Work Text:
“I’m telling you, Harry, it was far more addictive than you’d think.” Tom insisted as he sat opposite his closest friend in the Mes Hall. After more than four years in the delta quadrant, you’d think Harry Kim would have learned to trust Tom’s word when it came to forms of entertainment, but his dramatic eyeroll said otherwise.
“I just don’t get what’s so appealing about sending written messages to people we see in person on a daily basis.”
“It’s not just messages; it’s images and videos. And there’s an element of humour involved with them, usually the kind that wouldn’t work with face-to-face interaction.” Tom huffed. “Just try it. Once I get a few more people involved, I’m sure it’ll become apparent why people got so obsessed with this device that they could hardly let it leave their hand for more than a few minutes at a time.”
Before Harry had the chance to argue, Tom shoved the archaic device in front of him. It was larger than he’d initially expected it to be, almost on par with the more modern pad’s they used daily, and he was surprised by the lack of buttons, only three on the side from what he could make out. From everything he’d learned in his history classes, he could have sworn early twenty-first century technology had many more buttons than this device suggested.
“So, what am I supposed to do with this?” He picked it up, finding it heavier than a similar device would doubtlessly be nowadays.
“There’s a power button and volume controls on the side, I set the passcode to all zeros for now, as well as all the passwords. I’ll let you play around and figure out the rest.” Tom said as his eyes flickered around the room. When his eyes locked on a group of young ensigns from one of the lower decks, he stood up. “I’m gonna go find some more willing volunteers.”
Looking up at his friend condescendingly, Harry said, “I doubt you’re gonna get this to catch on.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. And, by the way, when you figure it out, my Instagram username is ‘@tom1_delta!’.”
“What?”
“Trust me.” Tom winked before strutting off to his next unfortunate victims.
Harry sighed. Staring down at the device in his hands, he couldn’t help rolling his eyes again. How did people allow themselves to become so dependent on a single piece of technology? He just didn’t understand the appeal of taking the time to type out a message to someone when you could just go up to them and say it in person, or comm them instantly. Still, Tom was his closest friend, so he was determined to keep an open mind.
Hesitantly, he pressed one of the buttons on the side of the device and watched it come to life. The first thing he noticed was the time displayed large in the upper centre of the screen, clearly this was one of the technological advanced that eliminated the need for the old-fashioned clocks he’d seen in museums: if people had one of these ‘cell phones’ on them at all times, why would they need a clock strapped to their wrist?
The majority of the screen was still black, but no longer reflective, and the bottom of the screen displayed the phrase ‘swipe to unlock’ in small white font. With a heavy sigh, Harry followed the command, inputted the passcode Tom had told him and began to explore his friend’s latest obsession.
What was the worst that could happen?
Most people hated the night shift. A skeleton crew in reduced lighting encountering nothing of interest. Even when something remotely interesting showed up, they had to wait until morning to explore it, unless it was urgent of course. But for Harry Kim, these were the shifts he loved most, because it meant that he was in command of the bridge.
No matter how much everyone seemed to take a lax approach to the night shift, he always made sure every rule was followed to the letter. In the back of his mind, he knew that if he proved himself enough when the responsibility was light, he’d eventually get the chance to be in command for the beta, or even alpha shift, and that was enough to keep his attention locked for the entire eight hours.
The main problem, however, was that this state of focus was difficult to break when it was over. He tried to unwind in the Mess Hall, but it was pretty quiet and not nearly stimulating enough to stop him from going stir crazy.
While furiously shaking his head at himself, he pulled out Tom’s latest toy from his pocket, switching it on and typing his new passcode, something he’d been quick to reset once he’d figured out how. He was expecting to open some of the various programmes – or apps, as the device referred to them – and find them littered with a few things Tom had added, but little else. Just as he’d found when he’d been given the thing before the start of his shift.
Instead he opened the one called ‘Instagram’ and frowned. It didn’t take long to come across tens of ‘follows’ he’d received from various crew members, though, of course, they all had ridiculous nicknames like Tom’s.
He made quick work of reciprocating all the follows and returned to the home of the app to find new images from almost all the people he’d just followed. It seemed the Delaney sisters had replicated a large chocolate cake in the middle of the night, though why the entire crew needed to know that he wasn’t sure. But he continued to scroll down to the next image. And then the next.
Before he knew it, Neelix was beside him, “Ah, I see you too have fallen victim to Ensign Paris’ latest obsession. I was curious how someone could spend hours on the ‘app’, as Mr Paris refers to it, known as ‘Tik Tok’ until I found myself two hours deep into ancient Earth recipes.”
“Two hours?” Harry exclaimed.
“Yes.” Neelix nodded, embarrassment creeping onto his face. “It seems Ensign Paris downloaded a lot of old videos onto that app from what was known as the ‘covid-19 pandemic’. The scrolling system, and algorithm that adapts to your own interests makes it very difficult to put down. Before I knew it, I was more than half-an-hour late to opening to Mess Hall.”
“I remember learning about ‘covid-19’ in history class. People were locked in their homes for months on end. Only allowed out for the bare essentials, and even then, having to keep distanced from other people.”
“With all that time inside, it’s no wonder technology like this thrived.”
“Quite.” Harry nodded. “I hadn’t even tried ‘Tik Tok’ yet, I was just looking through the one called ‘Instagram’.”
“Yes. Apparently, Tom didn’t want to add the old content to that one, wanted it to be used like it was then, to share important things about our own lives.” Neelix elaborated, causing Harry to snort.
“Really? We all need to know that Lieutenant Ayala just finished reading ‘Crime and Punishment’ and found it enlightening?”
“Perhaps he wishes to discuss it with like-minded individuals. I hear several people commented on that post and they’ve now formed a virtual book ‘chat’ on another app called ‘WhatsApp’.” Neelix explained.
“I hadn’t even looked at that one yet.” Harry sighed. “With so many different programmes, there’s no wonder they sucked up so much of people’s time.”
Neelix chuckled to himself. “I’ll leave you to get better acquainted with them all… Unless I can get you anything, ensign?”
“No, you’re alright. I should probably get back to my quarters and get some rest, anyway.” Harry sighed, standing up and tucking the device into his pocket as he did so. The entire walk back to his quarters, he promised himself he wouldn’t be tempted by heavy weight in his pocket, that he’d go straight to sleep and ignore it. But the moment he lay in bed and sleep wouldn’t come, his curiosity won out and he began exploring the various apps Tom had installed further.
Neelix was right, once you got hooked on the scrolling, it was very difficult to stop.
