"There is a broken relay in the Jefferies tube on deck 4, Icheb."

"Ah okay, I'll take care of it."

Icheb grabbed a case filled with tools and made his way out of astrometrics. He nodded at the occasional passerby that he knew, and found himself wondering what Q was doing right now. Probably causing some kind of trouble, as usual, Icheb thought. Although, we're not on red alert, so perhaps he decided to do something productive for once.

Reaching deck 4, Icheb clambered into the Jefferies tube. It wasn't the nearest entrance to the malfunction, but Icheb rather enjoyed being in a Jefferies tube. He didn't quite know why. Crawling through the tube, Icheb arrived at the malfunctioning relay. Removing the tools from his case, he picked up a tricorder and scanned the relay.

It was a simple malfunction, and within a few minutes, he had dealt with it. He sat down; Seven wasn't expecting him back for another 10 minutes. It wasn't like Icheb to not return instantly to continue with his work and studies, but he just didn't feel like it today.

I must be ill, Icheb thought. It's 1400 hours, I'm supposed to be meeting Q in an hour. I wonder why he came back. Perhaps….perhaps he was feeling slightly lonely as well..? No, no, that won't be it. I'm not thinking properly. He was probably just bored."

"Itchy!"

Icheb jumped slightly as his thoughts were interrupted. Q climbed down the ladder into the section of the Jefferies tube Icheb was sitting in.

"Slackin' off work, eh? That's not like you, drone boy."

"I just felt like it."

"Well, we only live once. Well...you do."

"Why are you here Q-ball?"

"This ship is so boring! I couldn't wait until 1500 hours, there's just nothing to do."

"No, I mean why are you on Voyager? You have the whole of space at your fingertips, quite literally."

"Well, I was just bored, that's all." Q sat down next to Icheb. "I may have all of space to entertain myself, but I also have to travel all of space with my father. This is the only place he'll let me go without him. Y'know…..after I almost got you killed…and almost got myself banned from the continuum…"

"Yes, I remember that."

"I should hope so, that's when we met!" Q jumped up and pulled Icheb up with him. "C'mon Itchy, lets go have some fun!"

"I can't, Seven's expecting me back in the astrometrics lab by now."

"No she isn't. I put everyone aboard Voyager in a temporal loop: they're all experiencing the same 30 seconds over and over again," Q chuckled to himself.

"You shouldn't do that, Q."

"Oh come on Itchy, it's just a bit of fun."

Icheb gave Q a disapproving look. Q smirked at him.

"Fine, fine, I'll put everyone back in their own pathetic time….in a few minutes."

"Thank you, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to astrometrics."

"Wait….Itchy."

Q grabbed Icheb's arm and pulled him closer.

"Don't go yet…" Q whispered.

Icheb blinked. Why had the atmosphere suddenly changed? He felt that strange feeling in his stomach again; butterflies. Icheb's skin felt as though it was burning under the tight grasp of Q's hand, and then Q did something. Something Icheb had never experienced before. It had happened so quickly.

One moment they were both standing there in the Jefferies tube, and the next, Q had his hands around Icheb's waist, and had pressed his lips lightly against Icheb's. He was unaware of how to proceed. The doctor had been giving him social lessons, but this was not included in the syllabus. Q moved back, removing his lips from Icheb's.

"I…I've never…." Icheb mumbled.

Q raised a finger to Icheb's lips.

"Just…do what I do."

Q leaned back in, and Icheb felt the heat of his lips against his own yet again. He did as Q said, and copied his actions. Icheb kissed back, his instincts slowly kicking in.

Q pressed him up against the wall, his hands now on Icheb's hips, and deepened the kiss. Icheb opened his mouth wider, allowing Q's tongue to snake its way inside his mouth, and do devastating things. Icheb raised his arms, placing them around Q's neck.

He didn't think about it; he didn't analyze the situation, he just let himself melt into the boy whose tongue was now brushing against the roof of his mouth.