[DS9] A misguided changeling [Open for now]

[Halide]

"Oh, come on, Odo! Shince when have I ever put anyone but myself in harm's way?"

"This week? You nearly got Rom fried fixing the holosuites, your so-called 'replicator failures' put three of your customers in Sickbay, you left one of your Dabo girls facing two angry Klingons by herself, and your attempts to use Nog for duterium smuggling nearly ended his career with Starfleet."

"Simply accidents, Odo! I never put anyone in thoshe situations. They simply happened."

"Yes, I'm sure you tell yourself that so often you might almost believe it."

"...You stiiiiiill don't trust me, do you, Odo? Here I go, putting forward my own reshources, my time, my help forw-"

"Rom's help, you mean."

"-a... Rom's help... Paid for out of my own profits, I'll have you know! I give and I give trying to show you that I want to help your efforts with security, and here I am, met with borderline hoshtility! I honeshtly don't know why I bother."

"Pfuh! For all I know, this is no more than some ploy to get rid of me. Again."

"Ah, now that is where you're ghenuinely wrong. See, without you, I'd have bigger problems. Captain Sishko would put in a new Chief of Security, and the way things are going, whell! I'd either be stuck with Commander Worf, or worse still, the Major. And they wouldn't come to undershtandings the way you and I do, ho ho ho hoooo, no. The words 'better the devil you know' apply."

"And which rule of acquisition is that?"

"It's a hew-mahn proverb, actually. Though, it roughly correlates with Rule of Acquisition one-hundred and eighty four. Loses something in the translation, though."

"I'm supposed to believe that?"

"...Well, no. Which is why I have had this device inspected by none less than Chief O'Brian himself. Go ahead! Ask him what this device does, he'll tell you exactly what I've told you - a pershonal teleporter. Works anywhere on the stashion - regardlessh, mind you, of whether the stashion's teleporters are operational or not. Could be ver-ry handy in... shertian situashions."

"Humph! We'll see about that."

And then, much to his chagrin, Odo had actually tried out the device. Not on the spot, of course - he'd double-checked with O'Brian first. He had no intention of taking Quark's word for anything. But, for the sake of being thorough, he'd attempted to use the teleporter to get from his office to his quarters.

Instead, he was on a particularly bright, rather clement planet, not far from some sort of indiginous settlement.

Not that he knew it, but Constable Odo'ital was standing just outside of Ponyville, and despite his efforts with the troublesome device, he wasn't going anywhere else. It's actually a rather nice summer day, all told - a few clouds dot the skyline, a light breeze offers some measure of relapse to those working themselves hardest on such a fine august day. A few songbirds tittered and chirped in the trees, calling to one-another as to who might call which particular tree their territory. It only gave the six-foot-tall, somewhat clay-faced humanoid in a full-body beige security outfit more contrast to his vivid surroundings - for now, he did not so much 'blend in' as he did 'stick out like a sore thumb'. Though, frankly, given that the majority of equestrians lack thumbs, this expression might not be so particularly apt.

There was a moment of pondering, a glance up into the sky, and then Odo hissed a single word, his tone infuriated beyond his usual range of emotion.

"Quaaaaarrrrk!"

But, the question remained - who would find the wayward changeling?

[Halide]

(( OOC : Opening this thread to the public, just to see what happens. ))