@diavl wrote, "idiot. why didn't you tell me?!"
the doctor doesn’t snap back right away. he stills, shoulders going rigid, like the words landed somewhere tender & old. then he exhales— half a laugh, half something that aches.
“ do you think i wanted to keep it from you ? ” voice sharpens on the question, but it doesn’t land like accusation alone. he turns fully now, & there’s anger there— yes— but it’s tangled so tightly with guilt it’s hard to tell where one ends & the other begins. “ you don’t get to stand there & shout at me like i did this for fun. like i kept gallifrey from you because i thought it would be amusing to watch you squirm. ” voice drops, dangerous now, every syllable controlled by sheer will. “ i kept it from you because i knew exactly what it would do to you. because i knew what we were. what we used to be. & because i was terrified that if i gave you even one piece of hope, you’d tear the universe apart trying to reach it. ”
“ & maybe i’m angry too, ” he admits, the words softer now, bitter. “ angry that it had to come to this. angry that you can still hurt me this much. angry that after everything, after all of it, there’s still a part of me that misses my friend from the academy. ”