It had been three days since Tom had replicated the first of the cell phones. Just three days and almost half the crew were ‘online’. When he’d given that first cell phone to Harry, he hadn’t imagined just how well it would take off, especially when everyone else was forced to use their own replicator rations to get the device.
Yet walking into the Mess Hall that morning was like taking a step back in time. Almost every table was filled by people totally engrossed in the devices, even when not everyone had replicated one of their own yet.
It’s not like the devices had totally killed the conversation, because people were still talking, they were just talking about the things on their phones instead their usual mundane lives. He had known the crew needed something new to entertain them; being so far from any ‘new’ technology meant they would have to get creative. And as the ship’s resident expert on the late twentieth century, he’d taken the opportunity to expand his knowledge to the early twenty-first.
“Tom…” B’elanna gritted out as she followed him into the room and dragged him to the nearest unoccupied table. Shoving her own cell phone in his face, she shot him a stern glare. “Would care to explain this message you sent?”
Looking at the screen, he spotted his message from the middle of the night, ‘U up?’
“What?” Tom shrugged, “That was a typical pick-up line of the era. It means ‘I’m so preoccupied thinking about you that I can’t sleep, and I was wondering if you feel the same way’.”
“Oh really?” B’elanna raised her brow suspiciously. “Because when I searched that phrase up, a lot of people from that time said to avoid guys who say stuff like that because they’re usually just looking for meaningless sex.”
“Well, I will confess that the thought it could lead to sex was in the back of my mind, but it was by no means my only objective.” Tom smirked as B’elanna snorted.
“Pig.” She mumbled, but he couldn’t help but notice the slight upward turn at the corner of her lips.
“Anyway, the crew seem enamoured by my idea of twenty-first century cell phones, and I plan to fully embrace all the trends of the early twenty-first century.” Tom announced with a wicked smirk.
“Oh really? And what does that entail, might I ask?”
“Well, the first one on my list is quite fascinating. There was this one called the ice-bucket challenge where you get a bucket filled with ice-water dumped over your head.”
“Why in God’s name would you want to do that?” B’elanna cringed.
“Ah!” Tom jumped up eagerly, “Because there’s going to be the element of challenging someone else, it’ll be filmed and posted so everyone else can see it, and some sort of punishment for not doing it. It used to be raising money for charity, but since that isn’t relevant anymore...”
“What sort of punishment were you thinking of?” Rolling her eyes, B’elanna turned her attention briefly to the cell phone in her hand and the engineering ‘chat’ that was blowing up at the moment.
“Some form of bombardment of embarrassing content. I haven’t quite worked out all the details yet, but Harry and I are on it.”
“Did I hear someone mention my name?” Harry grinned as he sat down opposite the pair.
“Just talking about our holodeck plans for this morning.”
“Ah, the infamous ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’.” Harry nodded. “I have to say, I’m not looking forward to us having a bucket of ice dumped over our heads, but I am looking forward to whoever’s doing it next.”
“If they actually, do it.” B’elanna smirked. “Who’s to say this ‘trend’ you’ve picked will catch on.”
“Oh, it will.” Tom assured her.
With a hard grimace, Harry mumbled, “It’s just a shame we have to go first.”
“Oh it won’t be that bad.” Tom shrugged off his complaint. “And anyway, it’s almost our turn on the holodeck, so we’d better get going.”
“You’re both idiots, just so you know.” B’elanna called after them, barely glancing up from her phone.
“Noted.” Tom muttered to Harry as they both chuckled. He’d show her. This was going to be the thing that everyone talked about for the next few days, something to keep this technology exciting for the crew. With Voyager’s crew, you had to strike the iron while it was hot to keep people’s interests hooked.
Tuvok was Vulcan. And Vulcan’s valued logic above all else. It was a fundamental part of who they were.
So, when the crew became victims to Tom Paris’ latest obsession, it was only logical that the security officer investigate the object, to ensure it was free of any potential threat to the crew or ship. And it was only logical that he engage in all the same activities as the rest of the crew, to check there was no danger kept hidden in a specific aspect.
That was how Tuvok found himself sat talking to the ancient Earth device about the benefit of Vulcan meditation techniques. The aim of this was to, of course, post the video recorded on the app ‘Tik Tok’. Several crew members had posted their own videos about their own interests, so it was only logical he do the same.
What he didn’t expect was the sheer amount of time he found himself dedicating to the device.
Three hours had passed by with him fully occupied by the technology. Filming, editing and posting his meditation videos. Then the other apps required his attention, messaging in several ‘group chats’ about the most ridiculous of topics.
Ensign Kim had discovered the ancient Earth tradition of ‘Memes’, and the crew felt it necessary to flood his messages with them. Random imaged adorned with humorous text relating to the crew. The latest string seemed to refer to the Captain, who was fortunately still uninvolved with the crew’s latest ‘fad’. Reading through the content of these ‘memes’, Tuvok began to wonder if the Captain, and Commander Chakotay, were being kept in the dark on purpose.
Several crew members now seemed to be engaged in a debate about the true nature of the Captain’s relationship with the Commander. Of course, it was a topic that Tuvok had pondered himself on numerous occasions, but not one her ever dared vocalise.
Captain Janeway was perhaps one of the only humans he had complete and total respect for. She was logical, dutybound, and determined to get the crew home. The notion that she’d abandon her principles to pursue a relationship that went against Starfleet protocols was ridiculous.
But he couldn’t deny the feelings that typically accompanied human relationships were definitely there. On both sides.
Unable to remain an observer to the crew’s blatant disrespect for their Captain and First Officer any longer, he typed into the chat, “May I remind you all, gossip of this nature is not only frivolous, but also deeply disrespectful to the Captain and Commander.”
@tom1_delta! : oh, ease up Tuvok, it’s just a little light-hearted fun
@Chef_Neelix_4ever : I assure u, we mean no disrespect
Tuvok rolled his eyes at the lack of gramma. Seemingly, that was not something anybody else using these devices cared about. Still, he didn’t comment on it; he was only here to observe crew behaviour, not overly criticise them.
@tom1_delta! : its not like we used the eggplant emoji
@kim_harry!49 : with the water droplets😉
@Lt.Com.Tuvok : Dare I ask what you’re referring to?
@kim_harry!49 : best not!
With a long sigh, Tuvok put the phone down, satisfied that there was nothing of concern occurring as a result of the device at the present moment. Though he’d have to check again later, just to make sure.
As he had predicted, Tom’s ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ went down a treat with the crew. The first day alone saw five people the victims of the challenge, Tom and Harry included, and it was the talk of the entire ship. Looking over the Mess Hall with pride, Tom concluded that he’d never had a more ingenious idea than the day he’d introduced the crew to cell phones, and social media more specifically.
