Patching up Bridges - M

[Naku Tsushiko]

Hello there! Been a while since I've shown my face unfortunately but finally, I've come back with something. There is no sneezing yet but I can almost assure you that there will be! Before I let you begin I am going to quickly explain a few things that may or may not prove confusing. I used the pony versions and while it is arguable and very likely that the blue stallion with the hour glass Cutie Mark is actually the fifth Doctor but for purposes of this dribblet, he's the Master, please bare with it. This is meant to be kind of fluffy so I apologize for any OOC-ness detected, I also ship the Master/ Doctor and there is no doubt I will take this ship to my grave XD Also, let me answer something before it is asked. Why didn't I just write the story with them as Timelord's and not ponies? The answer is that I have many ideas otherwise however I found the ponies easier to write as they were not humanoid, they were easier to describe.

The story does explain a little why they are in close vicinity but if you have questions otherwise or about anything whatsoever fell free to ask. This can also be read at: http://sprinkles-the...ridges-prologue

No copyright intended. I do not own characters or anything here really come to think of it. Sorry for this atrocity... enjoy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prologue

The Master glared furiously at the former Time lord in front of him before finally averting his gaze and barging in past him. He was soaking wet, his normally bright blue technicolor coat dyed a striking several shades darker and his waterlogged goldenrod mane and tail dirty blonde. He looked down and slowly shut the doors to the TARDIS “Master…,” he awkwardly started, unable to pinpoint exactly what the Master held him at fault for. Carefully he approached, submitting slightly and weary of attack.

“What?” he growled under his breath, voice low and teeth clenched in impending rage, near frozen fluid dripped progressively off of him like the rainfall outdoors. “What could you possibly want from me now?!”

The Doctor sat down “Nothing Master…, thank you,” he was about to reach a tentative hoof to touch him but the other jerked away instantaneously and with that he quickly resigned to go get him a towel. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”

He walked away and lightly trotted off, ‘There has to be one lying around here somewhere,’ he thought to himself before disappearing into one of the countless corridors of the TARDIS. He peeked into room after room until he was finally able to pick the rugged teal patch of cloth off the floor and heading back to the console room.

The Master was lying down on the floor; fur sticking out peculiarly as if he had shaken the moisture off much like would a dog. He was shivering lightly in more of a suppressed manner if he had to call it anything, almost as if he was trying not to. He couldn’t have possibly been out there for long could he? He walked up to him and draped the familiar fabric over his back but the Master kept on glaring at him. “How long have you been out? Why didn’t you come back before it was supposed to rain?” the Doctor asked curiously.

The Master only rolled his eyes and scoffed “I DID.”

“You did?! Then why didn’t you come in?!” he responded, ears tilted back in concern.

This only enraged the blue stallion further “The door was locked so I went out for a drink!” he stood up and put his hoof down hard, the Doctor stepped back preparing himself for a tantrum.

“Why didn’t you knock?”

“Doctor?” he growled “When you ask somebody to do something for you, you leave the door unlocked! Even I thought that was common knowledge!”

“You’re mad at me because I locked the door… did I hear you right?”

“No, I’m mad at you because you didn’t bother to show up!”

The Doctor was dumbfounded, he hadn’t remembered ever receiving an invitation of any kind “What?” he asked. Bad move.

The Master’s eyes narrowed “I left you a note,” he explained angrily “In the bag that I left in front of the door.”

His eyes widened in realization, he hadn’t checked the bag, he hadn’t got the note, and now he was burning bridges that he thought he was at least starting to patch up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, let me make it up to you, please?” he felt awful, the Doctor had been trying to get him to go do something with him ever since they had agreed to work together to get out of this universe and back into their own and now that the Master finally wanted to do something with him he didn’t show.

“Just go away!” he lashed out before turning around and curling up facing away from him against a golden column.

“At least let me dry you off Master, you’re going to catch chill sleeping like that.”

“I said leave,” sighing in defeat and not wanting to anger the former Time lord further he turned his back and left the room with his head held low. He would try again after a couple of hours have passed and the Master’s mind hopefully clearer than now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dare I ask, how was it?

[Naku Tsushiko]

A couple days, 15 days, 2 weeks, hey that's a couple 'o' something :/ I didn't really want to think of a name for said illness so as you can probably tell how creative the name I put down was XD Uhm... so... here you go. I did my best to re-format it so yeah... . BTW does anyone know how I can change the overall title, I forgot to indicate fandom titles... sorry.

I suggest you read from here just because the formatting is prettier and possible easier to read or not, up to you!

Prologue - https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing

Chapter One - https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor re-explored the countless corridors of the TARDIS wondering how in Gallifrey’s name he could mess up something so unbelievably simple. Sighing, he halted his energetic pace to a stop and sat down, thinking back to their last encounter in the console room. Hours had passed since then and the earth tone male had taken his leave; a move he couldn’t help but shake off as another mistake. He frowned, the Master had seemed really upset, dare he say: off, a feat very unlike him, something was wrong but he couldn’t quite place his finger or rather, hoof on it.

From the looks of it, the Master had only been trying to get his attention but why in the way he did, he couldn’t help but wonder: Why in the form of a drink? Had he meant it to be a date? Was the Master trying to ask him out? Or was he just in a good mood, until he wrecked it, of course. Whatever the reason, he had to find a way to fix this little flare up between them before it got any worse and maybe find at least one way the Master would let him redeem himself.

The Doctor shook his head, wait___ ‘The Master has the key,’ which meant that he was lying about being locked out; the newly embodied pony pondered this for a moment before drawing a conclusion ‘So, he doesn’t want to face me? But then why would he go through all the trouble to invite me out for something IF he didn’t want me to see him?’

Still thinking, he rolled backwards immaturely so that his hooves rested against the wall above his head ‘Does he want me to know something?’ now if only he had simply read the note when he had the chance he would’ve probably known by now. Coyly, he rolled over and lifted himself with ease off the floor, picking up a slow, steady gait as he neared the console room and eventually entered.

