The Doctor certainly hadn't promised too much. If at all then maybe too little. The market brimmed with life and colour and movement and smells. Someone had opened a library of fantasy and sci-fi literature and had let all the creatures and technologies and all the magic out into the world.

Donna laughed at that description and grabbed my hand so I wouldn't get lost in the crowd.

The Doctor followed, sulking a little. Just moments ago he had proudly shown the outside of the TARDIS to me, the small blue telephone box that could impossibly fit everything that was inside. It was a surprise at first, but when I stroked a finger over the old wood I just knew I had seen it before.

"Sooooo…?" He had enquired, hands in his pockets and leaned down slightly.

"It's cool, yeah. Something to do with dimensions, right?"

And promptly the pouting had started. Donna nudged me when I looked back for the probably tenth time. "He'll get over it. Boys and their cars." Playfully she rolled her eyes.

It was good to have her. Donna was a great way to check if I had done something stupid or if everyone else was just the way they… well, were. Besides, the Doctor didn't seem to be really sulking, his dark look promptly vanishing when we strolled past an ice cream booth.

I kept looking, however. Not for him, but for the other one. The scene from the wardrobe wouldn't leave my mind and I wondered what exactly I had done to upset the Master that much. What history did we share?

"Oi! Eyes to the front, Lucy!" Donna scolded, then grinned. "You wanted some aliens and here they are. But your head's somewhere else entirely."

"How comes this place has the right composition of oxygen for not only us to breathe but everyone else too? And…" I did a little test jump and noted surprised that I landed back not quite as fast as I was used to. "Okay, mavity's a bit off, but still…"

"It's because you're not breathing oxygen," the Doctor chimed in. "It's an artificial nano component they developed some centuries back. It adapts itself to the structure of whatever the respective species need to breathe. Low telepathic field helps of course. A standard on every section 3c planet."

"Like the TARDIS?"

"Mhm."

The Doctor proceeded to tell us more technical details, but my mind wandered off again, this time to actually admire the place we were in. A bear in a suit presented handbags to a group of humanoid women in colourful dresses. Next to him sat a booth with an alien that looked like a mixture of octopus and pig, floating around on a hover disc and telling their customers about the latest video games for a system I couldn't pronounce. There were people as small as garden gnomes and others twice as tall as us and thin as twigs. A swarm of otters flew past us right as Donna found a collection of gemstone necklaces and later we got snacks from what might only be described as human sized fluff balls. The eyes were barely visible and I had no idea how it managed to do anything at all, seeing no visible hands.

It turned out the Doctor had money for this place. He wouldn't tell us from where exactly, but it was enough to have some fun with it. A plush toy of a thing that cannot be named, some figurines of spacecrafts and a pretty dress for Donna later, we strolled along the food section to pick something out for dinner. The Doctor had stories about stories to tell, covering seemingly everything and he was a good guide for what foods to eat with a human metabolism and which ones to avoid in case we valued being alive and well.

"Shouldn't we take some back?" I asked through a mouthful of some grilled meat with a spicy sauce that almost made my eyes water. "For the Master. I bet he'll sulk if we don't."

Donna giggled, almost choking on her food and the Doctor also smirked knowingly. "Is that a memory?"

"Mhhh… I don't think so. I haven't remembered anything at all here. But he seems to be the moody type, so…"

"Oh, you have no idea," mumbled Donna.

"Yeah, let's get him some snacks. He likes those most," the Doctor agreed, a fork half in his hand, half between his teeth. "I think I've seen his favourite somewhere."

In thoughts, I poked another piece of meat with my wooden fork. Despite the spiciness it was delicious. "Maybe I should get him something too. As an apology."

"What for?" Donna munched on the last of her bread sticks (or whatever those actually were). "Were you cheeky?"

"I… I don't know." I sat down the fork and looked into the distance, at chattering and laughing people, soft and garish colours, at the three sun's slowly setting in the distance. "I think I said something weird. Or stupid. Maybe both. He got pretty pissed at me."

