IC Contact

[fingersnapping]

Hello? Hello? How am I supposed to know if this thing is working or not? Oh, who cares. Leave a message, or whatever it is you people like to do, and I'll decide whether or not you're worth the effort of my calling you back. Au revoir~

Oh great. Now which button do I press?

[ Beep. ]

Comments

text | forward-dated to 12/17

[directives]

[ she's likely going to regret this later, but there's already so many things she's done today — not of her own accord, of course (thanks, curses) — that she already deeply regrets. what's one more? ]

have you ventured to the roof of any of the buildings in the city before?

text

[fingersnapping]

It hadn't occurred to me, to tell you the truth. I took the tour of the Empire State Building once. It didn't even go right to the top--imagine my disappointment. And since the rest of the visitors looked as bored as I did, I obliged them the better view.

I suppose you have sightseeing in mind?

text

[directives]

something like that. we're going to spend the rest of the day atop one of those buildings. any building, i don't care. pick one and i'll meet you up there.

[ going where hopefully no mistletoe has gone before! what's the city going to do, dangle it from the clouds? she'll be damned if she gets caught under another godforsaken sprig. ]

text - action

[fingersnapping]

[ Oh, he sees what her problem is now. But the real question is: why spend it with him Is it because she's embarrassed to find herself with anyone else that might join her? ]

I could fetch you?

[ Testing his theory. ]

action

[directives]

[ she actually jumps, oddly easier to startle today. ]

Q! I have legs that I am perfectly capable of walking on. I don't need an omnipotent transporter service.

[candothat]

[ The following is left for Q at the Voyager apartment (if he doesn't live there, hopefully someone will give it to him): a book and a note that reads simply

Q,

С Рождеством!

Ensign P. Chekov ]

[fingersnapping]

[ He'll grab it when he pops in to give Chakotay his gift~

And Chekov you are a prat. He almost finds the book touching while at the same time it being an omen of death at all is almost an insult--don't ask him how his mind works.

As it turns out, though, he's already prepared (almost) a gift of his own lalalala not telling... ]

action | backdated to 12/26

[directives]

[ having returned to the apartment from where she was holed up at the labs all morning to retrieve some of the notes they took on the NX-01's transporter system days earlier, kathryn pops her head into whatever room q happens to be occupying at the moment after receiving this message. ]

You wouldn't happen to have any tricks up your sleeve that involve conjuring up temporary internal sensors that would allow me to do a sweep of the entire city — above, below, in, and around?

action | backdated to 12/26

[fingersnapping]

[ He's working. I know, it's a miracle, and without constant supervision too. There's something therapeutic about complex mathematics. ]

Have you lost something? [ A considering pause, as he looks at her. ] Someone. Not one of yours?

action | backdated to 12/26

[directives]

No, [ she shakes her head ] not one of mine. You likely would've known about it already had one of my officers gone missing.

[ don't try and deny it q. she already suspects that you've been keeping an eye on her people. it's in your best interest to, after all. ]

Captain Kirk's just informed me that Commander Spock has gone missing. He has his crew out searching for him now, but I was hoping for a method that's a little more efficient.

action | backdated to 12/26

[fingersnapping]

In which case, though I understandably hate to be the one to have to disappoint you, allow me to let you in on a little secret: scans of this place are rarely, if ever, forthcoming.

[ Oh, he could probably try, but with all the unscannable spots, the imperceptible chasms that reflect nothing, it makes a scanner as useless as searching by hand. He turns back to his work, as though intent on continuing, and raises his voice an octave higher. ]

"Oh, but Q, you're so powerful, so clever--out of anyone surely you could think outside the box. There must be something you can do!"

[ And with that he sets his pen down, turning abruptly toward her, his hand framing his jaw. ]

You're right. I am Q after all. Am I to assume you're intent on redeeming your voucher for the sake of your green-blooded, pointy-eared science-time playpal? Decide carefully, now.

action | backdated to 12/26

[directives]

[ is he honestly trying to intimidate— he is, and she leans against the door frame, rolling her eyes at his attempt at mimicry. oh, she knows he's doing so to be deliberately grating, as he could've parroted her voice in clear, perfect symmetry if he really wanted to. just like she knows he's enjoying this, having her come to him for help. her asking instead of demanding. ]

You're asking if I'm willing to be indebted to you in exchange for the means to locate Spock? [ the answer is yes. the answer's always been yes. she's already made deals with the cybernetic devils of the galaxy, what's making a deal with q? ] Make it happen and we'll see. Unless you'd rather pick up a tricoder and assist me in doing it the hard way.

