Jack hadn't been doing much of anything when his phone sounded off with a text message. Which was odd, because Jack didn't really get text messages, exactly. Phone calls, yes, but not text messages. People generally called to talk to him, after all. And Scotty didn't usually call him at all, really. So to get a text message from the other man was more than a little bit odd. Not that he minded the idea of making his way over to the ship. No offer for a hop through the transporters was a little odd, but Jack ignored it and set about looking for a worldhop
( ... )
Scotty had finished up his shower and had got himself dressed again - in his casual, off-duty clothes - and had set about trying to get back to work on his paperwork when there was a knock at the door. And that was a bit weird, because anyone coming to see him probably wouldn't have knocked. Aileas was watching him closely, and that was a bit weird too. She looked like she was up to something, which was ridiculous, because how could a dog look like it was up to something? After a moment of deliberation regarding whether or not to actually open the door, he gave the computer a command to open it, and... "Jack?" What was he doing here?
Jack smiled at Scotty, shaking his head. "Hey, don't look so happy to see me," the other man said, leaning in the doorway slightly. He raised his phone up and shook it at Scotty slightly. "I got your message," he said, "so here I am." So far, he hadn't noticed the dog, too busy being amused at Scotty's surprise to look down and see her.
"Message...?" He hadn't sent any message, he'd been in the shower. What was Jack talking about? Aileas made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort of amusement, and Scotty shot her a Look, which she returned with an altogether far too innocent wide-eyed doggish grin. "Come on in, then, since you're here," Scotty said, still eying his daemon.
Jack's eyes dropped to the dog when she made the sound, suddenly noticing her there, stepping into the room. "Yeah," he said, "message. One from you. That I'm assuming you sent, that having been said. Nice dog, by the way," Jack said, nodding to her. "Didn't know that you guys could have pets on a ship, though." Or that Scotty had a dog to begin with. He didn't notice one the last few times he'd been there. Scotty certainly hadn't mentioned one at all.
He had started the day off slightly off-balance, what with Aileas showing up out of nowhere, and the ill-fated trip down to the engine room, and Jack unexpectedly showing up was only throwing him off more. The door slid shut behind the other man as he stepped inside, while Scotty tried to figure out how best to explain that Aileas wasn't just a dog and that he hadn't sent any messages to Jack - not that he wasn't glad to see the man, but some warning would have been nice. "She's not a pet," he managed, still unsure how to explain without sounding utterly mad.
Aileas took the opportunity to slip down off the couch and trot toward Jack, head up, ears perked, tail wagging, before Scotty could say anything further.
"Okay," Jack said, raising an eyebrow. "Not a pet. What is she, then? Because she's certainly here for some reason. It's not like dogs just randomly crop up in space, as far as I'm aware. She had to come from somewhere."
As the dog trotted toward him, tail wagging, Jack did what any person logically would do to a dog coming towards them, looking happy. He knelt in front of her a good petting, like she seemed to be asking for, admiring what a good dog she seemed to be. "Well, pet or not, she's gorgeous," he said, with a smile at her doggy smile at him. "What's her name, then?"
He realized too late what Jack was about to do. "Jack, don't--" He'd stood up as Jack knelt, but before he could say anything else, Jack was petting Aileas, and Scotty stopped, sinking back down onto the couch. He felt his cheeks flush, felt a sudden warmth blossoming in his chest that was nothing like the feeling he'd experienced when his crewmates had tried to pet Aileas. "Jack," he said, faintly, and Aileas slipped away from the other man to return to Scotty's side; he put an arm around her when she did.
"Her name is Aileas," the daemon answered, her accent a close mirror of Scotty's. "I'm sorry, love," she added, to Scotty, pressing her nose against his cheek for a moment. "I ought to've warned you."
Jack raised an eyebrow at Scotty, looking over at him as he stood and then sat down, looking flushed and...well. Jack wasn't quite sure how to define how Scotty looked in that moment. But the only words out of his mouth had been his name and the word 'don't', so. Jack was more than a bit confused. "Don't?" he asked. "Don't what?"
Apparently the dog had had enough being petted, which Jack was fine with. He stood again as she trotted back over to Scotty, the other man looking more comfortable now that the pair of them were touching, which was...odd. Odder still was the fact that she seemed to talk. In Scotty's accent. Jack's eyebrows shot up. "...right. Aileas," he repeated. "...Scotty. Why do you have a talking dog in your cabin? Just what the hell is going on here, exactly?"
Aileas curled up next to Scotty, laying her head in his lap, and Scotty absently rested his hand on her back, trying once again to figure out how to explain. "I think it's something t'do with the community," he said finally, glancing down at Aileas. "I woke up this mornin', an' there she was. She's not... She's not a dog, exactly. But she's mine." He glanced down at her again, but she didn't seem inclined to contribute any further to the conversation. "I mean. She's a dog, but she's not a dog. She's. Part o' me, somehow. I think."
