The Eleventh Regeneration, and First Adventure

The Doctor stared at him, raising an eyebrow. He was still not sure if he liked the Master being nice. It was annoying. He was the good one, that was how it had always been. "I doubt you can keep it up," he nodded, sighing.

"Was not," he repeated, not about to give up to him. "I was. Brax told me enough times that I was," he rolled his eyes, "I was not cute, already! You were. Shut up," he groaned, getting annoyed. He sighed again, "Yes, younger. Not little."

He shook his head, "I was joking, Koschei." He glowered at him, "I am not a scaredy cat," he grumbled. "Hardly stop you, on how you are," he finally finished, sitting down and crossing his legs to watch him.

The Doctor laughed, "You? Cute? Like that? Never going to be described as that for you, Koschei, not anymore," he responded with a roll of his eyes. "I guess .. Half an hour tops. Because at some point I'm going to annoy you and cross that little line you have in your mind."

He groaned at him, covering his ears, "I was not cute! Little, yes. Cute, no. Stop it. I don't like it," he whined. He shrugged lightly, "Sometimes. Rarely, I listened to anyone but you. But the times I did listen to Brax .. Those were the times he was insulting me. And threatening to kill me," he grinned at him. He laughed again at him, "It took you fifteen seconds to start talking again."

He sighed, watching him closely. "Not. I'm scared of you. Not .. Big meanies turning into nice big guys," he rolled his eyes at him. "Very nice sentence. Not very well thought out. I think I take back saying you're the smart one now," he grinned at him, watching. He was half-hoping the TARDIS would shock him, as he hadn't told her not to.

"I have. You were cute when you were a little kid, but now you just look like an old man. Again. You're always old in your incarnations, have you noticed yet?" he grinned at him, rolling his eyes. "You have a line that I will cross. When I do, you won't be at all happy," he answered, thinking. He chuckled, "A day? Dream on, Koschei," he muttered under his breath.

The Doctor glared at him, "I was not. What happened to you shutting up?" he asked, shaking his head. He hated being called cute. "Because I thought he'd say something interesting for once. He hardly ever spoke, not to us anyway," he shrugged lightly in answer, musing. He nodded, "Yup. Fourteen to fifteen seconds, you lasted. Even I can shut up for longer than that," he smirked at him.

"Think of a better one? A five year old could come up with a better sentence than that," he grinned, and shook his head, "I was joking, Kossi-boy. Jokes. You know, funny? Ha-ha? You know, when you do your grin or your laugh, and act like an idiot?" he said cheerfully, watching him working. He laughed when he got shocked, and quietened down before he spoke. At the question, he reached over on the ground, grabbing the tape and handing it to him, "Here," he answered.

The Doctor groaned, "Maybe because I was a grandad, Koschei," he pointed out. "You always used to look younger than me back then anyway. But I got out of the grey or White hair a few incarnations ago. You didn't. You've still got greying hair. I had my last three - including this one - in late, mid, then early thirties. You're just getting to mid-thirties now," he grinned at him. He ran a hand through his hair, slightly glad he had regenerated. He had begun to get to forty, if it had been a year or so more. "But I cross the line without realising until you hurt me," he frowned.

"But I had peace and quiet for once," he frowned at him, shaking his head. He sighed with relief, "Thank you. I know that now. But Brax rarely spoke to me when I wasn't annoying him. A few decades ago, he refused to answer me still too. I sent him a present," he grinned, thinking back. He shrugged, "Ok, maybe. If you strap something over my mouth again, then sure, I can't," he muttered.

The Doctor grinned, making a mental note to find an intelligent five year old later. He chuckled, "It was so funny, Koschei boy," he grinned, watching again. "Finally. Thank you."

"But I was old! I didn't need to regenerate as often as I do now," he muttered, and shook his head, deciding to ignore the remark. "Nah, it's greying. Come here, and I'll show you," he grinned, reaching over quickly and taking a few strands of hair from the Master's scalp, before moving away again, looking through the strands for any greys. He chuckled, holding out the hairs back to him. "But not talking is so boring," he complained.

"No I haven't! From you, slightly. But then you're really loud when I do see you," he replied. He glared, shaking his head, "No. No earache. Not from myself," he muttered. He rolled his eyes, "No. Why should I bother telling you? If you had been alive then, you would've maybe got the same." He grinned, "Then I just won't shut up."

The Doctor watched him carefully, for once not suspicious about what he was doing until his wrist was grabbed. He flinched back as he felt the shock, backing away. "What was that for?" he demanded.

"Clearly," he muttered quietly, shaking his head at him. "Yes I did. I'm not hallucinating. Look!" he insisted, taking another few hairs from the Master's scalp. He showed him the others, waiting. "I'd find another way to get rid of that peace and quiet," he pointed out.

"Actually, no. Because then the TARDIS is in my mind a lot, and I'm generally rushing around having to do whatever I can to save somebody," he responded with a roll of his eyes. Sometimes he thought that it was actually worse when he had no one else, not just from the help. He sighed, "Really? So glad that you find some way tk restrict my movements and torture me?" he asked him. He shook his head, "Never gotten earache before. Just the way it is," he muttered, ignoring his smirk. "Really? You usually end up dead because of your idiot plans that you really don't think through," he replied.

