Open RP - The Master returns

[theregothedrums]

((with the approval of the other Who muns))

He was...

He was in a slick heap on the floor, the smell of butter the first thing he consciously aware of. The smell. It was impossibly silent, an undreamed-of silence

Comments

[eleventyrags]

He knew - he he knew so well - that laughter. The Doctor could hear it echoing not only in his ears but in his head, his hearts, right down to his very bones. It was at a full run that he came careening down the hall to the popcorn room, fast enough to endanger even his bowtie from flying off. It was still at a run that he jumped into the air and landed on the master, arms and legs clinging in the most absurd and embarrassing koala hug ever witnessed by any of the timeless eyes of the universe.

But really, who could blame him? There he was, the Master, all better after everything and returned so they could finally start the right way, so the Doctor could slice away all that dreadful insanity and show him the beautiful things in the universe he so longed to share.

So overwhelming was the emotion that the Doctor could only manage a kind of giggly whimper as he clung to his buttered fellow Gallifreyan.

[theregothedrums]

Recognition only took a moment, although he'd been expecting the blond one. So, the Doctor had changed his face again. And with it, he'd apparently gotten rather huggy.

"As pre-emptive strikes go, that's unorthodox even for you," he murmured. "Or is this some primitive means of checking for weapons?"

[eleventyrags]

There was a brief moment of debate where The Doctor had to decide whether or not to let go, but his emotions won out and he continued the hugging. Of course he knew he looked like an idiot, but really, it was hard to curb his excitement, especially here and now.

"New body," he said by way of excuse. "Still getting used to telling which limb to do what."

[theregothedrums]

"Really," the Master said, in what he'd meant to be a sneer. But in this position, the Doctor's beating hearts seemed to resonate to his own and amplify his pulse, and it didn't matter if he couldn't hear the drums if he could feel them. The rest of his cutting reply died on his lips and his internal debate on whether to push the Doctor away or try to turn the contact to his advantage was forgotten as he raised his hands to press to his ears.

[eleventyrags]

"Really, yes," he laughed, dropping to his feet, hands going to pat the Master's buttery face. "Look at you! All alive and here and... buttery!" His feet did a little jig as part of him was stuck on the Master and part of him wanted to run through the halls. "We'll have to get you a bath straight away. The baths in this place are fascinating. There's a mermaid in one of them!"

[theregothedrums]

...the Doctor wanted to bathe him, now? Regeneration must have scrambled his brain thoroughly.

"Of course I'm alive," he grumbled, trying to keep his fragile composure. "When have I ever been able to let go of that?"

[eleventyrags]

"Of course, of course," the Doctor said, patting the Master's cheeks again. "But really, you do smell like a dirty movie theater, it's got to be taken care of. Don't remember anything from the last time you were here? Long before I happened in."

[theregothedrums]

For some reason, that was a disturbing thought. "If I've been here before, it hasn't happened yet." Ah, the flexibility time travel gave, and the flexibility it demanded! And all this touchy-feely business was unnerving as well, but more than likely it was intended to be. Well, the Master could play that game too, and well. "Or perhaps it would come back to me, if I were... taken care of."

[eleventyrags]

"Likely, yes," the Doctor said, nodding solemnly. He patted the Master's shoulder, trying his hardest to be comforting. It was suddenly apparent in his mind that he may have glomped a pre-mildly-heroic Master. And while that was a bit disturbing, the sentiment was the same. He had a chance here. "What's the last thing you remember?"

[theregothedrums]

Snickering internally, the Master tilted his head enough for his cheek to brush the Doctor's knuckles. "Do you mean the part where you begged me to run away with you, or the way you pointed that delightfully primitive weapon at me? The look on your face... seriously, I wish I had a picture. I'd carry it around in my wallet and look at it when I needed cheering up."

[eleventyrags]

All right, so he remembered that bit. At the very least, it was a start. "I was working with what I had at the moment," he muttered, rubbing his knuckles a little harder against the Master's stubbly chin. "Besides, I'm better at being cute than pouting with this face."

[theregothedrums]

Oh, he was being playful now. That was good. It was no fun taunting someone who looked like they wanted to hole up with a Morrissey CD and a razorblade.

"I'd have said the hair was the real improvement," he said, making mercilessly unwavering eye contact. He dipped his head just a little lower, his bottom lip barely brushing the Doctor's fingers briefly enough to be almost subliminal.

[eleventyrags]

"I'm rather partial to the nose," the Doctor said, trying not to let wariness creep into his voice. He really shouldn't be quite so trustworthy around the Master, but he couldn't get out of his head those last few minutes before delivering the most epic of all Screw Yous to the elders of Gallifrey.

And that coupled with the subtle (but so extremely noticeable) kiss to his fingers made a traitorous little jump in his pulse. But... he could still see that look in the Master's eyes, where the door that shouldn't have ever been opened was laying off its hinges, covered in dust.

He coughed. "Better than just a bit of a hack dye-job, leastwise."

[theregothedrums]

He made a show of examining the nose in question. "It looks a bit melted, actually. Like soft wax." And while the Doctor seemed disdainful of the epic pouts his former self had been so free with, the Master knew his pouts were far more effective, and assumed one, his voice taking on a wounded note. "And it was hardly a dye job. It was a side effect."

As had been the insatiable hunger and the ability to shoot lightning bolts and jump like a rocket-propelled kangaroo. Those were gone, he could feel it. His metabolism wasn't burning at a hummingbird's pace anymore.

[eleventyrags]

"A likely excuse," he said, drawling out the words and jucking his fist against the Master's chin before finally bringing it away and placing it in his pocket where it wouldn't cause any trouble.

"So! About that bath, then." He lifted an eyebrow "unless you want to run off and eat your weight in curry first."

[theregothedrums]

"In curry?" He stared at the Doctor in amusement. "Even a Time Lord's digestive system can't neutralized capsacin. I don't fancy afterburn of that magnitude."

The idea of eating a curry that wasn't spicy wasn't worth considering.