(OOC: directly continued from here and in particular this sub-thread.)In a rotten mood, Q stomped out of the elevator and followed the signs, and then room numbers, to 637
( Read more... )
It was the fish dying that she sensed as she passed the room and she stopped, brow furrowed as she stared at the door. Death. She could feel it. Hesitantly she reached out and tried the door, which opened to her surprise, and she tentatively stepped inside. The carpet was wet against her bare feet.
Her eyes fell on the fish and the two who were still alive. Her brow furrowed even more as she walked up to them and crouched. They were not predators, but they were poisonous. This she knew. But they had to be saved. Neri stood and looked around until she came across two large hand cushions in the shape of mitts by the stove. She slid them on and then proceeded to very carefully pick them up and place them in two large bowls, with warm water, and dumped a pile of salt in it. It would not keep them alive for a very long time, but long enough to get them to the ocean.
It was only when she came out to look at the dead fish again, did she notice the man. She frowned and stepped over a fish, which accidentally nicked her foot. "Are you alright?"
(ooc: the poison won't affect her until later when she leaves :))
Q opened his eyes blearily, unable to quite figure out why his mind wasn't working properly and he couldn't seem to exactly talk.
There was a young woman he didn't recognize in front of him, and since he was half unconscious and had forgotten that he'd ended up in this condition from trying to use his powers, he reacted by instinct to find out who she was. Predictably, the attempt to use his powers to learn her identity backfired.
"Owwww!" He doubled over on the bed. Oh, yeah. Now he remembered. He couldn't use his powers. Great.
When he doubled over in pain, Neri seemed to panic for a moment and stepped forward, reaching out tentatively in worry. "Are you in pain? What is wrong?" Her eyes met his. "I am Neri."
"No, I always howl for no particularly good reason." Q was quite capable of being rude when he was happy. When he was in pain, he was *truly* obnoxious.
"What, exactly, are you doing in my room, Neri?" Startling him and tricking him into using his powers when he was too out of it to remember why it was a bad idea, apparently.
"They were in pain." She glanced over her shoulder to the fish with a sad expression. She couldn't help the ones who were dead and it made her sad. Neri turned back to Q. "There is water on the floor."
For several seconds, Q couldn't figure out why there was water, or dead fish, on the floor. He was still not thinking particularly clearly -- it took him that long to remember trying to make Picard's fish tank.
Except, from the absence of glass and the presence of fish and salt water, it appeared he'd never made the tank.Wonderful. He was too tired to deal with this. The Q did not need to sleep, but they'd discovered the hard way during the war that being injured forced them into periods of unconsciousness to focus their resources on healing, and his little attempt to prove he still had his powers had done him some damage. His consciousness desperately wanted to withdraw from the world to concentrate on fixing the damage, to the extent that he could, and with his Q mind occupied with attempting to heal himself, right now he was limited to the resources of his human brain... which was *also* trying to go back to sleep
( ... )
"Empath?" She tilted her head, confused by the word she had never heard before. Her tribal Australian accent thick, especially when she was concerned. "You are sick too." She held out her hand, intending to touch him if he didn't pull away. "Do you need help?"
Q closed his eyes. "No, I don't need help. I need you to go away and let me sleep." Technically it wasn't sleep. Only mortals needed sleep. He was a Q, therefore it wasn't sleep, it was... a healing trance. Like the Vulcans did. Yeah, that sounded good. But given that the fish empath or whatever she was seemed to have a lower vocabulary than Worf, the simpler term "sleep" would be best
( ... )
She thought he needed much more than sleep. In fact, she was sure he needed a doctor, but she did not trust doctors either, so she was reluctant to seek them out unless it was really necessary.
Neri looked over her shoulders at the fish, then back to him. "They need water to live."
"So they're not all dead?" He didn't really particularly care whether fish lived or died --he was frequently pretty borderline on the question of whether he cared if sentient beings lived or died -- but he did feel kind of bad about making fish just to die. If you were going to give something an existence, you really should give it a decent one for however long you were going to let it exist. If he had *intended* to kill the fish, the way he'd made animal-headed soldiers or 21st-century drugged soldiers with every intention that some might die, that would have been one thing, but to create them and then let them die by accident because he made a stupid mistake... that was humiliating, and he felt a little guilty about it
( ... )
She couldn't read his mind, nor did she know the man in general, but what she did know was that he had just asked her if she wanted to help save the two fish which were still alive. To Neri, that was a sign that he was a good person. Caring for others, even fish, was a sign of a kind heart and it made her smile softly when he asked the question. "I can take them to the ocean. It is close and the water is good for them. Is there home." She nodded. She wasn't very familiar with the concept of a fish tank except for the ones on ORCA which, as Jason's mother had explained, where used to observe sick fish like a fish hospital. Recreational and Decorative reasonings for a fish tank was something unfamiliar to her.
