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The Master let out a soft yawn as “Phase 528” showed up on the screen of the small console in his hands and, in less than five minutes, another text appeared in front of him written “Answer: correct. Next phase: 529”. He had now broken the record of the person who reached the current highest phase number on the game – which was also him. And the one before. Maybe the one before it too. He had to ask the Doctor to give him a more mentally challenging puzzle game later if he wanted to keep him entertained and not thinking about strangling people or burning up planets for more than 2 seconds.
Just as he spoke about the devil, the Master heard footsteps approaching the room he was in, which could only belong to one person. He was ready to be shed by another wave of chatters about an “exciting” discovery he made while visiting a barely know and nearly uninhabited planet he wouldn’t make much effort in learning the name or paying attention to it – since the Doctor’s “exciting” never included mass murder, violence or things blowing up – or about how fun and interesting ancient Egypt was and they should definitely visit it together (again, the Doctor’s concept of “fun” and “interesting” sounding completely foreign to him).
But, instead of any of that, the Master received a very dispirited and exhausted looking Doctor at the door of his room, his heavy, gloomy eyes seeming to be not looking at anything in particular or anywhere, and they certainly weren’t looking at him, although the Master was quite sure the other Time Lord at least knew he was there, but he didn’t seem very aware of his surroundings or what was happening, appearing to be very deep in thought or at least disturbed by it.
The Master didn’t say anything at first, waiting for the Doctor to do it or make any move. They stayed in a quite uneasy silence for some moments, until the other began to move – more like drag - his foot slowly towards the bed the master was laying on, and he watched him approaching with curious eyes.
Then, a loud gasp let out the Master’s mouth when the Doctor suddenly threw himself on top of him, his body dropping loosely over his own and his head resting on his chest, that action almost making him accidentally drop his game on the ground.
- Hey! – He exclaimed as he was about to grumble, when he felt a face nuzzling on his shoulder and a hand gripping on his shirt. The Master’s expression turned a bit more serious now – … Is one of those days, isn’t it? – He asked in a quieter voice after remaining in silence for a few seconds, receiving only a small nod in response – Wanna talk about it? – He asked, and the Doctor only moved his head again, this time negatively.
The Master then sighed, placing his console on the bedside table as he wrapped one arm around the other Time Lord’s shoulder, beginning to rub his back in a slow and soothing motion, while his other hand moved to his soft brown hair, gently running his fingers through it.
Time passed inadvertently as they stayed like that without saying anything, only the typical humming of the TARDIS’ filling the background and the small noises of their breathing. After some minutes, the Master felt the Doctor’s tense and rigid body beginning to relax slowly under his touch. In moments like this, when he was feeling down or troubled by the nightmares from his past, he would always seek for the Master’s presence and embrace for comfort – although he didn’t think that something about himself was particularly very comforting, not saying it as a bad thing. He didn’t mind much though. It was better than having the Doctor sulking around and making faces o even, sometimes, having his state evolving into panic attacks, which weren’t a very nice sight. Usually, he would come shaking or even sniff a little bit when he was feeling too vulnerable to hide it away. But, this time, he only appeared to be in distress, which was easier to deal with.
Eventually, the Doctor seemed to have calmed down completely, his breathing much quieter now and his face didn’t contain all that weight from earlier anymore. He had closed his eyes at some moment, and the Master almost wondered if he had fallen asleep.
- Better? – He asked in a whisper, making those big, soft brown eyes open up to look at him now.
- Pretty much so. Thank you – The Doctor answered with a tiny smile on the corner of his lips, and the Master couldn’t resist smiling back at him for a brief moment – Can I stay here for a little longer? – He requested in a tone that almost seemed shy, which made the Master hold back a small laugh and shrug.
- Yeah, fine. But only if you give me a more difficult game to play – He answered playfully, making the other beneath him chuckle slightly – Maybe one that has a lot of blood in it. And death.
- We’ll discuss on that later – He replied as he snuggled more comfortably in the Master’s arms, resting his face on the crook of his neck.
He observed as the Doctor then slowly fell into a comfortable sleep, and he didn’t resist giving him another gentle smile, as he silently placed his lips against his forehead.