howstupidareyou (howstupidareyou) wrote in knowhereic, @ 2017-07-28 18:53:00 |
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At precisely 6pm, the Master was casually leaning against the outside of Twelve’s TARDIS as he waited for Nine to arrive. He was wearing a black three piece suit with a pale blue shirt, but had decided to skip the tie for the evening. It was amusing that the Doctor was telling him to dress nice, considering some of the poor fashion choices his old friend had made in the past… mainly when he was the Sixth version of himself with that rainbow colored monstrosity of a coat that could practically induce seizures from looking at it for too long. But still… the lure of finally getting out of the TARDIS for a nice dinner was too tempting of an offer to pass up. And he was curious to see what sort of man the Doctor had become after regenerating from the Warrior. The Master checked his watch and smirked, knowing that Twelve was probably spying on him from inside of the TARDIS and watching everything on the monitors. He pushed the door open just enough to be heard as he called out, “Don’t wait up for me, granddad. I might stay out all night if he’s a decent enough date.” *** “Oh, I’m decent.” Came the Northern-accented version of the Doctor’s voice. The Ninth was unlike any of the others before him and certainly like none of the ones to come after him. The odd man out, the Doctor who followed the Warrior as just as much of one, but he did have that softer side. He did have that redemption in him. Rose had worked wonders for him.. And tonight, he’d do his best to work wonders for the Master, who needed a hand as much as he himself had. Nine was good with understanding damaged goods. He’d allowed his leather jacket and jeans to be left behind tonight. Instead, he’d pawed through the extensive closet until he’d found a black three-piece suit, which despite being the same type, was an entirely different cut. His wasn’t modern by any stretch of the imagination, but rather looked like he should have come straight out of the late 1800’s. Well, it was all there was that would fit him. And fit him it did: like a glove. His hands found his hips as he came to a stop a good five feet away from the Master, the buttons on his coat undone and allowing it to spread open and expose the waistcoat and TARDIS blue tie beneath. “Nice choice.” A remark on the other Time Lord’s attire, that was. “I’ll have you back before midnight.” So granddad wouldn’t worry. *** The Master arched an eyebrow and smirked, nodding in appreciation as he gave the Time Lord in front of him the once over. “Not bad. It’s almost good enough to draw attention away from the ears,” he teased. He wasn’t as scrawny as hair gel and trainers and was definitely younger than granddad. When Nine commented about his own suit, the Master held out his arms and rotated slowly to show off. “Thanks… after being stuck dressed like King of the Wastelands for the first month or so after arriving here, it makes you miss a nice suit. So!” He clapped his hands together and then rubbed them back and forth. “Sushi date. And I think we can skip the curfew, don’t you?” *** “Me ears are part of the package.” Nine reminded his dinner date with a suddenly wide and face-splitting smile, nodding as those hands clapped together in such a manner. The Master had changed. He wasn’t so doom and gloom anymore. He had an edge to him. Oddly, the Doctor found himself quite fond of it nearly instantly. He liked that bite. That banter. That push and shove. “Oh, I don’t know, wouldn’t want to get you grounded.” With that, he turned, offering his elbow out to the exceptionally well dressed man (he pointedly had not said anything about that little show-- but his fellow Time Lord looked immaculate) so that he could lead them to their meal. *** “I’ve spent the last month or so already grounded. And now that I’ve been let loose on good behaviour, I don’t intend on letting him grounding me again any time soon. Besides… where’s the fun if you always follow the rules?” The Master smirked in amusement at being offered the Doctor’s arm, but accepted it and chuckled. “My, my… at least one version of you is a gentleman. It’s a nice change from being lectured at. And honestly, not what I was expecting from you.” *** “And what exactly were you expecting?” The Doctor asked as he led them off, away from the TARDIS, out of the barracks, and onto the street. He’d located the little sushi shop beforehand and had taken a trip there to check it out. He wanted to know the route, the distance, and what the building actually looked like. None of those things had