"You... know me," River stated carefully, shoving her snow goggles into her pocket.
"Uh, yeah... guess I do." Roka slightly tilted her head, then finally understood. "But it seems you've never met me, so far."
River's eyes lit up as she, too, understood. "Ah, the joys of time travel, right?" She grinned and came a little closer, her movements clearly showing she didn't trust Roka, yet. "I hope we met and separated on good terms."
"Can't prove it, but yes." Roka shrugged and watched the curly woman stepping a little further, a hand shielding her eyes as they scanned the ruins ahead.
"Phew... impressive. More so than I thought it would be."
"Mhmm, kinda tempted to take a look at those," Roka mumbled. She turned a little to eye River and decided to just ask, "We briefly met a few times. But I actually never learned, who exactly you are..."
"Oh? Well, if that's so..." She stretched out a hand and smiled her playful smile. "River Song, human and aspiring archeologist."
Roka took the hand and returned the contagious smile, although this answer was as unrevealing as expected. "Roka Arkerson, also human and err... no profession, actually. 'm just travelling around, collecting stories 'n stuff."
"And my companion," a voice from behind added, letting it almost sound like a threat.
Both women spun around to face the Time Lord, who was now standing in front of the snow heap, ignoring the cold weather in his usual attire. His posture suggested calmness, but Roka knew him too well by now to see that he was carefully observing the situation.
My companion.
Roka felt her heart jump at those words, both in joy and surprise. Part of her had been wondering if he even still wanted her around, after he did his best to avoid her. There was, however, a playful smirk on his lips when he sent a look in her direction and then another, annoyed one, in River's.
"Are you following us, you pesky nuisance?" the Master demanded. "And don't lie. Believe it or not, but I can tell if you do."
River shot straight and glared wide eyed at the Master. Her wristband beeped when he came closer and she pressed a button to stop it, but never took her eyes off him.
"You're... a Time Lord?" she breathed out disbelievingly. "How can that be?" She stepped closer to him and held out a hand as if to check for his heartbeat. The murderous look in his eyes probably prevented her from actually doing so. "Then you must be the D-"
"Don't call me...!"
"... Doctor..."
The Master groaned. "Seriously, as if he's the only Time Lord in the... well, okay, right." He waved a finger towards River. "But still. Don't ever compare me to him!" He grumbled, but then a wide, wicked grin formed on his face. "Now look at that. We've never met, have we?"
"No. I'd definitely remember. All those years the Doctor was so devastated that he's the only one left. And here you are..." She slightly shook her head. "Does he know?"
"Yup." He grinned even wider. "I made very sure he won't forget our little encounters. Ever."
In the back Roka couldn't help but roll her eyes at that statement and smile at the same time. River arched a brow, obviously contemplating if the man in front of her was good or bad news. In the end she decided on settling for conversation, for now.
"Well, glad to hear that," she remarked, clearly showing that she knew in what way the Doctor would never forget. "And you two are here on... vacation? Not the nicest place for that."
"Not really." The Master shrugged, not taking his sceptic eyes off the woman. "Only parked here for the night. You know... all this useless sleeping you humans love to indulge in so much."
"No one forces you to stop by somewhere while I do," Roka sighed. "I'm not going to suddenly disintegrate or something the like."
"With you I can never be so sure," he grumbled back with an amused undertone in his voice.
Roka nudged him with her elbow and nodded towards the ruins. "Since we're here, let's have a look at that city down there," she suggested and when she saw his unamused side glance at River she added sweetly, "I'm sure there's some nice treasure. Maybe one or two things for repairs."
The Master pursed his lips in protest and tried to stare her down, but Roka didn't even think about giving in. It wouldn't even surprise her, if the real reason for their presence here was, because his TARDIS had, again, just landed somewhere, without his permission. Roka gave him a knowing smirk she knew he couldn't resist for long.
And really, eventually he grunted annoyed and nodded. "Okay, let's go. But if that one," he pointed at River, "makes any problems, I'll kill her."
"Oi, slow down, deary," she protested. "No need to get so violent so fast."
The Master almost growled, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the woman. "Then be careful not to bother me, human."
With that he gruffly rushed past her, bumping her with his shoulder on the way, only to turn around one step later and waiting impatiently.
"Haven't asked for your name yet," she remarked with a smirk. "Do I even want to know?"
"'Cause you do," the Master decided and showed his politician smile that promised no good. "I am the Master," he announced. "And I'm not going to let you get away with just anything, like our daft Doctor does."
River's eyes widened at his name, but her face stayed unmoved by his threat. "I've heard stories about you. The butcher of Khorevel, scourge of the Gankresl Nebulae. You erased an entire solar system only to get the emperor of Jaskivik to give you their collection of red-dust diamonds."
With each word she spoke, the look of proud in the Master's eyes grew bigger.
"You were the one who woke an ancient huacar and watched it rampaging the lands of Golgerat, slaying everyone who dared to come near you to stop it." Now her voice got accusatory, her gloved finger pointing at him. "It was you who were responsible for the loss of twelve hundred colonies in the perukina sector! And you mindlessly murdered a squat of the best men I ever had the honour to travel with!" River suddenly and very quickly stepped closer, her eyes now dark and angry. "And now you have the audacity to stand here and smile at it!"
