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beheworthy · 11 months ago
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First of all I love your blog ❤️ my question is about Tyler Rake (hope we’ll get some news on part 3 soon). I saw on your blog that you already answered a question about Tyler and Nik and how his feelings of guilt and Nik’s loss of her brother will be a part in the next chapter. I know that we really don’t know if T and N will ever become more than friends but if the writers would try to go that way, what is your opinion about how this could happen after all? Just curious about your thoughts. Thank you
Hi, thank you! ❤️
<Come have a seat.gif>
We HAVE an update on E3. Chris said at SDCC that they're in the middle of writing the story.
I can't say if they will include his guilt over Yaz in E3, given how they completely ignored Ovi's existence and impact on Tyler in E2. I'm just saying it should be included. But Joe Russo isn't the best writer.
Which leads to my concern about E3. The weakest part of this series is the writing which threatens to bring down director Hargrave and Chris' brilliance. With Russos being busy with Citadel and now freakin Avengers, I'm hoping they hand over writing to someone else.
Now, I know Golshifteh Farahani said that she loves that Nik is not a love interest and I respect that. However, there are a few ways to go about this:
1, It could be that it was always going to be this way that Tyler and Nik will become endgame after everything they go through. They already have history where they are too close to each other:
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Then they go through all these events where they save, take bullets for, and avenge the other, becoming closer than ever:
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Then there is Yaz's death:
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It culminates with them being the only person left in the other's life. They're each other's everything now:
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This is excellent organic development that can satisfactorily lead to a seamless romantic shift without reducing Nik's character.
Or 2, they might have never intended to go the Tyler x Nik route (and all that sxual tension was meant to be nothing I guess), leading to Golshifteh saying that. But the fan reception has been so overwhelmingly positive that the makers decide to go there now. And for that, the groundwork is already laid as I just demonstrated.
I personally think they should go there because otherwise, that's just a waste of all that setup.
Now finally to answer your question, HOW: they should use Tyler's guilt of Yaz's death like I've previously talked about. And have them talk about their feelings to each other. Maybe have one stuck in mortal danger and the other going feral over it. And it reveals to them that they love the other.
@karioke13 has a fantastic scene in her mind where they go undercover at a ball party, dance together, and talk it out:
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rearranging-deck-chairs · 2 years ago
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YES. yes!!!!
like the thing i keep running into is that it's kind of very easy to make the heartbreak about the regeneration(/transness). you could make 14&yaz a grieving the living sort of story. you could go sort of the rose "can you change back?" or 12 "you cant see me" route. but i think while that sentiment might be there somewhere for yaz it's way way down at the bottom of the list of things shes struggling with. like she has bigger things to be upset about right?
i think 14&yaz is not a grieving the living kind of story even though it might look like that on its face because i think thasmins last months (between sea devils and potd) were that story. i think theyve already done all the grieving. and i also think they were both so deadset on keeping the other alive, they cant help but be relieved too now because theyre both alive! safe! on earth! they got each other home!
they already did the grieving, together-apart, parallel but not talking about it. and now whats there is mostly i think relief, and for yaz all the anger she hasnt allowed herself to feel for like 5(, 6, 7?) years, and for the doctor a sort of involuntary detachment that comes with having regenerated. the doctor has a scar where yaz has an open wound. which i think in some ways helps because it makes 14 able to be there for yaz in the way 13 never could but it's also really painful right? if youre in yazs position
i wrote a little sex scene between them yesterday that im probably not gonna post i was just curious to see what would happen and !!!!!!! the amount of tension between two people who trust each other so absolutely. delicious. like the tension that used to be there between yaz and 13 in all the things left unsaid is completely deflated by yaz and 14 saying almost everything out loud. not always in the most direct way and definitely not in the most honest and fair good open communication kinda way, but they do say things now. so this like taut string between them is cut and completely gone and to balance it out (bc without tension no scene) this entirely new kind of tension appears. like it goes from this:
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to two of this:
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idk if im making sense. it was the most interesting scene ive ever written. not bc i wrote it well, just bc of the situation. also at one point the doctor was like i dont know what you want so Show Me and yaz was like Okay!!!! and that inversion too i thought was really interesting. i know i wrote it but like i dont make the decisions here i just write down what happens alright. yaz initiated because she was like I Just Need To Know. yaz is like i want to have had sex with you last year and we're time travellers so this works right?
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99naive · 1 year ago
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me filling my queue up for once ??? sounds fake .
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intuitive-revelations · 11 days ago
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I've been waiting to post this for ages, so here it is (even if it's technically no longer Pride Month as intended, shut up, I'm not waiting another year)!
An unexhaustive list of moments across every incarnation in which the Doctor is very straight, very cis, very allo, and very gender-conforming. /s
Or in other words:
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[ID: The astronaut "always has been" meme - One astronaut looks at caps of the Fourteenth Doctor talking about finding Newton hot and Fifteen kissing Rogue, saying "Wait...the Doctor's queer now?". A second astronaut behind points a pistol at the first, replying "Always has been."]
In all seriousness, I tried my best to capture as much as I could. It was a more a matter of running up against the limits of what I can squeeze into a Tumblr post than anything else. Even as it is, a lot of the clips are more compressed than I'd like, and Tumblr's downscaled GIF versions are messing up some of my transparent borders.
A lot of stuff is more subtextual and gradual (particularly in stuff like the EDAs), but I tried my best to represent these with particular moments where possible, without clogging the entire thing up with subtle writing and acting choices. There's also a lot more I could have added in regard to cross-gender regenerations, of course, but I avoided too many of these since they don't necessarily imply genderqueerness on an individual incarnation / actor basis. It would also mean giffing every second Thirteen, Fugitive etc. are on-screen.
Obviously, some of these are much more stretches than others (jokes, friendly kisses etc.), before anyone feels like they need to dispute them, but fall nicely into the pattern with everything else, so were included too.
Finally, if you've got something obvious I missed, feel free to add below!
A very long GIF ID and list of sources under the read more:
[ID: A series of gifs showing moments in which the Doctor potentially comes off as queer, trans, asexual, or gender non-conforming, or at least is part of a subtext that can be read as such, distributed in an extended rainbow pattern roughly based on the Progress pride flag. In order, row by row:
1. New Who - The Vanquishers - Thirteen remarks to Dan and Yaz about her duplicate: "I've got such a crush on her."
2. BF - The Sword of the Chevalier transcript:
ROSE: But is he-... she- DOCTOR: She is what ever she says she is. Who cares about gender anyway? It's an archaic concept. Right now, she's a woman.
3. New Who - The Vanquishers - A trapped Thirteen says to her duplicate, "Hi! Wow... you're cute!" The other Thirteen replies, "Thanks. So are you!"
4. BF - Seasons of Fear transcript:
CHARLEY: Another wonderful opportunity to wear a nice dress. DOCTOR: Wouldn't that be a bit conspicuous? CHARLEY: An opportunity for me.
5. BF - Seasons of Fear transcript:
DOCTOR: Are you confusing me with someone else? I'm not the one who says ‘you must obey me’. I don't meddle. And I'm not a glamorous woman at the moment.
6. New Who - The Sound of Drums - Ten on the phone with the Master begs, "Don't you see, all we've got is each other." The Master snarks back, "Are you asking me on a date?!"
7. EDA - The Scarlet Empress:
'You've got the Doctor all wrong. He's not a sexist pig like Gila.' 'He can't help what he is. His gender is alien, but intransigent. The cosmos is guided by male and female impulses - quite separate…' "That's crap!' Sam shouted."The Doctor isn't your average man, at all. I don't think he even has a gender. How can you - whoever you are - pontificate on what he's like? He's private. He's untouchable.'
8. New Who - The Fires of Pompeii - Ten sneaks into the Temple of Sybil. Seer Spurrina says, "No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sibyl." Ten shrugs and says, "Well, that's all right. Just us girls."
9. EDA - To the Slaughter:
'Yes, me!' The Doctor took Fitz's hand, kissed it delicately, then shoved him aside. 'Now, out of my way!'
10. New Who - Wishworld - Rogue on a TV screen, speaking from a hellish dimension, says "I miss you. Well... more than that. I love y-" before being interrupted by the signal breaking.
11. NSA - Engines of War:
Urgh,’ said Cinder, letting go of the Doctor’s hand and getting to her feet. ‘My leggings are soaked through.’ She helped the Doctor up. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I’m sure there’ll be something similar in one of the TARDIS’s wardrobes.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Fond of women’s clothes, are we?’ ‘Yes,’ he said, indicating his muddy trousers. ‘Clearly, I have a penchant.’
12. New Who - Meanwhile in the TARDIS 2 - Amy, fresh off trying to seduce him, points at Eleven and says "You are a bloke." He replies, "I'm the Doctor."
13. New Who - Wishworld - John Smith sits and talks about Rogue to Belinda. "There was a man on the TV... and I really liked him."
14. EDA - The Turing Test:
He glanced up. ‘I don’t recommend it, by the way.’ ‘You’ve tried?’ I asked dryly. ‘We – I –’ He shrugged. ‘It’s not something that interests me.’ ‘Sex?’ ‘Yes. It’s a missing piece in my life.’
15. New Who - The Power of Three - Rory kisses the Doctor thank you on the cheek as Amy looks on. Eleven reacts bashfully.
16. EDA - The Year of Intelligent Tigers:
‘Is this it?’ The Doctor let go of Karl. His gaze swept around the cool river, the sweet meadow, the silent trees. In the east the ringed moon was rising, silvering the deep blue of the sky. His eyes came back to the composer. ‘Is this home?’ Karl hoped so. But he didn’t say anything
17. New Who - The Church on Ruby Road - Fifteen and Ruby are tied up on the Goblin ship. He says, "Oh, but it's Lulubelle's birthday." He then says as an aside, "That's such a brilliant name! I wish I was called Lulubelle."
18. New Who - Time Crash - Five replies to Ten, "Oh no, really? Does he [the Master] still have that rubbish beard?" Ten: "No, no beard this time. Well... a wife."
19. EDA - Legacy of the Daleks:
‘I know better than to trust the word of any man ever again,’ ‘Don’t, trust the word of a Time Lord.’
20. New Who - The Church on Ruby Road - Fifteen gets his hands free. Ruby asks "Wait, how did you do that?". He replies, "I spent a long hot summer with Harry Houdini." to her pleasant surprise.
21. New Who - Spyfall Part Two - Thirteen announces herself to a crowd as "The Marvellous Apparating Man", before correcting herself, "(Lady) Apparating Lady! (Every time...)".
22. New Who - Rogue - Rogue asks Fifteen, "I think you and I should go outside." then walks off. Fifteen mutters "Fast mover..."
23. New Who - The Impossible Astronaut - Eleven calls out "Jefferson isn't a girl's name, it's not her name either." He turns to River, "Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton - River?" She replies, "Surnames of three of America's founding fathers." He then says, "Lovely fellas. Two of them fancied me."
24. EDA - The Turing Test:
I learned that Turing was in love with the Doctor, an excited, hopeless, sexual yet nonsexual, adoring, stupid, profound love that had turned his whole life upside down. ‘Do you think he feels anything for me?’ asked Turing.
25. New Who - The Shakespeare Code - Ten tells Martha and Shakespeare, "Come on, we can all have a good flirt later!" The latter replies, "Is that a promise, Doctor?"
26. New Who - The Interstellar Song Contest - Fifteen mentions, with regards to Graham Norton, "I met him at Brighton Pride. What a weekend!"
27. New Who - Human Nature - As Tim Latimer listens to the Doctor's fobwatch, he hears voices of different genders in the Doctor's essense.
28. New Who - Rogue - Rogue proposes to the Doctor, holding up a ring which Fifteen gently takes.
29. New Who - The Reality War - Kate, still under the wish's control, remarks "Mr Smith, what on Earth do you think you're wearing." He walks up to her in his skirt/kilt, responding, "The future!"
30. New Who - Utopia - Yana sat down, bends over Ten crouched in front of him and says, "Still, no rest for the wicked." As he stands, Ten smirks.
31. New Who - Wishworld - Under the wish, Ibrahim says to Fifteen, as John Smith, "She's way out of my league.", referring to Kate. Fifteen brushes his concerns off, saying, "Oh, she's not, you're a beautiful man!"
32. New Who - Wishworld - Continuing from 31, Ibrahim corners Fifteen, "You're a man. How can you find another man beautiful?"
33. BF - Afterlife:
DOCTOR: Tell this to your gods. When they punish you. When they stretch you on the neutron rack. I’m still here. LILY: But you…? You’re one.. little… man. DOCTOR:I am not a man. Not a human being. I am a complex space-time event. I am Lord President of Gallifrey. The Traveller from Beyond Time. I am the Sandman. The Oncoming Storm. I am the Ka Faraq Gatri. Destroyer of Worlds. And sometimes. Only sometimes, I am your worst nightmare. I am the Doctor. And I take care of my friends.
34. New Who - The Magician's Apprentice - Missy tells Clara that she's cared for the Doctor, "Since the Cloister Wars. Since the night he stole the moon and the president's wife. Since he was a little girl. One of those was a lie, can you guess which one?"
35. Classic Who - Kinda - Panna says infront of Five, "No male can open the Box of Jhana without being driven out of his mind. It is well known. Unless. Is he an idiot?"
36. Titan - A Little Help from My Friends - Ryan says with regards to meeting Ten, "Still hard to believe that was you." Thirteen replies, "Biological sex is flexible among my people, and gender is merely a social construct." She smirks, "Quite simple, really."
37. Classic Who - Terror of the Autons - The Brigadier asks Three, with regards to the Master, "Think he'll turn up again, Doctor?" Three replies, "Hm, bound to." Jo notices, "You don't seem very worried about it." only for him to respond, smiling and raising his eyebrows, "I'm not. As a matter of fact, I'm rather looking forward to it."
38. Novelisation - Rose:
She’d listened to Clive’s stories. She’d read his files. She knew that every age had some sort of Doctor, whether young or old, male or female, in-between or neither, black or white or anything.
39. New Who - Let's Kill Hitler - Eleven tells Amy, Rory, and Mels, "I danced with everyone at the wedding. The women were all brilliant. The men were a bit shy."
40. Classic Who - The Time Monster - Jo listens to a telepathic message being broadcast by Three, under which can be heard whispers from voices of different genders, coming from the Doctor's subconscious.
41. New Who - The Eaters of Light - Twelve tells Bill, "I've lived in Roman Britain: governed, farmed, juggled. Speaking as a former vestal virgin, second-class, I can assure you-"
42. Torchwood - Fragments - Alice Guppy, interrogating Jack, quotes words overheard from him: "You wait until I see the Doctor. First I'm going to kiss him. Then I'm going to kill him."
43. New Who - Dot and Bubble - Ruby and Fifteen respectively reply to Lindy regarding running into Ricky September, "Oh, nice one!" and "He's hot." Then then snap at each other simultaneously, "Hands off!".
44. New Who - The Hungry Earth (deleted scene) - Eleven chats to Amy about Rory, "I like him." He then chuckles bashfully and adds, "A lot."
45. Classic Who - The Daemons - Three, tied up and about to be burnt alive is told, "If he's such a great magician, let's see him untie himself." Three responds, "You choose to mock the great Qui Quae Quod." Each of these words used in his 'wizard' name, is latin for "who", first masculine, then feminine, then gender-neutral.
46. New Who - Dot and Bubble - Continuing from 43, Fifteen compliments Ricky, "Clever as well..." Ricky shrugs, "Eh..." Ruby looks at Fifteen and says, "Okay, Heartstopper."
47. PDA - The Murder Game:
What are you playing at, dressed like that?' Ben wanted to know, to the Doctor's visible dismay. 'Don't you like it? I'm just helping out Mr Hornby with a slight gender imbalance. I got the wig from the TARDIS, but I think it works rather well with the outfit, don't you?' He brushed a stray hair from his face and grinned disarmingly. 'I had to improvise with the bustle though, using coat hangers.' He patted his wire-frame chest and looked comically startled as it dropped to his stomach. Polly laughed and assured him that he made a most convincing woman, as he struggled to adjust himself.
48. BF - The Wormery:
DOCTOR: Love. Huh. Wrote a treatise on the chromosomal origins of love once when | was a small boy. Proved categorically which gene began it, which enzymes carried it, which electrochemical receptors translated it. Took all the fun out of it. Got a rubbish grade too. My tutor told me I’d missed the point. It’s held no mystique for me since, so don’t talk to me about love.
49. Classic Who - The Daemons - Winstanley asks Three, "Are you one of these television chaps then?" Three replies "I am no sort of chap, sir." "Forgive me, but I thought. Well, the costume and the wig, you know?" Three, outraged, responds, "Wig?!"
50. New Who - Rogue - Fifteen flirtilly dances to "Can't Get You Out of My Head", mouthing the words at Rogue.
51. EDA - Interference: Book One:
‘Can I ask you something personal?’ he said. I.M. Foreman nodded. ‘I warn you, though. If it’s anything to do with how I got this body, the details are going to be messy. You’ve never been a woman, have you?’ ‘I’m not sure I’ve ever even been a man. That’s not what I was going to ask.
52. New Who - Rogue - Fifteen and Rogue kiss passionately.
53. BF - Archipelago:
DOCTOR: There was a lovely woman in Yorkshire, gave me chipsticks. And you should have seen the way that Lady MacBeth made eyes at me. But this me doesn't. Couldn't.
54. EDA - Dominion:
The Doctor stood up, a look of amazement on his face, and then to Fitz’s considerable surprise he bounded over, grabbed his head and planted a kiss squarely on his lips. ‘Oh, Fitz! Fitz, Fitz, Fitz! I’m so glad you’re alive!
55. New Who - The Eleventh Hour - Eleven asks Amy, "Your friend, what was his name? Not him [Rory], the good looking one?" Rory mutters, "Thanks", as Amy replies "Jeff." Rory responds "Oh... thanks!"
56, 57, 60, 61. New Who - Legend of the Sea Devils - Thrteen opens up to Yaz. "Dates are not something I really do, y'know. I mean I used to, have done, and if I was going to, believe me, it'd be with you. I think you're one of the greatest people I've ever known. Including my wife!" Yaz, surprised, responds, "Your what?" Thirteen continues, "Ah, wasn't going to mention that. I was a long time ago - I was a different man back then. But the point is, if it was going to be anyone... it'd be you."
58. EDA - Timeless:
‘They’re not Old Bill, Tommo,’ Jack said, sneering at her. ‘A potty-mouthed yank and a poof in a waistcoat.’ ‘Do you want to be on a charge of discrimination too?’ said the Doctor calmly, producing a notebook and pencil.
59. New Who - The Robot Revolution - Fifteen holds an x-ray blanket infront of himself, which registers his sex as "Unknown".
62. New Who - The Time of the Doctor - Clara tells Eleven on the phone, "I may have... accidentally invented a boyfriend." He replies, "Yeah, I did that once and there's no easy way to get rid of an android."
63. New Who - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - Eleven runs up to Rory, shouting, "Good thinking, Rory!" before planting a big kiss on his lips.
64. New Who - Day of the Moon - As Amy and Rory wake up in their body bags, Eleven runs over to Rory and kisses him on the head, checking if he's ok.