He stepped foot inside as quietly as possible; warily scanning the area for any trace of the blue stallion he had left to himself hours ago “Master…?” he spoke up cautiously, keeping his tone soft against the otherwise silence of the TARDIS. Finally, he caught a glimpse of the former Time lord, occasionally twitching awkwardly on the cold metal mesh floor, likely fast asleep, something that struck him as odd itself. The Master had just slept a little while ago after all.

Carefully he padded across the area and nudged open the bag containing various wires and circuits searching for the note only to find nothing of the sort. ‘Was there something I missed?’ he checked again but to no avail ‘Is he lying about this too?’

“Then how am I supposed to win this!?” he asked himself aloud; not even noticing as the Master approached from behind, his temper still broiling from before.

“Like this!” the blue stallion scoffed, brutally shoving him out of the way and pulling a single device from the sitting bag. The Doctor backed away upon impact and watched tentatively, rubbing at his shoulder. “See the hunk of metal?”

The Doctor nodded and waited for him to continue.

The Master rolled his eyes, pulling the corner of a four-way folded slip of paper out of what appeared to be a thin crevice in its otherwise smooth, spiraled surface. “Now Doctor, I’m going to t-try_!” gradually he began to stutter, his entire sentence staggering to a stop by his fitfully hitching breath, his nostrils flared slightly and golden orbs clamped shut before the stallion finally succumbed to a loud “H… Heh’HEHkktshshshEEW!!!” sniffling instinctively afterwards faster than he could even recover.

The pale chocolate colored male flinched, recoiling as a heavy then light mist hit and broke up against his coat “Are you alright there?” he asked, watching the other quickly regain his composure and turn away annoyed, somewhat embarrassed by his sudden involuntary outburst. Not to even mention the fact that he had just sneezed all over the man he was trying to ask accompany him.

“You were saying, Master?”

This time he didn’t say anything, only handed him the slip and waited, frustration still hinting at his face from the Doctor’s repulsive denseness. He took his time to unfold the sheet to its full capacity, eyeing the other male’s expression which would have remained impassive if it weren’t for the occasional falter or twitch, evidently about to sneeze again. The former Time lord smiled softly, thoughtfully reading the message, written in ancient Gallifreyan, over in his head. It was simple, only several words in length and perfectly distributed on either side of the crease ‘Get a drink with me?’

He was about to speak up when the sky blue male’s features turned from inexpressive to desperate in a matter of seconds, barely managing to turn away before attempting to smother the persisting fit against his fetlock. “HEK’ttshchEEW!! H’HAHtsheeeeEEEEWWW!!!” he paused, breath catching mid sequence, the Doctor just stood there, waiting for the sneezy Time lord to finish before he gave him an answer “Hah’TSHeeeeEEEEWWWW!!!!”

“Bless you!” he chimed playfully afterward, nearly laughing at the way he showed hardly any ability to control himself effectively in his current form “So what’s got you all sniffle-y?”

The Master decided not to answer the question, growling slightly, stepping away from him when the Doctor tried to lay hoof on him ‘I can’t touch him either? What’s wrong with him? The very WORST it could be is a newly found allergy’ he thought to himself, thoroughly intrigued.

“Don’t you dare,” he warned softly, sounding almost tired, earning a concerned look in response.

“Are you positive you’re alright?” he tried.

The bright blue stallion glared in blatant irritability “I’m fine, will you just drop it!?” he snapped lightly, startling the other Time lord by his abrupt switch in tone and energy.

“Okay, b-but we can go?” the Doctor inquired, spirits lifting, shocked that he would have a change of heart so fast. The Master rolled his eyes, not wanting to give him a straight up answer but instead walked plainly around the console to the TARDIS doors and out causing the remaining male to jump giddily and quickly follow.

“So, where were you thinking?”

He sighed “A bar, I thought we could just hang out in the back or s-s-some… HAH’ktsheeeEEEEWWWW!!!! something.”

“What’s that, like five?” he counted. There were few things that made Time lord’s sneeze like that: There was of course, allergies, which was likely the most common ailment imaginable for said symptom. Next in line was the Gallifreyan Flu, a nasty, extremely contagious and highly adaptable viral infection which caused wholesome fits due to swollen sinuses which was bad enough except for the fact that the infection made them burn like crazy as well, making it nearly impossible to avoid. Other than that though… there weren’t a lot of other things that could possibly be bothering him right now, not to mention one of the two likeliest options has been extinct for a very long time.

In other words, it had to be allergies… but to what, inside the TARDIS and out would pop up out of the blue and cause them?

“Yeah, you’re point Doctor?” he turned away, rubbing at the base of his nose and cheek, sniffling in attempt to keep the strange itch at bay. He could feel his throat already starting to get sore and he wondered how long he had before the other man would be able to figure it out. The bright blue pony coughed through clenched teeth, he hated to admit it but this ‘Illness,’ was getting the best of him and faster than he would have previously imagined.

“It’s just odd, that’s all,” he told him “It’s not common for a Time lord to sneeze so much for no reason like you’re saying you are, I’m just wondering what it could be.”

“HUH’XXggXXttchchchshEEEEWWWW!!!!”

He smiled, almost amused at the sheer sight of his distressful expressions “Bless you, maybe you’d like to just lay down a bit more?”

“Right, very fun_ HUH'TGXGHSHSHSH!!!!!” he groaned, somewhat frustrated at his inability to hold simple dialogue “Yeah… easy for you to H’XXTCHCHSHEEW!!! Say” he coughed harshly towards his shoulder, his head pounding horribly and his mentality practically swimming in circles, he should have pretended to be tired just a little longer. ANYTHING would feel better than this.

The two walked into the rectangular entrance and found a seat towards the far back, away from everybody and any action resonating from up front. “I’m going to go get us drinks,” the Doctor sauntered off, coming back not even three minutes later juggling two likely hardly loaded alcoholics, set them down and took his seat next to the bothered Time lord.

“You do know that the alcohol won’t help your problem, right?” he chided teasingly, not even expecting the Master to virtually break down in a violent coughing fit, turned slightly into his fetlock. ‘Blimey, sounds like it hurts…,’ when the sickly Time lord finally calmed down enough to look the other in the eye without issue he spoke up, voice cracked.

