The Master's Game (Doctor Who)

Without consequences

It wasn't quite as she had expected it to be.

Mostly because it was surprisingly awkward. Roka wasn't used to be visible all the time and the Master, very obviously, wasn't used to another person being around at all. It also didn't help that she was on edge around him all the time. Which went so far that he snapped at her at the second day.

"Geeze, I'm not going to kill you, you know." He rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his tea.

They stood around in the TARDIS kitchen, both with cups in hands, both being silent so far.

"Yeah, only because you fear I could rip reality open," she mumbled back.

"Reason enough." He gave her a wink and snickered. "But seriously, relax. It was you after all who asked."

"Maybe that was a stupid idea." She let out a deep sigh and got back a wide grin.

"Oh, I promise, it was. But we're on a mission." He winked again.

"Huh? Are we now?" Roka asked slightly confused.

"It's called... having as much fun as possible without ever looking back." He put down his cup and stepped towards her, poking her head.

"Still... you're evil. I never know what you're up to. Or if you will just leave me behind anywhere," she pouted. "If you taught me one thing, then that you can't be trusted."

"Mhm... can't deny that." He tapped his chin, then pointed his finger at Roka. "But you're not stupid. Trust the logic."

"Which is?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"There is nothing to gain for me in ripping reality open, quite the contrary. Which also means..." he poked her once more and leaned against the counter next to her. "...that you're under my personal protection right now."

Roka almost choked on her coffee, before laughing. "Oh my. That can't end well." She peeked up to see him smile, noting surprised that it was a rather genuine smile she had never seen before. And again there was this weird, irrational feeling of being... safe.

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It also didn't help that he changed his clothing style completely from one day to the other. Although it shouldn't have surprised her so much, knowing the stories about him. Still, when he switched from hoodies to designer stuff, she couldn't help but wonder if that was the same person.

"Like what you see?" he asked snickering.

"Not sure..." Roka squinted at him. "I actually think you are an imposter."

"Tz... It's called 'having style'. Can't go traveling looking like an idiot." The Master smirked and towered above her.

She gulped. Like that he was actually a lot more intimidating than before. Making it a lot worse that he refused to keep a proper distance.

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Traveling itself was a lot of fun though, although unexpectedly uneventful at first. The locations seemed random, but after a few Roka could make out a pattern. At each place the Master took something with him. Either bought or stolen. Once it was a tiny device, another time a worthless looking collection of stones, a few computer chips at one place and a wooden figure at another. What he needed all of that for was a mystery to her, but she wouldn't be surprised if it belonged to a new plan he was secretly developing. Either that or he had a secret passion for useless nick nacks.

The Master also tried to keep her away from anything that could be even remotely dangerous to her life and laughed when she eventually complained about it. But Roka also learned quickly that he was horribly bad at this attempt.