been a disappointment and thus the invite had been extended. The walk would be a nice little stroll that would allot plenty of outside time, so the Master would feel like he was free (because, of course, he wasn’t), and the route would give them plenty to look at, which certainly meant plenty to discuss. Though, he’d assumed the Master might have his own topics in mind.. *** “Honestly? Not sure. I remember what you were like before I ran and hid out on Malcassairo to escape the Time War. So when I figured out which regeneration you were, I wasn’t really certain what to expect. Angry, bitter, the triumphant victor, completely insane… it could’ve been any of them or even a mix.” He shrugged his shoulders and paused to look at some of the buildings as they passed by. “This is the first time I’ve seen any of this. They locked me away the moment I arrived.” He fell silent for a moment as he gathered his thoughts, keeping his expression neutral. “The decisions you made… what happened… it was too much for me. I was tired of fighting, of knowing that Rassilon only resurrected me because he thought I’d be his perfect savage little warrior, and I hated having to watch what you’d been forced to become.” *** Angry, bitter, a little bit off his rocker at times.. Yes, those could be used to describe the Doctor in this ninth regeneration. Triumphant victor? Not so much. There was nothing triumphant about genocide, especially when it was committed twice. Especially when he was sure he’d destroyed everyone he’d ever loved, even his dear friend... As the Master paused, the Doctor also came to a halt, looking over the buildings in question. But as the man at his side began to speak, those blue eyes ignored the architecture in favor of studying his face, taking in the line of his jaw, his nose-- the curve of his mouth and the slight crinkle around his eyes. The Master had regenerated into something truly beautiful. Huh. Looking forward again, he finally spoke up: “Come on, then, we’re going to be late to our reservations.” If the Master had expected this worn-torn version of his friend to wax poetic about his emotions here in the middle of the street, he’d been sorely mistaken. He’d have stood a better chance of getting him to play fetch. *** The Master blinked and turned to look over at the Doctor, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips. The other Time Lord had always had a knack for distracting him when he’d get too into his own head and it seemed like this Regeneration was no different. “Reservations? Well now… I’m impressed! My last dinner date just dragged us inside and annoyed the staff until we were seated,” he joked, referring to when Granddad had taken him out as a reward for cooperating. Using the arm that was still looped through the Doctor’s, the Master gave a tug to start them off again. “Question: the blonde and the Freak. They were your Companions, right?” he asked curiously. *** “Well, I like to have a plan.” Winging it was something he could do, something he was very good at, but this regeneration thought ahead more than any of the Doctors before him, and more than any of the Doctors to come after him. Arm tugged, Nine allowed himself to be pulled along, falling back into step as they made their way towards the sushi place. “They were, yes. Rose and Jack. We had a third for a short while, but..” He scrunched up his face and shook his head as he thought about it. “He didn’t work out, and they weren’t all at the same time, of course, a little crowded-- but neither really stuck.” It was always Rose. Rose and Adam. Rose and Jack. Rose and Mickey-- or, it would have been, if Rose had wanted it. She hadn’t, though. *** “Plans are good. And always have a backup just in case.” He grinned, taking his time to finally get a really good look at this Doctor as they walked. Certainly not a pretty boy like Handy or the actual Doctor he spawned from, but not as stern and cranky as Grandad. Even the clothing showed he was more of a no nonsense sort of person. The Master approved. “Hmm… then they carried over to Hair Gel,” he commented. “Until he lost them, or they left. I have to ask though, since Granddad won’t elaborate. How in the hell did you allow Harkness to end up a fixed point? My skin crawls every time he’s nearby and it didn't improve even after a year of dealing with him!” *** “I didn’t allow him,” the Doctor very nearly complained as they walked along, slow steps to prolong the time the Master was allowed out and about. “It’s not like he asked me for permission and I told him to enjoy himself. He died, and Rose brought him back.” Simple, right? Yes, simple. He didn’t