one more day in paradise (forward-dated to sunday)

[chakotay]

When; February 9th
Rating; let's say PG-13 for the half-Klingon being in the same room as the omnipotent being. There might be an honor issue in here somewhere
Characters; Chakotay, Kathryn Janeway, B'Elanna Torres, Harry Kim, Pavel Chekov, Hikaru Sulu, and Q. Yes, even Q
Summary; Chakotay decided that it would be nice for both crews to get together and talk / bond. And Q would've turned up to party crash anyway.
Log;


They were all going to meet at Chekov's little cottage in the woods for this get-together and Chakotay hoped it would be a success, if not a smashing one. He was well aware that it might be a slightly more volatile situation than any of them really wanted simply because Q would be there -- and he knew Q would've been there even if he hadn't been invited -- but he had to hope that everyone would be able to keep their tempers in check and Q would take what he'd said about respect to heart. Maybe then they would be able to enjoy this dinner without hostilities.

Chakotay had done a good part of the cooking. Anyone else was welcome to have cooked or brought something -- no dishes by the captain please -- but he was ready and willing to bring the majority. Cooking was something he was used to and he'd come to like it, especially in this place. It meant he could provide something interesting and it took up a good part of the time he might otherwise spend working in the labs or just being bored. Or trying to meditate or contact his spirit guide. That had been hit or miss lately and he had a feeling that had more to do with the City itself and less with him in general.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was this dinner and how everyone would take it. Hopefully it would all work out. With the food all set out now they just had to wait for everyone else.

Comments

[fingersnapping]

He might just change it all to leola root everything if he knew that, call it a taste of home and regain the crown of mischief that he is sorely feeling the lack of. Q is on a knife's edge of indecision. He's behaving because he should behave. He's overbehaving because it makes him feel like it's his decision, a choice he's made for some unannounced reason. It's a thread that he's holding onto and it might unravel all at once, because Q is pressingly aware that he is soon going to be himself again. That there's a very real possibility that none of this matters, because not one member of this wretched crew can keep their memories.

Chakotay will never remember reaching a level of decency with him. Chekov will not remember dog sled racing. B'ellana will not remember punching him in the face. And Kathy - sweet Kathy - she won't be able to remember a single iota of it. It's devastating. Frustrating. And he wants to make everyone else feel as wretched about it as he does. But he isn't. Out of respect.

Tentatively.

His smile is very nearly nothing at all. Dispirited, it's but a quirk of his lips, belying a tumult of thought just below the surface. He indulges in one of the things off the tray, but only because his treacherous human stomach is insisting on it.

"I appreciate your hospitality, Commander."

Definitely overselling it.

[chakotay]

He could. If he decides to wait until most have eaten enough or leave a few dishes untouched, Chakotay likely won't be as angry as if he changed everything right now. The fact that Q is behaving at all is odd enough, but the words make Chakotay pause just a little longer, as though he's trying to decide if Q is really being honest or if he's just trying to get Chakotay's guard down.

"Thank Chekov. It's his cottage."

And a very nice cottage it is.

Chakotay turns to head into the main room, setting down the dish where there's a spot for it and motioning for Q to get in there too. If only the poor omnipotent being knew there's a weekend he doesn't remember, he might not be so wretched. Or he might be worse. Who knows?

"I think we're going to treat this as a buffet. Help yourself and try a little of all of it. I don't think the Continuum ever had anything quite like this."

[fingersnapping]

If only he'd thought that far ahead. Just getting all their guards down so he could pull the ultimate practical joke! That's more like the Q we know and love! But no, he's sullen because he's rather appreciating the nice things about being - for the first time in his entire, long existence - liked.

Ugh.

Q heads and follows Chakotay, frowning. The cottage is cramped but pleasant, and despite how small it seemed it seemed to go on forever, with all sorts of nooks and crannies--easy places to get lost, and easy places to hide. But what was the point in sulking if nobody could see you do it?

"You cooked all of this? Absolutely nothing replicated?"

[chakotay]

"Nothing replicated," Chakotay confirms. "I thought it might ruin the spirit of the gathering if I gave in to temptation like that."

His smile should say that he's teasing about that comment, but who knows if Q will be able to understand the joke.

[fingersnapping]

"The spirit of the gathering."

He held back on the desire to roll his eyes. Really, why cook things when a replicator could do it just as well? He'd managed to convince Janeway to let him install one in their apartment daily; of course he'd had to convince her that it was simply a better use of their time not to be wasting it on cooking.

"I'd have brought something for you, but I didn't realise it was...in the spirit of the gathering."

[chakotay]

"Just being here is spirit enough," Chakotay answers, well aware that the entire thing is probably lost on Q. "Have you taken a look around? The cottage is nothing to brush off and Chekov is a very good host."

A replicator might work eventually, but for something like this, where ranks had been shed at the door, cooking seemed the more appropriate way. They were anything but children of Starfleet at the moment. Or at least anything but children of the 23rd or 24th centuries.