“Neither will all this noise for that matter!” the room was blaring by comparison to his usual perception of sound and thus did nothing to help his practically hammering headache. The Doctor stared awkwardly ‘What does he mean by that?’ he had the feeling it was a hint of some sort; it wasn’t an unlikely assumption to say the least. He watched him take a drink and wince at the sheer sensation, he couldn’t remember the last time he had seen the Master in such a condition_ well, other than the Cheetah Virus for that matter.

The Doctor frowned and leaned against the other’s side causing a shiver to run up the weakened Time lord’s spine, wanting immediately to go elsewhere. The tawny male nuzzled up under the sky blue stallion’s jaw and felt him begin to relax a little under his touch. He was warm, definitely warmer than he should be considering his biology, he could feel him shivering strangely “Master… can you explain it to me?”

“Explain what?”

“Just tell me how you feel. You’re obviously not well.”

The Master sighed, clearly not happy with the implications regarding his well being “I thought we established that I was fine.”

“Can you even hear yourself?” he began, edging at the utter evidence in his voice alone “You sound awful, you’re shaking, sneezing and coughing like crazy, and I think you might have a fever. Also, for the record… we did establish that you were fine, but not that there was nothing wrong,” he smiled calmly “You don’t have to hide yourself you know.”

“Are you kidding me, I can’t hear my own thoughts with everything in the background! I’m not hiding from you and you don’t actually know whether I’m running a temperature or not!” he retorted.

The Doctor sighed exaggeratedly at his best enemy’s sheer stubbornness, waiting not even a minute in silence until he could easily sense the Time lord’s swift rhythmic hitching telling him that he had to sneeze again “HTSHeeeeEEEEWWWW!!!!” he turned around, quicker than the Master could react, laying a hoof on his forehead, a leg on either side of him and his midsection in his face. The bright blue pony glared, making a futile attempt to shove the other away. Not only was the Doctor now violating his personal space, the countless tiny hairs sticking neatly out of the Doctor’s newly grown fur coat didn’t help his already irritated nose.

It was official, he was burning hot, his fever shockingly higher than what he had expected it would be, he thought about it for a moment, unmoving except for the occasional shift which didn’t do a single thing in favor of the male below him at all.

He was brought out of it by the sensation of the Master’s fit against his torso causing him to stiffen considerately “Heh… H’HHXXTTCH!!! HXTCH!!! H’TSKK!!! HttCHEW!!!!” realizing his mistake he pulled away, giving him some space to breath. “HUH’XXggxxTCHEEWWW!!!!” he sniffled loudly, trying to clear his blatantly clogged nasal passages before shooting his captor a look “You happy dow?” he questioned, speech impaired.

“No… I just don’t see why you feel the need to keep everything from me; we’re both in the same boat you know. I’m not going to condemn you for it!” he scolded, now not even several inches from the Master’s face.

He glared, not happy with his confinement and close proximity to his keeper, he sniffed, clenched teeth releasing and mouth parting slightly to allow air to pass. “Because it’s not your job to worry about me and it’s not your business what I come down with!”

“Not my job to worry about you? Of course I worry about you! What kind of remark is that?” he countered “None of my business what happens to you? Maybe you’re right, but that doesn’t mean I listen! That doesn’t mean I don’t care about you enough to want to find out!” he immediately froze ‘W-was that a confession!?”

The Master’s face flushed under his pelt at the Doctor’s likely very accidental confession, a smile appearing across his face as if he had administered a test. Catching the Doctor by surprise he leaned forward and kissed him passionately, forcing both his hooves free from under the Doctor’s loosened grasp and shoving him backwards, uncomfortably against the table edge, maneuvering himself in such a way that would put him on top. The position they were in wasn’t at all pleasant for either of them, the blue stallion’s hind legs just barely kicked secure on the bench and his body jostled gracelessly, pressed against the other’s landing only a couple notches higher, front limbs supporting himself against his prey’s shoulders.

The latte shaded male looked shocked, his eyes wide and staring up helplessly at the Time lord just hardly towering over him. Slowly, he returned the favor, happy that nobody was paying enough attention to get the them kicked out. The Master broke away minutes to soon, breathing labored, feet beginning to slip out from under him, just about ready to lose his balance.The Doctor tried to adjust himself but then noticed something suddenly very apparent in the scent of the other’s breath. It was laced with the smell of virus, sickness, and infection; to be more exact, just what he had been trying to rule out.

[Naku Tsushiko]

Hello again. I'm sorry for taking so long and I still don't like how this chapter turned out but I'm at least willing to admit to myself that it could have gone worse so I'm good Uhm... shout out to whom it may concern, within the last 1000 words the chapter contains mentions of syringes and mentions blood twice. So if that bothers anyone then long story short and spoiler alert, his fever spiked unexpectedly and he almost died/regenerated. Sorry for adding a serious bit in there as that may be a put off for some of the people on this site so... yeah.

I seriously advise that you read straight from the docs however it is not essential:

Prologue: https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing

Chapter One: https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing

Chapter Two: https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor bit his lip, trying not to show his suddenly growing discomfort ‘Oh no…,” he thought to himself, somewhere between now and the upcoming week was going to be just awful for the both of them. The virus had an incubation period of three to four days before the symptoms even started meaning that not only was it undetectable but he could already be infected; and if he wasn’t, then it was a very likely assumption that he was now. Just within the last hour and a half he had been sneezed on, basically used as a tissue, shared an airspace and kissed an infected Time lord; so, in other words, he was screwed.

“I take it you’ve worked it out?” the Master smirked “Took you a w-w-while…,” his breath caught and he sniffled, trying to keep the persisting itch at bay. The Earthtone stallion glanced up at him nervously, watching as the bright blue male removed a supporting hoof from his shoulder, ducked his head slightly and covered his snout “Heh… HEH’XXggTCHSHEEWWW!!!! H’HUXSHEEW!!!! EH’mmfTCHEEEEWWWW!!!!! H’TCHEW!!! H-H-HUGH”XTCHCHCHSHEEEEWWWW!!!!!”

