Malia C. Little
June 5th, 2017
Short Story
Prompt:
OTP setting up for Christmas! (J/C)
Details:
POV → Third person switch between Janeway and Chakotay
Genre → funny and cute couple fluff
Start as single friends setting up the Christmas stuff at one person's house and end the story as couples!
Mishaps push the two together into a relationship.
#fluff #funny #J/C #otp
POV; Janeway
Captain Kathryn Janeway was so very happy to be home, and yet so very sad. It had been seven years since she had set foot on the real earth, not some holographic representation that could never compare the real thing. When Voyager had landed on earth and the crew disembarked, she had been left alone, even Chakotay had left, with Seven on his arm, of course. No matter how much she tried, her hurt and pain hit her the hardest today. Her beloved crew had left her, the man she loved was with another, and here she sat, watching Starfleet engineers take apart her beloved ship to see how she ticked after seven years of jury rigged modifications and constant attacks.
"Kathryn!" She turned to see her mother and sister rushing towards her. Before she could say anything, she was wrapped in a tight embrace by both her mother and sister.
"Hey mom," she said meekly.
Her mother pulled back to examine Kathryn's face. "Are you okay?"
"I will be," Kathryn replied. "eventually."
Phoebe interrupted the conversation, "Kathryn, let's go home. You look like you've been hit by your own ship."
If only you knew how true that was.
"Yeah, I feel it too."
POV; Chakotay
He was mentally kicking himself. He was an idiot for ever dating Seven. He knew that, Kathryn knew it, and now Seven knew it too.
"Chakotay, I think we should end whatever it is we have between us."
The Voyager crew had now been back on earth for a few days and Seven had just broken up with him. He still wasn't absolutely sure why she had ended their relationship but he had a pretty good idea. Actually, who was he kidding? He knew exactly why she was breaking up with him. She had probably guessed about his feelings for Kathryn and just how deep they went.
"You are in love with someone who is not me and it is not fair to either of us to continue what will end it heartache for you, me, and, ultimately, the Captain. And Chakotay, I would appreciate an invitation to the wedding."
With that, she had walked out of his Starfleet bequeathed apartment with a wink and sideways smile. Her humanity was coming back in leaps and bounds, evidently.
POV; Janeway
Weeks later, Kathryn felt much better and ready to tackle the overwhelming responsibility of straightening out the mess of their homecoming. Starfleet had been gracious enough to allow a few weeks of R-n-R before the scheduled debriefings and mandatory meetings with counselors.
During these debriefings and meetings, she routinely saw her senior staff, including Chakotay, and other members of her crew. She was also told that Seven had broken it off with Chakotay and, though nobody knew why, there were plenty of theories. What's more, Chakotay looked puzzled and slightly lost, as if he had been told something that had shaken his world and he was trying to find his feet, again. He kept looking at her and then looking away.
Even though Kathryn was worried about Chakotay, she had priorities, the safety and futures of her crew. She managed to get the Maquis and Equinox crews pardoned and their commissions upheld, the Doctor out of being decompiled and given free choice of working opportunities, herself exonerated of breaking the Prime Directive both in the past and future, and kept Seven safe from the prodding fingers of Starfleet Medical. Over all, she had done really well. She only wished Chakotay would talk to her, but that would have to be on his own time; she knew better than to push him. She also felt the need for some space; her feelings had been grievously hurt during the Seven fiasco.
POV; Chakotay
It was going to be Christmas in a few weeks and, even though he didn't celebrate Christmas, he knew that Kathryn did celebrate it. He wanted to talk to her and catch up on what had been going on in the months since their return. It seemed terribly wrong that they hadn't spoken in so long. Especially after having spent everyday in each others company for seven years. He missed her terribly!
Why don't you ask Tom.
Ask Tom what? Help him with his wacked up love life?
Yes.
Fine. But how?
He knows how much you love Kathryn. He'd help you.
Okay. But, if this goes bad, it's all your fault and I'm blaming you.
Don't you mean yourself?
POV; Janeway
A week after the debriefings and other assorted meetings were over and Kathryn finally had time to plan for Christmas, she was surprised by a knock on her mother's door. She was, after all, staying at her mother's instead of a cramped Starfleet apartment in San Francisco. She went to answer the door, thinking that it would be carolers or neighbors welcoming her home. It was Chakotay.
"Hello, Chakotay." She greeted happily enough. She was surprised to see him and wary of his intentions here.
"Good morning Kathryn." Chakotay smiled a full dimple smile that almost made her melt.
"What are you doing here?" As soon as she said it, she realized how harsh it sounded. "I'm sorry, Chakotay, I'm just surprised to see you here."
