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It had only been a couple of months since the tearful goodbyes of Ryan and Graham, but it seemed like the Doctor and Yaz had all but forgotten. Perhaps they were too caught up in each other's presence to notice. The Master relished in the snappy comments and moodiness that resonated from the Doctor, feeding him like a child who was indulging in too many sweets, but all of his attempts to converse with the Doctor were all but futile.
Instead of participating in these so-called arguments, he preferred to sit at the TARDIS doors, peering out into the universe, unaware of the consequences that the Doctor was facing for being too secretive. He was instructed by the Doctor to stay away from the TARDIS controls for reasons he couldn’t remember (or had forgotten for a reason) but he agreed nonetheless.
He couldn’t understand what Theta saw in the young lady, well she was more of a girl. However, the way that she treated her was becoming more like her equal rather than a companion, not that he had any companions of the sort thankfully.
Besides, with all of the weird tension that they had going on over there, he would rather look out into the universe bored out of his mind.
The TARDIS hummed and chimed around him annoyingly as he stared out, ignoring whatever was happening behind him, but as soon as he heard one heartbeat leave the room, he turned around with a slight smile on his face. However, when Theta stared him down, his smile soon turned into a head tilt.
Still sitting with his legs crossed, he itched the back of his neck and stood up from where he was.
“That sounded fun.”
“You weren’t even listening to what we were arguing about.”
He chuckled.
“I don’t have to even hear you two talk to know that you’re arguing. One look, on your face and I can tell. We both can.”
The TARDIS hummed in agreement but soon faded into a light blue. But the Doctor was silent and still glaring at him. It wasn’t with any malicious intent however, she just seemed exhausted. Turning her head away from him and shaking it slightly. He didn’t know why he was smiling so much, but he continued it anyway.
“Stop doing that.”
“What?” He answered innocently. “I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re acting weird.”
“That’s a bit rich coming from you and you know it.” He added back, crossing his arms. There it was. Theta was quite hard to crack on a good day, but just the way that she sighed as she gripped the console in front of her.
“What do you want.”
He wanted lots of things, that was true. He wanted to go back to Gallifrey, well what was left of it, and remake it again just to see the look on her face. That was a bit too much actually. He wanted her to thank him for not killing her, he wanted her to apologize to her for leaving him behind on Gallifrey all those years ago. It wasn’t fair and it still hurt in ways that he couldn’t tell her about. He wanted her to just look him in the face and hug him. He just wanted to be held.
Life wasn’t always fair, and it came with no exceptions. Especially with Thoschei.
“Why isn’t she blonde?”
A moment in silence.
“Wait… What?” She turned to him with a confused expression on her face. “You want to know why Yaz isn’t blonde?”
“Yep.”
“Nothing else? That’s it?”
Of course not, you stupid alien.
“Yep.”
“She’s not blonde because she’s just… not.”
This was a dumb conversation, but he kept going with it. There had to be something else that he wasn’t picking up on, and he happened to be considerably good at finding a way under people’s skin both literally and metaphorically.
“Koschei, if I didn’t know any better I would say that you were jealous.”
“I don’t get jealous, Theta. I just don’t understand why there’s only one human in here and she also isn’t blonde.”
“What’s with you and the blonde thing?! I’m blonde.”
“You don’t count. There’s always a blonde companion. I mean-” He stopped for breath and stood back and quickly pointed to his hair. “I was blonde once.”
“And then you tried to kill me and I could see your skull. That was weird.” She replied, making a scrunched-up face at him.
“Okay, that was an accident and also that was rude. I looked great as a blonde-”
“You didn’t, but continue.” She said in a small voice.
“Why is Yaz here, Theta?” He sighed loudly, putting his hands on his hips. “What is her purpose?”
Theta was facing him now, her hands also on her hips and she was looking up at him slightly. Her coat was cast over one of the many crystals and was slowly sliding off, not that he had noticed or anything. She was glaring at him again, and he had poked at her a little too much.
“Yaz is here because I want her to be, unlike you who just managed to show up with your TARDIS mysteriously missing.”
He put a hand up to his chest and pretended to be offended. Dramatically he gasped for air and crossed his left heart with his fingers.
“I am very offended that you would even suggest that, or even say that to me. You know that it’s missing and you chose the opportunity to remind me of it, so for that, I thank you, Theta.”
The Doctor only rolled her eyes at him and continued to fiddle with the TARDIS controls.
“Are you saying that you don’t want me here?” He asked again.
“Well, you’re not my favorite person in the world if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“And… Yaz is?” He asked, tilting his head slightly with his eyebrows raised. He had moved his hands to his pockets now and was playing with a piece of lint in his left one.
She didn’t even make eye contact with him. There was the tension again, which he had grown to love.
“Well, if you like her then we both know it’s not going to end well for you.”
“And what do you mean by that, Koschei?” She snapped at him.
“You pick up strays and then you leave them like a child forgets the shells they collect at the beach. One of you is inevitably going to get hurt and the other one will face the consequences.”
“You’re saying this to me like you have experience with being left behind.”
He could only laugh and shake his head at her.
“You left me behind so many times, Theta. You have left me behind more times than we can both even remember and it’s not fair. None of it is.”
“So you are jealous of Yaz then. You’re jealous because I left you behind and I have someone new that I’m traveling with who someone I care about and I want to be around. I made a promise to her that I was going to tell her everything, and I am telling her everything because I like her.” She hastily said, walking up to him in a frenzy. She was now standing so close to him he could hear her hearts beating.
“So.” He mused. “You like her.”
“And I would never leave her behind.”
“Because you like her. Got a little school-girl crush do you?”
No answer.
“Oh. Oh! It’s more than a crush, my dear Theta. You love her. You love her and you want her to be with you all the time and travel with you-”
“It could’ve been you, you know?” She replied quietly. “We could’ve traveled together. We could’ve seen the universe together.”
She’s such a hypocrite when she wants to be.
“Hmph.” He rolled his eyes and went to sit by the doors again.
Taking his post at the TARDIS doors and watching the universe go by, they went their separate ways and continued existing in solitude and silence, barely acknowledging each other's existence or the loud thoughts that filled the already cluttered room.
It could’ve been you, but you could never be like me.
I know Theta.