm sure she has a better idea than I do of the best items on the menu." He wasn't terribly hungry but he thought that he might as well.
"All right, thank you, your food should be ready shortly and I'll bring your tea right over," said the waiter, leaving.
"What...oh, right, school," said the Master. "Well, I mean, we weren't inherently born knowing universal geography and history. Or for that matter, knowing how to pilot incredibly complex time-and-spaceships." He grinned. "It was extremely nostalgic. I used to be so young and idealistic. I think he...or I...whatever pronoun you'd like, must have been...only about...in his mid to late 60's? Early 70's?" The Master smiled, going a little bit nostalgic.
"Those were good days, for the most part. I didn't pay too much attention in class at that age. More than Theta did but pretty much everyone paid more attention than Thete. Except possibly Drax..." Leaning too hard back onto the booth brought him out of his reverie and he leaned forward instead, propping his chin on his hand and looking at Rose. "Sorry," he said, putting on a rueful expression. "I didn't mean to go on for so long. I expect you're falling asleep."
Again she cringed at the information. It sort of beckoned to one of those body snatchers movie that she would watch with Mickey back home or even read about in the papers. Back before all that parallel world business and time travelling. “Sounds like a real evil bloke.” she concluded leaning forward just a bit. “You should’ve pressed charges,” she added in suggestion not really knowing if the police around here still did anything or even if they were around.
“Funny, I always thought that you lot had,” she admitted in a half joking manner. It was an easy conclusion for her to draw with how the Doctor would go on at times and despite him being alien a small part of her had always just assumed that the knowledge was just there. But then the rational part would often remind her that maybe they had to learn somewhere. This revelation was certainly intriguing. “Theta…?... Drax?” she repeated looking on in amusement. Oh aliens all right. With names like those they would’ve gotten picked on if they had gone to her school.
She wondered if it was the same on their planet. “I never really liked school myself.” she admitted with a shrug. “Never even got my A-Levels.” She had been awfully busy chasing boys and focusing on who she thought had been the love of her life then. Worst decision of her young life that had been. But that was far off into the past, a whole different life and person in some sense and this was now the here and now.
“Oh that’s fine,” she responded as a slow grin started to appear. “I’m used to it. And am far from sleepy.” she reassured. She was really interested in what he had to say and how much information she could find it. Be it about the Doctor’s planet, school, or even more about him. “Go on, tell me more.” she encouraged taking up the glass of water to take another drink. “You’ve gotten a pet yet?”
As Rose leaned forward, the Master's eyes flicked down, and then back up to eye contact again. "There's actually a police force here?" he asked, validly surprised. "Funny, I was hardly aware there was any sort of crime prevention at all. I've seen a lot of talk but not very much action." Obviously, logically, he couldn't press charges. Not only was it essentially a form of whining for him but the Doctor would probably point out again that he deserved it. "I got my heart back in the end, anyway."
"I suppose the Doctor likes you to think so," said the Master, smirking. "Theta and Drax were...a few old friends." There. That was safe. No need to go into any detail. "It wasn't Theta's real name, of course. We nicknamed him Theta Sigma. So many Time Lord names are ridiculous mouthfuls..." He pondered whether or not to start the first and most obvious section of his plan (the part he'd figured out, anyway) and eventually decided to begin. Gently, of course. In the eye contact he was maintaining with Rose, he began to weave in a small amount of hypnosis. At a low enough level that it was completely unnoticeable, of course. It was just the primer and would test the waters to see how susceptible she was to invasion by his mind.
"I was never that interested in excelling scholastically either," he said. "I only really paid attention to courses that interested me. Too busy with my own projects, I suppose."
"You're really that interested?" he asked. "Well, then, I'll tell you whatever you'd like...within reason, obviously," he added, smiling slowly. "As for a pet...no, I haven't really found the time, yet. The ticking is...maddening but...I'll be fine. For now."
“At least I think there is. I’ve heard things but have never really seen it myself.” she informed not wanting to even think of the horrible prison which was now long gone. It was rather good to hear that he had gotten his heart back in the end but again she didn’t even want to imagine the process. It probably was painful. “Well good thing that you did.” She gave him another slow smile feeling completely at ease.
Theta Sigma? The name got a bit funnier in her opinion and she couldn’t help the snicker that came as it settled. She’d imagined whoever that was really must’ve had a rough time. She knew Time Lords could have odd names though like Romana, but Thtea Sigma seemed to have stuck out a bit more for her in the amusement department. “So then the Doctor’s really name isn’t really the Doctor?” It was one of the many mysterious things about him that she had always pondered about. And it wasn’t like he was very forthcoming with information with her. Clearly, he had to know, right? But the question was would he even tell her though? But then just as she was about to ask gazing into his eyes, it was then completely forgotten. Almost as if the thought had never really existed in the first place. It seemed like she had been lost for a moment, blinking slowly and then looking past him as it settled in.
“Of course, I am!” she said easily smiling as she did so completely unaware of what was happening. It wasn’t every day that a Time Lord was really open about things. “What sort of projects though? Anything science-like? And what about the Doctor? And you really ought to get a pet some time. I thought about getting one once and then my roommate came along.”
"I wouldn't have wanted to get along with only one heart forever," he said, amused. No reason to mask that fact any more, not with Rose's knowledge of his species. "I have no idea how humans do it," he added.
All of his plan revolved around the possibility of Rose eventually being trapped in the City again, the Master reasoned. And depending on how much of her presence here relied on her actual want to leave... He wasn't certain if any of it did, but considering how contrary the City was, perhaps it wasn't entirely safe to twist her mind into making her want to stay. However, he could definitely incur a sort of loyalty. As Rose had retained her memory of events even outside the City, he thought it would be a safe use of his time to claim her mind. He increased his presence in her subconcious, making certain still to not affect the surface, and was rewarded with the sight of Rose completely losing what she had been about to ask. He wasn't in quite far enough yet that he could tell what the thought had been but that would come later. For now, it was good enough that she had been affected by his presence in her mind and was still unaware that he was the cause.
Of course, THEN she had to look away. No matter. He had the first mental hooks in; even if it wouldn't be as effective while she wasn't staring at him, he would still be able to increase mental control, albeit more slowly.
"Oh, the usual tricks Time Lord kids get up to," he said, shrugging (painfully, but he was almost used to his body's reaction to any sort of movement by now). "Creating small paradoxes just to see what would happen. Building pocket universes. Once, Theta and I...borrowed a TARDIS, took it for a joyride and ended up nearly crashing it into a sun. We hadn't even learned how to regenerate properly yet so that was a bit of a fiasco." He smirked.
"We figured it out eventually, though. Or I did. I don't think Theta really ever learned. The Doctor... He..." He had to stop for a moment and really think about whether to tell her. Maybe if she pressed him for the information a little bit more. He was uncertain whether demystifying the Doctor would make him seem more "human" and thus more attractive to his young Companion, or if it would take him down a peg, remove a little bit of her respect for him. "What about him?"
He grimaced. "I'm not sure I'm really a pet sort of person. I'll see what happens." Then he tilted his head slightly. "And I don't believe you've ever yet told me about your roommate before. Would I know them?"
“Well I don’t know how you Time Lords manage with two.” she retorted with a smirk.
Rose leaned back against the booth unaware of what was really happening and just listening to Harry’s words completely enthralled by them and amused by them. Her presence there was all part of a curse she knew deep down even with as much as she didn’t want to believe it. But she didn’t want to leave even knowing that back home she was needed and that there was trouble. It sounded like they were definite troublemakers back then. A sentiment that she could relate in some sort of parallel way. No TARDIS for her but a car. It didn’t seem that far off really. Except for other major differences of course. “Blimey! Bet the headmasters must’ve really loved you.” The smile was a bit easier now. Except of course there was nothing regular about it. Nearly crashing into a sun, for one. Again her imagination couldn’t even really begin to picture what it must’ve been really like. “Good thing, this Thea had you around then.” They sounded like regular rebellious teenagers to her.
“The Doctor…” she started and then hesitated looking back at him fingertips idly drumming against the edge of the table lost in thought again. Once curiosity had its hooks on her it was difficult to break free. Coming to a decision she decided to ask, fingers stopping their motion. “His name. I always thought that was his name. You wouldn’t happen to know it would you?” And if he didn’t want to say well she would drop it.
“I don’t think my roommate’s much for pets either.” she admitted before being cut off by the waiter who started to set their orders on the table and then quietly leaving to serve another table. Rose hadn’t really noticed it though glancing down at the table almost with a bit of a bashful expression at his last question. “You might, I think. It’s the Doctor actually.” And while they were roommates sometimes it seemed almost like she didn’t have one with her two jobs that she had been working but maybe that would change. “But you know him. Always running and going off somewhere. Almost like I don’t have roommate at all.” But that was just working so well wasn’t it? She really didn’t want to leave. Leave him alone again when he had promised that they’d find some way out together.
"Touche," he said, grinning.
