[ text and voice ] ✉ first transmission in which there are complaints and headaches.

[telephones]

[ the first thing dundee feels like doing is throwing up, which in and of itself is a bit of a feeling he tries to avoid. sure, he's felt like this before, but usually it was after a hard night of partying and to be perfectly honest, he hasn't done that in years. the second thing, the far more important thing for dundee, is that he realizes he's on spaceship of sorts and unlike the worrisome desire to throw up, this revelation causes him to pause.

logically, he doesn't think he should be here, but he is and he doesn't necessarily know how, though the weird pod is a definite possibility to him. he has to force himself to try to stop feeling so disoriented before he gets up to go find something to contact another human being with. (except, perhaps he's alone and- dundee doesn't want to think about that possibility.)

it takes him a bit to find his device, but once he does, he reads everything he can. he figures that there are probably locked bits that he can't see, but unlike some people he knows, he can respect a person's privacy. besides, looking at the locks and the differences between this tech and tech back at home, he thinks even aberdeen or cambridge might have problems with it. (speaking of, he notices a woman with the...name cambridge; it's confusing to him and he's pretty sure that it's just the residual disorientation talking. he makes a not to ask about that, perhaps later.) he notices oxford there and makes a face, not the best company, but it'll do in a pinch. though, dundee doesn't technically count this as necessarily being in a pinch, since in addition to oxford, there's what looks like aberdeen (oh he can recognize her texts anywhere) and durham. potentially five out of a number usually much larger than that. how enjoyable.

after a bit of a wait, dundee finds himself typing away, sending a very simple message that will make no sense to certain people, but will make enough sense to the people he wants it to. ]

if the city dundee means anything to any of you, i believe that we might want to talk. just for the sake of talking, perhaps. 

[ he then flips it to voice. he's hardly vain, but he'd prefer not to show off how he might look right now to everyone else. not yet at least. ] 

Out of curiosity, whose brilliant idea was it to make this transfer, I believe you'd call it, here, come with the feeling of being hungover. Had I have known, I would have packed pain medication in my bag so that I could take something when I got here. I would just honestly like to point out that hangovers are not a way to endear yourself to people. Odd, I know, but it's the truth.

Speaking of, does anyone have anything on hand in the realm of pain medication or should I just burrow into some form of a bed and come out once I feel better?

Comments

( action ) + text

[wiretap]

[ She doesn't realize just how much she wants to hear Dundee's voice until she actually hears it. This is perhaps unsurprising when it comes to Aberdeen — not the wanting to hear his voice part, but the fact she doesn't realize what she wants until she wants it — but she can't be bothered with self-reflection now any more than she normally would be at home. Wherever they were (reports on that were still vague and conflicting), Dundee was here now; he was here and he had a headache.

She hears his voice first cutting across the ambient noise of the ship around her; Aberdeen hears it and knows immediately exactly where he is and how far that is from her. In the lift back down to the Medbay and its adjacent locker room, she types out a message. ]

i hear you.

[ Aberdeen doesn't sign it. She knows he'll know who it is. ]

text

[telephones]

[ she can hear him, but he can't hear her. it's bothersome to say the least, but in the grand scheme of things, perhaps it's not the worst of things to have happen. he briefly considers trying to send her a message though his mind, but the idea of doing that right now when his head is pounding isn't necessarily his idea of a good time. so he settles for a text back, knowing she won't mind. ]

i'd be worried something was wrong if you didn't. where?

[ where are you or where do you know i am? he'll let her choose which question he meant. ]

text

[wiretap]

[ She half expects him to send something 'over the lines' so to speak. That he doesn't has Aberdeen guessing absently in the back of her mind just how bad the headache in question is. It's not the sort of thing she spends her time normally thinking about but ever since she'd come across Durham in the locker rooms, Aberdeen's been a bit preoccupied with the concept of pain and how other people — people who didn't have the same tolerances that she had — managed or failed to manage to deal with it.

The lift is slow, much to Aberdeen's irritation. She listens to the sounds of the ship instead (someone is talking about projected numbers of new arrivals, someone else is cooking a meal in one of the kicthens; there are hushed whispers, there's the warp drive humming, there's sex happening in one of the sleeping compartments). It's not enough to keep her mind occupied; there's not enough stuff. ]

the lift. five minutes.
get dressed.

text

[telephones]

[ it's not so much that he's failing to deal with it, in his mind, it's more that it's a bit more pain than he's used to. had he constantly had a headache like this, he'd have no issue just sending something to her. it is what it is, however, and despite the displeasure he feels about it, he'll deal. ]

you assume i'm not dressed. it was the first thing i did, even if these things are about as comfortable as being covered in duct tape. i wasn't about to run around in my underwear.

[ while she's still on the lift a question occurs to him and he sends yet another text. ]

tell me you are as well.

[text]

[asclepion]

there's ibuprofen in the medbay if you don't mind doubling back

well
it's an nsaid anyway
it's really more like space ibuprofen but it works

[text]

[telephones]

...space ibuprofen.

before i even remotely agree to that, tell me it's not one of those kinds that are going to basically make you useless. since typically anything beyond regular ibuprofen tends to somehow have a side effect attached to it.

