Daycycle 112 [ October 16 - October 22 ]

[computerized]

daycycle 112

[Oct 16 - Oct 22]

[OOC Plotting for this Dacycle can be found here.]

Early Morning [0800 - 0900] — All Troubleshooters Report for Duty

No Special Troubleshooters have been selected for a mission this morning.

---

Morning & Afternoon [0900 - 1600] — Service Firm Positions
All Troubleshooters not assigned a mission should report to their Service Firm for their daily duties, unless specifically assigned a different shift.

Free Enterprise is pushing a new, adjusted street form of No Fear (Dynomorphin). The original pharmaceutical is meant for those in Ultraviolet ranks, but this form is much dirtier, cheaper and more addictive. In order to get people hooked, they've put a healthy dose in the wagon wheel's ORANGE and RED level coffee-like supplies. The drug causes a very bullet proof feeling of euphoria. Side effects include paranoia, hallucinations, increased sociability, increased sex drive, panic attacks, excited delirium - extreme agitation and violence, and the temporary loss of feeling in nerve endings (inability to feel pain). A standard dose lasts four hours. Withdrawal symptoms include nosebleeds, sweating, nausea, dehydration and blinding migraines. For those that want more of the drug, Free Enterprise will make it easily accessible.

At 1200, a squad of Grey Ops will arrive at Medical Services to escort Caitlin Snow away for suspected treason. Anyone asking for additional information will be told it's classified and warned not to continue asking questions. Approximately fifteen minutes later another squad of Grey Ops will arrive at Internal Security to lead Vision away. Anyone asking for additional information will be given the same party line.

At 1400 today, Jack Harkness will be summoned by Mind Control to the Production offices on the twenty fifth floor. There he will be offered a position in Media Production where he will assist with the Teela O'Malley show. This position will come with a clearance level promotion of ORANGE, since the talk show star doesn't associate with anyone of lower clearance level. Jack will be responsible for ramping up the excitement levels of the live audience and the personal entertainment of the star.

---

Evening [1600 - 2200] — Citizen Improvement
All Alpha citizens are encouraged to better themselves through Alpha’s wide variety of educational, entertainment and cultural opportunities offered each evening. Attending these sanctioned events are not mandatory, but is highly encouraged by The Computer. Citizens choosing not to take advantage of these opportunities, have a growing number of other options available to them in how to spend their hard earned credits and free time.

Tonight’s event will be at 1900 in Meeting Room G, Wagon Wheel Floor 24 and will be hosted by the Alpha Smiling Club. Join us tonight for refreshments and tips on faking it until you make it!

---

Alpha Curfew Restrictions
All Alpha citizens should be in their quarters within the Wagon Wheel by 2200, unless they’ve been given permission from a GREEN or higher clearance level citizen. Sleeping Aid gas is dispelled each night in the Wagon Wheel at 2200 to assist citizens in getting a productive sleeping period.

Confession Booths
There are hundreds of confession booths available around Alpha Complex if a citizen would like to communicate directly with the computer. Please use these confession booths to report mission statuses, report treason or terrorist acts, unregistered mutants, confess your trespasses against Alpha Complex, request propaganda or speak with Your Friend, The Computer, at any time.

Comments

Open | Throughout the day

[duelo]

morning briefing

Like every morning, Derek wakes up feeling like he hasn't slept at all, because he really...doesn't sleep much anymore. He and Buffy go out exploring the Complex after they've dodged the SleepAid with their gas masks and once they get back to the room, Derek has a hard time settling. If he falls asleep at all, it's typically a restless one filled with nightmares of the glitches — memories — and it's nearly impossible to get a decent night's sleep with all of those factors combined. He usually grunts a good morning to his roommates, the two that remain, and today is no different.

He makes his way to the Commissary, yawning, and drinks a single cup of the RED clearance 'coffee' in one gulp; he's learned that if he does it fast enough, like an alcohol shot, he won't taste it. It's better that way. Derek pours himself another and takes it with him when he goes to find a seat for the morning briefing.

afternoon

It's weirdly busy today in IntSec, specifically in his troubleshooting station. It seems like more people than normal are getting their Fitness Checks with him. Their reactions range from overly upset by a bland response on his part to excitable...one woman literally jumped on him and started pawing at him while gushing her gratitude for a good score before he tossed her onto the ground and sent her away.

