hh_mirror | [RP for Ten and the Master]

The old mannerism wasn't lost on him. He hoped it wasn't prophetic.

"My room, or should I say our room, is in Slytherin. We'll probably want to have another desk brought in for you. But then, I'd best show it to you, hadn't I?"

"Guess you better had." He felt a little guilty, after Jack had been so excited to have him back, but itf he'd been trying to help the Master before he at least owed his some display of trust and it was only for a week after all.

He knocked back the remainder of his now barely-more-than-lukewarm coffee, the long swig masking a scowl. He didn't like the hint of reluctance he was sensing, not at all. But by the time he'd set the emptied mug on a table for the house elves to deal with, he was grinning again.

"This way to start," the Master said, debating whether to reach for the Doctor's hand as they set off. No. Damn it, no. Let him make the next gesture.

The Doctor, being the Doctor, did not reach for the Master's hand, but he did offer him a warm smile before striding ahead oh him. "SO! Where are we going?"

"I can't imagine you've been here long enough to have much in the way of belongings to pack, but do you need to collect anything? No need to do more running about than we need to."

"Ahhh...." The Doctor patted himself down in search of his sonic (check) and his new wand (also check).

"Doesn't look like it. Oh! I probably ought to tell Jack. You haven't seen him around have you?"

"Believe it or not, we don't socialize." He fought back the instinct to snarl. "I'd prefer it if he didn't know where I slept. Especially if he knows you've a right to be there. His little stunt with polyjuice - that's a shape-shifting potion - was unpleasant enough when you weren't here. And if he's looking to beat me up again he can find me on his own."

The Doctor just looked at him. That was a lot of information to take in especially considering he didn't understand about half of it.

"Tell him on your own time. Surely you didn't think we'd be friends?"

"No, I knew you wouldn't be. That's not what I was asking." He sighed. "We're not going to fight are we?"

"Why? Because you want to play with your little pets?" He snorted irritably and pointed. "Slytherin's that way. I'd much rather we didn't fight. But that particular mutt is prone to bad behavior and I don't want him around. It wouldn't be pretty."

"Well to be fair you did....." Nevermind. The Master knew what he did. "What happened then? With that potion?"

Normally he would have brushed it off with a snide remark, but this wasn't a time for 'normally'. "He tried to convince me he was you. I hadn't been here very long then. Subjectively it was a fairly recent memory. And he tried to... I believe 'get fresh' is a common idiom?"

The incident had rattled him more than he'd admit.

The Doctor frowned at that, stopping. "Why would he....no. Jack... " He groaned. Things were already getting complicated.

"At least you're not entertained by the idea." It was something.

"Who'd be entertained by that?" It would be another thing if anyone else had tried that. But knowing what had happened between Jack and the Master on the Valiant.... Their history already made matters more dangerous.

"Two of your other selves for a start." He scowled. "He's rather skilled at charming people into seeing things his way."

"I wouldn't have thought he'd go that far...." The Doctor could feel how off put the Master was by this and didn't feel amused at all. Although he was seriously conflicted by the whole business.

"I'm sorry."

"I don't need sympathy," he said tightly, fighting back a fresh wave of anger. "I simply don't want him knowing where I sleep. Consider it a trust exercise."

He nodded his head, complicit with that request. It was simple enough.

Somewhat mollified, he made his way through the corridors to Slytherin, pointing out the Little Green Apple as they passed it. "The bartender there mixes everything as strong as she can get away with, and the 'house special blend' in the hookahs has stuff in it that's usually associated with shamans or addicts, depending on the culture. Another word of warning."

"Ooh. Might have to look into that!." He paused to get a better look at the stand and then hurries to keep pace with the Master.

"If this is a school where are all the students?"

"I've found it beneficial from time to time." He laughed, still faintly bitter over the reason for his last bender. "It used to be a more conventional school. Still a school for magic, which is apparently a thriving hidden subculture, but with all the standard things you expect from a school. Like regular classes." The Master snorted, and laughed with much more cheer. "Far more to your taste the way it is now. From what I've been able to tell, it became a pandimensional nexus point a few years back, and no-one knows why."

"Maybe we should look into it" he suggested brightly. "Love a good mystery, me. What do you say?"

Oh, it was good to see that look. The Doctor thrived on puzzles, and here there was no shortage of them. "It seems to be a subject people wander away from. I've never found any but the most preliminary notes. That's the thing, you see; to study the school, you have to study magic, and there's a lot of magic to study. Particularly without regular classes." He pondered the concept, came to a potential solution. "Of course, I've been immersing myself in the magic part. But you can have the benefit of my notes and a bit of tutoring on what interests you, and you can come to me when you find any leads on the school so I can work with you on the tricky bits without having to take time away from learning doing all that legwork." He grinned, imagining it. "How does that sound?"

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