A friendly warning (Closed)

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

They were hot on the trail of the Doctor's body. Or at least, River suspected they were. Judging from the trail of flower petals they'd followed from the TARDIS in the general direction of the city. Something or someone had obviously stolen the Doctor's body and planted his mind or 'soul' for lack of a better word in her body. She wasn't quite sure why she'd been chosen to house his soul, but here they were. Fumbling along at an uneven gait and would he please just stop trying to control her body! She's tired of nearly running into walls, tripping, and tumbling.

Yes this whole experience must seem amusing on some cosmic level. It's hardly amusing for her. Really, she suspects the Doctor is starting to ponder why River Song can contain him without her own head exploding. She doesn't even have the least bit of a head ache to show for the Doctor's soul being housed inside of her for the past few hours.

Still, they're trudging along, still in search of the Doctor's body.

Comments

[syncopath]

Few things escaped the Master's attention, especially in the sector of the City he considered his. Even so, that didn't mean it necessarily piqued his interest enough to take serious notice.

But River Song stumbling along the streets, seemingly at odds with her own body? Oh, that definitely registered on the radar.

The Master hung back in the shadows, watching the half-breed pass by, before speaking. Innocuous enough a tone, but if it managed to make the bitch jump out of her skin... the better.

"Ah, River Song. It has been a while, hasn't it?"

[makeherblue]

For having a Time Lord in her, River is proving to be oddly...resilient. Too resilient for a human.

He's starting to get suspicious, right up until they suddenly spot the Master.

It's too late to about face. River's body is plain rubbish at about-facing, come to think of it. Clearly she isn't the sort of woman to have enough experience running away -- or walking very briskly in the opposite direction, as he sometimes likes to call it -- to be good at it and the Doctor only manages a kind of sideways shuffle. Thanks, River. You're not helping by resisting him. The Doctor immediately does what he always does, leaping out to take charge because he's used to it.

"More than awhile. Did you enjoy yourself?" the Doctor says through River's mouth. Her body gives an odd sway, as if he's trying to compensate for a different mass distribution compared to his own body. "She thinks you put me somewhere."

Personally he doesn't think it's the Master's style, what with the...flower pedals, but if his body was around here somewhere, then he can't see the Master passing up a chance to go running off with it. It isn't as if it's not the first time that sort of thing's happened.

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

River very nearly jumps out of her skin at the sudden sound of the Master's voice. Then Eleven takes control before she can react any further. It's odd being in the back seat of your own body. All at once her mind flashes to being handcuffed to that chair, the Master looming over her with his trade mark sinister grin. Breaking into her mind, shuffling through her memories.

He can probably feel her hatred of him, a deep loathing that had only grown since their last encounter. Hatred, loathing, and a twinge of fear. Real fear. Because the Master knew her secrets and he could distribute them at will.

"The Doctor's in my body." She quips primly. "It was a logical conclusion, who else do we know who kidnaps people at random?" Her voice sharpens towards the Master. Spitting blades, practically.

"We're a bit busy." She just wants to keep moving. No, scratch that, she wants to kill the Master. She would do it too. Maybe the Doctor can feel that. There's something not quite right about River Song. Some hidden, deep dark psychotic urge.

[syncopath]

Well, that's new. The Master gives River's body a second, more thorough once-over, eyes lingering in all the wrong places.

"Is that so," he grins. "I'd imagine you would be."

He in fact hasn't seen the Doctor's body, but neither of them need to know that.

"You should give yourself a bit more credit, Doctor Song. There was nothing random about our little... encounter."

[makeherblue]

The Doctor frowns back at the Master, whose eyes seem to be roaming and roaming and is it the hair that's attracting all the roaming? The squishy bits? If it was him, he'd say it was the hair. River does have lovely, downright magnificent hair. With the Master, he can't be too sure. The Doctor primps River's hair almost possessively, as if to say the hair is most definitely off-limits and while they were at it, so is the rest of River Song.

"And I see you've freed yourself," the Doctor cuts into the conversation. A three-way conversation with only two bodies. Odds. And it's not helped that he's not coordinated enough to operate River's body if they're ever in trouble. "How long did it take you?"

So far the Master seems satisfied to just sit and gloat. He gloats very well, by the way. All that time to practice. The Doctor would be impressed if he wasn't trying to look at this through the emotions bleeding through that link from River. She's making it quite clear she doesn't care for the Master.

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

River knows precisely why the Master's eyes are roaming and she thinks it has very little to do with her hair.

Cue a flash, a tiny little sensation of lips colliding and her body, especially her 'squishy bits' pressed against the Master's. River's no stranger to using seduction, it's a woman's primary weapon once disarmed. Sorry, Doctor. It was the only way. Well, the only way she could think of at that moment.

So now River's emotions race between fear, anger, and a tiny hint of attraction. Always did love a bad boy and there's some deep dark part of River that instinctively responds to the Master's methods and madness. That dangerous part of her that had made a Dalek beg for mercy.

For the most part, she'd been silent so far. It was hard to know what to say when the Master could end everything with just a simple sentence. He held some sort of power over her, that much was becoming clear.

She wanted to get away from him.

"We're leaving. We've got a body to catch. A Time Lord running rampant around Stacy, doesn't anyone else worry about what could happen without the Doctor steering that body?"

Well, that's a bit of a mystery, isn't it? River Song feared the Master. But perhaps the Doctor would think it was because he had rooted through her mind.

[syncopath]

The Master doesn't need to be reminded of the finer points of River Song and the Doctor getting the better of him, but he also doesn't need to give either of them the satisfaction.

"Not as long as you might have hoped," he says airily. "Now, then. A body to catch. That sounds interesting. Wouldn't want that falling into the wrong hands, now would we?"

His tone may be oh so casual, but he's watching River with narrowed eyes. He doesn't want her getting any closer to the Doctor than he can... especially knowing her history and the Doctor's future.

[makeherblue]

River's eyes do what the Doctor calls a double narrow - River is already narrowing her eyes and the Doctor hops right in to join her so the Master can enjoy the full effect of two people narrowing one set of eyes at him. The last thing he thinks the Master needs is his body in the man's hands!

"I'd tell you to stay away from it," the Doctor cocks River's head. "But given you've tried to help yourself a few centuries ago, I'd say those are bad odds. Terrible odds, even. I'll have you know I'm very good at hiding and sneaking, even without the rest of me inside."

It's a bit of a fib. Not that fibs are terribly difficult, but usually he's in his body when he's lurking or test-driving a hiding place. Hopefully River and him can beat the Master to his body. While he highly doubts the man will kill him or take his remaining regenerations after his behavior in the ravine, there's loads and oodles and plenty of other things he could do with it if he decides to be creative. That's the thing about the Master. He can be dangerously creative. Occasionally thick (the cheetah comes to mind. Among other things) but the Doctor doesn't dare underestimate the master.

He's brilliant and creative and him. All three make a dangerous combination.

The Doctor fixes the Master with what he hopes is a challenging look and teeters off deeper into Stacy, even more determined to track down his body. Most of it is that. But the other part is he's sensing River's unease around the Master and something else. Something she's struggling to keep away from him that isn't just human fear or discomfort. Something ugly.