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The Doctor is back in Australia once again. This time it’s not the outback but instead a small cafe in Port Adelaide. It’s a very pretty cafe with wooden floorboards, the walls surrounding the cafe are floor to ceiling glass panels that overlook a river. The entire place is also empty.
Empty except for the Master, who is sitting across from her with a smirk that the Doctor knows doesn’t mean anything good. He’s invited her here and she doesn’t know why. One part of her reckons it might be about what he said on the recording he left for her, about the Tardis and the Timeless Child. But he hasn't said anything yet.
She decides instead to pick up the menu in front of them, she hasn’t eaten in a while and she’s hoping to at least find something edible if she has to be in his presence for long. But the Master darts out his arm, almost grabbing her wrist but pausing just before he does.
“Don’t.” He grins wickedly. The Doctor swallows before placing the menu back down. “I’ve already ordered us our food.”
How thoughtful , She scowls at him, unsure what game he’s playing at here, but she also needs to know what her best enemy is up to.
Almost like he can read her mind -Which he shouldn’t be able to, she’s made sure her mental barriers are up and locked tight- the Master grins. “I did offer to take you out on a date didn’t I.” He says, he leans his elbow against the table and rests his head on his palm.
“That was with O.” The Doctor hisses through her teeth. Something before she had realised that her friend she had been texting for years, was actually her best enemy. “Not you.”
The Master pouts, bottom lip sticking out and brown eyes looking up at her mimicking sadness. “O was me, O was always me Doctor.” The pout turns into a smile. “This is me, O, taking you out on a date.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
Every minute of frustration that the Doctor shows just seems to make the Master giddy, so she holds her tongue instead of speaking. She had looked forward to that date, a date that O had offered to her after they had dealt with the Kasaavins, to take her to a nice cafe in Australia.
Originally, the Doctor had rejected O for his proposal. She still was sour from Missy’s betrayal, and even less inclined, since the last time she had gone on a romantic date, it had been with River. But the man's puppy dog eyes had lured her in like a fish to bait, and she had taken it.
Those same puppy dog eyes were shining mischievously over the fact that the fish got herself stabbed by the hook in front of her.
“Come on Doctor,” He said after another minute of her silent treatment, “I’m trying to be nice here.”
The Doctor just frowned, crossing her arms over her chest, “I don’t know what game you’re playing here.”
His smile doesn’t even falter, in fact he grows just a bit, showing too much teeth. “What game?” the Master then leans over the table, grabbing her hand and pulling it over, “Doctor, all I want is for us to have a nice good date. Just the two of us.”
And is that why there is no one in the cafe? She thinks, unable to actually say it out loud before a waiter comes over to their table.
This is the first and only person she has seen since she walked in here. The man is standing tall and wearing a full blown tailored suit, bowtie and all, there is no name tag on his suit. The Doctor isn’t particularly sure if this is the common attire for this cafe or if the Master is having fun.
The guy also looks absolutely terrified out of his mind. She gives him an apologetic look and the one he throws back at her reads, Please get me out of here .
In the waiter's hand he’s holding up a plate, it’s higher than the Doctor’s head however, so she cannot see the food he’s carrying. Something unsettling curls inside of her gut at that moment, whatever it is, it feels wrong.
The Master smiles up at the waiter who pointedly doesn’t look back as he places the plate onto the table and scampers back towards where The Doctor assumes the kitchen is. She then looks down to see what they had been served.
It’s human.
Dozens of humans, all shrunken down to miniscule bite sizes, all of them had lives and names and family, all stacked on top of each other like a pile of chips. She can’t see it on him, but they were probably shrunken down with the tissue compression eliminator. The one the Doctor had seen the Master use at the Royal Adelaide Gallery. It had been over a millennia since she had last seen him use a device that was similar before then.
The smile the Master was giving her was downright vile now, it caused the Doctor’s insides to twist in on themselves, her two hearts beating a little faster.
“Well.” He said, as if there was nothing wrong with anything that's happening right now. “Eat up.”
So many emotions raced through the Doctor’s mind as she stared horrified at the dish before her. She suddenly stood up, ready to run off as fast as possible.
“DON’T YOU DARE!” The Master slams a hand onto the table, cutlery and glasses clinking from the force. A few of the mini humans fell from the pile and rolled around on the plate. The Doctor sat back down slowly, glaring at him with as much hate as she could throw at him.
He smiled when he sat fully, watching her every move like a predatory animal. “Do that again, and I’ll add the waiter to the menu.” He brings his hands together, resting his chin on top of them. “And perhaps I’ll find your little pets too and shrink them down.”
