Chipped Paint

Mr. Borrower raised his eyebrows. "'Let's not?' Oh how protective you are of your young companion," he laughed, causing Robin to duck her head down at his sinister nature. "You won't mind having tea with me, then, will you, my dear?" She didn't budge. "Oh alright, then. Tea all by myself. What a pity," he sighed, taking a seat on the sofa. 

Robin didn't know what to do. It seemed they were at a stalemate. Theta was locked in that corner and she was locked.... Well actually more towards the center of the room. Which reminded her, if she wanted to get further away, she most definitely could. But she had barely tried to put her weight back on her feet before she'd remembered she wasn't in a very stable state right now. She felt fine, for all she cared. Bit of a headache, bit tired, and all the lights were bright, but that wasn't horrible. What would be horrible was... just over in the corner.

... He said he wasn't dying. He said so. Perhaps his next incarnation would lie and trick her, but not this one. Not her Theta. He hadn't reassured her that he would be okay, but he did say that he was not going to die. She presumed he meant not regenerating, because otherwise that was fairly obvious. Still... could she trust that? Could she trust that she was not going to get stabbed in the back?

"....C-Can... Can I trust you?"

Can she... trust him? Theta looked up, brows furrowing. Where had that question come from?

"I guess trusting me is up to you, but. I'm as trustworthy as I've always been... why would I start lying to you, now?"

A few seconds after he'd said it, he felt bad. Guilty. He... already lied to her, all the time, even if it was just by omission for the most part. He lied about his age. About her own death. Rassilon, he even left out that she was traversing time and space with a murderer. When you took all that into account... was he really trustworthy?

At least he could be telling the truth when he said that he wasn't dying, or that he wouldn't hurt her. It felt like a small light of redemption, in the much larger mess he'd created for himself.

Robin paused. He... He was fine. If he said he was fine... he was fine.

"...Okay." She slowly attempted to push herself to her feet, finding it far easier than it had been after just being knocked out. She nodded, to herself really, an affirmation that this was okay. That this was still her Theta and he wasn't going to change.

"Oh, yes. Bravo," Mr. Borrower clapped his hands, rolling his eyes. "Everyone's friends again and we can all get off the floor." He stood up as the duplicate Robin brought in the tray of tea - freshly brewed, and not the same muck as earlier, of course. How rude would that have been to his guests? "Now could we have tea, please? We've got things to discuss. Come, now," He gestured with a cheshire grin, wave a hand towards the seats around him. He made a bet with himself that neither of them would be joining him on the sofa. 

Robin scowled, because as much as she could trust Theta, she could not trust this man. With all the problems of regeneration set aside, a new realization dawned on her. That the matter at hand was still very grave, and perhaps deserved some answers. If only she could form the right questions. She glanced over towards her friend, cautious, but... Trusting. She could trust him. It was okay. And she had a feeling he'd know if this meeting was, too.

Also, she was still quite confused about the puppet. Why her? And what had he done to her? Honestly she was debating sprinting right out the doors this second.

Theta sighed in relief as Robin finally calmed down, feeling as if a weight had just been lifted from his chest, though the reminder of his lies had been added in it's place... at least that issue wasn't quite as immediate. He looked over at Robin, gauging her reactions. She still looked cautious, but. She wasn't terrified anymore. And that meant a lot.

He rose to his feet, about to say something, but Mr. Borrower beat him to the punch. The old man wanted them to stay for tea... which was pretty insane, actually. He was insane if he thought they'd actually be staying. He inched for the door, glancing at Robin and giving the slightest nod to the right, where the door was.

"Isn't it rather late for tea? We really should be going..." he darted for the door handle, then, wrenching it open and waiting for Robin to run out before running out, as well.

It was almost as if he'd read her mind. Actually, she wouldn't put it past him, but now was no time to focus on that. Now she was being given an escape route, and she'd be damned if she didn't take it. Robin sped out the door with no intent of stopping, reaching all the way to the other side of the street before she'd bothered to slow down or look behind her. 

Mr. Borrower scowled, rushing up from his place on the sofa and nearly going to apprehend the pair before deciding against it. He was too old to properly chase them, and it wasn't like they were going to be going anywhere any time soon. "Puppet, watch them," he ordered with a huff, sitting back down to finish his cup as Robin marched outside to follow his demand. 

Robin cringed at the sight of herself, just sort of.. standing there. It was nearly horrifying, actually. What sick twisted place did that come from? Stopping herself to lean against a tree and watch, she thought about what reason anyone would have for bothering to create that. 

"Okay, ignoring the issue of regeneration for the time being, you've got answers to give me, haven't you? What is this place? And what is she?" Robin pointed cautiously across at the clone, feeling nauseous as it tilted its head as if in interest.

Theta sprinted out the door after Robin, glancing behind him for a split second as he made it onto the street. Mr. Borrower wasn't following them, thankfully, but the fake Robin was, marching in an unnatural, robot-like way out of the house. He turned his gaze forward again, focusing on following the real Robin a bit further into the park.

The two stopped by a tree, Robin leaning against a tree and Theta standing not too far from her. He took a deep breath and leaned against the same tree, not quite sure how to explain everything.

"Okay, uh" he started ticking stuff off his fingers as he explained a few things "One, we're inside a painting. Two, I have no idea how we're supposed to get out. Three, that's..." he glanced over at the fake Robin, feeling a wave of sadness as his eyes focused on the gaping, bloody hole in her abdomen. He tore his eyes away from the grusome sight, focusing instead on the real Robin "That's... you. But not you. It's just an illusion Mr. Borrower created to 'get me to stay', as if I'd just up an leave the real you behind" he frowned in apology "I really am sorry, this is all my fault... we should have gone back to the TARDIS when we had the chance"