He sniffled again, taking an extra moment to make sure he was finished before looking at the Doctor apologetically “Sorry,” he mumbled softly, sinking down in his seat and allowing the male standing over him to climb off.

The natural shaded Time lord returned to his original spot ‘Did he just apologize to me…? Is it really that bad…?’ he leaned back against him, once more nuzzling himself under the other’s jaw “It’s fine Master, there are worst bugs out there,” he smiled.

“Heh...Heh-H’TTSHEEEWWWW!!!!! Hah’TCHEEWWW!!!!!!” he suppressed the additional fit into his makeshift wrist “I’b dot so sure about that,” he countered, audibly congested.

“You think so?” the Earthtone male questioned playfully “I suppose it has it’s various misfortunes, you didn’t need to lie to me though… you don’t need to feel ashamed for getting sick you know.”

The Master growled weakly “I do dot feel ashamed Doctor, stop throwigg accusatiods aroudd before you dow ode way or the other.” He pulled away and looked at him, something off in his uncomfortably steady gaze. His golden eyes were dilated strangely making the other male for a second wonder if he was even respondent or if he had suddenly gone under “I’ve shared my shortcomiggs with you before, the reasod I didd’t tell you was because it would have affected your decisiod to go out with me,” he stated, surprisingly calm.

“Aww…,” he started off with stereotypical affection “You know I would have said ‘yes’ if you had just came out and asked me, if I had known that you were sick I would have hoped we could postpone this until a later date… also, i’m sorry….”

He smiled for the first time the Doctor had seen him do today, well, except for the occasional smirk from time to time but he decided not to count that “You’re sorry for w-wha…,” he slowly trailed off, quickly turning the other direction, expression unintentionally desperate as he sneezed partially covered towards the wall “Hugh… HIH’ggttXXSHSHSHEEEEWWWW!!!! H’HISHEEWWW!” he sniffled for a second before returning his focus to the Doctor and finished his disturbed sentence “What…?”

“Bless you,” he stated politely for lack of a more helpful phrase “I’m sorry for making you go out for me the other day, you were showing then too weren’t you?” he remembered back to the occasional key events that had happened while he and the apparently feverish male were working on the TARDIS, whether that had been a single muffled cough, the way that he had sneezed once and immediately looked at him, ears back like he had made some sort of a mistake or simply the fact that he had laid down most of the time ‘So, what DID he do anyways?’ he thought to himself while on the topic of the Master’s predisposed symptoms.

The Master kept his gaze steady “Yeah, you’re just dow figurigg it out though, dockigg you poidts for that,” he smirked, obviously playing with him; that did not however, change the fact that he was administering a test.

“W-wait, you’re testing me!? T-That’s not fair at all if I don’t know what it is I’m being tested on!” the Doctor protested in turn, not expecting the other newly regenerated pony to respond in a way that was almost… flirty.

“Ever heard of a pop quiz? You should dow all the adswers… oh Doctor, you’ll dever pass at this rate,” he gave a slight pause “What cad I say, should’a studied.”

The vibrant mink male listened to the sound of his abnormally deepened and husky voice, which would have sounded a lot better if it weren’t for the fact that he had been sneezing near constantly for two hours straight beforehand. Regardless, it sounded more like one of those student-teacher roleplays were the student was failing and his instructor was willing to pass him if he had agreed to certain terms. He knew that the Master was only humoring him and that he didn’t really want to do anything of the sort but for some reason he had the feeling he was saying it as another form of: I want to cuddle.

“You,” he began, only to be cut off by the other male being forced into a violent coughing fit or more like unproductively hacking, turned away into his fetlock. The wintery blue stallion groaned unhappily when he had finally finished “A-are you alright there?” the Doctor asked with concerned “We should go back to the TARDIS, get you treated. What do you say?”

The Master glanced back at him, wincing at the pain in his throat when he finally, after a minute of silence, decided to speak up “Fide…,” he crackled slightly, waiting for the other male to move, he rubbed at the base of his snout and the other Time lord looked at him skeptically ‘A compliant Master. That can’t be good.’

“Wait, what?” he stammered slightly “Y-you’re listening to me?” this worried him, the illness was hardly serious but always managed to cause everything from upper respiratory symptoms, loss of appetite, dehydration and fever to disequilibrium, leaving tons of room for something to go wrong. It was generally contracted on human-based planets where he had tended to visit the most so it wasn’t an uncommon scenario that he would come down with it more often than he theoretically should; but what continued to bewilder him was how the Master was able to contract a virus that they had left behind on Earth.

The infection wasn’t species specific, anybody could carry it, but rather it only affected Time lord’s. Hence its nickname, the Gallifreyan Flu. One got infected by being in the presence of a certain set of viral infections, which then would react with their natural biology to form an individual infectious strain that could be passed more easily from Time lord to Time lord. You could only get each strain once and the bug died after two weeks of exposure but could still be passed even after the symptoms cleared. ‘A parallel maybe?” he thought to himself, wondering whether or not there was something similar here, he would however need to run some tests to know for sure.

“Doctor, dod’t make offers and thed doze off, you’re in the way…,” he scolded him, trailing off as he failed to hold back another small fit and quickly covered his itchy muzzle “H’mfCH!!! HUH’TCH!!!! HIH’TSH!!!!!” he stifled, cursing his hooves under under his breath irritably before losing the battle to yet another loud “Heh… HEH’TTCHEEWWW!!!!”

The dust colored male smiled, slightly amused by his expressions alone “Bless you, you shouldn’t hold them in though. Not good for you. Could hurt yourself,” he lectured briefly and removed himself from his seat, lowering himself on all fours and waiting for the other to follow.

“I was tryigg dot to sneeze all over you if I could help it,” he explained and hesitantly followed, the two left the building and started back for the TARDIS. The Master sniffled noticeably and turned away coughing, his once normal gait shuffling slightly under him; he was dizzy and his head was pounded like crazy but he bit down and hoped the other Time lord wouldn’t notice.

