For the anon meme @ best_enemies: Classic Who. The Master needs a hug. Initially, the Doctor is either oblivious or unwilling.
It was, the Doctor thought, gaping slightly as he took in the sight of it, a very large and impressive shaft. He took a deep breath and tilled his head, eyeing it cautiously, uncertain where to even start.
The shaft in question was, of course, a shaft of light that ran floor to ceiling in the otherwise dark and bare room. It appeared to be the visual manifestation of some kind of immobilisation beam. He felt he could safely assume this from the total lack of movement from the all too familiar form that stood within its confines. Nearly total, he corrected, as he saw the prisoner's facial expression shift slightly when he walked in the path of his fixed line of sight. It seemed that (cleverly, he had to note) this stasis prison traded perfect rigidity for a degree of flexibility that (if he remembered the physics of this thing correctly) would make it near impossible to break from inside. He doubted that the Master, owner (current) of the form being immobilised, would really appreciate that cleverness at the moment.
How he found himself alone with his captive sometimes-enemy, is thus: The Judoon Prison System was, surprisingly, rather lacking. Certainly their patrols were the things of nightmares, but so rarely did a suspect live long enough to actually make it to a prison ship after apprehension, that their security left a lot to be desired. Unless you were, like the Doctor, picked up on a mostly invented charge, and your desire was to escape. In that case it was just the thing.
He had managed to work his way, without notice, through the ship towards the docking bay he knew his TARDIS would be kept in as evidence. Until he felt something as he passed an inconspicuous door-- like the dozens of other identical ones that that lay ahead in the corridor--nothing had so much as slowed his progress. He halted in front of the door, pretending to wonder at the cell's contents, though he knew precisely what, or rather, who it would be.
The Doctor watched him for a little while, hands in his trouser pockets and annoyed twist to his mouth, before finally speaking.
"It would really serve you right to just leave you here."
The Master's eyes looked wide and furious, gleaming with mad threats of what he would do to the Doctor if he abandoned him. The field was doing its job of cancelling out any physic communications, but he could read the Master well enough .
"I am absolutely certain that you are quite guilty of whatever you have been brought here for--and several more things besides."
The amount of effort that it must have taken that Master to roll his eyes was, frankly, astounding and the Doctor did appreciate it.
"Even if I wanted to, I'm not certain what I could do about it, Master. There doesn't appear to be any control panel and I am with out my sonic... I really must get around to replacing that one of these days... But, yes I am trying to make an hasty exit myself and have no time to be mucking about looking for the control room when my escape is only at the end of this hall."
The Master eyes spoke clearly, 'Are you quite /done/ babbling?'
"Oh... fine." The Doctor walked around the light, looking for some sign of a weak point. "I wonder." He looked at nothing while his mind calculated. "If a second bio-signature would be enough to disrupt the beam. It would have to..." He trailed off, mumbling to himself and then, making up his mind to try, approached the shaft of light.
"Ah, hmm. Excuse me. I'm afraid this is necessary." He couldn't quite meet the Master's eyes as he wrapped his arms around the other man in a tight embrace. As he held him, the Doctor felt exceedingly silly, but not altogether badly about it. The Master was a comfortable presence in his arms, a good sort of fit, and, he thought, and then felt sillier still for it, it was really rather nice.
The shaft of light flickered, and the Doctor felt the Master's arms come up around him. "Oh." He made a coughing noise but the Master didn't show any signs of releasing him. "You must be disoriented from spending so long in the field." He walked them back a step, safely out of the light. "Can you stand?" The Master still clung to him tightly. The Doctor reached into his mind and found the solid steel wall that typically greeted him. The Master was at least well enough to maintain that, but physically he seemed to need the Doctor for support. "I don't know that I can carry you all the way, can you manage to walk a little? Do you know where your TARDIS is?" The Doctor felt a movement in the Master's body, a rapid rise and fall of his chest that might have been a poorly-suppressed chuckle.
"You wouldn't by any chance have staged this whole thing as an excuse to, well..." His suppositions where confirmed when he felt the Master lift his head up and lick at a spot under his ear, while at the same time his hands drifted down the Doctor's back. The Doctor made an undignified noise and pulled away out of the hold to see the Master, his smug grin doing nothing to lessen the blush on the Doctor's cheeks.