He was just getting ready to report to the bridge when one of the largest and most active group chat’s, ‘Lt.’s down ;0’, caught his attention.
@sammy_w1ldm4n : naomi’s asking for a cell phone, anyone know how to restrict access to certain apps and limit the amount of time she can use it for
@helmqueen_111 : @tom1_delta! might know??
Tom sighed down at the screen - maybe he shouldn’t have added quite so many historically accurate functions to the design. It was fine when only a few people were active on the apps, easy to ignore them when he needed to. But there were so many people involved now that he was struggling to get five minutes away before needing to be back at the helm, metaphorically speaking.
And, to make matters worse, they all saw him as the resident expert. Whenever anyone needed something, or wanted something, they all turned to him, and he was beginning to understand why the so-called ‘influencers’ of the twenty-first century called it a blessing and a curse.
@tom1_delta! : theres an option in settings called parental controls, that should give you all the options you need 😊
After hitting send on his quick reply, Tom forced the phone back into his pocket and headed quickly to the duty shift he was now at risk of being late for. He jumped into a turbo lift with a pair of crewman he was only briefly acquainted with. More than four years in the Delta Quadrant and you’d think they’d know everyone fantastically by now, but there were still a few falling through the cracks.
“Deck one.” He ordered to the lift.
“Excuse me,” One of the crewman said softly, tucking a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear. “You’re the one in that video, aren’t you? The one who slipped on the ice after it was poured over your head?”
The feeling of flattery was pulled out from under him when the pair began giggling uncontrollably. That unfortunate incident seemed to be the source of most of the enthusiasm about the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ and the source of hours of relentless teasing. Under normal circumstances, he’d grit his teeth and bare it, but yet another downside of social media became apparent to him: no escape from the mockery.
Actually, it almost made a pleasant change for the teasing to happen in person rather than from behind a screen.
Once the turbo lift arrived at the bridge, he quickly excused himself and stepped into the one room he could be certain to be free from the burden of his own design.
“Good morning, Ensign Paris.” Commander Chakotay greeted him from the command chair. With a smirk he added, “Here just in the nick of time.”
“Just got a little held up in the Mess Hall, sir.” Paris mumbled, sliding into his seat at the helm with ease.
“Held up by ice, I suspect.” Tuvok said in his usual sarcastic, patronising tone that made Paris’ blood boil. What made Tom flush, however, was the fact that everyone on the bridge, except Commander Chakotay, burst out laughing. So much for the bridge being an escape from his embarrassment.
“Ice, Tuvok?” Chakotay turned to the officer, puzzled.
“Indeed, sir.”
“Dare I ask?” Chakotay smirked up at Harry, who was dutifully manning his post with pride.
“I wouldn’t if I were you, sir.”
No more than two minutes after Tom had assumed his position at the helm, the Captain emerged onto the ship and assumed command, seeming totally oblivious to the current trend sweeping through the ship. Exactly the way Tom wanted it to stay.
It was no secret that the crew had noticed the feelings between the Captain and her first officer growing stronger. No secret that each of their eyes followed the other around any room they were in together. Or that their touches lingered slightly longer than would be considered purely platonic.
But these secrets that were never spoken aloud between crew members had found an outlet currently unknown to the pair, and Tom doubted either of them would be amused by what they’d find if they went searching through the device of any crew member. Especially not those who served beside the pair on the bridge.
For every star he watched pass by them through the view screen, the cell phone in his pocket vibrated at least three times. Most of the outbursts he managed to cover with conveniently timed coughs, but after a while, not even he could pass off that many subtle coughs.
“Ensign Paris.” Captain Janeway said firmly as she eyed him suspiciously from her chair. “Care to explain why your pants appear to be vibrating?”
Several of the officers around them snickered to themselves as Tom flushed deep red. So much for keeping the cell phones a secret from the captain and commander. He now turned to hoping that the Captain wouldn’t have access to any previous content shared amongst the crew.
“Well, Captain… uhm…” Tom stammered.
“I believe, Captain, that the vibrating is being caused by Ensign Paris’ ‘cell phone’.” Tuvok explained while Tom grew even redder.
“‘Cell phone’?” Janeway frowned. “I’m sorry, Tom but I’m gonna need a little more information.”
Tom sighed heavily and drew his cell phone from his pocket reluctantly. “It’s an early twenty-first century device. It has several apps – programmes – that allow you to communicate with other people who also have a cell phone. The vibrating is the phone getting notifications, of people interacting with me. I’m sorry, I forgot to put it on silent.”
“So you’re saying that you and a few other crew members replicated yourself an ancient communication device and are using it to interact with each other during your duty shifts?” Chakotay asked suspiciously, causing at least four other bridge members to roll their eyes. As he and the captain glanced around the bridge, both of their eyes widened.
“It’s more like half the crew.” Tom mumbled.
“More accurately,” Tuvok corrected. “The current number stands at around one-hundred and twenty-nine, based on my number of followers on the application known as ‘Instagram’.”
Subtly, Harry smirked over at Tom and the man was powerless in his attempt to avoid reciprocating the gesture. He’d hardly believed it himself when the Vulcan had joined in on this trend. He definitely hadn’t expected him to engage with the social media platforms as much as he had.
“Tuvok? You knew about this-this… I don’t even know what this is…” The Captain pinched her forehead in frustration and turned her attention back to Tom. “Ensign Paris, unless this device had unknowingly become a part of the uniform, I suggest you leave it in your quarters the next time you report for duty. For now just, please, make it stop vibrating continuously.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Tom mumbled and pulled the device from his pocket to quickly mute it. Unfortunately, the small exchange didn’t seem to quell the Captain’s curiosity.
“I don’t suppose there’s any particular reason why the entire crew seems to know about you latest obsession except myself, Tom?”
“And me Captain.” Chakotay jumped in and Tom spotted several crew members wince slightly, all aware of the exact reason the pair had been kept in the dark for so long.
“Well, Captain-” Tuvok began, luckily, Harry had the sense to stop him.
“It was just because we thought it was a little too… immature for you to be interested in. But if you are I can help you set it up, if you’d like me to.”
“I appreciate the offer, Ensign.” The Captain smiled. “I might just take you up on that.”
Two months ago, the last thing Captain Janeway would have expected to find herself doing after a particularly long and monotonous workday was watching videos of various members of her crew having buckets of ice dumped over their heads on a crude piece of twenty-first century technology. And she definitely wouldn’t have expected to find herself doing so in her first officer’s bed.
