A/N: More fluff and shenanigans. Because they deserve it.
Also Donna being Donna.
.
No one was ever the wiser when we returned to the ship. Only Kira sniffed curiously all over my clothes, flapping his tail against my shoulder as if to demand an answer. I scratched his head and joined the others on deck, right after I had switched to cooler clothes again.
"Now," the Master announced, his hands spreat ro encompass the ship. "I know y'all can't wait for another day of hard labour."
The Doctor groaned and Donna hardly looked up from her sunbench. I wasn't sure if I was up to anything at all right now. I still needed time to process. The whole situation hadn't completely caught up with me yet. A nap wouldn't be so bad, right now.
"But since you did well yesterday, I have a little surprise." He waited until he was sure he had everyone's attention. "Roughly five hours from here, if we can keep the speed, is a small island I discovered not long ago. Well, not long ago from this part in time, for me it's been some centuries."
"And what's there?" asked Donna, the taunt already on her face. "Mermaids?"
"Much better!" The Master clapped his hands together. "And you wouldn't want to meet them, really. Nasty folks. But no, it's a pirate's hideout. There's a capsule full of food and alcohol and treasure! Perfectly preserved in a little time capsule."
He let the words sink in. And they did, oh boy, they did. The Doctor and Donna both stared, babbling excitedly, exchanging wide eyed looks.
"Listen up, crew!" The Master interrupted. "I can't stand you whining around and being useless, so use the time and sleep or whatever humans do and don't dare to strain my nerves. Sames goes for you, Doctor. Then again," he tilted his head, "these days you prefer to hide from me anyways. Dismissed. Piss off, y'all."
He did a sharp turn on his heels and strode to the captain's cabin, leaving us with our surprise.
"It's early in the morning." Donna raised her sunglasses and looked around. "Why should we go back to sleep already?"
The Doctor shrugged. "Humans sleep a lot."
"Oi, we don't! You just don't sleep at all!"
"Cause we do," whined the Doctor.
I left them to their bickering. The prompt hadn't been for them, but for me. We hadn't been gone for a long time, but a lot had happened and some sleep might not be that bad after all. Just a small nap.
.
To my own surprise, I was out as if I had missed a week of sleep. No nightmares plagued my mind, although, at one point, I suddenly had a dream about a pile of colourful bugs and an even stranger desire to snack them all away.
That made me wake up and I found Kira soundly sleeping on my belly. "That'd been you, he?" I complained, smiling.
The little one lifted his head and yawned. He stretched and bent and padded over me to lick my nose.
"Yes, yes, I still have some." I rummaged around in my jacket that lay on the floor and got out a paper bag that was filled with his favourite dried critters. "'m tempted to try one. There've been worse stuff on planets before."
I scratched Kira's head and got up to take a quick shower. But when I entered, I found it was already occupied. "Oh sorry," I mumbled and was about to leave when the door slid open.
The Master peeked out, all wet and dripping. A grin grew on his face when he saw me. "I don't mind. Come in."
I raised a brow and smirked. "That's a lot of naked skin, though."
He barked out a laugh. "Not a problem as long as we keep… civilised." He winked and promptly stepped outside, towering over me, naked and dripping all over the floor. "Out of those clothes. Now."
His look said he would definitely drag me inside fully clothed, if necessary, so I got rid of them, stemmed my fists in my hips and gave him a challenging look. To my surprise, there was no hunger in his gaze, no taunt. Instead I saw a hint of playfulness in his smile.
When had it gotten so easy to read him, I wondered. It couldn't all come from being psychically linked so often. But I didn't think about it more and followed him.
The shower was quite spacious and it was no problem to move. I had some fun rubbing soap over his chest until the Master grabbed both of my arms, roughly turning me on the spot so I was facing the wall. A sharp inhale escaped my mouth. He hovered so close to my ear that his breath ghosted my lobe. "Don't struggle," he said.
So I didn't, anticipation rising. But all that happened was the sound of a shampoo bottle opening and then I felt his fingers on my head, gently massaging my scalp. His touch was surprisingly soothing, yet firm and when he finished his hands wandered to my shoulders and continued their work there, making it hard for me to contain a groan.
"Why so tense?" he mocked, while tormenting a particular firm spot in my shoulder.
"Might be the naked Time Lord in my back." I sighed and finally let out that groan. "You're allowed to do this whenever you want, by the way."
The Master chuckled and turned the water back on, letting it run over both of us until all soap and shampoo was gone. It was strange how comfortable this felt. In other times and with other people it would have always been weird to do this, but not with him. He didn't even try anything, despite our state of undress. He was just there, present, taking what he wanted, but not hurting, not demanding. I wondered if he did it consciously or if he was even aware of his dual nature.
Eventually the water stopped and the Master went out first, only partially drying himself and then wrapping the towel around his waist. "Be ready in half an hour," he said and promptly vanished out of the door only to pop back in a second later. "And have a look at the second locker. Found something you'll like." He winked and was gone again.
Of course that got me curious, but instead of walking out half naked, I put on underwear first. What I found in the locker was indeed a surprise and a much welcomed one at that.
.
"Oh, Lucy, you look fabulous!" said Donna as soon as she spotted me. "You look like a sailor. Where'd you get those?"
I proudly grinned from ear to ear. Somehow the Master had managed to get me some proper clothes that were definitely suited for seafaring. Pants that got a little over my knees, firm shoes and a loose shirt with cords at the chest area to fit them how needed. There was also a broad belt for tools and weapons. And yes, there also had been a small knife attached to it.
It wasn't much, but I felt great wearing it.
