(Q)erfuffle: Chapter 1

Odd Circumstances Indeed

"You seem to be having fun."

I jumped up off my bed-where I had been rocking out to my newest music acquisitions- and stood dumbfounded. There was someone I didn't know in my quarters. If there was one thing I knew, it was that this was never a good sign. I started to worry.

"Ensign Queen to Security-" I started, pressing my communicator.

"No need for that," said the person (Man? Being?) who had somehow managed to get into my quarters without my knowledge, looking around my room with a smirk. "We don't want any silly interruptions, now do we?"

I slowly cocked my head to the side, wondering what this person would possibly want that required no interruption. He was attractive, looked about my age- but I didn't flatter myself, however tempting it was to imagine something…personal. I quickly put up a mental shield just in case he could catch thoughts. That was the last thing I wanted him to know.

"Very good," he said, the smirk still hovering annoyingly around his mouth. I wanted to slap it off his sharply defined face. "Betazoid?"

I nodded cautiously. "Only a little- my grandmother. Just enough to wonder why you were trying to get in my head."

"Is that how your limited human mind comprehended it?"

The realization hit me as I blinked like a stupid cow. I held in my sudden irrational desire to laugh with great effort. "I know it's bad practice to assume, but I think you might be q."

"That is irrelevant," he stated, suddenly reappearing in a classic Q pose in a chair across the room with his feet on the comm panel, "but yes, I am from the continuum."

So I was encountering the son of the infamous Q. I could assume he was relatively mischievous (who wouldn't be with that father) and therefore had nothing good in mind, whatever it was. "What are you doing in my quarters?" I asked, since this was really the issue at hand. I turned to face him and crossed my arms, sticking out my left hip and frowning impatiently. I knew what kind of trouble Q had caused on the Enterprise and I didn't trust his son any more than him.

"Amusing myself."

"Of course you are. Now amuse yourself somewhere else."

"You've got a big attitude for such a young woman," he commented, raising an eyebrow.

I snorted. "Take after your father, do you?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "You don't seem that much older than me…" I realized my utterly human mistake (stupid! stupid!) and corrected myself: "But then, you are a Q. I must seem so obtuse to you." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, leaning against the wall to appear more cool than I actually was.

Q nodded. "You are such a quaint species," he agreed, "but sometimes you have brief flashes of interesting behavior. Which is why I am here. You seem to be the youngest, in terms of years, on board this ship. In Q time, I am also young, and this apparently renders me inexperienced with life. My father suggested that I seek a human "companion" with whom to share this…"(he waved his hand vaguely) "time of progress, I suppose. I don't know why he demanded humans; he seems to, well, prefer them."

This time I could not contain my laughter. I sank to my bed, overcome by giggles. Q glared at me. He was so cute when he was angry, I thought to myself. I just hoped he had inherited Q's dramatic flair. Suddenly I stopped chuckling, recalling that he could easily destroy me and the ship, even this galaxy.

"What?!" he demanded; then more calmly but still disgruntled, "I fail to see anything remotely amusing about this situation." (There's probably more you fail at than you realize, I thought.)

"You're supposed to identify with me? A lowly human?" It was my turn to smirk. "How long are you stuck here, since I'm assuming this is a suggestion from the continuum?"

Looking away, q muttered something indistinct. "Excuse me?" I asked, cupping my ear. "I didn't quite catch that."

"A WEEK!" q yelled and disappeared with the characteristic dramatic flash of light. I smiled thoughtfully. I had heard about q's last week on Voyager…this was going to be pretty interesting. I could only hope I wouldn't be killed.