Disclaimer: Only one of the characters is mine (if that). Sue me if you
have a problem.
A/N: Thank you! Thank you! My first reviewers!! Yay! This is my first Star Trek fanfic, so thanks for the support. Unfortunately, for you, Marie Sheppard, I need Icheb to play a romantic role, so you'll have to relinquish hold for a while. And many thanks, Thomas J, I only first tried out this writing style for the first chapter, so I'm glad others think it turned out well. On to chapter 2!! ~.o
Icheb neatly stacked the pads he would need on the desk of the lecture hall. Almost all of the students were here, shifting nervously. Only one was missing, a Frances Henry.
His eyebrows rose as the girl he had bumped into in the hall opened the door to the hall, and went to one of the empty seats, near the front. All of the empty seats were nearer to the front; apparently something's never changed. Icheb had read that it was human custom to sit near the back, so that if a student fell asleep, or was talking to his or her friends, the teacher was less likely to notice.
Miss. Henry's eyes shifted to her shoulder, and she mouthed, or maybe whispered, something. She giggled slightly, and some of her hair moved in a non-existent wind. Q2 never went outside. He's right beside her shoulder, he thought. Frances looked up at him, blinking. He averted his gaze. I don't know for sure... I won't be able to force him out if he pretends he's not there. It was mildly annoying how Q2 wouldn't follow the rules, especially since no one could enforce them.
But nevertheless, there wasn't anything he could do, so he continued with the lesson, but tried as hard as he could not to look for the Q he knew he wouldn't see. Mostly, what he taught wasn't too difficult, but he could see at least a few cadets who looked completely lost, including the girl whom he'd bumped into. If Q was helping her, she either wasn't paying attention, or was doing badly even with his help.
When the lesson was over, he decided to find out once and for all if Q was hanging around the girl. "Miss. Henry?" he called out, catching the girl just before she went out the door. She came back, and looked nervous. "Miss. Henry, I must ask a question to the thin air, I hope you don't mind." He looked past her, to where Q probably was. "Q? Are you there?" There was no response. Well, it was worth a try... Icheb turned back to the young woman. Now he needed a reason to have called her back. "Miss. Henry, you seemed to be struggling during class, if you need help, I would suggest asking for some."
"Yes, sir." She nodded, then dashed from the room. Icheb looked down at his notes, wondering if he had imagined Miss. Henry talking over her shoulder. His papers were piled neatly on the desk, except for one paper. Some of the papers for the next lecture were not in order, and one was nearly falling off the pile. "Q..." he muttered, stacking them correctly. "I know you're here..."
******
Frances gasped for breath outside of the of her dorm room; she wasn't very fit. Icheb had been right when he'd said she'd been struggling in class; she hadn't just been struggling, she'd been completely lost. She had never thought, before coming here, that anything could be harder than Chemistry. Apparently, she was wrong. She had found every class today incredibly hard. She sighed, leaning against the wall. How am I going to survive this? She thought, despairing, as she entered the perfectly clean room. She noticed, as she carefully dropped the multitude of pads on the table, a message for her. She watched it; it was Benlet, wanting to know how her first day had gone. I'm going to tell him it went horrible... right after I take a shower. There is no way I'm looking like I got run over by a Mac truck. She sighed, heading into the sonic shower, and giggled remembering the look on Benlet's face, when she walked out of the sonic shower in a towel, and asked him to show her how to turn it on. Rubbing her shoulders, she let the stress of the day wash away, and stepped out feeling better than when she went in. Smiling, and humming slightly, she put a well-placed call, or transmission, Frances figured she should say, to Benlet.
******
Q sat back on a gas cloud somewhere near Betelgeuse, and frowned. There was something decidedly odd about that girl. As fun as she possibly could be to mess around with, Icheb had talked to her, and just about told her he would be willing to help her in astronomy. That could seriously take away from fun time. Not to mention that fact that something in the way she talked reminded him of Lt. Paris, another odd one, who might have seriously taken away from fun time. What is it about that girl? He thought furiously, wondering what about her made her think of some of Tom Paris' twentieth century holoprograms.