Yet here she was, and she was enjoying every minute of it.
Kathryn couldn’t put her finger on the exact moment her and Chakotay’s relationship had become something more than platonic. Perhaps it was the night she kissed him when she was convinced they’d finally found their way home after four years stuck in the delta quadrant. Or was it New Earth and the unspoken promises they’d exchanged in that shelter, the way he’d held her in his arms during the storm that said more than a thousand words. Most likely, it had crept in gradually.
They’d both resisted it for so long; citing duty and Starfleet regulations until they were blue in the face. It was the night they finally stopped fighting their feelings that would be forever etched in her mind though. The indescribable connection between them that they realised how ridiculous they’d been to avoid this joy for so long.
Keeping their relationship from the crew wasn’t something they’d done on purpose. Kathryn was sure they were both just waiting for the other one to bring up the matter, but for now they seemed content to keep it between the two of them.
“What has you smiling so much?” Chakotay smirked at her softly, climbing under the covers beside her. She offered no resistance as he pulled her into his side.
“It’s these ridiculous video on Tom’s ‘cell phone’. There seems to be a challenge going on at the moment where various crew members get doused in a bucket of ice. Neelix seems to be the latest victim.” Kathryn smiled as she showed Chakotay the video.
Although he let out a soft chuckle, she could tell he still hadn’t fully been convinced of the appeal with these devices. Honestly, she was still a little doubtful herself, but then she scrolled to the next video. Watching Tom slip on the ice made her slightly more receptive to the idea.
“I suppose that explains Tuvok’s comment on the bridge this morning about Tom being late because of ice.” Chakotay said to himself more than her as that clearly happened before she arrived.
Kathryn simply hummed in response and turned her attention back to the cell phone. The way Tom and Harry described the device to her throughout the day made it sound like she would be receiving messages from crew members constantly, that the device would be flooded with content for her to view, but it seemed that whatever the reason was for her lack of inclusion before had been hidden from her.
Still, she continued on exploring the ‘app’ called ‘Tik Tok’, which was filled with videos more than three-hundred years old.
“Are you planning on spending the entire night with your face glued to that thing?” Chakotay grumbled after just a few minutes.
“I assumed I’d eventually fall asleep.” She replied sarcastically, not even taking her eyes off of the screen.
“Clearly only one of us paid attention in our history classes. The blue light in those screens used to cause insomnia.”
Rolling her eyes, she urged him, “Your point?”
“I just thought that if you’re gonna be falling asleep your entire time on the bridge tomorrow, there are better causes than Tom’s new toy.”
The flirtation in his voice finally grabbed her full focus. “What did you have in mind?”
“If you put that phone down, I’ll show you.” As he spoke, his hand trailed down the side of her face to cup her cheek, pulling her up into a steady, passionate kiss that had her tossing the phone aside without a second thought.
While she may have been the youngest crewman, Seven of Nine believed Naomi Wildman possessed essential knowledge for her endeavour to learn more about humanity. Particularly when it came to the more bizarre interactions between crewmembers. Their weekly Kadis-Kot often taught her more about socialising with other humans than she could learn in a weeks’ worth of meetings in the briefing room.
“So you’re saying the crew have been filming themselves getting frozen for fun?” Seven asked curiously.
“Yeah. My mom showed me the video of Ensign Paris and Ensign Kim doing the challenge. Ensign Paris slipped on the ice afterwards; it was so funny I nearly spat my juice straight across the table.” Naomi giggled before moving one of her pieces on the Kadis-Kot board. “Your turn.”
“It seems like a rather inefficient use of their time, if you ask me.” Seven huffed, making her own move. Though it was not the move she’d pick if she were playing strictly with the objective to win.
“It’s fun, Seven. Fun isn’t supposed to be efficient.” Naomi rolled her eyes.
“Perhaps I should replicate one of these ‘cell phones’. To discover what all the excitement is about.”
“I can help you set it up, after we finish our game.” Naomi offered, moving another of her pieces and setting herself up to win in the next move. Though Seven could clearly see the way to prevent this, she often let the girl win if she’s played a better than average game; she was only a child, after all.
“That would be acceptable.” Seven nodded, watching to board as Naomi made her winning move. “Congratulations. You seem to have beaten me.”
“Seven…” Naomi sighed frustratedly. “I know you let me win.”
“I have no idea what you’re referring to. You have beaten me, fair-and-square.” Seven stood up swiftly. “Now, shall we go and set up my ‘cell phone’?”
Nodding eagerly, Naomi raced off from Seven towards Cargo Bay two leaving the woman no choice but to leave the Kadis-Kot board in the Mess Hall for someone else to deal with – she’d go back to check it had been properly disassembled later that day.
It took her and Naomi more than half-an-hour to figure out how to fully set up the device, but once they were ready, they wasted no time in uncovering what it was about these devices that had captured the crew’s attention so well. As far as Seven could tell, there was nothing remarkable about the programmes held on the device. In fact, scrolling past endless images from the crew felt primitive compared to the level of entertainment that could be found on the holodeck.
When they came across a video of Neelix being doused in a bucket of ice, Naomi burst into a fit of giggles while Seven just grew more puzzled. “I do not understand what is so amusing. He was clearly experiencing mild discomfort, rather dramatically, I must say.”
“It’s funny because we know he wasn’t badly hurt but he had such a big reaction.” Naomi sputtered between laughter. “And look, there’s a new one of B’Elanna doing the challenge.”
“That just seems particularly cruel given that Klingons have an increased sensitivity to cold temperatures. Though her anger is certainly… intriguing.” Seven smothered the urge to smirk at the woman in the video’s almost violent reaction to the very thing she volunteered to partake in.
Hearing her own name mentioned from the device, Seven’s attention suddenly snapped down.
“My name is B’Elanna Torres, and I nominate Seven of Nine as the next person to do the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’.”
Another voice from behind the camera that sounded like Harry Kim rightfully corrected the woman, “But Seven doesn’t have a cell phone.”
“Well she’ll have to get one then.” B’Elanna snapped before the video looped back to the start.
“What does this mean?” Seven turned to Naomi.
After giving herself a moment to read the text at the bottom of the screen, the girl answered, “I think you have to do the challenge next. Or Tom and Harry will cut all power to the Astrometrics Lab.”
“But I do not wish to participate in this insane human ritual. Surely the captain will not allow them to pursue this course of action.” Seven insisted as Naomi began to look more and more worried.
“I don’t know. The Captain does have her own cell phone. Perhaps she’s okay with it.”
