"It can wait until tomorrow." (Icheb & Q Junior)

Author's Note: This story takes place in an alternate universe some time after Star Trek: Picard.

/

"Got an itch, Itchy?"

Admiral Icheb, who had been pinching the bridge of his nose to ward off an impending headache, nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of a voice behind him. He heaved his stiff body out of his chair and turned around. "That joke never gets any less terrible."

Q Junior lounged full length on a sofa that had been empty a moment ago, wearing a uniform that hadn't been current since Icheb was a cadet. He didn't look a day over eighteen. Funny, thought Icheb, how it felt like his friend kept getting younger every time they met, even though it was Icheb himself who was getting older. Right now Q reminded him of his grandchildren, and it gave him the same impulse to tell him to take his boots off the furniture. Little rascal.

"Ah, but you're still smirking." Q bounced to his feet and clapped his hands together. "Come on! I found the most amazing asteroid field we can race through - "

"Q-ball, I'm busy." He gestured to his desk, whose entire surface was one long computer screen cluttered with work. He still wasn't used to being in command of an entire fleet. Naomi told him he had a tendency to micromanage, but he was still afraid of making a mistake.

"What, this? It can wait until tomorrow!" Q powered down the desk-screen with a snap of his fingers, then powered it back on. "Nope, wait, I got a better idea. I'll have you back the second you left. The nanosecond, I promise. The galaxy's not going to end if you unwind once in a while."

Icheb looked ruefully at his inbox, stuffed with administrative trivia, and sighed. Q had a point. He'd been sitting at his desk so long, he felt as if his head was full of cotton. An adrenaline-fuelled ride through an asteroid field sounded like just the distraction he needed.

"The second I left," he repeated. "I'm holding you responsible."

"Yes!" Q pumped a fist.

"And no using your powers during the race again. It gives you an unfair advantage."

"Would I do such a thing?" Q widened his eyes theatrically and clapped a hand over the front of his jacket in mock offense. "Here, look, I'll even the odds."

He snapped his fingers again. His dark hair turned partly gray, wrinkles appeared on his face and his lanky frame widened, so that the two of them looked exactly the same age. The resemblance to Q Senior was uncanny.

"I know. Weird, huh?" said Q Junior, smoothing his salt-and-pepper curls in the reflection from the computer screen. "I have no idea how you people put up with this whole aging thing."

"We prefer it to the alternative," said Icheb drily.

Q looked up at him with a sudden flash of emotion that passed too quickly for him to read, then watched him for a long moment with unfocused eyes, as if seeing right through him to something or someone completely different. If he didn't know better, he'd think his carefree friend was troubled. Was it something he had said?

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Q shook his head and put on a bright smile. "I like this universe, that's all."

"You've seen other universes? … Actually, I don't think I want to know."

"You really don't," Q said emphatically. "Now, you wanna race or not?"

He gave Icheb only a split second to nod before snapping his fingers and whisking them both away.