“You wouldn’t” The Doctor’s breath catched in her throat, it felt a vice grip was tightening around her neck. There was no sign of any playfulness in his face, no joke or gotcha moment could be seen anywhere, The Master was one hundred percent serious. “Why?” her voice came out incredibly quiet but he could still hear her.
“Doctor, I just wanted to have a nice little date with you.” He looks at her with his soft brown eyes before looking down at the plate and then back at her. “I made this all for you too, spent hours trying to find the right people.”
She scrunched up her nose at the thought, thinking of the Master going around hand picking humans for her to… eat . “You shouldn’t have.” The Doctor grits out through her teeth. You really shouldn’t have .
The pile of humans, real human beings -looks like a few dozen human beings- stare up at the Doctor ominously. Everything about this was sick and she feels like she wants to throw up. What doesn’t help her case is the fact that she hasn’t eaten at all today and her stomach lets out a loud growl to let The Master know.
A scowl sets on The Doctor’s face, her hands shaking as she picks up the first person. Maybe if she found a way to pretend to eat them, so she could still get away without actually doing something so vile.
“Don’t worry.” The Master says, “Their tissues being compressed means they’re no longer alive.” He states this like it was only the weather. “They also taste quite nice, if I remember.”
Right yes, The Doctor winces as she recalls Missy’s sad blubbering confession in the vault. One day she was far more vulnerable than The Doctor had known what to do. Missy had admitted to eating humans whole when she was Saxon. It was one of the few times the Doctor had stormed out of the vault and not come back until months later.
No matter what angle the Doctor tried thinking in, she couldn’t think of a way to get out of eating these humans. The Master was watching her so intently, and she dreads to think of what he’d do if she actually tried getting out of this.
The human that she held between her thumb and forefinger was feminine, curly blonde hair and a nice colourful pallet of clothes. The Doctor closed her eyes and put the person in her mouth. She winces at the taste on her tongue. Despite the doll-like state, the humans still taste like flesh, hair and fabric.
Does he want her to chew? She opens her eyes to see him looking at her intently. The Doctor tries so hard not to move her tongue around but the heavy feeling of human on it is making it hard. The two time lords keep their eyes on each other, The Master watching her intently and The Doctor trying hard not to throw up.
“Go on Doctor, swallow ~” His voice is thick and deep.
Closing her eyes, the Doctor leans her head back and attempts to swallow the person inside her mouth. There is a struggle at first, human skin and fabric making her throat close up and prevent her from doing just that. But after a few more seconds of the saliva building up in her mouth, the Doctor is able to get the human down into her oesophagus.
The sensation of something going down her gullet has never been particularly noteworthy to the Doctor, she’s never stopped to really think about how it feels for food to move inside her. But the human she has swallowed is more noticeable as it travels down and when it finally lands in her stomach, she can feel the weight of it.
The human is dead , she thinks, gripping her hands into the tablecloth and trying very hard not to heave. The human cannot feel the pain that it would be subjected to if it were alive right now .
When the Doctor opens her eyes, the Master is looking at her expectedly. “One down, thirty-one more to go.” He says. He’s whispering as if it’s a secret between the two, as if there was anyone else in the cafe to even hear them. “No teeth, I'm impressed.”
A glass of water is next to the plate and the Doctor grabs it to take a few gulps, hoping to soothe her irritated throat and maybe make the rest of this process more bearable.
It doesn’t, each time the Doctor picks up another human, looking at the poor soul whose life was tragically cut short, she can’t help but think of what kind of person they were when they were still alive. She closes her eyes each time she puts a human in her mouth, refusing to ever use her teeth as she swallows each of them all whole.
One part of the Doctor is grateful that none of the humans are alive at all, none of them can scream in agony or fight their way out. Between each human that the Doctor eats, she takes a sip of water to ease herself and attempt to get rid of the taste.
“How does it feel, Doctor?” The Master asks after she finishes swallowing the sixth person. “How does it feel to eat the humans you try so hard to protect?”
She refuses to grace the Master’s question with a response, instead glaring back and attempting to keep herself from throwing up all over the table and all over him.
“Don’t throw up.” He says with a mockingly sad face, he probably could tell what she wanted to do from her pained expression. “I took so long to prepare this for you.”
The Doctor ignores him and picks up another person, this time instead of closing her eyes she holds his gaze as she shoves them in her mouth. After the fourth person, she had to stop looking at the poor humans. She kept imagining their lives and names and it made her feel worse.