Usually, Derek doesn't tend to drink more than a cup or two of coffee in the morning, but he can't seem to stop drinking it today. It still tastes like hell, but he feels more alert than normal. More sociable. He's actually been having friendly conversation with most of the Alphas he's been assessing today, which is new, to be sure.

night-time; closed to Buffy

Today, Derek has lost count of the number of cups of coffee he's had. His body feels almost as agile as it normally would; some part of his mind has tricked himself into think that the coffee is bringing back the wolf within, so he's been guzzling it like water all friggen day.

By the time it's lights out and he's put the gas mask on to keep from being knocked out, Derek's wired and anxious. They need to get out of the room. His jumpsuit is still down around his waist when the vents kick off and he sits back up in bed, discarding the gas mask and waiting for Buffy to do the same. Alcide, the other, newer roommate had come in earlier with his own jumpsuit drawn down to the waist and Derek thought that was a good idea. So he stole it.

"Pssst," he hisses at Buffy. "The vents shut off. Let's go," he says, getting to his feet, jumpsuit still hanging sloppily with the sleeves tied around his waist like a belt. "Come on."

[whattingawhat]

Earlier, when Buffy had popped into the room she shared with the boys to see both Derek and Alcide with their jumpsuits down to their waists, she was pretty sure she was in some sort of reality show, one she had no interest in being kicked off.

Buffy had snuck a cup of coffee after dinner too because she'd assumed she and Derek would end up exploring tonight. She's keyed up and ready to go when Derek hisses at her. He may have his jumpsuit around his waist, but hers is only unzipped a bit lower than usual. She takes her gas mask off and slips her feet into her shoes then grabs her flashlight. She'll follow Derek out the door silently, letting him lead for the most part. She's still restless and jumpy. She knows it's probably because of the coffee (but assumes it's the caffeine) but she'd needed it to get through the day.

[duelo]

Following the beam of Buffy's flashlight, Derek gets his own shoes back on and heads out the door with her. He's never really sure what they expect to find and tonight is no different, but maybe it's just about getting out of the room and defying The Computer in little ways that can't be that treasonous otherwise why the hell was it so easy to buy the gas mask as a RED Citizen?

They haven't even made it halfway down the hall when Derek thinks he hears something behind them and he stops, his head snapping back toward the sound only to find nothing there.

"Did you hear that?" he whispers at Buffy as he turns back to face her, taking a few slow steps to catch up.

[whattingawhat]

He's right; it's more exploring for exploring sake, for rebelling, for having a little bit of freedom and a little bit of time when they feel they aren't watched constantly. They've rarely found much of anything interesting, but they always go out at night.

Buffy keeps going when Derek stops, going toward something she hears. When he catches up and whispers to her, she nods. "Yeah, ahead of us. Someone walking or maybe running."

[duelo]

Derek tilts his head with confusion, his eyes widening a little. "Ahead of us? No, behind us," he corrects her.

Actually, it doesn't matter where it's coming from if there's nothing to be seen and Derek doesn't see anything in front or behind them, so maybe if they just keep moving. It's probably just that they're hearing people in their rooms.

...except that they should be sleeping. SleepAid was already released.

"Come on, let's just move a little faster and get out of this corridor and go where there's less cameras." He's careful to keep his head ducked just slightly since the cameras are largely raised. His best guess is that they typically only manage to capture the top of Buffy's head, so he doesn't urge her to do the same.

[whattingawhat]

Buffy shakes her head because she's pretty sure it came from ahead of them, but as he points out, it doesn't matter much. There's nothing and no one to see.

Unless they've got gas masks and then they could be out creeping around. It could be some of the secret societies that seem bent on hurting others.

She nods a little at his suggestion. It's a good one. Fewer cameras are always better. They make her feel less watched, a little more able to breathe. She doesn't take quite the same care simply because he's right, they're only getting the top of her head. There are advantages to being short. She hesitates at the end of the hallway.

"Hello?" she says in a whisper that's not really a whisper. "I know I heard something down here," she gestures down the hall to their left.

[duelo]

Derek stiffens when she whispers, because she's making any sound at all. "What are you doing?" he hisses at her, looking around quickly. Normally, Derek is all for going full force right into the eye of the storm, but that's when he's a werewolf. Right now, he's a human and he's never been all that great a fighter. At least with his werewolf abilities, he's faster and stronger and he can heal pretty quickly. As a human, he's no good at fighting and he doesn't have any of the extras that might balance his lack of skill enough to make him passable.

