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“Jake! Jake! Where are you going?” a small, scratchy voice called out as Jake Sisko rushed across Deep Space Nine’s promenade.
Jake didn’t bother to stop walking, but he did turn his head toward his friend. “What is it, Nog? I can’t talk for long.”
Nog caught up to the boy, panting. “Why are you in such a hurry? Don’t you want to hang out on the promenade today?”
“I can later, but I have to go before I forget to stop by Ensign Ridhwan’s quarters.” Jake turned away and kept walking.
“Ah, a date?” Nog smiled mischievously and elbowed Jake. “You should have told me!”
“It is not a date. My dad asked me to take care of her beetles while she’s gone for the next few days.” He sped up. “Why don’t you come with me? It’ll only take a few minutes.”
Nog’s eyes widened. “I didn’t realize that she kept beetles. How does she eat them? Fried? Pureed? Do you think she’d share some live grubs with me?”
Jake’s brow furrowed. “She doesn’t eat them, Nog. They’re pets.”
“Doesn’t– You’re telling me that Hu-mans keep beetles as pets? Without even eating the grubs at least?”
“Yeah, why not?”
Nog’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “That’s a waste of perfectly good food! It’s excessive— Ah, that must be why. It’s a way of showing off your wealth, isn’t it? That you can afford to let so much food go to waste?”
Jake looked puzzled. “No, it’s just… for fun, I guess. Humans like to keep pets. Even weird bugs.”
The pair stepped into the turbolift and headed toward the habitat ring.
“If she doesn’t eat them, what does she do with them? Does she let them die of old age? Doesn’t the population get too big?”
“I don’t know, I think sometimes she gives the extra grubs to her cousin for his Tauian spotted gecko.”
Nog gasped. “Hu-mans will feed lizards before they feed themselves? I knew they were generous,” he spat the last word like it was a curse, “but that is going too far.”
The lift stopped and Jake stepped out, followed by Nog.
“It makes sense to me,” Jake said. “Most Humans don’t want to eat grubs, so they might as well control the population by feeding them to other animals.”
“I wonder if she would give any grubs to me. My father and my uncle would both kill me if they knew that I did business with a female, but it’s been too long since I’ve had fresh grubs!” He sounded a bit desperate or excited. Jake couldn’t tell the difference when Nog rambled like that. “How much do you think she would charge for them?”
“Probably nothing.” Jake entered Ensign Ridhwan’s quarters. “They aren’t that hard to breed. She probably wouldn’t care if you asked for some once in a while.”
Nog was silent as Jake made his way to the food replicator and ordered one sliced cucumber.
“There’s a lot I don’t understand about you Hu-mans,” Nog said as he watched Jake approach a shelf with a small tank.
Jake shrugged, placing the fresh cucumber on top of the substrate. “There’s a lot that I don’t understand about Ferengi.”
“Sometimes I wonder if our people have anything in common. I mean, we have different values. We’re from completely different planets.”
“Well,” Jake said. “We do have a lot of differences, but I think it’s safe to say that Humans have a lot more in common with Ferengi than they do with…” he glanced at the enclosure. “those beetles. Even if they come from the same planet that we do.”
“Good point. You don’t look nearly as delicious as those beetles.”
Jake laughed, putting a wide grin on Nog’s face.
“C’mon, Nog. Let’s go get jumja sticks. Even you have to agree that they beat live beetles.”
“That’s the first thing you’ve said today that I can understand.”
Jake patted Nog’s shoulder as they headed back to the promenade.