Across the table, the Master watches her so intently, watching as she swallows, eyeing her body as the human slides down into her stomach as if he could actually see it for himself. The Master’s pupils are noticeably dilated, and the Doctor refuses to dig into why.
He watches her so intently as she swallows more people. The Master’s eyes narrow just a bit as she starts trying to swallow them down as fast as possible, preventing herself from even getting a taste. After a few more people down her throat, the Master raises up his hand.
“Slow down Doctor, they aren’t going to run away from you.” The Master leans back in his chair and lets his eyes roam over the Doctor.
She has to hold herself back from wrinkling her nose in disgust, another human is picked up and she puts it in her mouth. Don’t think about it , the Doctor feels her mouth start filling up with saliva, too eager to get it over and done with. But the look from the Master tells her not yet.
It’s hard not to notice the taste of humans, they have a strong and slightly bitter flavour. Lots of keratinocytes and melanocytes. If the Doctor wanted to bite down, she’s sure she would taste the sodium and iron too. She’s trying so hard not to spit the person out.
“Good boy, you can swallow now.”
Closing her eyes is the only way she can do so without gagging. The Doctor almost does, feeling the tickling sensation and the urge to cough and pull at her throat, instead she just picks up the water that is almost empty and finishes it off, allowing the cool liquid to push the human into her stomach.
There is almost a serene look of admiration on the Master’s eyes. He looks so proud of her and it’s the worst feeling she’s ever felt. The Doctor instead looks at her empty glass of water, despite having drunk a lot already, she lifts the glass up hoping that the Master will grant her one wish.
As the Doctor moves, she can feel the water in her stomach slosh around, and a dull uncomfortable feeling of the miniature humans moving inside her as well. She’s never been more aware of something inside of her stomach than now.
The Master at least takes pity on her and calls over to the waiter. The man looks terrified as he waddles over. The Doctor keeps her head low, fearful of what he would think of her. Does the waiter even know who they are, or what this is exactly?
Waiting for the glass of water to be refreshed is agonising. The humiliation and disgust that washes over the Doctor is even stronger now that she’s not doing anything. She can feel the Master’s gaze still locked on her, a predator watching its prey in delight.
She feels her best enemy lean forward onto the table, elbows causing the wood to wobble. “You’re doing splendid, Doctor.” He reaches forward in almost a mock comfort and holds onto her right hand. The Doctor jumps at the touch, staring up at him in fear.
Mental barriers are still up, there is no connection between them, at least with their minds. His eyes however almost read into her soul anyway.
“Why?” The Doctor asks in a defeated tone, she’s too tired to move her hand out of the way.
For the first time since they’ve started, the Master’s grin drops. It’s alarming and makes the Doctor straighten up just a bit.
“I wanted to break you Doctor.” His words are genuinely earnest and soft. “I want to watch your morality crumble as you are forced to hurt the species you love.”
The Doctor holds his gaze for a few seconds, trying to decipher and read the Master. “Is this about the timeless child?” She whispers.
If it wasn’t already quiet, then the Doctor would have sworn the entire world stopped to hold its breath in that moment. It’s almost like she could hear her own heart beats in her ears, or even his own if she tried hard enough.
“Your water” The waiter comes back just in time and the Doctor immediately pulls her hand away from the Master. She can still feel his skin on her own, warm and almost branding into her wrist.
She can’t even smile at the waiter, before the poor man is scampering off again.
“Shall we continue?” The Master’s fake smile is back on and the Doctor can see his enthusiasm from before is masking whatever that moment held.
The Doctor just sneers back at him but complies anyway despite the complaints on the tip of her tongue. Nothing has changed in that short minute. The Doctor struggles to swallow each person down whole, a gulp of water between each one. The Master continues to count how many she’s eaten.
A perverse expression is on his face as he watches her, he’s so gleeful as she swallows another person. His words are bright and cheerful. “Sixteen down, sixteen more to go.”
The Doctor cringes as she feels the human slide into her stomach. Feeling herself starting to get full.
“Halfway there, you’re doing great.” He leans forward as if to whisper, and the Doctor stops herself from leaning back. “How does it feel, Doctor? How does it feel to have multiple humans inside of your stomach?”
She doesn’t respond, picking up another one before putting it into her mouth. The Doctor maintains eye contact as she rolls the person inside her mouth. His eyes follow her, watching her intently as she coats the human in her saliva before making a big show of swallowing it down.
The Master moans softly as she does.
He does this a few more times, seeming to get enjoyment out of watching her swallow humans whole. The Doctor keeps her head low, her face aflame with embarrassment over her realisation of her best enemy.