65. New Who - The Star Beast - Fourteen holds up his psychic paper to Shaun, citing a title as "Grandmaster of the Knowledge". Shaun points out, "That says 'Grandmistress'..." Fourteen looks at it, then groans at it, "Oh, catch up!"
66. New Who - Legend of the Sea Devils - Yaz and Thirteen stand in the TARDIS doorway at the bottom of the sea. Thirteen says "Not a bad date, am I?" When she realises she struck a nerve, she turns away. Yaz turns to her and says, "No."
67. EDA - Beltempest:
Because I'm a man and you're a woman?' 'Yes, actually.' The Doctor raised his eyebrows. 'But I'm not a man.' Sam opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again. He continued, 'I'm not even human. Not even close. Not unless you count the ears.' He wiggled them to make his point.
68. New Who - The Reality War - Thirteen, upon hearing Fifteen tell her "I love you" says "I should say that to Yaz!" Fifteen replies, "You never do. But she knows."
69. New Who - Lucky Day - Conrad asks Ruby about the Doctor, "Was he your boyfriend?" She chuckles, "No. God, no! If he was here, he'd be flirting with you."
70. New Who - Daleks in Manhatten - Martha tells Ten, "I'm so glad to see you." He replies, "Yeah, well, you can kiss me later." He then adds to Frank behind him, "You too, Frank, if you want."
71. New Who - The Power of the Doctor - Yaz and Thirteen, shortly before her regeneration, lick their ice creams as they watch the Earth from orbit ontop of the TARDIS.
72. Short Trip - The Feast of Seven… Eight (and Nine):
The Eighth had brought some mistletoe, And aimed for Seven, to Seven's woe: Ah! No! Rrurevolting! Ace! D'you mind? Try Six, he's more that way inclined.' ... I knew Puccini once,' sighed Eight, `He had the softest lips.' That's great, But stay away from me, you sissy,' Four looked cautious, Eight looked kissy. Three o'clock, the Queen appeared, The Third, all patriotic, cheered, But Eight, lips puckered, mistletoe handy, Went for the clown and got the dandy.
73. The Curse of Fatal Death - The newly regenerated COFD!Thirteen says to Emma, "Your mother's going to get a bit of a surprise at the wedding isn't she? Do you think we'll both wear white?"
74, 75. New Who - Closing Time - Distracting Craig, Eleven pulls him close and says, "...because I love you." "You love me?" Craig replies. "Yes, Craig. It's you. It's always been you." "Me?"
Eleven then puts his arms around him, leading Craig to ask, "Doctor, are you going to kiss me?" He replies, "Yes, Craig. Yes I am. Would you like that? Bit out of practice, but I've had some wonderful feedback."
76. New Who - The Parting of the Ways - Jack plants a goodbye kiss on Nine's lips.
77, 78. New Who - Eve of the Daleks - Dan confronts Thirteen about Yaz. "No, I mean, she 'likes' you." "I don't understand what you're saying, Dan." He then responds, "I think you do. But for some reason, you pretend to me and to her that you don't."
79. New Who - The Unquiet Dead (deleted scene):
SNEED: "I thought you'd be a woman" DOCTOR: "No, not yet"
80. New Who - Time Heist - As Psi goes to leave the TARDIS, Twelve makes a 'call me' sign at him.
81. BF - Swipe Right:
RIVER: Doctor, for someone so smart, you can be so stupid. 'Someone with no romantic feelings?' It's you! Much as it pains me to say it. Apparently, it's you. DOCTOR: It's me! Ha! Of course, it's me!
82. EDA - Eater of Wasps:
‘Have you remembered what you were doing in 1933 yet?’ asked Fitz. ‘I mean, the last time you were here?’ ‘Oh, yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘But I was a long way from here – I spent some time sailing the South Seas roundabout now.’ Fitz gaped. ‘A sailor? I don’t believe it. Go on, give us a jig!’ The Doctor laughed. ‘Not likely – but I’ll show you my tattoo if you’re lucky.’
83. New Who - Eve of the Daleks - Thirteen gazes lovingly at Yaz, as they watch the warehouse's fireworks explode.
84. VNA - Human Nature:
'We let it be known that he was in a position to give a Time Lord whatever form or mind they wanted. That's a particular dream of Gallifreyans, as I knew from wandering through that young Interventionist's mind.
They regenerate and find themselves to be much the same, and every now and then they dream how wonderful it would be to be able to fly or be of the opposite sex or have a child. That last is a very common dream, for children on Gallifrey are very rare.'
85. EDA - Parallel 59:
[The Doctor] whistled as he walked, Fitz’s plaintive little melody still in his head. Thinking of loved ones, coming home.
86. BF - The Vanity Box:
DOCTOR: Nesta, will you help me? I’ve got to get into that salon, under cover, and get a closer look. MEL: Doctor, | could go in instead of you. DOCTOR: | don’t think anyone would believe you need a make-over, Mel. And besides, | think it’s going to be chillingly dangerous. NESTA: Actually, | can manage a bourbon if | dunk it in me tea. I’ll freshen the pot. Now, tell me how | can help you, Doctor. I’m not happy about this poodle parlour on our doorstep. DOCTOR: | want you to drag me up.
87. Classic Who - The Chase - One tells Ian, "My dear boy, I could kiss you!" Barbara replies, "Don't waste it on him. Kiss me instead!" He responds, "Oh, I'd be delighted."
89. Classic Who - The Highlanders - Two, dressed up as a washerwoman, tells Perkins at gunpoint, "I tell you what we're going to do. We ladies are going to leave first, but you are going to sit here, quietly, comfortably, for another ten minutes."
90. Scream of the Shalka - The TARDIS's answering machine goes off. The Shalka Doctor says, breathlessly and giggling, "You've reached the good ship TARDIS. We're rather busy at the moment. Leave a message after the beep and we'll try and get back to you before your call." He then laughs "Stop that!" before the beep. The Shalka Master then notes, "We really should change that message."
91. EDA - Earthworld:
He helped Anji to take her blazer off – somehow it didn’t matter that the Doctor was seeing her like that, he seemed to count in her head as another girl – and gave her his velvet coat to replace it
92. Classic Who - The Highlanders - Two tells Grey, with regards to Jamie, "Did you mark the young Highlander who was with me? The piper?" "Piper?" "With the soft hands and face?"
93. Classic Who - The Enemy of the World - Two comments on Salamander, "He seems to be a public benefactor. Quite a speaker too, and remarkably handsome, didn't you think so Jamie?" He turns to Jamie, who nudges him smiling in response.
94. BF - The Eye of the Storm:
DOCTOR: I never kiss strange people. No matter how beautiful, how fascinating, how intriguing they might be. And you might very well be any of those things.
95. New Who - The End of Time: Part Two - Ten, tied up, gazes at the Master and says, "I wonder what I'd be... without you." The Master tears up listening to this.
96. Classic Who - The City of Death - Four tells Countess Scarlioni, "Oh, well... you're a beautiful woman, probably..."
97. EDA - The Turing Test:
I will say now, however, that I do not think Greene was right: the Doctor is not an angel, though he may not be a man, exactly, either. I desired him as a man, loved him as one, but my love did not blind me, nor make me religious!
98, 99. New Who - World Enough and Time - Twelve tells Bill of Missy, "She was my man crush!" "Wh- I'm sorry?" "Yeah... I think she was a man back then. I'm fairly sure I was too, it was a long time ago though."
When Bill asks about Time Lord gender, Twelve replies: "We're the most civilised civilisation in the universe! We're billions of years beyond your petty human obsession with gender and its associated stereotypes."
100. New Who - First Night - River sees the dress hanging in the TARDIS for her, "The Dress is a little daring!" Eleven, in a white tuxedo, replies, "Yep, so I went for this instead."
101. New Who - Arachnids in the UK - Yaz's mum Najia asks Thirteen and Yaz, "Are you two seeing each other?" Yaz gives a confused look as Thirteen responds, "I don't think so... are we?"
102. New Who - Once Upon Time - Sonya tells Yaz she wants to get good at games so "[her crush's] gonna look me and think 'who's the sexy girl with the nimble fingers?'" Yaz retorts, "No human being is ever gonna look at you and think those words." As if on cue, Thirteen suddenly glitches into the scene in Sonya's place.
103. New Who - Rogue - Fifteen and Rogue dance together in the ballroom, in front of all the guests.
104. New Who - The Story and the Engine - Fifteen tells the Barber, "Anansi purposefully lost a bet to make me marry one of his daughters. I know the gods. You are not them." Meanwhile, Abena looks on.
105. New Who - The Story and the Engine - Jo Martin's Doctor tells Abena, "I was a fugitve back then. Anansi was wrong to offer that bet. And frankly, darling, I was busy in a different story."
106. Classic Who - The Green Death - Yates appraches Three, who is disguised as a cleaning woman and says, "...I like your handbag." Three, still in character, replies, "Do you? Well watch out I don't slosh you wish it." He pushes his bucket at Yates jokingly, then drops his voice, "Now where can we talk?"
107. NSA - Revenge of the Judoon:
"Lords, ladies and Doctors this way, please."
108. EDA - The Book of the Still:
'You go if you want. I must help him.' 'Fitz!' 'I've been engineered to love you, Carmodi. With the Doctor - it's the real thing.'
109. EDA - The Blue Angel:
Fitz swallowed hard. He was the one who was raving mad. He was in the midst of the most ridiculous danger, horse-riding down a mountainside, probably about to die and, in the final few minutes of his life, what was passing through his mind? Not the greatest, most fulfilling moments in this life - but a consideration of his chances of getting laid by Iris . . . and even of getting laid by the Doctor. What was it about Time Lords?
110. BF - 1963: The Assassination Games:
GILMORE: Uh, “man” is something of a misnomer. I think he’s best described as… an outsider.
111. New Who - The Star Beast - Donna and Fourteen, conclude, "Because the Doctor's male and female." Elsewhere, but connected through the metacrisis, Rose Noble finishes, "and neither, and more!"
112. New Who - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - Eleven tells Solomon about the Schubert music he's playing, "Say hello to hands three and four! Schubert kept tickling me to try and put me off." He then smiles, "'Franz the Hands'. Oh, that takes me back."
113. New Who - Death in Heaven - Clara tells Twelve, "Go be a king or something." "Yeah... might do that." She then adds, "Or queen, y'know, whatever..." "Yeah, queen, that would be good too."
114. New Who - Rogue - Fifteen quietly puts on the ring Rogue proposed to him with.
115. IDW - Bodysnatched! - Eleven, swapped into Amy's body tells Rory while applying a bow tie, "I suppose it is more difficult for you - Time Lords don't really worry that much about what sex they are. Romana was a Time Lady and she was easily equal to me. Sometimes anyway, when she didn't use the dog. I'm a woman now. Women are cool."
116. New Who - Closing Time - Elven chats with a saleswoman, Val, who says, "I think you look ever so sweet: you and your partner [Craig] and the baby." He responds, "'Partner', yes I like it. Is it better than 'companion'?" She answers, "'Companion'... sounds old fashioned. There's no need to be coy these days."
117. New Who - Rogue - Seeing the TARDIS, Rogue opens his arms wide and says "I'm in love!" Fifteen reacts surprised, before Rogue adds, "With this machine." Fifteen then smirks.
118. IDW - Bodysnatched! - Rory, thinking Amy is still in Eleven's body, kisses him. Eleven steps back and says, "As passionate as that was, Rory, don't you think you should be kissing your wife, not me?" Amy says, "Oh no. Do it again. But do it... slower."
119. Classic Who - The Mutants - Sondergaard tells Three, "If you spend any time in there without [a radiation suit], Doctor, you will die. Any man would." Three retorts, "Any 'man', perhaps."
120. BF - An Eye for Murder:
DOCTOR: Oh don't think of me as a man. Just the Doctor.
121. BF - Deleted Scenes:
CELINE: [The Doctor] loves you [Jamie], dearly. As do I.
122. FASA Doctor Who RPG - A Sourcebook for Field Agents:
The Master
This entry contains information on one of Gallifrey's most dangerous enemies, the renegade Time Lord known as The Master. The Master has, in some fashion yet unknown, erased his Biodata entry from the APC Net. As a result, the only information about him that we now possess has been drawn from the memories of the Doctor. It is, therefore, highly subjective, and Time Lords consulting this section should be aware that The Doctor's perceptions do not always correspond with Reality.
Appearance: Height: Average Build: Average Looks: Sinfully attractive Apparent Age: Middle-aged Actual Age: 800+ Number Of Regenerations Used: 12 (now using stolen body) Recognition Handle: Satanic beard; piercing blue eyes; black dress; black gloves.
123. New Who - Smile - As Bill goes to eat her algae-based meal, Twelve wistfully tells her, "I met an emperor made of algae one. He fancied me..."
124. New Who - Wild Blue Yonder - Donna and Fourteen chat about bumping into Isaac Newton. She says, "Was it me... or was Isaac Newton hot?" He replies, "He was, wasn't he? He was SO hot." Fourteen then catches himself, "Oh? Is that who I am now?" Donna then replies, "Well it was never that far from the surface, mate. I always thought..."
125. BF - 1963: The Assassination Games:
DOCTOR: A man after my own heart. GILMORE: Except you’re not a man. DOCTOR: And I have two hearts.
126. TVC - Undercover - Three again disguises himself as a woman to obtain captured information for UNIT.
127. New Who - The Star Beast - Prompted by Rose, Fourteen asks Beep the Meep, "Are you he, or she, or they...?" The Meep responds, "My chosen pronoun is the definite article. I am always, 'the Meep'. He then replies, "Oh, I do that."
128. Titan - Ophiuchus - Nyssa says to Five, "I didn't know that Time Lords could change gender, Doctor." He returns, "Gender is a very fluid concept, Nyssa, for some people more than others. A Time Lord even more so."
129. New Who - The Doctor Dances - Rose tells Nine, "I thought Jack might like this dance." Nine dancing, replies, "I'm sure he would Rose. I'm absolutely certain. But who with?"
130. EDA - The Slow Empire:
Once, there was a man called the Doctor, although he was not precisely a man and that was not his real name.
131. Novelisation - The Day of the Doctor:
‘I’ve been around a bit, Clara, I’m probably married to lots of people, it happens,’ he said, and made a dismissive hand gesture, to suggest that the occasional marriage was really no more than a parking ticket, and a moment later heard a vase smash behind him. He really had to get his peripheral movements under control. ‘But to her, though?’ ‘Oh, to her, to him, to who-knows. Sometimes the conversation just gets out of control. I think I’m even married to Jack Harkness, but there were a lot of people in the room at the time, it was hard to keep track.
132. New Who - The Doctor Dances - Rose remarks about Jack, "And he's vanished into thin air. Why's it always the great-looking ones who do that?" Nine looks up, "I'm making an effort not to be insulted." She then specifies, "I mean... 'men'." He grins and nods, "Okay, thanks, that really helped."
133. NSA - The Good Doctor:
'Scan me again. I’m not loba or human. I’m not man or woman in the way you understand it.'
134. New Who - Boom Town: Jack and Nine flirt with eachother watching Mickey and Rose. Jack starts, "Aw, sweet, look at these two. How come I never get any of that?" Nine, fixing up the TARDIS replies, "Buy me a drink first." "Such hard work..." "But worth it."
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730hcck · 2 years ago
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LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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cynicalclassicist · 2 years ago
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I love seeing how Yaz made people feel represented.
Yaz’s Representation Was Kind of Amazing
There’s a common assumption among non-queer folks that I’ve seen that queer people should essentially always know what their sexuality is/if you were ever unsure, your identity is somehow a little less valid. But that’s just not true. Whether you realized you were gay when you were 9 or 90, your identity is valid.
The debate over whether Yaz was always written to be queer is something only the writers can answer. But is it an answer we really need? What we know is that Yaz was incredibly focused on tackling sexist and racist barriers in her career - a career she pursued to help others fight back against their bullies. Romance was not a priority for her (something refreshing to see), so I would guess she also wasn’t fretting too much about WHO she wanted to be romantic with. 
Now, writers can sometimes fall into a trap when they write women who aren’t focused on love: they write cold, closed off women who refuse to be emotionally vulnerable. This is my favorite thing about Yaz - she LOVED. She was vulnerable, and compassionate, and affectionate. It was just that romance was never forced on her.
A sexuality was never forced on her either.
Some folks interpreted her mom asking if Yaz and Thirteen were seeing each other as a nosey parent, or a joke from the writers. I heard that line - followed later by Yaz’s mom asking the same thing about Ryan - as a beautiful normalization of NOT assuming heterosexuality. Each time her mom asked, Yaz responded with “We’re friends,” not “I’m not [gay, straight, whatever]!” This not only left her sexuality open for exploration, it also drove home the point that this wasn’t something she was caring about.
Throughout series 11 and 12 (some of 13) Mandip captured all of this beautifully. From my deep-dives, there seems to be confusion about when Thasmin was planned/when Mandip knew. I kind of like that. And I kind of like that it didn’t seem to matter to Mandip. She just played to that genuine love. So when her admission with Dan finally came, I thought it was a lovely moment of acknowledgement. Some people don’t know, or don’t think about romance/sexuality/gender until it comes along. And that moment can be shocking, and scary, and absolutely beautiful. I thought Mandip depicted that really well.
All this to say, I’m not mad that Yaz wasn’t rocking a lesbian pride shirt from day one. I’m not frustrated that Mandip says she didn’t really know how Yaz felt until she read it on the page. I love that Yaz loved Thirteen. I love that Yaz never had to defend her sexuality to anyone, including her mom. I love that Yaz was just - Yaz… focused, affectionate, open-hearted, WOC(!!!!) Yaz.
I say all of this as a lesbian hungry for good representation. 
I’m totally open to dialogue on this perspective so long as it is kind and respectful.
