Title: From Q, With Love 
Author: Varoneeka 
Series: TNG 
Pairing: Picard/Q
Category: m/m, romance, first time
Location: The Star Trek Slash Archive (
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/7798/)


Set very soon after the events of "Star Trek: First Contact," Varoneeka's 
story begins with a simple act of kindness on Q's part. After a 
conversation with Picard that reveals how upset the captain is over his 
most recent encounter with the Borg, Q gives Jean-Luc a night of 
undisturbed, nightmare-free, sleep.   Of course, just because Q is being 
nice doesn't mean that the close-to-omnipotent entity has lost his edge.  
He still speaks with the voice and uses the moves of John de Lancie's Q, 
as flamboyant and grandiose in love is he is in everything else.  Vorneeka 
also captures Patrick Stewart's Picard, all emotional reticence on the 
outside and passionate feelings on the inside, perfectly; you can easily 
hear that accented baritone throughout the story.

When Q continues to try to make friendly gestures, offering a simple walk 
in a garden, it comes as no surprise that Picard is suspicious and 
concerned about Q's motives. The reader is, without much warning, made 
very aware of what Q really wants, in a wonderfully graphic sentence that 
guarantees that you'll stick with the story hoping as desperately as Q that 
he gets what he wants.  Of course, sticking with the story is no hardship.  
Far from it; as in all good first time stories, we know were we're going -- 
helped by the fact that Varoneeka continues to let us eavesdrop on Q's 
anticipatory thoughts -- and we also know that getting there is half the 
fun.  Q's seduction and Picard's slowly dropping barriers *are* fun, and 
far lighter in tone than most P/Q stories.   Even when Q gets Picard to 
admit that the captain wants Q to continue visiting him, the conversation 
is similar in tone to the oddly flirtatious-yet-serious conversations 
in the TNG episode "Tapestry." 

When Picard finally does figure out what Q wants (after a foot rub that is 
a nice twist on the time honored slash device of the back rub), he is 
perfectly in character, appalled, angry and still refusing to admit what is 
causing the tightness in his chest and stomach.  Q on the other hand, seems
liberated by being able to honest about what he's after.  It would be easy 
enough for Q, in the course of trying to convince Picard that he's serious, 
to look pathetic, but Varoneeka treads that thin line well and spares us
from having to squirm on Q's behalf.  

Throughout the story, the glimpses of Q's desires tease the reader and 
you'll be glad to know that, in the end, Varoneeka is *not* a tease.  The 
sex is (to borrow a phrase from a slashing friend) "mop the floor hot," 
mixed with just the right dose of emotional sweetness and first time 
anxiety.  Picard's concerns about the physical side of this first time 
experience are nicely matched by Q's concerns about the emotional side of 
things.  And so, "From Q, With Love" easily aces the final requirement of 
a good first time story; it leaves us wanting *more*, leaves us wondering 
about the "morning after," and leaves us hoping that this only the 
beginning.  As I said above, we're lucky; it is.

If I have one nit to pick, it's that the story is almost too light, in view 
of the events of "First Contact," and "The Q and the Gray."  I should,  
however, give Varoneeka major points for even acknowledging the latter, 
which is something many of us pretend never happened.  Mention is made of 
both Q's partner Q and their child, and then they are dismissed, perhaps 
a little too easily.  As I am of the "dismiss 'The Q and the Gray' 
altogether" school, this is a minor nit, and didn't really get in the way 
of the story.