"Your mother invited me." He gave another a dimpled smile, again.
Before Kathryn to ask why in the entire Quadrant her mother would invite a man she barely knew to her house, the woman in question appeared and whisked Chakotay inside.
"Oh, hello dear. I am so happy that you decided to join us for the day." Kathryn's mother cooed.
"The day? As in the entire day?" Both officers say together.
"Oh, you two are so cute, you're made for each other." Gretchen Janeway clapped.
Oh, no. This won't end well.
POV; Chakotay
Chakotay hoped this would end okay. He hoped that Kathryn would forgive him when this was all over.
Short Story
Prompt:
OTP setting up for Christmas! (J/C)
Summary:
Post endgame fixer-upper. J/C not together but issues resolved. No more angst over C/7. No C/7 to speak of.
Kathryn was helping her mother and sister, Gretchen and Phoebe, pull the boxes upon boxes of Christmas decorations out of the basement and attic. As part of tradition, the Janeways always set up all their Christmas decorations on December 1st. For this generation of Janeways, that usually meant that they called in help from friends and coworkers.
Kathryn had invited Chakotay a few weeks ago at a Starfleet PR function. His affirmative answer made the irksome function much more enjoyable. She was happy that they had mended their friendship after the Seven fiasco and had slipped right back into their easy friendship from the old days on Voyager. She was thankful that Chakotay hadn't mentioned the prospect of a romantic relationship between her and him. They both knew she was no longer hindered by the responsibility of command. Though, Kathryn suspected that he knew she was more than slightly hurt by his defection and just needed some time to recover.
A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts and back to the present. Her mother rushed to the door and Kathryn heard her cheerful "Hello" to the person at the door. Kathryn turned back to helping her sister, no sense in going to the door; whoever was there would most likely come inside and Kathryn would see who it was then. As she was carrying a particularly heavy box out of the attic, she stumbled and fell into someone's strong arms.
"Careful there Kathryn. It would be a shame if you made it through the all terrors of the Delta Quadrant to be injured carrying Christmas decorations." The familiar voice teased softly, whispering in her ear.
"Chakotay!" Kathryn deposited the box on the floor and spun around to see a grinning Chakotay standing within centimeters of her.
"Hello, Kathryn." She didn't know if it was their closeness or the look in his eye, but Kathryn knew then and there she loved Chakotay and would never be truly happy without him.
=/\=
An hour later, they had all the boxes out of their respective storage locations. They were now lounging on the sofas, resting from the heavy lifting while watching an old film, Elf, from the early 21st century, courtesy of one Lieutenant Tom Eugene Paris, gifted to Kathryn for Christmas. By the devious design of Kathryn's sister, Phoebe, Kathryn was stuck on the love seat with Chakotay, not that she minded that much after the awkwardness wore off.
=/\=
After the movie ended, Phoebe jumped up and announced that she had somewhere to be, something work related which seemed unfair to Kathryn since that was her own excuse. Gretchen followed her daughter with a similar announcement, saying she had to check on things and had a ton of shopping to do before the big Janeway Christmas party on the sixth.
After Kathryn's family bailed and left Chakotay and Kathryn alone, Chakotay spoke up. "What do you suppose we do now?"
She started at the mischievous tone of his voice but decided to push past it. "I suppose... we could set up the Christmas decorations."
"Won't your mom and sister get upset if we do it without them?"
"They'll rejoice that they don't have to do it. It is, after all, a lot of decorations."
"Sounds great to me."
"Same here." Kathryn winced slightly at the awkwardness of her answer but stood up and walked purposefully towards the mountain of boxes.
"Where do you suggest we start?" Chakotay's voice came from right behind her. She hadn't heard him get up and walk over to her.
"The tree. It's where we always start."
"Sounds great, only one problem, there's no tree."
Kathryn rolls her eyes at him. "It's not in here; this is the small living room. We always have the tree in the larger sitting room towards the front of the house, you passed it on the way through the house."
"Oh."
Kathryn grins at him and points towards the boxes too heavy for her to carry. "Could you carry those while I get some other ones?"
Chakotay glares playfully at her and says, "Sure, make me carry the heaviest ones."
"I can't carry them." She smiles innocently.
=/\=
Not even five minutes into decorating the tree, Chakotay tries to hang an ornament on the highest part of the tree without the ladder, despite the suggestion from Kathryn, and gets stuck in the tree. Kathryn just stands there for a second before howling with laughter. It gets so bad that she has to sit down or fall over. All the while, Chakotay is only making matters worse and trying to cover his beat red face.
"Are you just going to sit there or are you going to help me?" Chakotay finally couldn't take it and glared at Kathryn who had been laughing for the past several minutes and making no attempt to help Chakotay.