The Doctor glanced over at him “How do you think you got it?” he asked curiously.

“Beats me, couldd’t have gotted it from you so maybe this place has somethigg equally as awful,” he sighed “Your guess is as good as mide.”

They entered the console room and the Doctor spoke up “Why don’t you go take a hot shower, that should help clear away congestion,” he suggested, trying to be helpful.

The Master returned his gaze, only breaking away to give a roughly exhaled “Hugh… heh- HEH’SHEEWWW!!!!! I-I’ll be back thed,” he decided to accept the offer, anything if it would make him feel even a little bit better.

“Alright,” he confirmed, watching as the bright blue stallion turned and walked off slowly “Don’t stay in too long!” the Earthtone male called after him precautionarily. ‘Now to find out what happened the other day!’ he thought to himself, still wondering what on Earth or rather in Equestria could of happened that would cause the other male to look at him like that.

‘Did he break something?’ the Doctor wondered, he knew that if he did, it was undeniably an accident but the more he looked the more he found nothing. He would have to ask him about it later, just out of curiosity.

Half an hour passed by slowly and the Master still hadn’t returned and though he was almost positive that he was fine, he was unable to shake that something may have gone terribly wrong. In result, the newly regenerated pony stood and made his way into the corridors, only having to make a couple turns before he found the room where he was positive his Time lord companion resided.

“Master, are you alright in there?” the Doctor called impatiently from behind the door, he could hear the water running heavily and watched as steam poured from beneath the door in an endless gush of misty silver. A minute passed and not even so much as a cough surfaced from beyond the rushing liquid on the other side of barrier “Master…?” he tried again; frantically standing up on his hind legs and making entry, allowing the metal board to swing shut behind him.

Cornflower eyes widened, on the floor, not three feet away from him was the Master, collapsed, his breathing erratic, whole body trembling terribly and a thin strand of golden dust-like energy leaving his parted mouth dramatically. This wasn’t good, he rushed over, fumbling with his hooves awkwardly to shut off the continuous stream and bent down “Master!” he yelled, shaking him roughly and rolled him over with little to no results ‘What’s wrong! What’s wrong! What’s wrong!’ he frantically scanned his unresponsive body for any abnormalities and finally settled on his temperature. If he hadn’t been covered in fur the color would have left his face completely.

“How could I have been so stupid!” he scolded himself out loud, nestling himself under him and skillfully shifting the fallen Time lord onto his back, bolting out of the room at top speed. If he didn’t fix this soon there was no denying it; he was either going to regenerate or die. He bolted across the TARDIS corridors and into what he had perceived as the medbay, tossing the wintery blue stallion down harshly on the stainless white cot and scurried away to collect the necessary materials.

He came back pushing a tray of several pre-prepared injections, a large dropper filled with a thick pale yellow liquid, an ice pack and thermometer, wearing his stethoscope around his neck. Standing up on two legs he adjusted the device hanging from his nape and precautionarily checked his hearts even though it didn’t take an actual mechanism to know that they were obviously racing beyond the recommended speed limit.

Nervously, he dragged the thermometer across the other’s forehead in order to get a reading and waited for the beep, swiftly looking over the label and shook his head, sixty-seven point five degrees fahrenheit, nearly ten notches higher than what was considered normal for a Time lord. ‘It’s no wonder he’s down,’ he loathed inwardly, grabbing a syringe with both his available hooves, holding it with his teeth and sinking the thin needle into the other male’s fetlock.

He had given him a muscle reliever, hoping that maybe it would stop him from shaking so much and generating more heat than he needed to. Once again he repeated the process, but this time with a concentrated fever reducer in an attempt to force the abnormality back within reason. If all went well he would be able to halt the regenerative process if he could get the Master to stop producing distress hormones and lindos quickly enough, especially because of something as simple as a fever that got to high.

The Earthtone stallion bit his lip, dashing out of the area to go go turn down the heat, which was still at a human comfort level from when he was back in his own universe. Once he had reached what one would identify as a thermostat he cranked it down to twenty and hurried back, relieved that the medicine seemed to be working to a reasonable extent.

He had calmed down significantly, his once fast-paced breathing had slowed down to a gentle lull and his shaking stopping at the occasional faulty twitch, the Doctor removed the cold compress from the tray and pressed it against his forehead, waiting several minutes before taking it away and getting another reading. “Sixty-six point three Master, I need you to wake up for me or you’re going to change!” he shook him slightly, he laid it back down “Master, wake up!”

To his surprised the bright blue pony groaned weakly “Doctor…?” his coarse, broken voice squeaked under it’s own breath, barely audible, spaced out enough so that you could hardly tell what he was saying.

“Master, everything is alright, just need you to wake up, can you hear me?” he spoke in quick, nervous bursts. He knew that the Master was probably unable to even acknowledge his presence let alone process what he was saying and was much more likely just responding off the basis that he was cold and bothered.

He could feel cold air venting through the room and looked down at him, noticing how the production of the stringy golden energy had ceased completely. The Doctor gingerly picked up another syringe and injected it into his bloodstream, making a mental note to run a few tests once he had confirmed a positive stability. “Master…?” he tried, retaking his temperature, somewhat satisfied with the results which clearly showed productive improvement ‘Sixty-five point four, process has stopped, he should be regaining consciousness shortly.’

The Doctor drew some blood into an empty needle and trotted over to one of his machines to test for recreational errors and possible viral mutations, maybe he had an immunity issue of some sort that he just didn’t know about. Regardless, while a high temperature was normal for this particular sickness, the Master had taken it to a whole other level and though he had pieced together that the hot shower was at fault for it’s sudden fatality he was hesitant to think how high it had been even beforehand.

He inserted the tubular container into a slot and typed in a series of complex codes, waiting for it to process past the first ten percent before re-approaching the sick Time lord on the other side of the laboratory.

[Naku Tsushiko]

Almost done. Sorry, not as much sneezing as I had hoped in this one, but it has some so... yeah.