The Master only laughed out loud and amused, throwing his head back.
"Not sorry for any of it." He leaned a little down to the woman and gave her a villainous grin. "Watcha gonna do about it? Cry like a little girl?"
Roka poked his side and coughed slightly, but he completely ignored her.
"You might know what I did, pitiful little human, but you have not the slightest idea who I am," he went on and pursed his lips mockingly. "Otherwise you wouldn't be so surprised."
Roka also wasn't. And if he was ignoring her then it truly wasn't her problem at all.
River lunged out so fast it startled even the Master, and before he could grab her hand she already had slapped him right across his face, making him stumble backwards for a bit - even though probably more from surprise than the force of her hit - the unbelieving expression on his face priceless.
"Oh, I'm not surprised at all," River stated in a calm tone that belied her previous action. "And what I will do? I'll make sure you won't ever harm the Doctor when I'm close. Don't you ever dare."
The Master only rubbed his cheek with a frown so deep it seemed impossible. And then, so quick that Roka almost couldn't see his movements, he hurled himself forward a step, grabbed River's collar and pushed her with a loud thud against the TARDIS. She tried to lunge out once again, but in a flash of a second his hands moved and had grabbed both her wrists, trapping the woman between himself and the solid snow heap, fine powder raining down on both of them.
"You won't make any demands, human," he snarled dangerously. "I have no idea who you are and how you are related to the Doctor. But what is between him and I is none of your bloody business."
For the first time River actually seemed almost a little frightened. Almost. Roka stepped next to the Master and stuck out her tongue at him, deadpanning, "I would have slapped you too."
His eyes got a lot darker for a few moments before he turned his head to Roka, but then softened a little and he stepped back from River. Not without shooting her another murderous glare, though.
"Okay, now let's have a look," Roka decided and gave River a wink, before she nonchalantly stepped past the Master, turned halfway and waited dramatically for them to follow, as he had before.
"With that one?!" he asked incredulously and pointed at the woman.
"Well..." River responded a bit sourly, but already back at her old composure, "You can of course stay here." With that she also rushed away and let him stand alone in the snow to join Roka.
The Master let out an annoyed grunt and rolled his eyes at the two, before he, sulkily, decided to follow, and to ignore Roka's wide smirk.
"Have I ever told you, you're annoying?" he hissed at her.
"Only a thousand times or so." She poked out her tongue.
He let out a loud sigh and shook his head, then looked her up and down for a moment, arching a brow. "It's too cold for humans out here, isn't it?"
It was, although the temperatures weren't that low. Some snowy planets were surprisingly warm, and this one was one of them. It still was cold, though.
"As much as I hate seconding him," River chimed in, picking up her backpack from the snow, "he's right. How did you two even get here in those clothes?"
Now the Master had found a keyword to grin nastily, so he did, and proudly thumbed behind him at the snow mound. And oh, it was visible how much he enjoyed River's puzzled look. "TARDIS. Including a functioning chameleon circuit."
Before the situation could escalate once again, Roka grabbed his sleeve and dragged him back, ignoring his amused giggle. He opened the doors for them to enter, but closed them quickly, so River had to stay outside.
"And what do you need me for, in here?" he asked mockingly, when they reached the wardrobe.
Only then did she notice she had dragged him all the way, still holding his sleeve. Hastily she let go and turned away. "Nothing for," Roka shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure, River stays alive until I got a jacket."
The Master hummed amused and followed her around. "There I thought you need a few more styling tips. Or... you know... someone to help undress."
"And you say Time Lords can't get needy," she mumbled, smirking smugly over her shoulder. "Really thought you had better control over yourself."
The only answer was another, slightly mad-ish chuckle, that she decided to ignore, for her own sake. It was somewhat comforting, though, that he was back to his old, teasing self, after this hiding period. It eased her worry that he might want to send her away for whatever reason.
"Does every TARDIS come with such a wardrobe?" she pondered, while strolling up to the section she knew held winter clothes. The setup was almost the same as the Doctor's, although his collection had an addition of collected stuff from all his travels, whilst the Master's was tidied up and well organized.
"Only the ones that are meant for long time travel," he explained. "We had smaller machines that were meant for single pilots, others could only function in short distances, both in time and space."
"And you, of course, stole the biggest one you could find?"
The Master chuckled. "I had several. This one was given to me for my war services. They expected me to work with the team... but... Eh, guess you know how well that worked out."
"I can imagine," Roka mumbled and picked a simple black hoodie from somewhere and an isolated undershirt from somewhere else. "Did you hide from those, too?" she couldn't help but ask.
The slight stiffening of his posture gave away that he knew exactly what she was talking about. "I didn't hide."
"No. You just avoided me like the pest."
"Of all things, that's what bothers you," he grumbled, almost more to himself.
