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Thumping the edge of the PADD against the heel of his palm, he counts down the seconds it will take the turbolift to reach the third deck. With an important report on the new dilithium crystals they had discovered hot off the presses from B’Elanna and Neelix’s brief report on the shortening food supplies, he knows that she is looking forward to reading this particular PADD.
Not to mention that she invited me to dinner. He shamelessly smiles to himself as he remembers the brief conversation that morning. He had walked into her ready room to trade his security and weapons report with her propulsion report when she had quietly asked if he would like to come to her quarters for dinner. He remembers being shocked at first from her unexpected invitation, yet, with a sly smile, she explained to him that he had been good at keeping his wandering eyes in check and deserved a reward.
In all honesty, it has been quite difficult, especially when she would lean against the railing, yet he would remind himself that there were bigger and better things on the horizon.
Stepping out of the turbolift, he nods to a few crew members as they get on and makes his way to Kathryn’s quarters. His heart kicks up its pace as he remembers the last time he was there. While he is unsure what initially changed her mind, he is glad that she is willing to take this risk.
Stepping up to her door, he rings the chime and waits for her to admit him in. Hearing a faint, “come in” and feeling the quiet rush of the door opening, he steps in to find that she is sitting cross-legged on her sofa already engrossed with a PADD in her hands.
Holding up his own, he grins, “Another one to add to the pile, except, this one you might want to read in place of the one you have. It’s B’Elanna’s report from her experiment on how the sample from the warp core is taking the new dilithium crystals we discovered on that inhabited planet two days ago.”
She reaches her hand out to take it. “Yes, I’ve been waiting for this report for a while now.”
Slightly mesmerized at the sight of her hair, which is cascading over her shoulders, he loses his train of thought for a brief moment. She looks beautiful, peaceful. While he understands her reasoning for keeping it up, he takes great pleasure in seeing it down and loose around her shoulders.
“Commander!” Snapping his eyes back to the woman in front of him, he is slightly relieved to see her coyly smirking. “May I please have the report?” Lifting her arm higher, she wiggles her itching fingers for this particular PADD.
Giving her his shiniest smile - dimples and all - to cover up his embarrassment at getting caught checking her out, he quickly hands her the PADD. “It’s not looking very promising. Twice she’s had to discontinue the experiment and start from square one.”
He can see her brow dip in frustration as she reads B’Elanna’s words. “I can see why, though I’m not surprised. We are not in dire need of dilithium crystals, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some backups when we are this far away from Federation space.” With a big sigh, she throws the PADD onto the coffee table in front of her and straightens her back. Clasping her hands, she stretches her arms high above her head, her vertebra gradually cracking back into alignment, and then slowly rolling her neck around in a full circle.
Completely enraptured by her methodical movements, he licks his dry lips and reminds himself to keep his wandering eyes in check. “I’m not sure if you read it, but I also talked with Neelix just before I went to Engineering and he told me that they are starting to run low on food supplies. He says that there should be a few M-Class planets coming up within a few days and that we should stop by to fill up our food reserves.”
Uncurling her feet and placing them on the ground, she slowly stands and nods her head. “Very well, I’ll inform Mr. Tuvok to start some long-range sensor scans of any of the planets within our upcoming path.” Blindly reaching behind her shoulders, she begins to expertly twist her hair.
“You don’t have to put your hair up on my account.” She doesn’t stop the last twist. “I actually enjoy seeing it down.”
“I bet you are,” she murmurs under her breath as she reaches for her hair pins.
“I’m done being the commander for the evening, if you are ready to be just Kathryn.”
Giving him a long stare, she relents with a playful roll of her eyes and settles on putting half of her hair up so that it's out of her face. “I did invite you for dinner.”
“I’ve been a good boy.” His smile is pearly and proud.
“You have been,” she teasingly coos. “In all honesty, having my hair like this is rather annoying, especially when it becomes all tangled.” Placing her last pin in the twisted tendril, she winks at him and slyly soothes, “But, I shall keep it like this just for you.”