To lazy to get the other links to all the individual drive pages so... her is the third link which contains all the other links:

https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor sat at the fever-ridden Time lord’s bedside, a hoof holding the cold compress against his forehead, ears back and his tail swishing in a worried, inconsistent manner. He had gotten the test results back and found, interestingly enough that this was something entirely different, which only really meant that it was bound to happen again in the future. In other words, it was in fact, a parallel. That did not however change the matter that the other male was way sicker than he needed or should be. There had to be more to it, he was currently maintaining a temperature of sixty-five degrees which had all been all but compliant with the medication he had given him to help keep it down.

Something else was wrong, it had been near an hour since he had moved him and still the other Time lord had not regained consciousness completely. He picked up his sonic screwdriver and fumbled to press the right buttons ‘Bloody hooves!’ he grumbled mindfully, quickly grabbing it in his teeth and allowing it full access across the other’s body. He dropped it on the bed and looked over the results and suddenly couldn’t help but wonder when the last time he had anything to eat let alone drink.

It had been forever since he had been responsible for a sick person and even longer since he had taken care of a sick Time lord, he couldn’t remember the last time that had happened but he was almost certain it was Romana during his fourth incarnation.

He shook his shoulders gently, hoping at this point in time it would be enough external stimulation to force him into a state of even slight alertness “Master,” he tried and decided on something else. He re-picked up his screwdriver, pressed it at the very base of the other’s snout and activated it, allowing it to vibrate irritably for several seconds.

The Doctor only watched, trying to suppress an excited grin from his face when the other male slowly cringed inwardly, turning towards him on his side and drew a long, sharp, rhythmic breath, his chest expanding significantly, the bridge of his nose crinkling inevitably and his nostrils flaring as he abruptly snapped forward in one large jerk “HISHEEEEWWWW!!!!!” the Earthtone male didn’t so much as flinch, smiling inescapably that he had finally gotten at least that out of him, he heard him elicit a nearly whispered groan, just barely able to open his eyes before the Doctor leapt forward and kissed him.

The sick male was shocked, hardly awake and completely unsure of what he had done to deserve this, he wanted to return the other’s sudden offering but found himself too far to weak to protest at the given time. He pulled away, his hoof was still unmoved on his forehead but this time the Master did nothing to stop him, only stared, half-lidded and dazed “B-bless you,” the Doctor stated, smiling forcefully… ‘Is he crying?’ the Master thought to himself, golden eyes widening slightly as he forced himself to speak up, confused.

“D-Doctor…? W-what are you, a-are_!” he muffled a cough against immediately clenched teeth, the light brown pony now had visible tears running down his face. Had he upset him that much…? “I-I’m fine. just g-get a hold of yourself!” the Master squeaked, his voice dry from obvious dehydration and fatigue.

He stared “You almost died Master, you’re not fine,” he sternly stamped with his free limb “I-I thought that you were done hiding it! You could have changed, you could have died if I hadn’t come when I did!” The Doctor scolded, becoming less and less composed by the second.

The Master shoved himself up against the bedpost, forcing himself into a sitting position “I wasn’t h-hiding it, I passed out before I even h-h-HAH’TCHSHEEEWWWW!!!!! HISHEEWWW!!! H’SH!!!” he visibly winced and the others scornful look softened slightly “Had the chance to do anything about it… but I really almost died…?”

“Bless you. You had a fever of sixty-seven degrees, it is now sixty-five. You had the process starting and everything, I swear. A minute longer and it would have been too late, luckily for you I managed to reverse it for you. You’re welcome. You were passed out for two hours and in that time I ran some tests. It’s a combination of several local bugs, a parallel, which means that this is not the last we are going to see of it during our stay in Equestria…,” he chided, slowly easing up on him as his explanation glided to a stop.

“Well that’s just brilliant, do you not think?” he responded sarcastically to the fact alone that this was not a one time, impossible accident “Doctor…?” he asked warily out of the blue and waited for the other man or rather pony to pick up.

He sighed “What?”

“You’d go and get something for me if I asked… right?”

The Doctor tilted his head, somewhat distraught “Of course Master, anything.”

“C-can I have something to drink?” he requested, external volume lowered significantly as a form of expression, “My throat hurts, haven’t actually had anything in quite some time…,” he admitted, shifting in position and trying not to begin coughing again.

“How long.”

He shook his head “About two days maybe… a little bit here and there…?”

“What in Rassilon’s name is wrong with you?! No wonder I can’t get your fever down properly. I’ve been pumping you full of drugs and… you know what? I-I’ll be right back,” finding no use in punishing the already done, the Doctor turned around and left the room, padding down the hallways until he reached the kitchen. He opened the cupboard and pulled out the tea kettle, filling it appropriately with water and setting it on the burner to boil. He sat down ‘I put up with way too much for him,’ he teased himself both ruefully and playfully, the Master was naturally stubborn, but he knew that he hadn’t meant to get sick, pass out, let alone get into yet another near-death situation.

He frowned, he needed to figure out something that he would tolerate to eat though he could already tell he wasn’t going to willingly take. The Doctor stood up and grabbed something off the shelf, might as well having had started with something simple. Lightly salted crackers with honey, if he asked for something else he would get it but for now that would have to do. He brought down two bowls, one small and the other large, pouring the thin squares into the larger and the thick amber liquid into the other before switching tasks to finish the tea.

The Earthtone male poured a cup and loaded what little he had accomplished onto a ready cart which would have seemed kind of corny if it weren’t for the fact that doing anything with hooves was nearly downright impossible. It was much easier to push and pull than carry in this form using anything but his back, he didn’t have the slightest clue how any other ponies, except unicorns were able to fare day to day life without fingers or thumbs, oh how he missed his fingers and thumbs.

He shoved the cart back the way he came, pushing open the door and leaving the wheeled carrier on the inside. The Master appeared to be sulking, at some point during the twenty minutes he was gone he had decided to lay back down and pull the blanket partially over his face, golden eyes watching him attentively. If he had to guess, the effects of his unconscious episode and medications were beginning to wear off.

“HIH’TSHEEWWW!!!!!!”