He laughed, both at the reminder of his professors and at Rose's advanced state of hypnotism. This was fun, just the thing to make him utterly forget the whole pumpkin patch fiasco. "I think both Theta and I spent more time in detention than out of it," he said. "Well, for a while, we managed to build some very convincing automatons and send them instead but it didn't take long for Professor Herianus to figure that out." Laughing again, he said, "Theta, not Thea. And, yes, he was very lucky to have me there. Even if most of the time he either disagreed with that or took me for granted." Getting a little close to (ha) home, there. Time to move on. "It was fun while it lasted, anyway."
Oh. Now that was an interesting side effect. The Master watched Rose drum a four-part beat out on the table with her fingers. He hadn't directly hypnotised anyone since this new regeneration, he'd relied on Archangel to reach as many people as possible in one go. It seemed that his drums were contagious. He'd have to watch out for that, to not hypnotise people anywhere near the Doctor, even if this Doctor was from a point where he hadn't even met him yet and technically shouldn't know about his drums. All the same—
The Master almost started when Rose's next words were "The Doctor". Had he influenced that subconsciously himself? ...no, probably not. She was one of the Doctor's "companions": all of them were ridiculously fascinated with him. His name... He could...
No. He'd kept that to himself for too long. Even being the Doctor's nemesis for all these years hadn't seemed to ever quite break through that particular taboo he'd put on himself.
"He never told me," he said casually. "Mm. But he did go by a different pseudonym earlier, before he'd determined what he wanted everyone to call him." He'd laughed when the Doctor told him. 'The Doctor', even though he'd failed all of his tests multiple times...it was ridiculous. Anyway, if Rose was so interested, he'd dish up some 'dirt'. He'd really wanted to all along anyway. "Theta, who I was telling you about...that was him."
Hearing who her roommate was, he had to pick up his tea to cover his grin. He took a sip of it, still black. He'd developed a taste for it after all, spending all that time trapped on Earth, but he didn't think he'd ever adopt the Doctor's habit of pouring in copious amounts of milk and sugar.
But the Doctor, being her roommate... Oh, she needed to stay now, somehow, this was brilliant. He couldn't have worked this out better if he'd orchestrated it himself. This way, the Doctor would have to watch, every step of the way. It would make the game that much more interesting. Aside from that, they seemed to be having some issues... Rose was emotionally vulnerable and he really needed to stop nearly bursting into laughter. He gathered himself together before putting his mug down again.
"Yes," he said jokingly, allowing himself, at least, a smirk. "I might have heard of him. In passing. I imagine that he'd make living with him rather difficult. For his multiple centuries, he's hardly changed."
“Theta,” she repeated still getting used to the strange name. Already trying to picture the weird bloke in her head. Well with a name like that he had to have been weird. Probably with glasses and that sort of clothing a nerd would wear. “That sounds a bit like me and my ex-best mate. We used to get into so much trouble skipping out of classes and finding ourselves in detention.” She picked up her cup of tea bringing it to her lips and taking a small sip. It definitely needed some sugar.
She reached over grabbing one of the containers with the sugar and slowly pouring it into her cup of tea before grabbing a silver spoon on the side and stirring it. Bland tea was just not to her tastes. Just as she was setting the sugar back down satisfied with what she now had, she stared at Harry hearing yet another revelation. Surprise flashed on her face. The Doctor was actually—“Oh shut up!” She cracked a grin in amusement as she thought at some point she’d bring this up with him for a tease. “Really? Theta?” She made a face and laughed. Now the picture was crystal clear. “Guess I can kind of see it now.” she mused playfully.
But then she got back into serious mode. A sigh escaped her lips as she knew all too well how very little the Doctor said to people. Apparently it applied to others of his kind as well. What a surprise really.
“Oh he’s very difficult. Doesn’t really like it all that much here.” At least from what she had learned previously and really she didn’t blame him. He had been so grumpy the first time that she had witnessed him losing the TARDIS on that base. The mere mention of settling down seemed to scare him and made her feel awkward-ish for even bringing it up back then. A hard lesson learned such a long time ago. And she knew that he could never really settle. Not ever. So she’d move at his pace. Always. Or rather she would think so. Currently she really didn’t know other than it wasn’t what she had thought or so she told herself. She really just wanted him to be happy. “Not that I blame him. We lost the TARDIS once, you know. And he was just losing it completely. It was like it was all over for him having to settle down. He’s a stubborn one.” But somehow she knew that he already knew this. “Don’t think he’s ever really gonna be happy here at this rate.”
Drinking some more tea, she contemplated about making some sort of deal to get his ship back. If it’d make him happy in the long run than it was worth it. But still it was just a distant thought. “Horrible curses aside though, you seem to be managing well. Or are you just faking it too?” Another very valid question since she knew Time Lords could be rather tricky when they wanted to be.
"Pretty much exactly," the Master said. Ex-best. It was too bad, really, that the Doctor insisted on his way of life... If only, back when they were younger...the Doctor had had to think about it, when the Master asked him to join him. If only he'd conceded the Master's point on power, if he'd agreed...
It was all much too late now. They were too different. Or, at least, the Doctor thought they were too different and that was nearly the same thing, as far as the outcome went.
He looked away from Rose's eyes momentarily to watch her pour masses of sugar into her tea. Hm. Humans. Sugar was well enough in candy format but tea was supposed to be bitter. He looked back in time to see Rose's reaction to the big reveal of Theta's true identity. Oh, good. About 20% into his invasion of Rose's mind, he was starting to sense specific emotions and a few images. He'd hoped this revelation would result in her teasing the Doctor about his childhood. Breaking up the legend. Perfect.
"He was always madcap," he continued. "It took him numerous times to stop failing his finals. In all fairness, I did distract him quite a lot. But the Doctor was to blame for the invention of at least two thirds of all TARDIS-related schemes."
The most useful part of this particular conversation was that if he regretted saying anything later on, he could always...fix that.
Drinking some more tea, he rolled the taste around in his mouth taking another sip. Shortly after, he was bombarded with several emotions from Rose. Worry. Apprehension. A vague sort of fear. She seemed to actually be very fond of the Doctor. If the Doctor returned her feelings in any similar sort of magnitude, how marvellous this would be.
Although, he did seem to remember, back on the Valiant...the Doctor saying something about it being "time he settled down". Was that whole overwrought speech due to something that had happened in his regular timeline with Rose Tyler? Or, miraculously, was the Doctor actually maturing? He had probably been just trying to be petty, the Master decided. The Doctor couldn't stand the idea of the Master having any sort of freedom.
"He's very fond of that TARDIS," he decided to say. It was neutral enough. He didn't want to be outwardly nasty if she liked the Doctor so very much.
"I'm fine," said the Master. "Obviously, I have two kinds of noise in my head what with the ticking and the drumming. But besides that--" Besides that...he was completely repressed, as trapped here as he would have been had he not died rather than been jailed in the Doctor's TARDIS at the Valiant. At least here he could interact with other people, instead of the increased madness that would undoubtedly ensue with no-one but the Doctor and himself to talk to. And here...there was still the chance of escape.
"...besides that, I'm as well as can be expected, what with all of the curses and not having very much control over my own life anymore." That could be deliberately misinterpreted as lack of control due to the City, he was sure. Probably. Feeling a little bit of annoyance just from thinking about that situation, he planted a direct influence of himself into Rose's brain. He wanted control of something. If he was lucky, it would build upon any sort of potential affection Rose might harbour for him. If not, he would have to more directly start to create some. More effort but worth it in the end result.
Rating; PG-R
Characters;
neverendingbeat and shewashumanSummary; Doctor bonding and mind raping.
Log;
It was just yet another strange dimension to add to her growing list but instead of exploring it, Rose headed directly to the chippy in search of answers and to really get a better feel of the place via a meeting with someone. It had been a bit overdue this but she intended to make good on her word while she still had the time.
Reaching the chippy she found a booth and slid in, idly picking up the laid out menu and glancing over the various items offered all while waiting on a certain supposed Time Lord to show up. There was still a lot that she didn’t know about him since her knowledge was limited to hearsay and well the Doctor hadn’t really warned her had he? Absolutely not. Besides he did seem friendly. What sort of harm could this really do anyway? And so she continued with the waiting mulling over on what she was going to have with her tea. Maybe some chips.
It took the Master two minutes just to mentally prepare himself for standing up off the armchair because he knew how much it was going to hurt. After being completely drained by the events of Thursday, it was taking him longer than usual to heal the mess that had been made of his back. It was all right as long as he didn't move...
This required moving. Even if Rose didn't exactly live in the City any more, if she kept darting back in like this, he still might be able to manipulate the situation to hurt the Doctor somehow. The Doctor deserved it more now, not letting the Master even say anything particularly hurtful to the man from the trap...
He yelped quietly as he finally stood up off the chair, grabbed his coat (black with red lining, he'd found almost an exact duplicate of the one he'd had on Earth) and headed out the door, making sure to lock it behind him as precaution against any possible mad ransackers. Walking to the chippy he'd shown up at the previous, not excruciatingly painful Thursday, he opened the door, searched out Rose, waved, and headed over.
Upon seeing the man, Rose shot him a smile and waved back. Everything about her manner read polite and far from scared despite the one warning that the Time Lady had given her but she could’ve been wrong about this one. She didn’t have one clue as to Harry’s real intentions. "Hullo, Harry. Glad to see that you’ve made it." she said with a grin and then motioned for him to sit across her.
