It had begun.

Q watched with great applause, a belly laugh growing inside of him, as the completely unsuspecting Lieutenant led 'William Shatner' back to her quarters. Not even a full hour on board, and the once-dearly-departed captain of the original starship Enterprise was already living up to his reputation, and then some. Not that Q hadn't already known that he would - there were, after all, benefits to being omnipotent.

He watched the small talk. He watched the verbal joust - pathetic, though it was. He watched her squirm as she watched him, and as the clever captain's smooth talking drew her farther, and farther into his little web. Yes, this was all working out rather nicely.

But...alas! Q knew that the little scene hadn't quite been cut yet. There was still another player he was expecting, one who had just left Engineering, and would be on his way with haste. Q leaned forward, watching with great interest as Lieutenant Commander Data stepped out of the turbolift. His belly laugh ready, his eyes glued to the television, and his mouth full of popcorn, Q watched wth anticipation to see what might happen next.

"He's ful-ly func-tional, and anatom-ically cor-rect!" Q sang, chuckling to himself with glee.

* * *

Data had taken Geordi's advice quite seriously. When selecting the flowers, he had considered quite carefully the natures of each, the colors and their associations, as well as many of the deeper meanings associated with each of the flowers. He'd also cross-referenced the meanings of the plants with their olfactory effects on the human sense of smell, so that they would be pleasant to her, when they arrived.

Despite Geordi's advice, however, the rose had turned out to be the most effective flower of them all. And while he was not capable of human emotions...she was. He had gained a deeper, fuller understanding of human intimacy from his time with her, and he had already focused a great deal of the active memory in his positronic brain around her. Geordi LaForge and Captain Picard each took up a significant amount of space, but neither one quite so much as the space he'd diverted to Tasha. He longed even more, now, to attempt to become more human. To feel the emotions the others felt. He couldn't feel love now...but a time, possibly, would come when such was possible.

The overwhelming reason for his selection, though, is that a bouquet of roses were found to produce more intense positive reactions in human females when received as a gift from a male partner. Data had wronged her before, and had been harsh on her before, whether he'd intended to or not. Now...he wanted to change that.

She had told him before, under the virus' influence, that what she wanted was gentleness and love. While he was incapable of providing her love right now...he would at least provide gentleness. And, even if he was incapable of feeling love itself, so long as she felt loved...perhaps that would be sufficient. As long as she felt loved, and as long as she felt that tenderness that she longed for, was that not what mattered most? Data felt a desire for her to have a happy, long life - whether it was a programmed parameter or a genuine emotion, did it really make a difference? If he could provide what she wished in a capacity similar or superior to an organic, emotional partner, would it be so wrong of him to attempt to form a closer relationship with her?

By the same token, though, he did not wish for it to be hollow, or to be a lie. He wanted to understand love. He wanted to feel it, share it. He had pondered it at great length on his journey to her quarters...which, for an android was an eternity.

He was close now. It would only be about a minute's walk more.

* * *

The soft light, and string music that fluttered and flitted about in the background was a mystery to her. Where it had come from and why it was here, she did not know. There had been no computer commands issued, nothing done to trigger either event. And yet, she was not bothered. She was experiencing true, glorious bliss right now.

The touch of his skin against hers was incredible...the way he caressed her, the way he touched her, the way he seemed to know exactly what she wanted, what she needed...it was perfect.

She sighed at the contact of his fingertips along her cheek, and she glanced up, longingly.

"William, please...?" she whispered, almost mewling.

"How can I refuse?" he smiled, charmingly, leaning down and kissing her neck gently. She sighed and shuddered from the pleasure of it all, and glanced back up at him, watching him. Within moments, the last of their clothing was littering the floor. He hovered over her, watching her, and smiling at her.

"There's only one thing I want you to do," he whispered, into her ear.

"Anything," she moaned, "Anything, William!"

He grinned, and kissed her on the lips, slowly albeit passionately, breaking the kiss to speak his request, before they began.

"Just call me James..."