"Oh my." Donna sighed and hit the Doctor's arm.

"Ou! What do I have to do wi-"

"Well, talk to him! He should be happy to have Lucy back an' not be such a brat!"

"I don't think I could say or do anything." The Doctor rubbed his arm at the spot where he was hit. "How should I even know what's bugging him?"

"Well, you're his boyfriend now, think of something!"

"I'm not his anything!" squeaked the Doctor, his face adapting a deep shade of red. The straw he had been playing with was suddenly forgotten, rolling a few centimetres away. Donna already opened her mouth to protest, but the Doctor cut her off with a sharp gaze. "It can't be. Never can. Not like this. Not like… like humans do it. There is no…" He shook his head. "There's too much history between us and too big a chasm."

At that he fell silent, eyes glued to the table. Misery was practically rolling off of him and I placed a hand on his arm, just squeezing a little, without needing words. The Doctor looked up at me and he smiled. A sad smile and one that maybe tried to tell me something, but I didn't know what.

"I'll talk to him," he promised, taking my hand and winking. "Can't let him be stupid now, can I?"

How strange this was. These people actually seemed to care about how I felt and made an effort to better a situation I didn't even completely understand. So I only nodded and mumbled a thanks before we made our way back, the sunset behind us.

This had been a great day, I decided. The anxiety of being thrown into so many new things was still lingering within me, but it was muffled now, a sleeping shadow instead of a roaring beast.

I took a last glance at the planet behind us and entered the TARDIS behind the other two. A welcoming hum tugged at the edges of my consciousness and the warm orange glow of the control room was a soothing contrast to the colourful outside.

The Master was there, sitting cross legged on the ground and tinkering with what seemed to be a part of the console. Different components lay strewn around him, some half taken apart, others clearly broken. He looked up when he noticed us entering and grunted, heaving himself up to his feet.

"How did you manage to keep this thing flying for the past centuries?" he whined, pointing behind him. "The central heating is completely off again. And this mess you slapped together here only made it worse."

"You cold, all of a sudden, alien boy?" Donna chuckled.

"No. Bored." The Master threw away the tool he had held and gave the console a flick with his fingers. "And a bit annoyed. Can't have it when things don't work like they're supposed to." Strangely enough, he looked in my direction when he said that, but that might have been a coincidence.

The Doctor coughed awkwardly. "Weeell… at least you haven't done harm. The TARDIS would have zapped you otherwise. Or worse. She's still bit cross with you."

"Whatever." The Master rolled his eyes.

I took the following silence as a clue to step forward and hold out a bag with sweets and other treats. "Here, we brought you something. They didn't have waffles, though."

"Waffles?" The Master raised an eyebrow and peeked inside the bag. "How do you know I like them?"

"Do you?" I grinned. "It was just a hunch."

Immediately his face dropped and he carelessly dropped the bag on a jump seat, strolling over to the Doctor, who also had a, smaller, bag with him.

"And that?" The Master pointed down.

"Kerola crisps!" The Doctor beamed from ear to ear. "I know you love them. I couldn't get you away from the stash during the kerissa invasion. You almost foiled your own plan just to get them."

The Master hummed and snatched the small package out of the Doctor's hand, right before grabbing him with the free one. The taller man stiffened, his hands shooting up in an attempt of defence. From what he probably didn't even know. And when the Master grabbed his tie and dragged him down, he only gave off a confused noise, right before it got swallowed by the Master's mouth covering his own.

I blinked, perplexed. Aside from Donna's comments, nothing about those two had indicated that they were close. Not until now, at least, judging by the lack of protest from the Doctor. It was none of my business, of course, and yet… for the small fraction of time that the kiss lasted I felt something cold in my guts.

Finally the Doctor pushed himself away, panting as if they had been snogging intensely instead of the almost chaste kiss they had shared. His doe eyes glared at the Master, an unspoken question within them.