The Doctor approached him and felt his forehead, slightly disappointed when the other male didn’t do a thing to stop him “Master?” The wintery blue stallion focused on him extensively, looking up but not making even the slightest attempt to talk as he waited for the former Time lord to continue “Are you at all able to sit up for me again?”

The Master looked away for a second before slowly rising and resting himself against the bedpost, the other pony grabbed the cup with both hooves and handed the cup to him which he took gratefully.

“Probably not going to do much for your head much but it should help with your sneezing and throat,” he explained briefly, hoping to clear up any misconceptions on what he was giving him was not a cure-all-end-all.

The oddly colored male took a small drink and turned to face him “W-why do you even care so much…?” he asked, catching the Doctor off guard.

“Why wouldn’t I?” he began “Look Master, it may be true that you have never given me much to work with, you’ve nearly done torn apart the universe on multiple occasions, hurt my companions time and time again… hell, you’ve even eaten several people after your revival back on Earth.” he sighed, cringing at that last one “But I think you already know what the real answer is, don’t you…?” the Doctor blushed under his fur.

He took another drink “What, that we’re the last of the Time lords? yeah I know.”

“No Master…,” he gave him a mildly frustrated expression “Do you remember back at the academy…? At the height of our relationship…? We were always together and even though we had enough beds for the two of us, I always slept in yours with you…?” he remembered out loud “We’ve had our bad years, and those years back at the academy I remember back as the best there ever was because you made that strict hell bearable. After that, all we did was fight and try to kill one another off like barbarians, but… even though it didn’t seem like it then, I never quite got over you…, I still haven’t, and I know for a fact, neither have you.”

The Master looked away “You’re lying,” he said blankly, unsure himself why he was acting bitter towards the other male though he anything but deserved it.

“I’m not,” he rolled his eyes exaggeratedly at his blatant stubbornness, exhaling in defeat he put both his hooves down on the mattress and pushed himself upward “See for yourself…,” the winter blue stallion glanced back at him, about to close the deal when an itch snuck up on him and before he could so much as turn away, he sneezed harshly, forehead snapping forward and practically smashing against the Doctor’s. He looked at him, nervous, realizing to some extent what he had just done.

“HAH’KKSHSHSHEEEWWWW!!!!!”

The Earthtone male rubbed at the conflicted spot tenderly before everything had hit him all at once, volleys of direct information shot through his mind at lightning speeds and in that instance, he knew that the other Time lord was still his. He kept a neutral expression just to mess with him, he could be angry that he had very nearly bruised his cranium, or irritated that he had been sneezed on yet again or simply rather perplexed that he was right, but instead settled on a different approach.

“Bless you, that was a little uncalled for, wouldn’t you say?” he joked, absently brushing away some of the excess moisture from his mildly dampened coat before making another attempt to advance on him. “You know…, we can be like that again if you’d like…,” he continued, his tone was soft and inviting “We could give it another try… it would be my honor. What do you say…?”

The Master was crimson under his opposingly colored hide, out of all the things that could have happened with that moment, he just had to go and screw it up by doing that! He bit his lip, ears pinned back against his head, it wasn’t that he didn’t want the Doctor; that’s what he always had wanted, his reasons may have varied from time to time but that didn’t change the fact that he always had wanted the other man.

The vibrant mink male could practically feel the embarrassment coming off of him in violent, lingering waves, how long had it been since he got that reaction out of him? He watched as he attempted to stall the moment even longer, taking another drink of his tea and purposely losing himself in it until there was nothing left. “And it only took you like… what? An entire millenium…?” he choked out imperfectionately, trying to hide his general uneasiness of the moment but had meant it to be a simple yes.

The Doctor leaned forward and kissed him softly, pulling back and connecting them both at the forehead telepathically, which was considerably a lot more inconvenient than back when they were in humanoid form and didn’t have large appendages shooting out in front of them. It was only fair that he share as well, even though neither of them had exactly asked for what had happened in the last few moments “So it has… so it has,” he said softly.

The Master had gone silent, concentrating on denying him access beyond a certain point before relaying half heartedly ‘You know, this is never going to work.’

‘Why not…? What makes you say that?’

He growled softly ‘You don’t even trust me! You only want me around to provide you with the parts to your TARDIS! You only want me around because we’re the last!Your guilt laden, face it!’

‘I trust you, if I didn’t, don’t you think I might’ve locked you up when I first came into contact with you? You know that’s not true, I want you because I really do care about you, you should know that better than anyone, and I think you do.’

‘Right, that’s what you are saying, that’s not what I see though… besides… that is what we both thought back on Gallifrey and look where that got us.’

‘We were but children then Master! Please, just one more chance. I promise you, this time it will be different!’ he tried, attempting to counter the Master’s seemingly ongoing rejection, hoping that he would cave.

Suddenly he jerked away, disconnecting them both in a near painful zap, the other male faltered backwards, having been unprepared for being torn out of someone else’s consciousness. He grasped at his head the best he could and looked up at the wintery blue stallion who had simply just became symptomatic again. He had his hoof in front of his face, trying to avoid spraying the Doctor to the best of his ability, not that it was entirely a possibility to begin with “HEH’TTSHEEWWW!!! HASHEEWWW!!! H-H-HETCHEEWWW!!!!!! H’TCH!!! H’mmfCHEEWWW!!!! HITCH!!!” he sniffled, rubbing at the base of his snout and groaned, momentarily shooting him an apologetic look.

The Doctor frowned, taking hold of the empty cup and pouring him another drink before handing it back to him gingerly “Bless you…,” he told him absentmindedly, patiently waiting for him to recover from his fit “Just one more……chance…?” he stuttered, still somewhat stunned by the action.

“You know the answer,” he stated blankly in response.

“Okay…,” the Earthtone male sulked, sitting back down on the floor, his head lowered in defeat “You’ve a right… to your…say in the matter,” he breathed dejectedly.

The other Time lord just rolled his eyes “Bloody idiot. T-the other answer! You had the nerve to call me bone-dead stupid back on you’re precious planet Earth and you’ve already forgotten the fact that I’ve already told you, yes,” he explained, a little irritated by the apparent misconception amongst themselves.

