The Master's Game (Doctor Who)

Double trouble

The pub was more of an inn with a bar on the main floor. It looked modern, the furniture made of dark wood. Padded benches and stable wooden tables filled the well lit room, giving it a warm and cozy atmosphere. Most people seemed to be still at the festival, so they got a nice place in the corner at a window.

Roka had used a bit of her stolen money to order some food, which she was now hungrily shoving inside her, hoping it was only meat with something vaguely resembling mashed potatoes. Who knew what weird things people might eat on that planet. But stress and blood loss had made her urgently hungry.

"I really wonder what creature this is," she mused, gulping it down with some water.

"Human," the Master grumbled sourly. He sat on the opposite bench, feet on the padding, back against the wall and his fingers drumming on the table, while he stubbornly continued to look the other way.

Roka glanced at the piece on her fork, shrugged and ate it anyway. "You're bluffing..."

Not much later and she had emptied the plate, pushing it away with a contempt sigh. When the innkeeper came she tugged at his sleeve, and as he finally saw her, she ordered a whole bunch of different, foreign sounding, drinks.

"So..." she started, folding her arms on the table and glaring at the Master. "I made a decision." He proceeded to ignore her, so she continued undeterred, "I won't play this messed up game with you."

A smug smile played on his lips, while he stared up to the ceiling. "Then he's dead now."

"Fine," Roka said nonchalantly. "I can't win against you anyway. We both know that. So, no reason to waste my time with it." It wasn't even a lie. In case he wouldn't give in there was no way she would be able to get anywhere.

The innkeeper brought the drinks and Roka took a sip from one. It wasn't very strong and tasted sour. The Master looked at another one for a moment, then grabbed and downed it in one go, before he threw the empty glass into the middle of the room where it splintered into pieces. His face was expressionless, but Roka could tell that he was still angry. Although she wasn't completely sure at what exactly.

"Listen..." she tried.

"No." He grabbed another drink, but only stared at it.

Roka sighed. She knew it was no use when he was in such a mood. But the mere fact that he was here and hadn't just vanished - what he could have done easily - proved that he too didn't want things to end like that. Especially not after... well... that was an issue for much later.

"You can't, just for once, make things easy for me, hm?" She sighed, not awaiting an answer.

For some time she watched the guests coming in and out while emptying her glass. There were lots of interesting species around. Right now a very peculiar pair entered the inn. One of them looked human, male, probably in his mid forties or so, with dark brown hair and sporting an thin goatee. He was clothed quite elegantly in a tight black jacket, a white shirt and a black tie lurking out underneath it. The other one was more interesting though. It was a small person, roughly the size of a six or seven year old human child, it's skin had a light blue tone and its limbs were thin as twigs. The face was round and wrinkled and wore a small, dark blue soul patch, while the head was bald.

"That one looks like a stick figure," she giggled and watched the two.

To her surprise the Master reacted and looked over at the new guests, his eyes widening.

"That can't be true," he mumbled. Then he raised his fingers to his mouth and let out a sharp whistle, making the whole inn look at him.

With a head nod he waved the two over, ignoring everyone else. The man didn't look very happy, quite the contrary. Roka sensed that he was dangerous, as his gaze wandered over the Master and then... over her. And she definitely wasn't visible right now!