From jacquez+@andrew.cmu.edu Tue Oct 20 12:08:50 1998

Date: 20 Oct 1998 11:44:14 -0400

From: Laura Jacquez Valentine 

To: jacquez@smtp2.andrew.cmu.edu

Subject: For FrisCon: Love Comes Quickly (P/Q, sequel to Inhale)





I thought and thought about what I could write, and nothing was coming

together.  Then this popped into my head, so...I suppose it's a little

present for those patient P/Qers who wanted a sequel for Inhale.  :)



And yes, that's ANOTHER Pet Shop Boys song masquerading as the title.



--laura



---



There was a cold mug of tea next to my bed.  I sniffed it--Earl Grey, but

not mine.  My yeoman would have cleaned it up this morning if it was.  I

should have reported the cup to Security, but I was tired and did not feel

like having them crawling over my quarters when I wanted to sleep.  A cup

of tea was innocent enough.



And I must admit that I had my suspicions.  Had had my suspicions for

quite some time.



I replaced the mug on the nightstand.  Not that Q would come back for a

cold cup of tea, but it would at least remind me of him.  These days I

tried so hard to forget--



I tried to forget my brother and his family, tried to forget the Borg

whispering in my mind, tried to forget everyone I've ever cared for.  I

had enough scars as it was; the last thing I needed was Q tormenting

me.  He was, after all, very good at getting under my skin.



Very, very good.  At least I hadn't been dreaming of him.  I don't think 

I could have stood that.



For a moment I let myself imagine that he was with me, that he spooned

himself behind me and held me against him, that I could smell him--he

smells slightly spicy, a little like sage--and feel his arms, warm and

solid.



I sat down on my bed and wrapped my arms around myself.  Love is a

strange thing when it happens.  I never would have expected that Q, of

all people (when did I start thinking of him as a person?) would be the

one I wanted.  He wasn't exactly the perfect partner.  He was

overbearing, too smart for his own good, pushy, arrogant--and,

unfortunately for me, tremendously attractive.



He had indicated that his gender was not a fixed thing--that was

attractive.  He was tall.  He had tremendous eyes.  His hands were

large, capable, and skilled.  His mouth--



I couldn't allow myself to go on.  There are certain things I cannot

afford--that no starship captain can afford.  Loving a dangerously

powerful alien is one of those things.



There was, however, nothing I could do to stop this.  Love, when it

happens, is even more sure in its conquest than the Borg.



I lay back and closed my eyes.  The scent of sage washed over me, rising 

from the bed.  Q was not there, but he had been.  I let myself fall

sleep with his scent surrounding me.



I should have changed the bedcovers.  My dreams were disturbed by

visions of him.  He stole me from the bridge, taught me to fly, held me

close at night, made love to me over and over.



Near ship's dawn, I woke, trembling.  I had been correct--I could not

stand dreaming of him.  "By God," I whispered to my quarters, "what

shall I do?"



I felt rather than saw the flash of light, felt his weight settle on the 

bed, felt sage wash over me and one of those glorious hands alight on my 

chest.



"You could always try kissing me, Jean-Luc."



---

The End.





laura jacquez valentine -+- http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~jacquez

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