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Harry wrapped both hands around his teacup and tried to focus on the comforting warmth. When he had told Tom he didn't really feel like attending the post-race party, Tom had asked if Harry would at least meet him in Voyager's mess hall later. Not wanting to disappoint his friend, Harry had said yes, but now, still staring down his almost full cup, even this was starting to feel like a chore. His thoughts kept going back to the look on Irina's face as she had been led away by the waiting security officers. Defiant, spiteful. Harry had answered all the necessary questions as swiftly as possible and made himself scarce soon after that.
The mess hall was empty aside from Harry, so it was hard to miss Tom when he walked in, especially when his mood was as buoyant as it was now.
"What a race, right?" he started blithely, bypassing the replicators to head straight to Harry's table and take the seat opposite him. When he saw how downcast his friend looked, however, his enthusiasm flickered with concern.
"Go on," Harry told him, "you can say it."
Tom was all innocence, "say what?"
Harry sighed, "I went for the wrong girl, again. I walked right into her trap. You can add 'violent Terrelian extremist' to that list you have."
Tom gave a small laugh, "oh...that's not actually why I'm here."
But Harry looked far from convinced.
"Come on, Harry, you can't blame yourself for that," Tom said sympathetically, "hell, even I thought she was right for you at first. And besides, in case you forgot, you were the one who warned B'elanna and I about her sabotaging the fuel converter. No one got hurt because of you. Give yourself a little credit."
This seemed to land with Harry enough that he changed the subject, with an effort.
"I'm sorry, here I am complaining and I should be congratulating you two. I hear you picked quite the moment to propose."
Tom brightened, "honestly, I've been thinking about it for a while now, but....B'elanna wanted me to tell her how I felt and it all just...came out. Then the core started to breach just as I was getting to it, and I thought I might never get another chance to ask...I guess it forced me to stop waiting."
"Tom Paris, finally settling down in the Delta quadrant. Who would have guessed it?" Harry said, with a weak smile.
"The quadrant's not important, as long as I have B'elanna," Tom said, "I want her to know that."
Despite the sting of his own recent letdown, Harry found himself touched by this, "well, I'm happy for you. Both of you," and then added, with a twinge of guilt, "look, you don't have to stay for me. If you want to go and be with B'elanna..."
"Actually," Tom cut him off, "I've already thought of another way you can make it up to me." He was grinning a mischievous grin Harry recognised.
"Please don't say you want a new core for the Flyer already,' Harry warned him, "I have other duties, you know."
"No, not that..." Tom laughed, but there was an edge of nerves to his voice as he asked, "how does being my best man sound?"
Harry stared at his friend, "are you serious?"
"Deadly." Tom turned to look behind him, "now, Neelix!"
Harry followed his gaze, and watched in confusion as behind the service counter, Neelix appeared seemingly from nowhere, quickly followed by a giggling Naomi Wildman with what Harry guessed was a confetti canon primed in her hands.
“Surprise!” the two chorused, as Naomi set off her confetti canon, sending colourful paper strips flying into the air and fluttering down to land on the floor, the tables, Tom's hair and a bemused looking Harry Kim. Neelix was imitating a trumpet fanfare.
“...you did this for me?” Harry said to Tom when his mind had caught up with the twist of events, "but how..."
“Well, the confetti was Naomi’s idea...” Tom admitted, smiling at Harry’s incredulous face.
“I programmed the replicator myself” the young girl said proudly, "and I helped make that,"
When Harry leaned over to see what she was referring to, Neelix had already lifted two dishes off a shelf and was bringing them to their table. When the cook reached them, he stationed himself between the two other men to let them admire his handiwork before he laid it on the table, and Harry (who had followed Tom's lead in standing up, unsure of how else to react to this impromptu attention) was finally close enough to see what was inside the bowls. He caught a glimpse of rich chocolate, biscuit and swirls of fudge.
"Is that...?"
"Two servings of fudge ripple pudding," Neelix announced, "Mr. Paris here requested it specifically," he gave the blond man a wink.
"I thought you might need some cheering up." Tom said, with a slightly more bashful smile.
Harry was about to thank him when Naomi also appeared beside their table,
"Neelix let me lick the spoon," she informed them. For the first time, Harry noticed the tell-tale marks of chocolate around the corners of her mouth.
"She's becoming quite the little baker," Neelix said warmly, by way of explanation.