"So shouldn't we go the other way?" he asks in that same whisper.

Another sound behind him has Derek moving again, whirling in place and falling into a fight stance because at least he's got that down. There's nothing there. Derek's heart is racing, thumping so hard in his chest that he feels like it's going to beat right out of him. His adrenaline is pumping so hard it feels like he's trembling. "Jesus, what the hell, what the hell, what the hell...?" he whispers more to himself than to Buffy.

[whattingawhat]

Sorry, Derek. She's the girl that walks into an alley yelling 'is someone there'. Of course, she's also used to being the thing that monsters have nightmares about. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of fragile human yet. She is a pretty decent fighter even human though, thanks to all the practice she'd gotten being slayer-y.

"No," she says, giving him a look because right now she feels good: fearless, the way that she remembers feeling in her glitches. "Don't you want to figure out who's up and what they're doing?"

She presses on toward where she thinks she's hearing the sound, pressing close to the wall and turning the corner quickly, kicking out with one leg.

"Ow," she says .005 seconds after she kicks the wall. "Wall hard. Buffy's foot, not so much."

[duelo]

Derek's eyes widen a little as if to try to emphasize his point as he shakes his head. "No. No, I don't. I don't want to see who's up and what they're doing; what if we get caught and arrested for treason?!" He looks and sounds as incredulous as he is at the moment. Doesn't Buffy see the potential for Very Bad Things to happen to them if they're not especially quiet and constantly vigilant? Doesn't she understand that it's better just to go on the defense than the offense right now, in a place they still don't know very well?

There's still no one behind them in spite of the fact that he keeps hearing someone behind them and it makes him especially uncomfortable, but he moves forward because Buffy does. Mostly because, even if he'd never admit it to her because it's so weird for him to genuinely feel like this, but...Derek's kind of scared right now.

Buffy turns a corner quickly and kicks her leg out but Derek winces for her when it makes contact with the wall rather than anything else. "Ouch...what'd you do that for?"

[whattingawhat]

"Whoever is up would be arrested for treason too," Buffy hisses at him over her shoulder. "They're not going to report us and we haven't gotten caught by the cameras yet. Come on." Buffy is fearless right now. Paranoid, but fearless. She'd been the same way as a little girl.

No one behind them and Buffy isn't hearing anyone behind them, but she does hear someone ahead of them. "Maybe it'll be the person who's staging all these riots," she suggests quietly as they walk.

"There was someone there! I know there was! I heard them!" She spins in a circle looking for the someone she heard, for the flicker of shadow that she saw. "They couldn't have gotten away that quick. They've got to be here somewhere."

Of course, now she's got a bit of a limp as she walks...

[duelo]

"Unless they're guards and they're doing their jobs right now," Derek counters, frowning heavily. She's not thinking this through, she can't be. She can't possibly be thinking this through thoroughly or else she would realize that he's onto something here...

Derek looks even more uncomfortable at her suggestion than his own thought that might be night guards. "What do you want to do if it is? Take them on with no weapons? I didn't bring mine," he points out. It's usually so quiet at night and they nearly never see other Alphas in passing, so he's stopped bringing his laser gun along. Derek hates guns. Always has, but especially since having been on the receiving end of a bullet. On multiple occasions.

"There's nobody up there, Buffy, the sound is coming from behind us, I'm telling you," he insists, frowning, and grabbing her shoulder to stop her. "Here, get on my back, you're going to make that worse if you keep trying to limp on it. Then what are we going to do?"

[whattingawhat]

"What would they be guarding? Everyone is asleep!" Said in her best 'duh' voice. Clearly, she's not thinking. Otherwise she'd realize that there would obviously be guards out to catch people doing exactly what they're doing, but they haven't run into anyone in all their other explorations.

"Knock them out?" she suggests. She didn't bring her billy club either. She hates guns as well and refuses to use one unless it's absolutely necessary. "I throw a pretty good punch and I can do that kick thing."

That kick thing that she did to the wall and is now limping because of.

She scowls at him. "Are you sure it's coming from behind us?" She's going to take him up on his offer of a piggy back ride though because her ankle hurts and he's making sense.

[stillplaying]

Eager to gain passing marks on their evaluations, Katniss hasn't exactly had the same issues with Fitness Checks as Derek. Many have given her strange looks whenever she's insisted that they dance with her to prove their fitness, but just as many seem eager to prove themselves to her. There have been a few here and there that haven't exactly taken to Katniss' style of dancing and intend try to teach her a few steps that aren't nearly as innocent as the dances of District 12.