need to explain that Rose had the Time Vortex inside her at the time, or how he’d allowed that to happen.. Nope. Jack died, Rose brought him back. Simple. “What’s your favorite type of sushi?” Asked conversationally as they finally stepped up to the building. Topic change. Time for happier subjects. *** “Maki and uramaki rolls mainly. Although if it’s available and in season, I also like otoro nigiri.” He quickly caught the hint that his dinner date didn’t seem to want to discuss the matter of his former Companions, so he dropped the subject. “I prefer it without the soy sauce though… it takes away from the natural flavors of the actual sushi. What about you? Do you have a preference or favorite?” He tilted his head curiously to the side and smiled. “Or is this the first time you’re having sushi?” *** “It’s my first time.” The Doctor replied with a wide smile, scrunching up his eyes and creating little crow’s feet at the edges. He leaned to open the door and ushered the Master inside, releasing his arm to do so, and touching at the small of his back to guide him through. Once inside, they were taken to a table in the back where they could have a proper discussion without anyone being too loud. And no screaming children. He didn’t do domestics. Chair pulled out for the Master (why, wasn’t he being such the gentleman?), the blue-eyed Time Lord would wait to sit until his companion had sat, then he looked up with a smile as their waitress came. Drinks ordered, menus handed over, he opened his up and set his attention to it. Hm. “Maybe I’ll just have what you’re having.” He was willing to trust the other Time Lord’s tastebuds. *** “You’re in for a treat. We’ll order a selection of things so you can sample all of the different kinds.” The Master flashed a grin at the waitress and opened the menu, quickly scanning it with his brown eyes. “Hot tea for the both of us. We’ll have a spicy tuna roll, a rainbow roll, one spider roll, an order of shrimp nigiri, and an order of otoro. Oh… and beef fried rice please.” He set his menu aside, snatched the other menu away from the Doctor and set it on top of his. The Master clasped his hands together and smiled at the Doctor as he rested his elbows on the table. “If you end up liking a particular kind, we can always order more. Or we can try something else. For the first round, you’ll have to just trust me.” *** “I trust you.” Came his immediate response. Of course, after he said it, he amended his words with a lift of eyebrows and a little lean forward. “With sushi.” He trusted him with sushi. Leaning back in his seat, his arms fell idly into his lap as he took in the state of the other man again, considering before he spoke. “Granddad says you’ve done some pretty horrible things.” That was an understatement. Rose had told him something similar. Hell, the Master had admitted to some of it. Why? What was the point of all of it? “What, no good sushi places to keep you occupied in the future--” a correction, “Our future? You’ve got to run wild like a bloody lunatic?” As if it weren’t his MO. *** “Granddad has no room to talk, no matter how much he and your other regenerations like to conveniently forget what you all did during the Time War,” the Master replied, scowling as he picked up his pair of chopsticks. He stared at the surface of the table, lightly tapping the chopsticks in a rhythm of four. “I ran… I locked my true self away in that fob watch. The Doctor’s the one whose little friend released me and changed that. So yes… I ran wild after I regenerated into this version of me. I stole his TARDIS, took over his precious planet Earth, and ended up dying for my troubles.” His eyes looked up, meeting the Doctor’s across the table. “I died. I came back. Took over the planet again. I nearly died again facing off with Rassilon because I was burning through my own life force just to save the Doctor’s sorry hide. Didn’t matter. Doesn’t matter now. Different place, different time, and no more drums.” The Master tapped the side of his temple. “Rassilon did it to me. He’s the one who put that incessant noise inside of my head when I was a child. And it only grew louder with each regeneration, making me lose a little more of my mind each time.” *** Information. So much information. Things he hadn’t heard from others, that could only be heard from the horse’s mouth. The way the Master told it, he was the victim in all of it.. Sure, he’d done a few bad things, but only because bad things had been done to him. And the Doctor was inclined to believe it. Of course he was. The Master was his “And now?” Was his only question. The Master had lost