not entirely sure this is at all what you wanted, but it came to me on a boat tour
—
“Kathryn! Welcome!”
“Am I too early? I know we had dinner set for 19:00, but my shift ended ahead of schedule and I could hardly wait to see your new place.”
It had been nearly three months since the return of Voyager, and the former command team had continued their weekly dinners, often meeting at restaurants or one of their quarters. This week, however; Chakotay had invited Kathryn for a home-cooked meal at his brand new house.
After their return to the Alpha Quadrant, the crew had all been assigned apartments on Starfleet grounds with a temporary lease of a hundred days. Many of the crew had already found new residences and begun to disperse themselves.
“Of course you’re not too early, Kathryn. You’re always welcome here,” Chakotay assured her, ushering her inside with a hand to her lower back, “come on, I’ll give you the grand tour.”
Chakotay lead Kathryn through the different rooms in the home, telling her about the various decorations and functions he planned to incorporate into each one. Finally, they came to the library.
“Chakotay this is absolutely wonderful,” Kathryn exclaimed, looking around at the floor to ceiling shelves packed full of books, “but where did all of these books come from?”
“Well the previous owners left a few behind and I’ve been building my collection since we got back,” Chakotay reached out and lead her by the hand, "I figured you’d like this section over here.”
Kathryn turned to look at the shelves behind her and immediately smiled. The particular shelf he had been referring to contained all of her favorite classics. Front and center was her copy of Dante that she had loaned to him all those years ago.
“You can have it back if you like, I just thought it looked at home here.”
Kathryn turned to look up at him, “It does, doesn’t it?”
There was a pause then, before Chakotay slowly stepped closer and pulled her into a gentle kiss. It wasn’t their first, but it was sweet and slow and promised many good things to come.
As they pulled apart, Chakotay seemed to be preoccupied, as if he was searching for the right words.
“Kathryn, I’ve been thinking, I know that once your lease ends, you’ll have to find somewhere to live off of Starfleet headquarters…” Chakotay trailed off.
“Yes. I suppose I will…” Kathryn began, smiling gently in encouragement.
“Why don’t you just move in here? I have an extra room and plenty of living space… I’m even willing to make space in the kitchen for that shuttlecraft of yours you call a coffee maker. After all, we basically lived together on Voyager for years and…” Chakotay trailed off, sensing she was no longer listening.
Kathryn looked up at Chakotay and frowned, “I’m sorry Chakotay, this place just doesn’t have what I need…”
“Oh.”
Chakotay looked down at his shoes and tried not to look as disappointed as he felt. Meanwhile, Kathryn seemed not to be paying him any attention.
“After all, that room you claim is the master bathroom doesn’t have a bathtub. How would you expect me to live like that?”
Chakotay looked up at her in shock, stumbling to find his words, “well I suppose something could be arranged…”
Kathryn nodded and placed her hands on her hips, “good.”
Chakotay was silent for a minute, “was that a yes?”
“Yes, Chakotay. Of course I’ll move in with you,” Kathryn laughed at the grin on his face, “only on the one condition that you build me a bathtub.”
“Your wish is my command, Admiral.”
Chakotay gave a joyful laugh and reached out to pull her into his arms, hugging her tight around her waist. Kathryn looked up at Chakotay and for a moment the two simply smiled at each other. Kathryn then reached around his neck and pulled him down into a passionate kiss.
“And I don’t think I’ll be needing that spare room.”
– K
bekjaneway 