“Thank you.” He dramatically bows his head. “I feel as if it’s my reward for not making goo-goo eyes on the bridge.”
A small giggle escapes from between her lips. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“Never.” He holds up his finger and interjects, “However, I can be made to forget from time to time… with a price, of course.”
“Let me guess, a make out session.” Despite her deadpan sarcasm, a naughty grin flutters across her lips.
His eyes widen with an innocence he knows she will never fall for. “You said it, not me.”
Mesmerized by her small laugh, he doesn’t realize that she is moving until she lightly slaps his shoulder and motions towards her replicator. “How does tomato soup sound, Chakotay?”
“Tomato soup sounds absolutely divine, Kathryn.” Following after her, he slinks into one of the chairs at the dining table as she puts in their order. Now that ship’s business is taken care of and they have left their ranks with the PADD on her coffee table, he has no qualms about staring at her delicious curves in the quiet solitude of her quarters. Resting his chin in the palm of his hand, he memorizes every tiny movement of her hips, once again cursing the creators of the uniform with their intentional boxy design. While she softens the cutting edges of the thick material, he half-heartedly reasons that he would never be able to hold up his end of their agreement if the uniform were form-fitting. Seeing her turn towards him with their bowls, he straightens his back to look at her with a mischievous grin adorning his face.
She squints her eyes as she places his bowl in front of him. “You look guilty.”
“Do I?” Picking up his spoon, he quickly begins to eat. After a quiet few bites, he asks, “Did you always have your hair this long?”
She takes a sip of her water and nods. “For as long as I can remember. My daddy always wanted to see it down and my momma liked to brush it at night.” Her eyes glaze at the memory of simpler times. “After my daddy died, my sister wanted me to cut it, but my momma nearly had a heart attack when I told her what I was going to do. So it’s stayed like this since then.” Glancing at her, he can see a slight tension in her shoulder. After a few spoonfuls, she finally mutters, “I hate it, but I don’t want to disappoint my momma.”
He wanted to say that her mother was far away for her disapproval to reach her ears, but at the last minute thought it was a disheartening thing to say. He knows firsthand how the pressures of family preferences can settle on one’s conscience. There is a desire to make the ones you love happy, but yet, it can sometimes be at the expense of one’s own happiness. It can be quite a fine line to walk along .
“I did cut it once.” Her eyes gleam with the same mischief he had seen a few minutes prior. “My sister dared me to cut it and I did.” Closing her eyes, she sweeps her head side to side as if she is remembering the freeing weightless feeling. “Right after, I felt so horribly guilty that I used the follicle regenerator to grow it back.”
Watching her, he smiles an easy smile as an overwhelming urge to make her happy presses against his throat. “I dare you to cut your hair.”
Blinking her eyes open, her brow furrows in curiosity. “Why?” Rolling her eyes, she shakes her head and answers him instead of waiting for his response. “No. No, I made a promise to myself to keep it like this until we reach Earth and with nothing short of my hair setting on fire, I’m going to keep my promise.”
“You are so stubborn.” Shaking his head, he quickly thinks of another solution. “How about we make a bet? If I win, you cut your hair and keep it for three days. If you win, then I leave your hair alone and will transport down to the surface of the next M-Class with Neelix to find food.” At her silence, he holds his hand out and asks, “Do we have a deal?”
Biting her bottom lip, she slowly says, “It depends… what’s the bet?”
Taking a moment to think about it, he looks towards the ceiling for inspiration. When it hits him, he glances back at her and slyly grins, “We have to correctly guess the whereabouts of the elusive Tom Paris.”
Pressing one of her eyebrows down as she ponders the possibility, she slowly asks, “But what if neither of us guesses correctly?”
He simply shrugs his shoulders. “Then you keep your hair long, I will stay on the bridge instead of going planet-side with Neelix and we can get quickly down to business of making out.” Wiggling his eyebrows, he silently thinks that it’s a win-win situation for both of them.
