Owl from the Master to the Third Doctor

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

The Master found it harder than expected to compose his note to the Doctor.... the Doctor as he had been so long ago. He could barely recall how it was between them, it was so long ago.

But finally, he produced a letter in an elegant hand.

My dear Doctor,

As we discussed, there is an establishment in this school suitable for a gentleman's relaxation. The enclosed map will direct you there, and no where else. Shall we meet for drinks at seven?

With a sharp pang, he signed his name in Gallifreyan.

Comments

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Why Doctor, should I be flattered? I don't recall suggesting riding double, although it's nice to know you're perceptive enough to guess I'd be up for it."

[science-advice.livejournal.com]

"Certainly not!" The Doctor snapped.

"Very well, we can see... next thursday, shall we say. Perhaps a bit of a gentlemanly competition, what do you say?" he continued before he had time to think better of it. He'd wipe that grin off the Master's face if it was the last thing he did. Which it well might...

The Doctor grabbed his wineglass and drank nonchalantly, trying not to think about how on earth a seemingly normal stick of wood would stay in the air. He'd just have to trust it would, this once. And it couldn't be that hard to learn, either.

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Are you sure that's enough time for you to find a tutor?" He chuckled, trying not to think about how a much younger Doctor, younger even than the one now before him, would have loved flying, and what it would have been like to see his face as he discovered it.

"Next Thursday, then, if you'd care to make a competition of it. Did you have stakes in mind?"

[science-advice.livejournal.com]

The Doctor let himself be preoccupied by another mouthful of wine, savoured this time as he thought of a reply.

What had possessed him to suggest a competition, of course the Master would make it into a bet... being stuck in a school of all things was clearly making them both unnecessarily nostalgic. Which, if this was back then...

The Doctor shook his head minutely to cast away such antiquated thoughts.

"How about truth? If I win, you'll have to tell me... ah, no, let's make it a truth of my own choosing. Think you could manage that much?" he asked with a slight edge.

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Ahhhhh, that is interesting." He leaned closer. "I take it you'd agree to the same terms?"

[science-advice.livejournal.com]

"Certainly, I have nothing to hide," The Doctor replied brashly as if the things the Master might ask didn't concern him in the least. Well, he... probably didn't.

There was a somewhat stretched silence, during which the Doctor drank some more wine, which was excellent for dispelling any feelings of awkwardness he might have otherwise felt.

"I spoke to this fellow Rory earlier, whily waiting for that hat to make up it's mind," he said finally. "Seems like a nice young man... companion of a future regeneration, apparently. Don't suppose you've met that one?" he said, swilling the remaining wine in his glass idly.

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

Interesting question. Idle conversation, or something deeper? The Master took a sip before answering.

"On a few occasions, here. Not as well as I knew his predecessor. Don't worry, Doctor, you're still a priority."

[science-advice.livejournal.com]

"Hmph. As if that's supposed to be reassuring..." the Doctor muttered under his breath, though mostly thinking about 'predecessor'. At least two more regenerations forward... for what that was worth, which wasn't much, really.

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Doctor. Do you really expect reassurance from me? Or that I'd expect you to believe it? I think we know each other better than that."

[science-advice.livejournal.com]

The Doctor huffed. "Indeed," he agreed.

And yet, comparing this Master with h-- the one he knew in his time, he seemed somehow so much... older. He'd almost say more cynical, if that wasn't laughable... though, he had a unpleasant feeling this Master wouldn't be fooled as easily. Well, about time he'd learned, he supposed.

The corner's of the Doctor's mouth turned subtly downwards as he took in his old enemy. How wretched it could be, being confronted with the familiar, but twisted out of recognition, like that wretched alternate earth he'd been trying not to think about...

He turned away abruptly, turning his displeased gaze onto a rather large plant lurking in the shadows in one corner instead. Did it just move slightly?

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Now, now, does that mean you can't be civil? We're having a pleasant evening, made a gentleman's wager, and now you have an excuse to play with those silly little brooms, which can get to quite remarkable speeds, especially the deluxe models."

[science-advice.livejournal.com]

"Yes yes, I'm sure they do..." The Doctor replied distractedly, his eyes wandering around the room as if looking for a way out. Or a distraction.

Well. There was always the Master himself, a part of his mind piped up.

The Doctor's attention snapped back to him, almost considering.

"Are you sure, thought? I seem to recall you weren't overly succesful in the vortisaur race back in the day?" he reminded, eyes glinting in the low light, a slightly vicious smile tugging at the edges of his mouth.

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Oh, but I have the advantage of familiarity over you here." That wicked smile captured his attention like a neon sign, and he had to force himself not to stare. Oh, that viciousness had suited him so well, it had been so tempting in those days to do all he could to bring it out... "And I've always been keen on... pressing any advantage."

[science-advice.livejournal.com]

The Doctor chuckled. "Oh yes, I remember that. Would keep on till you found something you were better in..." theoretical engineering had been one of his worse defeats, because he'd been so sure he could get a better grade than Koschei.

"Bit funny, though, that you didn't dare 'press your advantage' without the excuse of winning a bet, though," he teased. Usually he wouldn't actually be so incautious as to mention their first kiss so cavalierly, but the strange situation and several glasses of wine had blurred the lines sufficiently.

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

Oh, that was unfair. Bad enough to have one devious young Doctor in front of him without such head-spinning reminders of an even more distant and less fraught past.

"I had to figure out the rules before I could know the best ways to break them, after all," he purred, trying to sound seductive and not utterly gobsmacked by nostalgia. "It's not like either of us is who we were then."

[science-advice.livejournal.com]

"No, hardly," the Doctor agreed, eyeing the Master, still with some waryness.

He felt restless, caught in this new trap with even less distraction from the chafe of it than UNIT could offer.

"You're not even like you are in my time, are you?" he asked rhetorically, some of the inner tension coming out in his voice, and the restless swinging of one leg, crossed over the other. No good, showing agitation to the Master, let alone this one, so he forced himself still, to appear unconcerned. "Why, I'm 'then' to you as well, aren't I?

[theregothedrums.livejournal.com]

"Very much a 'then'," he agreed, looking the Doctor up and down. "Whereas I am more jaded and wicked, and far less concerned about the niceties of timelines."