02. Study break

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

[And suddenly a desk appears on the Plane. It's a large desk, covered in papers. A star chart has fallen off the edge and now lies neglected on the floor. There is a large pile of old books partially obscuring the woman furiously scribbling in a large leather bound notebook.]

Bugger all.

[She scratches something out with her pen, leaving behind a big black blotch.  This is Ace, hard at work studying.  Please feel free to interrupt - she'll welcome the distraction.]

Comments

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

I admit, my greatest flaw is my complete inability to die.

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

if you're looking to get rid of that flaw I'm more then willing to help you.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

I doubt you could correct it, Miss McShane. Even with all of your... learning.

Nice robes, by the way. I couldn't believe the Doctor when he told me you were at the Academy.

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just might be able to come up with something. Fancy learning doesn't solve every problem, you know.

On top of everything else you're not one of those pureblood snobs, are you? I didn't figure you cared all that much about Gallifrey or what went on there.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

A pureblood snob? Me? Why, Miss McShane, my best friend at the Academy was rumoured to be half-human, and I'm presently married to one of your own kind. No, I know all about the Lady President's experiment with the Academy, and how it ends. What surprises me is that it's you. You're less the Academy sort than he or I ever were, which takes considerable effort.

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

Married? [Said with a combination of shock, dismay, horror and disbelief. A deep shuddering sigh follows.]

I might take that as a compliment, coming from anyone else but you. I'm nothing like anyone at the Academy, but I do well enough.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

I know! You never think you'll ever marry until you find the right woman. Or man. Or whatever. Mine happens to be female.

Do you have a terrible nickname yet? Or have they decided that your human names are insulting enough on their own?

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

The right woman? Don't you mean the woman most susceptible to your brainwashing techniques?

What, you mean the Time Lords on Gallifrey didn't grovel and call you Master? Colour me shocked.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

You don't think there are humans with my tastes, Miss McShane? I'd expect the Doctor to be that deluded about humanity, not you.

[amused] Last time I spoke to the High Council, there was far more submission than mere grovelling. I only meant that everyone at the Academy gets a nickname, from the Doctor to Vansell to the Rani.

Oh, perhaps they just refer to you by your species?

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

The Professor's not deluded - he leaves it to the psychopaths like you.

[She ignores the bit about the High Council groveling. If he's telling the truth - and the Master's many things but rarely a liar - then she doesn't want to know what went so wrong.]

Perhaps it's none of your god damn business.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

He's always very surprised when he sees racism, sexism, and all the other -isms in your species. That's delusion to me.

[he grins]

You are now a student, and I an alumni. Not surprising I'd take interest in the next generation of Time Lords. My future might have hung or hanged upon it, depending on if you lot lead Gallifrey to a mountain or the gallows.

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

He's sees the best that people have to give - that's not deluded, it's optimistic. Hard for people like us to recognize, I know, but there it is.

[Us. She doesn't think when she uses the word, lumping them both together. She doesn't want to think about it after it's said.]

Should of known you were only interested in the fate of Gallifrey and the Academy if it affected you n anyway.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

[Us. He catches that 'us,' and because of it, he lets the whole statement go. The absence of response is response enough.]

Oh, you're not willing to buy that there's sentimental value in there? My home planet and my alma mater keep special places in my right heart.

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

[She wonders if there is any truth in his statement, but she can't believe it. Not really.]

If I didn't know you needed them, physically, I'd doubt the existence of your hearts.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

Ooh, everyone always says I'm heartless to mean I'm without emotion, but they haven't been paying much attention if they think that.

You've been paying attention, haven't you?

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

[She debates lying, but she can't.]

It'd be easier t' think you were a bastard without emotion. You're not. You're a bastard with emotions.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

Top marks, Miss McShane.

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

I call 'em like I see them.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

So it seems.

[absently, he glances over her work to try to guess the year she's in]

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

[She notices his looking.]

Feeling nostalgic for your school days?

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

I received one of my old datapads for Christmas from the Twins. One of the Doctors received a stab wound in his arm - and a broken hand - trying to find that out.

[aces-are-rare.livejournal.com]

[For the barest moment of time she had forgotten who this was she was talking to. The mention of the Doctor being wounded causes her hand to tighten around the book she had been holding and her eyes to narrow.]

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

[the Master smiles to himself, pleased at the memory]

And after that, I broke one of his hearts. The left, I think. My wife broke the other one.