As her body grew stiff, Seven insisted, “That is absurd. I need my Astrometrics Lab to complete my work.”
“Then I guess you only have one option.” Naomi smirked.
“It would seem so.”
Harry had let Tom talk him into some pretty stupid things these past few years in the Delta Quadrant. But right now, he was certain the worst of all had to be the cell phones. When the Ice Bucket Challenge had been so successful, Tom thought it was a good idea to recreate some other classic challenges people used their cell phones for.
Unfortunately, people in the early twenty-first century seemed to enjoy making themselves suffer.
‘Just eat one of these chips’ Tom had said not five minutes after walking into Harry’s quarters. And Harry, being the good friend that he was, indulged him. Big mistake. As soon as the flavour coating the chip hit his tongue, it began doing its devilish work, lulling him into a false sense of security so he wouldn’t do the sensible thing and spit it out.
“Go on Harry!” Tom cheered beside him while his friend struggled to breath from the intense spice.
Tears were soaking his cheeks, but they were hardly distinguishable from the beads of sweat beginning to coat his skin. While Tom sat there holding his cell phone in Harry’s face, laughing his head off, Harry was fighting for his sanity. And he was losing.
“Milk…Tom. Please just get… me some… milk.” Harry pleaded, pounding his fist against the table to try to distract him from the pain of the spice.
“Oh no, my friend. You’re gonna set a record time aboard Voyager.”
If Harry weren’t struggling to form coherent thoughts, he would have rolled his eyes dramatically. “I’m the first one… doing this. I already have-”
“I know, but I want this to be a challenge for people to beat.” Tom said loudly before turning the camera to his face. “You heard that right folks. I challenge all of you to try and beat Ensign Kim’s time. The person with the highest time by the end of the week will receive a week’s worth of replicator rations from my own personal supply.”
While Tom was distracted by his phone, Harry used the opportunity to bolt out of his seat to beg the replicator for a glass of milk. The moment it appeared, he gulped down half the glass, not caring that most of it was pouring down the sides of his neck.
“And there we have it. The time to beat is four minutes and thirty-eight seconds. Will it be you that enjoys a glorious steak dinner at the end of the week? Or perhaps gets a knew bedazzled case for their cell phone? Whatever your guilty pleasure may be, be sure to complete ‘Tom’s spicy chip challenge’ for the chance to win.”
Once Tom had ended his recording, Harry shot his friend a glare stronger than any photon torpedo. “Sometimes, I wonder why I ever became friends with you.”
“Oh, please. Your life would be boring without me.” Tom grinned.
“If you say so.” Harry sighed, moving to retake his seat beside his friend. “Now, I swear these things didn’t used to last this long when the challenge was around the first time.”
“Let’s just say, I made some adjustments to the chips. The worst point of the effect will last indefinitely until you drink milk to neutralise it.” Tom grinned like he was a genius about to be recognised.
“So you were gonna leave me suffering like that indefinitely?” Harry yelled.
“I would have relented eventually. In truth, I was hoping things would get a lot more embarrassing for you before you fully caved.”
“You’re unbelievable.” Harry muttered to himself. He definitely should’ve picked a different friend that first day at Deep Space Nine.
“Katherine, this is ridiculous.” Chakotay grumbled as he sat beside his Captain in her quarters, something he’d become very familiar with in the past few months. He always found himself surprised by the woman he loved, especially when her face appeared to be hiding nothing at all. It was her tell.
Usually, he was more than pleased by the surprise waiting for him, but this was not one of those times.
“It is not ridiculous. It’s a way to bond with the crew more. You’ve been saying yourself, for months now, that I should try not to keep myself so isolated from everyone.” Rolling her eyes dramatically, Katherine sat down beside him with the dreaded bowl of chips.
“I meant going to the Mess Hall, sitting down with them, having a conversation.” He doubled-down. “This is just torturing yourself for their amusement and dragging me along with you.”
“It’s also a way of putting the idea of the two of us together in their heads more. Like we’ve been making an effort to do for a few weeks now, so it’s not a total surprise when we actually announce it to them.”
“I understand that, but we don’t need to humiliate ourselves in the process.” Chakotay sighed, leaning back into the couch with a long groan.
He simply didn’t get the appeal of these cell phones. It was just a piece of technology designed to waste the crew’s time, especially since there was now superior technology for all its once useful functions. And that wasn’t even addressing the toxic culture it actively encouraged; today alone he’d had to deal with three separate crew complaints about things that happened ‘online’.
He was sick of the stupid things.
“I suppose you’re right.” Katherine sighed as she reasted her head on his shoulder and curled her feet up beneath her. “Can I at least show you this cute video of Naomi Wildman? The chip Tom made for the challenge is too spicy for children, so she used a continuous loop of sour candy, from the ‘cell phone era’.”
As Katherine held the device in front of him to show the video of Naomi, he was forced to admit there seemed to be one benefit to these devices: capturing adorable moments like this. She wasn’t in pain, like Ensign Kim had been, but her reaction to the sourness was, ironically, sweet.
With a soft chuckle, he mumbled, “That was an acceptable use of that device.”
“You sound like Seven when you say things like that.” Kathryn laughed and he couldn’t help but join her.
“Really?” He raised a daring brow at her. “Captain, I must disagree.”
“Oh… Why?” Her voice grew huskier as she leaned into him until her lips lingered so close to his own that he could feel her breathing against them.
“Because I don’t imagine Seven would ever do to you what I’m about to.”
Chakotay heard, and felt, her breath hitch in her throat. “And what might that be?”
Without uttering another word, he bridged the gap between them and captured her lips in a hard kiss. He still felt that same rush when he kissed her that he’d gotten that very first time. When he was certain she’d turn her back to him, ask him to leave and never speak of it again.
But she hadn’t. And every kiss they’d shared afterwards ignited that same passion. The feeling of giving each other everything they had, like they believed this was going to be the last time.
When her hands began trailing down the front of his chest, and then lower, he mumbled against her lips, “Shall we move this to your bed?”
“Too far.” She waved him off by quickly unbuttoning his pants and working the zipper to the base. As he shifted to pull them off, Kathryn took advantage of the opportunity and removed her own jacket, tossing it carelessly aside and leaning back onto her elbows. The look she fixed him with sent a spark of electricity jolting through his body.
‘Seven of Nine to the Captain.’ Kathryn’s Com Badge chirped from a few metres away on the floor.
After pausing to let out a heavy sigh, the Captain shifted over to pick up the discarded badge, “Captain, here.”
