[RL with Ten - a gift]

[doyouhearthem]

The Master padded silently into the Doctor's study. He moved ponderously slow, nearly standing on tiptoe, with his hands wrapped tightly around something.

"Theta," he breathed. His voice was hushed, excited.

"Found something. Found a gift for you..."

[This RL may get disturbing for those with weak stomachs. You've been warned...]

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[timey_wimey]

The Doctor, meanwhile, had been sprawled in a chair reading a book by Carl Sagan. Well, re-reading, to be honest. He'd found himself doing a lot of reading lately, but it had been a while since he'd read any of this author's work.

He looked up from his book curiously. "A gift? What sort of gift?"

[doyouhearthem]

He grinned and creeped closer, clutching his hands close to his chest.

"I found it, found a little heart in the corner of a room, it hid all this time but I found it! Shh, be careful..."

He bent down and cracked his hands apart a fraction, just enough to show a tiny ball of fur curled up inside. He clasped them shut again and gave a breathy laugh.

"It's for you. Little mouse, I found it, and it's for you. You can keep it."

[timey_wimey]

Immediately, the Doctor sat up straighter in his chair, snapping the book shut and placing it on the floor.

"That's a mouse there?" His voice was alert, on edge.

[doyouhearthem]

The Master bobbed his head and sidled closer. Oh, he was so proud, and it showed plain as day.

"Shhhh," he whispered, "Keep it still..."

He opened his hands again, very slowly, a little wider this time. And sure enough, there was a tiny grey mouse quivering there, paws over its face. It seemed to sense the light and picked up its head, but otherwise stayed motionless.

"Found it in the kitchen sneaky, tried to run but I caught it. Now it's yours."

[I got on just to tag. XD]

[timey_wimey]

Why there were mice in his kitchen (and indeed, how said mice got there in the first place) was a mystery to the Doctor, but one that he would leave to figure out for another day. Right now, he had to get the Master to let the poor thing go - it was clearly terrified out of its wits.

"Let it go," he said, feeling a weird sense of deja vu as he said it, eyes never leaving the small grey creature. "Look at it, it's scared, it's terrified."

((Ffff go to bed, you! I don't want you to collapse again! DX ♥))

[doyouhearthem]

The Master's face fell. He glanced down at the tiny mouse and furrowed his brow.

"...You don't want it," he said in a tiny voice. "I caught it for you, and you don't-"

The mouse had started to stir, turning in his hands - he quickly pressed them back together and stared at the Doctor with pleading eyes. He simply couldn't understand.

"Why? Was just a mouse before but now it's your mouse, for you! Why don't you want it?!"

[timey_wimey]

Uh oh. Somehow, this had all got a lot more complicated in the past few seconds. The Doctor swallowed and opened his mouth, trying to choose his words carefully.

"No, it's not that I don't want it, but you're hurting it like that," he said in a low voice. "Let it out your hands, let it run around the TARDIS. It'll be happier that way. Look." He held out his own hands, inviting the Master to put the mouse in them.

[doyouhearthem]

He looked down at the Doctor's hands and seemed to consider it for a moment. He even began to move his hands towards him, but he suddenly drew back in revulsion and shook his head violently.

"N-no! You'll let it go!"

He pressed his cupped hands protectively close to his chest - and dangerously tight for the mouse inside.

"Won't let it go! It's for you, I caught it for you and it should be for you!"

The Master began to hurry around the room, scanning the bookshelves and around the Doctor's chair.

"I'll... I'll put it in a box, a little box and it won't get hurt. You can keep it there and it'll be fine and you can... feed it or summat... it'll be yours!"

[timey_wimey]

The Doctor stood in alarm, noticing how agitated the Master was getting, how tight his hands were clasped against his chest. He followed the Master. He had to get him to let go of that mouse now.

"Alright, alright, you can put it in a box if you want - a big box, mind you - but you have to put it down now, you're going to kill it like that!"

[doyouhearthem]

The Master froze. His eyes grew wide, and he moved his hands - the mouse had dug its tiny claws into his shirt, and he tugged it off gently in one hand. He held it there and stared at it, squirming in its feeble attempt to flee.

Something in his face had changed then. Perhaps it was the eyes, perhaps it was the way his muscles seemed to tense, but there was a palpable difference... suddenly, he wasn't that harmless lost boy anymore. Wheels were turning in his head, predatory thoughts.

"...It'll still be yours," he murmured. "It's a gift, it's for you."

The Master squeezed the mouse in his fist. It thrashed and squeaked, bit fiercely at his fingers. He gritted his teeth, and there was a sudden muffled snap and a final chirp before the mouse went limp.

He opened his now-bleeding hand and seemed to pout, nudging the mouse in his palm.

"...S'got my blood on it. I'll clean it."

[...F-fuck, creep myself out.]

[timey_wimey]

The Doctor's eyes widened and he cried "No!", lunging for the mouse, the Master's hand - but by the time he got there, it was too late, and the poor creature was lying, limp and dead, on the Master's palm.

He stared at it for a long moment, breathing heavily, before raising his eyes to look at the Master. The beginnings of a furious expression were starting to appear on his face.

"What did you do that for?" he demanded. "You didn't have to kill it!"

[doyouhearthem]

The Master gently wiped at the dead mouse with his sleeve. He placed it in his other hand and wiped blood off on the hem of his shirt, leaving dark streaks.

"It's yours now," he said quietly, still gazing at it. "Caught and killed for you, can't run away anymore."

He offered it to the Doctor, eyes searching his face for approval.

"Please? It's still fine... thought that counts, right?"

[timey_wimey]

He shook his head almost automatically, eyes back on the dead mouse. What had just happened? Whatever it was, it was bad. It was incredibly bad. And not just because something had needlessly died. There was something else going on here. The change in the Master's face hadn't escaped him.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said, voice dangerously low.

[doyouhearthem]

The Master's breath hitched. He looked as if he might cry, eyes gone wide. Something explosive was welling up from beneath.

"...You never want what I give you."

He cried out in frustration and flung the mouse's body at the Doctor.

"Every time! I don't - you didn't want me to see but I know now," he said vehemently, his voice rising. "Didn't want me to know the truth, over and over, all those times I gave to you and all you do is run away from me! It's never enough, is it?! Never good enough! So I make you hurt-"

The Master looked like he had more to say, but something was bothering him intensely. He grunted and tugged at his clothes, wiped at his hands.

"No, this is filthy, filthy. This won't - it's wrong, wrong fit wrong outside - aaaugh Omega it's WRONG-!"

He flung off his shirt. "Where are my clothes," he spat.

[timey_wimey]

The Doctor had opened his mouth to say something - he didn't know what, whether to deny it or try and offer an explanation or something - but as the Master's flood of words continued he found that he was struck dumb, staring at him in disbelief. Whatever he had been about to say was lost. There was nothing really that he could say - how could he even begin to explain his reasons?

Finally, he latched on to the simplest thing to answer. "What do you mean, where are they?"

[doyouhearthem]

The Master snarled. Whatever had happened in the past few minutes, there was no going back. It was clear by the look in his eyes, the predatory glare, the balled bloodied fists... he was himself again.

"My suit, he hissed. "These clothes aren't mine."