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emberphoenixisgoingtolive · 1 month ago
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how the Nublar Six would swear
CW, swearing (no shit /hj) as in, the swear words are said. i know (??) there are kids here so like. if swearing makes you uncomfortable, scroll past <3
Darius:
mama Bowman did not raise him to swear. Brand taught him the cuss words and mama Bowman got mad at him when seven year old Darius randomly yelled “SHIT!” when he dropped something
was a literal kid in camp cretaceous, so he was partially scared to swear, partially willing to do so anyway to Fit In With The Older Kids
the result was swearing in the worst moments. someone confesses something bad that happened to them and Darius says, completely genuinely, “wow, i’m so fucking sorry that happened to you😥” and Kenji laughs so hard because he did not use it in the right context
by the time the camp fam get back to the mainland though he is better at swearing in the right places
chaos theory however has him cursing his mouth off, usually only when he’s alone but he is prone to a frustrated “what the fuck were you thinking?!”
also calls people a dickhead a lot (he picked it up from Brooklynn since it’s a word more commonly said in britain iirc)
Brooklynn:
swears like a brit (cos of all the time she spent in london and i headcanon one of her dads is british)
the other group tease her for saying shit like ‘wanker’ ‘twat’ ‘bloody’ as well as some words the others haven’t even heard of (wtf does bollocks/bugger/minger/bellend even mean)
however the joke is on the other campers when they call someone annoying a “bloody bastard twat” when they get back to the states and their parents look at them like 🤨
regular cunt user (and cunt server)
says bitch [reclaimed] a lot
Sammy:
refuses to swear
instead she’ll spit out every damn/darn/heck alternative imaginable
or start complaining in Spanish
the nublar six have heard her swear one (1) time and it was something like “what the fuck is wrong with [insert villain of the day, probably d*niel k*n]” or when Kenji’s not–father died and Sammy first heard the news, she whispered a discreet “fuck him” and Kenji momentarily felt better
Yaz:
swears like an absolute sailor but only around her friends
when things are not going their way she will probably start swearing at a tree or something. everyone stands in mostly fear and trepidation except Ben, who is mentally making notes of all the new words she’s giving him
when the nublar six meet Yaz’s mother, Yaz doesn’t swear At All around her and it unnerves them (her mum is fine with her cussing a bit (she’s earned it bfr) but Yaz prefers not to)
her use of ‘what the fuck’ got so out of hand that the others started a swear jar exclusive to Yaz saying that phrase which got her to cool it a bit
swears less in chaos theory; she’s learned to keep it in her head
Kenji:
was raised not to swear because it “tarnishes the kon family name”
of course, Kenji proceeded to swear whenever his dad was out of earshot in every other sentence
he went through that annoying era where people think it’s cool to say fuck every other word a year or so before camp cretaceous
has learned to moderate his level of swearing but will still drop an occasional “oh shit” or “fuck this”
canonically says stuff like “we’re cooked!” but would also say “well we’re fucked” when the campers come across a sticky situation
when brainrot words became a thing he was all over brainrot words for a solid week. someone would put something silly on their group chat and Kenji would reply “um what the sigma 🤓☝️” to be annoying. Yaz gives him three strikes and then boots him from the group chat
says he’s serving kont a LOT. he put it on a t shirt and wears it all the time
Ben:
terrified of swearing before camp cretaceous and all throughout season 1. one of the others says fuck or shit and he visibly flinches
however post jungle boy transformation, he says fuck easily, most predominantly “FUCK YEAH BABY!” when he’s exploded something
the first time he said fuck around the other campers, they all turned to look at him like 😲 and he just grins and says, “i’m a changed man”
goes back to the mainland with so much new vocabulary, he accidentally drops a swear bomb around his mother and she gasps so loud
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jammatown919 · 3 months ago
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Worth It in The End
(Based on a silly post I made earlier about a silly conversation with my friend)
Four years later, Yaz still jolts awake some nights thinking about that night in Italy. ------ Even after all these years, Sammy was never particularly surprised to wake up to sniffling in the middle of the night. Though it had been ten years since that horrible incident on Isla Nublar, and four since the fiasco with Brooklynn, the Broker, and Biosyn, the experiences had never really left any of them. Especially Yaz, who, despite all the progress she'd made healing from her PTSD, still had nightmares every so often.
Not nearly as often as before, when she rarely made it through the night without screaming herself awake, but occasionally. Every few months or so. Not enough to interfere too much with her regular sleep, but enough that Sammy was still used to rolling over to comfort her crying wife.
"Yaz?" she murmured in the darkness, reaching out to pull Yaz closer. It turned into an awkward attempted grab, as Yaz was already sitting up, and Sammy's arm just ended up draped over her lap.
"I'm okay," Yaz said, her voice watery. She sniffed, wiping aggressively at her face. "Sorry."
"I thought we agreed you don't apologize for this." Sammy propped herself up so that they could look each other in the eye more easily. "Your nightmares aren't your fault."
"I didn't-" Yaz began, then cut herself off with a pathetic little hiccup.
"You didn't have a nightmare?" Sammy put a gentle hand on her shoulder, wondering what else could possibly be so wrong that Yaz would be awake crying at this hour.
"Not really," Yaz said. "It's so stupid."
"Don't say that," Sammy replied softly. "What's going on, baby?"
"You're not allowed to laugh me."
"Why in the world would I laugh at you?"
"I had this dumb dream," Yaz whimpered, "about Italy a few years ago. When we... y'know."
Sammy stared at her for a moment, not because she didn't know what that meant, but because it was objectively the strangest thing Yaz had ever cried to her about. And that was saying something, being married to Little Miss Guilty Crier who had teared up a few days ago over burning a pot pie.
"When we broke up for three days four years ago?" she asked.
"I told you it was stupid!" Yaz buried her face in her hands, still crying, and Sammy honestly didn't know how to react.
She'd thought they were long over this. They'd gotten back together almost immediately and been going strong for four years now, married for almost two. In the grand scheme of things, it was just a blip in their otherwise steady ten-year relationship. Sure, it had been part of a larger rough patch, but everything had worked out in the end.
Had this really just been festering in the back of Yaz's mind all this time?
"Darlin'..." Sammy murmured, "that still bothers you this much?"
"I mean, not usually," Yaz replied, sweeping her hands across her damp cheeks. "But it sucked when it happened, and it sucked to relive it. I was so scared I was going to lose you forever. I was such a jerk."
"But we worked it out," Sammy tried. "We were always going to work it out. It's not like I ever stopped loving you. It was a bad situation all around, but we were stronger than all that. You're still the love of my life, even when you're a jerk."
"Really?" Yaz looked at her with the biggest, saddest, most pathetic wet eyes Sammy had ever seen.
The hilarity of it hit her like a truck. Her poor silly goose of a wife, with her tear-filled eyes silently asking, you were mad at me in my dream, do you still love me?
"Yes, really." Sammy put an arm around her and pulled her in close. "I always love you. I love you when we're in a rough patch, and I love you when you cry over the silliest things."
"You're still not allowed to laugh at me," Yaz grumbled, which was incredibly hard not to laugh at when mixed with her quivering, watery voice.
"Do you hear me laughing?" Sammy planted a little kiss on the side of Yaz's head. "I know it was awful, but we're okay now. I made you my wife, so we must be."
"I know..." Yaz leaned back against her pillow and let out a heavy sigh, then sniffed loudly one last time. "I'm sorry I woke you up."
"Hey, what did I say?" Sammy asked firmly. "You don't apologize for having bad dreams. You can't control that."
"I feel bad for waking you up," Yaz replied. "It's not like I was actually freaking out. I didn't need-"
"You stop that." Sammy laid back down with her head resting against Yaz's shoulder. "What kind of woman would I be if I didn't wake up to comfort my poor, crying wife? Doesn't matter how silly it seems. Besides, this ain't half as bad as when you tried to make me jelly donuts."
"Those were frustration tears!" Yaz protested. "It's hard to clean burned jelly off the ceiling!"
"I still don't know how the hell you managed to get it up there in first place," Sammy remarked, fully laughing now. "I mean, you're not even a bad cook. What happened?"
"I don't know." Yaz made a valiant effort to hold back her chuckles, but soon they were both muffling their laughter in each other's bodies.
By the time they were finished, Yaz had completely relaxed, her tears mostly dried. Sammy remained cuddled up close, her breaths gently blowing a few strands of Yaz's hair to the side.
"Feel better, sweetpea?" she asked.
"Yeah," Yaz replied, nuzzling into her. "I love you so much. I'm so glad you decided to give me another chance."
"Love you too," Sammy murmured. "You were worth it."
They settled back in to sleep like that, slotted against each other where they belonged. It seemed silly now, that there had ever been a moment in which they'd questioned their future together. They hadn't even managed to stay apart for three days; of course they could never walk away from this. Not with the kind of love they had. 
It had been worth fighting for back then, and Sammy knew she would fight for it again if she had to. Whatever happened, however much work it took, so long as Yaz was right there with her, they would overcome anything. Together, just as they should be. 
------ Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider reblogging or buying the writer a coffee!
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captain-noir · 2 years ago
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delainey looks so good she looks more claudia than bailey if thats even possible
and those bitches who doubted my girl!!! eat your heart out. she looks so cheeky and small and doll like she is PERFECT!
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fxlling13 · 11 months ago
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505
Dhawan!master x (fem) reader
Synopsis: you and The Master find yourselves growing closer when he agrees to try therapy with The Doctor again. However, Yaz can’t let go of the past.
Warnings: sexual harassment. Harsh words. Death. Yaz is really mean and annoying. Out of character master. Injury and blood. Allusions to smut but no detail.
WC:19.1k
“But I crumble completely when you cry…”
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Over an hour, it had been over an hour since The Doctor had taken The Master (kicking and screaming) out of the room with her. It may have seemed impossible at one point but, somehow, you and yaz found yourselves bored. Sitting in the console room of the doctors fluorescent tardis, you were bored.
“Are they not done yet?” Yaz groaned, giving up on scrolling through her phone. Even though it had to be done, the time was dragging. Giving the girl a short shrug, you spoke,
“The Doctor does tend to waffle.” You both laughed.
“True. But it’s cute.” Yaz grinned, causing you to roll your eyes playfully.
“I think you may be a bit biased of your girlfriend.”
“Also true.” She replied proudly, making you scoff half heartedly. Again it went silent, as you both waited for the aliens to return with little patience. Though, you knew what was happening was very important. And something you secretly wanted to work out. After a very scary and dramatic encounter with The Master, seeing him become her, finally seeing what it was he needed, she had formulated a plan. One that, at first, yaz was completely against. She wanted to bring him on board, as a form of therapy. This plan included convincing him to stay on board, allowing her to store his tardis within the depths of his own, taking away all his ‘evil’ tech, and giving him a firm talking to about his behaviour. Plus a lot more that was far too deep to get into. Yaz said that he would reject the idea, teleport right out of there and try to kill them once again. However, to everyone’s surprise, he did not do that. Instead, he sat in his med-bay bed, a deep scowl etched on his features.
———
“I have just one request. If I were to try this silly idea.” He grumbled, making The Doctor stand straight.
“And what’s that?” She enquired. You had Yaz stood at the back of the room, observing the whole conversation. She was apprehensive, nails half bitten off. You just focused on the male mostly, hoping for the best.
“I don’t want it to be like last time. You keeping me cooped up. If I do this, take me with you. Let me be involved and I’ll promise to try. Properly try.” The Master was serious with his words, sincerity in his tone. In front of him, the blonde pursed her lips in thought but eventually exhaled slowly.
“I suppose that’s only fair. Yes. Yes that can happen. As long as you help to make sure Yaz and (y/n) are safe on our outings?” Her eyes narrowed at him, really testing him and trying to push at his buttons.
“I can do that.” He said instantly, turning his head and locking eyes with you. Surprised, you smiled at him softly, hoping it would really reach him.
“Good, well once you’ve recovered we can get started on the process!” The Doctor cheered, clasping her hands together before ushering everyone out.
A few days later, you sat in your room. The tardis was in “night mode”. Something The Doctor had set up a while back to help everyone have a healthy sleeping pattern. Though, all you could think about was how The Master had been left, almost, entirely alone for three days. The Doctor had instructed you both to leave him alone, let him rest and his body heal itself. You imagined that she would be driving the man even more insane, and you wanted to check up on him, for some reason. So, against her word, you snuck down the metallic corridors until you found the med bay. Perhaps he’d be asleep? Or maybe even have escaped by then. Cracking the door open, you peeked in and saw him, sat up in bed holding a worn out book. You took a deep breath before slipping into the room quietly. Did you announce yourself? What did you even say? You had no reason to be there.
“Up late. Aren’t we (y/n)?” He spoke calmly, without even looking up from his book.
“How did you know it was me?” You asked timidly, watching him put the book aside. The Master looked at you, making you feel self conscious in your choice of nightware.
“I always know when it’s you, dear.” Blushing, you pulled at the bottom of your hoodie slightly.
“I didn’t mean to bother you I was just-“
“Curious?” He cut in, gaze fixated on you, as if analysing you.
“Well I was actually going to say worried. I know that being with The Doctor for three days, having her rant at you must be draining. But yeah, you can say I was curious too I suppose.” Replying, you played with your fingers, eyes wandering around the room. It was dimly lit by a few overhead lights, three beds and many cupboards fully stocked with medicine. The Master was taken aback by your honesty, not expecting anyone to worry for him. He cleared his throat to gain your attention once again.
“You can come closer you know, I won’t hurt you.” Taking a few steps forward, you tilted your head.
“Won’t? Or can’t?” You half joked, taking a seat on the chair beside him.
“I won’t. You know I won’t.” He said in all seriousness, giving you a pointed look. Of course, he was correct. In all the run ins you’d had, you’d never been hurt. The first time, he timed things so you wouldn’t get on that trap of a plane. The next he forced you into following him to Gallifrey with The Doctor, keeping you to the side as he imprisoned her. And every time after that, you were always off to the side. Only last time things went a little wrong.
“You’re correct, I fear my ears have begun to shrivel from The Doctors lectures.” His monotone voice made you giggle, knowing that he was of course just joking. Playing along, you looked and nod.
“Looks like it.” He just rolled his eyes playfully and sighed adjusting his pillows.
“What were you reading?”
“Oh, an ancient book from when I was young. I’ve actually read it many times. Close to a hundred.” Carefully, you picked it up and looked at its scratched cover. Galifreyan writing was beautiful but could never be translated.
“I can read it to you one day if you’d like? I imagine I’m going to have a lot of free time now.” The Master suggested nonchalantly, but you couldn’t help but to smile.
“I’d like that.” Putting it down again, you pulled your knees up and hugged them tightly. It was cold in there.
“What kept you up, hm? Surely not just worrying about little old me.” He teased. You scoffed, pulling the grey hood over your head.
“You wish. I just don’t sleep well, I sometimes don’t sleep much at all.”
“That can’t be good for you, you need your energy to run from whatever danger she puts you through.” His brows were knit together closely, taking more notice of your dark circles and low voice.
“Yeah but, I pull through. I just run at the back. Or let The Doctor hold my hand.” Giving a little shrug, you missed the way the males eye twitched.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He muttered, frowning after a moment.
“You’re cold.” His statement made you look to him. Not knowing what else to say, you just stood up.
“I guess I’ll go. Down want to bother you anymore than I already have.” Before you could turn away, The Master reached out and grabbed your wrist. Wincing, you looked back confused.
“You can stay, if you’d like? You’re not bothering me.” Shocked at his honestly, you bobbed your head slowly, allowing the man to guide you and sit you down on the edge of the bed.
“I suppose I already broke The Doctors rule anyway…” pushing up your sleeve, The Master scowled at the long cut that sat unattended.
“She didn’t dress it?”
“Well you did regenerate twice then proceed to get crushed by a giant rock.” You pointed out bluntly, not thinking much of it.
“Yes. But my body can heal itself like magic. Yours cannot.” The Master got up, walking over to the cupboards and grabbing a small bag.
“You’re not supposed to get up.”
“(Y/n) I healed days ago. Now let me wrap that. It’s my fault you got hurt in the first place.” Sensing some remorse. You simpered as he sat back with you and took hold of your arm. Wasting no time, he cleaned the wound of dried blood before looking more closely.
“It needs a stitch.” He let out, reaching back for the items needed. You chewed on your lip anxiously, eyes darting to follow his every move. Taking notice, he sat straight.
“It won’t hurt, I promise. See this?” He held up a spray bottle, then shook it slightly before spraying over the cut. Your arm began to feel like jelly. Quickly. He got to work and stitched up the top of the cut, wrapping it securely. You felt nothing.
“I’ll change the bandage for you tomorrow. Take this, it fights off infection.” In his hand sat a small white pill. Deciding to trust him, you took it gratefully.
“Why are you being nice to me? Surely your therapy isn’t working that fast.” He chuckled at your question, settling back into bed.
“No of course it isn’t. But I am trying. For everyone’s sake. The only reason I’m in the med bay is because The Doctor is running around, making sure my tardis and all my belongings are locked away.”
“But..I’d assume your TCE would be in your jacket..no?” You wondered, looking at said coat hung up across the room.
“You’re right. It’s still there. Go see for yourself.” Going over, you routed through his pockets, finding a lot more than just one device.
“You could have killed me by now.”
“But I’m not going to kill you (y/n). You can choose to be wary. I understand.” He almost sounded sad. If he was lying, he was beyond convincing. Your eyes suddenly felt very heavy, along with your limbs becoming tingly.
“Come here, love. You look tired.” The Master beckoned you over with his arms agape. It really did look inviting, and you found yourself going to him almost immediately. Helping you onto the bed, The Master pulled you next to him.
“ ‘was fine a minute ago…” you barely mumbled out, subconsciously shuffling closer to the man for warmth.
“It must have just caught up with you hm?” The realisation dawned on you, where you were.
“Can’t sleep…Doctor will be mad..” feeling a hand land on your head, The Master ran his fingers through your hair tenderly.
“Don’t worry about that. Rest for now.”
The next thing you knew, you were waking up in your own bed. Thoroughly confused, you got yourself dressed and quickly headed into the console room. Stopping dead in your tracks, your eyes met with his once again.
“Ah, (y/n) you’ve never slept in this late before!” The Doctor beamed, bounding over to you.
“As of today The Master will be hanging around, I let yaz know earlier.” You just nod, looking around for her.
“She left in a sulk, didn’t she Doctor?” The Master chortled, leaning back against one of the pillars. Huffing, the blonde shook her head.
“She’ll come round to it soon. I’m going to have a talk with her now actually. Will you be ok (y/n)?” She looked at you dourly, leaving you puzzled
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” You crossed your arms, as she relaxed slightly before heading off.
“She was asking if you’d be okay alone, with me.” The Master let you know, slowly striding over to you. Now understanding, you let out a small ‘oh’ before focusing back on him.
“How did I end up back in my bed?”
“I put you there.” He stated plainly, idly scratching at his stubble.
“You..carried me?” Starting to feel slightly embarrassed, he just smiled.
“Of course. Though I must say, you’re very clingy in your sleep. It took a while to get you to let go of me.” The tone of his voice caused your cheeks to turn red, heat flushing over you.
“God, I’m so sorry.” You were quick to apologise, hands coming up to cover your face.
“For what?” Perplexed, he stood directly in front of you but you didn’t dare to move. Tutting, The Master gently tugged your hands away from your face, holding them.
“For being clingy…even if I was asleep. And I’m sorry you had to carry me when you’re recovering. I’m sorry I went into your room an-“ in a second, he placed his finger to your lips, effectively making you stop.
“Hush.” Though the word was hard, his voice was not and you just nod as he lowered his hand to hold your own again.
“None of that was an inconvenience to me, (y/n). I welcomed your company with open arms. I didn’t mind helping you sleep, or taking you to bed. Not at all. You should relax. I’m here for a long time, I’m sure you’ll get used to it eventually.” You blinked several times, letting what he says sink in. He welcomed your company. He didn’t mind. You knew he could by lying, but he seemed really genuine.
“I’m guessing you sent me to sleep too?”
“I did. For twelve whole hours. Don’t you feel better though?” He smirked, letting go of your hands. It left you feeling cold and you had to stop yourself from complaining.
“I do. Thank you.” You gave a half smile, hugging yourself slightly.
“Did The Doctor confiscate your weapons?”
“Of course she did, though she was happy I hadn’t shrunk anyone. She should feel lucky. All that rambling she did. And I’ve got more to come. Now if she were pocket size…” he trailed off with a thoughtful look and you laughed.
“You wouldn’t, who else would you chase and bully through the universe huh?” This time, he scoffed, shaking his head.
“Very true. I suppose I’ll put up with her for now. I’m actually curious about your outings. I want to experience that.” As he spoke, you took a seat on the steps, hugging your knees close.
“It’s a lot of running you know. Like a lot.”
