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syncopathHe had no way of knowing how long he had been in the dark; it was a funny thing, perhaps, but even a Time Lord must concede (as much as it might personally gall him) that death is timeless by its very nature. Still, he remembered everything.
When he awoke, groggily, the first thing he did was clap a hand to his neck, expecting a mark or a hole where the persistent memory of pain told him it should be. There was nothing. A ghost feeling. He blinked twice and sat up.
The room was dim, dusty and unused, and the small sink in the corner rattled ominously before spitting out water of some unsavory color, but there was comfort, egregiously tiny as it may be, in washing up as best he could. He surveyed his surroundings again. Besides the mattress he'd woken up on (and who had placed him there?) the room boasted nothing else.
He knew when he was, but not where. Or why. Not for the first time, he wondered if it might not be a prison.
The Master took panicked strides toward the door, fully expecting it not to open when he yanked on the handle roughly, and almost falling backwards when he was proven wrong.
A maze of hallways spread itself before him, each equally dim and dusty as the room behind. As the Master began to walk, it became obvious what he'd somehow known from the moment he opened the door. It wasn't a prison.
It was a ruin.
When he awoke, groggily, the first thing he did was clap a hand to his neck, expecting a mark or a hole where the persistent memory of pain told him it should be. There was nothing. A ghost feeling. He blinked twice and sat up.
The room was dim, dusty and unused, and the small sink in the corner rattled ominously before spitting out water of some unsavory color, but there was comfort, egregiously tiny as it may be, in washing up as best he could. He surveyed his surroundings again. Besides the mattress he'd woken up on (and who had placed him there?) the room boasted nothing else.
He knew when he was, but not where. Or why. Not for the first time, he wondered if it might not be a prison.
The Master took panicked strides toward the door, fully expecting it not to open when he yanked on the handle roughly, and almost falling backwards when he was proven wrong.
A maze of hallways spread itself before him, each equally dim and dusty as the room behind. As the Master began to walk, it became obvious what he'd somehow known from the moment he opened the door. It wasn't a prison.
It was a ruin.
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Date: 2009-09-27 12:08 am (UTC)So she picked through the ruins, looking for something, anything, that might tell her where she was, or give her some hope of leaving.
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Date: 2009-09-27 02:13 am (UTC)He threw up his hands and sighed, a bit more annoyed than the situation truly called for.
"Ms. Tyler." He regarded her wearily. "I do believe you may have surpassed the Doctor and taken his place as my very own personal bugbear."
Chances were this Rose was entirely new, and would have no idea what he was on about, but he did not particularly care. Honestly, how many copies of this girl was he fated to run into before the universe might begin to treat him a little more fairly?
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Date: 2009-09-27 06:00 am (UTC)"Master," she said, her voice soft, cautious. "It's... been a long time." She tilted her head, slightly.
"Are you all right?"
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Date: 2009-09-27 06:23 am (UTC)"And how are you? Still getting left behind by the Doctor--? Oh dear," he managed to look scandalized, "Don't tell me he's abandoned you here, of all places?"
If he had to gather more information from her, after all, he might as well make it fun.
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Date: 2009-09-27 06:53 am (UTC)She couldn't help but wonder if he had something to do with it.
"How did you get here?"
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Date: 2009-09-27 07:28 am (UTC)"What a coincidence," he smiled. "I, too, have absolutely no idea how I got here. What are the odds?" The Master shrugged, exaggerating the gesture with a daft expression, before turning his attention to their surroundings again, touching a wall thoughtfully.
"How is the Doctor holding up these days?" he murmured, almost as if it were an afterthought. "Still the great 'defender' of the universe? Destroying lives before they can bother to get around to it on their own?"
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Date: 2009-09-27 07:44 am (UTC)"The Doctor's fine. Saving lives by the thousands as usual. And still as devastated as ever by every life he can't save."
She eased closer.