Well, until I saw the Master emerge from his cabin. He had not only managed to get clothes for me, as it seemed. No, there he was, making even a Jack Sparrow jealous of his coat and hat and the shiny boots. Not to mention the sabre at his belt.
His grin could not have been broader when he spotted us staring. The Doctor also joined us, as much in person as in staring.
"Found a broken replikator that was easy to fix and hacked it to produce clothes instead of food. What do you think?" The Master made himself tall and tipped the hat upwards a little.
"Why don't I get a pirate outfit?" whined the Doctor.
Donna giggled. "Cause it'd look ridiculous on you, spaceman. It would just hang there like dead rags. But I wouldn't have minded one. Nice dress, maybe."
The Master laughed. "I'm the captain, so I get the cool outfit."
"Lucy got one too. 'S not fair!"
"Well, she's my first mate." He stemmed both fists into his hips and grinned.
"First mate," I repeated. "I like that."
"And now," the Master clapped his hands and made a wide gesture towards the sea. An island was in sight, not more than a few minutes away at our current speed. "I guess you already saw we arrived. So get everything you need and be ready to leave."
There wasn't anything I wanted to take along, so I stayed and watched the island come closer. Kira landed on my shoulder and emanated excitement, but also hesitation. He didn't dare fly over the water and I patted his head reassuringly." Your flying skills are really good already. You'll get there."
The ship rumbled and shook when it hit land. The bow dug itself into the soft sand, not deep enough to be stranded, just enough to let us get to shore. The Master let the anchor down and then a ramp that allowed us to leave.
"Welcam to me personal lil' island. We'll have plenty o' food an' rum n' music 'n a fire. Don't ya hold back, me friends. It's all on the capt'n."
Donna chuckled at his poor attempt to imitate a pirate's speech and winked at me. The Doctor tried to steal the hat, but the Master promptly shoved him over board and cackled when the other Time Lord landed with a splash in the shallow water.
The island Was beautiful indeed, full of trees and a small mountain. Somewhere was supposed to be a lake nearby, but we stayed by the sea, close to the ship. The Master navigated to a part of the nearby mountain and showed us a cave, where he had stored his treasure.
There was something of everything. Jewellery and gems, coins and cloth. There was a large stash of food and beverages, kept frozen by some alien device. It had meat, fruits and vegetables. And alcohol. A truly ungodly amount of it. If anyone was ever to question if this was a pirate's treasure, this would convince them.
We divided the tasks. Donna and the Doctor prepared a fire and made the place cosy with mats to sit on. They also found a perfect place where the sea wouldn't reach us by surprise and we would still have a great view over the ocean and at the yet bright sky.
The Master and I prepared the food and he had his fun slapping my fingers away if I wanted to try anything before it was done. Only once did I manage to snatch a piece of garlic bread from the grill, but he was fast and his lips were on mine all of a sudden, my surprise too big to realise he had stolen the remaining bread from my hand and was now giggling to himself.
"And you keep telling me you're not together," Donna tsk-ed.
"Definitely not."
The Doctor threw a glance at the Master and rubbed his neck. "Don't think they are. Not like that."
"An' what do you know, Doctor?" asked Donna. "You're as romantic as a slimy slug!"
"Oi! Rude!" He sulked for a moment. "Time Lords just… don't do that. There are… so many reasons why not."
"Whatever. And both of you are rule breakers. So what?"
"We're not…" I tried to toss in, but Donna wouldn't listen.
"You just say that to not make the Doctor jelly." Donna thumbed at the Time Lord in question who let out an indignant sound. "Seriously, y'all are lousy at this sorta stuff." She huffed and suddenly her eyes lit up. "Oi, moon boy! Over'ere."
"Stop calling me that," grumbled the Master, but came closer.
Donna thumbed in our direction. "I can't stand those idiots here, but you're probably as thick as them. I don't care. I just can't watch this any longer."
"What are you…?" I tried to interrupt.
"Donna, don't!" pleaded the Doctor.
The Master's interest clearly peaked. He glanced back and forth between us.
"You wanna have the Doctor as your boyfriend or what? Cause he's never goin' to ask."
There was a stretch of shocked silence, for all of us. The Doctor buried his face in his hands, only red glowing ears showing still.
"Doesn't work like that," muttered the Master eventually. He seemed as surprised as the rest of us. "Time Lords don't just… mingle. It's too complicated. And that bugger over there will never stop running anyway. What am I supposed to do with that?"
"And if he stops?"
The Master looked at Donna with a tilted head and barked out a laugh. "That will never happen. You'll see for yourself." He shrugged and a bright grin sat on his face. "But he knows me. I love chasing things I can't have."
Donna groaned and the Doctor just stared at the ground as if there was something particularly interesting. But then his head snapped up and his eyes landed on me. Donna followed his gaze and smirked.
"What?" I made feebly. "'m not stopping you two."
"I'm afraid, lil' lumin, that's not what they want to know."
I glared at the Master and frowned.
"Humans." He shook his head.
Donna wouldn't let go of it. Already did she open her mouth and I felt my stomach drop. The Master also looked at me, but with a subtle and even gentle smile.
"I own her life," he announced. "That's all you need to know, Donna Noble."
And with that he made a sharp turn on his heels and strode away.
I let out a relieved sigh, trying hard to ignore the others. They hadn't noticed that his hand had slipped to my arm at one point, leaving the trace of a thought.
But if you want to spend it with me, I won't object.
I huffed and just grinned at their puzzled faces. "Don't just sit there. Dinner's ready. Let's party!"