For there was never philosopher could endure the toothache patiently

Ah. My tooth hurts. The emergency dentist last night said it's an inflammation, not an infection, and prescribed me anti-inflammatories which I'll start once I establish that no, aspirin does *not* work.
( Cut for dental stuff )

Meanwhile I realize that the proper person to turn up to tell a hearty yarn to Dan and Una is Jack Aubrey, but that's a double gainer I'm not going to even try. Pasticheing Kipling's narrative style is possible but pasticheing O'Brian's conversational style inside that is not, or not for me.