Star Trek: Voyager is property of Paramount. I don't work for them.

For the VAMB Secret Drabble 2015. Myu asked for a story using the first line: "Was it as you imagined?"

Ritual

a Star Trek: Voyager story

by Lelila

"Was it as you imagined?"

Captain Kathryn Janeway looked up at her smirking First Officer from under her brows, mud and oil dripping through her vision.

"No," she huffed, dropping onto her seat in the pool of mud, oil, flower petals and other detritus that had been sprinkled over her in the past hour. "Not in the slightest."

Chakotay sank down to his haunches, his laughter barely contained now. "I still don't understand why you agreed to do this. You don't really believe in this sort of thing."

Kathryn wiped some of the mud from her arms, shaking it from her fingers. "Diplomacy," she replied through clenched teeth. "Not to mention it was your idea." She flicked a bit of mud at him.

Chakotay laughed out loud but fell onto his hip as he dodged her volley. "I was just advising my captain," he defended.

It had all started two days ago. They'd entered the Penemi system to find the residents at about the same level of warp capability that Earth had been the first time the Vulcans had landed, meaning, just barely. Still, Voyager needed supplies, so, after some communications, Kathryn, Tuvok and Neelix beamed down to meet with some local leaders.

They were greeted warmly and asked about everything: their ship, their capabilities, their home. They answered as best they could within the confines of the Prime Directive, and quickly developed a friendly relationship.

In exchange for some star charts of the sector and some basic information about the races that lived nearby, the Penemi generously provided them with foodstuffs and minerals they could use as fuel.

Due to how gray the dictates of the Prime Directive were in this situation, Kathryn didn't allow any shore leave. However, she couldn't say no to an invitation to a religious ceremony that the Penemi were having in gratitude of the safe return of their astronauts and the hard work and innovation of their scientists and engineers. They also added a bit thanking their gods and spirits for the arrival of Voyager and her crew, calling them a "sign that we are an the right path."

Kathryn and Neelix attended the ceremony, and, with permission from the Penemi, she invited Chakotay along as she knew he would be very interested.

The ceremony was very moving, filled with beautiful music and elegant dancing as well as a ritual that involved the placing of polished stones and the burning of aromatic flowers. Afterwords, they were invited to dinner by the local governor, who described a similar ceremony performed before the first flight blessing the astronauts. "You know, Captain," the governor said over dessert, "I could very easily arrange to have that ceremony performed for you, to assure a safe and quick journey."

Kathryn tried to beg off, thanking their host but insisting it wasn't necessary. Neelix whispered to her that they might offend him if they refused. Kathryn frowned, still leaning towards no. What convinced her was Chakotay's point that strong beliefs, even if unshared, could be very powerful things. In retrospect, she was pretty sure it was the earnest look in his eyes more than his words that had changed her mind.

And so, the next day, a few hours before they were scheduled to leave, Kathryn went to the temple again. Unlike the ceremony of gratitude, this was to be a private rite, although she was told that she could bring one witness. There really was no consideration to be done on that matter, and Chakotay was at her side when the priest greeted her.

The first thing they did was bring her to a small side room and gave her a thin shift to wear. After leading her back to the center of the dais, the four priests began to sing in a language she didn't understand as her communicator/universal translator had been left with her uniform. Regardless, the music sent chills down her spine.

As the singing continued, the priests poured water over her head. It wasn't particularly cold, but it still caused goose pimples to rise on her flesh. As the priests pushed her head forward to trace a symbol onto the back of her neck, she realized her now damp shift was leaving very little to the imagination.

A bit embarrassed, she glanced over at Chakotay, but found him paying attention to what the priests were doing. When he did look her way, he looked straight into her eyes, nowhere else.

The chanting continued, followed by a sprinkling of some kind of herb, followed by flower petals. The music changed noticeably after that, both in key and rhythm, and then she was absolutely doused with an aromatic oil.

The sensation was not entirely unpleasant; there was almost a sensual quality about it as the priests began to trace more symbols on her face, chest and arms. They again pushed her head forward to mark the back of her neck, and this time she saw that the shift was practically transparent.