One thing that the Doctor is starting to find concerning as she reaches the twenty-first human mark is the fact she’s no longer minding the flavour on her tongue. She hopes it’s her body trying to ease herself into enjoyment after being forced to eat so many.
At twenty-six she has to take a break. The Master pouts at her but doesn’t say anything, just watching her intently. Each movement inside her stomach makes her more than aware of how many humans she has swallowed, how many of them are inside of her stomach.
“Don’t give up on me.” The Master says.
The Doctor gives him a look of both pure malice and defeat. “Just a minute.”
“And no more.” He leans back again and crosses his arms. The look on his face is the same one all versions of him have had when they’re counting. Following the time as the universe moves forward.
“After this is over.” She starts. “What’s going to happen?”
The Master frowns in response.
“You aren’t going to hurt my fam? That’s what you promised.” The Doctor is hoping her words don’t sound too desperate. The Master just rolls his eyes though.
“No I won’t hurt your fam .” The last word is spat out like it offends him. “As long as you eat everything in front of you, your human pets get to live.”
Cringing at his word choice, the Doctor attempts to continue her eating. Just a few more , she repeats in her mind over and over again. Don’t think about what you’re doing . The Doctor knows she would NEVER tell the fam what she’s doing right now. Even if she explained to them that the Master is forcing her.
The humiliation is far too great for her to ever mention this to anyone.
The Master has no qualms watching her silently freak out as she continues to shove more people into her mouth. Her stomach feels uncomfortably full now but the Doctor refuses to give up. Get this over and done with and then never again . She winces as she swallows another human, almost gagging as it’s squeezed down her oesophagus.
“Two more, Doctor.” Those words almost make her weep, but she doesn’t say anything. When she’s finished she can make herself throw up afterwards. Wash her mouth, throat and stomach out to get rid of the taste of human flesh and clothes.
It’s a struggle, but soon the Doctor is leaning her head back and swallowing the last human. She keeps her eyes closed and deals with the uncomfortable sensation of her full stomach becoming tighter underneath her skin. Finally, The Doctor takes a few deep breaths, trying to process the deed she’s just completed.
With her eyes closed, she doesn’t see the Master get up, only hears the sounds of his chair scraping backwards and feels his body warmth right over her shoulder. “You did wonderful, Doctor.” His words are low and the breath tickles the hair around her ear.
A few more breaths escape the Doctor’s mouth as she attempts to hold down her meal and not throw up all over the now empty table.
The Master calls out to the waiter, the Doctor is too focussed on not barfing to actually hear what he says. Only that the man comes over and the cutlery and plate are lifted off the table. The Doctor clenches and unclenches her hands against the table cloth. The urge to turn around and sock the Master in the face as he continues to stand right over her is incredibly tempting.
She doesn’t, the Doctor continues to sit there as she hears the waiter walk back out towards them. Listening to his tentative footsteps. She keeps her eyes closed.
“Thank you.” The Master says, this shocks the Doctor, she can’t remember the last time he’d thanked a person before. “Unfortunately, I cannot let you go.”
The words make the Doctor’s eyes snap open, she turns to see the waiter and there is only a few milliseconds before the Master pulls out the TCE and zap the waiter down to the same size as the humans she had just eaten.
Standing up, the Doctor whirled around to glare at the Master. He’s still holding the TCE, a grin on his face and not even hiding what he’d just done.
“You promised.” She hisses out, grunting just a bit at the swole feeling in her gut. The Doctor doesn’t curl her arm around her abdomen no matter how much she wants to.
Bending down to pick up the now miniaturised waiter, the Master shakes his head, wagging his finger at her like he’s scolding a child. “I promised I wouldn’t add him to your menu.” He holds up the man. “And I said I wouldn’t hurt your fam .”
A sneer is on the Master’s face, but before the Doctor could say anything else he puts the shrunken waiter into his mouth and moves his jaw around. The Doctor watches in horror at the sight before her.
The Master plays with the waiter for a few more seconds before biting down. The crunch makes the Doctor flinch and close her eyes. Listening to more crunches as the Master chews before audibly swallowing. “I missed that taste.”
He steps closer and the Doctor instinctively opens her eyes to glare at him. The Master smiles back at her mischievously. “It’s not as good as the last time I had human. Maybe the lack of tissue made them less tasty.”
And then the Master leaves, he turns around and walks away. As his footsteps get more distant, the Doctor opens her eyes again. She has to lean against the table to school herself as she stares in horror at the floor.
She didn’t even know the waiter's name, she thinks before nausea takes hold and she’s running towards the bathroom.