“Yes I gathered. But don’t worry, I’ll help you keep up.” Even though you didn’t know what he meant, it didn’t sound very malicious.
“Speaking of, is there somewhere you want to go? Or does her girlfriend always get to choose?” It hardly surprised you when the brunette took a seat beside you.
“Yeah I guess Yaz does choose mostly…The Doctor does favour her.” You said, thinking it to be a little funny. But he wasn’t laughing.
“You don’t say. She left you with a gaping wound for almost four days. Stupid woman.” Taking a deep breath, The Master relaxed himself before turning to you.
“So where would you pick?” A million and one ideas ran through your head.
“Maybe, a new planet. With a proper civilisation. I’d love to wonder around an alien city. Just to see how they live day to day. I think it’s a bit boring for The Doctors taste though.” You responded wholeheartedly. The Master watched you talk fondly, admiring the way your eyes seemed to light up at the idea.
“I think it sounds great. I’d definitely take you if I could. I know just the planet.” Your eyes shot to him, lips twitching upward.
“Maybe one day you can?” The look in your eye made The Masters hearts beat at an unusual pace. It was so bright and pure, how could The Doctor not see it?
“If you’d let me, I definitely will.”
“Of course I would! I trust you.” You stated, smiling widely. He swallowed thickly, feeling his chest swell. Was it, emotion? Good, happy emotions? Just then, The Doctor returned with Yaz. The latter of which seemed startled at how close you were to the new addition. She went to speak but The Doctor put her hand up.
“It’s fine Yaz. They’re just talking, it’s a good thing.”
You found that over the next couple of days, he tended to stay close to you. Not that you minded, you really enjoyed his company. It was so refreshing. The way that he would sit up with you in the library, reading and discussing random things. Or eating breakfast together. He even stayed at night sometimes until you fell asleep. Everything you were grateful for, it made you look forward to your next adventure.
———
And that’s how you found yourself, sat with Yaz and waiting for the aliens to return. The last step before he was allowed out. She had to make sure he was weapon free, and discuss his explosive habits. You just wanted him there for the company, getting fed up of being the third wheel.
“She’s really drilling him isn’t she?”
“Probably. It’s all she’s been doing.” You mumbled back, resting your head on a higher step.
“I suppose he deserves it after everything.” To that, you didn’t respond. You knew what she was saying, but at the same time you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He’d been so kind to you.
“Right gang!” The Doctors loud voice met your ears and you flinched. Looking up, you found that the pair had returned.
“All done. So we can be off.” She went to the console, getting ready to set a course. The Master slipped on his jacket, wandering round until he was stood by you.
“Yaz I overheard you say something about the sea. So I was thinking we could go to this water based planet. It’s filled with hundreds of fish aliens. Every two hundred years they hold a festival. We can go there.” The Doctor rambled, punching in some numbers before pulling some levers. Beside you, the man furrowed his brows, knowing full well which planet she meant.
“Aren’t they hostile to humanoids?” He remembered folding his arms. She just looked at him.
“Not if we behave. Didn’t think that would bother you.”
“I am trying you know.” He rolled his eyes, masking his true thoughts behind her plan. Soon enough, the tardis landed and The Doctor head out with Yaz in hand. You followed behind, coming out to find a busy street, so full it was almost overflowing. She wasn’t wrong, every person looked like some form of fish. One man even had a sharks head. There were decorations hung up, stalls and booths of party materials and gifts. Yaz gleamed, holding the blondes hand and kissing her cheek repeatedly.
“God they’re sickly. How do you put up with it?” The Master shivered, looking away from the women. You shrugged, looking around at all the streamers.
“I got used to it a long time ago.” There was a hint of sadness in your response that The Master didn’t miss. his hand found purchase on your lower back, rubbing it in comfort.
“At least you’re not alone now hm?” For a moment, you stared at him. But he was right, you really didn’t feel alone with him beside you. Slowly, you began to really smile and The Master felt proud.
“Let’s explore shall we, if I walk off I’m sure she’ll follow” He was correct, The Doctor scrambling to follow him as he head off down a street. It was kind of funny to watch as she scolded him within the first five minutes. The Master just stood there letting her rant.
“She has so much patience doesn’t she?” Yaz admired, a subtle glare being sent his way.
“I was thinking the same thing about him.” You admitted, making the girl gape at you. Giving her a shrug you spoke,
“Yaz he’s literally harmless right now. He’s got nothing. I know he’s a master manipulator but he said he’d try. So let’s just assume he’s telling the truth.” Yaz just sighed, choosing to stay quiet. It was clear she wasn’t on the same page but you didn’t mind.
“I won’t walk off again. I swear on both my hearts, just please stop kissing.” The Master argued with The Doctor, leaving her highly embarrassed. Yaz too was blushing now and you just laughed.
“Right. Whatever. Let’s just enjoy the festival ok?” The Doctor said, taking Yaz and starting to walk again. Snickering, The Master glanced over at you and held out his hand. Moving closer, you approached with a small smile.
“Are you sure? I know you’re really trying to fit in but you don’t have to hold my hand.” However, you really wanted him to do so but tried not to seem that way.
“I know I don’t. But I want to. How else will you keep up with us running?” He said in jest, reaching forward and taking your hand in his.
“Plus, if you’re here I can keep you safe.” Your cheeks flushed over, smiling shyly and linking your fingers securely. He chuckled, carefully pulling you along the road.
“How are they breathing?” You asked curiously, realising that the fish were too walking around dry land.
“Think like, turtles and wales. They can survive in both terrains. Like that but more complicated. Some have tanks on their heads. Some have air holes. Some have the ability to adapt.” He explained well, looking over some chrome shaded shells. They were very pretty, different shapes and sizes. Glancing around, The Doctor was nowhere in sight.
“You really expected her to follow her own instructions?” The Master dawdled, moving along to the next stall. Keeping close to him, you just huffed a little.
“Not really, but still. If you weren’t here then I’d have been left on my own remember.” His grip on you tightened, pulling you to his side.
“But I’m here now. And while I am, you’re not going to be on your own. Come on, let’s find her before she has another hissy fit.” He reassured before taking off to look for his fellow time lord. Meanwhile, you felt yourself blushing once again, grinning to yourself like an idiot.
You both looked for over thirty minutes, the girls were nowhere to be found. Also, you noticed some of the locals giving you less than pleasant looks.
“God this is ridiculous. I agreed to her silly little plan and she just vanishes. What is she doing?”
“I don’t think we want to know, Master.” You muttered, earning a surprise laugh from the man. He smiled down at you with a subtle warmth to his features.
“Very true. Let’s find a place to sit hm? I’ll figure something out.” Liking his idea, you followed him to a stall with a few seats outside. He pulled out a chair for you, taking a seat opposite.
“Don’t try any of the drinks. You’ll get sick.” The Master told you, resting his elbows on the table. It was getting busier, the alien sky growing dull. A man, or what you assumed to be a man, walked by with a grimace. A few others were staring over with disgust.
“Why are they looking at us like that?” Your voice was timid, trying to avoid any unwanted attention. He scoured the area, clicking his tongue in annoyance.
“Like I said, the creatures here do not like humanoids. It baffles me that she still proceeds to bring her companions to places like this.” Realising your discomfort, The Master placed his hand on your arm.
“Hey, just focus on me.” Trying to do as he said, you hummed and kept your eyes on him.
“What if they went back to the tardis?” You thought out loud. The Master pursed his lips ever so slightly.
“Maybe. But what would be the point of that?” For a while, the two of you sat there talking. Mostly it was you listening actually, but you didn’t care. You enjoyed his stories, his adventures, even if some were slightly deranged. Even so, you stayed invested the whole time. Furthermore, The Master loved how you engaged with him, asking questions repeatedly until you could understand better. He could hardly remember the last time someone spent so much time with him.
“Why can’t I have the drinks here?”
“Well because, some are made from worms. Some have toxins in them. Some would send you straight to sleep. And others would…” The Master trailed off, like he didn’t even want to finish what he was saying. You knew though.
“It could kill me huh?”
“Yeah. So let’s stay away from them ok?” He urged, his concern making you smile. Giving him a nod, it was almost comical watching him relax. The people around you were very loud. A mixture of high and low voices. Some arguing, some cheering. It was a little overstimulating but something you had grown to know. Scanning around, something caught ahold of The Masters attention. Something that made his eyes narrow darkly.
“I say we just head back to the tardis. The Doctor would rather me be there.” The Master decided, standing up suddenly. Before you could say anything, he helped you up and began walking back from where you had come. He sounded serious.
“Is everything ok? Did I do something?” Worried that you had bored the man, you rushed to keep up with him. He just looked down at you confused.
“No, not at all. I just figured it would be the best thing to do. The festivities are really kicking off and we’ll get caught up in it.” He was half honest, turning back and continuing down the path. The street lights came to life, the locals roaring in joy. All at once, hoards of people gathered in the street and started to follow a parade float down the way. None of them seemed to care for social awareness, shoulders pressed together and screaming at each other. Out of nowhere, a couple came barging into you, sending you tumbling back. When you looked up, The Master was gone from your view. You felt your heart drop and got yourself up quickly. There was no clear route back to the tardis, the way was blocked by the parade. Remaining calm, you swallowed thickly and began to tangle your way through the crowds. It was hot, sticky and you felt as though you could hardly breathe. Before long, a creature spotted you and used his pointed fin to practically smack you out of the way. Your side hit a jagged wall harshly.
“Get away earthling!” A few others laughed before carrying on with their celebrations. Blinking back tears of frustration, you stayed against the wall as you walked, trying to just blend in and get through the crowd.
“Excuse me.” A grainy voice caught your attention at the end of the first street. Just one more to go and you’d find the tardis. To your left was a small shop with an open window. Just outside stood a tall man, face resembling a hairy frogfish. It was grotesque looking too, as though he cared very little for his looks.
“You look worn out, care for a drink?” Turning back to the window, the man produced a glass of pink liquid. Bubbles formed at the stop of the glass, a fizz to it. Remembering The Masters words, you were quick to shake your head.
“No thank you.” Perhaps the creature didn’t know how it could affect you, but something was keeping you on high alert.
“No? You’re too good for my drink? Just because you’re human?” It stepped forward, eyes filled with anger.
“No it could kill me…” you tried to reason but the thing just laughed mockingly, putting the glass down with a thud.
“I must say. For a human, you’re very alluring. Different…” something that resembled a tongue slipped out past its lips. You suddenly felt very cold, moving backwards.
“I bet you’d do so well…” It saw you as a new thing to use and play with. In a second, he was in your face, a webbed hand gripping your face forcefully. The other dragged down your side and groping your hip so hard it hurt.
“So small as well. So frail. I could break you…” the smell of his breath, along with his disgusting words made you feel sick. Your stomach churned. In a moment of desperation, you brought your knee up to hit him right between the legs. The creature groaned in pain, releasing you from his hold. You wasted no time in turning and bolting through the street. Ignoring everyone, you barged through with no other thought in your head, just get away from him. You took a sharp turn into a side street, hunching against the wall and inhaling far too quickly.
Worried wasn’t the correct word. No. Right then, The Master felt concern he didn’t know he could even muster up. Going back to the tardis wasn’t even in his mind anymore. That stupid heard of fish that cut you off were lucky that he had no way to harm them. He just had to find you as soon as possible. But how? The place was packed out, making it hard to move. Even so, he pushed through and shouted out your name repeatedly. The locals were shouting back, trying to push him out but The Master just shoved them back. He really didn’t have time for them. It wasn’t safe for you to be alone. Growing more and more frustrated, he sauntered over to a stall and slammed his hand down on the table.
“Have you seen a young, human, female?” The darkness on his voice put the fish lady on edge. She gawked at him for a moment before nodding.
“Well yes actually. I saw one talking to the lovely man who owns the bar over there.” For once he was grateful the creature was talkative and turned to see the bar. He ran across, looking around everywhere. But you weren’t there, all he saw was a door slamming shut. Deciding to pay no notice, he carried on, coming to a slight dip in the pavement. The relief he felt in his hearts should have worried him, but that didn’t matter when he took a peek down a side street. You were sat against the wall, chest heaving as you tried to calm yourself. He could instantly see a scratch on your cheek and rushed to your side.
“(Y/n)?” You jumped in shock, but quickly settled down upon seeing him crouched beside you. More tears filled your (e/c) eyes, your breathing still erratic. Tentatively he placed his hands on your shoulders, bringing you closer.
“Breathe with me ok?” you nod, doing your best to follow his lead but you couldn’t stop yourself from being scared.
“(Y/n) you need to try-“
“No no he’s going to find me.” You cut in frantically, looking past him to see the end of the alley. The Master tensed up, hearing the fear in your voice.
“Who?”
“The- the man. He offered me a drink and I s-said no like you told me, but he g-got angry. He was touching my s-side and my face and-“ you took in a sharp breath, trying to collect yourself even a little. “-and he said I was..small and alluring. That I’d be good..that he could break me…” as tears spilled down your cheeks, The Master felt his blood boil. He was seething, wanting nothing more than to find that man and rip him in two. The idea of someone touching you almost made him snap.
“I’m going to kill him.” His teeth grit together as he went to stand.
“No please don’t leave me please!” You cried out in a panic, grabbing onto his hand desperately. The Master was grounded almost immediately, ducking back down and pulling you into his embrace. Winding your arms around his neck, you cried into his chest. He let out a breath, rubbing your back in effort to sooth your trembling figure.
“I’m not going anywhere I promise. Let’s get you back to the tardis ok? Get you warm and where I know that disgusting thing can’t get to you.” He spat the last part, easily lifting you and starting the short walk back to the ship. Though you didn’t say anything, you kept a firm hold on the man and he knew you were listening to him. Stepping inside the ship, it was vacant, which he was glad to see. Whatever The Doctor and Yaz were doing, wasn’t his priority. You were. He took you through the ship to a room you didn’t recognise. A bedroom. Reluctantly, The Master placed you down on the bed and took a step back. Seeing your exhausted face left a bitter taste in his mouth and he hated it.
“Is this your room?” You asked, looking around the dark room and taking it in. The sheets were soft, black plaid, the bed frame made of mahogany. Around the space there were matching drawers and a desk that had piles of books. On the back wall was a lit fireplace, giving the room a subtle glow. It was also quite neat.
“Yes. The Doctor let me have a say in it. Do you like it?” The Master knew you did, he could always read you so well. Nevertheless, you nod a bit, rubbing your face harshly.
“It’s cosy.” Disliking how down you sounded, he moving to quickly find you some fresh clothes. A pair of plush pyjamas were provided to him by the security ship. Leaving you to get changed, he made his way to the kitchen getting a glass of water and something small for you to eat. It didn’t take long and once he returned, he saw you sat back against the pillows.
“I brought you these.” Gazing up, you watched as he set the items on the table beside you gratefully.
“Thank you.” You sipped on the water, soothing your dry throat. After hanging his jacket up, The Master took his place next to you on the bed. You dropped your head onto his shoulder, nibbling on one of the biscuits he’d brought you.
“Thank you for finding me..and for carrying me. It won’t happen again.”
“Don’t apologise. I couldn’t just leave you.” The softness of his voice was nice, making you feel less like a nuisance.
“Is The Doctor still not here?” Placing the empty glass down, you looked at him to see his head shaking. You just wanted her to fly far away from there, but of course she was always preoccupied.
“I wanna leave.” You whispered, feeling ashamed for how much that short interaction had affected you. Lifting his hand, The Master wiped your cheeks dry tenderly.
“I know you do sweet girl, I’ll make sure we do as soon as she’s back.” That somewhat settled your anxiety, tiredness creeping in slowly. Almost shamefully, you looked at him longingly, wanting to feel that safety once again. It would be so needy, so pathetic. More to the point, why would he do something like that? Perhaps there was a chance, yet you felt as though it would make you seem even weaker. Did that really matter?
“Can I-“
“You don’t have to ask love.” Without question, The Master slipped an arm around you, bringing you to lay flush to his side. The way your whole body eased up was instant, head resting against his chest easily. You allowed your eyes to close, curling into the man the second he allowed it. Seeing you fall asleep in his arms, The Master knew he was already too far gone.
———
In a fit of laughter, The Doctor and Yaz returned to the tardis hours later. They were arm in arm, brightly coloured leis around their necks. The younger even had a funny looking hat sat on her head. Not expecting it, they were surprised to find The Master sat on the stairs. His hands were clasped together firmly, anger still apparent in his eyes. But The Doctor knew something was wrong.
“What happened?”
“After you two ran off? Nothing at first. Then there was an incident but it’s fine. We just need to leave here right now.” even though he sounded urgent, the girls were apprehensive. Yaz folded her arms.
“And why is that? We had fun out there.” It took everything inside of him for The Master to not lash out. Instead, he looked at her slowly before standing.
“Yes. You two had so much fun. You’ve been gone for six hours. You both just left. I said I would agree to your rules, Doctor. Yet you’re the one being careless?” He scoffed, coming to stand in front of them. She knew it was true and hung her head in shame.
“Fly away. Now.” For once, The Doctor actually listened to him and sent the ship away into orbit. Even though he had left you sound asleep, The Master yearned to rush right back.
“What happened? Why are you so worked up?” Yaz was obviously confused, leaning back against the console. Only then did The Doctor realise something, her eyes shooting around.
“Where’s (y/n)?”
“Asleep. She’s asleep, let her rest.” He replied sternly.
“What happened to her?” The Doctor asked impatiently, now completely alert. Yet all the man did was glare.
“So now you care huh? You left her alone with me, when I’m supposed to be here to learn from you. You’re lucky I li-“ stopping himself from saying too much, The Master took in a deep breath and cracked his neck.
“One of the locals didn’t act too kindly towards her, let’s just say that. But I brought her back here. She’s not hurt. She’s fine now.” The Doctor let out a sigh of relief hearing this, putting her hands together almost in a prayer.
“Thank you.”
“Yes well, I said I’d follow your rules and regulations..” brushing it off, The Master just shrugged. Seeing right through this, the blonde gave a shallow smile.
“You’d have done that regardless.” She pointed out, lifting herself to sit on the console. Yaz, still confused, looked between the pair. Accepting defeat, The Master groaned and let his head hit the pillar behind him.
“Only for her. Not so sure about your little pet.” This comment set Yaz off, he could sense her outburst coming a mile away.
“I’m her girlfriend!”
“My condolences.” The Master said to her sadly, leaving the girl practically steaming. Before she could retaliate, The Doctor took hold of her hand.
“Ok, relax everyone. What’s important is that everyone is okay. I admit, I was careless today and in future I won’t do that.” The pair made eye contact, he could see the remorse there and decided to let it go for now. Moving away from the pillar, the master moved towards the steps again.
“I’m heading back to my room, don’t be up all night kids.” For the first time, something he said made Yaz laugh. Simpering, The Doctor nod.
“Look after her.”
“You know I will.” With his signature grin, The Master left to his room once more. You were still asleep thankfully, making it easy for him to slip in beside you. Instinctively, you shuffled closer and wrapped yourself around the timelord. He reciprocated this, holding you close and closing his eyes too.
