(all alone, you say that you don’t want) No Other

by Riathel

They dance across the galaxy in their own approximation of love.

Romance tastes like ashes. It becomes the thin bones with which the Doctor uses to pick stars out of his teeth, to roll nebulas behind the worrying gap in his molars.

It's not a dance unless someone is winning. It's not a fight unless someone is leading. It doesn't feel like love until he can taste bile stinging the back of his throat and tears in his eyes and wasted time in his heart.

 

The Doctor has few occasions to think about his relationship with the Master.

(The Master has many occasions to regret his relationship with the Doctor.)

Words: 1510, Chapters: 4/?, Language: English

• Fandoms: Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
• Rating: Mature
• Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
• Categories: M/M
• Characters: The Doctor (Doctor Who), The Master (Doctor Who), Second Doctor, Third Doctor, Fifth Doctor, Sixth Doctor, Seventh Doctor, Eighth Doctor, Tenth Doctor, The Master (Delgado), The Master (Ainley), The Master (Simm), The Master (War Chief), The Master (Doctor Who: TV Movie)
• Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Second Doctor/The Master (War Chief), Fifth Doctor/The Master (Ainley), Sixth Doctor/The Master (Ainley), Tenth Doctor/The Master (Simm), Seventh Doctor/The Master (Ainley), Eighth Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who: TV Movie)
• Additional Tags: Angst, Character Study, Missing Scene, Canon-Typical Violence, Mild Sexual Content, Grief, The Doctor (Doctor Who) is a Mess, Poor Life Choices, Enemies to Lovers, Heartbreak, Time Shenanigans, Non-Chronological, POV Alternating