They ride on winged horses, with spears and swords of gleaming red, their shadows extended, stretched to bathe them in darkness . . . 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐍𝐎𝐖.

( a wicked, wicked laugh. ) oh, we shall see *all about that*.

you have to submit to me. it's my birthday.

for me? how kind.

dress? you ARE a slug.

( a polite laugh. ) yes, i can see why he chose you. you like to project, don't you?

don't flatter yourself, darling. you're a five in good light.

only because it's the truth.

❝ 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. . . ❞

not at all, doctor. as a matter of fact, i'm positively over you.

fancy seeing *you* here.

you're attempting to frustrate me, aren't you? how very . . . irksome.

all of them. permanently.

i don't like that face you're pulling. undo it.

it's not a *terrible* idea . . .

turning several hundred pages so that he loses his place when he wakes up.

yes, dance, doctor... dance for me... yes! yes!!!

oh my dear doctor, you've fallen into my trap! now you're trapped in a 2 second video... forever!!!

my universe doesn't revolve around you, my dear. i have other interests. how nice to hear that you think often about me, though!

( suddenly looking up. ) hm? oh, you're still here? oh, alright. if you're going to pester me i *suppose* i *have* to destroy you.

mmmm. quite possibly. this is the problem with old age. i've seen and done it *all*. summon primordial dæmons? hide at the end of the universe? push you off a tall building and watch you splat? oh, been there, done that, bought the fridge magnet. there's hardly *anything* new going on. how irksome.

you'll have to work a lot harder than that to impress me.

if you say so. ( sighing, slouching down. ) i'm bored of this conversation already. you're boring me.

( the master arches a brow, skeptical. ) but that won't happen, will it? because you know that if you were to break anything i might just press the button on my remote controller which releases all my captives into the acid sea we're currently travelling over, and you wouldn't want *that*.

i see. why don't you tell me more about that?

evidently. it's rude to come back from the dead without your host's permission, you know. well . . . i suppose you might make yourself useful while you're here. bring me more champagne.

well, if the shoe fits...

perhaps you should take the hint, my dear.

oh, hello. i thought i'd killed you.

things would be a lot better if you simply all listened to me.

( a polite laugh. ) if you knew the secret, miss tyler, it'd hardly be so persuasive, would it?

i can be very persuasive.

i suppose pets have their advantages.

you'll have to be much more direct than that.

what do *you* want.

that's what you call passion?

if i wanted your help, i would *call*. it's hardly as though you could say *no*. now, if you'll excuse me, i have to go and . . . *fix this*.

DON'T TOUCH ME. ahem. ( polite, composed laughter; adjusting her hair, her shirt. everything just so. ) *excuse me*. no, thank you. i prefer dogs *on the ground*.

you ripped the seaming!

( kicking her with her heel. )

rolo footstools don't talk, dear.

good. now why don't you sit down *on the floor*? just there, that's it, in front of my chair? i'm afraid this is going to take several thousand years to eat.

hush now. i want to eat this in peace.

why, doctor! you shouldn't have.

i'm dr. delamere's number one fan.

how're your legs? @cosmonauticool.bsky.social

oh, i was.

because it shows off my greatest asset. . . . my frontal lobe, you dirty, dirty girl. and miss delamere! what a surprise. i thought you'd have finished the job you'd started and left her behind too.