Sector 001 - video;

[fingersnapping]

[ Functioning. It applies to both his own body, and the communications device, but sadly not his powers. He'd worn himself out trying to zap himself back out of this miserable existence, and now Q was suffering--suffering from a bruised ego, a sore head, and - perhaps most unfairly - a grazed knee. Mortal, but not not Q. Trapped, but not wholly aware how. And the ticking of the clock is making his headache worse. A most disagreeable state of affairs. And now here's his face, at first much too close to the camera, and then withdrawn to a more reasonable distance, revealing Voyager era command red, and four pips at his collar. Not for a moment does his scowl subside. ]

Oh, I'm sure you think you're very clever. Do you have any idea who I am? You'd be well advised to send me back where I came from immediately. Otherwise--well, I can't be held responsible for what might happen. [ Not from him. Oh, no. But the Continuum might have something to say about it. Or his family. At least he hadn't actually fallen into the fountain. He'd come close, but with at least some small part of his once magnificent power available, he'd saved himself the splash at the last second. He leans back, inspects the fingernails of his left hand disinterestedly. ]

Well? Hurry up. I haven't got all day. I'm getting bored.


[ ooc: I'll tag this right up when I'm 100% sure what Q's tag is, thank you for bearing with me! ]

Comments

[fingersnapping]

A shippy ship. What sort of question is that? Such an impetuous question.

[dragonofalthena]

[He rolls his eyes.]

Oh, so a little dingy. Gotcha. Here I thought you actually were a captain.

[fingersnapping]

How very dare you! I'll have you know she sails among the very stars; flagship of the fleet. The jewel in the proverbial crown.

[ He scowls. A dinghy. Hah. If Q even bothered with interstellar transports, they'd be impossibly grand, magnificent and splendid--bigger on the inside. The Enterprise herself would pale in comparison. ]

[dragonofalthena]

Ah. [Yup, phases him not. That's how humans got from Blue Star to Silver Star. Divine Space Ships.]

Looking for a new home or just tooling around up there?

[fingersnapping]

Oh, I don't know. A little from Column A, but mostly--yes, mostly Column B. I can't imagine why. Yadda, exploration, yadda yadda.

All very dull.

[dragonofalthena]

Huh. I think if they ever build such things again, it's gonna be a long time. Maybe even outside my lifetime. [He looks a little surprised by that.]

Didn't know it was gonna be exploration when you went into it?

[fingersnapping]

You take the jobs you can get.

[ Hah, as if he's worked a day in his life.

Well actually there was that one day. ]

[dragonofalthena]

[He just stares for a minute because...] So you went from Seaman to Captain just because. Right. Sure.

[fingersnapping]

Me? One of the little people, fetching and carrying, delivering reports? Certainly not. How menial! Pitiable. Dull. Stupefying. Completely out of the question. You wouldn't catch me doing anything like that.

[dragonofalthena]

[He laughs.] Yeah, you're totally a ship captain! [Without even a beat, he continues on mockingly.] Captaining the ~jewel~ of the proverbial ~crown~.

[fingersnapping]

[ Calmly: ] How narrow minded of you, to think there is nowhere, no race in the universe, that chooses the captains of its ships by means other than the extent of their labours.

How do you know I didn't simply kill the prior captain and take his place?

[dragonofalthena]

That could be possible, sure. Just like your story with the dragon-sized hole in it could be a lie.

[fingersnapping]

And I should care that you think I'm lying, I suppose? It doesn't bother me.

[ Not at all. To demonstrate, Q fakes a yawn. Boring. ]

[dragonofalthena]

I never said that.

[fingersnapping]

Mm.

[ Hand on his cheek, rolling his eyes. ]

Were you saying anything at all?

[dragonofalthena]

It's a little late to pretend I wasn't. But good effort.

[fingersnapping]

I seem to recall a great deal about my rank, my ship, and how I earned both, and very little about who and what you are.

[ The closest to admitting he doesn't know. ]

[dragonofalthena]

Well, you were talking about yourself and never asked.

I'm Nall. I'm a guardian. It used to mean of the goddess Althena, now it means her people.

[fingersnapping]

I've never heard of you.

[ It sounds like 'so you don't matter', but for Q the fact is worrying. He's heard of everyone...ish. He knows everything. ]

Guardianship of a people. Ugh, how do you stand it? The boredom would seep the very eons out of me.

[dragonofalthena]

Why should you have? [Dur, weirdo!] You're not from Silver Star.

[He shrugs.] There hasn't been much to do for the last thousand years. Nothing so great that I've had to be involved, anyway. So I collect orphans. [He grins.] Adopt twenty or so kids and you'll never be bored.

[fingersnapping]

I don't think you truly understand. I know everything. I've been everywhere, seen it all. There's nothing I don't know.

[ Grump grump grump. ]

One child is more than enough. What would be the point in raising any that don't even belong to you? It defeats the purpose of the so-called sentient prerogative to reproduce oneself.

[dragonofalthena]

[He laughs.] Obviously you don't and you haven't.

They have no one to look after them. They need someone. And really, my form of reproduction is... different from how humans do it.

[fingersnapping]

[ Q scowls. ]

Frankly it's more likely that you simply don't exist, and I resent the tone. [ He waves his hand. ] Yes, well, given the choice who would reproduce the human way?

[dragonofalthena]

If I didn't exist, wouldn't you know it?

It sounds more fun than just waiting for the next to be created after my death. But I don't want that emotional investment.

[fingersnapping]

If I knew it, then you would simply exist, and we wouldn't be having this conversation at all.

Formed out of the embers of your dying form--why, it's almost poetic. Too bad the reality is duller than a Vulcan's wit.