“Are you okay, Captain?” Seven asked, demonstrating more concern than Chakotay was accustomed to seeing from her. “You sound a little breathless.”
“I was just attempting Ensign Paris’ latest challenge.” Kathryn answered quickly, shooting her first officer a slight smirk as she did so.
“I see. Were you successful?” Seven asked.
“No.”
“I understand. It was very difficult for me to overtake Ensign Kim’s lead without someone stopping me from ending my suffering, but I believe I have now established a substantial advantage. You’ll undoubtedly see it when I upload the video content to the programme ‘Tik Tok’ tomorrow morning.”
“Why not just upload it now?” The Captain asked, and Chakotay shook his head with a sigh.
“As you will soon learn, Captain, timing is everything when it comes to posting on these social media programmes.”
“I’m sure it is.” Kathryn agreed before getting sucked into a long conversation about something on the Astronomical Sensors with Seven. For a moment, Chakotay tried to pay attention to what they were talking about, but once it became clear it was non-urgent, he tuned out. He’d never been as passionate about science as Kathryn.
His passion was for exploration, whether that was space, new cultures, or even learning new things about himself. But he couldn’t help admiring her in moments like this; she had an extraordinary mind. At first glance, she’d looked like any other Star Fleet Captain, she’d soon proved otherwise though.
“Janeway to Chakotay.” Kathryn mumbled into his ear, both the sound of her words and her breath against his ear startled him from his thoughts of her. “What has you so fascinated?”
“You…” He smirked up at her as she rolled her eyes at him with a soft chuckle. “The way you get so animated at every possible scientific discovery will never be boring to me.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it.”
“I’m glad you came up with an excuse for why you sounded so breathless so fast.”
A wicked grin lit up her face brighter than any of the artificial lights in the room could. “A Captain must be able to think on her feet.”
“What about on her back?” He shot back, snaking his arms around her torso.
“I think that requires further testing, don’t you?”
“Definitely…”
@holopera_EMH : @tom1_delta! I think there must be a problem with my account. Every time I try to livestream my performance of ‘La donna é mobile’, it won’t let any of the crew join the stream. It’s not like they’d miss the opportunity after all the announcements I posted to my story for the past two days. If you could assist me, it would be much appreciated.
@tom1_delta : i’m sure the problem is something u can fix yourself
@kim_harry!49 : yeh, i’m sure that’s it
@...3lanna_b… : i cant think of any other reason
@holopera_EMH : But I’ve checked every obvious option and there doesn’t seem to be any other reason why people aren’t joining by livestream.
@C4p_J4new4y : Perhaps people are busy. With their duty shifts. Tom. Harry. B’Elanna…
@kim_harry!49 : sorry Captain
@...3lanna_b… : yes Captain
Tom rolled his eyes down at the screen. Why was the Captain lecturing them about using their phones on duty when she was clearly doing exactly the same thing? The only difference was that she was in her ready room and Tom was at the helm. So what?
Of course, he didn’t dare say that to the Captain. Just like how he didn’t dare tell the doctor that no one was watching his livestream because no one wanted to spend their free time watching him sing some ancient opera. Though Tom did have to admit that the livestreams were a critically underutilised function aboard their ship. Whilst most functions were being embraced with open arms, there were still a few gems that weren’t getting the recognition they deserved.
The Ice Bucket Challenge had gone down a hit, especially after Seven and Naomi Wildman’s contribution. Then ‘Tom’s spicy chip challenge’ had taken the ship by storm but with Seven having been deemed the winner, the cell phone hype was dying out – as they said in that original era. The crew needed a new fixation and the Doctor’s livestream complaint had given Tom the perfect idea.
He waited until the gamma shift to put his plan into action, but early enough into it for most of the crew to still be awake, and most importantly on their cell phones. Carefully, he crept his way through the vacant corridor’s, avoiding any place he was likely to get spotted. It was a delicate game he was planning. Every move needed to be perfectly timed to avoid ruining the entire operation, every step perfectly determined and executed. The target needed to be someone who wouldn’t know that Tom was starting the livestream, and there was only one perfect choice.
Commander Chakotay.
He was the only member of the crew who hadn’t succumbed to the cell phone craze but was still well known by every member of staff. And, most importantly, he’d been working the alpha shift that morning and would most likely be in bed already.
Once Tom made it to the outside of the first officer’s quarters, he crouched down behind a nearby bulkhead and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. This was the moment everything could go wrong. He wanted to set up the trap while livestreaming what he was doing to the entire crew, but if he spoke too loudly, he’d risk the commander discovering him before he had chance to fully execute his plan.
Hesitantly, Tom clicked the button to begin the livestream and waited for the steady trickle of viewers to climb. As he’d expected, few people joined at first, who would with the full variety of choice available on these devices, but the more of his plan he explained and put into action, the more crew members logged on. He was definitely more than lucky Tuvok hadn’t discovered his plan and emerged around the corner ready to deliver his tirade of the futility of practical jokes.
“Okay, everyone, the trip wire attached to the bucket of honey, the pile of feathers, and the fan are all set up.” Tom narrated into his mobile phone barely louder than a whisper. “Now, you may not know this, but I actually got this idea from an ancient Earth movie, known as ‘The Parent Trap’. Commander Chakotay won’t know what hit him. All that’s left is to get the camera in place.”
Tom placed the camera so that it would perfectly capture the entrance to Chakotay’s quarters and ducked back beside it to continue his narration. “Now, I have a big favour to ask of you. Someone must initiate calling Commander Chakotay to a vital system somewhere in the ship. I, obviously cannot do this, so I need one eager viewer to do it for me.”
Barely five seconds later, Chakotay was summoned to Engineering, and Tom’s plan was set in motion. Everyone was content to keep the silence while waiting. Sure, there were several comments, but none of them seemed impatient; everyone was just excited about the concept of seeing Chakotay lovingly humiliated.
In his own opinion, Ton truly possessed a brilliant mind for entertainment.
“Commander Chakotay, please report to engineering.”
Chakotay groaned loudly into the side of Kathryn’s neck. They so rarely got time together when neither of them was on duty and then some overeager ensign has to go and ruin it with words like that. He swore they must have a sixth sense for these things.
“Ignore it.” Kathryn mumbled in a moment totally out of character; normally, she wouldn’t have hesitated to send him to work. Though Chakotay supposed she must have some sort of bias for letting him ignore Ensign’s when he was naked in her bed, about two minutes away from bringing her ecstasy with his tongue.
“You have no idea how much I want to.” Chakotay whispered hoarsely, dipping his head to capture her lips in a heated kiss. With great restraint, he pulled himself away from her and up to sit on the edge of the bed. “But neither of us would forgive the other if I did that.”
