Star Trek: TNG: Q's Day Out

Chapter Five

She walked into the bathroom and screamed.

Q sighed heavily and walked over to her. "Q!" He exclaimed jovially.

Roxana looked at the tall man who was stood in front of her bathroom mirror, sorting out his light brown hair. He was trying to style it into some sort of a quiff, but his attempts really were failing quite terribly.

Q2 turned around and looked at Q. He ignored Roxana almost completely. "Hello, Q."

"You know him?! Roxana said to Q angrily.

"Of course I do," Q said simply.

Q2 stopped inspecting his hairdo and walked over to Roxana. "What are you doing here?" He asked her rudely.

"I live here!" She yelled at him angrily. "God, what is with you Q?!" She demanded.

Q and Q2 exchanged puzzled glances. Q2 began, talking to Q, "I am a messenger, if you will."

"A messenger?" Q repeated, already confused.

He nodded. "Yes, a messenger. I have been told to make you aware of the fact that you are stranded here."

"What?!" Q asked him angrily and confusedly.

"I'm afraid that is the case," Q2 said, with mock sadness. "But, you did bring this on yourself."

"I most decidedly did not!" Q argued.

Q2 shrugged his shoulders.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Q asked him finally.

"For as long as we see fit."

"Would you care to enlighten me about what exactly I am supposed to have done to deserve this?" Q asked him impatiently.

Q2 replied simply, "You are a meddlesome, interfering and frankly quite annoying man."

"I fail to see what—", he was cut off by Q2.

"Remember that little incident aboard the Enterprise?" Q2 asked.

Q guessed he was referring to the Farpoint mission and so, he nodded solemnly. "That was a simple misunderstanding."

Q2 then carried on, saying, "You have come too close this time, Q."

"So, I can come home?"

"We'll see." He was about to click his fingers and disappear, before Q stopped him from doing so by asking him quickly, "Why do I have some powers but not others?"

"So we can keep you under control. You're a rogue element, Q. We've been kind enough to let you keep your silly little insignificant powers. Like when you wanted to impress your lady friend here," he replied, gesturing to Roxana who was stood in the corner.

Q blushed at that. "I was not trying to impress her," he said, between tightly clenched teeth.

"Whatever you say," Q2 said. And, with a display of bright smoke, he disappeared.

Roxana just about managed to control what would have been quite a considerable laugh. Yet, try as she might, the laugh soon found its way out in the form of a short giggle. She looked at Q, who looked more lost than ever. He looked as though he had a lot of things on his mind. His face bore an expression of a great deal of feelings. However, the ones that Roxana thought she noticed were quite simple. And, they were confusion and loneliness. "Q?" She began slowly as she walked over to him a little closer.

He regarded her inquisitively. "Yes, what is it now?" He asked her, sounding very annoyed and frustrated with himself and Q2. And, indeed, the whole entirety of the Q Continuum.

"Maybe you should get some rest," she offered up the helpful suggestion.

He shook his head and smiled in a slightly mocking way. "I do not require rest, my dear woman," he responded simply. He wasn't human. He reconciled himself with that information. He would have to start acting like one, though. There was no way in the universe he would be remaining in this dreary year, in this dreary city, with frankly quite dreary people.

"Everyone needs to rest every now and then," she said as she raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

Q didn't offer any sort of response. He just stood there, motionless.

"Well, you can stay and sulk in here if you want, but I'm going to get some shut eye," she said bluntly as she started to leave the room.

Q crossed his arms and said rather defiantly, "I am not sulking!"

She smiled. "Yes, you are."

"Whatever," he replied. "I will stay here, then."

She cocked her head and then said, with a thoughtful expression on her face, "Actually, you can't stay in here."

He sighed over-exaggeratedly, in the way that seemed to get on the nerves of almost everybody. "Why?"

"This is my bathroom. I'm bound to come in here during the evening, aren't I?" She said, as if it were obvious. Which, it really was to any normal human being, but it was not all that obvious to someone or rather something like Q.

He nodded and then said, as if in a state of realisation, "Ah, yes. You mortals require frequent cleansing and bowel evacuation."

Roxana slightly winced at the sound of that. "You don't make it sound very nice," she observed, smiling. Then, she left. She realised that Q wasn't following her. "Were you even listening to what I just said?" She asked him wearily.

He nodded and looked a little hurt. "Of course I was listening. You weren't exactly talking quietly."

She moaned. "You're unbelievable," she said tiredly.

"I know," he said gladly.

"I let you stay in my house and I barely even know you," she said, feeling a little confused and annoyed.

"Am I supposed to say 'thank you' or something?" Q asked nonchalantly.

"That would be a start, yes," Roxana quipped.

Q didn't say anymore.