The Doctor sighed, looking at him. "No, it didn't hurt that much. It was just the surprise at the suddenness of it," he answered, truthfully. He hadn't been concentrating on the pain. He paused, thinking it, "No. Not even slightly successful," he grinned back, and hugged him back. "I'll ignore that you ever did it to me," he informed him. A new plan had come into his head; don't act creeped out or annoyed with his good side. Maybe it would go after a while.

"Yes I did. And I am not!" he groaned, getting annoyed eith him. "No," he answered, plucking a few more hairs from his head, not intending to stop until there were no hairs left on his upper body, or the Master admitted it. Simple. "I'm not hallucinating. You are," he grumbled, showing him the hairs again. He rolled his eyes, "You mean never. No," he shrugged.

"No! I did that before. I ended up almost getting eaten by a giant panda creature," he protested, not liking the memory. "And other times it went wrong. I ended up married again - one of the worst times of my life - and then I nearly got drowned," he added, grimacing. He stared at him, working out how serious he was. "Not always. Valiant-wise, yes. But that was because you had just assassinated the President, and then were intending to kill almost everyone. And a few days ago, you kept running away from me instead," he pointed out. "Plus, you were dying," he added after remembering. It had barely been a few hours, and he was already forgetting that it hadn't been long ago.

"She won't electrocute me," the Doctor rolled his eyes. At least, he hoped she wouldn't. He shook his head at him, and sighed, "Thanks a lot," he muttered sarcastically. He looked at him, "Well, we can travel now .. Or stay back a bit and relax. Your choice," hr answered.

"Not. No hallucinating whatsoever," he grinned at him, and then pouted. He rubbed his hand ad if hurt, sniffling. "Koschei-I-I-I-i," he whined unhappily. "You hurt me," he mumbled, turning away.

"What else am I going to do?" he shrugged. "And beaches are fun! And no it isn't," he pouted, shaking his head at him. "I do 'live a little'. I live a lot. And more than you. I haven't been half-dead. I haven't been on my last incarnation," he protested. He sighed, simply nodding.

The Doctor glared at him for the word, tempted to say something but decided not to. He nodded slowly, stretching and running a hand through his hair, still amazed that he was actually Ginger this time round. "Ok .. So Alrakis, then?" he checked with him.

He frowned, listening to him, "She wouldn't do that to me. No one messes with my tea. You might, but no one else," he replied. With his back turned to him, he grinned, wondering if he actually would or not. "Please?" he asked, sounding hopeful, but faking it. He was just curious to whether the Master would.

"Don't feel like using my brain right now," he murmured. He listened to him, frowning. "The glass barely broke the fall. It helped hurt me more! But it still didn't make me regenerate. I could survive more than that," he sighed. He rolled his eyes at him, "Are you just thinking of ways to really hurt me? Push me out the TARDIS if it's over a building with a reinforced glass skylight?" he muttered.

The Doctor kept watching him as he waited for an answer, tempted to infiltrate his mind to see his thoughts, but decided he didn't feel like getting killed again. "Right .. Good, then," he finally said once he had an answer. "Move out of the way, unless you're going to help me," he told him.

"Well .. No. You're right," he muttered, almost annoyed to admit he was right. "I know she does sometimes. But she doesn't do anything to my tea," he rolled his eyes. Hearing him, he grinned again, before it vanished and he turned around, still almost pathetically holding his hand.

The Doctor ignored his first sentence, deciding to drop it before he was insulted. "I suppose .. I wasn't really concentrating on whether or not it would kill me," he muttered, and shrugged, "Probably have .. Can't really remember. So many things in my head right now, and it's just so hard to concentrate .." he sighed, and rolled his eyes, "You want to kill me a lot," he pointed out.

He glared at him, "Do not insult her. You'll only end up complaining when she gets you back for it," he muttered, grinning as the Master was shocked. "Out of my chair," he ordered him, folding his arms, not intending on doing anything until he was out of his chair.

"That does not mean that you're always right," he informed him. He sighed, "I do know that, Koschei," he replied. Watching him, he raised an eyebrow in surprise, and shook his head at the question, "Not really .." he answered.

"I do. But it wasn't the first thought in my mind at the time. I'm not you - I don't go to extreme lengths to survive," the Doctor muttered. "I'm just thinking about a lot right now," he shrugged, "I'm just .." he trailed off, pondering. He looked at him, "I never said always," he pointed out, and smiled slightly at the comment, but said nothing in response.

He rolled his eyes, "Well she wouldn't if you didn't annoy her and insult her," he muttered. He nodded, "Yes. That's my seat. Now get up. Or we stay here, until you do, and won't it be so boring sitting there?" he replied, watching him.

"Yea, I know that, Koschei," the Doctor groaned, shaking his head at him. He shrugged, "My hand still hurts. And so do my feelings. Make it up to me?" he asked, grinning.

He glared at him and hit him on the arm. "Shut up. No. You can easily guess what my thoughts were actually then," he muttered. "Just things," he replied vaguely, not intending on giving him a straight answer. He mockingly gasped, "Really? I wondered what you used these for," he said, walking over and flicking the Master's ears. He nodded, "Plus, you just love trying to outsmart me and boss me around, don't you?" he sighed.

"Koschei, stop it. Shut up insulting her," he glared at him. "Yes it is. Now up!" he groaned, getting impatient and annoyed with him.