The Doctor looked back up at him, distraught ‘When did he tell me… oh,’ he remembered quickly, he pulled the cart closer to the bedside, just within the blue stallion’s reach, walked around to the other side, climbed onto the mattress, and sat down next to him uninvited. He was about to say something when he felt an irreversible itch slowly make its way through him, his breath caught shallowly, he turned his head to the side and sneezed softly “Huh’ishoo!”

“You do know that you're going to get sick too now, right?” The Master inquired as if it were even a question, grinning slightly at the fact that he was already beginning to show. Apparently, he had gotten him long before today in Equestria even begun.

“I don’t think you’ve really given me the option, you’re not exactly the best at keeping it to yourself. Though, even if I had the option I wouldn’t stay away,” he laughed softly under his breath.

The sky colored male “Are you just trying to score points?”

“No… am I done being assessed though?”

He sighed “Yeah, you’ve breached the eightieth percentile, congratulations. You passed. For once.”

“How did that happen?”

“Extra credit.”

[Naku Tsushiko]

Hello! Done. Sorry for the slightly suggestive undertones that have been littered throughout the story.

Links: See previous posts. Posts have links within the posts as well so it is not hard to find, any which link will do

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Earthtone male woke up to the faint noise of a rustling project to his side, the Master apparently having had found something to occupy his time while he had slept. “How’s your fever…?” he spoke up softly, raising his head and looking over his shoulder were the other Time lord was sitting on the edge of the bed fumbling with something in his hooves. He faltered at the Doctor’s inquiry, quickly setting down the mess and turning back towards him “You shouldn’t be up yet.”

“I’m fine, stop being such a worry wort D-Doctor,” he joked, his voice wavering slightly, he guessed, about to sneeze “Huh… HEH’TTSHEEWWW!!!!!” he sniffled wetly and continued “What about yourself?”

He stood up wobbly on the bed and turned himself around to properly face the bright blue stallion “Bless you. I’m not, I’m asking you how you are, hardly anything worrisome in being polite,” he corrected as he lowered himself back down onto the blanketed cushion, now easily able to see what the Master had lost himself to. It was a conglomeration of about twenty metal pieces of metal both big and small by comparison and a couple lengths of copper and silver wire. Even more notably was the base object, a piece of the TARDIS, most likely one of the incompatible bits that would need accommodation upon accommodation in order to function even remotely close to properly.

The Master’s TARDIS, the one he used to get here was far newer a model than his own type forty, which was considered way beyond obsolete at this point. It hadn’t been explained to him were he had gotten it but when he had seen it for himself, it was disfigured, collapsed, and stuck between interior changes and morphs. He remembered, just when the other pony had opened the partially distorted door he was met with only darkness and debris on all levels that had caved in upon impact. It was a sad sight really.

“It is when you’re a Doctor,” he smiled “The answer you’re probably looking for is: Awful, tired, sick, sore, and really, really sneezy,” he gave the Doctor a skeptical but playful look, obviously in a fairly good mood if it weren’t for having to spend it fever-ridden.

“You’re awfully happy for someone sick with the sniffles, something happen?” he questioned curiously, he couldn’t possibly be feeling better already, could he? Though, he had obviously fixed himself up while he was asleep, having seemingly taken another shower and re-did his mane and tail; he looked hydrated, like he had immediately gotten to work on the issue the second he went out and he probably had, done just that. He theorized that his currently energetic demeanor was just in comparison to his previously sick-to-his-stomach, half-dead status he had when he was just waking up.

The Master tilted his head expressively “Something happen? No, nothing seems to happen here unless you make it so, even you should know that Doctor,” he hopped off the gigantic bouncy square for a second before climbing back up only this time facing him, he was bored if it was anything.

The Doctor turned away, quickly covering his muzzle and burying his face into the blanket to his side “H’XTCH!!! HISH!!! H’SH!!! HISHOO!!! Hih’SHSHSH!!! H’XggTTshshsh!!!” he forcefully stifled, trying a little too hard to keep to himself. Something that his Time lord companion seemed to have trouble with doing at all or rather, in this regeneration entirely “Excuse me,” he stated politely even though he knew that the Master didn’t actually care one way or the other or whether not they exchanged verbal acknowledgements.

He grabbed the thermometer off of the two by two foot table in his mouth, the other male rolling his eyes as he dragged the device across his forehead, dropping it so that he could read it “Sixty-three point eight, that is brilliant improvement in just under four hours,” he beamed, impressed at his ability to recover from a scare like that so briskly, minus the lengthy fainting episode.

“Now, what about you?”

“Me? Shouldn’t possibly have a fever yet, should I? Kind of useless if I couldn’t then, wouldn’t you think?” he dejected, not wanting the other to turn the tables on him or bring attention to the fact that he was already sick with it. The Master ignored his request as if it were nonexistent, awkwardly picking the mechanism up and repeated the transaction, though instead of dropping it, nicely set it down.

“Sixty-two degrees flat, right, who isn’t running a temperature? It obviously isn’t you,” he chewed him out sarcastically even though he had no room to talk himself, immediately placing his fetlock in front of his snout and loudly sneezing “HUH’ggXXttSHEEWWW!!!”

The Doctor sighed “Bless you. Don’t you have any idea how to cover your mouth?” he flinched, complaining jokingly, he knew that it was unintentional and that if he were to run into any of his other previous incarnations they would have been a lot more reserved, even back on the Valiant the Master had kept everything to himself very well. Three times this very thing had happened during that year that never was, and not once was it passed onto himself, something that he couldn’t help but be at least somewhat thankful for. He still decided to press the matter.

“Not with these hooves, I don’t. it’s not like you know how any better than I do, all you did was use the blanket,” he pointed out, which was a valid point really.

“Fair H’SH!!!,” he looked away and stifled once before continuing “Enough,” he studied the other male’s expression “You want something,” he decided warily.

“Maybe…?” he smirked.

The Doctor smiled, knowing exactly what he wanted, making a gesture with his replaced hand and responding simply “Then, roll over.”