———
Waking up in his arms the first time was an experience. Shocking you so much that you fell out of his bed. You were also so apologetic, saying sorry so much that The Master told you he was going to remove the word from your memory. Eventually, you came to realise that he really didn’t seem to mind. So, you began to let yourself indulge in that. Seeing how much you could get away with. It started small, with continuing to hold his hand when you went out on your adventures. The Master was easily ticked off, getting irked over the tiniest thing. Especially people with bad manners and attitude. Once, whilst he was telling you about the time he blew up an ancient sun god, you cut in with a very dry, sarcastic comment. “Wow, you actually do have plans that work out then?” You said, smiling mischievously. Thinking it would get you shouted at, you blushed when the man just gave you a firm look. Anyone else, he would have put them in there place. But not you. Then you began to spend even more time with him on the tardis. He even read you that book that he mentioned. You were so happy and it was obvious to everyone around you. Especially The Doctor. At first, it made her anxious. She thought that he had manipulated you, maybe even hypnotised you into being his loyal, little human. That was until she caught sight of the two of you in the library.
“So to chart the stars in a more..easy way you can-“
“Are you saying I’m dumb?” You pouted, not letting him finish. Sitting snug to his side, your legs were over his lap. The Master was wearing his round glasses, one hand on your thigh, the other holding a small sky chart.
“No, I’m just saying you have to learn. It’s a very precise job. In your time even your top astrophysicists can only do the bare minimum. I’m going to teach you properly.” He chuckled before continuing with his demonstration, your focus fully on him. From the door, The Doctor felt hope in her hearts, seeing her childhood friend seem so at peace. She knew she could trust him to look after you.
———
“See you both on Friday!” The Doctor gave Yaz a hug and kiss, before waving you off as well. You looked around for a second before saying goodbye and heading out with Yaz. Every so often you’d both return home for a week, to see family and such. You didn’t really want to go but you did regardless. The Doctor flicked a few levers before walking into The Masters room. He was sat at his desk, papers surrounding him as he inked up a journal.
“I see you still have that unnecessarily neat handwriting then?”
“You say unnecessary. I say, precise. Unlike you I can re-read my notes without having to squint.” He shot back, not looking up from his work. She just hummed, coming to lean on the wall by the desk.
“You didn’t say goodbye.” The Doctor pointed out, noticing the way he paused for a second.
“Well they’ll be back so, there was no need.”
“I think (y/n) wanted to say bye to you though.” He didn’t say anything, just continued to write down whatever it was that had his attention. Sticking out her bottom lip in thought, the doc sighed a little.
“She looked for you.” That made him stop. Sitting straight, he looked up at her with an unreadable expression.
“She did?” He asked, putting his quill down on its cushion. Nodding, she pushed some things aside and perched on the edge of his desk.
“I notice that you’ve become quite close.” Again he remained silent, just looking at her blankly.
“It’s good. It’s good to see you have a real friend.”
“We’re not friends.” He scoffed, dismissing the idea poorly.
“Yes you are, but you want it to be more.” The Doctor called him out, earning a look of surprise from the man.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The Master uttered, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his chair.
“Yes you do. You know it’s okay to feel that way right?” Letting out a huff of irritation, he just shook his head and retorted.
“I don’t feel any sort of way, Doctor. I’m here to ‘learn’ from you. To follow you around and stick to your silly plan whilst you try and fix me.” It almost amused her, how much denial he was in. But after thousands of years, she knew him all too well.
“Last time I checked, my suggestions didn’t involve reading stories and studying. Or cuddling in the library. It definitely didn’t involve sleeping in the same bed.” That effectively left him speechless, casting his eyes down to the desk bitterly.
“So you can sit here and say you’re just doing all that because of me. Or because it’s some ploy to get out of here faster. But we both know that’s a lie.” The Doctor concluded, drumming her fingers against the surface below her. Closing his eyes, The Master inhaled before returning to look at her.
“Fine, you got me. I didn’t think it would ever turn out like this. Makes me feel strange.”
“You mean happy?” The Doctor laughed, watching her old friend falter slightly.
“I suppose. It’s nice to have someone there, someone who really wants to spend time with me. She’s the first person in a long time to do that of her own free will.” He admitted, rubbing his eyes as he spoke. It was the sad truth.
“That’s good.”
“No it isn’t. I’ll just end up hurting her.” He spat, clenching his fists as that doubt crept over him. The Doctor simply shook her head.
“No you won’t. These past few months you’ve done everything you can to make her happy, to keep her safe. You never let her out of your sight.” It was true, he knew that. Though, deep down he felt that fear, like it just wasn’t enough.
“I know. But still, what if it’s not enough?”
“Don’t think that way. (Y/n) is really attached to you, and you have the biggest soft spot for her. If you’re both happy, then that’s all that matters.” The Doctor told him earnestly, placing a hand on his shoulder. For once, he didn’t shove her off. But could he allow himself to have this?
“I can’t believe I’m talking to you about this.” He half laughed, getting up and walking across to his bed before sitting on it. Grinning, The Doctor stole his office chair, wheeling it over to the bed and sitting in front of him.
“No it’s fun, exploring your inner emotions and your love life.” Her giddiness made him cringe.
“Ok. Never call it that again.” He grimaced, making The Doctor cackle even more.
“Didn’t know you had a thing for teddy bears.” Now just confused, he looked around until he spotted the fluffy bear sat on his pillow. Rolling his eyes, he reached over and picked it up.
“(Y/n) brought it in here last night. She must have left it by accident…” he snickered, looking at the toy fondly before continuing.
“You know she has clothes for it? Like a whole wardrobe, just for the bear.” The Doctor watched him, lips upturned. Guilt began to creep up on him, for being so wrapped up in his own mind.
“I should have said goodbye…”
“Yeah. But it’s okay, she’ll be back in a few days.” The Doctor reassured him. He never wanted time to pass faster.
———
Friday rolled around, The Doctor had parked the tardis in its usual spot and left the doors unlocked. She busied herself around the console, tinkering with a few loose wires.
“Can you pass me a clamp?” Holding her hand out, The Master moved around and gave it to her. She knew he was getting impatient.
“I can hear your brain ticking from here. Relax a bit.”
“Why is it taking so long?” The Mastee grumbled, staring at the doors.
“They’ll be here s-“ just then, Yaz burst through the doors.
“I’m back!” She yelled enthusiastically, running over hugging the blonde woman from behind. Laughing, The Doctor turned and hugged her back, listening to the events of the past few days. With a roll of his eyes, The Master sighed and leant against the console bored. Now he knew how you must have felt all that time.
“God if you two continue to smack your lips together I’ll throttle you both.” He threatened, rubbing his temples.
“Awe do you feel left out?” Yaz joked, hanging from her girlfriend’s arm.
“From you two? Absolutely not. How revolting.” Both girls laughed at his disgust, moving away from each other.
“Go snog in your room, just not in front of me.”
“Can I trust you to fix that circuit?” The doc picked up Yaz’s bag from the floor, looking at the man across the room.
“Obviously. I’ll do a better job and you know it.” He deadpanned, earning an angry look in response. However Yaz was quick to pull her away and leave him to finish her work.
———
You were only slightly late, well almost an hour. But your bus to Sheffield had been delayed so there was nothing you could have done. Thankfully, you found the tardis where it always was and head straight for the doors. Inside, you were met with a soft clinking sound. After walking forwards quietly, you came to see The Master hunched over the console, linking up two wires with clear skill. You’d never seen him working like that before, it was interesting. He was so engrossed in his task, sleeves rolled up and brows furrowed. Taking a piece of metal, he used a small machine to solder it in place and close up the circuit. Wiping off his hands, The Master stood straight and his eyes met yours. You broke out into a smile, rushing over and throwing your arms around his neck. Taken aback, The Master stood frozen for a moment, not expecting that at all.
“How long have you been there?” He pondered, coming to secure his arms around your middle. You hugged the man closely, letting out a small laugh.
“Not long, I didn’t want to bother you.”
“I wouldn’t have minded.” He sighed, wondering how he’d get you past the point of caring about that. Still, you stood in his arms content, speaking again once a few seconds had passed.
“I missed you…” hearing this, The Master felt the beats in his chest working overtime. He tightened his grip on you, not knowing how to respond to that. Though, he felt exactly the same way.
“I missed you too.” Even though he said it quietly, you heard, looking up and smiling happily.
“You’re blushing.”
“I don’t blush.” He scoffed, avoiding eye contact and suddenly feeling very warm.
“I dunno, your hearts are beating very fast.” You placed your hand against his chest, proving your point further. Although he loved your rare confidence, he couldn’t let you get away with too much. Taking hold of your hand, The Master easily manoeuvred you away from him.
“Oh, are they?” He tilted his head, stepping closer and closer until you were pinned between him and the console. Dipping to your level, he leaned in, his cool breath hitting your face. Your eyes were locked together, heat creeping up onto your cheeks. Shamefully, your eyes flickered to his lips before looking back up. He noticed, a smirk appearing.
“You’re blushing.” He teased, letting go of your hand and placing his own on your waist. You couldn’t speak, your words coming out in a jumble, and that pleased him. He loved to see the effect he had on you, it was thrilling. Noticing the hopeful look on your face, he placed a tender kiss to the top of your head. Stepping away he tucked his hands away into his pockets with a proud smile. You stood frozen, hands gripping the edge of the console. Footsteps could be heard approaching, The Master giving you a smug smile before moving to the other side of the console.
“Ah hello (y/n)…are you okay? You look a bit flustered.” The Doctor pressed her hand to your head in deep concern.
“I’m fine, just warm in here…” you lied, giving her a half smile and trying to collect yourself. Both girls were unconvinced, but you just tried to seem relaxed. Shaking her head, The Doctor walked around punching some coordinates into the console.
“So me and Yaz will be off now.” Snapping out of your daze, you followed her movements confused. Noticing this, she let out a noise of annoyance.
“Did you not tell her? I said to tell her when she came in!” Exasperated, the doc scowled at The Master, though she really should have expected it.
“Must have slipped my mind, I was distracted.” He lied, giving you a wink that went unnoticed by the others.
“Anyway. I’m taking Yaz to a spa for the day, after our last attempt failed. Is that okay with you?” The Doctor was going regardless, but a verbal confirmation would make her feel better.
“Yeah of course. Go enjoy your date.” Before they left, The Doctor gave her usual speech about making sure The Master behaved himself.
“You have my word Doctor. I won’t do anything you wouldn’t.” Holding his hands up, she felt secure enough with his answer and guided Yaz out of the ship. Now alone with him once again, you grew jittery. You were so close just moments ago, so close. You knew how you felt for him long ago, but over the months it had grown tenfold. A part of you also longed to go out into the universe with him. Just like Yaz got to experience with The Doctor. Sadly, wondered if what he did before was merely for his own entertainment. With your head telling you it was a game, and your heart saying he really cared, which could you trust?
“What are you thinking about, love?” The Master slowly made his way back round to you, stoping a few inches away.
“I just, wish we could go somewhere fun.” Being somewhat truthful, you lifted your shoulders slightly.
“Well, why can’t we?” This response took you by surprise.
“Because your tardis is locked away somewhere.”
“Who said anything about using my tardis?” He chuckled, brushing some hair out of your face whilst you tried hard not to blush.
“She really shouldn’t have left me to fix her console. It’s very easy to remove a DNA lock.” Giving your nose a little boop, you laughed quietly at his cockiness.
“So, what do you say?”
“What if The Doctor finds out?” You pointed out, so close to giving into the temptation he was offering.
“Come on dear, you know I’m better than that. She’ll never know.” Not even needing to hear that, it convinced you even more and you nod quickly. The Master grinned wickedly, spinning on his heel and beginning to expertly pilot the tardis. You watched excitedly, noticing how steady the ship was whilst in flight. Although great, The Doctor did have a hard time keeping in control.
“Where are we going?” Going to his side, he simply smiled down at you before the ship settled once again.
“Take a look.” He nod towards the door, your chest fluttering with anticipation. It was like doing this for the first time all over again. Pulling on the double doors, your eyes went wide at the scene in front of you. The first thing that caught your attention were the purple bricks that outlined a mechanical road. Tall, grey creatures were walking along, with black robes and oblong heads, their hooved feet carried them into several buildings in the area. Speaking of, the area was filled with hundreds of brightly colour skyscrapers, a mixture of slates, teal and sapphire shades. More to the point, there was actual flying cars, something you thought you’d never get to see. They moved in conjunction, keeping your attention for longer than necessary, watching how they’d ascend and descend whenever needed. Slowly, you let go of the door and stepped out into the new world. It was warm as well, not a cloud to be seen in the mauve sky. From behind, The Master followed you, making sure he locked the door. He didn’t want any trace of what he was doing for The Doctor to find, and a stolen tardis would definitely be a sign. The look of pure joy on your face made his hearts feel complete, as he came to stand beside you.
“Do you like it?” In all honestly, it was perfect, exactly what you’d always wanted to see. Instead of giving a verbal response, you rotated and hugged The Master. He beamed, wrapping his arms around you and lifting you from the ground with ease.
“Thank you, thank you. It’s amazing!” You told him, kicking your legs up behind you just before he could set you down. He pulled away, leaving his hands on your waist.
“I told you I knew the place.” You had a twinkle in your eye, realising he remembered that conversation. Taking your hand, The Master began to walk down the road until you stopped him.
“Are we safe?” It felt safe, everything felt very normal, though you’d had one too many incidents before.
“You think I’d take you somewhere that wasn’t safe? I’m not The Doctor.” He almost seemed offended, making you squeeze his hand tighter.
“I picked a date and time I’m a thousand percent sure nothing will happen. I triple checked.” This revelation nearly caused heart palpitations, she had never done that before. Tucking yourself into his side, The Master felt just how grateful you were and wrapped his arm around you. With another kiss left on the crown of your head, the two of you walked along the street as the steel cars soared overhead.
———
You genuinely couldn’t remember a time you felt happier. Even after a hundred trips with The Doctor, this one topped them all. The Master was taking you to every single place that caught your eye, peaked his interest or knew that you’d love.
“Oh there’s something else, over here.” Fingers laced together, The Master tugged you over to a smaller building with a metal veranda. He spoke to the towering alien, handing over a few small credits before receiving a cone in return. You both stood in the shade, keeping out of the way as to not bother anyone.
“What is it?” Looking into the cone, you saw little, dusted spheres. They did look intriguing.
“Sort of like a truffle. But with ice cream in the middle.” Using the spiked fork, he held one up to your lips, allowing you to eat one easily. It had a different taste to the ones from earth, sweeter and softer in texture too. It was evident that you were enjoying them, letting The Master feed you some more. On the other hand, he felt as though he was in a trance. You were just eating. You weren’t doing anything special or extraordinary. Yet he just couldn’t help himself. Lifting his hand, The Master swiped his thumb under your bottom lip, removing a dot of cream. Freezing, you blushed and gazed up at him with big eyes, which certainly wasn’t helping his conundrum. His hand lingered there for longer than neeeded, brown eyes wandering over your face shamelessly. He cleared his throat and tossed the his empty cone into the bin near the shop.
“Come on, I have one more thing to show you.” The Master sounded different than normal, more mellow if that made any sense. Still, you went with him blindly, walking through the quiet streets and admiring the architecture.
It didn’t take long for The Master to find what he was looking for and, after a brief walk, you gasped at the sight in front of you. Just below a pier, there was a glistening lake overshadowed by ancient trees. They grew ebony leaves, with white bark that looked so vibrant. Letting go of his hand, you rushed over to the stone balustrade, leaning over to see the pearlescent water better. It reflected of the sky, giving the surface a lilac glow. Amused by your fervour, The Master approached you with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Stunning, isn’t it? The bottom of the lake is lined with diamonds, they run below the surface of this entire planet. It’s how they got their fortune.” He explained, resting his arms on the stone wall and looking out at the view. And it was a good one, the landscape could occupy your mind for a while. But something else had it for now.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you for showing me this. Thank you for the whole day. I won’t forget it…” there was a twinge of sadness in your thanks, thinking it would be the first and last trip of its kind. The Master didn’t look at you, a tension in his brow. He was never good at comforting, or being completely honest. Around you, however, that side of him did tend to show itself more.
“I know The Doctor takes me to amazing places, and I’m so thankful but, it’s not like this. She’s spontaneous in the best way, and so lovely but-“ you frowned, unsure of how to finish what you were saying. To be honest, there was so much you felt you couldn’t say as it would ruin the day. Silence settled between you both, nothing but the ripples in the lake, and distant alien chattering could be heard. You were deep in thought, that much was clear, but he would never invade your privacy to find out what it was about. A question weighed heavy on his mind, one that he’d been mulling over for a long time.
“Would you come with me?” There was an unmissable tremor in his voice, breaking the silence and your train of thought. Slowly, you turned your head to look at him, finding that he was still unmoved.
“One day, if I pass The Doctors stupid test and she thinks I’m ’good enough’, will you travel with me?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation, your mind had been made a long time ago. The Master had his eyes on you in an instant.
“I’d love to go with you.” You smiled, telling him everything he needed to know. You weren’t lying, there was no malice anywhere. No more needed to be said. Instead, he moved closer, hands coming up to cup your cheeks.
“You really mean it?” His guard was completely down, letting his forehead rest against your own as he asked.
“Of course I do, I want more times like this. More of you…” You concluded in a whisper, as The Master trailed his left hand down the side of your neck. The corner of his lip twitched upwards, the confidence you knew all too well finally returning.
“You have me.” With that bold statement, he closed the gap and pressed his lips against yours, capturing you in a sweet kiss. A raging blush claimed your cheeks, moving your arms around his neck and drawing him in closer. It was as if the last piece of a puzzle was fitting together. Reluctantly, he pulled back, taking in your flushed appearance with pride.
“Do you have any idea how hard it’s been, keeping myself off of you?” The Master laughed at his own internal battle, thumbing your waist gently.
“Why did you? You could have kissed me earlier.” Your heart was hammering in your chest, liking that you’d both been feeling exactly the same.
“When I knew The Doctor could interrupt at any moment? No, I didn’t want her ruining anything.” Your fingers toyed with the hair at the base of his neck as he spoke, sending a small shiver down his spine.
“When did you become so considerate?”
“For you? A long time ago, love.” The Master pressed your back to the wall you were both once leaning against, his nose bumping against yours.
“Did you not realise, how I’ve been treating you? Did you never notice how conveniently safe you were when I was there? Don’t you understand, you’re the only reason I agreed to The Doctors mindless plan?” Your breath hitched at this admission, taking everything in.
“I knew you kept me in the clear but…you stayed, because of me?”
“Of course I did. Spending time with you is worth The Doctors incessant rambling. It was the only way I knew I could be with you, without anyone noticing.” The Master was so close, his lips brushing yours with every word he said. Once more, you blushed brightly, loving the flattery he was supplying.
“Honestly? I would have jumped at the chance..I’m glad you did stay.”
“And I’m glad you were bold enough to check on me, were you so worried?” Cocking his head to the side, The Master traced over your lips, and down until he was gripping your jaw with intent.
“Of course I was, I thought you were going to die. I hated seeing what you did to yourself.” It was hard to talk about that day, everyone was hurt, especially him. Seeing him laying there, under that rock, you thought you’d lost him before you even had a chance. A stray tear rolled down your cheek before you could stop it, however the man just left a kiss in its wake.