"Perhaps, my dear Doctor. Or perhaps I simply possess the initiative to take advantage of the situation presented to me. I suppose you will always wonder, won't you?"
The shaft in question was, of course, a shaft of light that ran floor to ceiling in the otherwise dark and bare room. It appeared to be the visual manifestation of some kind of immobilisation beam. He felt he could safely assume this from the total lack of movement from the all too familiar form that stood within its confines. Nearly total, he corrected, as he saw the prisoner's facial expression shift slightly when he walked in the path of his fixed line of sight. It seemed that (cleverly, he had to note) this stasis prison traded perfect rigidity for a degree of flexibility that (if he remembered the physics of this thing correctly) would make it near impossible to break from inside. He doubted that the Master, owner (current) of the form being immobilised, would really appreciate that cleverness at the moment.
How he found himself alone with his captive sometimes-enemy, is thus: The Judoon Prison System was, surprisingly, rather lacking. Certainly their patrols were the things of nightmares, but so rarely did a suspect live long enough to actually make it to a prison ship after apprehension, that their security left a lot to be desired. Unless you were, like the Doctor, picked up on a mostly invented charge, and your desire was to escape. In that case it was just the thing.
He had managed to work his way, without notice, through the ship towards the docking bay he knew his TARDIS would be kept in as evidence. Until he felt something as he passed an inconspicuous door-- like the dozens of other identical ones that that lay ahead in the corridor--nothing had so much as slowed his progress. He halted in front of the door, pretending to wonder at the cell's contents, though he knew precisely what, or rather, who it would be.
The Doctor watched him for a little while, hands in his trouser pockets and annoyed twist to his mouth, before finally speaking.
"It would really serve you right to just leave you here."
The Master's eyes looked wide and furious, gleaming with mad threats of what he would do to the Doctor if he abandoned him. The field was doing its job of cancelling out any physic communications, but he could read the Master well enough .
"I am absolutely certain that you are quite guilty of whatever you have been brought here for--and several more things besides."
The amount of effort that it must have taken that Master to roll his eyes was, frankly, astounding and the Doctor did appreciate it.
"Even if I wanted to, I'm not certain what I could do about it, Master. There doesn't appear to be any control panel and I am with out my sonic... I really must get around to replacing that one of these days... But, yes I am trying to make an hasty exit myself and have no time to be mucking about looking for the control room when my escape is only at the end of this hall."
The Master eyes spoke clearly, 'Are you quite /done/ babbling?'
"Oh... fine." The Doctor walked around the light, looking for some sign of a weak point. "I wonder." He looked at nothing while his mind calculated. "If a second bio-signature would be enough to disrupt the beam. It would have to..." He trailed off, mumbling to himself and then, making up his mind to try, approached the shaft of light.
"Ah, hmm. Excuse me. I'm afraid this is necessary." He couldn't quite meet the Master's eyes as he wrapped his arms around the other man in a tight embrace. As he held him, the Doctor felt exceedingly silly, but not altogether badly about it. The Master was a comfortable presence in his arms, a good sort of fit, and, he thought, and then felt sillier still for it, it was really rather nice.
The shaft of light flickered, and the Doctor felt the Master's arms come up around him. "Oh." He made a coughing noise but the Master didn't show any signs of releasing him. "You must be disoriented from spending so long in the field." He walked them back a step, safely out of the light. "Can you stand?" The Master still clung to him tightly. The Doctor reached into his mind and found the solid steel wall that typically greeted him. The Master was at least well enough to maintain that, but physically he seemed to need the Doctor for support. "I don't know that I can carry you all the way, can you manage to walk a little? Do you know where your TARDIS is?" The Doctor felt a movement in the Master's body, a rapid rise and fall of his chest that might have been a poorly-suppressed chuckle.
"You wouldn't by any chance have staged this whole thing as an excuse to, well..." His suppositions where confirmed when he felt the Master lift his head up and lick at a spot under his ear, while at the same time his hands drifted down the Doctor's back. The Doctor made an undignified noise and pulled away out of the hold to see the Master, his smug grin doing nothing to lessen the blush on the Doctor's cheeks.
"Perhaps, my dear Doctor. Or perhaps I simply possess the initiative to take advantage of the situation presented to me. I suppose you will always wonder, won't you?"