Leaning back in her chair, she crosses her arms along her chest. “How do I know that you won’t cheat?”
Dramatically pointing at his chest, a look of pure innocence crosses his features, “I’m your first officer. I would never let you not trust me.” Despite his theatrics, he would never give away the perception of untrustworthiness, both professionally or personally.
After a moment, she shakes his hand with a solid grip. “Deal. I think he’s in the holodeck at Sandrine’s.”
Finding immense pleasure with the shared heat between their palms, he settles both of their hands on the table as he thinks of the rumors he’s heard in regard to the smooth-talking helmsman. “He’s already been burned by both the Delany sisters.”
“By both of them?” At his nod, she just silently shakes her head with a whispered ‘damn’ under her breath.
“I’ve noticed that he’s been sweet with Ensign Monroe.”
She rolls her eyes to kingdom-come. “She’s in the same department as the Delany sisters.”
“So I think he is in Ensign Monroe’s quarters.” He gives her a small smile with his final answer.
There is a slight squeeze of her hand before she calls out, “Computer, location of Mr. Paris.”
Chirping in her crisp, clear voice, the computer responds with, “Lieutenant Paris is located in Ensign Monroe’s quarters.”
“Shit!” Ducking her head, she refuses to look at him for the longest time, her eyes ticking back and forth, almost as if she is trying to think of a way out of satisfying her bet. After a moment, she squeezes his hand and stands from her chair. “Come along.”
Twisting his wrist so that their fingers tangle with each other, he allows her to lead him into her bedroom. Bypassing the room altogether, they step into her bathroom. Comparatively, it is smaller than his, yet, after glancing around, he notices that there is a large bathtub taking up most of the space.
Letting go of his hand, she goes through one of her drawers and pulls out a hair tie and a pair of scissors.
Turning and leaning against the sink, he crosses his arms along his chest. “I thought you were going to try and get out of it.”
She shrugs her shoulders as she pulls the pins from her hair. “I couldn’t think of a good reason.” Running her fingers through her scalp, she ties her hair back at the length she wants it cut, adjusting the band so that it doesn’t sit on an angle. “Just as long as no one tells my momma,” she whispers under her breath.
He quietly laughs under his breath. “It won’t come from me.”
“Good.” She holds out the scissors for him to take with a sly grin. “You get the honors.”
Glancing down at the scissors, he can feel his own smug smile draining from his face. What if I fuck it up?
“You won’t fuck it up,” she murmurs, as if she had read his mind. “I’ll fix it so that it can look presentable for the three days I’ll have it.” Giving him an encouraging nod, she adds, “Cut it right above the tie.” When he takes the scissors with a trembling hand, she covers it with her free hand. “I’ve seen my sister do this a million times. Just cut right above the hair tie. Okay?”
Feeling slightly more confident, he nods.
Letting go of him, she turns so that she is looking into the mirror. “Make sure to hold it under the tie so that it doesn’t fall.”
Pushing himself away from the counter, he steps around so that he is behind her. Grabbing the bottom half of her hair, he positions the scissors where she told him and squeezes his eyes shut.
“Chakotay, keep your eyes open.”
Forcing them open with a deep breath in, he adjusts the position of the scissor. On a stable wing and a whispered prayer, he cuts through her hair. Instantly, her hair trickles over his knuckles. Taking a step back, he sees that the hair in the back is slightly longer than the strands on the sides. Placing her tied hair on the counter, he gently pulls down and cuts across so that it looks more even. “I fixed it as best as I could in the back.”
Threading her fingers through the ends of her hair, she tilts her head side to side. “Good.” Silently asking for the scissors with the flick of her hand behind her shoulder, she cuts a few odd, stray pieces here and there. Setting the scissors down on the counter, she pulls out a small mirror and turns so that she can see the back. “I think you missed your calling.” She threads her fingers through her hair to style it. “You should have been a hair stylist.”
He laughs out loud. “It’s a far less dangerous occupation than rebelling against a fascist and murderous regime.”