She really had no idea what she was in for. Her memory of this place was vague in some spots at best. The curses she remembered and knew they could be just awful. And then she also remembered having to carry two jobs. Only now that was all in the distant past and best forgotten.
"So," she started out looking up at him almost apologetically. "Sorry about the last time. It was sort of out of my control." It was the truth. One moment she was walking down a street and then the next she had simply vanished. There was nothing she could do about it.
"Were there any bad curses lately? Run into anyone interesting?" She was certain he had a lot to say.
"Perfectly all right," said the Master, sliding into his seat, taking care not to rest backward. A booth was not nearly as soft as an armchair. "There's nothing at all you could possibly be blamed for. This City can be quite callous with the lives of its citizens." He graced her with a warm smile. "I'm so glad you're alright."
He pondered her next question for a moment, wondering how exactly to answer. Well, he was always ready to take the 'sympathy' angle. Ready to exploit what had just happened to him, no matter how humiliating (well.....almost), as long as he could twist it to fit the situation.
"Most of the curses were fun," he admitted. "Except for the horrendous one on Thursday..." He paused, purposefully, drawing her attention to it before he sighed and said, "But today's is nice! I've met myself twice already. I wasn't aware the City did that."
Rose leaned back against the comfort of the booth. It was nice to hear that he had been worried or so it seemed so. “Yeah, well, I’m a tough one.” she said giving him half a smile.
She knew some curses could be enjoyable and rather silly like one where people just started singing for no particular reason at all. It was still fresh in her mind. But she also knew that they could also be terrible. Could make you act and say things that weren’t really in your nature to say. Or cause you to wake up in a strange place only to be tortured. She tried very hard not to even think of that prison, pushing it down and taking another glance at the menu instead despite already knowing what she was going to have.
To hear that Harry had gone through one of the less pleasing ones caused Rose to look back at him with a sympathetic look. This place was just really odd. And unfair. “You didn’t wake up in some prison cell did you?” It was a valid question. One that which she hoped that answer was no. That curse had just been the worst. “Twice, really?” she asked being rather curious about it and recalling that he was a Time Lord. So, right. Regenerations. “Which versions? Were you younger or older?” she inquired.
"I'm glad," said the Master, picking up the salt-shaker to fiddle with it absent-mindedly, shaking it from side to side and watching the rice grains move through the salt.
He glanced up in time to catch Rose's look of sympathy. Perfect. Although...versions... Oh Rassilon, she knew he was a Time Lord. The Doctor must have told her. Well, this changed nothing, really. She knew and she'd still come. So the Doctor must have chickened out of fully explaining their past. Good. His own utter carelessness would come back to bite him in the arse and that was perfect.
"Not a classic prison cell, no..." he said, drawing it out. "A room lined with mirror shards with the walls closing in on me. I..." He looked down again at the salt shaker. "I ended up with a wall of them raking through my back. Vastly unpleasant. I don't recommend trying it yourself." He looked up to quirk a half-smile at her. "That was after a man showed up and tore out my heart. It wasn't part of the curse, though. He was just a twat." His expression soured and he put the shaker back off to his side. "Apparently, the curses here aren't always funny." Carefully, he settled backwards. "As for meeting myself, both of the forms I met were younger, one of them VERY young. He wasn't even out of school yet."
She observed him for a moment taking in his words about that dreadful curse. It really did sound terrible. And it was just like this place wasn’t it? She couldn’t help but shudder at hearing the story turn even darker with his heart getting ripped. Clearly that had to have been painful. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” she said still appearing sympathetic, moreso than before. She couldn’t even imagine the pain he had to have gone though. It just must have been awful.
“Did you know him or was he just a stranger?” It was yet another curious question that spilled from her lips. She was pegging it to be a stranger having heard how some others could be around there especially when a given curse was around. “Tell me about it,” she remarked glancing at the glass of water before her and then picking it up to take a sip. She had a bit more sympathy for him knowing first hand how cruel these random things could be when they wanted it. There was just no real pattern to them and that’s what had baffled her even more. Just when you thought you had it, it changed on you.
“There was this one curse a while ago where you just said whatever you really felt and wouldn’t say other wise.” she informed focusing her attention back on her glass which was back down on the table. It had been a very good thing that the Doctor hadn’t heard her then or so she was telling herself. Even if he had eavesdropped he hadn’t said anything really and that was fine by her. No sense in setting herself up again for heartbreak a second time. She was convinced of his answer already and it hadn’t been like she had first thought. “It was just ridiculous.” Her focus shifted back on him trying hard not to let it bother her.
The school bit was new. The Doctor really hadn’t told her all that much or anything at all when it came to his past other than small bits and pieces. School not really being one of them. “You lot went to school? Seriously?” She couldn’t even begin to imagine it. Aliens. School. Still she reckoned it must have been interesting not that she was really an ace student when she had gone herself. “Must’ve been a bit of memory lane seeing yourself like that.” She gave him a smile before the waiter walked over to take their orders. Rose ordered her tea and chips and then looked over at Harry as the waiter awaited his order.
"Nearly a complete stranger," said the Master. "I had just spoken to him on the Network but I hardly think that warranted him stealing one of my quite vital organs. He did it to see what would happen, or so he told me at the time." The worst part, that he particularly wasn't going to tell Rose, was how the Doctor wouldn't let him do anything in retaliation. It was completely unfair. That Tyki bastard getting away scot free...it was against everything the Master stood for. But he didn't want to keep on about the incident: making her feel sorry and soft-hearted towards him was one thing, but pushing it into a sort of mothering instinct was too far. Charming, not pathetic.
"I can see how that might be somewhat annoying," he agreed. There was something she wasn't telling him about the curse but that didn't matter. He'd find out exactly what it was later. If everything went according to the basic plan he was starting to outline in his mind, he'd find out a lot of things, later.
"Of course we did," he said, instead, and then looked down to read Rose's menu upside-down as the waiter arrived. After Rose had ordered, he looked up to face the waiter. "I'll have exactly what Rose just ordered," he said. "I'm sure she has a better idea than I do of the best items on the menu." He wasn't terribly hungry but he thought that he might as well.
"All right, thank you, your food should be ready shortly and I'll bring your tea right over," said the waiter, leaving.
"What...oh, right, school," said the Master. "Well, I mean, we weren't inherently born knowing universal geography and history. Or for that matter, knowing how to pilot incredibly complex time-and-spaceships." He grinned. "It was extremely nostalgic. I used to be so young and idealistic. I think he...or I...whatever pronoun you'd like, must have been...only about...in his mid to late 60's? Early 70's?" The Master smiled, going a little bit nostalgic.
"Those were good days, for the most part. I didn't pay too much attention in class at that age. More than Theta did but pretty much everyone paid more attention than Thete. Except possibly Drax..." Leaning too hard back onto the booth brought him out of his reverie and he leaned forward instead, propping his chin on his hand and looking at Rose. "Sorry," he said, putting on a rueful expression. "I didn't mean to go on for so long. I expect you're falling asleep."
Again she cringed at the information. It sort of beckoned to one of those body snatchers movie that she would watch with Mickey back home or even read about in the papers. Back before all that parallel world business and time travelling. “Sounds like a real evil bloke.” she concluded leaning forward just a bit. “You should’ve pressed charges,” she added in suggestion not really knowing if the police around here still did anything or even if they were around.
“Funny, I always thought that you lot had,” she admitted in a half joking manner. It was an easy conclusion for her to draw with how the Doctor would go on at times and despite him being alien a small part of her had always just assumed that the knowledge was just there. But then the rational part would often remind her that maybe they had to learn somewhere. This revelation was certainly intriguing. “Theta…?... Drax?” she repeated looking on in amusement. Oh aliens all right. With names like those they would’ve gotten picked on if they had gone to her school.
She wondered if it was the same on their planet. “I never really liked school myself.” she admitted with a shrug. “Never even got my A-Levels.” She had been awfully busy chasing boys and focusing on who she thought had been the love of her life then. Worst decision of her young life that had been. But that was far off into the past, a whole different life and person in some sense and this was now the here and now.
“Oh that’s fine,” she responded as a slow grin started to appear. “I’m used to it. And am far from sleepy.” she reassured. She was really interested in what he had to say and how much information she could find it. Be it about the Doctor’s planet, school, or even more about him. “Go on, tell me more.” she encouraged taking up the glass of water to take another drink. “You’ve gotten a pet yet?”
As Rose leaned forward, the Master's eyes flicked down, and then back up to eye contact again. "There's actually a police force here?" he asked, validly surprised. "Funny, I was hardly aware there was any sort of crime prevention at all. I've seen a lot of talk but not very much action." Obviously, logically, he couldn't press charges. Not only was it essentially a form of whining for him but the Doctor would probably point out again that he deserved it. "I got my heart back in the end, anyway."