» action

[deuterium]

[ she screamed; loud, like a banshee, high pitched and entirely unlike the way in which she would normally belt something out in surprise. but when the scream dies down, a phaser is pulled from the bedside table and aimed at the being who'd been in the bed when she came to this morning. her aim is virtually flawless — she was on the velocity team at the academy — and she'll fire if she has to, because this isn't her room, this isn't anywhere she recognizes, these pajamas aren't any that she owns, and that man is not someone she knows.

or is supposed to know yet. not as she is now. ]

You have five seconds to tell me who you are and what I'm doing here or I'm going to start pushing buttons.

» action

[fingersnapping]

[ Had been in are the basic active words here, because Q flies off the bed like he's been shot, leaping away from the screech beside him and hitting the floor before he was even awake (and the bedside table on the way down). When he sits up, poking his head up over the edge of the bed to look at her.

At Kathryn.

He fishmouths for a second, trying to collect himself and struggling. The change is--well, it's not that which has thrown him off his game. He's Q. That's child's play. But waking up to the transformation, being frightened out of his own sleep like that, is an experience he wasn't ready for (would rather never experience again, thank you very much). He's going to get a bump! But he's going to get worse than a bump if he doesn't find words. ]

Kathy! I! No, wait a moment, I can explain! [ He raises his hands up, then sinks lower, hiding under the edge of the bed, even though he's sure she could fry what's left of his hair off with a shot. ] Don't shoot!

» action

[deuterium]

Don't call me Kathy.

[ she kept the phaser trained on him, but didn't fire. this is your window of opportunity, q. explain away. ]

» action

[fingersnapping]

[ She really didn't know, did she? Which made sense, because of her reaction and because since when did he have it so easy? But he could explain...this. Well, some of it would be easier than the rest. ]

Kathryn--[ A pause. He's still not quite awake, his heart thundering like he just came off a dog sled, or straight out of wrestling with a tiger. ] Ensign Janeway. Ah...

You've been displaced. Temporally relocated, transposed with your future self--here.

[ Transposed, literally. It was nice to give words their proper use. ]

Now you're going to tell me that your future self oughtn't to be here. That you have plans, and they don't include having a man in your life. I must be lying to you.

» action

[deuterium]

[ it would be unsettling to have him pinpoint that exactly, but the truth of the matter here is that ensign janeway is very much aware of what's going on here and who she ought to be. her mind's intact, it's just her body that's been transposed. were q as he ought to be, he would know that, be able to see through her rouse without so much as batting an eyelash at her, but since he's mortal, she's able to make this attempt at pulling the wool over his eyes, at playing the role that belongs to the body she's been given. which is why she shows how unsettling that should be: confusion, then anger, then something that looks a bit like fear before she clamps down on it and merges it with outrage. ]

Maybe you aren't lying, but you still kidnapped a Starfleet Officer. My captain will come looking for me, and you would do well not to underestimate Captain Paris.

note;

[chakotay]

[ at some point during the day, chakotay's been to visit, so when q returns he'll find a note somewhere he can find it. it's his attempt at this respect thing he's been trying to get q to understand and reciprocate. he can't expect q to give it if he doesn't try first. don't make him regret this, q. ]

We're meeting for dinner on the 9th. All of us, both crews and you. I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt if you're willing to think about what I said that day you turned me into a wolf. I think we can manage that much, don't you?

Chakotay.

[ yes, he's 100% serious about this. the man is putting aside his grudge and legitimately trying to get along here. q, you don't know what this means. ]

in sky writing

[fingersnapping]

I'll be on my best behavior, xoxo Q

[chakotay]

[ just. this face.

this face forever. ]

» audio

[directives]

Chakotay tells me he invited you to the dinner he's put together for the crews. I expect you to behave yourself, should you decide to attend.

» audio

[fingersnapping]

Absolutely, darling. I already promised the Commander my best behavior.

[ He never calls her darling it's possible he's planning something. ]

» audio

[directives]

Darling?

[ of course she caught that, and of course she's suspicious. as if she wasn't nervous concerned about being in the same room with him and other people already. ]

» audio

[fingersnapping]

Did I say darling? I plead the fifth.

» audio

[directives]

You're planning something. What is it?