“Don’t cry pet, I’m fine, I’m still here.” You couldn’t help yourself anymore, pulling him down until your lips met again. The kiss was deeper this time, an outpouring of emotions that had been hidden for too long. His tongue pressed against yours, dragging out a guttural wine. The Master revealed in the sound, caressing the curve of your waist and dragging his hand lower. You were grateful for the lack of people in the area. Your hands moved to grip his arms and your lungs began to burn but you didn’t care. Parting from your lips, The Master left a trail of kisses along your jaw lovingly, then he moved back a bit.
“Have I mentioned how cute you look, so flustered?” He smirked, pecking your lips once more then finally letting go. You just avoided his eyes, finding the ground far more interesting.
“The Doctor might kill you if she finds out you know?” He just rolled his eyes when you said that, grasping your hand once again.
“Well she doesn’t have to know quite yet, does she?” Giving you a playful look, The master made sure you stayed by him as you both began walking again.
“You’re lucky I’m a good liar. She really wouldn’t approve.”
“Oh but I thought you wanted me to stay as long as possible?” He feigned sadness, causing you to giggle at his big eyes. You wrapped your arms around his middle whilst approaching the tardis, he made no complaints. Apart from the fact that neither of you actually wanted to go back, that is.
———
The Doctor and Yaz reappeared around five hours after The Master had got you both back. You were impressed with how precise he was, but why were you surprised? When they came in, neither of you were actually in the console room.
“What do you think they did all day?” Yaz asked, following The Doctor around as she piloted.
“I’d imagine reading or something?” The blonde shrugged, not paying it much thought.
“You don’t think he’d try to escape? Or what if he hurt (y/n)?” She exclaimed, earning a snort of laughter from her partner.
“I highly doubt that.”
“Why? After everything he’s done! He’s a monster.” Yaz came to stand directly in front The Doctor, clearly anxious. Sighing, The Doctor rubbed her arms.
“People change. Give him a chance.”
“I don’t know how you can say that when…” Yaz carried on with herself, listing multiple reasons of why she hated the man, and why he wasn’t worth the effort. Up the first flight of steps, The Master stood around the corner, listening to it all. A continuous reminder of his past and all the wrong he’d done.
“Don’t listen to her.” Your voice startled him, you hadn’t been there earlier. Instead of replying, he kept his ear towards the women talking. He wasn’t one to be offended by these things. No, he was more concerned about how you saw him. The Doctor could be very convincing, maybe even Yaz could get into your head. Suddenly, you stepped forward and tilted his head back to look at you. Knowing he was going to speak, you leant up and kissed him softly, keeping him quiet. Taken by surprise, The Master shamefully melted into you, holding your shoulders for support.
“Don’t listen.” You repeated once you pulled back, giving him a smile then walking down the steps.
“(Y/n), have a good day?” The Doctor grinned once she saw you. Giving a small shrug, you lied,
“It was okay.” Even though it was the best day you’d had in years. Frowning, Yaz went closer to you.
“But are you okay?” It was as if she was checking over you.
“And why would I not be okay?”
“Being alone with him?” She said like it was common sense. Giving her a slight glare, you nod.
“I’m fine, Yaz.” Your response was sharp, making the girl huff and look to The Doctor. She just pressed her lips together, unsure how she’d get her girlfriend to relax a bit. But she knew it was something that desperately needed work, especially if she wanted this attempt of therapy to work.
———
Their dates became more and more regular, which was fine by you. The more they were gone, the more you got to do with The Master. Each trip got more thrilling than the last. From seeing supernovas to ancient earth, you were counting the days until you could leave with him. Meanwhile, Yaz was just happy to be away from The Master. Her mind couldn’t be changed, she just couldn’t trust him.
———
One day, as Yaz sat at a candle lit dinner with The Doctor, she put down her menu and looked at her. Sensing some unwarranted anxiety, The Doctor looked back at her confused.
“When is he going to leave?”
“Why would he leave, I haven’t finished with my sessions yet?” Confused, the doc poured herself a glass of water.
“Because, I think he’s hypnotised (y/n).” Her statement made The Doctor freeze up a little. She knew that Yaz noticed your closeness to the man.
“Yaz, I think they just get along well. I’d be able to tell if he was using hypnosis.” The Doctor tried to put her mind at rest, but it was fruitless.
“There’s no way she’d choose to be close with him after all he did to us. To you!” It was annoying Yaz, how rejected her lover was being about the whole situation.
“As I said, people can change. He’s made good process you know? He really is trying, try to consider that they’re friends?” With that suggestion, The Doctor picked up her glass and took a sip of her water.
“Friends? I wouldn’t be surprised if they were getting it on back in the tardis.” Yaz scoffed, The Doctor almost choking on her drink. Coughing it down, she looked over at Yaz baffled.
“Okay, I don’t think that’s what’s going on. I also don’t ever want to imagine that going on in my ship.” The Doctor denied, shivering at the idea. However, she really wasn’t stupid and knew that she had to keep lying to Yaz. Just until she brightened up a bit more. If she did at all.
“Well I’m just saying, they’re a bit too close lately.”
The master buttoned up his shirt, fixing the cuffs with little care. You rolled your eyes, making sure his collar was straight.
“It’s like you want us to get caught.”
“That would be thrilling.” He chuckled, mocking your previous escapades and moving closer to you. You just laughed, hitting his chest gently before sinking down into the floor. Your back rested on the couch as you sat between his legs. Placing a hand on the base of your neck, The Master worked out a deep knot you had there.
“Achey?” He teased.
“Shut up.” You were quick to retaliate but just groaned as the tension left your neck. The male merely smiled, happy to help.
“I can hear them now you know, flirting. Disgusting.” His lip curled in distaste, making you laugh out. Resting your head on his thigh, you gazed up at the man with big eyes.
“That’s very hypocritical you know.” You said, earning a raised brow from him. The Master just leaned forward, placing a soft kiss to your lips.
“I know.” You really did love how brutally honest he was, especially when it came to the other love birds. Speaking of, he pulled away very quickly and seconds later the door opened. You busied yourself with a random book that was discarded by the fireplace. Behind you, The Master picked up with his work, as if he had a whole new energy about him.
“Ah there you two are! See Yaz? Everything is fine.” The doctor beamed, sitting herself beside the man on the couch. Yaz didn’t say anything, just looking between you both with reservation. In all fairness, you were testing the waters by sitting in that position.
“Good to see that you’re actually keeping out of trouble.” The Doctor nudged him on the shoulder, yet he never strayed from his papers.
“Of course, how could we ever get into trouble. She’s very well behaved.” The Master moved one hand, patting your head in a patronising manner.
“I think she was just referring to you, Master.” You told him, shutting the book and leaving it by your side.
“Well I know, (y/n) wouldn’t do anything out of pocket would she?” If only she knew, you thought after The Doctor spoke.
“Wow you’re writing fast, have you had a triple shot of coffee or something?” Yaz watched him stunned, seeing how quickly his hand was moving.
“Hm? Oh no, not coffee.”
“Did you eat something then? Like chocolate, that’s got a lot of sugar.” The Doctor added, agreeing with Yaz’s observation.
“Not chocolate, but I did have something sweet yes.” He stated simply, a smugness hidden in his tone. You had to bite your tongue, suddenly feeling very embarrassed.
“Got any to share? I am pecki-“
“No.” He snapped, not allowing his fellow Timelord to finish what she was saying. Everyone looked at him, them with confusion and you with amusement.
“Don’t be so greedy.” It was as if Yaz jumped at the chance to be annoyed with him. Stopping his writing, The Master slowly peered up at the woman with vexation.
“I can be whatever I want to be.”
“Ok, ok no fighting please.” The Doctor almost begged, clearly finding it hard to deal with them butting heads.
“We wanted to talk to you both, what should we do tomorrow?” She put the question to the pair of you.
“Oh we get a say do we, I thought only your precious angel got to choose?” The Master quipped.
“Don’t start that. Come on.” The Doctor shot back before a full on shouting match could start. Letting out a heavy sigh, he sat straight and put his hand onto your shoulder.
“Why don’t you pick?” You felt as though as though he was gripping into you to ground himself more than anything else.
“Oh so you want your favourite to pick instead huh?” The Doctor probed, earning a dirty look from her girlfriend.
“Well of course.” His eyes found Yaz when he responded, clearly trying to egg her on more.
“As if she’d ever want to be your-“
“A party.” You voiced your pick loudly, hoping to keep the situation calm. Smiling, The Doctor leant forward to see you better.
“Yeah? What kind?”
“A cocktail party, like a nice, classy one where you have to put a bit of effort into how you look. Is that okay?” You looked around nervously, hoping your idea wasn’t too mundane.
“I think it’s a fantastic idea! Oh and I know just the place!” The Doctor genuinely seemed very pleased with your choice, a large grin etched into her features. She began to ramble about the planet in question, about the fancy parties the richer portion of the place hosted. Still, Yaz was only engrossed in how close you were to The Master, how his hand hadn’t left your shoulder. Then, her eye caught onto something and she gasped in pure horror.
“Yaz? Are you okay?” The Doctor enquired, not liking that she looked so unsettled.
“I didn’t know you got hurt so badly the other day?” Upset clear in her inflection, she crouched down next to you and reached towards your free shoulder. Upon looking, you found that your sleeve had fallen off, leaving a dark bruise of full display. Coyly, you pulled the material over it and tittered slightly.
“Apparently I did yeah, must be from when I fell.” You bluffed, pretending it really was sore. It wasn’t a complete lie, on your last outing at a group, you had fallen down a couple of stairs.
“Poor thing, aren’t you?” The Master said in false pity, giving you those big, sad eyes. Unable to speak, you suddenly felt as though everyone was staring at you and just turned back to the fire. He had an irritating smile on his lips, returning to his work as a way to deflect. Yaz was still fussing over you, thinking that you may be in pain or need something for it. Having said that, The Doctor watched your discomposed behaviour, the redness in your cheeks and shifty eyes. She then looked at the man next to her, his overtly windless demeanour and self-satisfied expression. It was as if everything clicked into place and the realisation hit her square in the face. Mouth agape, a million thoughts ran through her mind. Feeling her eyes gawking at him, The Master muttered underneath his breath,
“You’ll catch flies if you’re not careful.”
“And you’ll have to catch Yaz’s hands if you’re not careful.” Speaking through gritted teeth, The Doctor brought a muffled laugh from the man. He closed up his notebook and looked at her. She really didn’t know what to do at the revelation, he knew that and smirked. They couldn’t speak about it in front of you or Yaz, so she stayed silent, putting a pin in the matter. It wasn’t that she was worried per-say, it was just unexpected and new.
“Honestly Yaz, I’m okay.”
“But it looks bad.” As sweet as it was, you didn’t appreciate the unneeded ego boost The Master was getting.
“She’s fine Yaz, come on.” Standing up, The Doctor pulled the young woman up to her feet.
“See you tomorrow!” Perplexed, you watched as The Doctor practically dragged Yaz out.
“She seemed very concerned, love.” The Master droned out in levity, making you turn round fast. Getting up, you practically pounced on him, only to be caught instantly.
“I’m going to kill you.” You said with fake fury, even though you were the one being held at the waist.
“I look forward to it.”
———
In the depths of the tardis, you rifled through the many wardrobes that The Doctor had. Each were filled with unique articles from all times, planets and periods you could imagine.
“What about this?” Yaz asked, holding up a mid length, tight, red velvet dress.
“Oh yeah that will look great on you!” You smiled, urging her to choose it. Yaz walked over to you with it in hand, trying to help you decide. But you were being picky.
“Come on, (y/n). Who are you trying to impress? Anything will look good if you’re wearing it.” She laughed, leaving you alone to decide.
Back in your room, you took your time getting ready, doing your makeup and hair with great care. It was rare you got to go to anything labeled as fancy, so you wanted to savour it. After successfully zipping up the dress, you straightened it out and looked in the mirror. It was black satin, off the shoulder and figure hugging. The boning lined your body perfectly, going down your middle and around the bust. Coming to just above your mid thigh, you paired the dress with some chunky black heels before deciding you were ready.
When you got to the console room, you found that everyone was already there.
“Sorry, was I holding everyone up?” You questioned anxiously, standing by the mechanism. The Doctor shook her head, looking dapper in her tux as usual.
“Not at all. We’re nearly there.” She let you know kindly. Yaz definitely chose the correct dress, having now tied her hair into a bun, it really suited her.
“Where are we going anyway?”
“SinCeria. A planet adorned with six, silver moons that rise every six-hundred years. They hold a week long celebration for it and on the last day, you get to see the event.” The Master answered you, slowly making his way to you. He was dressed in an ox-blood coloured waistcoat, sporting his favourite pocket watch and black suit pants. The sleeves of his ebony shirt were neatly rolled up to his elbows, hands away in his pockets. You blinked rapidly, trying not to make your interest obvious. The Master was anything but discreet however, clearly ogling you with no guilt. You felt small under his gaze, but in the most flattering way.
“And presto!” The Doctor yelled as the ship landed with a thud, sending you tumbling. Of course, you were securely caught by The Master, his hands holding just under your arms.
“Shall we head then? I’m well excited for this.” The Doc grabbed hold of Yaz’s hand, taking her out and holding the door open. You quickly followed, whilst he kept a possessive hand on your side. After exiting the cleaning cupboard the time lady had parked in, you found yourselves in a long, extravagant hallway. It was lined with gold architrave against ivory walls and a soft, noir carpet. Each alcove held a hologram, a collection of creatures in a prestigious uniform.
“They’re the former kings of this planet.” The Master told you, noticing your curiosity.
“They look like geckos.” You smiled, thinking that you looked quite sweet. At the end of the corridor were two of said alien, clearly guarding the entrance door. With a quick flash of her psychic paper, The Doctor gained entry for the four of you and the doors were pushed open.
“Oh wow..” Yaz breathed once seeing the interior. It truly was breathtaking, with high arching ceilings being lit up by crystal chandeliers. In the middle of the grand room there was a dance floor, donning black and white checked tiles. Around that, were round, glass tables fitted with matching chairs. The centre of them held an elaborate, champagne shade candelabra, flickering away. Looking around, you saw a bar on the left side of the room with a few smaller tables and people mingling. It wasn’t too busy, the evening only just having started. A band were playing adjacent to the bar, a gentle tune to ease people in whilst guests were still arriving.
“Happy?” The Doctor looked at you hopefully. Grinning, you reached over and hugged your friend close.
“Yes it’s exactly what I meant, thank you.” She just chortled, rubbing your back then letting go. Beginning to explain the usual itinerary of the party, no one noticed the clear irritation of the man behind you.
“-so in about ten minutes, things will really pick up, won’t they?” The Doctor finished her sentence, looking at The Master for some support. She didn’t expect to find him glaring daggers at her and raised her brows in bewilderment. If looks could kill, she’d be six feet under.
“Yes. It will.” He grit out, never changing his look. You wanted to do something to calm him from whatever it was that got to him, but you couldn’t in front of everyone.
“Relax mr grumpy.” Yaz baited, clearly not caring for his foul mood at all. He ignored her, scouring the area some more.
“Care for a drink?” A well-mannered voice came from behind, causing the small group to turn. It was another gecko like man, holding a tray of what looked like yellow martinis.
“Ah thank you.” The Doctor took two at a time, first for you and Yaz, then for her and The Master. Taking a small sip, your eyes squinted at how sour it was.
“What is it, pure lemon?” You coughed, covering your mouth politely. Yaz was the same, handing her glass back to the blonde. She found it hilarious, laughing so hard that she struggled not to spill them. The Master was quick to finish his, taking your glass and putting them both on a nearby table. More people had arrived, a shared vigour across the room. The music picked up in beat, just enough to move too.
“You two don’t mind if we go and dance?” Yaz asked, though not really needing the answer, as she was already pulling on The Doctors sleeve.
“Please do.” The Master practically hissed, which was now starting to worry you. The woman dismissed it however and rushed off to the dance floor. Now alone, you faced The Master with your arms folded.
“What’s the matter?”
“Everyone here is looking at you.” His voice was low, icy even. Bemused, you looked around, eyes everywhere quickly moving on from you the minute you clocked them. Suddenly, you felt very self aware and backed up into his hold. Wrapping his arms around your waist, The Master pressed a kiss to your marked shoulder.
“You see now? I also don’t really approve of you hugging The Doctor like that.” He rested his chin there on your shoulder. “Not when you look this good.” You giggled as he pecked the crook of your neck a few times.
“You’re too kind.”
“Only to you, dear. Come now, I want to show you why this party even happens.” Lacing your fingers, The Master walked you through the crowd, over to the other side of the room. You stayed close, still feeling as though you were being watched. Then you saw it. In front of you was a floor to ceiling, glass window, giving the perfect view of space outside. The sky was a cascade of deep blues and purples, bright stars dotted throughout.
“Look.” The Master pointed down, only for you to see the heads of the Six Silver Moons.
“In about an hour, they’ll be at the perfect height for viewing.” With a hand placed on the small of your back, he stood beside you guardedly. Simpering, you leant into his body, basking in his warmth.
“I would have brought you here eventually. I knew you’d love it, but I’m happily surprised The Doctor actually considered you for once.” He mumbled by your ear, his thumb moving against your side soothingly.
“At least you’re with me. That’s all I really care about now, honestly.” You responded, too shy to look at the man. You didn’t know what he considered the pair of you to be, and that did bother you a little. Were you just like a potential companion with a few benefits? Or were you more? Was it real? You doubted he’d succumb to a human custom, like calling himself a ‘boyfriend’, and perhaps he didn’t even want to commit to you fully.
“How can you think so low of me, pet?” The Master turned you till your eyes met, a scowl present on his face.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be reading my thoughts?”
“Well they’re very loud.” He defended himself, holding onto your waist securely. When you tried to avoid his gaze, he simply followed your eyes.
“I told you, you have me.”
“But what if-“ he didn’t let you finish, tipping down and capturing your lips with his own. You shut up very quickly, clinging onto his arms.
“Do you understand? Whilst I may not use your earthly titles, I consider us an official item, if that’s what you’d call it. As far as I’m aware, you’re mine and that’s not going to change.” Hearing him say that, filled you with an unmatchable amount of joy, a huge smile adorning your face. Happily, you jumped slightly and hugged onto him tightly. Chuckling, The Master swirled round with you in his grasp before placing you back down.
“Care to dance, pretty?”
“How formal. I’d love to.” You bit your lip to suppress your smile, allowing him to guide you onto the dance floor. Surrounded by other couples, he took one hand in his own, then placed his other in the curve of your waist. You held onto his shoulder, letting him take the lead and move to the violin central music.
Time passed swiftly, each tune different from the last. The Master held your hand, twirling you in time with the more up-tempo song. You couldn’t stop laughing, feeling so light and happy in that moment. He pulled you back into his embrace, your back flush to his chest. Looking up at him, he just grinned back at you.
From the crowd, Yaz appeared and rushed over to you both.
“The Doctor wants you.” She said, eyes fixated on The Master and sadly making him part from you.
“Shan’t be too long, ok?” He rubbed your shoulder softly, before glaring at Yaz then heading off.
“Wanna get a drink, (y/n)?” Nodding, you head to the bar with her, standing against the cool marble surface. All the staff were busy, but you didn’t really mind.
“Are you ok, like really ok?” The urgency in her voice did more than confuse you.
“I’m fine, Yaz. Are you ok?” You half laughed, resting one arm on the bar.