"I suppose the Doctor likes you to think so," said the Master, smirking. "Theta and Drax were...a few old friends." There. That was safe. No need to go into any detail. "It wasn't Theta's real name, of course. We nicknamed him Theta Sigma. So many Time Lord names are ridiculous mouthfuls..." He pondered whether or not to start the first and most obvious section of his plan (the part he'd figured out, anyway) and eventually decided to begin. Gently, of course. In the eye contact he was maintaining with Rose, he began to weave in a small amount of hypnosis. At a low enough level that it was completely unnoticeable, of course. It was just the primer and would test the waters to see how susceptible she was to invasion by his mind.
"I was never that interested in excelling scholastically either," he said. "I only really paid attention to courses that interested me. Too busy with my own projects, I suppose."
"You're really that interested?" he asked. "Well, then, I'll tell you whatever you'd like...within reason, obviously," he added, smiling slowly. "As for a pet...no, I haven't really found the time, yet. The ticking is...maddening but...I'll be fine. For now."
“At least I think there is. I’ve heard things but have never really seen it myself.” she informed not wanting to even think of the horrible prison which was now long gone. It was rather good to hear that he had gotten his heart back in the end but again she didn’t even want to imagine the process. It probably was painful. “Well good thing that you did.” She gave him another slow smile feeling completely at ease.
Theta Sigma? The name got a bit funnier in her opinion and she couldn’t help the snicker that came as it settled. She’d imagined whoever that was really must’ve had a rough time. She knew Time Lords could have odd names though like Romana, but Thtea Sigma seemed to have stuck out a bit more for her in the amusement department. “So then the Doctor’s really name isn’t really the Doctor?” It was one of the many mysterious things about him that she had always pondered about. And it wasn’t like he was very forthcoming with information with her. Clearly, he had to know, right? But the question was would he even tell her though? But then just as she was about to ask gazing into his eyes, it was then completely forgotten. Almost as if the thought had never really existed in the first place. It seemed like she had been lost for a moment, blinking slowly and then looking past him as it settled in.
“Of course, I am!” she said easily smiling as she did so completely unaware of what was happening. It wasn’t every day that a Time Lord was really open about things. “What sort of projects though? Anything science-like? And what about the Doctor? And you really ought to get a pet some time. I thought about getting one once and then my roommate came along.”
"I wouldn't have wanted to get along with only one heart forever," he said, amused. No reason to mask that fact any more, not with Rose's knowledge of his species. "I have no idea how humans do it," he added.
All of his plan revolved around the possibility of Rose eventually being trapped in the City again, the Master reasoned. And depending on how much of her presence here relied on her actual want to leave... He wasn't certain if any of it did, but considering how contrary the City was, perhaps it wasn't entirely safe to twist her mind into making her want to stay. However, he could definitely incur a sort of loyalty. As Rose had retained her memory of events even outside the City, he thought it would be a safe use of his time to claim her mind. He increased his presence in her subconcious, making certain still to not affect the surface, and was rewarded with the sight of Rose completely losing what she had been about to ask. He wasn't in quite far enough yet that he could tell what the thought had been but that would come later. For now, it was good enough that she had been affected by his presence in her mind and was still unaware that he was the cause.
Of course, THEN she had to look away. No matter. He had the first mental hooks in; even if it wouldn't be as effective while she wasn't staring at him, he would still be able to increase mental control, albeit more slowly.
"Oh, the usual tricks Time Lord kids get up to," he said, shrugging (painfully, but he was almost used to his body's reaction to any sort of movement by now). "Creating small paradoxes just to see what would happen. Building pocket universes. Once, Theta and I...borrowed a TARDIS, took it for a joyride and ended up nearly crashing it into a sun. We hadn't even learned how to regenerate properly yet so that was a bit of a fiasco." He smirked.
"We figured it out eventually, though. Or I did. I don't think Theta really ever learned. The Doctor... He..." He had to stop for a moment and really think about whether to tell her. Maybe if she pressed him for the information a little bit more. He was uncertain whether demystifying the Doctor would make him seem more "human" and thus more attractive to his young Companion, or if it would take him down a peg, remove a little bit of her respect for him. "What about him?"
He grimaced. "I'm not sure I'm really a pet sort of person. I'll see what happens." Then he tilted his head slightly. "And I don't believe you've ever yet told me about your roommate before. Would I know them?"
“Well I don’t know how you Time Lords manage with two.” she retorted with a smirk.
Rose leaned back against the booth unaware of what was really happening and just listening to Harry’s words completely enthralled by them and amused by them. Her presence there was all part of a curse she knew deep down even with as much as she didn’t want to believe it. But she didn’t want to leave even knowing that back home she was needed and that there was trouble. It sounded like they were definite troublemakers back then. A sentiment that she could relate in some sort of parallel way. No TARDIS for her but a car. It didn’t seem that far off really. Except for other major differences of course. “Blimey! Bet the headmasters must’ve really loved you.” The smile was a bit easier now. Except of course there was nothing regular about it. Nearly crashing into a sun, for one. Again her imagination couldn’t even really begin to picture what it must’ve been really like. “Good thing, this Thea had you around then.” They sounded like regular rebellious teenagers to her.
“The Doctor…” she started and then hesitated looking back at him fingertips idly drumming against the edge of the table lost in thought again. Once curiosity had its hooks on her it was difficult to break free. Coming to a decision she decided to ask, fingers stopping their motion. “His name. I always thought that was his name. You wouldn’t happen to know it would you?” And if he didn’t want to say well she would drop it.
“I don’t think my roommate’s much for pets either.” she admitted before being cut off by the waiter who started to set their orders on the table and then quietly leaving to serve another table. Rose hadn’t really noticed it though glancing down at the table almost with a bit of a bashful expression at his last question. “You might, I think. It’s the Doctor actually.” And while they were roommates sometimes it seemed almost like she didn’t have one with her two jobs that she had been working but maybe that would change. “But you know him. Always running and going off somewhere. Almost like I don’t have roommate at all.” But that was just working so well wasn’t it? She really didn’t want to leave. Leave him alone again when he had promised that they’d find some way out together.
"Touche," he said, grinning.
He laughed, both at the reminder of his professors and at Rose's advanced state of hypnotism. This was fun, just the thing to make him utterly forget the whole pumpkin patch fiasco. "I think both Theta and I spent more time in detention than out of it," he said. "Well, for a while, we managed to build some very convincing automatons and send them instead but it didn't take long for Professor Herianus to figure that out." Laughing again, he said, "Theta, not Thea. And, yes, he was very lucky to have me there. Even if most of the time he either disagreed with that or took me for granted." Getting a little close to (ha) home, there. Time to move on. "It was fun while it lasted, anyway."
Oh. Now that was an interesting side effect. The Master watched Rose drum a four-part beat out on the table with her fingers. He hadn't directly hypnotised anyone since this new regeneration, he'd relied on Archangel to reach as many people as possible in one go. It seemed that his drums were contagious. He'd have to watch out for that, to not hypnotise people anywhere near the Doctor, even if this Doctor was from a point where he hadn't even met him yet and technically shouldn't know about his drums. All the same—
The Master almost started when Rose's next words were "The Doctor". Had he influenced that subconsciously himself? ...no, probably not. She was one of the Doctor's "companions": all of them were ridiculously fascinated with him. His name... He could...
No. He'd kept that to himself for too long. Even being the Doctor's nemesis for all these years hadn't seemed to ever quite break through that particular taboo he'd put on himself.
"He never told me," he said casually. "Mm. But he did go by a different pseudonym earlier, before he'd determined what he wanted everyone to call him." He'd laughed when the Doctor told him. 'The Doctor', even though he'd failed all of his tests multiple times...it was ridiculous. Anyway, if Rose was so interested, he'd dish up some 'dirt'. He'd really wanted to all along anyway. "Theta, who I was telling you about...that was him."
Hearing who her roommate was, he had to pick up his tea to cover his grin. He took a sip of it, still black. He'd developed a taste for it after all, spending all that time trapped on Earth, but he didn't think he'd ever adopt the Doctor's habit of pouring in copious amounts of milk and sugar.
But the Doctor, being her roommate... Oh, she needed to stay now, somehow, this was brilliant. He couldn't have worked this out better if he'd orchestrated it himself. This way, the Doctor would have to watch, every step of the way. It would make the game that much more interesting. Aside from that, they seemed to be having some issues... Rose was emotionally vulnerable and he really needed to stop nearly bursting into laughter. He gathered himself together before putting his mug down again.
"Yes," he said jokingly, allowing himself, at least, a smirk. "I might have heard of him. In passing. I imagine that he'd make living with him rather difficult. For his multiple centuries, he's hardly changed."
“Theta,” she repeated still getting used to the strange name. Already trying to picture the weird bloke in her head. Well with a name like that he had to have been weird. Probably with glasses and that sort of clothing a nerd would wear. “That sounds a bit like me and my ex-best mate. We used to get into so much trouble skipping out of classes and finding ourselves in detention.” She picked up her cup of tea bringing it to her lips and taking a small sip. It definitely needed some sugar.
She reached over grabbing one of the containers with the sugar and slowly pouring it into her cup of tea before grabbing a silver spoon on the side and stirring it. Bland tea was just not to her tastes. Just as she was setting the sugar back down satisfied with what she now had, she stared at Harry hearing yet another revelation. Surprise flashed on her face. The Doctor was actually—“Oh shut up!” She cracked a grin in amusement as she thought at some point she’d bring this up with him for a tease. “Really? Theta?” She made a face and laughed. Now the picture was crystal clear. “Guess I can kind of see it now.” she mused playfully.