"Yes, of course, just wait one second." With that she walks out of the room only to return a few moments later. "Look over here, Chakotay."
Chakotay turns and recognizes the holo-imager one second too late. Kathryn snaps the image and resumes her howling.
"That's it. I've had enough!" Chakotay throws caution to the wind and forcefully pulls himself from the tree and, thankfully not dislodging any ornaments from the tree, gives chase to Kathryn.
"Kathryn! You are so going to pay for that!"
"Not in this lifetime!"
Kathryn miscalculates a turn and runs into a dead end; Chakotay has her cornered.
"It was just so funny, you have to understand. I thought it would be funny to show the others."
"I told you, you are going to pay." The always defiant look, marred slightly by uncertainty, in Kathryn's eyes tickled him. "But, not today. Let's finish that tree."
=/\=
An hour and a half later, moving on from the tree to the lights on the house, Kathryn found herself elected to climb the ladder.
"Why do I have to do it?"
"Because, using the events of less than two hours ago as an example, you are obviously more coordinated than I am."
"Fine."
Kathryn carefully scales the ladder and begins attaching the lights to the gutters and the eves of the house while Chakotay passes the lights up to her from the ground. While agonizing over the lengthy and cold process, Kathryn and Chakotay try to keep up a conversation to ignore the cold.
"So... what have you been up to since we got home?" Chakotay takes the first stab at conversation.
"Oh, you know. Trying to get used to the crowds and the absense of the security and familiarity of Voyager."
"I know exactly what you mean. I miss the confidence knowing the crew was walking the corridors performing their duties like a well oiled machine; hearing the drone of the air recyclers; and most of all, knowing you were always there, only one bulkhead away."
Kathryn blushes and starts at the forwardness of his remark, losing her balance on the roof and falls.
It seems to go in slow motion for Chakotay as he watches Kathryn fall. After a moment's hesitation, he rushes forwards and catches before she hits the ground.
"Well...*pant*...I never...*pant *...thought... *pant *...I would actually... *pant *...sweep a lady *pant *...off her feet." Chakotay finishes with a full dimple smile.
"Nice catch, thank you." Kathryn blushes.
"My pleasure. You've always been the best catch."
Kathryn blushes anew. "For your information, it was your flirting that made me fall off the roof."
"And I caught you." Chakotay smirks.
Kathryn glares at him and tries to extricate herself from his arms, however halfheartedly. Chakotay just grins again and carries Kathryn inside.
=/\=
After a few hours of hard work, Chakotay was peeping at the names on the presents while Kathryn was in the kitchen fixing their food. As Chakotay moves closer to the door of the kitchen, staying out of sight, he listens and hears Kathryn singing. She was singing Silent Night. Her soft voice drifted out of the kitchen and into and through Chakotay. He just stood there for a moment before stepping into the room and approaching Kathryn.
"Hey."
Kathryn starts before turning to face Chakotay. "Oh, hello. Sandwich?" She holds up the sandwiches.
"Thanks."
=/\=
After lunch, Kathryn gets up and walks over to the speaker system. She sets it to play Christmas songs for a few hours while they finish decorating.
"Shall we finish?"
"Of course."
They set to work, arranging the smaller decorations, decorative pillows, mistletoe, which Kathryn studiously avoided if Chakotay was anywhere near it, smaller trees for the different rooms, and most importantly, according to Kathryn, the stockings.
After they were done, Chakotay managed to corner Kathryn and pulled her into his arms and started swinging her around the room in graceful patterns swaying to the soft music playing, ironically enough, Silent Night.
"We never discussed this." Chakotay interrupts their silence.
"Never discussed what?"
"Us."
"Oh," Kathryn doesn't know what to say. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. I was an idiot to even consider dating Seven–"
"No argument hear."
Chakotay gives her a weak, half-hearted glare before continuing. "I was an idiot but I hope we can move past that and at least be friends. I know you probably will never accept me as anything more than a friend, but you have to know that I do still love you and always will." Chakotay looks down, not meeting Kathryn's gaze.
"You must not really know me than."
Chakotay's head jerks up. "What do you mean?"
"If you really knew me, you would know that I don't want you to be my friend–" Chakotay looks down again and starts to pull away. "– wait, I'm not finished. I don't want you to be my friend because I want more than that. I want to love you and you to love me."
"Really?" Chakotay looks up eagerly.
"Really."
"Good, because look up."
Kathryn looks up and yelps. "Oh n–" Before Kathryn can get barely a word in, Chakotay touch their lips together in a passion that can only be one that has been kept at bay for over seven years.