Kathryn just rolled her eyes. “Delegate. Isn’t that what you always tell me to do?”
“I’ll be quick.” He promised, standing to retrieve his abandoned uniform that was strewn across the Captain’s bedroom floor.
“You’d better be.”
“How could I not be, when I’d be ignoring a direct order like that?” He flirted, pulling on his t-shirt and jacket.
“I mean it, Commander. Warp 9.75.” Kathryn warned, her tone an irresistible blend of authority and flirtation that certainly wasn’t helping his still prominent state of arousal. This was definitely a moment he was grateful for the forgiving nature of the Starfleet uniform.
He smirked back at her from the doorway. “I’ll try for Warp 10, just for you.”
“You’d better.” He vaguely heard her mumble just moment before he stepped into what he was expecting to be an empty corridor.
Of all the things Chakotay was expecting to find on his late-night summons, Tom Paris crouching outside his own quarters didn’t even make the list. But there he was, watching the door like a hawk until Chakotay stepped out fully into the hall.
“Ensign?” Chakotay barked down the corridor, watching the young man’s face fill with fear. What happened next seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.
The unexpected appearance of Chakotay from the Captain’s quarters instead of his own had clearly shocked the man, so much so that he darted up from his hideout and tripped into the door for the Commander’s quarters. Directly onto the string clearly meant to function as a trip wire.
As Tom was covered with a bucket full of sticky honey, he screamed. Then came the feathers. The sight before him was too much for Chakotay to hide his amusement, no matter how angry he was at the attempted prank.
“What’s going on out there?” The Captain’s voice grew closer to the pair until the doors to her quarters flew open again. “Chakotay?”
He didn’t react quickly enough to stop her from emerging into the middle of the hall in nothing but a robe. Tom’s eyes left their sockets at warp speed.
“Ensign Paris?” Kathryn tried her hardest to sound authoritative, but a hint of humour trickled into her voice. “What in the hell is going on?”
Tom said nothing as he slowly stood to his feet and let his eyes fall to the cell phone at his side, camera pointing directly at him, but still wide enough that all three of them would be caught in his gaze.
“If you’re recording this interaction for some kind of ridiculous video, you can delete that footage right this instant, Tom.” Chakotay spat. This only helped to prove his opinion that those devices should be put under a ship wide ban. A refusal he was now certain the Captain was regretting.
“Actually, I don’t think that would help matters.” Tom mumbled sheepishly as Chakotay’s stomach dropped.
“And why is that, Ensign?” Kathryn’s voice fell low, so quiet that Chakotay could visibly see Tom squirm under her gaze.
“Well… You see… It’s actually quite funny-”
“Just get on with it, Ensign.” The Captain ordered.
“Right, right… Getting rid of the footage won’t help because… Because what it’s filming right now, is being… streamed, live to most of the crew.”
The Captain froze at his side; the rage permeating through her skin flooded the corridor and was enough to make both men shudder. Neither were surprised by this though. Chakotay could feel the embarrassment in his own face, and he was fully dressed in his uniform as opposed to Kathryn’s silk robe.
“End the transmission.” The Captain commanded through gritted teeth. When Tom remained frozen in fear, she raised her voice ever so slightly. “That’s an order, Ensign.”
Like a mouse freed from its trap, Tom scurried to the phone and ended to transmission abruptly. The fact the man had been caught in his own trap was perhaps the only positive thing to come from this incident.
He wasn’t going to admit that a small part of him was glad his relationship with the Captain was out in the open now, because she’d been humiliated in the process and could see the pain of that etched visibly on her face. Kathryn had been finding any excuse to put off revealing their relationship to the crew, and he’d gone along with it because he needed to respect her decisions as his Captain. Yet all he really wanted was to scream that he loved this woman from the top of his lungs, regardless of who heard him say it.
“Tom, I suggest you back to your quarters and visit the sonic shower.” Chakotay said, his tone indicating his words were in fact an order and not merely a suggestion. Once Tom was gone, the pair walked back into Kathryn’s quarters. They certainly had a long discussion ahead of them, one they’d put off for far too long already.
@kim_harry!49 : i think im still in shock!
@kim_harry!49 : the captain and com. Chakotay are in a relationship??
@...3lanna_b… : i say good for them, they’ve both been far too lonely for too long
@Chef_Neelix_4ever : i agree, they’ve both seemed far happier these past few weeks than they ever did b4
@double_delaney_13<3 : we didnt find out theyre in a relationship tho, only that theyre sleeping together
@holopera_EMH : I believe humans refer to that kind of relationship as FWB, or ‘friends with benefits’ if you prefer.
@mari_hen!! : YES! what if the captain was just a little ‘tense’, and the commander offered his ‘services’
@kim_harry!49 : ugh! stop or i might puke!!!!!
@Chef_Neelix_4ever : im sure the captain and commander r very much in love
@...3lanna_b… : @tom1_delta how r u holding up?
@kim_harry!49 : yeh, have u managed to get all that stuff off u??
@holopera_EMH : Medically speaking, the honey won’t have any serious medical ramifications. I can’t speak for how you must be holding up psychologically though.
@kim_harry!49 : hope the cap didnt come down on u too hard
@Chef_Neelix_4ever : @tom1_delta if it makes u feel any better, it was one hell of a show u put on, the entire mess hall is still raving about it
@Lt.Com.Tuvok : I’m sure that Ensign Paris is ‘holding up’ just fine. As for your speculation about the nature of the Captain’s relationship with her First Officer, I must once again instruct you to cease with this immediately.
@...3lanna_b… : its hardly speculation
@7_of_9 : Unfortunately, B’elanna is correct. I have been unable to come up with an alternative hypothesis for the events of Ensign Paris’ livestream than the Captain and Commander Chakotay engaging in intimate relations.
@7_of_9 : In fact, it’s making me rethink a conversation I had with her just the other evening. She was definitely, out of sorts, and I could have sworn I heard someone else shuffling around in the background.
@Lt.Com.Tuvok : Nevertheless, it would be wise for you all to cease these discussions until the Captain or Commander explain the situation.
The Captain hadn’t been able to leave her Ready Room all morning. How could she when more than half the crew had seen her in nothing more than a silk robe? They’d undoubtedly lost any respect they’d once had for her, and she didn’t want to put herself in a position where she might accidentally overhear any gossip about herself.
There was another issue keeping her locked in the room though: how to manage the cell phone incident going forward.