It's sometime after she's dealt with a few of those showing more initiative, and sometime after Derek's kicked out the woman, that she abandons her post to join him. Katniss flashes him a smile tinted with mischief before reaching out to grab his hand.

"C'mon," she insists as she places that hand on her waist and takes his other hand in hers. Without waiting for much of a response or a reaction, Katniss starts a simple jig to imaginary music. "You deserve to have some fun, too."

[duelo]

It isn't that he and Katniss don't get along, because they do, marginally. They haven't really spent a whole lot of time together, so Derek hasn't really been able to get much of a read on her and how they'll get on in the long run. He imagines that she's facing the same struggle, but maybe not. Maybe not everyone is as overly analytical about every relationship they start no matter how shallow or deep that relationship ends up being. Maybe it's just him.

Derek starts to think that it really must be, because she's joined him at his post and that smile he sees on her face takes him back in time. Back to the times when Paige was alive; when he was young and in love and had fun. She's smiling like Paige used to before she'd drag him into the band room after school when it was abandoned and no one was there to hear or see them except the musical instruments abandoned there for being too large to carry home from school.

"What...are you doin'?" he asks, sounding half-confused and half-amused as she takes his hand and puts it on her waist. She's a little young so it's not like he's taking this as anything in the vein that the smile really reminds him of, but all the same, it takes him off guard. And then she's dancing. Okay, that separates her even further from Paige because they never danced, they just groped each other in dark corners and abandoned distilleries, but the freedom and carefree attitude she's sporting still keeps that trace in his mind.

In spite of himself, Derek laughs a little, his eyebrows lifted with interest. "So your go-to is dancing? There's no music," he points out.

[stillplaying]

When it comes down to it, they've only really known each other for a day. That's not really a lot of time. But despite being awol her first few days in Alpha Complex, Katniss had been cooperative all of the previous day. She had accepted his tips and instructions without complaint and had even remembered to thank him before she had left today. (Thank you, HappiTime pills.) By first meetings, it could have gone worse. It could have been her and Gale suspiciously eying each other over his snare. Or the way she had treated Peeta after their interview. Or so her glitches say.

She hadn't meant to take him back to another time and another girl. Really. All Katniss is capable of feeling right now is happiness and joy and wanting to extend that feeling to the people that have helped her so far. He's one of them. It's not quite owing him for anything, not like she might have owed others in the past. But she thinks that she might know what it's like to attract unwanted attention. It isn't fun. It isn't fun to be adored for reasons you yourself can't even understand.

"Dancing," she answers with another laugh, smiling at that half-confused tone in his voice. She might be young, not even eighteen yet, but age is just a number. In terms of life experience, she might as well be at least twice her age. His smile earns another laugh and grey puppy-dog eyes, silently pleading that he keep dancing with her. "If you want music, I can sing."

[duelo]

Another huff of a laugh escapes Derek and he shakes his head. "Wow, all right," he thinks aloud. The last thing he wants to be doing is dancing, because yeah, Derek has plenty of pent up energy right now, but the thing is...he's more than a little self-conscious when it comes to doing things that are that liberating: singing, dancing; things that are better saved, in his opinion, for intimate and private moments with someone he trusts not to poke fun at him.

But then she's giving him that look and Derek's expression drops. "Oh, come on, don't look at me like that, Katniss, that's not fair," he complains. She has no way of knowing that those sorts of expressions remind him of Paige, of Cora, of Laura, when things were good and how weak he is when it comes to shutting someone down when they're looking at him like that. It's like begging without the pathetic overtone.

Derek looks around, frowning slightly, before looking back at Katniss with his brow creased dubiously. "...seriously? You…really?"

It's pretty clear by his tone that he's lost most of the willpower in him to actually outright tell her no, but it's his last ditch effort to get her to change her mind on her own.

[stillplaying]

Most of the time, Katniss tends to be extremely self-conscious. She doesn't consider herself all that pretty, or all that smart or very nice. She doubts her voice is nearly as good as people claim. There are a lot of things she tends to be uncomfortable about. But when it comes to dancing, even without the influence of the drugs in her system, she doesn't hesitate. Dancing comes naturally. It's like that for most people from District 12. They don't have much in the way of wealth or freedom, but they could dance.