himself, he’d gone insane, he’d taken over the Earth, he’d killed people, he’d burned himself up.. And now? Now that he’d lost himself? Had he found himself all over again? *** “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I ended up here, Granddad kept me locked up in the TARDIS’ Zero Room to fix my little condition, and now I’m finally being granted a small bit of freedom. But I really don’t know. I’ve promised not to hurt any of his precious little Companions and he allows me free reign of the TARDIS, but I don’t really know what to do with myself.” The Master frowned, sighing as he leaned back in his chair. “At one point I told him to throw me out of an airlock or something. To just let me go and to hell with the consequences if I died leaving this place. I just…” He tapped his chopsticks a few more times and finally just dropped them on the table. “I don’t know who I am now that I’ve lost the drumming in my head. He said that he knows my next regeneration, so I don’t even know how much time I have left as me until I die. That’s assuming we ever get out of this place.” *** This regeneration of the Doctor was so very good at just listening and not butting in with all manner of insane ideas, or whatever happened to pop into his mind at the time. Sure, he had his moments, but for the most part he was far more calm and put together than many of the others. A no-nonsense sort of guy. So he was able to contain himself until the Master was done speaking, a smile overtaking his face once again. “Then we’re both in the same position.” Because he wasn’t certain how long he had once he got out of this place-- assuming he got out of this place. “Only, you know, without the drumming.” His smile widened out for that and blue eyes dropped to that hand resting near the chopsticks on the table. He considered it for a long few moments. He really wasn’t good at this whole... Comforting Doctor thing. But. His own hand came out anyway, moving to rest atop the Master’s and hold. “There’ll be no airlocking you if I have anything to say about it.” Those words were more stern, said without any hint of a smile and with his gaze locked intently onto the other Time Lord. He wasn’t having it. *** “Why are you all so determined to keep me around?” he asked, eying the Doctor suspiciously. “Granddad basically said the same thing. And Hair Gel literally begged me to regenerate when the wife shot me. I don’t understand it. I really don’t.” The Master glanced down at their hands, but didn’t pull his away. “You’re right though… about us both being in a similar situation. Need to make the best of it, right? Burn bright and go out with a bang. That sort of thing.” *** “I thought you were dead.” Came the Doctor’s answer to that question, though it really wasn’t an answer at all. “I’m not going to lose you again.” Maybe that would help clarify the situation.. But probably not. It wasn’t as if he’d ever been good with this sort of thing. His hand withdrew, though, leaning back away as their meal was brought out. The waitress got a bright smile and a hearty ‘Thank you’ as she set down the trays, then headed on her way, leaving the two men alone once again. “It looks delicious.” And it was a lovely distraction. *** “I’m not dead now. Or rather, I’m not dead anymore. And yes… It is.” He snatched up his chopsticks and began setting pieces of sushi on each of their plates, grinning like an excited kid who’d just been given a treat. And if he was being honest with himself, it was a treat. His first time allowed out without Granddad as chaperone. “Right… pink stuff is ginger. Green is wasabi.” As the Master began describing the food and what was in each of the rolls, he tried to put everything else out of his mind. There was no Time War here, no Rassilon, and no need to worry about anything but the present. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry… for running off back then.” He picked up his tea and blew across the surface before taking a sip. “What’re you waiting for? Try something.” *** “I think I’ll try a bit of everything, if you don’t mind.” Responded in a cheeky tone, before he plucked up one of the little rolls and popped it into his mouth. No ginger. No soy sauce. Just straight in. After a few chews, though, he made a sour face. Thankfully, he didn’t spit it out, but managed to swallow it instead. “That was awful.” His first reaction, but he’d look over the others, then lift blue eyes to see what the Master was going to choose to eat first. Maybe that would be a better choice-- did it need ginger? Maybe he should have had the tea first? *** The Master snickered as he selected a piece of the