A/N: Thank you! Thank you! My first reviewers!! Yay! This is my first Star Trek fanfic, so thanks for the support. Unfortunately, for you, Marie Sheppard, I need Icheb to play a romantic role, so you'll have to relinquish hold for a while. And many thanks, Thomas J, I only first tried out this writing style for the first chapter, so I'm glad others think it turned out well. On to chapter 2!! ~.o
Icheb neatly stacked the pads he would need on the desk of the lecture hall. Almost all of the students were here, shifting nervously. Only one was missing, a Frances Henry.
His eyebrows rose as the girl he had bumped into in the hall opened the door to the hall, and went to one of the empty seats, near the front. All of the empty seats were nearer to the front; apparently something's never changed. Icheb had read that it was human custom to sit near the back, so that if a student fell asleep, or was talking to his or her friends, the teacher was less likely to notice.
Miss. Henry's eyes shifted to her shoulder, and she mouthed, or maybe whispered, something. She giggled slightly, and some of her hair moved in a non-existent wind. Q2 never went outside. He's right beside her shoulder, he thought. Frances looked up at him, blinking. He averted his gaze. I don't know for sure... I won't be able to force him out if he pretends he's not there. It was mildly annoying how Q2 wouldn't follow the rules, especially since no one could enforce them.
But nevertheless, there wasn't anything he could do, so he continued with the lesson, but tried as hard as he could not to look for the Q he knew he wouldn't see. Mostly, what he taught wasn't too difficult, but he could see at least a few cadets who looked completely lost, including the girl whom he'd bumped into. If Q was helping her, she either wasn't paying attention, or was doing badly even with his help.
When the lesson was over, he decided to find out once and for all if Q was hanging around the girl. "Miss. Henry?" he called out, catching the girl just before she went out the door. She came back, and looked nervous. "Miss. Henry, I must ask a question to the thin air, I hope you don't mind." He looked past her, to where Q probably was. "Q? Are you there?" There was no response. Well, it was worth a try... Icheb turned back to the young woman. Now he needed a reason to have called her back. "Miss. Henry, you seemed to be struggling during class, if you need help, I would suggest asking for some."
"Yes, sir." She nodded, then dashed from the room. Icheb looked down at his notes, wondering if he had imagined Miss. Henry talking over her shoulder. His papers were piled neatly on the desk, except for one paper. Some of the papers for the next lecture were not in order, and one was nearly falling off the pile. "Q..." he muttered, stacking them correctly. "I know you're here..."
******
Frances gasped for breath outside of the of her dorm room; she wasn't very fit. Icheb had been right when he'd said she'd been struggling in class; she hadn't just been struggling, she'd been completely lost. She had never thought, before coming here, that anything could be harder than Chemistry. Apparently, she was wrong. She had found every class today incredibly hard. She sighed, leaning against the wall. How am I going to survive this? She thought, despairing, as she entered the perfectly clean room. She noticed, as she carefully dropped the multitude of pads on the table, a message for her. She watched it; it was Benlet, wanting to know how her first day had gone. I'm going to tell him it went horrible... right after I take a shower. There is no way I'm looking like I got run over by a Mac truck. She sighed, heading into the sonic shower, and giggled remembering the look on Benlet's face, when she walked out of the sonic shower in a towel, and asked him to show her how to turn it on. Rubbing her shoulders, she let the stress of the day wash away, and stepped out feeling better than when she went in. Smiling, and humming slightly, she put a well-placed call, or transmission, Frances figured she should say, to Benlet.
******
Q sat back on a gas cloud somewhere near Betelgeuse, and frowned. There was something decidedly odd about that girl. As fun as she possibly could be to mess around with, Icheb had talked to her, and just about told her he would be willing to help her in astronomy. That could seriously take away from fun time. Not to mention that fact that something in the way she talked reminded him of Lt. Paris, another odd one, who might have seriously taken away from fun time. What is it about that girl? He thought furiously, wondering what about her made her think of some of Tom Paris' twentieth century holoprograms.