Although he tries to protest, Katniss can tell that it's completely half-hearted. She keeps the puppy dog eyes going a little longer, enjoying his reaction. Now she's teasing him more than actually begging. He's not nearly as intimidating as some of their clients say she is. Then again, Katniss has never been easily intimidated.

"Yeah, really," she says, smiling sweetly at him. "You keep doubting me."

Albeit with good reason. Not that Katniss realizes that right now. Since he's not really fighting her, she picks up the pace a little before she starts to sing a song that she'll definitely regret later.

[duelo]

Something tells Derek that Katniss is onto him because she keeps that expression on her face a little longer like she's trying to cement the effect on him before letting it fall away. Admittedly, he's a little jealous that she's feeling so liberated.

"Well, I don't really know you very well, seeing as how you've been playing hooky since day one," he points out. Derek opens his mouth to say something else; to make some other argument as to why they really shouldn't be doing this right now. Not that there's anything wrong with dancing, but they really should be working and—

The lyrics actually process and his eyes widen, eyebrows lifting higher still. Derek looks around as if expecting to see Stiles, Lydia, and Allison standing around somewhere watching with amusement; like they've talked this poor girl into it, but they don't seem to be anywhere in sight.

"What is happening right now?" he asks himself more than Katniss herself. She's not going to stop unless he gives in, is she? "Hey. Hey, hey, hey, look; listen," he says, drawing her a little closer and moves his hand up from her waist and settles it on her upper back. The sad thing is that Derek actually knows what he's doing. He hates dancing, but his mother made he and Laura learn for a family wedding when he'd been ten. He still remembers. "Slow down a little," he tells her, guiding her into something of a sloppy foxtrot. "If you're going to make me do it, at least let's do something I know." He's not great, but he's not bad, either.

[stillplaying]

Katniss has never been very good at going along with suggestions given to her by others, even if those suggestions might prove to be life-saving. The desire to dance, and more specifically to dance with Derek, is entirely her own. The song she picks is silly and a little more bawdy than something she might otherwise sing but it has the right tempo for the dance.

Or it did.

She stops singing as soon as he draws her in closer. She just about stops dancing all together as well, her steps much slower and lacking the easy rhythm from before. He's close. He's very close. She can feel the heat of his hand against her back and she knows how easy it would be to move in just a step more and press her body against his. This morning's strangeness aside, this is the closest that she's been to another human being in a long time - specifically one she knows and sort of likes. It throws her off guard. And when she looks up at him, the puppy eyes are long gone. In there place is a mix of confusion and curiosity and a need to be held by someone to send all the nightmares away.

Because that's what she's remembering right now. She's remembering how being held kept the nightmares at bay and how much she likes this. She likes the way Derek holds her now. Katniss smiles, moving her hand up his shoulder. She lets him lead; the steps are easy to pick up and follow in time.

"You can dance," she points out, a hint of cheekiness in her voice. "You're not that bad, either."

[duelo]

The way that Katniss's expression changes when she looks up at him gives Derek's stomach the involuntarily little flutter he always associates with attraction. She's young; he tells herself that she's too young and that he's not attracted to her, because he doesn't feel entirely himself today and maybe that's exacerbating things. Maybe it's just been too goddamned long since he's had a woman this close to him and he remembers the last several times ended really badly for him, so he's distancing himself emotionally; mentally, by trying to tell himself that age matters a lot more than he would normally actually think it does.

His Adam's apple bobs in his throat when he swallows thickly because he can't help thinking that this is kind of a nice feeling and he forgot how much he liked having someone close. Derek tells himself that it's just because he's perpetually lonely; it doesn't have anything to do with impromptu dancing or Katniss or whatever is going on with him today. If he keeps an arm's length between himself and the women here, he'll be safe. He won't be hunted or used or abandoned if he doesn't let them get close enough to hurt him.

"I can dance," he agrees. "I'm all right, I guess; a little rusty. But just because I can doesn't mean I like to," he points out, but he doesn't actually stop. He will. He will in a minute. Just...in a minute.

[stillplaying]

She's not that young. Okay, maybe she is, being a few months shy of her eighteenth birthday. But she doesn't see herself as that young. She hasn't seen herself as a child since her father died when she was eleven. All of the responsibilities she had inherited had caused her to grow up overnight. Then came participation in the Hunger Games and in the uprising. She's much older than her years. It's just difficult to tell given all the drugs currently affecting her.

