Weeks had passed before Q was allowed to be freed from the brig and resume his work with the Doctor. The Captain had kept her distance for a few days until she started leaving Rowley with him and though he was not allowed in her quarters she would stay at his for a while to talk. Q was starting a new routine, heading to work every day on the dot and having a few arguments with the doctor though it seemed because of his amnesia he had been able to express his fears and thoughts with the hologram more. They could even call each other friends, Kes was Kes as usual, full of sunshine and smiles, and because of the attack Tom seemed to let him into the 'guys' fold a little more. They were but two young stallions, one young stallion and one ancient stallion older than time who could sit down and share their 'war' stories while simultaneously talking about the women who drove them crazy. In their case Torres and Janeway. They shared more in common than they realized and because of it Q felt more apart of the crew than ever. Even with some of his memories still lost to the wind he recovering and on his best behavior.
As he walked Rowley down the hall the familiar footsteps of Tom Paris crept up on him, his voice shouting out. "Hey Q, Harry and I are going to the holodeck in a few minutes. Do you want to join us?"
Q arched his brow pulling back on Rowley's leash. "Will their be women and booze?"
Paris shrugged his shoulders. "If you want."
"No, I'll pass on the women and booze but I could use some sun and the dog could use a pool to swim in."
"So, the resort then."
Q nodded his head. "Sounds good to me, I'll put on my best pineapple shirt."
It was the boys club as they called it, sitting around in the resort, poolside as attractive women in revealing swimsuits took in the sun and men who's bodies were a little intimidating played a large variety of sports that didn't interest Q too much. He had his fill of masculine display for a few lifetimes. That and he had hurt his hand on Chuckles face. Q laid out on one of the lounge chairs with a fruity drink in his hands, his dog laying on the ground next to him. The three men were spread out a fair distance apart but not far enough away so they had to tell to one another. Each sporting an obnoxiously loud looking shirt in colors of red, blues, and yellows with floral patterns or palm trees, in Q's case pineapples. Kim had a pair of hologram girls rubbing his shoulders as he rested his hands behind his head, meanwhile it seemed Paris and Q were in the same ship, don't let the hologirls touch you because the real life breathing girls might destroy you. They shared similar tastes, a fascination for women who could likely beat them in a fight. Strong independent women with a bit of a temper though Torres took the cake on rage. Sipping out of his drink again he shifted the little red umbrella around and let out another sigh. "I just don't understand women. I do everything right, try to make up for my mistakes and she still holds me at arms length."
"Or you try to get close to her and she pushes you away no matter how much of a nice guy you try to be." Paris sighed and took a sip of his own drink.
"I thought we were suppose to be relaxing, not talking about our problems. Isn't that the opposite of relaxation?" Kim added.
"Ha, just wait Kim, one of these days you'll get hit with it too and you will wake up every day wondering if she's out of your league. It's going to haunt you." Paris replied, his attention shifting for a moment to a group of hologirls as they walked by and waved at the little group of men.
"Kathy is out of my league, well, now that I'm mortal." He paused, "What women want in a relationship is stability, a man they can trust, a man who is there for better or for worse, for the long run." Holding up a tennis ball he turned it over in his hands. "Even when I was omnipotent I was never about stability. I was about bringing chaos to the tranquility, for Starfleet, for over three thousands planets in the universe, for the continuum." He chucked the tennis ball behind him letting it splash into the pool and sending Rowleys ears twitching as he lifted his head and ran off from his side. Like a rocket Rowley ran towards the pool and lept off the side making a big splash in the water and causing multiple holodeck characters scream in outrage. "See, point taken." As if Rowley had just proven his point.
"Well, it's getting a little better. You have to admit Q, I saw the two of you in the hall yesterday and she didn't walk past you. She stopped to say hello."
Q rolled his eyes. "So I have moved from being ignored and yelled at to small talk." He set down his drink and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Well the captain isn't known for forgiving and forgetting too quickly. I still think you are lucky she didn't dump you off on the closest M class planet she could find." Kim joked, that little smile on his face showing he still had some dislike for Q but now that he was apart of their group he would be a little more friendly with him.
"At least you had a chance with Janeway. B'elanna won't even give me the time of day."
"Had a chance, not a comforting phrase, even you had a chance with Janeway Tom." Q groaned. "I read the report on it, by accident might I add." Tom seemed to sit up a little more and glance between Q and Kim not certain he really wanted Kim to know about the incident. "Don't worry I don't hold it against you, I even considered sending you a congratulations card and three cigars but was a little distracted when Kathy started throwing things at me." Paris continued to look rather uncomfortable, Kim a little confused about what Q was talking about. After all the incident was for the most part covered up and kept quiet. It was between Tuvok, Chakotay, the doctor, and of course Paris and Janeway.
"Well, now you are the one in the big seat Q, going to be a father, that's a change." Paris was quick to try and change the direction of the conversation before it went too far and they both got in trouble from the captain.