Encouraged, Naomi went on, this time turning to Tom, "I've never been to a wedding before. If B'elanna is half Klingon, does that mean you're having a Klingon wedding? Are you going to take Harry to a cave?"
Neelix chuckled and said, "Naomi, I don't think Tom and B'elanna have planned all that just yet. Why don't you go and get ready for the party? Your mother will be waiting for you."
"But I wanted to ask if I could be the flower girl," Naomi protested, perplexed.
Her godfather reassured her that she could ask again a little later and guided her to the door, where she soon took his advice and hurried off to her quarters. Tom and Harry exchanged a look, and Tom made a mental note to thank both the chefs as soon as he could. When Neelix had moved back to his post behind the counter to finish cleaning up, he turned back to the matter at hand, looking earnestly at Harry,
"So, what do you say? will you be my best man?"
"That depends," Harry replied, "are you going to make go to a cave for ritual trials?"
"Absolutely not," Tom said with an amused certainty, "give me a good old fashioned bachelor party any day"
"In that case..." Harry pretended to consider a moment longer, then relented, "are you kidding? of course I will."
"You will?" Tom paused for half a second, then laughed with relief and pulled his friend into a hug, "great."
Harry had to admit, the pudding was delicious - his appetite had returned, after all. But when Neelix, his catering duties done, also left the mess hall, jovially telling them he was going to join in the post-race festivities, Harry still had a nagging feeling he was keeping Tom from something. Only the low hum of the ship's engines and machinery accompanied their eating now.
"Tom...you know I appreciate all of this, but are you sure you don't want to go, too? You should celebrate," he said after a few minutes.
"I thought we were celebrating," returned Tom easily, "anyway, don't worry. I'm still going to the party."
"You are?"
"Yep. And you're coming with me,"
Harry wasn't sure how many more surprises he could handle today, "what? Tom, I told you-"
"Consider it your first favour as my best man," Tom said before he could get another excuse in. When he had Harry's attention, he continued, "everyone wants to you to be there, Harry. I want you to be there. You saved a lot of lives."
"I also cost us the race." Harry pointed out, "we were so close, and I know how badly you wanted to win..."
"Harry, I don't care about that," Tom insisted, "Irina cost us the race, not you. In a way, we should be thanking her. She's the one who got us into it, which kind of makes her the reason B'elanna and I are engaged. I'd say that's a win, wouldn't you?"
Harry continued eating his dessert silently.
Tom turned his hands up in a shrug, "Look, I'm not going to force you. But we'd both love it if you came. If not for you, then do it for us."
This caught Harry's attention, "wait, we? Was B'elanna in on this too?"
"Well, I thought I should probably check with my future wife before I chose a best man," Tom looked encouraged by his interest, "and she agreed that you were the best man for the job." he smirked at his own pun.
Harry couldn't help smiling a little back, "Thank you, but...it just doesn't feel right to celebrate somehow," even then, though, he knew his conviction was waning.
Tom had finished his fudge ripple pudding, and pushed the bowl aside to give his friend his full attention, "You know what everyone was talking about when B'elanna and I got back?" he began, "they were asking how we knew the fuel converter was going to explode. So we said it was all down to you," he watched for a moment as Harry took this in, "Oh, and we might have mentioned we were getting married...."
"News travels fast around here, huh?" was all Harry said, feeling uncomfortably like he hadn't quite earned the praise.
"What I'm saying is: you're the real hero of that race." Tom concluded, as if hearing his doubts, "not us. Not even Assan, although I have to admit, his time was pretty impressive."
"Is that why you want me to come to the party?" Harry wondered, suspecting that Tom was exaggerating things for his benefit.
"I would hate for you to miss your grand entrance with me and my fiancée..." Tom could hardly disguise the pride in his voice.
"That doesn't sound so bad," said Harry, and meant it, "alright. If it makes you both happy, I'll come for a little while."
"You won't regret it," said Tom, triumphant, "I already have a toast. To Harry Kim, my best man and the saviour of the Antarian interstellar rally"
"Well, it's definitely better than painsticks," Harry conceded, hoping it conveyed some of his real gratitude. His short history with Irina was already starting to feel lighter, more distant in comparison. It wasn't every day your two best friends survived a targeted explosion and got engaged, after all.
"Just wait 'til you find out what we're planning for the actual wedding." Tom grinned at him.