The mighty 4!

[lolitics_meme]

My honourable friends,

our fourth prompt post!

That's right, number FOUR.
Like the nucleobases, the fundamental forces of physics and the horsemen of the apocalypse.
Like the number of seasons, the number of letters in most swear words and the number of boxes each tetris shape is made of.

In this spirit, here are four things to keep in mind:

1) The

Comments

Need moar fever!fic

[anonymous]

TIMES Europe just had an issue about malaria.

Fact: the malaria vaccine is pills, there's different kinds based on how long you're staying in a risky zone, but you need to take them quite early before you leave and you have to keep taking them for quite a bit after you're back, and they're seriously nasty stuff (some people compare them to chemotherapy, adverse reactions can be that bad), so much so that people who need to spend very long periods in risk areas sometimes prefer to take their chances with the malaria.

So: on a diplomatic trip Nick gets bitten by a mosquito. Maybe he's allergic to the pills and can't take them, maybe he stops taking them too soon, maybe he was only passing through and didn't bother at all, but once he's been back a couple of weeks he gets hit with a full-on fever attack, complete with spiking alarming temperatures, bone-rattling chills and delirium. Bonus if at first they think it's some type of terrorist poisoning attack and everyone freaks out.

Re: Need moar fever!fic

[anonymous]

Ooh yes please. I've had the pill reactions and I've had malaria. To be honest,I preferred malaria. At least I was out of it for most of the unpleasantness! Though being stuck in the arse end of Madagascar in the rainy season was possibly not the best plan

Intro

[anonymous]

They're delayed coming out of Heathrow, of course. They are flying with BA after all. No sooner has Nick's aide - ridiculously dressed head to toe in khaki - informed him of their anticipated arrival time, some three hours later than anticipated, then he's accosted by a harried looking BA official who mutters something about luggage potentially not making their transfer at Schiphol due to their flight's 'unavoidable delay'. It's not exciting enough to be some kind of organised chaos, Nick thinks, as his Blackberry beeps incessantly with a reminder to take his malaria prophylaxis, it's simply irritatingly British.

Or is that Britishly irritating?

~

OP keymashes F5

[anonymous]

This sounds delightfully promising! You will continue y/y?

Re: OP keymashes F5

[anonymous]

I shall! Albeit in very short chapters. Too many prompts!

1

[anonymous]

Nick kneels over the basin as the plane shudders with turbulence and a fellow passenger hammers on the door with impatience. He shouts just a minute but it comes out more as an indistinct moan than a frustrated retort. Somewhere over the northern tip of Africa the heart burn had morphed into some kind of sweaty headache and ended up as intense nausea.

He hadn't really listened when the doctor explained how to take Doxycycline, nor had he read the instructions on the packet. It's only later, when he staggers past the sizeable line for the loo back to his seat and slumps against the window that a hushed voice in his ear tells him that he really should have had something to eat first. The meal - something dead covered in an anonymous sauce - is pushed in front of him.

Half an hour later he's in the toilet and resolves to stay there for the immediate future.

~

Re: 1

[anonymous]

OP can certainly cope with small updates, considering the level of awesome in them :D *sits by, twiddling thumbs*

Re: 1

[anonymous]

Aww, thanks OP! Glad you're liking it. I'm reliving my Africa experiences through Nick Clegg!

2

[anonymous]

It takes him several days to acclimatise to the hustle and bustle of Nairobi with its seemingly endless traffic jams and bamboozling number of church sponsored universities. He makes the mistake of having a lie down after taking another tablet - although he now knows better than to take them on an empty stomach - and wakes up feeling like he's been drained of all the fluid in his body. In a daze he staggers down to the lobby to ask for a bottle of water and forgets to take his room key with him, effectively shutting him out of his room in the process. It takes some sweet talking to get the lady at reception to give him another set of keys. The temptation to demand don't you know who I am has never been so strong.

When he gets back to his room he downs half the bottle and slumps in front of his notes, preparing for his meeting with the Kenyan Cabinet.

~

No sooner has he adapted to Nairobi than they're taken to the airport to board a rickety looking plane to Dar Es Salaam. It's in Dar - a city that his aide refers to as a right

Re: 2

[anonymous]

Ugh, Doxycycline! I always followed the instructions to the letter and STILL spent every morning feeling sick until I went the Deet-and-sleeves route instead.

And the great thing about mosquito nets is how damn easy it is to trap the mosquitos *in* instead of out *sigh*

That said, poor old Nick! Deet's pretty harsh stuff too.

Re: 2

[anonymous]

I ended up nearly passing out on my second day of Doxy. Still, it beats the nightmares my mate had on Malerone. That's some seriously evil stuff!

Re: 2

[anonymous]

This is just taking me back. I still have easily £100 worth of doxy sat in my medicine cabinet cos I just won't take it. As I said before though, I got malaria for my trouble, and it's definitely not nice (esp. since I'm one of the small subset of people who's prone to flare-ups).

This fic is just taking me back to my travelling days. It's wonderful. ^_^

Re: 2

[anonymous]

It's making me want to book another trip. +twitches+

3

[anonymous]

Though a tinny and somewhat tenuous phone line Nick reports back to David as he throws back ibuprofen for the persistent dull headache that's followed him from Dar. There's a delay on the line of only a few seconds but it's enough to be disconcerting and make conversation both difficult and stilted. He's here as part of an attempt to prove to Africa that it is no longer the 'forgotten continent' and that Britain will honour its aid pledges and continue to fight their corner. So far it's not been going overly well but that's hardly a surprise. Almost every country in Africa, Nick mutters, has been raped, pillaged and left to rot by the Colonial Era. They have every right to be suspicious of a new British Government and sceptical of their promises. Especially when they've been disappointed so many times in the past

Re: 3

[anonymous]

OP Actually admires you now: This is fantastic!

Oh, I've got my own 100 € box stashed away untouched... It was only a low-risk zone! The doctor who prescribed it was rather cheerfully trying to get me to take it with advice like 'drink some milk to line your stomach before you take it! Where are you going again? Oh, right. Don't drink fresh milk then. Take some formula with you :D

Re: 3

[anonymous]

Looking forward to more of this fill. Poor Nick!

This anon was born and raised in West Africa and we had to take a pill called Daraprim once a week for Malaria or rather to avoid getting it. It was never a chore and none of us seem to have any particular side effects. I know some people took that and others prefered taking a Nivaquine tablet once a day (which just has a foul taste). I'm always puzzled by how badly people seem to react to anti-malarial meds. Then again, after so long away, if I go back there and have to take these drugs, I may experience that too.