But then she got back into serious mode. A sigh escaped her lips as she knew all too well how very little the Doctor said to people. Apparently it applied to others of his kind as well. What a surprise really.
“Oh he’s very difficult. Doesn’t really like it all that much here.” At least from what she had learned previously and really she didn’t blame him. He had been so grumpy the first time that she had witnessed him losing the TARDIS on that base. The mere mention of settling down seemed to scare him and made her feel awkward-ish for even bringing it up back then. A hard lesson learned such a long time ago. And she knew that he could never really settle. Not ever. So she’d move at his pace. Always. Or rather she would think so. Currently she really didn’t know other than it wasn’t what she had thought or so she told herself. She really just wanted him to be happy. “Not that I blame him. We lost the TARDIS once, you know. And he was just losing it completely. It was like it was all over for him having to settle down. He’s a stubborn one.” But somehow she knew that he already knew this. “Don’t think he’s ever really gonna be happy here at this rate.”
Drinking some more tea, she contemplated about making some sort of deal to get his ship back. If it’d make him happy in the long run than it was worth it. But still it was just a distant thought. “Horrible curses aside though, you seem to be managing well. Or are you just faking it too?” Another very valid question since she knew Time Lords could be rather tricky when they wanted to be.
"Pretty much exactly," the Master said. Ex-best. It was too bad, really, that the Doctor insisted on his way of life... If only, back when they were younger...the Doctor had had to think about it, when the Master asked him to join him. If only he'd conceded the Master's point on power, if he'd agreed...
It was all much too late now. They were too different. Or, at least, the Doctor thought they were too different and that was nearly the same thing, as far as the outcome went.
He looked away from Rose's eyes momentarily to watch her pour masses of sugar into her tea. Hm. Humans. Sugar was well enough in candy format but tea was supposed to be bitter. He looked back in time to see Rose's reaction to the big reveal of Theta's true identity. Oh, good. About 20% into his invasion of Rose's mind, he was starting to sense specific emotions and a few images. He'd hoped this revelation would result in her teasing the Doctor about his childhood. Breaking up the legend. Perfect.
"He was always madcap," he continued. "It took him numerous times to stop failing his finals. In all fairness, I did distract him quite a lot. But the Doctor was to blame for the invention of at least two thirds of all TARDIS-related schemes."
The most useful part of this particular conversation was that if he regretted saying anything later on, he could always...fix that.
Drinking some more tea, he rolled the taste around in his mouth taking another sip. Shortly after, he was bombarded with several emotions from Rose. Worry. Apprehension. A vague sort of fear. She seemed to actually be very fond of the Doctor. If the Doctor returned her feelings in any similar sort of magnitude, how marvellous this would be.
Although, he did seem to remember, back on the Valiant...the Doctor saying something about it being "time he settled down". Was that whole overwrought speech due to something that had happened in his regular timeline with Rose Tyler? Or, miraculously, was the Doctor actually maturing? He had probably been just trying to be petty, the Master decided. The Doctor couldn't stand the idea of the Master having any sort of freedom.
"He's very fond of that TARDIS," he decided to say. It was neutral enough. He didn't want to be outwardly nasty if she liked the Doctor so very much.
"I'm fine," said the Master. "Obviously, I have two kinds of noise in my head what with the ticking and the drumming. But besides that--" Besides that...he was completely repressed, as trapped here as he would have been had he not died rather than been jailed in the Doctor's TARDIS at the Valiant. At least here he could interact with other people, instead of the increased madness that would undoubtedly ensue with no-one but the Doctor and himself to talk to. And here...there was still the chance of escape.
"...besides that, I'm as well as can be expected, what with all of the curses and not having very much control over my own life anymore." That could be deliberately misinterpreted as lack of control due to the City, he was sure. Probably. Feeling a little bit of annoyance just from thinking about that situation, he planted a direct influence of himself into Rose's brain. He wanted control of something. If he was lucky, it would build upon any sort of potential affection Rose might harbour for him. If not, he would have to more directly start to create some. More effort but worth it in the end result.
no subject
“He is,” she agreed knowing it to be a fact. “I think that’s all he really sees sometimes.” she managed to say with a bit of disappointment to her voice, continuing to muse on several things. The beach. His lack of an answer to her question about what he was really going to say that day. It had been like he was just messing with her head when she had mustered up some courage to confront him over the network since she feared going to him in person would result in him running away or making up some excuse. That had just been the worst day of her life when he vanished leaving her with her tears on the cold and cloudy beach. There was so much heartbreak that day for her being left completely on her own in some ways. Maybe the Doctor hadn’t loved her like she thought that he had. That it was just different since he was an alien. But then why didn’t he just outright say it instead of just playing with her emotions like that? Always busying himself and telling her what she thought he was going to say and leaving it at that. She just wished he’d notice her for once, give her a straight answer but something told her that was never ever going to happen.
So being the clever one that she was she had devised her own plan thinking up a fake love interest. A complete phantom. Not that it was really working right. Or like she had hoped but that’s just how plans tended to go sometimes. She just held onto the hope that maybe if she was patient enough it would end up working and he would notice.
She found herself staring a bit much at Harry, almost blanking out again and then giving her head a shake, smiling apologetically in case he had noticed. He was rather charming wasn’t he? And informative. There was something about his eyes that she couldn’t quite really place. But then what did it really matter, her mind reasoned. "Sorry, about that. But yes..." She tried to focus back on the topic of this place really being an annoyance sometimes. “You ought to get a medal for putting up with all that.”
40% now. He might be going a little bit fast. He'd have to reign himself in, not get overconfident at the ease with which this was occurring. Besides, he didn't want to start getting it into the point where his control was outwardly obvious until they'd finished eating and left the chippy. Perhaps he'd let it stop at about...67% and then either continue it if they had some privacy later, or weave what he'd done so far seamlessly into Rose's mind to prevent the Doctor from noticing. Anything really obvious to begin with would just draw the Doctor's attention far too early. His best plan was to make it look inadvertent, like it was something he did automatically after centuries of hypnotising people. Then, if the Doctor did notice, the Master could plead innocent, claim it was an accident, promise to be a good little Time Lord and never do it again. Of course, the Doctor was so self-involved that the Master wasn't certain anyone would bring him out of his bubble of consciousness.
"I'm sorry," said the Master, injecting real pity into his expression. Minds were cluttered, like a million people in a room all talking at once, and he wasn't concentrating particularly enough to pick apart exact concepts. But he noticed the motif of a beach tinged with sadness constantly appearing. And words unsaid. Ah. If she wanted that from the Doctor, she'd have to wait a considerably longer time.
no subject
He laughed. "Maybe," he said. "Others have been here longer."
Eye contact. Tea. Control.
“Don’t be,” she said gripping the cup and taking another drink of her very sweet tea. It was just his way wasn’t it? Of course it was. She was used to it. Or rather getting used to it all over again since she hadn’t really seen him in sometime before the City. But there was a hint of the slightest of disappointment somewhere in there though she was doing her best to mask it still completely unaware of the reality that was surrounding her. “It’s just his way, I s’ppose.”
Taking in some more tea and then meeting Harry’s face again with a bit of surprise spreading across her features. Did all Time Lords have TARDISes? “You’ve got one?” And then she thought that he could’ve lost her just the same as the Doctor had. It was probably waiting for him when he got back, right? “She’s waiting for you back home?” she inquired not even bothering to touch her chips being too interested in information and the topic at hand. “He could be pining,” she agreed knowing that he was a rather odd one. “Well out there yeah but here he’s got Romana and you, yeah?” That had to have count for something though she still knew that it must’ve been the hardest thing he had ever done doing what he had.
“So, I’ve heard. I can’t really imagine anyone staying over two years with all that ticking.” That really would be torture for anyone.
It was, at least in this particular regenerated form. Back when he'd been in one of his very first bodies, the Doctor had seemed more open on occasion. And the one time the Master had been American, the Doctor had seemed extremely open and affectionate. Now...it almost seemed like the Doctor was afraid. What about this Rose Tyler frightened the Doctor so much? Was it his now-intrinsic fear of losing anything that was close to him?
"Very much so," he said, not wanting to disillusion Rose of the idea that the Doctor had ever been anything but emotionally stunted.
"Had one," the Master corrected. "She's...no. She's lost." He closed up on this almost as dramatically as the Doctor and then remembered himself. "I assume Romana only partially counts to the Doctor. As far as I can tell, she's from his past, rather than his present. She's like a physicalised walk down memory lane but her presence doesn't erase any of his cosmic angst." He smiled crookedly. "As for myself...I'm not certain why but I hardly seem to count. He still does have me "out there", you know. I am from his present. If you were ever in London with him in 2007, I was also there, working for the Ministry of Defence." He smirked. "Not to boast but I was rather an amusement to the media. Had a few arguments with my fellow ministers that were highly publicised, though clearly, not enough for you to have heard of me." The waiter arrived, then, with the chips, cutting off his self-promotion. He might have been going a little over the top there, anyway. Once they'd left, he ate a chip. Huh. It actually was quite good. This wasn't the sort of meal he often went for but change, for the most part, was nice.
no subject
“Oh,” she said as her voice went low again with the sympathy. She really did feel sorry for him. “I’m sorry.” She could only hope that maybe he’d get it back somehow. Another drink of tea and another small smile graced her face. To her he had to have counted for something. He was a Time Lord after all and well...Yes, it had to have counted. With as much as the Doctor would say that he was the last of his kind, she just knew it had to have been a pleasant surprise to see them again. See him again even if he’d hardly said two words about Harry to her.