She places both the scissors and the mirror back in the drawer and grins at him through the reflection in the mirror. “Probably would have gotten laid more.” Biting her bottom lip, she twirls around and leans against the tall counter. “Do you like it?”
Mesmerized by the playful sparkle in her bright, blue eyes, he reaches out to gently take the silky ends between his fingers. Pushing her hair behind her ear, his thumb traces along the line of her cheek. “Very beautiful.”
The space between them sizzles with hypnotic electricity. It’s at times like these that he remembers the first time he had touched her skin. They had barely known each other, yet something had passed between them. Sometimes, when they are so very close like this, he likes to think that it was fate. Stepping closer, his other hand reaches up and cups her cheek. Looking into her dark eyes, he silently asks for her permission with the flick of his brow.
Fractionally, she lifts her chin and, within a matter of milliseconds, his lips touch her lips, time itself blissfully melting away. At first, unsure of her own confidence at taking this kiss to the heights he had only imagined, he nearly jumps when he feels her hands anchor themselves onto his hips to pull him closer to her. Gladly and reverently, he acquiesces with the press of his hips against her.
With a slight moan, she deepens their increasingly heated kiss by sweeping the tip of her tongue along his, her fingers now digging into the thickness of his uniform.
Cradling her jaw with the gentlest of hands as he presses her further into the counter behind her, he allows himself to become lost in the curves of her body melting against him. Tilting her cheek to the side, his lips are just beginning to explore beyond the perfection of her lips when her hand reaches up between them and lays firmly against his chest. Knowing that they have reached a stopping point, yet not ready to pull away from the warmth of her embrace so abruptly, he gives her a few more teasing pecks and a gentle eskimo kiss before easing back.
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs under her breath.
He covers her hand on his chest with his own and gives her a small squeeze. “You don’t need to be sorry.” He tilts his chin down and kisses the tips of her fingers.
“I… I find that I like kissing you.” Her whispered words are rushed and slightly breathless.
“I really like kissing you.” He makes good on his word by kissing the tips of her fingers again, before he silkily adds, “everywhere.”
Despite the deep flush firing along her cheeks, she continues to stare at their hands on his chest. “This could be an addiction if we are not careful.” Slowly drawing her dark eyes up to his, she licks her lips with the tip of her tongue as her fingers dig a little deeper into his hip.
“As much as I want to take you to bed and to allow the universe to pass by us, I know that we cannot let that happen.” He reaches up and sweeps his thumb along her cheek. “We can take this at a pace that is best for both of us so that when we are ready to cross that bridge, we will both be confident with that decision.”
“No quick fuck then?”
He would like nothing more than to fuck her hard and fast against her bathroom counter, yet, just like the night she had asked him to stay, he knows that anything done tonight could irreporally change their relationship and not for the good. “No quick fuck.” His lips curve into a small grin. “At least, not when we decide to move our relationship forward.”
Her small pout causes his heart to give a little, happy kick.
Wanting desperately to ease her disappointment, he leans forward and lightly kisses her. “I can assure you, Kathryn,” he mumbles against the corner of her mouth, “it won’t be quick.” With one last peck on the tip of her nose, he takes a full step back, her hand on his hip falling by her side. Capturing her other hand, he leans down and kisses her knuckles. “Short hair suits you. I hope you keep it beyond the three days.” At her palatable silence, he gives her a coy smile. “I will see you tomorrow morning. Good night, Kathryn.”
Making his way out of her bathroom and through her bedroom, he quickly straightens his uniform and wipes all evidence of their dalliance with the tip of his thumb before stepping out of her quarters. Seeing a few crewmembers, including Tuvok, conversing down the corridor out of the corner of his eye, he turns back to the open door and bows. “I will meet with Neelix tomorrow morning to discuss our food storages.” Counting three slow beats, he then adds, “Have a good evening.”
Nodding towards the other crewmembers before turning in the opposite direction, he does his best to hide his smile when the door to her quarters closes.