Q is bored. Because -that's- new.

[fingersnapping]

Really, I'm disappointed in you, ma cherie. How can you possibly mean to confine someone like me to a mind such as yours? A dire existence. Worse than being human. Eurgh.

No, I can't do it. First of all, it's filthy in here. Secondly - and far more importantly - I'm bored. I know the kind of people you like to spend time with. No Jean Luc to play with, no Number Two. I'd even settle for that microbrained Klingon or the robot. Kathy! Yes, that's a wonderful idea! I should very much like to see Kathy again. Do you suppose she remembers me? Of course she does. My Kathy; she wouldn't forget little old me.

Still, before I leave I suppose I owe you some sort of parting gift for bringing me to life. But what to give you? One can't just go around handing out omniscience, no matter how helpful it might make this role playing thing. How about--hmm...

[ And then Q beams, raises his left hand, and clicks his fingers. Snap. ]

Comments

[fingersnapping]

[ Kathyrn always know just how to make him squirm. Oh, how he likes that. ]

Fatherhood has ways of keeping you busy. Have you ever raised an infant, let alone a young Q? It takes no effort at all to teach him how to knock planets around, but then you look away for a moment and the universe is imploding. It's exhausting. I can't imagine how you do it.

But you haven't had the pleasure of my son's company. Oh Kathy. You will like him when you meet him. I mean - you do - but you know how these things are.

[ Linear beings living their linear lives. So sad. ]

make should've been mate. thanks ipad.

[directives]

If this is your way of asking if I'll babysit, the answer's no.

i got it. to be fair, the meaning was p. much the same anyway~

[fingersnapping]

And miss out on being Aunty Kathy? Well, that would be tragic! It simply won't do. Junior would be bereft without your council.

lol, very true!

[directives]

[ so maybe she likes the sound of "aunt kathy," but that doesn't mean she's going to babysit. ]

I'm not even on Voyager right now, Q. The City is hardly the proper environment for a toddler.

[fingersnapping]

The City? Well that is mysterious. Oh, I nearly forgot--

[ Vanishing, reappearing behind her only to insistently wrap a fur coat across her shoulders. It's still icicles in here, but he's rather taken to it. It's just that he doesn't feel the cold himself. These things can slip his mind.

He might be lingering there a moment longer than necessary. ]

Do tell me about this city of yours, Kathy. Are you trapped there, is that the problem?

echoing my poly castmates up there: your q is / A M A Z I N G / ♥

[directives]

[ she won't say thank you, because it wouldn't be cold in here if he wasn't keen on having a certain flare for the dramatic, but she won't shrug the coat off either. as for the lingering, she'll allow it. for now. ]

I thought the Q were supposed to know everything. Surely you don't need me to tell you I'm stuck in a curse plagued city situated at the center of a quantum singularity.

edit: seriously, I really appreciate it, and bouncing off great ST folks is just amazing.

[fingersnapping]

[ And he'll drink it up for as long as he can, because if anything he's a gross opportunist for melodrama and touching and generally hamming it up. ]

This place exists somewhat outside the reach of the Continuum. And really, Kathy, you can't expect me to pay attention to every little thing you do. It's a big old universe, and I have all of time itself to play with.

[ He swiftly changed the subject and glossed over the whole powerless to help bit there, can you tell? ]

bouncing off a great q is amazing! especially one who incorporates his voyager appearances.

[directives]

And yet when you decided to have a child, you chose me out of all the females of all the species in all the galaxies. I seem to recall having beat out a single-celled organism.

[ oh, she can tell. and to think she once uttered something along the line of not minding a visit from you, because perhaps you could provide her with answers she's having difficulty finding on her own. so much for that. ]

I always loved Q, so I was =D for him on Voyager. Janeway handled him as well as Picard ever did

[fingersnapping]

And I seem to recall you turning me down. The single most powerful being in the universe--snubbed by his first choice. Really, Kathy, there's no point regretting it now. That ship has sailed.

[ But he's very close, lips almost against the shell of her ear--not at all like someone who's lost interest. ]

But you know, they do say that children are far better adjusted if they grow up with a younger sibling. What do you say? Is there a chance for us? Can we make it, holding fast to each other against the tide of this cruel pandimensional flux? You aren't really getting any younger. [ Always ruining the mood. ] But you could be.

i usually only see tng!q around, so i was just :D!! to see one who knew voyager posting here.

[directives]

[ kathryn turns her head to glare at him, then shove him away. that's enough of that, and outside of the realm of what she'll tolerate. certainly there were others (countless, no doubt) who would find receiving this level of attention from a Q to be the ultimate form of flattering. kathryn janeway? found it annoying. (as well as flattering, but not ultimately so.) ]

Could be? First you offer to send me home, now you're offering to make me younger?

