The Master chases, the Doctor runs. That's how it has always been, that's how it will always end.
Deep inside his hearts the Master knows it.
It is one reason why the death of his human gnaws so much on him. With her it was the other way around.
But...
A/N: Plot? What plot? No one needs plot. For my own dwindling mental health I need some fluff before I throw myself off a bridge or something. >__> And maybe someone likes it too... if not, there are enough other stories with actual plot. ;P
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"Wait... You're coming with me?"
"That was the thought, yes."
I glared at him with an open mouth. "Hell, no! Leave me alone."
"Wha-haaat?!" The Master laughed. "You have no money! And the worst sense of direction I have had the displeasure to witness!" He poked my forehead, giggling. "And I want to see where you'd end up, what places you'd be drawn to."
I swatted his hand away. "Why?"
"The people here don't... uhh... like me. I want to learn more about what makes them tick."
"I'd have an idea or ten why they hate you."
"I bet you do. But now go. Shush! Move!"
"And you'll follow me around or what?" I didn't move one step and instead glared up at his stupid grin. "That's the opposite of exploring. That's like having a babysitter in my back who comments on everything and mocks me for every wrong turn or whatever."
The Master tilted his head. "And if I keep quiet? I won't say a word, I won't judge any of your decisions, won't mock you for getting lost." He stepped closer and bent down a little, his look suddenly serious. "I'll be your shadow. You'll be my eyes."
Something about the way he said this made me shiver. Not in fear or discomfort. There was just an... honesty in those words I hadn't expected. And for a second, just for one, I fought the urge to take his hand before I turned to walk away.
The guards watched us as we passed and saluted, but after that no one paid us any attention as we meandered through the streets. The Master kept his word and not only kept entirely quiet, but also stayed behind me so that I didn't even see him most of the time. Even when I sat down on a bench to watch some birds or when I spent almost half an hour wandering through a park with orange and purple trees.
I forgot about him here and there and only got a reminder when he grabbed my arm out of the blue to drag me under a roof, seconds before a curtain of rain swooshed down from the sky.
"Huh? That was sudden," I remarked. "Thanks."
"Rainstorms here often come from one moment to the next."
And with that he was quiet again.
For the entire morning that hadn't bothered me at all, quite the opposite. But now in the white noise of the rain and the tight space we shared to stay dry, his silence started to weigh more and more with every passing second.
"I guess it'll pass soon," I ruminated. "Rain like that never stays for long."
"Here, it does. Sometimes." The Master leaned against the wall, thumbs in his pants pockets and head leaned back. "The storm yesterday, it was just one of many." And as if to underline his words, the first lightning forked over the sky.
