“It’s not a reflection of you, I promise,” he says, taking his husband’s face in his hands and kissing his forehead before pressing their heads together. “Just a bad head day. You know how it goes.”
Koschei removes his reading glasses and settles himself more firmly on Jack’s lap.
“That I do, husband, but you miss my point. I am prepared to lavish you with reasons for your greatness. Gird your loins, or rather, don’t, for I’m about to charm off your knickers.”
He clears his throat, theatrically.
“The High Classical Greeks have striven in vain to sculpt your perfect face and body. But this barely touches upon the beauty of your mind, heart, and soul. You have the mind of a scientist, an artist, and an intellect. The heart of a poet and an adventurer. The soul of one who secretly, for all his playful transgressions, wishes to warm his feet by a hearth cozied up with a special someone.”
He wriggles a bit.
“Lucky for you, here I am, dearest friend, father of my children, hero of my hearts. You may now express your accolades in return.”
Jack feels like weeping as he listens to Koschei, however teasingly sincere, list all these wonderful compliments. He even has to close his eyes to keep the tears at bay, that’s how moved he is by those words. Some days, everything is just Too Much, and to be able to ask for a reminder without judgement, to be given it so willingly and so joyfully, is the only balm for his weary soul.
When he opens his eyes again, he chuckles even as one big, fat tear rolls down his cheek. “You’re wonderful. You really are.”
He leans in and kisses him softly before wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close. “I just need you to sty here with me a little longer.”
“Oh darling,” Koschei haplessly laughs; he intended to move his husband, yes, but he’s ever fearful that old habits die hard, and to his sometimes fanatically simplifying brain of schismed blacks and whites, tears mean only bad things. He cups Jack’s face in both hands. “Yes, I know, I reallyam tear-inducingly glorious, go on, better out than in.”
He strives to lighten the mood with jokes, tenderly kissing his beloved. He kisses away the tear, too.
“Of course, forever,” he readily yields, settling down comfily.
Doctor! You and I once experienced a wondrously catastrophic Christmas! Remember, that time I was everyone on earth? Oh, those were the days. And you heard the Drums, when still I had them, and you told me you believed me, and I really must impress it upon you that this meant the world to me. For that reason, darling: let ME spend Christmas with you. I shall get crackers and wear a paper hat and eat all their disgusting rich food with you. We will indulge in pointless human rituals, like cutting down an evergreen tree and putting knick-knacks and lights on them. I will dress up as that unnervingly omniscient fat bearded man in red and we can sing songs of dubious taste while getting lit on gingered eggnog. Whatever your hearts desire.
my idiot muse to the Doctor about Christmas, lmfao
“M’friends are goin’ away for Christmas.” She said, suddenly, before a lingering silence took place as she fully processed her own words. She loved Christmas. Ryan, Yaz and Graham wouldn’t be there—- and all of her other friends? Except for The Master, at least? They weren’t options. “Think I’m gonna have to skip it this year. Sucks.”
“What?! Oh, like HELL!”
His outrage is flat-out comical. She might as well have declared herself the saleswoman of her own TARDIS, to some disreputable, shady party, the way he treats this like a calamity to end all.
The Master flings down hours of nuanced mechanical labor indelicately. Little bits and pieces of his work go flying like metal confetti. He stands and stalks over to the Doctor and kneels to her, taking both her hands, dramatic as a Shakespearean acting company understudy.
“Doctor! You and I once experienced a wondrously catastrophic Christmas! Remember, that time I was everyone on earth? Oh, those were the days. And you heard the Drums, when still I had them, and you told me you believed me, and I really must impress it upon you that this meant the world to me. For that reason, darling: let ME spend Christmas with you. I shall get crackers and wear a paper hat and eat all their disgusting rich food with you. We will indulge in pointless human rituals, like cutting down an evergreen tree and putting knick-knacks and lights on them. I will dress up as that unnervingly omniscient fat bearded man in red and we can sing songs of dubious taste while getting lit on gingered eggnog. Whatever your hearts desire.”
She was surprised. But it was a soft surprise, her eyes shifting instantly to her left as her head turned slightly, paying attention to exactly what he was doing. It only seemed like he wanted to get past her, but…. the feeling of his hands on her hips, the gentle way they moved over her clothes and placed pressure on her skin – if only to move her – was so delicate. She looked up to meet his eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips.
“You could have just asked me t’move, y’know.”
The Master registers that surprise touch-telepathically from the moment the Doctor experiences it. It feels like a tiny squeak, like a mental nudge of an exclamation point in a tiny font. From such a brash, bold, daring soul, it’s precious, and it makes him smile just as softly.
Maybe she doesn’t remember their days as two far younger men, when he was a short, svelte man with dark hair and a thick beard, and she taller, with a cloud of gray curls and a high raspy voice. Maybe she doesn’t recall their Sea Devils days, when they were at zero hour and desperately collaborating, and she was the one gripping him gently by the hips and moving him out of her path. That’s alright. He’ll remind her in time.
He is ever so patient, after all, and very good at waiting.
“Then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of touching you,” he murmurs back, stealing an uncharacteristically meek smile right back at her.
….so anyway! on the bright side of life, tonight at the store i bought those funny deer antler things you put on your car for christmas, and also, this TARDIS ornament (i live in a rural part of a midwestern state so i was beyond ecstatic to find ANY DW merch) so here it is, with a bonus Pru ❤
//Ugh I really need ThirteenXSimm fluff right now, I’m having a super tough night, but all my Thirteens are in bed or busy LOL 😭😭😭😭 and admittedly I am also so tired I cannot think straight 😭😭😭😭
Icarus 