[ do it, i actually have a journal for this, ty poly curses ]

gosh, and you are making my life so easy >3

[fingersnapping]

[ He's very easily brushed away. It's part of the deal, and part of Kathryn's charm. There's this particular scrunch to her nose, a breaking of her cool exterior that looks like frustration and humor sparring with each other in a single expression--and then it's gone, and Q has to encourage it to happen all over again. ]

Oh? Oh, well that's easy. Ask me a harder one.

[ And click. Just in case making her younger wasn't already enough, Janeway gets a new dress. Something frilly and light. Fortunately, with another flash, they're no longer surrounded by icicles. There's an infinite platinum beach disappearing toward either horizon, and a sky with a closely clinging atmosphere, so that after a distance the blue sky breaks into a sky full of stars lit by distant binary suns, one large and gold, the other a blue dwarf tight against its flank. ]

Beautiful, isn't it?

i aim to please! :3

[deuterium]

[ ...she hadn't been serious! of course, she should've expected that he would take a rhetorical question literally, and now she's fifteen years younger and has traded in that awful fur coat for a dress. (what is it with people giving her dresses? first kirk, now Q--) kathryn crosses her arms over her chest, giving the heavens above no more than a passing glance before resettling her gaze on the omnipotent being at her side. ]

Is this supposed to impress me?

[fingersnapping]

If the cosmos doesn't impress you, dear one, I really must wonder whether being an explorer is really your true raison d'etre.

[ Barefoot in the sand, Q wriggles his toes deliberately. A rewarding sensation. The rest of his Captain's uniform is intact, of course. He wears it just to frustrate her. ]

This planet spends no less than a week of every four hundred years stable before the pull of the system's binary stars drag it back in. [ Gestures accompany the story. He reaches out into midair to clasp something invisible, then proceeds to pull and twist the invisible thing apart. ] For centuries, ruthless magnetic forces do their best to tear it apart until it once again escapes their wicked clutches. Every time it passes between them, more of its atmosphere gets stripped away. [ He touches her cheek deliberately. A lover's carress. ] It reminds me of you, Kathy. A beautiful thing with such a finite existence. [ The sorrow he inflects into his tone suggests a voice he might use at her deathbed. ]

[deuterium]

[ and frustrate her it does, but she does her best not to show it, knowing that doing so will only get a rise out of him. kathryn doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he's getting to her. she takes being nineteen again in stride, resisting the urge to wander closer to the water and inspect a reflection she hasn't seen in nearly two decades. one that's still youthful and full of life, not worn down and hardened by the passage of time and the trials of the delta quadrant. ]

If my existence is so finite, why waste your time with it? [ this she allows to, but she stands still and rigid, neither moving away from his touch or closer to it. ] Surely there other, better, longer lived species out there for you to propose motherhood to.

[fingersnapping]

[ Closer would be more than unexpected, at least from Janeway. Yes, there were any number of beings that might be far more responsive - or less picky, at least - but the challenge was part of the charm.

And there was her awe, too, her excitement. Her curiosity knew no bounds. ]

You have a way of looking at the universe, Madame Captain, that any Q would find endearing. To you, everything is so new, beautiful by mere merit of it never being seen before by human eyes. Whereas I, on the other hand-- [ An expansive shrug that says it all. ] Bored Q, Close-minded Q. Tired and worn out Q. That and--oh Kathy. [ Both hands, now. ] Don't you deserve the chance to experience that joy for yourself? Think of it as an adventure.

[ He'd get in trouble with the Continuum, of course, but when is he ever not in trouble with the Continuum? He does what he likes. ]

[deuterium]

[ she wasn't picky, she just wasn't interested. she had an obligation to her crew, and even if it would've been so easy -- so very easy -- to accept Q's offer and have his child in exchange for him sending them back to the alpha quadrant, it wouldn't have been right. perhaps it was selfish of her to refuse, to not do this seemingly simple favor to get her people home, but doing what was right got her into this mess. doing what was right would get her home, she was confident of that. they'd look for shortcuts along the way, but there was a difference between taking a detour and flat out cheating. becoming the mother of a Q was cheating. having a child that possessed an unlimited control over space, matter, and time would've been cheating in new and creative ways.

the offer was tempting, but not enough for her to take it. not even when it was offered a second time. ]

You've seen everything that ever was and will be, and now you, what, want too see it through my eyes by taking me along for the ride?

[ still not moving, but she's likely to if he gets any closer and it won't be in his direction. ]

[fingersnapping]

[ And to think, he rather hoped his being dashingly handsome and a roguish charmer would have been enticing in their own right. Still, the fact that she's so eager to reject the offer is part of what draws him. She's tempted, he knows, but ultimately she will always reject him, and rejection, at least, is a new and exciting experience every time it happens. It's a driving force--coupled with how victory would feel if he did convince her, naturally.