"Haven't seen you since you disappeared from Wonderland," she said softly. "Where have you been?"
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Date: 2009-09-27 08:10 am (UTC)"Rose," he said softly, as if this alone were some sort of epiphany. It was ridiculous; of course they would all be Rose in some form or another. But spoken this way, the name carried an entirely different flavor.
Things just got interesting.
He made himself look at her. Rassilon, how had he allowed her to get this close?
"Oh, here and there." He turned to face her again, unconsciously taking a small step to the side and edging subtly away from her along the wall. "Not that it's particularly any of your concern."
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Date: 2009-09-27 08:20 am (UTC)"I... was worried," she said softly. Then swallowed.
"I've missed you."
And it was true, if somewhat distressing. The two of them had shared an inexplicable connection, and she couldn't help but wonder about the broken Time Lord when he vanished.
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Date: 2009-09-27 09:06 am (UTC)He regarded her narrowly. "And what exactly is it that you've missed? Do tell."
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Date: 2009-09-27 01:54 pm (UTC)And then she blushed, and dropped her head.
"I've missed your company," she said softly. But that wasn't it. She missed his touch, his whispers, the moments they had spent together exploring each other, Rose reaching out to touch the darkness.
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Date: 2009-09-27 08:37 pm (UTC)"I am not your pet," he hissed, his face darkening. But still, he stayed where he was, almost as if he were afraid to come any closer, but equally afraid to leave, like a cat on tenterhooks.
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Date: 2009-09-27 09:04 pm (UTC)"You're right. You're not. I'm sorry."
She turned, to continue exploring, convinced he didn't want her there.
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Date: 2009-09-28 01:30 am (UTC)Then his eyes narrowed, and his hand dove into his pocket.
"Rose," he called out, in a stronger voice this time.
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Date: 2009-09-28 02:22 am (UTC)"Yeah?"
She didn't want to leave him, but she also didn't want to stick around if he didn't want her there.
"In the third act, Superman should fight with a giant $%$#ing spider."
Date: 2009-09-28 02:45 am (UTC)"Duck," he said simply, before firing just above her head.
((ooc: he's shooting something lurking above her; if you want to identify it, have it be dead or still alive, go right ahead))
Ha!
Date: 2009-09-28 02:52 am (UTC)Then he ordered her to duck, and she hit the dirt. The laser flashed over her head, and there was an inhuman screech as a huge, black, hairy thing with way too many legs crashed to the ground. It twitched and flailed, and Rose scrabbled backwards, away from the thing and toward the Master.
"What is it?"
Re: Ha!
Date: 2009-09-28 03:28 am (UTC)"Far from home, aren't you?" he asked it conversationally, before firing point blank at the hulking mass.
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Date: 2009-09-28 03:41 am (UTC)"You... you saved my life," she managed.
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Date: 2009-09-28 04:58 am (UTC)The gears switched again and he straightened, returning the screwdriver to his pocket and brushing invisible dust off his lapels. "Of course, there is little point in stating the obvious."
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Date: 2009-09-28 02:36 pm (UTC)"Thank you."
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Date: 2009-09-28 09:17 pm (UTC)"There are more of them," he finally said. "The 'Yllax tend to breed rather quickly. Not ones for foreplay."
It was probably as close to an invitation for her to accompany him as she would ever get.
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Date: 2009-09-28 11:13 pm (UTC)"Where do you think we can go to be safe from them?"
She asked it hesitantly, not sure that she had correctly read the information as an invitation.
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Date: 2009-09-29 12:53 am (UTC)"I was given the impression at our last encounter that you were quite done with 'safe'. How disappointing that you've changed your mind." And he raised an eyebrow at her before turning abruptly on his heels.
"Come on, then."
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Date: 2009-09-29 12:59 am (UTC)"Well. If that's the way you're going to be about it. I was only going with you because I thought you were offering to fend off these things. But if I'm to be done with 'safe...'"
She turned and started heading off on her own.