fingersnapping | IC Contact

[ —gross. gross gross gross ohgod she needs a shower now. she looks utterly mortified for someone who doesn't bat an eyelash at being coated in grease and various other lubricants used throughout the ship when she's crawling through the bowels of it or assessing damaged areas, hands held up as if she doesn't even want to touch the contaminated parts of herself, kathryn finally settles on pulling off her scarf and using it to wipe his slobber off, depositing it in the nearest trash bin when she does. ]

Do that again and you won't have a tongue.

Oh Kathryn, whatever will I do with you?

[ He flicks his tail, and there's a flash of light to clean and dry her off, fix her hair, return her suddenly spring fresh scented scarf about her neck. ]

You looked so very serious. I had to do something.

And licking me was the best thing you could come up with?

[ she still looks ruffled in spite of being unruffled. from serious to snippy. ]

Yes, I'm his superior, and yes I could just ask him, but what I want to know is why you're so interested in saving him the trouble.

[ to get him into trouble? to alter her perceptions of the other captain? ]

It worked, didn't it?

[ He's still very amused despite her tone, very pleased with himself, because why wouldn't he be? He does like ruffling Starfleet captains. He should have started licking them years ago. ]

I don't have to answer that, mon capitaine. It's sufficient that I do, and you can either take advantage or not.

[ she rubs a hand across her temple, debating. were this regarding a member of her senior staff, she would be grateful, perhaps even expectant, when it came to someone coming forward with information. even if it wasn't information she would enjoy hearing, because she was the captain and it was her job to look at everything from an objective standpoint.

which, of course, gives way to her relenting.

sighing, she nods. ] Alright, let's hear it. What did he do?

[ He considers not actually telling her after that, but it's satisfying enough to challenge her and see where her thought process leaves her. She could have been furious with him - probably still was - but he was still Q. He certainly didn't owe her any explanation for his behaviour. ]

After the destruction of Vulcan, and the loss of the Enterprise's Captain, Spock took command. Kirk, disagreeing with his choice of orders, highlighted how emotionally compromised he was - in his usual fashion - and took the bridge for himself. This, despite the fact that he'd been excused from service pending a hearing, and was in fact little better than a stowaway.

[ What he's trying to get across here is that this Kirk has a palpable disregard for the rules, a resentment of command figures, and the ability to do literally anything he puts his mind to. He can be a threat to her, and Q had already decided which side he's on. ]

He did mention something about a fight between him and Spock, once. [ and she'd laughed and made a remark about having to stand in the way of chakotay bashing in tom's face. there hadn't been context to the comments on either side. nothing about being a stowaway and essentially pulling the command rug out from under spock's feet or about chakotay being the maquis leader she'd pulled tom out of prison to help her locate. ]

You want me to understand that should he choose to undermine my authority, not to underestimate him. Is that it?

You won't. But he's not the soft, bright eyed and fancy free cadet he tries to impress that he is. He's seen the corruption, seen bureaucracy's failure, lost his father and watched a planet die because others, from your timeline, were too slow to act. He can be hard, and cold, and self important - and he will cheat - and there may come a time when his beliefs and yours no longer line up. If that happens, then his crew's loyalty to him will make him formidable.

As will mine.

[ he speaks as if she hasn't thought of this already — she has. after all, the loyalty of kirk's senior staff is legendary, even in her time. they defied orders from starfleet command and ventured to genesis, stealing the enterprise in the process. and they stood tall with him when he was tried, even those, like spock, who did not stand accused. she may not be a history person, but that tale stands out from when she learned about it in school. she knows they'll stand with him, blindly even, and is prepared to deal with it.

she's formidable too, and far more underhanded than any not her own give her credit for. there's a reason she was sorted into slytherin during the curse that made them all believe they were residents of ginny's world. she isn't beyond exploiting kirk's weaknesses for her gain. ]

[ His amber eyes seem to catch the light briefly, and then Q brushes past her, whiplike tail briefly encircling her leg as he passes, before snapping away just as quickly. ]

As enjoyable as watching the two of you face off might be, it would be in your best interests to continue to cooperate. That's why I bring it up. Not because I doubt your crew's loyalty, or believe you haven't thought this through. You've had long enough. But because as difficult as Kirk is, you don't need him as your enemy.

[ behind him, she throws her hands up in silent frustration, because she knows this. it's why she's been letting him handle his own, why she hasn't addressed the roots chekov's put down in the city or pointed out other glaring discrepancies that she ought to be, because she's the superior officer and that's part of her job. she's been amending rules for the sake of keeping peace, ducking under loopholes and walking a carefully plotted line.

she's annoyed, but she follows, falling into step at his left shoulder once more. back to spock— ] Anything?

Only old trails.

[ He flicks an ear in her direction. She's almost vibrating, he can feel it. ]

You're still missing my point, Madame Captain. Perhaps it's because you're a Starfleet officer, and you'd no more do it than set the Borg on another species to spare your own. Your morality won't let you.

[ like a quantum torpedo about to explode. she brushes briskly past him, as if she knows where he's going (she doesn't) and is taking the lead. ]

At least I have a sense of morality.

Do you? You're a Starfleet captain. Your moral code may seem justified to you, but that's all it is.

[ He follows her none the less. They're following a street, which means that at least until the next left turn, there's nowhere else to go. ]

[ done with this strand of the conversation, the captain in question says no more, rounding the corner that leads them down the adjoining street. ]

[ When they've gone some way further along the street, he turned to look at her again. ]

You're aware that this could still take all day?

Do you hear me complaining?

[ were it one of her own people, she'd search thoroughly by whatever means necessary— even though she had the advantage of having their combadges tagged, of being able to target specific lifesigns via advancements in technology that kirk and his crew didn't have access to. (advancements she was on the fence about when it came to sharing them with the earlier generation.) she'd done those same sweeps for spock using her tricorder, though her data regarding the vulcan was insufficient when compared that which she had compiled for her own people, and she still believed that he wasn't lost. he just went home, and she wasn't sure which scenario they (being kirk and co.) preferred. ]

I'm just saying--you don't have to accompany if there's something you'd rather be doing. I'm the one with the nose.

[ It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the company, wasn't thriving on it, but he was reminding Kathryn of the alternative to find out whether her accompanying him was something else entirely. The sehlat's stride and inability to fatigue would serve him well, but the same couldn't be said for Janeway. ]

[ she could go back to doing what she was before kirk contacted her, given that q is out searching and she's got b'elanna actively monitoring the network, permission to hack and all. hmm. ]

Can I trust you to come and find me the moment you find anything? [ or when you don't. ]

[ He stops advancing at the question, ears flicking comically. ]

Of course. Or when I've completed my search pattern.

[ q, you look ridiculous enough as it is without the ear show 8| ]

I'll be at the labs, then. [ and without another word, she brushes past his massive form and ventures back in that direction. ]

[ He'll be back to deliver the confirmation to her later that - as far as he's concerned - Spock really is gone. And then he'll work out how and where to sleep until he can change back at midnight, but that's a whole other problem. ]

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