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

[candothat]

Honestly, Chekov never knows what to call people on his own ship. They've been together long enough that the command crew should, in theory, be on a first-name basis, but Sulu--and, in the City, Uhura--are the only people Chekov is comfortable calling by their given names. Everyone else, with the exception of Scotty who will happily correct anyone who neglects to call him Scotty, is addressed by rank, surname, or both.

No one calls him Pavel at home.

"Of course, and I can take no credit for this place. I had a wizard friend once, and he used to get very drunk and sleep on the floor at my apartment. I think that, when he made this house, he felt obligated to allow me to live here."

But Howl has been gone for a long time, along with Sophie and Tessa and Peter and the Uhura who had become something of a sister. The cottage doesn't feel empty since it had the good graces to shrink itself here and there as its inhabitants left.

[directives]

Her eyebrows lift, but to her credit, she refrains from commenting on the existence of magic. In spite of everything she's seen and experienced here, she still doubts that it's real in the sense that magic users believe it to be. After all, the things Q was capable of could be considered magic, but it wasn't. It was the bending and manipulation of time, matter, and space. to her, that's what magic really was, people just had varying means of going about making those necessary alterations.

"Well, he did a good job with it. I'm glad to hear it fell into good hands."

[candothat]

He does pick up on her disbelief, regardless. It's to be expected. It took about a year before he essentially accepted that there are things in the City that he'll have to accept as "magic" because he didn't have the ability to explain them and "magic" is much easier to say than "that which has not been explained scientifically." They mean the same thing to him. Honestly, Chekov takes a perverse delight in using the word magic around scientifically-minded people, if only because it almost always provokes a reaction.

"He would be pleased to hear as much, and that is the single advantage to being in the City for a long time; when friends leave, they leave their magic cottages behind."