His hands drop to her shoulders--it's a retreat, giving her just a little space before he drops his hands the rest of the way down to clasp one of her own in both of his. ]

Think of it. All the excitement of strange new worlds and new civilisations without all that tedious space travel. No Borg space, no Void. Just exotic destinations, and all of time itself. You need only say the word, ma chere capitaine.

[deuterium]

[ she would've allowed him to hold her hand (her own grip slack, of course) had he not mentioned the void. that causes her to stiffen up and retreat, to reclaim her hand as she steps back and around him, darting out across the beach at a brisk pace. ]

Sorry, but I'm all booked up for the next century or so, what with finding my way out of a quantum fissure and getting back to the Alpha Quadrant. Find someone else to be your glorified travel companion.

[fingersnapping]

[ Really, he considers saying, It was your fault it existed in the first place. But that wouldn't cheer her up. Kathryn was always so stuffy about her policy of no interference, it would devastate her to know just how much chaos she had left behind her. As she charges off, though, Q simply rolls his eyes, flashes away, and reappears to walk stridently beside her. ]

Really, Kathy. Where are you going to go? If you keep walking in this direction you'll end up right back where you started. [ But... ] Oh fine, have it your way.

[ The Voyager bridge, then, swamped in darkness, and Janeway herself again. He folds his arms across his chest, chin ducked, sulking. ]

An unthinkable new low. Nobody's ever chosen dead space over me.

[directives]

[ don't contribute to her guilt, Q. she's already her own worst enemy when the right moment presents itself. having an omnipotent being tell her that she wouldn't be stuck in this predicament had she done this or that instead of adhering to her precious starfleet principals would only make things worse. there's already a dark cloud looming over here these days; no need to turn it completely black.

she takes a step towards the water-- and then she's herself again, and bumping into the helm. ]

Well then, consider this a new experience to add to your-- [ wait. she bumped into the helm.

Q's presence goes ignored in lieu of giving voyager her undivided attention, her witty retort left hanging and unfinished. she's been stuck in the city for months, hasn't stepped foot on voyager since she was pulled into that godforsaken place. ] Computer, lights.

[ whether they'll actually turn on for her or not is debatable. Q's in control here. (she hates not being in control.) ]

[fingersnapping]

[ The lights come up at her command - he can give her that much - though the viewscreen remains impossibly inky. There are no stars. ]

It is rather gloomy, isn't it?

[ Q is particularly reverent in this environment. He doesn't head for her chair, or impose himself any more than he does by simply existing within it. The computers have come on too, each console bright with command functions, none of which can do half the things that a Q could in the blink of an eye. But it has a homely sort of quality he admires--it should, it's been a home to them for seven years.

He considers opening his mouth to say something else, but instead Q falls silent at the sight of her beside the helm. This is her moment, and he couldn't intrude on it any more than he might on a moment of Picard's. It doesn't matter; he finds her passion riveting. ]

[directives]

[ of all the places he could bring her, of all the things he could do — he chose this, and a deserted bridge to go along with it. her moment gone, she turns to him, steel and ice, one hand gripping the back of the chair tom usually occupies as if she'll topple over if she lets go of it. ]

Why did you bring me back here? What purpose does this serve? Is this some sort of lesson in what happens when you tell a Q no?

[fingersnapping]

[ There is a moment where he's actually rather stunned, jarred by her sudden anger. She'd denied him, told him that this was where she wanted to be, and so he'd brought her here. The Void, Voyager, her dedication to them above all else, and he'd answered her demand just as literally as he could . But it wasn't good enough. It wasn't what she'd meant, so it must be some cruel stunt on his behalf, some lesson that he was teaching her. Humans! They were impossible to please!

Something chilly creeps into his own voice. ]

Isn't this what you wanted?

[directives]

I wanted to be back on my ship, yes, but not here. Not this region of space.

[ she almost lost herself to the void, became her own worst enemy and succumbed to the heavy weight of the guilt ridden burden she'd been carrying with her for four years. an empty ship would be a lot less daunting if there were stars out there to light the way. the emptiness of the void seemed almost unbearable without anyone around to keep her buoyed, else she'd be at risk of drowning in her own misery again. ]

[fingersnapping]

"Though my soul may set in darkness it will rise in perfect light. I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

N'est pas, ma capitaine?

[ She's furious with him, he can tell, but his eyes return to the black screen. He doesn't find it unnerving the same way that she does. Dull, perhaps, but it has a history, it hides life, and it's a terrifying - to the Q - demonstration of the fact that the universe's balance has been forever upset by the permission of humanity to grow. He doesn't resent it at all, and his eyes come back to Kathryn at last. ]

Since they crawled out of the primordial soup humanity has reached toward the stars, Kathy. But it isn't all stars up here, is it? Is it so frightening; the darkness? [ He's genuinely curious. ]