Donna nudged me. She had a mischievous smile on her lips and she motioned me to follow her deeper into the TARDIS to leave the two aliens alone.

.

"I uh… uhm… 'm happy to see you too." The Doctor had a hard time regaining his composure. He had grabbed the rim of the console for support and just glared.

The Master was unsure if he wanted to laugh or mock the other man, or maybe both. Both sounded good. He only needed to find the right jibe to hit in a spot that would make him squirm.

The Doctor, however, didn't stay baffled for long. Instead, his look turned dark and he pushed the Master away with much more force than he had anticipated.

"That was unnecessary!" the Doctor scolded. "What were you even hoping to achieve there?"

"It was only a 'welcome back'." The Master smiled innocently.

"You wanted to get a reaction." The other Time Lord sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "And not from me. From Lucy. What do you think will happen? She doesn't remember! You can't make someone jealous who doesn't even know they should be!"

The Master let the tirade go over his head, only listening half. The last piece of the half broken gerallium fuse was more interesting. It was the main antagonist in his heating problem. He only set it down when the Doctor was finally done.

"She never had a problem with us-" he pointed back and forth between them "being a thing. That wouldn't even work if she remembered anything."

"But you hoped it would trigger something."

"No, I did not." The fuse was repaired, so the Master dropped on his haunches to place it back into the TARDIS console. "Why should I care anyway? A broken toy is no fun. There, done. You can thank me later."

He got up to his feet again, dusting himself off. A part of him expected the Doctor to get angry, anticipated it even. What he didn't foresee was that the Doctor suddenly shot forward and pinned the Master against the console, his hand fisting into his collar, eyes sparking with delicious anger.

"She's a person, not a toy! How dare you. How can you just give everything up like that?"

The Master slowly grinned. "You… You of all people should now, my dear Doctor." He tried to lean forward, but the other man's grip was like iron. Sometimes the Master wondered who might be physically stronger. "How to move on, how to forget. Humans are fragile. They are no use for anything but toying around. They break too fast. And look! My pet broke."

Only then, only when the last words had left his lips did the Master realise his voice had gotten a little shakier with every second until he was barely able to whisper by the end, choking on something he tried to push back with force before it had the chance to break out of him. Fuck! That was not meant to happen. He wanted to rile up the Doctor, he wanted to show that he didn't care. At all.

If only it were true.

The Doctor slowly loosened his grip, but didn't let go of the Master's collar. No, he dipped forward and connected their foreheads, breathing out a sigh. "What happened to your infamous patience? We can fix this."

"How?" whispered the Master. His hands slid to the Doctor's hip, not dragging, not kneading, only holding tight. "What do you know about the void? As much as I do. Which is barely anything at all."

"I'll figure it out." The Doctor's thumbs rubbed the cloth between them in small circles. "I'd do it for her anyway. But I'll also do it for you, Kos-"

The Master shot up and crashed his mouth to the Doctor's. Their balance tipped, but they didn't stumble. Hands tightened, some around the Master's collar, some around the Doctor's hips. It was messy, there were teeth and maybe even a bite.

"Don't." The Master broke away a fraction. "Don't you ever use that name again." And if anyone was ever able to make a kiss feel like a threat it surely was him. "I'm not him anymore."

The Doctor lowered his head, but since he was bigger it didn't make much of a change. "These days you might be more like him than you think."

Time does not have the ability to just freeze. Yet, in this very moment, it did. The coldest shiver crept up the Master's spine and settled in his crown. A scream built in his guts, deep, deep inside his self and there was no way to let it out. He couldn't connect with the Doctor, lest he wanted to risk the drums taking over, he couldn't connect with Lucy, because she didn't even remember it was a thing. And for the fraction of this frozen time the Master felt utterly lost and too alone in his own mind.

And he hated every second of it, pushed the Doctor away with enough force to make him stumble and stormed out of the room without looking back.