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Q was above the Enterprise. He was around it. In it. Next to Picard.
Q watched the human sleep, his face soft and calm in slumber.
His attention swayed as he remembered the comments, the taunts, of the other Qs.
He knew he was ridiculed by them. They couldn’t understand his need to visit this starship and its crew.
But he was seldom confronted by them. Maybe because he had started to ignore the continuum more and more often.
But just before he had perceived their attention on him again. The had conversed about Picard and him. And it was nothing new. They talked about his “fondness” for a specific human. How it was even more rididculous than a general fascination with a species. They speculated how far his interest went.
And he could’ve ignored all of that but suddenly his feelings were the topic. And Qs didn’t really talk about feelings.
One Q – and there was disgust when they made their opinion known – let the others know that they thought that Q might experience…feelings for Picard.
Now, that could mean a lot. But it became clear what they meant.
They thought he was in love with Picard. As if a Q had any need to experience love.
A Q was everything and all at once. He always felt everything. How would he feel one specific thing for a human?
He would go as far as to agree that he was fascinated by Picard. He was fun to annoy. He rose so beautifully to Q’s baits. He still managed to overcome every one of Q’s trials, games and tests.
Q focused most of his preception on Picard again.
He was above Picard. He was next to him on the bed. Wrapped around him.
Interacting with Picard brought Q enjoyment. He liked to pop up in Picard’s quarters. To see the different emotions appear on his face. Most of the time it was annoyance. Anger. Stress. Tiredness. Restlessness. Impatience. Even indifference.
But Q watched Picard all the time. Had seen him happy. Sad. Delighted. Afraid. Content.
How could the continuum ridicule a fascination for this human when he was so interesting?
Q wanted to know everything about Picard. Wanted to know every thought that he had. But he didn’t want to look. He wanted to experience it. Wanted Picard to open himself up to Q.
He felt when Picard’s sleep changed. His face became a frown. The eyes moved rapidly under the lids. His eyebrows furrowed.
Humans also felt so much. Too much to work through in one day. They relived their experiences in their sleep. Q wondered what Picard dreamed about. He wondered if Picard ever dreamed of him. He tried to imagine what it would be like to dream about Picard. He imagined what it would like to dream with Picard. But he didn’t want to invade Picard’s mind like that.
He let more of himself slip next to Picard. He was weightless but he felt ankered to the tiny human on the bed.
Feelings for him…
It would mean that he liked to be near him. That he liked looking at him. That he thought about him even if he wasn’t near him.
Ridiculous.
Also, Q always left part of his consciousness focused on Picard. He didn’t want to miss a moment from Picard’s short life. There was no need to think about Picard during the time he wasn’t “physically” on the ship.
Picard’s body was stiff, and Q couldn’t imagine that this was how humans were supposed to find rest.
He hovered above Picard’s mind. Created enough calmness to affect his sleep. Picard relaxed. Q watched lines smoothing out again.
For a moment Q felt the urge to become solid and lie down next to Picard…It wouldn’t be to his benefit, but he wondered if Picard’s body would seek out the heat of another body next to it. Humans were curious like that.
Q stayed like this. His incorporeal being all around Picard. The human he definitely, under no circumstances had any feelings for.