When the chips arrived, Rose of course paid no heed to them focusing completely on the man seated across from her. He had her complete attention. 2007. A year that she knew somewhat well. She had still been travelling with the Doctor then. A time where she thought the fun would never end and that she’d stay with him for the rest of her life even if he could never really look at her in a way that she’d like. “I was in and out back then. We did a bit of travelling never really staying long.” Well too long until things happened.
Unexpected things that weren’t necessarily pleasant. “So you were there when the Sycorax invaded Christmas Day?” she inquired once again with curiosity written all over her face and a small grin. Sure, she had been worried then with the Doctor’s sudden change but in the end it had all worked out. And then she frowned remembering Canary Wharf, the Daleks, and the Cybermen. “And during the battle of Canary Wharf?” she managed directing her attention towards her untouched chips.
She found herself really staring at him just then only she wasn’t really noticing like before. Harry was just such an interesting bloke, she thought. A bit of a handsome bloke with his eyes and that smile. It was just something about him that hit her again. Maybe it was ‘cos he was so mysterious still. She didn’t quite know nor did she quite care. “So was there a Missus around during all that?”
no subject
"Only just," he replied. He'd only had just about enough time to get his bearings and some proper clothing before the skies had filled with spaceships and crowds of hypnotised people had begun to walk the streets. "I was definitely around during Canary Wharf. The Ministry of Defense had some strong words for Torchwood after that fiasco. Not that there was much remaining to have words with." Canary Wharf had almost managed to convince him that possibly, Gallifrey was still out there somewhere. After all, the Daleks had returned...
Everything was going swimmingly--Rose was practically batting her eyelashes at him--and then she mentioned the potential of his having a wife. Oh, Lucy... Lovely Lucy. He'd rarely felt so fond for a human before. She'd been so malleable, and she'd almost understood him. At least, she understood her role.
He knew Lucy had been in the City before; had Rose missed ever meeting her? He decided that he couldn't afford to bluff away her existence but he could do one thing. Lucy would understand, had she been here. She always had. Besides, if he was calculating his invasion properly, Rose should barely mind, or at least, not be cross at him.
"At the time, yes..." he said slowly. "We...had a rather dramatic falling out, though."
no subject
“Torchwood...Did they rebuild it after that?” she asked meeting the man’s gaze, pushing aside the negative thoughts that clouded her mind. She imagined that they had every time she thought back to it on occasion but not being there herself, well…she had missed out on plenty of things and anything could have been possible.
Rose made a tsk tsk noise and shook her head unable to help herself in feeling even more sympathy for the man that was catching her eye more and more. “I’m sorry to hear that, Harry.” She knew how that went having had her fair share of falling out, like that one time she was engaged to be married. She thought everything was going to work out then but of course things didn’t go as planned. It rarely ever did for her. “Well it’s her loss, I’d say. Any girl would be lucky to have you. I mean look at you. So brilliant and clever.” She smiled leaning forward just a bit. “One in a million you are.” Her mind felt a slightly lighter when she was just focused on him. It was really settling in on her mind now and the Doctor was completely forgotten for the moment.
Ah, so that was it. This image was too distinct for the Master to ignore. Clearly the Doctor truly was afraid of losing Rose. It had happened to him before, in the events at Canary Wharf, again in the City recently and now he was frightened of doing much of anything, trapped in his fear of loss. Well, far be it for the Master to deny him the realisation of those fears. It was practically his job. He obviously couldn't kill her, nor did he particularly want to. She interested him. But what he could do, he was already doing, and that was marvellous.
"Not in London," he said. "Their status was far too low for them to ever get the funding. They'd made an awful mess of things. There are other functioning locations, though. Including, I believe, the original version in Scotland and another one, still running, in Cardiff."
no subject
"Flatterer," he said, smiling at her with a hint of suggestion, his eyes hooded. "But, really, thank you. I think you're quite lovely, too."
At 56%, he was already into the sketchy outline of her mental landscape. If he wasn't careful, he thought, amused, he'd have her addicted to the euphoria that he was creating to mask his presence. Not that it'd really matter. It would work toward his final goal, only make her dependant on him a little early. But the Doctor might notice, which, again, wasn't nearly as desirable. Hopefully, all of this would work out.
“Oh,” she replied picking at more of her chips wondering if those other versions of Torchwood were just as bad as the one she had encountered in that universe. “We’ve still got one in that parallel universe. But we run things a bit differently.” It was more in the public eye and had to be. It made it easier to mask the really serious things once they held the public’s trust. Not that anything major had happened until recently with the stars going out business.
“It’s not really flattery, Harry.” She gave him half a grin and drank some tea. “It’s the truth.” He was attractive in her eyes. Maybe it was the suit and tie or again something about his eyes or dazzling smile. But either way, Rose Tyler seemed to fancy him. “If I had a bloke like you around, don’t think I’d ever want to leave.” Leave...The thought rattled around in her head. Right then. She couldn’t leave. There was just no going back now was there? No she simply had to stay.
It just felt so right that decision. What was waiting for her back home anyway? Not anyone like Harry, her mind heavy influenced reasoned.
"Well that's good to know," said the Master. He finished off the last of his chips, much faster than Rose at eating them as he wasn't quite so preoccupied. "I can't imagine it not being a trustworthy organisation. Not with you being part of it."
An advancing darkness? Stars disappearing? Oh he hoped he was going to be around for that. Or cause it. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
"In that case, I'll be around as often as you like, Rose," he said warmly.
63%. When he completed this, he'd have to make sure to do a bit of rewiring to make sure that this looked logical outwardly. He'd charmed people on his own merits before: now, he had only to make those around Rose believe that. This needed to look like a crush in her reaction to it beyond his actual presence, not an obsession. Right now, however, he was content to bask in the adoration.
no subject
With the cup back down on the table and another grin to her lips. It was reassuring to hear that he'd be sticking around. Her stomach seemed to twist in a certain knot and Rose knew the feeling a bit well. Oh she was definitely crushing on this one. "You better be," she teased giving him a cheeky grin before playfully falling into a pout. "Otherwise I'm going to be very disappointed."
"I have nothing but the highest opinion of you so far," said the Master. The best thing about all this, the Master realised, was that not only did it prevent the ticking but as long as he was manipulating someone, it calmed his drums. He found it very easy to think clearly, it was almost like when he was only in his first three centuries again. And with that thought, he reached 67% and quickly set about figuratively weaving any loose and obvious ends of his mind control into the equally symbolic blanket of Rose's mind. He'd have to wait for Rose to finish her chips so that they could leave before he went any further. He was still contemplating whether or not he wanted to keep going at the moment. He supposed his choice would depend, above all, on the circumstance.
"I'll do my absolute best," he said, drinking his tea now that it had cooled down somewhat. "The City does allow you to have so much more free time than 'real life'." Placing his tea beside him, he leaned forward onto his forearms on the table, giving her a sincere look. "I'll try to always be on hand, excepting, of course, if I have a repeat of Thursday. I might just possibly be out of commission after one of those days. But otherwise, anything you need, within reason." He let one corner of his mouth quirk slightly. "I could do with a friend."
“As do I,” replied Rose being as honest as she could despite what she had heard about him from the Time Lady but really so far he had been nothing but a gentleman and not at all like the evil monster that he was made out to be. Surely he had to have changed if he even was like that in the past. Which as the more time passed the more Rose doubted that ever even was so. Maybe it was his subtle influence that was growing by the second or maybe it was the fact that she believed that people can and did change. Sometimes even for the better.
The Doctor had been a prime example of that and had even told as such since finding herself in the City. It had been an admission that had both managed to surprise her and confuse her at the same time. She knew that he wasn’t the same man as before. He had been so distant then, always holding her away at arms length though as she thought about it now it seemed he was going that route again. She wondered if their separation had hurt him just as much.
“That makes two of us then.” Another easy smile came his way. She ate at a few more chips before deciding that she couldn’t eat anymore. There was just something else that was much more interesting. A friend. One that she knew the Doctor didn’t like but she was really hoping to change that. He could be very stubborn but the woman was determined to try and break through that wall even if it took time. Lots and lots of time. It was going to be such a challenge but that’s what she was up for.
“So could I,” she admitted even if she knew the Doctor didn’t approve of this one but really it wouldn’t be the first time. There had been Adam and to a slight degree Jack once in the past. But this one he knew and had been mates with in the past. A glance at his finished chips and then she pushed some hair away from her eyes thinking that maybe it was time for a hair cut. “Those were really some good chips, yeah?”
no subject
"Yes, they were quite nice," he admitted. "I'll make sure to trust you completely on food choices from now on." He eyed her chips, which she was leaving unfinished.
