But as I gazed into the vastness of time
I heard the sound of drums...
Koschei didn't even have time to close the door behind him before Theta barreled into him, flinging his arms around Koschei's neck. "Koschei! You okay? What happened? How was it? Did anything go wrong...?" Theta peeled himself off of Koschei only to take him by the shoulders, looking him over for any kind of injury, even though he knew it wasn't likely.
"Theta. I'm fine," Koschei was rarely this short with his friend, but he was sure his head was about to split apart from thepounding, and one wasn't inclined to be nice when one was in this much pain. He looked at the shorter boy for a moment, noticing the faint and confused look of hurt crossing his face, before softening slightly and ruffling his roommate's already-messy hair. "Really, I'm okay..." no, he wasn't. It hurt... Make it stop...it's so horrible, make it stop, please...
"Koschei, you don't look okay," the other child's eyebrows knitted together in concern as he looked up at his friend. Even though they were the same age, there was a good three-inch height difference between them. "Did it scare you?" Theta seemed almost reluctant to call the Vortex by its name...he had been one of those who are referred to as "runners" by the less respectful new members of the Academy-one of those who had seen the Vortex and, terrified by its power, bolted as quickly as they could in the other direction. It hadn't even been a choice, his eyes had simply seen and his legs had simply propelled him away from what his eyes had seen.
Koschei was not not like Theta in this sense. His eyes had seen and his legs had been unable to move, his mind frozen in fear and absorbed for a moment by the most horrific, hypnotic sound...and even after he had left the Vortex, he hadn't been able to shake the four repetitive drumbeats that looped over and over and over in his head. They were so loud that they hurt, and he could barely hear Theta talking to him... Please, please make it stop...someone please help...I don't want them, please, help me get rid of them...they're making me so angry, I don't want to feel so awful, I'm scared, I don't understand..."Yeah. But who doesn't get scared?" he said, trying to sound casual. He didn't want Theta to worry, they both had enough to worry about. Koschei sat down on his bed, kicking his feet out nervously and, subconsiously, to the beat of the drums that just would not stop... He had to ask, he just had to... "Hey, Theta, did you hear anything, when they made you look?"
"No...well, I don't really think I stuck around long enough," he admitted sheepishly. "Why? Were we supposed to, or something?" Theta sat down on his own bed, right across from Koschei. A gust of wind outside knocked a tree branch against the night-blackened window of the small dorm.
Koschei shook his head. "I don't know. Just asking," he said, flopping back to stare at the ceiling before turning around to face the wall, his back to his friend. The pounding in his head was all-consuming, except for one scary thought-am I the only one who hears it?
A/N: So, here's my derpalicious attempt at Doctor Who fanfic. I was listening to "The Sound of Drums" at my friend's house, and actually this is being typed on her computer, and I decided to write this. I...guess it's Doctor/Master, if you squint...no? Not really? Whatever, you'll get your OTP in the end. 'Tis my OTP as well, so there will be no shortage of those fics... anyways. Enjoy your awkward, OOC, strange, I-don't-really-know-what-I'm-doing-at-this-point-fanfiction. Anyway. Eep. DON'T HATE ME FOR THISSSSSS...*thinks it's really bad* *hides in the corner*