The Master was going to be quite the handful the Doctor knew it and didn't engage the other Time Lord any further with taunting. Instead the Doctor spoke his say and stood there letting the Master speak. hearing the man's laugh yet the Doctor knew all too well that Master wasn't feeling joy in this, that his laugh was merely some kind of barrier to let others in. That was definitely something the man had to break through. There had to be a way, right? Hearing the Master's slight whimper the Doctor's Cheshire cat like grin faded as a look of concern formed in his eyes.

The Doctor's face showed no emotion but it could be seen in his dark chocolate brown eyes that he truly did care about the Master regardless of their centuries of battling each other. The last two sons of Gallifrey, they were alive but always at each other's throats but this time the Doctor had the upper hand in things. As the Master continued speak the Doctor listened to his words, a slight look of pain within the Doctor's eyes as he looked to the Master. Not moving, not flinching as the Master screamed in his face, just stood there listening.

In a sense that was true, he always had his friends, he had his lover (Rose) but now even if he lost her, she was safe but he still had his friends. Jack was proof of that as the Immortal stood by the door watching the two Time Lords converse. "I left because you … you were changing Master and not for the better." the Doctor said sternly to the Master before walking out, Jack following him. After pouring two cups of tea the Doctor handed one to Jack as they sat at the table.

"What now? " they both heard the thud of the shoe against the Master's bedroom door. Which caused the immortal to shake his head "I don't know how much longer you'll be able to stand him. But I'm here for you, Doctor" 

The Time Lord gave a nod as he sat back and sipped his tea his eyes closing as his mind whirled rapidly through his thoughts. Typical hyper Time Lord manner of course. What was today? Then his mind raced to the past:

-*-[i]
A young raven black haired Koschei sat beneath a tree in his Time Lord Academy robes with a book in his hands reading when all of a sudden leaves from above rained down onto him causing the boy to blinked and lifted his gaze to see a blonde haired Theta hanging from a branch right in front of him "There are you, Koschei, I've been looking for you" a younger but taller Theta was beaming to him.

A sigh left Koschei's lips "I told you I wanted to be left alone, Theta" he looked annoyed which caused Theta to frown. The blonde haired Time Lord allowed himself to drop down and landed beside his friend and began to dig into his robe pockets which got Koschei to blink his blue eyes as he averted his gaze to what his friend was doing "What are you doing?" his tone still that of annoyance.

"Looking for your present, silly" was Theta's response as he dug his head into his own robes and began to furiously search "I know it was in here.. AHA!" moments later Theta's head popped out from the fabric as he gasped for air and slowly pulled out a wrapped up present and held it out to his friend.

Koschei's eyes widened as he slowly closed his book "F-for me?" he took the box and began to pull at the ribbon which then fell as he then opened the box and found a pair of cufflinks in white gold and Koschei's name in Gallifreyan script as the button in glowing red metal. "Th… Theta this is .. very nice but.. cufflinks? and what's this for?"

Theta's cheek flushed with red "Well… you … you always spoke of how … you fancied .. suits and.. well.. I figured I'd give you these.. for .. your present. For your Birthday.. if you don't like them i--" but before he could even finish his statement Koschei had placed the box down and moved in close to embrace his best friend.

"They're fanastic, Theta, Thank you" he gave his friend a smile.
[/i]
-*-

Slowly the Doctor's eyes opened "… His birthday…. HIS BIRTHDAY!!!" shooting to his feet the Doctor raced out of the kitchen and straight up the TARDIS console where he immediately put in coordinates for the snazziest partying planet in the galaxy.

"come again, Doctor?" Jack was at a loss for words as he had followed the Doctor.

"Koschei's Birthday! It's today! How could I forget?!" he smacked himself in the head rather hard "Always alone.. always alone ever since I left him…"

Jack had the most puzzled look on his face "Koschei? … you mean… The Master? you're going to celebrate his birthday?... Doctor what was in that tea of yours?"

The TARDIS thrashed harshly which grounded the Doctor on his back upon landing "He always complains about being alone, about never having anyone. What better way than to lighten the mood with a bit of partying, yeah?" the Doctor hopped to his feet and raced for the lower levels "Master, get ready because it's time to Samba!" the door of the bedroom flew open "Come on, get your shoes on we have to go!" he grinned and waited for the Master to get his shoes before taking his hand and racing for the exit doors of the TARDIS.