"Full?" Of course, he already knew the answer. He gestured to the waiter to come over so that they could pay the bill.
"Friends," Rose confirmed with a grin oblivious to things. Really she could do with more friends. Who wouldn't really.
"Good then. I'm glad to hear that." she said and the nodded to his latter question. "Yeah. Guess I wasn't as hungry as I thought." But still it had been lovely. She dug into her pocket to fetch out some coins to pay as the waiter strolled over with their bill. She made a quick grab at the paper once it was set on the table and looked at the total. Luckily she had enough for both. "No worries, Harry, I've got this." She did owe him anyway. And any protesting of his part, she'd ignore.
Once the waiter had gone with the coins, Rose looked over at her new friend and smiled. "Ready then? It really was lovely wasn't it?"
"Oh, Rose, really," said the Master. "You don't even live here right now." Ignoring him completely, she paid. He wasn't sure how much he liked that, it seemed uncomfortably like a power-gaining gender role-reversal moment to him. On the other hand, free meal. He decided that he could live with it, especially if he thought of it as something she was doing because she was under his control. As the waiter left, he gave Rose his best 'I-am-not-happy-but-secretly-I-am-quite-grateful-really' expression (that one had taken some practice, he was rarely grateful) and said, "You didn't have to do that. I'm sure you know that, though."
"It was," he agreed. "You might not be here tomorrow and it's about two hours away from midnight...would you like to decide where we go? We could decide here or perhaps you'd prefer to walk as we decide?" He smiled. "Your choice. Of course, we'll have to avoid the annoyingly substantial crowds somehow, either way. I hope you don't object to taking the back ways: women that I don't know keep rushing at me." Not that he so minded that but it was a rational excuse.
While it was true, Rose of course didn’t want to listen to it. She had paid and that was just simply that. She had owed him anyway and she was more than happy to pay. “I know but I did. So you’ll just have to live with that, Harry.” she said grinning back cheerfully. “Next time, you can pay.” she offered still not knowing if she was actually going to be sticking around or not but she had the hope that maybe she would be. She just had to.
“Two…” A glance down at her watch and the smile instantly turned into a frown. Blimey, he was right. “So it would seem.” There still was that chance that she would just fade and go back home with no memories at all. It was a disheartening thought. Walking did seem appealing. Especially with him.
If she were in her right mind, she’d more than likely suggest that it was time to take her leave and head back to at least say good bye to the confusing Doctor. But of course since she wasn’t a walk with Harry taking the back roads would have to be it. It interested her more. “I really don’t mind it.” she answered with a grin. As long as it was with him. “I’m used to taking the back roads.” Sometimes you got to see the most interesting things that way. She slid out of the booth and then offered up her hand for him to take. "Come on then, let's go. I'll protect you from those crazy women." she teased cheekily.
no subject
"I hope so," the Master smiled back. He slid out of his seat buoyantly, glanced down, and took her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. "I really think you ought to choose. After all, this is your adventure, not mine. Where's somewhere you'd absolutely want to see again before having to leave? There must be somewhere you really like in this City." The hand was good. Contact made mind control that much easier. Especially if he couldn't look into her eyes for the moment. He tugged a little at Rose's hand and walked out of the chip shop with her.
As Rose continued to walk beside him, she thought of some places that she had heard of from a number of people during her stay here. Places that she really had wanted to visit but as always things came up and robbed her of those chances. There was the zoo, the underground, and of course Xanadu. All places that she had really wanted to visit and appealed to her.
Coming to a decision, she grinned at him. “How about the Xanadu? I’ve heard they’ve got a butterfly garden.” Her eyes seemed to light up for a moment. It was something that she had never really witnessed. “And well I’ve always wanted to see it. How about it?”
The Master looked over at Rose and smiled back. "Xanadu it is, then!" he said, excited from the prospect of going there. He'd never been there either but besides that, it was large, and would afford him some seclusion to carry out the rest of his plan. This additional realisation, that soon, he'd be able to complete his takeover, filled him with giddy energy. "Come on!" he said, suddenly bouncy and energetic. He grinned at Rose and then started running. They were close enough that this wouldn't be a ridiculous idea. He'd just have to make sure to avoid the building where most of Torchwood lived. He'd figured that out as soon as he could, from the first day after seeing the bloody Freak walking around the City.
He'd thought he was going to use the alleyways for his plan but Xanadu was definitely better. He'd always fancied being Kubla Khan.
Rose was just giddy with excitement at hearing his voice in agreement with her choice. This was going to be just brilliant! She’d finally get to see all those butterflies she had been hearing about. And hopefully not fade away, because she just couldn’t. There was still so much…people…Her thoughts started to become jumbled but then she snapped to the present noting as he ran and then she followed suit, her heart racing with each step. The smile simply refused to fade from her lips.
In a way this reminded her so much of her old life with a man that was just barely an imprint on her mind now. She wondered if she’d get to do this sort of thing with Harry again. Her fragile, clouded mind wished for it."Have you ever been?"
no subject
Where he finally stopped was underneath an impossibly blossoming tree, considering especially that it was autumn. It juxtaposed brilliantly with what he was about to do. The Master as he was now was definitely not one for pathetic fallacy.
"Rose," he said, reaching around her to take her other hand, turning her automatically to face him, putting her back nearly against the tree. "I've had a lovely night out with you." His expression darkened, then, and his smile became sinister.
"Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. Well, for you. Actually, maybe not even that, really. You'll hardly remember this. I'll hardly let you remember this. So really, this is all a load of useless showboating but I've never been able to resist that, even without the presence of an audience. That said, here comes the final act. The climactic scene in this little production." The Master spoke pleasantly, letting the cadence of the words rather than their meaning entrap Rose further.
"Even though I'm sure by now that you've had this little chat with the Doctor and his pals by now and know: I'm not Harry Saxon." He caught her in the stare of his snake's eyes. "I am the Master, and you will obey me." And fully, then, he dove into her mind.
no subject
A glance up at the blossoming tree, her legs came to a stop. She thought it pretty. Very pretty in fact. But then before another thought could cloud her head, she felt him grab her other hand and she shifted to really face him with her back against the tree. A small grin started to once again slowly spread across her lips. They had just been so wrong about this one. There wasn’t one ounce of evilness in him. That she was sure of. He was just so dashing. “As have I, Harry. It’s just been delightful. All of it.”
But then she noted the change in his expression and a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach started to eat at her. “…What?” she said with her brows furrowed not being able to look away from him. "I don’t—" Her voice stopped midway and her gaze grew distant, almost as if she were in another world of her own completely captivated by him. There was no more confusion or fear just blankness.
“...I obey.” she responded her dark blank eyes gazing into his own.
Hearing her actually speak the words "I obey" in response gave the Master a fit of giggles but he tried to sober as much as he possibly could. This was a time for solemnity, even despite how exciting this was. He spread himself throughout her memories, reading/experiencing each one quickly and riffling through to the next. Rassilon her life had been dull before going off with the Doctor. Dull...dull...dull...Ah. Finally.
This one must be the Doctor, even though he looked rather...hm. He preferred the newer one. This particular Doctor was very obvious, wasn't he. Leather jacket, shaved head. Practically screaming "I AM FULL OF ANGST". At least the newer one hid it most of the time. Otherwise, it'd be boring. It was much more satisfying to personally break his cheerful facade.
no subject
Able to completely reconfigure Rose's mind much quicker now that they were completely alone, the Master looked at Rose's blank and empty eyes at about 80% completion. Well this wasn't any fun. He reached out with a mental tendril to pull Rose's consciousness fully to the front and to action, making sure that he'd paralysed her body at the same time.
"You really ought to listen to your friends when they warn you," he told her seriously. "Otherwise, you'll end up like this: completely helpless and alone except for me." He put his hands on her shoulders, leaning slightly in as he pushed her back closer into the tree and.
"I could do anything. And don't think about yelling for help. I can break your mind like that." He took a hand away to snap his fingers and then placed it back onto her shoulder.
His words sank in almost as if awakening her from a slumber except this wasn’t pleasant at all. The snap of his fingers echoed in her mind. And with as much as she wanted to get away- reason sinking in- she couldn’t. Her body just didn’t comply with her commands. She was completely helpless. The bark of the tree dug further into her back. She blinked. The time Lady had been right in her warnings hadn’t she? Stupid, daft, Rose. Why couldn’t she have seen it before?
But she was never one to listen was she? No, of course not. She never had before. A bad habit that she desperately needed to start breaking. She just had to see things for herself believing that maybe it wasn’t as bad as they had made it out to be. Only now she was doomed. She had been wrong. Another blink and then her eyes started to well up with tears thinking of her fate or what could possibly be her fate. He could kill her right now couldn’t he?
“I’m not going to,” she mustered much to her own surprise –she regained her voice-knowing that it’d more than likely be pointless if she even did try it. “He’ll stop you, you know.” she said referring to the Doctor. “He’ll find out, and—"
no subject
Then he turned his attention back to Rose's mind. "I'm afraid," he said, multitasking, "That you might relive a few things. Or I might accidentally poke something." Intense pain in her right arm. Sudden pleasure sensory overload. The loss of feeling in her feet. All lasting for about two seconds. "Whoops," he said, sounding amused and not really apologetic at all. "Nervous system."