otoro and popped it into his mouth. “I should’ve warned you that it’s an acquired taste. But that’s why I ordered us a selection of things for you to try.” He pointed with his chopsticks at the shrimp nigiri. “Try that one. It’s just a piece of cooked shrimp on top of rice.” *** The big-eared man eyes his dinner date for a moment before he used his own chopsticks to snag a piece of the shrimp nigiri. Surprisingly, he was able to hold and handle the utensils just fine, but that was only a case of motorskills. Angling that piece of food, he placed it into his mouth and chewed for a moment, then a smile broke out on his face. Not bad! Swallowing it down, he pointed his chopsticks almost accusingly at the Master. “You just wanted to see me eat something I wouldn’t like. But some of this isn’t half bad. What is that?” He asked, pointing to yet another of the small rolls laid out before them. Well, this date was going pretty damn good, if he did say so himself. Like old times. Old, old times. This was his Master. *** “No, I want you to try new things. Sometimes you’ll like it, sometimes you won’t. Besides… do you have any idea how many different kinds of sushi there are? I just picked a few of the most popular.” He leaned forward and smiled. “Right… Lesson time. The one you said was disgusting? That was the otoro… fatty raw tuna. It’s one of my favorites, so I’ll gladly eat the rest of those. You just tried the shrimp. This one’s the spicy tuna roll… it’s self explanatory. This one here,” he pointed with his chopsticks at the multicolored roll. ”That’s the rainbow roll. It’s essentially a California roll, but has other fish wrapped around it. Inside you’ve got crab, cucumber, and avocado. On the outside, the orange ones are salmon, pink is tuna, and the whitish one is yellowtail tuna. And finally that one there… the weird looking one? That’s the spider roll. And no, you’re not eating actual spiders… it’s soft shell crab and other things.” The Master popped a piece of the otoro into his mouth and smirked as he chewed it. “This is fun. It’s been a long time since I did something like this. Thank you.” *** “When did you become such a connoisseur of sushi?” Asked across the table as he peered down at the different choices he had. They all looked good, but he’d found out that they weren’t, and now he was a little shy about trying them. Oh well, what was the worst that could happen? He wouldn’t like it? Moving his chopsticks out, he plucked up the rainbow roll. No way was he trying the spider roll, not when it contained ‘other things’. He’d stay with the items the Master could identify. This time, he added a little ginger and a little soy sauce, and upon placing it in his mouth and chewing, the sushi won a smile from the Doctor, chopsticks pointing at the food. He approved of that. That one was good. Swallowing down, he beamed happily across at the other Time Lord. The Master had taken the words right out of his mouth. “It’s my pleasure.” And he’d be happy to do it again. Any time. *** “I was trapped on Earth for a while back when you were working for UNIT, remember? Not to mention that as Prime Minister of England, it involved a lot of dinner appointments. What can I say? I liked it, so I spent a lot of time tasting different kinds.” He smiled as he watched the Doctor test out another piece. “There was this place out in Soho called Kulu-Kulu. It wasn’t very fancy, but they had a kaiten sushi… basically a small conveyor belt. The chefs worked in the center and would set the plates onto the kaiten, then you’d just select what you want as it rolled past. I loved it. Used to slip away by myself sometimes and take the tube from Whitehall down to Piccadilly Circus, then it was just a short walk to the restaurant. I loved that place and could've spent hours there just watching them prepare the food. When I was there, I wasn’t the Prime Minister, or the Master, or anything else. I was just Harry… just one of the regulars who appreciated good food.” He ate a piece of the spider roll and popped a piece of the ginger into his mouth. “Next time you can pick.” *** His testing of the sushi paused as the Master continued. As he talked about the spot in Soho. Those big ears were good for something, at least, he listened well. He also retained that knowledge, and would be putting it to use at a later date. For now, he just listened to those words, the tone of the Master’s voice, and he began to smile slowly. “Well, Harry,” it wasn’t mocking, but it was a light tease, complete with a smile, “It is good.” Some of it, anyway. “And next time, I will pick.” He knew exactly where he’d be taking them, too. |