Age doesn't mean much. But she understands the need to distance. Or she will as soon as the HappiTime pills and No Fear leaves her system. Then she'll remember. She'll remember how many people she's gotten killed, especially the people that she loves. She should never allow herself to get attached to anyone else. Never. It's safer to be alone. It shouldn't be but it is.

Katniss laughs lightly, nearly giggling at his response. Though the dance he teaches her seems to put space between them, she doesn't want that space. Keeping each other at arm's length can come later. Being in his embrace feels too good. Her eyes close as she rests her head against his shoulder while they dance. This is different from the way she's danced with anyone else today. This isn't a trust she extends easily. "You're still dancing," she points out, sighing happily. "Don't stop?"

[duelo]

It takes an effort not to stiffen when he feels her close the space he's kept between them to rest her head on his shoulder. It isn't anything personal; it isn't that he has a problem with Katniss doing it so much as he's uncomfortable with the idea of anyone doing it. Derek is already missing a piece of himself. He doesn't need to lose more after getting attached to someone who will inevitably leave him. Or hurt him. Or worse, hurt other people; people he cares about even if he pretends he doesn't, sometimes.

Everything about this somehow manages to strike a perfect balance between comforting and terrifying; anxiety-inducing and relaxing. How it manages to do so, Derek doesn't know and in retrospect, he still won't be able to figure it out, because unless explicitly told, he's not going to make the connection between the coffee and the way he's feeling right now.

Derek keeps moving, but he's looking around. He's looking to see if they're being watched or whether they're going to get in trouble for not working, because that's about the last thing either of them needs right now, is to get hauled off for something as trivial as taking a little break for mental health. "We have to stop sometime...we still have to work," he points out gently and he's careful to keep his tone apologetic because he sort of genuinely doesn't want to be the bad guy here. As scary as the prospect of forming an attachment to a new person is, this does, admittedly, feel kind of nice.

[stillplaying]

He might stiffen but he doesn't push her away. He doesn't even stop dancing. Most of Derek's fears are the fears that Katniss has too, fears currently set aside by the combination of drugs. Letting people in, forming any new attachments is a dangerous thing. It's something that almost always hurts you in the end. But unlike Derek, Katniss is alone here. And though it would be easy to convince herself that everyone is better off without knowing her, there's only so long someone used to even the smallest amount of company can be a loner.

She sighs at his words, noting the apologetic turn and knowing full well that he's right. Sooner or later, they will have to get back to work. Although their clients are waiting patiently (enjoying the show, really), the Computer probably won't be too fond of them taking the entire work period off. It's not any option for them. Not really.

"You're right," she says, lifting her head to smile softly at Derek. She cups his cheek gently and then, without quite realizing what she's doing, lifts her head up to press her lips against his. She's being so free with her kisses today, so much more than normal, but she doesn't care. It feels good. And if anyone in Alpha Complex deserves her kisses, it's Derek. Dancing with him is the safest she's felt in a long time.

Morning Briefing

[thesavior]

Emma was an early riser, having been to the commissary for coffee already. She entered into the room with a spring in her step and a smile on her face. She hadn't been here long, so she didn't know anyone really. It really seemed like a shame to her so as she poured her second cup of coffee, drinking it, as she threw caution to the wind.

She flopped, yes flopped into the seat next to Derek, with about as much grace as a toadstool, but she giggled anyway. She straightened herself up, looking over at dark and broody, before giving him a smile.

"Been here long?"

[duelo]

Typically, Derek is an early riser; this place has changed him. There's nowhere to take his morning run, really, unless he wants to run indoors and he can't ever really feel the freedom he seeks when he takes his runs in a place where he can't go outside. So lately, instead of getting up early, he's been getting up as late as humanly possible without actually making himself late for the morning briefing or skipping a meager breakfast. So now here he is, drinking the coffee and still trying to wake up after too few hours of sleep — spending the night exploring instead of sleeping will do that to a guy — when the woman sits down beside him.

Derek lifts his eyebrows and offers her a sleepy smile. "You're cheerful," he observes. Normally, that would irritate him. ...a lot. That would irritate him a lot, actually, when it's early in the morning and he's running on so little sleep and some part of him acknowledges that with confusion, but the larger part of him is endeared, actually. Yawning, Derek knits his brow slightly to think. He's so out of it. More coffee. Needs more coffee.

"Uh...something like a couple of weeks? Just shy of that maybe? You?" he asks.