#and will absolutely let MI6 foot the bill for it

[dramatisperscnae]

And here came more information, mostly just confirming what Dick had already deduced but adding a little more detail. Q and Marcus could both block the other out, perhaps even forcibly take control from the other, but not for long. Or at least not forever, which seemed logical enough. That time limit probably got shorter if whoever was being suppressed fought back; it would probably all be down to willpower at that point, Dick guessed.

And then came the hints as to just who they actually were. What kind of civilian needed a secure line to talk to friends? Or a custom-calibrated phone? Outside of global technological regions - which Dick was only really aware of when it came to media like blu-ray discs and video games - why should it matter whether the equipment was provided by an American or British group? Especially when all the base components theoretically came from one of the same three or four plants in the world anyway? That smacked of custom software more than hardware, and that…

Well, it was very clear at this point that Q and Marcus had their own secrets. Dick would certainly never admit to anyone that he was so attached to his own phone because of certain custom features that no one outside of a very small handful of people even needed to know existed. Neither of them struck him as the vigilante type, however. Government agents? Perhaps. Probably best to let that lie for now, though; if he was right, they didn't need to know he'd figured it out.

"Sure." Dick took the phone, flicking through the app's options before he found something vaguely appealing and not ridiculously expensive. Doubtless Q's superiors were footing the bill and it could be written off as job expenses, but that was no reason not to be at least a little courteous. A club sandwich and a piece of chocolate cake would be perfect; courtesy only went so far when this hotel had the best chocolate mousse cake in the city.

Handing the phone back he shrugged. "I can't really blame him for being angry over it. I'm not really a fan of getting manhandled myself no matter who's doing it. Which, I asked him about it but I should ask you too, you didn't get too banged up during that whole thing, did you? I just had bruises, but I figured I should ask…"

"Yes... He's... Currently in timeout." Q admitted a little timidly as he picked up the phone again to check how much charge it had now. "I can suppress him to some extent. The same as he can for me. But like... liquids? You can't really compress them properly? They'll just spring a leak somewhere. So there's a time limit. He's usually not so bad. He just gets very protective and he really didn't like being hit by someone so stupid."

He bit his lip gently. "My phone is a secure line, so I can call my colleagues- my friends really- back home. I can't just use another phone because I need my office in London to calibrate it correctly, I can't really use American equipment without messing with it a lot. And they tend not to like me doing unnecessary tinkering. I'm amazed they get anything done."

He nodded at the reasons given and relaxed a little more, finally looking back at Dick now his panic had settled down. "He's... Yes. Though I'm not sure how much is actually being an ass and how much is just pushing people away- anyway, you're not here to speculate over his reasons for acting like that. Do you want to put in whatever you want?" Q asked as he held out his phone with the hotel's food app open. "And then I can add mine after."