Deeper in he went to Rose's mind, finding out all of her secrets, her doubts and wishes. The reaction to them was the most interesting; for the most part, they were intensely boring. And then he came upon a "door", hiding something shining out around the cracks.
"Ooh," he said. "This looks interesting." And he opened the door.
TARDIS...
Heat...
Artron energy sparking, flooding around him...
Nice.
Had the Doctor been hiding something from Rose? This door had his mental "fingerprints" all over it. There wasn't enough left to be of any use but the memory and the artron from regular travelling in a TARDIS without looking into the Heart...well, that seemed to be enough. He smirked and gave Rose an appraising look. "Bad Wolf?"
no subject
Tears streamed down her cheek at the quick flash of pain and she winced. Somehow she doubted this was accidental. Different memories flashed before her very eyes. The very first night she had met him, when she had lost him only to gain him again slightly different. The smell of apple grass against the wind and the laughter that went along with it but it all hurt and more tears spilled.
“…They’re just words.” she answered her voice breaking as her memory circled around to the day in the TARDIS. Golden light and singing. More pain consumed her and she winced. They were more than words. Control over everything. The sun and the moon. Life and death at her fingertips. It was all so beautiful and addicting. The edge of her mind could remember it now. The blurry images becoming clear-but at a cost- it felt like her mind was being ripped in two and a fever was descending upon her skin. “Stop it…” she managed weakly knowing full well that it was useless to even say. She wished she fade away. He’d lose this way but then she’d never really get to see—“Please.”
"Oh, bless, you'd really like to believe that, wouldn't you?" he said. "So would he, I think. I had him for a long time on the Valiant." He gave her quick images of his glorious takeover, of the Doctor helpless and pleading, switching from old to young again just to hear him scream, going through horrible tortures, him and the freak too. "You came up more than he'd ever want you to know, I think. For all his talking about 'only having one thing to say', his mind was a lot more active and not as easy to repress as words." He sneered, derisive and confident in his own superiority.
"Important words..." said the Master, basking in the glow, the wonderful addictive power that he was experiencing through Rose. "My dear, I'm fairly certain you were the Doctor's TARDIS." In flickering sparks of gold, Rose's eyes were beginning to glow slightly. "Sorry, what?" he said cupping a hand to his ear exaggeratedly. "'Please'?" He gave her a dark, expectant look. "'Please' what?"
no subject
Her head was throbbing. “I don’t remember—“ Only she did or rather was. “Stop this. My head—" It was burning now as a whimper escaped her lips, her eyes glowing even stronger with the golden light. It was eating away at her. “Please,” she pleaded. More flashes of what could be started to overload her brain. Donna. A chilly cold park a in the middle of the night and her giving the woman encouraging words telling her that she was the most important woman in the universe. "My head is killing me."
"Because I can," he hissed at her. "And think how fun: this version of the Doctor hasn't even lived through that yet!"
"Not good enoooough," he said in a sing-song. Then again, it would do no-one any good if Rose's mind burned. With practiced ease, the Master shut the door slightly. "Now, if you want it closed the rest of the way, you have to do this right." He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, no-one has any respect for tradition any more." He smiled at her in a horrific mockery of kindly paternity, and spoke gently. "Let's try this again, shall we? Please what?"
no subject
The intensity lessened but it was still there. She feared that it was only suddenly going to get worse. “Please,” she whimpered helplessly knowing what he wanted to hear but not about to give him the satiation just yet. She couldn’t last much longer though that much was clear. “Harry. Just stop.”
"I already have," said the Master, smirking. "I'm from his future. Besides that, how do you possibly think you can stop me from hurting him now? You're not doing the very best of jobs with yourself."
Pride, stubbornness, despite everything. The Master wasn't in the habit of respecting those sorts of qualities, especially when they were making everything so difficult and annoying. And then she called him Harry again and his mind returned to a different, more pliable blonde. He objected to this and shoved her face out of his thoughts, but the mental parallel directly influenced his visceral reaction which was to check his hands quickly for his ring then backhand Rose viciously across the face.
"Strike two," he spat. "Would you like to test me? Perhaps you think I'm scared of the repercussions. I own your mind. There isn't a single part of you I don't know, that I haven't memorised. I can destroy you and reconstruct you after, just to break you down again." Of course, he wasn't going to mention that this tactic, though unnoticeable to her and other humans would be like a big, red, blinking light to the Doctor but this bluff was all part of the game.
She was lost again for a moment trying to think up some way out but really she was completely at his mercy. And then came the sudden sting at her cheek as her head moved slightly to the right at the force. More pain and a cry escaped her lips. This wasn’t good at all. She’d guess there’d probably be a mark there for a few days if she even survived this but at least there was some movement with her head now. Not that it really benefited her situation currently.
no subject
“Master, please.” she said as her voice got more frantic. The pain was starting to get overwhelming. “Stop this. It’s burning. Please.” Her voice strained.
"Mm," said the Master, his eyes flickering closed briefly. "Very well. It did take you quite long but I suppose I can consider that as being due to considerable duress." Lifting a little bit of the potential energy from her eyes to spark briefly in his own, he brought it down to twine around his fingers then brushed it against her cheek.
Hopefully that would be enough to prevent any visible bruising, although he imagined it would still hurt. Then, he went back and closed the Bad Wolf door. He considered closing it better than the Doctor had but then, of course, the Doctor would notice. How ultimately inconvenient for Rose.
"Now," he said, "since I'm done with your mind, what do I do next?" He looked her up and down and paused, a little bit ominously.
"Hm. No. Too obvious," he said eventually. "Rewrite time!" This was the best bit. Memory fiddling! He could bury the true memories so deep in her subconscious that it was unlikely the Doctor or her would ever notice (though she might have a few uncomfortable dreams, nothing he could do about that) and replace them with a version of events that he liked. Everything that he'd said after remarking on their "lovely night out" would be effectively erased and replaced with...well, a conversation seemed nice. He'd put in his own parts and the vague outline of Rose's and let her mind automatically fill in the blanks. After all, she could have hardly had a conversation with him without responding.
Now, what had they talked about...the City. That was a nice neutral topic, maybe slip in a bit of worry about the Doctor and voila! Instant conversation. Although, there would need to be a reason for Rose to lose track of the conversation, for why her memories of it were a little fuzzy and luckily, the Master had the perfect solution.
Returning her to the trancelike state as he layered the memory of the conversation in, gave Rose full capability of movement again and pulled her very slightly away from the tree, he put one hand to the side of her head, leaned forward and kissed her.
no subject
Rose’s mouth opened and then quickly closed at his words. But he just couldn’t. “You can’t—“ she replied but of course her words were going to be rather useless as she was completely at his mercy. She couldn’t even finish her sentence before her world went dark the trance settling in once again. Tea and chips, laughter and running. It all added up to such a lovely evening. Her mind was quickly spinning the rest of the tale to close in the gaps.
She felt his cold fingertips against her cheek and his lips against hers. A move that surprised her and yet…What were they conversing about? It didn’t matter really did it? She was just so memorized by him. And she was responding in kind by kissing him back and fisting his jacket - her hand finding movement - until the need for air was too great and she broke away with a gasp.
A realisation was sinking in, she hadn’t faded. Isn’t that what he had said? She was bound to disappear sooner or later. Yes, that was it. But there was--“Harry,” she said softly staring up at his eyes unaware of what had actually occurred before glancing down at her watch. It was half past midnight now. “And look at that I’m still here.” A smile played on her lips as she thought of a bet she had going.
"Yes, you are," said the Master, smiling fondly back down at her. "How very anti-Cinderella of you." He held her a moment longer before stepping off. "I'm sorry," he said, trying to add a little bit of fluster to his voice.
"I don't know why I--well I do know but it's just a bit abrupt, isn't it--" He broke off, and sighed. "This does put a rather nasty spin on any of my perceived motives." He could still sense her mind, just beside him. Complete control, he could choose to do anything. And really, the knowledge was the best part.
"I s'ppose that is." she conceded with a bit of a blush to her cheeks at his Cinderella comment. "Now all I need is a pumpkin since I've got my Prince." she teased her hand falling back to rest at her side. Hearing his apology caused only more confusion to stir for a moment before it settled. Right, he was sorry for--How gentlemanly of him. "I--," she muttered trying her hardest not to look flustered herself -words failing her- and then her brow furrowed. "I don't think it does. It was lovely." Another grin came his way. She was completely wrapped up in his control and she didn't want to leave.
"So where to from here?" She was more than eager to see what else was here with him.
Right. Add in a little bit of humility, however false, and you could get in under the radar. "You flatter me," he said. "And you just missed the opportunity for a pumpkin by a few days. As to where next, I believe you mentioned a butterfly garden earlier and I'm afraid I was completely distracted from that. I have no idea where it is but--" he held out his hand to her, "--shall we go searching?"
no subject
“Let’s go,” she agreed and then reached out to take his hand, her fingers curling around his own as her feet started to move again towards no real particular direction knowing that sooner or later they'd find the garden.