“I’m worried about you. I think you’ve been hypnotised.” She exasperated, and you heard yourself groan.
“Can you stop saying that?”
“If you’re being threatened or you’re scared, you know The Doctor will help you right? You don’t have to be freighted.” She touched your arm with care, as if what she was saying was true in any sense.
“Believe me I’m not frightened of him, at all. And he’s not trying to hurt me. Or you for that matter.” You said with certainty, trying hard to convince her. Yet, Yaz was unchanged. Standing straight, it was clear that her temper was rising.
“He’s a monster, (y/n). He’s clearly playing with you. Before long he’ll switch up on you and kill you. All of us maybe.” Now you were beginning to get angry, feeling a protectiveness over him. You knew he could look after himself, but you just couldn’t help it.
“He’s not! Why can’t you just drop it?”
“Because it’s getting out of hand now. You’re with him all the damn time!” She raised her voice, jaw clenched in frustration. People around you started to talk in hushed voices. Not wanting to draw any more attention, it took everything inside of you to remain calm.
“So what? It’s none of your concern. He’s doing exactly what The Doctor asked, he’s following her rules and being good. So what if I spend a bit of time with him?” Trying to play it down, you looked around for a bartender, hoping a drink might ease the argument.
“‘A bit’? It’s more than ‘a bit’! You’re practically attached to him!”
“As if you don’t follow The Doctor like a little puppy?” You shot back, making the girl turn red.
“Well I am her girlfriend! And she’s not a mass murderer!” At that, you gave Yaz a look of boredom, as you both knew of her past.
“Drinks ladies?” A voice cut in.
“Yes, thanks.” You responded without looking, fully focused on ending the stupid spat.
“Yasmine, I’m fine. You really need to stop this. It’s only going to get in the way of The Doctors sessions. He’ll get vexed and try to escape or something.”
“Good. I want him gone. He’s like a parasite and you’re his victim.” The hatred in her words, the pure desire to just throw him out was beginning to really affect you.
“What is wrong with you? You say he’s the evil one yet you’re the one being spiteful. All because he’s being nice to me?”
“Nice? You were dancing five minutes ago! He needs to leave before he brainwashes you into doing something worse.” Yaz was fuming, fist in a tight grip against the bar top. At your wits end, you just scoffed out a laugh.
“If you think dancing is the worst thing we’ve done together, you’re clearly blind.” Her face fell when you said that, dread slowly setting in.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yaz prayed she was wrong, but one look at your face and she knew she wasn’t. “No. No there’s no way.” She said in distress, covering her mouth in shock. “How could you do this to us?”
“Excuse me?” Taking a step back, you glowered at her.
“After everything he did to us? You’re going to just let it go? You’re going to..to..”
“To what? Say it, I dare you.” Your chest was rising and falling at an odd pace.
“I don’t even want to think about it. You’re such a backstabber! When The Doctor finds out, you’ll both be done for.” It was hardly a threat, knowing that The Doctor was a tiny bit more level headed than that. In fact, she sounded like a bratty child.
“What you’re going to go tell on me? Get us in trouble? Is she your girlfriend or your mother?” You poked fun at the scenario, starting to feel worn out from all the yelling. That seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back, since Yaz snatched her purse up into her hand.
“You know what, i wish you two would get yourselves done away with! I’ll be happy if i never have to see you again!” She screamed before turning and storming off. Closing your eyes, you inhaled deeply. It was all too much, sadness overwhelmed you.
“Your drink, miss.” Mumbling a small ‘thanks’, you took the flute and shot back the green, fizzy drink without a care. It didn’t taste too great, but you hoped it would numb the emotional pain you felt. It burned as it went down, in fact, it really burned. More than the average spirit would. Your tongue also reacted strangely to the drink, an instant numbness arriving.
“I’m hope you liked it.” That grainy voice. Cautiously, you turned your head and came face to face with the same man from the fish festival. How could you have missed it? “As it will be the last you ever have” His hairy face brought instant discomfort. Then, you remembered The Masters warning: ‘don’t try the drinks. You’ll get sick.’ Panic slowly came over you, your feet moving you away from the man. The glass slipped from your hands, smashing on the solid floor. Who knows what concoction he filled you with, but it was nothing good. Yasmines final words were starting to feel more like a death sentence. Who knows how long you had before anything more drastic started to happen. Gawping, he just slid over the bar like it was nothing, taking a few lethal steps closer.
“Don’t worry. You’ll fall asleep first. Gives me the chance to do as I please with you. I’ll be able to feel as your body goes cold.” He licked his stringy lips with anticipation. You only had one thing on your mind, finding The Master. You’d rather die in his arms than with this disgusting creature all over you. The tips of your fingers began to tingle. Looking down you found them turning black, your heart going unnaturally fast.
“Don’t be scared, I’ll take good care of your body.” It cackled, reaching its fin like arms forward. On cue, you turned and made a run for it, ducking in and out of the crowds with it hot on your tail. People all around were showing their concern but you just carried on, looking around desperately for The Master. Your legs were getting weaker, black spots clouding your vision in a matter of minutes. You strained yourself until you could barely walk anymore, ending up in the far right corner of the room, in the shadow of the large window. The moons were nearly at their peak, sparkling in the night sky.
“No where left to run human. You really were too tempting to resist. I had to trace you across the universe, but it will be worth it.” Your back hit the wall as it was speaking and closing in on you. How could you keep yourself conscious, how could you get the attention you needed?
“Master!!”
———
The Master had found The Doctor talking with one of the royal guards, learning more about the planets eco system in the process. She had smiled once seeing him.
“You wanted to talk to me?” He questioned, being met with a perplexed look.
“Uh no? Why?”
“Yaz said you did?” He explained, gesturing back to where he’d just come from. He really disliked leaving your side when you didn’t know the planet.
“What? But Yaz told me she was going to find a bathroom?” Now they were both left puzzled.
“So she lied to us both?”
“It would seem so, but why?” The Doctor posed the question, resting back against the wall behind her.
“You know why, I imagine she’s telling (y/n) off for being near me.” Rolling his eyes, The Master exhaled and looked into the crowd. Neither of you were there now. It felt like something had shifted, like a penny was dropping. Where had you gone?
“I’m trying, I just can’t shift her mind.” Guilt was laced in what she was saying so The Master made no further comments. Glancing around the room again, he caught wind of something that made him lour.
“That man was at the festival…that first place we went. I didn’t know their kind were on the guest list?” Looking back at The Doctor, she saw who he meant and nod.
“Neither did I.”
———
Yaz had made a beeline for The Doctor, wanting to explode and give The Master a piece of her mind.
“You!” She screeched, stopping in front of the purple clad man.
“What are you and (y/n)?” Yaz demanded an answer, making The Doctor rush to interfere. However, he held up his hand in wait.
“You know the answer to that, Yasmine.” Choosing to be honest, the young girl was taken aback.
“You’re..together?”
“If you want to put it into earth terms, then yes you can say that.” The confirmation felt like a nightmare. She looked at The Doctor furiously.
“Are you okay with that?”
“Yaz-“
“No Doctor! He’s a manipulative asshole!” She was yelling again, making a few guests and a guard look over. The Master didn’t care to pay attention, instead he was searching the room.
“Where is she?” He asked, getting no answer when the two woman were still bickering. There was a nauseating unease in his gut, their voice making him wince internally. He pushed between them.
“Where. Is. She?” The sharpness of his voice got her attention back again. Yaz tried not to show her fear.
“Who cares! She betrayed us for you!”
“You’re literally the only one who’s hung up on this. The Doctor doesn’t even care!” That made Yaz snap back round to her girlfriend. During the dispute, The Doctor had been sane and calm. It was in her better nature.
“Master!!” Your voice rang through the room, alerting the man instantly. Without thinking, he rushed off in the direction it came from, pushing through with no remorse. Your hands were now fully onyx, with little feeling left in them. The creature was right in your face, a fin sliding over your front and making you feel sick.
“Humans are so soft…” his fishy breath hit your face harshly, and you used all your will to push him back. That made him angry, a fin coming down and slicing across your middle. You let out a whimper of pain, almost falling but keeping your balance.
“Stupid girl, you’ll be mine in a few minutes. I’ll claim you as my own, my own little human sl-“ there was a bright flash. When you looked, it was gone. The Master stood there, eyes wide with terror. With the dark colour etching up your arms, he knew what it was. Blood seeped out of the cut on your stomach. He barely put his stolen TCE away before he was at your side. With what little strength you had, you pushed yourself into his arms just in time for him to catch you. “You came…” even your voice was weak now.
“Of course I did, I should never have left you.” He said, pressing a hand to your stomach firmly. Tears spilled down your cheeks, the pain unbearable and the slowness of your heart really scaring you. Finally, The Doctor caught up just as your legs gave out. The Master was fast, picking you up easily and turning to the woman. Your arm fell limp at your side, head rolling against his shoulder. Seeing you, her breath hitched. Instead of speaking, she began to run, snatching Yaz on the way and heading straight into the tardis. Yaz did watch as The Master carried you down to the med bay, her last words to you now scarred into her brain. He lay you on the bed where he once rested carefully, then rushed around to try and find an antidote.
“What are you thinking?” The Doctor asked in a rush, going to help him with whatever he needed.
“I don’t know. I think he poisoned her, judging by the reaction. It’s like her body is..” he shook his head, swallowing down thickly. She’d never seen him like this before and it scared her. It was really bad. The Master was a mess, flittering about from place to place. He began to ramble, spitting out different ideas and treatments. Slipping in and out of consciousness, you could only let out a strangled noise of pain. It was kink your lungs were folding in on themselves. After giving a set of instructions, The Master went to you once again. Taking hold of your hand, he almost flinched at how cold you felt. There was nothing he could say, he doubted there was anything he could do. Even when the doctor injected you with a blue liquid, it was futile. How could you go from laughing and dancing in his arms, to this? In such a short amount of time. The room fell quiet, your laboured breathing made the atmosphere dense. They knew it was far too late. She watched as The Master stood at your bedside, running his fingers through your hair lovingly. Never being one for goodbyes, The Doctor made her exit in a flurry, making sure Yaz Stayed away too. He could hear crying, not that she deserved to cry or mourn you. Your head went slack, eyes closing as your final breath narrowly escaped. For the first time in a millennium, tears filled The Masters eyes, obscuring his vision. He didn’t stop them, letting them fall. The one good thing he had, gone in an instant, like a drop of water on a lone flame. He now knew exactly how The Doctor felt every time she lose her companions. How she felt when loosing Rose. All of them coming and going like breath on a mirror. Whilst he could live on forever. The thought captured his brain, the most obvious thing. He was your cure. Standing by the top of your bed, The Master rubbed his hands together furiously until they emitted a golden glow, then pressed two fingers on each side of your head, closing his eyes and letting his regeneration energy work its magic. There was no real guarantee that it could bring you back, but he’d risk a life to keep you with him. It was hard to tell at first, with his eyes closed he couldn’t see the gash heal itself. Your hands slowly faded back to (skincolour), life flooding your veins. Eyes shooting open, you sat bolt upright, breathing in so much it made your lungs sore. Everything came back to you at once, your hands feeling around the middle of your stomach. There was no trace. It was gone. Turning your attention to your hands you saw swirls of gold under your skin. The Master took his hands from your head, moving round until you could see him. It all hit you in that moment, everything that had taken place.
“I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was him. I should have know it was him. But we were arguing and I was distracted and-“ hot tears rolled down your cheeks, your words falling into one. The Master didn’t care though, wiping them away whilst sitting on the side of the bed.
“Don’t. Don’t apologise.” His throat was bone dry, making you take his exhausted appearance in.
“Were you…crying?” It was hard to imagine, but all the signs were there. Biting his lip to stop it from wobbling, The Master clasped your hand again tightly, relishing in the warmth and pressing a faint kiss on your palm.
“I thought I’d lost you. It’s been a while since I’ve felt anything like that. I’ve lost so much. So many people that I loved. I couldn’t lose you too.” Unable to stop yourself, you reached forward and wrapped your arms around his middle, your face pressed into his chest. This eased him greatly, his arms encasing your trembling body tightly. Hooking an arm under your legs, he shifted delicately until you were curled up between his legs. Neither of you cared about the dried blood or your ripped dress. It was meaningless now. The Master was cradling you like you could break at any moment, like you just did. Like even the suggestion would make him blunder.
“You love me?” Hesitantly, you gazed up at him. He met your eyes, cupping your cheek and leaning down.
“Isn’t it obvious?” He sounded bittersweet, eyes looking deep into your own. The unexpected confession only made you cry more.
“I love you too.” You choked out, soon met with a deep, passionate kiss. The Master never wanted to let go, holding you against him, feeling your tears mixing with his own. Your hands fisted his now ruined shirt, cherishing the intimate moment. Parting ways, you panted heavily, tiredness overtaking you all of a sudden. Though it was to be expected.
“It’s okay love, you can sleep. I’ll take care of everything.”
———
The Master laid you down in a pair of fresh pyjamas, making sure the covers were over you securely. He left the med bay, walking up and finding both women with tear stained faces. He stopped at the top of the steps, alerting them with his heavy treads. The Doctor stood, looking at him sadly. Beside her, Yaz was clearly inconsolable, sitting on the floor in pure defeat.
“She’s fine. I brought her back.” He said, making the girls eyes grow wide.
“Seriously?”
“You think I’d just let her die, Doctor?” He spoke in a low voice, descending with heavy footsteps. Even now, The Doctor was distraught, knowing they had all lost you for a few minutes. Knowing that the girl she loved had indirectly played a part in that. It was then that The Master changed his course of direction, walking straight towards the blonde. Going against his moral code, he reached out and pulled her into a tight hug where she quickly broke down. He held the back of her head to his shoulder, rocking his old friend as she cried.
“You really saved her?” Yaz asked timidly. The Master, still piqued from the date evens, barely payed her any notice.
“I thought you wanted to kill her. O-or to hurt her…” she trailed off, all her assumptions slowly fading into obscurity. The Doctor pulled away, wiping her face dry the best she could whilst The Master held her up. His hands ran across her shoulders in comfort. Despite everything, the time lords could never truly hate each other. After their lives, they needed each other. They needed that feeling of home.
“I said I never wanted to see her again.” Yaz carried on, trembling in her spot on the floor. “I wished her death…” she finished in a whisper. They both went rigid, The Doctor turned around in trepidation, her mouth going dry.
“No…”
“You said what?” The Master charged over, looking down at the human with a fire inside that couldn’t be extinguished.
“I-I was just frustrated okay? I thought you were-“
“You thought I was hurting her? Manipulating her? Taunting and playing with her like she’s just some pawn in one of my elaborate mind game?” He snapped with venom, making Yaz back away. She couldn’t speak, voice seemingly shutting down.
“Look what happened. Because of your closed mindedness. This is why I hate humans. With your self righteousness and over confidence. Always thinking you’re right.” The Doctor stood back as he berated Yaz, chewing on her thumb nail. Normally, she would never allow this, but it was necessary.
“Unlike you, (y/n) used her brain. She can see past the plans and the killing. Past all the mistakes. She can see me. No, I’m never going to ‘turn good’. But I am going to do whatever I can to keep her safe. I agreed to stay, to try. I was never going to hurt anyone on this ship.” The Master crouched down, glaring deep into her eyes.
“Look what your hatred did. Are you happy now?” He put the question to her, searching her face for a solid answer that would satiate his fury. Yasmine didn’t respond, choking back tears in shame.
“I said are you happy now!” He howled, making the girl recoil, hitting a crystal pillar with force. Now that she was shaking in fear, The Master breathed out a deep sigh, pulling himself up. Turning to leave, he gave her one last cold look and said,
“You don’t deserve to be sad.” Then he trudged back to his room, trying to freshen up. The Doctor could deal with Yaz, hopefully finding an appropriate way of setting her straight.
———
After taking a shower that lasted far too long, The Master stared into the bathroom mirror with confliction. Was his therapy working? Why did he feel guilt? Maybe it was just the day weighing on him. Maybe it was all real emotion. Gripping the edge of the basin, he took in a few sharp breaths whilst moving his head side to side. Part of him wanted to storm the place, find his tardis and steal you away. But you needed to heal. The image of you covered in blood was stained into his memory. It was haunting him. He splatted his face with cold water, throwing something on to wear then pushing on the bathroom door. What he didn’t expect was to see you sat up in his bed, the pyjama shirt he had put you in was now hanging from your shoulder. He missed that dark bruise he had left on you. A symbol to show the universe that you were his.
“You’re supposed to be resting, what are you doing?” His voice made your head shoot round, a smile on your face as he approached you.
“I’m restless. I feel weird. Like buzzy.” You let him know, clenching and unclenching your fists to price your point.
“That’ll be the left over regeneration energy in your system, making sure you’re fully healed.” The Master stood in front of you, eyes wandering over your form numbly, concealing any and all woes. Tilting your head, you stared up.
“You’re sad.” Your statement took him off guard. He just scoffed and looked away.
“You don’t have to hide it from me, Master. I want you to be honest, please?” That was all it took to bring his walls down. He got onto the bed next to you, flopping back against the pillows.
“I’m not sad, (y/n). I don’t know what I’m feeling and I don’t like that.” You frowned as he spoke, crawling up beside him.
“It’s like I’m overwhelmed by a hundred different emotions. It’s awful. I don’t know how The Doctor does it.”
“She’s good at masking her feelings, just like you.” You scolded the both of them, even if she wasn’t there currently. He laughed a bit. Moving closer, you started to play with his hair gently, smiling at the bouncy curls. The Master kept his eyes on your face as you did this, monitoring your smile and your bright eyes. There was still a deep put in the middle of his stomach.
“I was scared. Really scared. Terrified even.” He admitted, voice barely audible. But you heard. Tentatively, you started stroking the side of his head, hoping to help the man open up some more.
“And now I know what Yaz said to you.” You froze, making eye contact with him. “She said she wanted you dead?” You wet your lips anxiously, your hand resuming its movements.
“Both of us actually…”
“I don’t care what she thinks about me. But you? In that moment, when you were gone, I felt so lost.” He was tense, shooting knives at the ceiling with his eyes.
“You quell the racket inside my head. With you, I feel sane. I need you, (y/n). I can’t lose you” the more he spoke the quieter he got, your heart swelling in response.
“You’re not going to lose me. Why do you think I came here as soon as I woke up? I’m not leaving your side, ever.” You soothed, nails scraping along his scalp nicely. “And we can leave together. If you find your tardis we’ll go as soon as you’re ready.” Eventually, your words reached him and The Master relaxed, turning towards you. He pulled you down, holding you against his chest. Instantly you felt safe, nuzzling into him and hugging his waist.
“Trust me, we’re going as soon as possible.” In his mind, The Doctor and Yaz were simply an after thought. He could find his ship in a dual heartbeat, without them knowing, he was just that good. And, with you by his side, The Master knew he could take on anything the universe threw at him.