Jack crossed his arms across his chest, trying to figure out just what the hell the other man meant by saying that, exactly. That she was a dog but not one. That she was his. "Part of you..." he repeated, trying to make sense of it. "What, like. Part of you detached and became a dog? I'm not really sure what you mean here, Scotty. It seems more than a little bit weird, to me, even for the community." It usually turned people into dogs, not...creating dogs from themselves.
"I don't know," Scotty said, running his other hand through his hair, the other still resting on Aileas's back. "I woke up, I saw Aileas, I." He stopped, and took a breath, shutting his eyes. "I tried t'go down t'the engine room. I thought I could leave her behind, but I. I got t'the end o' the corridor, an'." Aileas whined a bit at that, lifting her head to rest her chin against Scotty's chest, and without really realizing what he was doing, Scotty curled a little closer to her. "It hurt." That was putting it mildly, but 'it felt like my heart and soul were being ripped from my chest' was a little too melodramatic for Scotty's taste, no matter how true it might be.
Jack cocked his head slightly, watching Scotty, trying to take it in. "You tried to go down to the engine room, but leaving her here hurt," he said, once again repeating what the other man had said. "But you're not there now. You're still in your cabin. Is that because you couldn't leave her here then?" he asked. He wanted to make sense of the situation, after all. Wanted to understand as best he could. But he believed Scotty when he said what he was saying. It was a bit too weird for the other man to just be making up. Especially since there was a talking dog with a Scottish accent sitting right there in front of him.
He shook his head, swallowing a bit. "I. Went down. T'the engine room. With her, because I couldn't leave her behind, an'." He stopped again, and Aileas whined again, pressing a little closer to him. "I. I could feel it. When they. An' it. But it was different, when you." He wasn't making any sense, he knew, but he didn't want to talk about it. "So I came back here. An' I didn't send you any message, Jack, I swear I didn't."
"I did," Aileas said, nosing at Scotty's chin. "You could use the company," she added, speaking more to Scotty than to Jack.
Jack shook his head, trying to make sense of what Scotty was trying to say. "I... What do you mean, 'when I'? When I what? What happened?" Scotty was obviously pretty shaken by the whole ordeal, after all, and Jack wanted to know why, what had shaken him so much. And what's more...what exactly was going on in that moment. He needed to know.
"So..." he said, making a face, "you're trying to tell me that... The dog. Aileas, I know, but. That a dog sent me a text-based message to get me to come over here so that I could spend time with you because you couldn't go to work...?" His eyebrows furrowed. "And that. Something happened when you tried to bring her down there. But what?"
"She's not a dog." Scotty ran a hand through his hair again. "When I went down t'the engine room... They kept. They." Another deep breath, and he pressed on, because if he didn't explain Jack was going to keep asking and keep pushing the issue until he gave in. "I could feel it. When they touched her." He wasn't sure how he was supposed to explain what it felt like. It had just felt wrong, absolutely and utterly wrong. "So I came back up here, an'. An' went t'get a shower, an' then you showed up, an'." He felt his cheeks reddening again, as he continued faintly, "She let you touch her."
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Aileas took the opportunity to slip down off the couch and trot toward Jack, head up, ears perked, tail wagging, before Scotty could say anything further.
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As the dog trotted toward him, tail wagging, Jack did what any person logically would do to a dog coming towards them, looking happy. He knelt in front of her a good petting, like she seemed to be asking for, admiring what a good dog she seemed to be. "Well, pet or not, she's gorgeous," he said, with a smile at her doggy smile at him. "What's her name, then?"
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"Her name is Aileas," the daemon answered, her accent a close mirror of Scotty's. "I'm sorry, love," she added, to Scotty, pressing her nose against his cheek for a moment. "I ought to've warned you."
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Apparently the dog had had enough being petted, which Jack was fine with. He stood again as she trotted back over to Scotty, the other man looking more comfortable now that the pair of them were touching, which was...odd. Odder still was the fact that she seemed to talk. In Scotty's accent. Jack's eyebrows shot up. "...right. Aileas," he repeated. "...Scotty. Why do you have a talking dog in your cabin? Just what the hell is going on here, exactly?"
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"I did," Aileas said, nosing at Scotty's chin. "You could use the company," she added, speaking more to Scotty than to Jack.
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"So..." he said, making a face, "you're trying to tell me that... The dog. Aileas, I know, but. That a dog sent me a text-based message to get me to come over here so that I could spend time with you because you couldn't go to work...?" His eyebrows furrowed. "And that. Something happened when you tried to bring her down there. But what?"
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