[text]

[asclepion]

it's an over-the-counter-strength non-steroidal painkiller
i just feel awkward calling it ibuprofen since it... isn't, exactly
apparently medicinal chemistry's gotten a lot better over the past thousand years or so

i can vouch for it, if that helps

[text]

[telephones]

that helps considerably. i've had some horrendous experiences with using what was supposed to be ibuprofen but instead was some mixture with possibly codeine or some form of a drug that made the idea of doing anything but sleeping seem impossible to me.

you can understand my reluctance.

[text]

[wiretap]

[ You talk a lot and are very helpful. Clearly you are the antithesis of Aberdeen and yet Dundee seems compelled to have a conversation with you.

Huh. ]

are you a doctor?

AUDIO; i just want all your people tonight

[widowing]

There's pain medication to be found in the medbay, but the passenger's quarters are a floor up from there should you decide you'd rather sleep it off.

AUDIO; watch as i give them you freely

[telephones]

I'm debating between the two, actually, on the one hand, I'm not entirely sure I can fall asleep with it and on the other, sleep might just be the better option as far as complications go.

AUDIO; watch as i give them you freely

[widowing]

Maybe try one after the other. Showering helps, too.

AUDIO;

[telephones]

If the showers are warm, I'd actually take your word for that. Since a cold shower hardly helps anyone.

( voice )

[romanticism]

[ Ah. Another familiar voice, along with an indicative message. Oxford is faintly pleased, at least, since although Dundee is not quite a friend, he is more than tolerable enough. There is something reassuring about the presence of more operatives here, if only for familiar faces (with one notable exception, of course). ]

All the ibuprofen in the world couldn't reasonably help this sort of a hangover without a few hours spent in bed, if you ask me. [ He utters a small, low laugh that isn't particularly mirthful. ] Welcome aboard.

( voice )

[telephones]

[ oxford does in a pinch when it comes to company. not the best, but considering how he's familiar and how he's not someone who dundee recognizes but...doesn't at the same time, he'll take him. besides, even for all his soap opera drama, he's still a fellow operative. and that's a good thing around here. ]

You assume I wouldn't go to sleep after I took them. I know how headaches work. The ibuprofen is so I can feel like sleeping is something possible. [ dundee's lips curl up into a tight smile though he knows oxford can't see it. ] Try that with a bit more gusto and I'd actually think you're happy to hear me.

( voice )

[romanticism]

Gusto is quite the challenge even after the second time one has to face that dreadful experience, so forgive me if the enthusiasm is delayed. [ There, the first hint of amusement. He realises that Dundee will probably take note of "the second time", but he continues regardless. ] I have some tablets spare, if you'd like them. I thought I might be prepared, this time around.

text

[sexting]

[ oh no, look who's up and about and feeling considerably less grav-pouch-high than earlier. ]

Dearest Dundee, is it? Unless you've suffered some serious throat injury you sound like you must be the version with the incorrect genitalia. Whatever am I meant to call you in this universe, I wonder.

text

[telephones]

[ oh lovely. just what he wanted to read. cambridge being cambridge. it appears he might be a bit testy. must be that grav-pouch issue. oops. ]

Statistically speaking, you're the one with the wrong genitalia. Since our acquaintances all have the genitalia that I'm familiar with. Ian works fine, but assuming my counterpart is anything like myself, I have a feeling I already know what you might call me.

Hello Cambridge.

text

[sexting]

there's nothing wrong with my genitalia, darling.

and what I call you depends entirely on the circumstances. are you fucking him - sorry, her yet?

[ cutting straight to the chase, evidently. And apparently there's something very symmetrical about the question. ]

voice;

[firstofficer]

The effect, I assure you, is significantly preferable to one's experience without a stasis chamber.

voice;

[telephones]

The lesser of two evils, then? I suppose shouldn't complain if that's the case.

voice;

[firstofficer]

Complaints are, in the wake of our present circumstances, an unnecessary and inessential office.

-I believe they would, however, find a ready and sympathetic audience.

audio;

[neutralises]

[Despite his wariness of using the device he's now calling his own, something Aberdeen said to him has stuck and now he can't help but repeat it to himself when he's feeling particularly sorry for himself at having to be stuck on a spaceship with Oxford. Something specifically related to loyalty to fellow Order operatives. It does, however, mean that he's been checking the network, and when this text catches his eye he knows this is relevant to his interests.]

The headache goes away in a few hours, but I've still not managed to piece together everything in my mind yet. I've no doubt the medical staff have something to help.

audio;

[telephones]

I was wondering when you were going to say hello.

[ which to be fair, he was, to a point, considering he had already been greeted by oxford and cambridge (and aberdeen, but that was a given for). if he sounds relieved, it might be because he is, if only because it's another marginally sane person. ]

For getting everything straightened out in that head of yours or the headache? [ there's a beat. ] It's good to hear from you.

audio;

[neutralises]

I apologise for my lateness, Dundee. [There's a small smile, one that is quite mutually enjoying the sound of someone he personally thinks of as sane, most of the time. Dryly:] It seems space is fractionally too taxing for me to be able to accept where I am with grace.

[A beat, before:] Perhaps just the headache. The rest is a challenge for another day. [And the rest.]

I assume Aberdeen has been in touch? [Someone, namely Durham, isn't entirely comfortable with reading other people's conversations freely, no matter if they're open purposely or not.]