Part of her was convinced to put an immediate ship-wide ban into effect. They were interfering with numerous crew members work, promoting anti-social behaviour and, most importantly, leading to many embarrassing incidents. It would be better just to cut the problem off at the source.
But could she really exhibit that much control over what the crew did in their spare time? Undoubtedly, there’d be push back on her plan. People would accuse her of putting the plan in place simply because she’d been humiliated, even though that wasn’t the case.
There was only one person who could tell her what the best course of action would be. So, against her better judgement, she summoned Tom Paris to her Ready Room.
With the sound of her doorbell, she uttered a hurried, “Enter.”
“Captain.” Tom nodded awkwardly before moving to sit at her desk.
“Tom…”
“Captain, I just need to say, I really am sorry about what happened last night. If I had thought that would happen at all, I would never have done it. I just wanted to do a harmless prank to entertain the crew. And I am truly sorry for any embarrassment or suffering I’ve caused you.”
“I understand that. But you have to understand, I can’t just let this go unpunished.” Kathryn took a heavy breath and locked onto Tom with a firm glare. “Taking myself out of the situation, you still set up an elaborate prank against my First Officer, and as punishment, I’m confiscating two weeks’ worth of replicator rations and revoking your holodeck privileges for the next month. Do I make myself clear?”
Tom nodded and mumbled, “Yes, Captain.”
“Now that we have that settled, I need your help with another matter.” Leaning back into her chair, Kathryn folded her arms over her chest.
“Captain?”
“The cell phone chaos you started has got to stop, Tom. I have people using these devices on duty. Sharing intimate information 24 hours a day. And several crew members’ performance had fallen as a direct result of their cell phone usage. I’m not a fool; I know I can’t just go around ripping the things out of people’s hands, but this whole thing has to stop.”
Tom hesitated for a moment, before raising a brow at her. “Forgive me if I’m wrong, Captain, but don’t you have a cell phone yourself?”
“As of this morning, no. Not anymore.”
“Right… right.”
“So, Ensign. Any suggestions?” Kathryn asked.
“Well, people aren’t just going to hand them over. Some might, but most would just keep them discretely, replicate a spare. That sort of thing.” Tom confirmed the Captain’s doubts. “I suggest we do something as a sort of send-off. Neelix has been dying for an opportunity to hold another party.”
“You want to throw a party to say goodbye to a bit of ancient technology?”
“Not just to say goodbye. It can be like a highlights reel. We go over all the best things, most iconic things that happened over the past two weeks. Then have people gradually hand them in as they leave and shut down to programmes immediately afterwards.”
The Captain just stared for several moments. He couldn’t be serious, could he? This had to make the list of most ridiculous suggestions she’d ever been given. But then, people had been enjoying the technology, they would relish the chance to recap its best moments with each other. It would be excellent for crew moral.
“Okay.” The Captain shuddered as she gave the order. “I’m entrusting you to coordinate this with Mr Neelix. Shall we say tomorrow evening?”
“Sounds good, Captain.” Tom nodded as he stood up awkwardly.
“Okay, then, dismissed.”
As he made to leave, however, Tom paused. “I… Captain, if you’re worried about the crew’s reaction to your relationship with Commander Chakotay, you should know that you have the full, unanimous support of all of us. We just want you both to be happy.”
Kathryn smiled for the first time that day. “Thank you, Ensign.”
Tom looked at his simple ‘t-shirt and jeans combo’ in his bathroom mirror with a wide grin. He was sure when he’d been called into the Captain’s Ready Room a couple days earlier that he was in for a punishment that could rival his demotion to Ensign. Instead, he’d somehow convinced her to let him and Neelix throw a 2020’s themed party in the mess hall.
The past day had been spent with him obsessing over every tiny, authentic detail, right down to the masks and hand sanitiser – a nod to the covid-19 pandemic that had taken over at the beginning of this party’s ‘era’, as they would have referred to it at the time.
‘Neelix to Ensign Paris’. The comm summoned him, startling him out of his brief moment of peace he’d scraped together.
“Paris here.”
‘Please report to the Mess Hall, we’re almost ready for guests to begin arriving.’
“I’m on my way.” As Tom made his way through Voyager’s corridor’s, he checked his cell phone, perhaps for the last ever time. The group chats were littered with people outraged by the news they would have to surrender their device at the end of the evening. A few people were blaming the Captain or Commander Chakotay, a lot more blamed Paris though. Clearly, they’d forgotten that he was the whole reason they had the devices in the first place.
But mostly, Tom’s messages were people’s submissions for things they wanted to see in the highlight’s reel. Memorable messages, Tom and Harry’s Ice Bucket Challenge, many of the memes, especially those about the Captain’s suspected relationship with the Commander that turned out to be real.
Once he arrived at the Mess Hall, it didn’t take long for the party to properly begin. The popular music of the time was going down a treat with the crew, despite the slightly vulgar nature of some lyrics. Even the Captain seemed to be enjoying herself after her recent embarrassment. Much to everyone’s amusement, she arrived that night of Chakotay’s arm, and barely left that post since, which encouraged near-enough every attendee to congratulate them on their relationship.
“Excuse me, everyone.” Harry called out while tapping his glass with a spoon. “If I could have your attention for just one moment. I would like to make a toast… to Tom. Without him, these past two weeks would have just been a collection of Star’s and Nebulas. Thank you for giving us something to entertain ourselves with.”
After a cheer of agreement, Harry continued, “And I’d also like to offer my congratulations to the Captain and Commander Chakotay. You both seem much happier these past few weeks and I wish nothing but the best for you for the rest of our journey home and beyond.”
By the time Harry lowered his glass, the Captain’s cheeks had turned a dusty pink, and the Commander was awkwardly tugging at his ear. This was irrelevant as soon as everyone caught the wide smile each of them were baring though. Harry was definitely right that they seemed much happier together than apart.
“Thank you, Mr Kim.” The Captain smiled at the young ensign, raising her own glass. “I have to agree that my relationship with the Commander being out in the open has certainly worked out for the better. Despite however embarrassing it may have been at the time.”
Feeling himself redden at the woman’s words, Tom attempted to hide himself behind the rim of his glass. He couldn’t help but wish he could somehow be swallowed by it.
“And I would also like to thank Ensign Paris, without whom we’d have no reason to be gathered here tonight.” The Captain turned to attention to Tom. “And I think I speak for everyone here when I say, I can’t wait to see what trend you choose to introduce us to next.”
Tome simply rolled his eyes. There would be plenty of time for thinking about that another day, now he just wanted to enjoy the rest of the night with his friends, far away from the viper grip of 21st century technology.