She lifted her head again and again the music changed. Her eyes locked with Chakotay's and something passed between them. What it was exactly, she couldn't say, but it made her head swim, her chest swell and a lump form in her throat.

The music swelled then, and the priests pushed on her shoulders, forcing her to her knees. Her gaze held with Chakotay's and she felt her breathing quicken.

The spell broke as it suddenly fell quiet at the same moment that something wet and viscous landed on the top of her head. Out of instinct, she squeezed her eyes shut.

The priests began to smear the substance over her face and arms. They stayed away from her eyes, and she hesitantly opened them. The latest application seemed to be mud. Between the rather unceremonious plop of the goop into her hair and the sudden quiet, the feeling in the room had gone from sacred to cartoonish in a moment flat. A glance in Chakotay's direction showed that he was trying very hard to keep the smirk off his face.

Kathryn was starting to grow weary of this ritual, regardless of how well-meaning their hosts were. The mud application seemed largely complete, and the priests began to press flower petals and seeds into the muck. When she was sufficiently covered, they sang one more brief burst of music, bowed to her, and then backed away, leaving she and Chakotay alone in the temple.

Chakotay walked up to the dais, his smirk breaking through. "Was it as you imagined?" he asked.

Kathryn answered in the negative, flicking some mud at him, causing him to lose his balance.

After a smart-ass defensive remark from him, Kathryn impulsively scooped some of the sludge from the floor and flung it at him. Again he made to dodge, but wasn't fast enough this time and wound up with a great blob on the sleeve of his uniform jacket. He looked at it and then back at her, a bemused expression on his features. He managed to brush most of it off (Starfleet uniforms were made of resilient stuff) before tipping over onto his hands and knees and crawling towards her.

"Chakotay?" she questioned a bit apprehensively. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer. Kneeling at the edge of the dais, he scooped up a bit of mud and splooched it onto the tip of her nose. "There," he said satisfactorily. "I thought you were missing something."

"Oh…" Kathryn shook her head and scooped up a bit more mud, slapping both of her palms onto his chest. "I always thought these uniforms were a little plain."

Chakotay chuckled. "Oh, really? Would you wear palmprints on your uniform?" He hovered his hands over her breasts.

The question, and his proximity, stopped her for a moment. An overwhelming desire to have him actually place his hands on her swept through her, delaying her in coming up with an answer.

"Voyager to Commander Chakotay," Tuvok's voice crackled over the comm.

Almost in slow motion, he lowered his hands, jabbing his communicator with a thumb on the way through. "Chakotay here."

"Commander, do you know the Captain's whereabouts? She does not answer her hails."

"I'm right here, Tuvok," Kathryn answered. "I'm fine. I'm just without my comm-badge at the moment. What is it?"

"The Penemi have informed us that the ritual has concluded and wished us well in our journeys. We are ready to depart as soon as you beam aboard."

"Acknowledged. We'll be back soon. Janeway out."

Chakotay climbed to his feet and offered his hands to help her stand. It turned out to be something of a challenge as her many anointments were quite slippery. He supported her as she found her way off the dais and on to surer footing.

"Is there a place you can clean up?" he asked.

She nodded. "There's a shower stall in the room where they took me to change. I'll get the worst of it off there and then clean up properly once we're back on Voyager." She turned to go, but Chakotay held firmly onto her arm. "Chakotay?"

His eyes bored into hers. "Have dinner with me," he requested almost breathlessly. "I'd like to talk about what happened here. Despite the silliness towards the end, it was very moving."

"I'd like that," she replied in the same tone. "19:00?"

He nodded his assent and she went to rinse off. As she played the ceremony over in her head, Chakotay's intense gaze seemed as much a part of it as the singing and the feel of liquid on her skin. She had a feeling they would be talking about more than just the alien ritual tonight.

Yeah, I know, this isn't exactly a drabble. The word limit for the exchange was 1,200, and I went over that by like 400 words. I don't do short. I promised 3,000 words for the Secret Santa exchange and wound up delivering 7,500. Once the muse gets started, she just keeps spinning and spinning...

In truth, this should be like three times longer than it is. I do a lot of telling instead of showing in this, which is breaking rule no. 1 when writing fiction. But it was supposed to be short, and I think it turned out okay despite my broken rules.

Happy Spring!