"Yes, kind of like the subject." Q had caught onto him before Paris even knew what he was trying to do.
"Come on, it's an honest question. Nervous? Excited?"
Q paused as Rowley brought back the tennis ball and plopped it soaking wet in Q's lap making him flinch. Pulling it out of his lap he tossed it back behind him. The sound of a second splash and more screams as Rowley dove in after it. "I'm elated and yet I'm starting to feel more and more that I am ill prepared for it. It's like an impending doom, for the first time in all of my exsistance I don't know what I am suppose to do, what is required. I have read educational material but even they don't specify what it is to be a father, least of all a human father. I have looked up Klingon rearing practices, Betazoid, Vulcan, Human, but nothing is agreed upon. I guess what I am saying, don't ever do it yourself unless you are ready to face the repercussions of screwing up someone else life, and I'm not talking about Kathy's life either." Picking up his drink again he took a sip. Kathryn had always wanted children herself, she had parents, good parents to have shown her to parent unlike himself. If she hadn't been his mate he likely wouldn't have come through this whole thing that well, nor would Amelia.
"You'll do just fine, trust me." Paris replied with that confident little devious smirk of his. This was why Q liked him, he could never tell when Paris was being honest, a man who could lie was a man you could trust. Humans didn't understand the concept but you could always trust that he wasn't going to tell you the painful truth. In this case that Q made horrible father material. Because of that simple lie Q had the hope that he would be capable of improving and that lie alone might just make it happen.
"Captain Janeway doesn't seem to think so." He leaned back against his chair and waited for the dog to return with his soaked toy.
"She's just giving you a hard time, running you through the test." Paris smiled, acting like he had all the answers on women, even the captain herself.
Kim looked over at him sitting up from his chair and resting his elbows on his knees. "And you know this how?"
"I know women, how they think, behave, the captain is no different than the rest of them. Sure she may be the boss, but in the end she still runs you through all the tests any other woman would. See if you have the guff." He paused as another group of women walked by and waved to him. "And trust me Q, you have it."
"Maybe you should not take advice from Tom, unless you want an angry captain on your hands." Kim suggested as he looked at Q, ever the goodie two shoes. There was something unsettling about people who didn't break the rules. "Just keep doing what you are doing, following the rules, don't do anything that will just make her angry again."
"Oh, well I agree with that, not to mention she almost kicked you off the ship once before." Paris agreed.
"I don't mind falling in line behind the captain but Chuckles...WHO she is making me report to now." Q grumbled, how typical of her to rub salt in the wounds. Taking another sip of his drink he jumped again as Rowley dropped the wet ball back in his lap and barked in his ear. As Q grabbed it to throw it a third time a hand came down and grabbed it from him. Instead it was tossed the other way, away from the pool sending Rowley to run past a group of younger men and down some steps hunting it down. "Hey." Q looked around for the intruder when he saw the Captain, great, was anyone going to alert him to the danger or were they just hoping he wouldn't notice Kathryn had been standing behind him just as he complained about Chuckles. Standing up quickly he looked down at his green shorts, the crotch wet from Rowley having dropped the soaked ball in his lap multiple times. Lowering his hands he covered up the wet patch and tried looking around the resort casually. "Captain, didn't see you standing there." He hadn't heard her coming either, damn she was so quiet.
"I should have known I would find you here." She rested her hands on her hips.
"I'm not looking at girls, or even drinking, look none alcoholic, it's just pineapple juice with a little coconut milk." He pushed the drink towards her as if to prove his point. "And I'm off duty right now, I'm not breaking any rules." Motioning back to Paris and Kim he wanted to make a point, no one was causing trouble. "Just hanging out with the boys, you know, doing guy stuff."
"That's all very well but do you remember what time it is?" Was that a loaded question she had just asked? He figured that was a loaded question.
Sheepishly he glanced back to Paris thinking he was right, she was testing him and he hadn't had time to study this quiz yet. "Time for me to..." Q paused and smiled at her. "call you beautiful?" That wasn't going to work.
"And here I was waiting in the mess hall for half an hour." Q realized he had screwed up.
"Our lunch date, I forgot that was today, every day just runs together." Now he felt like an ass, he had limited time he got to spend with her, every time he missed out on a lunch date or she did was just that much more time he had to make up for it. "I'm so sorry, do you still have time?" Q paused. "No, even better, meet me in my quarters in twenty minutes and I'll replicate something nice for us both. Candlelight, music, white wine...or not wine."
Rowley came back with the ball in his mouth going over to Janeway now. He knew who the top boss was here. "That won't be necessary I already ate."
"Tomorrow then?" He asked with a sheepish grin. He was in trouble wasn't he. Stepping forward he went to give her a kiss in the cheek but paused when she turned her back on him and started walking away.
"I'll see if I have time."