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mizgnomer · 1 year ago
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Behind the Scenes of The Star Beast - Part Three
Excerpt from Benjamin Cook’s Star Beast Set Visit in DWM 597:
Meanwhile on set, Catherine Tate is struggling to carry a stack of cardboard boxes through the market. To be fair, it’s a lofty stack. Her vision is impaired. She cannot see. “I think this is the reason I don’t drive,” she says. “I’ve got no brain for spacial awareness. How do I look?” “Amazing,” says Yasmin Finney (known as Yaz), who plays Donna’s daughter, Rose. “This is certainly a moment,” she adds. “Yes, it is, thank you,” says Catherine, dropping the boxes. None of this is in the script. “How can I make it look like I know what I’m doing?” Here’s what’s scripted: “Hold on. Hold on! Let me help,” says the Doctor, running over. He takes the top box and sees who it is – oh no! “Thank you very much,” says Donna. Very calmly, the Doctor puts the box back. “Oi! Do you mind?!” she says. “If you’re finished playing games, mister.”
Despite “the incredible scope” – Rachel’s words [Rachel Talalay, director] – of this Camden shoot, it’s characterful moments like this one, the Doctor and Donna meeting again after all these years, that make The Star Beast’s hearts beat. “Actors of this calibre don’t lose sight of that,” says Rachel, “and neither must I. Russell has written it so brilliantly – I adore Russell – so I have to make sure these moments work. They’re the emotional core of this episode, and this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the Doctor and Donna, back together! Setting eyes on each other again…” “Would I keep hold of the box?” wonders David. “I suppose I’ve got to be polite somehow.” “I think it’s that or he runs away,” agrees Rachel. “Yeah, sure. No, absolutely.” “Still looking good,” Yaz whispers to Catherine, encouragingly, as the boxes are re-stacked. “I know,” Catherine whispers back, “I’m feeling damn fine. I think it’s the shoes.” She has a question for Rachel: “When I say, ‘This stuff’s not mine, it’s hers. Oh, where’s she gone? Rose! ROSE!’, am I looking at him” – this is David – “or at the boxes, or looking around for Yaz?” “Well…” replies Rachel (this is the director’s lot: fielding dozens of question every minute), “I think you’d be looking at David, but what feels more natural? And when you do the very loud ‘ROSE!’, is that working for you both?” “It’s working for me,” says David. “It’s quite weird, she’s shouting it in my face –” “Donna’s in her own world, isn’t she?” says Catherine. “I like that.” “I like that too,” says David. So does Rachel. “I totally trust you guys’ instincts.” “Oh, I wouldn’t do that,” says Catherine, with a chortle.
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who posted set photos
Additional parts of this set are in the #whoBtsBeast tag. The full episode list is [ here ]
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httyraptor · 2 months ago
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I have been very inspired by @emberphoenixisgoingtolive to post hcs so here is —
how the n6 behave in their groupchat
Darius – checks in every morning asking how everybody is doing. always replies ASAP and very thoughtfully. he always forgets to actually tell the others what HE is up to, though. reacts with many different emojis to messages and is the only one that does. the others tease him for genuinely reacting with the "😂" emoji
Kenji – sends so many reels. they're always extremely absurd. causes the gc to blow up with "KENJI WTF DOES THIS MEAN" every single time. also sometimes randomly sends a picture of himself at a random location like "look where I am 😎😎😎" and doesn't elaborate how or why he got there. in general he is usually the one responsible for making the gc go insane.
Ben – always forgets to respond in a timely manner, feels bad every time he goes inactive. when he comes back he sends a very long paragraph addressing every single gc plot point he missed and then follows up with a life update. if he's not doing that he's texting like a dad... so many "😁👍"
Yasmina – primarily a lurker. sometimes there's a conversation going on and the others see her little pfp bubble at the bottom of the screen so they're like "yasmina we know you're here" and she just sends "👀." she will reply if she is addressed though (or if kenji is sending weird reels with no context again. she is always the most baffled by them)
Sammy – SUPER engaged, always replies almost instantly, likes everybody's messages with a "💖." very invested in everybody's input and hypes them up with her WHOLE heart. also likes to send cute animal videos or photos of her farm animals
Brooklynn – also a bit of a lurker, but not as much as Yaz. she mainly likes messages but will reply to specific messages when she wants to. often just too busy to reply quickly. likes to send funny reels sometimes and say "this is so you" to any one of the camp fam (it's usually directed at ben). has one specific .5 photo of Ben that she'll just randomly drop and let chaos ensue. if you didn't already guess, her and Ben love to annoy each other in a very sibling-like fashion
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r-i-03-17 · 5 months ago
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Yasammy Trucker AU (where the gang are all truckers, except for Sammy, but we'll get into that.)
-Yaz, Ben, Kenji, Brooklyn and Darius all work for a trucking company called CC's driving 18 wheelers with supplies driving all over the country. They had all known each other since they were kids and always kept in touch over the radio and met up when they were able to. They were basically family, and all of them were pretty happy....except for one. See Ben has his girlfriend, Ashlyn that lived in Europe that he talked to all the time, Darius was seeing a girl and things were going well there, and Brooklyn and Kenji had been dating for years and even traveled together, but Yaz was alone.
-When it was night and she was alone in her truck bed, she didn't have anybody to call, nobody to tell about her day or laugh with...just......herself. She never told her friends about it, how much it bothered her to be alone, how much anxiety it gave her that every bump in the night could be someone dangerous trying to break into the cab, or the trailer to steal her cargo. They all knew though, she could tell by the looks they'd give her when they would ask if she wanted one of them to stay with her for the night, but she always refused with a smile and said she was ok. She was, but she was also by herself, but she was shy, and introverted, and gave off a "don't talk to me" attitude, so people didn't, and that made it hard to meet anyone new. That was until one day.
-The group had met up at this new diner that had been built on an interstate that they drove on often, it was called Bumpy's. It was a ranch-style building, blue wooden shingles on the outside walls with a black shingled roof, and a double wide glass door in front with an "OPEN" sign taped to the glass. They all walked in and seated themselves at a large booth and started looking around and talking about how nice the place was. An older woman gave them all menus and they looked them over and decided. A waitress, different from the one who had given out the menus, came out and asked what they wanted.
-Yaz was looking at her phone, so hadn't looked up when the new waitress came over, but when she did, she couldn't say anything. The waitress was her height, maybe a little shorter, with short jet black hair, tan skin, and huge brown eyes. Yazmina was starstruck. "You alright?" the waitress asked, a little bit of concern in her voice. "Sorry, um could I have a bagel please?" Yaz replied quietly, aware now of confused looks her friends were giving her, except for Brooklyn, her look was a smug almost knowing look. "Sorry, just kinda zoned out". Yaz apologized again, feeling a little more uneasy than usual. The waitress smiled and wrote down Yaz's order and walked off towards the kitchen, and all Yaz could do while she walked away was say "woah".
-When they were done eating and getting ready to pay, (they all had separate bills) Yaz was surprised to find some red writing and a 😉 face written on her check. They left and as they were heading back to their respective trucks, Yaz asked the group about why the girls could've written her name and a bunch of numbers of her receipt? "You got her number, that's great!" Brooklyn said. "You should totally call her". "I don't know, are you sure that's what this means?" Yaz said. She didn't have any opposition to calling this girl, she seemed really nice and Yaz definitely felt some attraction to her, but she didn't want to read into something too far. "Yaz, call her. Not now, but like later tonight, she was definitely into you otherwise she wouldn't have bothered". Brooklyn said, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder. Yaz smiled, "Yeah, I think I will".
Hope you guys enjoyed it, please repost and add to this if you want to, I think this Trucker AU has a lot of potential.
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emberphoenixisgoingtolive · 2 months ago
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how the nublar six would respond if you asked them for period products
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[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Darius Bowman from chaos theory giving a thumbs up and looking to the left. the text next to him says: yes of course i will get some for you i understand this is a thing people who menstruate need :) would you like a hot water bottle? chocolates? probably has a few on him as habit (mama Bowman taught him to always carry some with him) but is happy to go out to the shops and buy some]
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[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Brooklynn from chaos theory smiling and holding a takeaway bag. the text next to her says: sure *hands you some*]
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[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Sammy from camp cretaceous smiling and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. the text next to her says: of course! what kind would you like? i have small, regular, large, extra large, nighttime— oh, and tampons! i have all the types on me as well; you can never be too prepared! i also have menstrual cups, menstrual discs, period underwear — all brand new of course — and i also have painkillers and heating pads and— she is the most prepared person on the planet; i headcanon she has like. half the sanitary aisle packed when she goes to nublar, and that’s now they managed on nublar]
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[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Yaz from camp cretaceous looking to the left with a slightly shocked/disturbed expression. the text next to her says: doesn’t reply but comes to find the room you’re in and throws a pad at you]
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[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Kenji from chaos theory looking to the right with a neutral expression. the text next to him says: uhh... yeah, sure. okay. yeah, i can get you pads, or whatever. no problemo :) highly awkward about it. probably says ‘ew’ in camp cretaceous but chaos theory he manages to grow up thank goodness. doesn’t usually have them on him but will buy some when he’s with Yaz, Sammy and Brooklynn]
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[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Ben Pincus from camp cretaceous (first season design) smiling. the text next to him says: of course :) *hands you some*]
bold text indicates speech, non bold text is other stuff
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jammatown919 · 3 months ago
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I Hear You, I'm Sorry, I Love You
(Cross-posted to ao3, and I'm pretty sure someone already reposted it here, but I thought I'd post it anyway)
After the Nublar Six reunite in Biosyn Valley, Yaz and Sammy have a talk late at night. ------ Biosyn Valley was kind of like being back on Isla Nublar, all things considered. Only somehow with more tension.
They had the forest filled with potentially killer dinosaurs. The far from ideal sleeping conditions. The inability to even build a fire out in the open because of course these stupid lizards were attracted to light.
But on Nublar, they had been a largely united front. A group of best friends with unbreakable bonds. A bunch of kids who worried more about confessing to their crushes than real, adult relationships and the problems that could come with them. Young couples who looked at each other with stars in their eyes. Now, Sammy and Kenji hardly looked Yaz or Brooklynn's way at all.
It tore Yaz up inside to be so close to Sammy and not be able to talk to her, or touch her, or even make eye contact without some weird, bad feeling settling over them both. She couldn't stand it, frankly. If she had to deal with this any longer, she was actually going to go insane.
She managed to wait until the rest of the group had gone to sleep, exhausted from their travels and wanting a few hours of rest before they continued their search for Bumpy. Without the luxury of a shelter like they'd had on Nublar, they assigned watches to ensure nothing snuck up on them in the dark. Sammy volunteered for first, and Yaz saw her opportunity.
Maybe thirty minutes in, ample time for everyone to fall asleep in their messy beds of leaves and grass, Yaz sat up. She didn't know whether it was too optimistic to take it as a good sign that Sammy had settled in for her watch nearby rather than putting as much distance between them as she reasonably could. She was completely across the group from Brooklynn, but the next person over from Yaz. Maybe she was hoping to talk too?
In any case, Yaz slowly stood up and walked over to her, intent on sitting down beside her, but Sammy managed to stop her with only a glance in her direction.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" she asked flatly. No hint of anger, but no hint of anything else either.
"Can we talk?" Yaz replied hopefully. Sammy turned away from her with a harsh sigh, and Yaz had never felt so small in her life.
"Yaz, I don't want to fight with you," she said. "You were right about Brooklynn, big whoop. She still hurt us, and I'm still mad at her. I'm glad she's okay, but just because she apologized doesn't mean I'm gonna run right back to being her friend after everything."
"It's not about Brooklynn." It never really had been, between the two of them. And maybe if Yaz had realized that sooner, she could have saved them both a lot of heartache.
"What, then?" Sammy almost looked back at her, but seemed to stop herself at the last second.
Yaz took a slow, deep breath, then launched into what she'd been wanting to say since talking this out with Ben on the trip to Malta.
"I'm sorry, Sammy. I'm sorry for how I acted at Gia's house and for not taking the time to really try to understand how you were feeling. You have a right to be upset with Brooklynn, and I shouldn't have acted like you didn't. I was worried about her, but I got so wrapped up in it that I trivialized your emotions. I never meant to do that to you, and I'm so sorry that I did."
Sammy was silent for a few moments, her expression hard and strained. Then, it softened just slightly, and she patted the spot beside her. Yaz readily sat down, eager to be as close as Sammy would allow.
"It's not the first time, y'know," she murmured. "I wish I hadn't brought up Wyoming the way I did, but have you ever thought about what that was like for me? To have my partner, the only person still consistently in my life, just pack up and move away and barely talk to me? To call you every day and have you answer maybe once a week? Or two weeks? To send you dozens of texts about my day, asking about yours, trying to connect with you, and to get nothing but a thumbs up? It was like you just stopped thinking about me altogether. And I really tried to understand, because I knew what you were going through, but then you couldn't even extend the same courtesy when we were arguing. I give you space, I give you time, I do everything I can to be there for you because I love you. But when I need your support, you say I'm being ridiculous and call me a coward. You prioritize what you want to do over what I need like you don't even care."
These were all things that Yaz knew, in concept, had been harmful to their relationship, but to have it all laid out so plainly was like a knife to the chest. Sammy thought she didn't care. She had sabotaged her own relationship by being inconsiderate and oblivious. It was a lot to unpack, but it was her responsibility to do this and show Sammy she understood and wanted to do better. She would just have to start small and work her way up.
"Of course I care," she began. "And I'm so sorry I ever made you feel like I didn't. I never should have said what I said. Your relationship with your parents wasn't for me to comment on, and your feelings about Brooklynn are valid even if they're different from mine."
"So why did you say it?" Sammy demanded.
"I was too focused on trying to get you to see my side of things," Yaz replied. "I was afraid that if we didn't go after Brooklynn, something would happen to her and we'd never be able to get her back. I was afraid of everyone being too upset with her to help her. But I let that get the better of me and I lashed out at you. I resorted to arguing and name-calling because I wanted you to understand me when we should've been working to understand each other. It was childish and wrong, and I'm sorry."
Sammy let out a slow sigh and swept a hand across her face. "I get why you had to go after her. I really do. And I know I can get passive-aggressive sometimes, but I was so sick of not being heard."
"I'm sorry I let it get this far," Yaz said softly. "In Wyoming, it's not that I ever stopped thinking of you. It was the opposite."
"You ignored me for the better part of a year because you were thinking of me?" The skepticism in Sammy's voice absolutely killed her.
"Yes," Yaz went on steadily regardless. "When I left, I thought I was removing a problem from your life. We both know I wasn't exactly well, and I hated how worried you were and how much energy you put into taking care of me. I thought things would get easier for you if I left and proved that I could still stand on my own. But getting better wasn't a linear process. I had a lot of setbacks and bad days, and there were a lot of times when I was afraid that if we talked too much, I would say something that would make you think I wasn't getting better."
"It was the not talking that made me think that," Sammy said.
"It was the wrong way for me to handle it," Yaz conceded. "I should've been honest with you about everything. About feeling like your protectiveness was counterproductive, about wanting to be independent. I was just worried you wouldn't understand and it would hurt you. And then I just ended up hurting you anyway."
Sammy pursed her lips, her eyes planted firmly on the ground between her feet. Her hand twitched, almost as if to reach out and grasp Yaz's, but ultimately stayed where it was. 
"Sammy," Yaz said gently, "I never wanted to hurt you, and I'm so, so sorry that I did. I'm sorry that I made you feel like... this was our only option. It doesn't have to be. I want to fix this. I want to do better for you."
Sammy's breath hitched, and suddenly she buried her face in her hands. The tiny sob that escaped her shattered Yaz's heart into millions of pieces, and not knowing if hugging her would help or hurt just about ground it to dust. 
"This has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Sammy whimpered, "because I still love you. Of course I still love you. And for five years, we were good. You were there, and I felt like you wanted that as much as I did. But ever since you stopped letting me in, it feels like you've been getting further and further away from me. I can't keep chasing you, Yaz."
"You don't have to." Yaz took a risk and reached for her hand, relieved that Sammy let her take it gently. "I'm coming to you. I'm here, and if you want me, I'm yours. I love you more than anything, Sammy. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure you never have to doubt that again. Whatever you need."
"I need to know that you mean it." Through the tears, Sammy managed to fix her with a stern gaze. "When I tell you how I feel, I need you to actually listen. I need you to take me seriously even if you don't agree. And I need you to be the one to reach out to me every once in a while."
Yaz leaned in a little closer. "I promise to do my best to be better. To be the partner you need."
Slowly, Sammy leaned in too until their heads were touching. It made Yaz feel a little lighter to be close again. 
"Okay. But I mean it, Yaz," she said. "I know fixing things takes time, and I'm willing to work with you, but I need you to work with me too."
"As a team," Yaz replied softly. "Like we should be."
"Yeah." Sammy pressed herself a little closer still. "So, teammate, here's what I need from you right now. Don't try to tell me I should forgive Brooklynn. If you want to, that's your choice, but I need to make up my own mind about it. Understand?"
"Loud and clear."
"Good." After another few seconds, Sammy pulled away. "Thank you."
"Of course," Yaz murmured. She wanted to ask directly if they were okay now, to confirm what she hoped she was hearing, but she didn't want to push it too quickly and risk the progress they were making. Fortunately, Sammy always seemed to know what she was thinking. 
"I don't think I was ever going to not forgive you," she said gently. "I never wanted to split up. I just didn't know how else to make you see how much all this was affecting me."
"It was definitely a wakeup call," Yaz replied. "Even managed to get through my thick skull." 
Sammy stifled a small laugh with her hand, and Yaz found it in her to smile. 
"I'm sorry it took going to that extreme to make me understand," she went on. 
"Honestly, you should get your money back for those psychology classes. They clearly didn't teach you anything about how to deal with people's feelings." It would've been a jab, one that would've genuinely terrified Yaz in the context of the conversation, if not for Sammy's light, joking tone. Thank God they could joke with each other again. "Granted, I could be more upfront sometimes. Not like I ever really tried to tell you how upset I was while you were gone."
"But you were upfront in Italy, and I was a jerk," Yaz said. "I didn't mean to be, but I was."
"Little bit," Sammy agreed. "I'll forgive you this time, but I don't ever wanna hear anything like that again, Missy." 
It didn't even need saying. Yaz had been way out of line, and she knew it. She also knew what was at stake if she continued to let bad situations get the better of her and dictate her behavior. It could never happen again. Sammy was too important. 
"Never again."
"And the thumbs up emoji is banned from now on," Sammy declared. "When I text you, I better see words."
"Words and hearts," Yaz conceded. 
"Damn right." Sammy gave her a little nudge in the side. "Now how about you get some sleep? You've got second watch in an hour, and I'm not letting you sleep in just because you're my girlfriend."
That was, quite literally, the best thing Sammy could have possibly said to her. 
"Okay." She stood slowly, reluctant to part, but knowing they would be close again soon. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Yaz."
Yaz walked back over to the pile of leaves that would have to do for bedding tonight and laid down. It was cold and extremely uncomfortable, but she couldn't help feeling a little giddy anyway. Maybe the environment was less than ideal, and maybe she was still in danger, and maybe she was even still on thin ice with Sammy, but she found it difficult to worry too much about all that right now. 
They'd managed a real conversation. They'd come to an understanding. They were going to try again. Yaz hadn't lost everything after all. 
She had her girl back, and despite everything else going on, that was all that mattered tonight. 
------ Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider reblogging or buying the writer a coffee!
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captain-noir · 2 years ago
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where are you! new trailer dropped
ive been so extraordinary offline coz of travel but yes i just saw it and got giddy but like cautiously since we're not getting it any time soon but wow...good food!
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