She paused and looked at him again. "Are you sure you are okay?" He didn't look it. He looked like maybe he was in pain.
Despite himself, Q was touched by the fact that apparently she cared if he was okay or not. When he'd been on the Enterprise without his powers, no one had really cared if he was okay -- including Dr. Crusher, who had acted as if the fact that the Calamarain kept trying to kill him was a great personal inconvenience to her. It was quite possible that this young woman was the first person he'd ever met in his *life* who had freely and openly expressed concern for him. Of course if she knew him better she probably wouldn't bother, but he'd take what he could get.
"I'll be fine," he said in a more friendly tone than he'd used so far, lying back down and closing his eyes. "I can heal myself if I get some rest." Presumably if this was some sort of multiversal nexus, he could hope she'd encountered enough non-human beings that that concept was comprehensible to her, because the last thing he wanted was some kind of doctor tromping in here. "You go take those fish wherever you're going to take them. I'm sure they'll be much happier with
Neri watched him very carefully, eyes moving over his body as if to make sure he really was okay. She couldn't find any evidence that said he wouldn't get better, but it would probably take a while for him to feel completely better. She nodded slowly. "I will take them to the ocean. They will like it there."
She turned, then paused, and turned back around. "I am Neri."
"Yeah, you mentioned that," Q mumbled. He was starting to feel very worn out. Obviously he hadn't recovered enough from using his powers to stay awake even after being woken.
"You can call me Q." He wasn't going to get into the fact that it wasn't actually his name, considering that he didn't actually have a name, but rather the name of his species. There was only one other Q in the village anyway, and many species practiced naming children after parents, so it wasn't like anyone would think it was odd for a father and son to have the same name.
Reply
Q, too worn out to notice such a quiet visitor, remained unconscious on the bed.
Reply
It was only when she came out to look at the dead fish again, did she notice the man. She frowned and stepped over a fish, which accidentally nicked her foot. "Are you alright?"
(ooc: the poison won't affect her until later when she leaves :))
Reply
Q opened his eyes blearily, unable to quite figure out why his mind wasn't working properly and he couldn't seem to exactly talk.
There was a young woman he didn't recognize in front of him, and since he was half unconscious and had forgotten that he'd ended up in this condition from trying to use his powers, he reacted by instinct to find out who she was. Predictably, the attempt to use his powers to learn her identity backfired.
"Owwww!" He doubled over on the bed. Oh, yeah. Now he remembered. He couldn't use his powers. Great.
He looked up at the young woman. "Who're you?"
Reply
Reply
"What, exactly, are you doing in my room, Neri?" Startling him and tricking him into using his powers when he was too out of it to remember why it was a bad idea, apparently.
Reply
Reply
Except, from the absence of glass and the presence of fish and salt water, it appeared he'd never made the tank.Wonderful. He was too tired to deal with this. The Q did not need to sleep, but they'd discovered the hard way during the war that being injured forced them into periods of unconsciousness to focus their resources on healing, and his little attempt to prove he still had his powers had done him some damage. His consciousness desperately wanted to withdraw from the world to concentrate on fixing the damage, to the extent that he could, and with his Q mind occupied with attempting to heal himself, right now he was limited to the resources of his human brain... which was *also* trying to go back to sleep ( ... )
Reply
Reply
Reply
Neri looked over her shoulders at the fish, then back to him. "They need water to live."
Reply
Reply
She paused and looked at him again. "Are you sure you are okay?" He didn't look it. He looked like maybe he was in pain.
Reply
"I'll be fine," he said in a more friendly tone than he'd used so far, lying back down and closing his eyes. "I can heal myself if I get some rest." Presumably if this was some sort of multiversal nexus, he could hope she'd encountered enough non-human beings that that concept was comprehensible to her, because the last thing he wanted was some kind of doctor tromping in here. "You go take those fish wherever you're going to take them. I'm sure they'll be much happier with
Reply
She turned, then paused, and turned back around. "I am Neri."
Reply
"You can call me Q." He wasn't going to get into the fact that it wasn't actually his name, considering that he didn't actually have a name, but rather the name of his species. There was only one other Q in the village anyway, and many species practiced naming children after parents, so it wasn't like anyone would think it was odd for a father and son to have the same name.
"I'm going back to sleep. Enjoy your fish."
Reply
Leave a comment