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He couldn’t sleep. Again. And he wanted to, this head was LOUD it was curly and angry and loud. Peri hated him more- than usual- when he couldn’t sleep. He was angry and angry and snapped and then all his him just screamed. He used to be coherent. Or at least be okay at pretending to be coherent. But this body was always teetering between panic/fear/anger and unstoppable glee, childish revelry, flying as high as Icarus-
“Sit down.” A voice told him.
He didn’t respond, just shook his head and kept pacing.
“Doctor.”
“I need to find a spoon it’s the perfect material I have an idea you see it’s simply-”
“Why are you so like me?” it said, seemingly to itself.
He snapped round. Nobody’s like him. He’s wonderful? It didn’t look like Peri, unless she’d regenerated, could she do that now? It was dark-ish with a beard.
“You aren’t a THING like me- do you have any spoons? You see I want to improve the steering-”
“Sit down.” There was something very persuasive in the voice of this man. He just had to listen, there could be a spoon on the floor… The man joined him, sitting on the floor. “Let me look at you?”
How had he gotten in- “Are you real?” The Doctor asked. Was the TARDIS malfunctioning, he should run a diagnostics…
The man looked concerned. “You haven’t been sleeping.”
“You ARE Peri! I love the regeneration it suits you far more, that accent was dreadful.” He went to stand, and the man pulled him back down.
“Look at me, Doctor.”
He had to, the man made a brilliant argument. Somehow.
“I hate y- well.” The man inhaled. “Right. Can I massage your temple?”
“I need to find the spoons so I can create a-”
The man looked irritated.
Everyone around him was always irritated by everything he did he was a blight on the universe. He threw himself down, curling into a ball, his head in his arms. “Don’t look at me! Go away and leave me in my torment!”
The man grumbled slightly. “Doctor.”
“I said leave!” his head was burning, he wanted to throw himself out the TARDIS into the time vortex, become spaghetti- oh that was quite funny actually. Maybe a time worm would put time tomato sauce on him and eat him for time dinner.
“It’s me.” The man hadn’t left. Or put tomato sauce on him. “The Master.”
Of course. Breaking into his TARDIS, sending him crazy- probably altering the psychic fields, doing untold damage! He lunged at The Master. He could not allow Peri to be put in the danger by whatever horrible scheme was happening, he had to defend them. He very quickly found himself on his back, arms pinned to the TARDIS floor- how? He didn’t quite remember. He looked up at The Master. Who just seemed irritated again, everyone was irritated by him, even The Master- his oldest enemy- had predicted exactly what he would do! He was probably in his head, controlling his limbs, like Kamelion.
“Do you remember in the death zone?”
The Doctor stopped. He forced the memory through all the fog, The Master insisting he’d been working for the council, how he’d been right…
The Master let go, sitting at the side of him again. “Technically one isn’t SUPPOSED to restrain… no one expects that from me anyway.”
He didn’t quite catch that, he was too busy thinking about trying to be thinking and slowing down his thinking and what he’d been originally- spoons! He sat up. “Did the Time Lords give you any spoons? I need- what did I need them for I had an idea you distracted me why would you do that?”
“Look at me.” He looked at The Masters’ eyes, his beautiful eyes. “Good. Would you like to sleep?”
Oh THAT’S why the Time Lords sent him that made sense. “Will I get spoons? I need them? You must understand I have an idea-”
“Yes.” The Master nodded. “I can do that. Can I put my fingers on your temple?”
He relented, leaning forward. The Masters’ touch was cold, but the sparks entering him were hot! Then warm, cool, languid, all his thoughts reducing from a boil to a simmer til he could hear only… drums? No no no that was ridiculous. The humming of his TARDIS.
-
“Doctor!”
Peri?
“Did you fall asleep meddling…” she sighed. “Oh, Doctor.” She sighed.
“I was… I was searching for…” He didn’t quite remember. But there were a lot of spoons in his pocket.