Roka shrugged her shoulders. "There's lots of things bothering me, lately. Always. But first you can't keep yourself away from me, and then you pretend you're not even here. Or... I am not. And the latter I hate even more." She cast her eyes down, halting in her steps. "Maybe I just don't like being treated as if I'm... you know... invisible."
Like a glitch.
She more felt than saw him wince again at her words and turned right in time to see his face wear an expression that, with other people, would have probably lead to an apology. It vanished quickly, got replaced by a mask of mischief.
"Thought you hated having me around all the time," he mocked, and before she could answer he added, "You wouldn't understand anyway."
"And stop treating me as if I were stupid," Roka grunted back. "I might not always get all the details, but you know very well I-"
"I don't want to you to know!" the Master suddenly snapped, his mask faltering and revealing a hint of anger and also a small rush of fear, Roka could only feel.
Her mouth shut and she glared down at her shoes. "Okay." With that she continued her way through the wardrobe, picking up a pair of fitting pants.
"Just... okay?" the Master asked in disbelieve.
"Well..." Roka also finally found matching boots for the snow. "You know where to find me, if you ever want to talk."
"Are you my therapist now?" he sneered.
Roka huffed and gave him an amused smirk. "You couldn't afford me." Then her expression got serious. "It's just... whatever the problem is... you don't have to face it alone, okay? I mean..." Her lips curved upwards. "I'm your companion, after all."
The Master stared at her for a second, then burst out into a laugh, one that sounded honest and joy-filled and made her smile. "That you like, he?" He chuckled some more. "Alright, little companion. I'll consider it."
"Great. Now could you... stop following me around?" she sighed eventually. "I'd like to change without a spectator."
"Do you?" The Master visibly wasn't bothered at all by her request. On the contrary he stepped even closer, towered above her with a mischievous smile in the corners of his lips.
Roka's took a quick step back, only to bump against the wall she hadn't awaited there, the clothes in her arms dropping to the floor from her surprise.
The Master chuckled amused, leaned a hand next to her head and bent down, his body almost touching hers, his face lowered, so his now dark eyes bore right into hers. It wasn't possible for him to hypnotize Roka, that she knew. It didn't prevent her from feeling as if he had done exactly that in a mere second, with his eyes alone.
"Wh... what are you..." she stammered, not prepared at all, when his hands were on her sides all of a sudden. "Stop that. You said, you wouldn't do anything I don't let you."
"That I did," he muttered darkly, moving down to her waist, further south, to the hem of her jumper, where his fingers trailed along the narrow gap between cloth and skin, deliciously slow, teasing her. His eyes twinkled in amusement. "See? You let me."
Bastard.
She thought it with no ire, her breath catching in her throat when she felt him lightly caressing her just a tiny little bit below the waistband of her jeans. She froze, no, slightly moved closer to him, allowed him to slip his hands under her jumper, let him slowly, oh so painfully slowly pull it upwards and over her head, only to discard it to the floor in the same movement, leaving her only in her bra before him.
Her breath hitched noticeably when he delicately trailed a finger over the round mark on her chest. The name he had once cut into her skin. His name. The thought, combined with his touch sent a shiver through her whole body and let goose bumps blossom on her arms. She moved closer, her bare skin touching his shirt, his hand pressing to the small of her back to hold her closer, his head lowering to hers.
"Look at you," he breathed, suddenly smirking impishly and slid a finger along her jawline. His mouth hovered above hers, just distanced enough not to touch her. There was a teasing smile in his eyes, when he whispered, "You do have to admit that you want me."
Roka pressed her lips together, then slid the tip of her tongue over them, because they were so dry, because his name was already on them, so eager to be let loose, so desperate to close the non-distance between them.
Another second spread, then the Master suddenly stepped back, picked up the clothes Roka had dropped and pushed them into her hands. The mischievous glint in his eyes spoke more than words would ever be able to.
"As I'm seeing it... I'm clearly the only one being in control over themselves here. I'll wait outside." He spoke so nonchalantly as if nothing at all had just happened, turned on his heels and deliberately casually strode away.
Roka blinked at the clothes in her arms and blushed furiously.
"Damn you," she mumbled, but also smiled a little.
He had only toyed with her, that was obvious. And it wouldn't have needed a lot more for her to give in. Even thinking about some seconds ago let a pleasant shiver run down her spine and she had to stop her mind from wandering further. There it didn't help that she had learned to mostly suppress these biological urges. This was far beyond biology, and that knowledge alone awoke a childish defiance not to let him win her so easily.
She had lots of time at hand, after all, and when he was playing games, she surely wouldn't mind playing along.
With a scoff she finally changed into the new clothes and got outside to meet River and the Master there, hoping he hadn't killed her in the short time they had been alone.
.
A/N: Thank you all for reading and enjoying this! 💙
Don't forget to fav, follow and also let me know what you think!
It's fun to write River. She's so sassy and a perfect opponent for the Master. *giggle* It's such a shame they never met in the show. It would have been so much fun.
Also, Roka and the Master are dorks. And idiots. And they have way too much time. (No worries, though, they'll get there ;) )