Disclaimer: Paramount, I'm sorry for what I did to your characters, it was not my intention. Well, not completely... No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: This was supposed to be C/N, but my muse scolded me for being far too evil and promptly turned it into D/N. Whatever she thinks best, right? As for the rest of it, I'll just say that it was sort of a dare and plead the fifth.

Where Photons Fear to Tread

Neelix walked into the mess hall, tired but happy that Tomin was back with his own people and that everything had turned out fine. He was just about to put on one of the lights when he noticed a lone figure standing by one of the view ports. His first thought was to leave quietly and let whoever it was enjoy the view for himself. As he turned to leave though, the person moved and his head became clearer as a stray bit of light hit it. Surprised, Neelix abandoned his earlier idea and walked towards the man.

'Doctor?' he asked, as he neared him, 'what are you doing here so late?' The Doctor startled a little at the sound of his voice and quickly turned to face him.

'Ah, Mr Neelix, I hadn't noticed you come in,' he said, attempting to cover up his start with a forced-on smile. 'Is it time to start serving breakfast already? I'd better get back to sickbay.' Neelix thought he looked rather antsy and uncomfortable as he moved to leave and quickly intercepted him, rambling on happily to talk the Doctor into staying.

'Not at all, Doctor!' he assured him vehemently, 'I just came here to have a look out the window. These stars are beautiful, don't you think? I always find it very relaxing to look at the stars. There's something very peaceful about them streaking by, don't you agree?'

'Well, ah' the Doctor stammered as he turned back to the viewport slowly, unable to leave in the face of such tactics, 'there is something strangely soothing about it, yes,' he admitted. As he looked at the stars, he started to calm down a bit himself. 'Yes, in fact it's quite, ah, beautiful really.'

Neelix looked up at him happily. 'You know, Doctor,' he began as if on the verge of imparting a big secret, 'I was a bit surprised at seeing you here. After all, you don't really need food, do you?' He chuckled a bit, not seeming to realize that the Doctor was getting slightly uncomfortable again, but he carried on before the hologram could interject, 'Silly me, I never thought about the other things the mess hall had to offer: atmosphere, a good view, a place to mingle, companionship.'

As he talked, Neelix looked closely at his companion, noticing his wince at the last word instantly. 'And of course, just because you don't eat doesn't mean you don't need any of those things.' By the pensive look on the Doctor's face, Neelix knew he was going about this the right way. He decided it was time for another bit of gentle probing.

'I mean, you have been doing a great job with Seven's social lessons, I'd say she's really improved.' This time, the Doctor's wince as Neelix said Seven's name was even more pronounced.

'Yes,' the Doctor said with a hint of bitterness, 'she's a great student.'

Neelix pretended not to notice any of the less cheerful undercurrents and forged on bravely, 'of course, there's a lot she still has to learn.'

'She doesn't appear to think so,' the Doctor mumbled, even more grudgingly then the last time.

'Oh but surely she recognizes the excellence of your presence and how fortunate she is to have you as her mentor!' Neelix exclaimed, causing the Doctor to break out into an outright scowl.

'But what if I don't want to be her mentor? What if I want to be more?' he finally fumed, looking horrified once he realised what he'd just let slip. 'I mean-'

'Well why don't you just tell her, then?' Neelix said, completely ignoring the Doctor's stumbling attempt to cover up his mistake, 'how you feel, I mean.'

'I… tried to,' the Doc admitted, 'but she just doesn't see me that way. To her I'm just her mentor. I guess at the end of the day, I'm still just a bunch of… well, photons and force fields,' he ended dejectedly.

'Don't be silly!' Neelix cried out, nearly startling him out of his holographic skin, 'no one thinks of you like that! You're just as real as anybody on this crew.'

'Oh really,' the Doctor responded sardonically, 'then give me one crewmember who wouldn't mind falling in love with, well, me.'

Neelix suddenly began to stammer and turned, well, red-ish. 'Mr Neelix?' the Doctor asked, flabbergasted at his reaction.

'To tell you the truth, Doctor,' Neelix began, fumbling with his hands and not daring to look the Doctor in the eye, 'I've always thought you were rather… remarkable. I mean, how you always come up with these amazing ideas to save a member of the crew from some horrific death or… or an alien virus, it's inspiring!'

Not one to stay in shock for long when listening to himself being praised, the Doctor perked up. 'I guess I do pull off some things that look like miracles to someone not as knowledgeable about medicine as I am,' he said, puffing up his chest proudly.

'Oh yes!' Neelix eagerly agreed, 'and you are always so funny!'

The Doctor beamed in a way that clearly said 'I really am something, aren't I?'.

'And you look so distinguished,' Neelix continued, 'not to mention that time when the Hirogen took over the ship and you did everything you could to help us, I thought that was incredibly brave.'

'Well were quite brave then too, Mr Neelix,' the Doctor said, getting just a tad uncomfortable with all the praise he was receiving.

'Do you really think so, Doctor? And please call me Neelix.' Neelix' wide-eyed wonder at being called brave by the Doctor was enough to stroke his ego so much that he became almost generous in his response.

'Of course! You were quite the hero, Neelix. And you know, I've always thought your role as cook and moral officer on this ship is incredibly important.' Neelix almost had a heart attack, he was so overjoyed.

'Does that mean that you might actually, you know, like someone like me?' he asked tentatively.

'I don't see why not,' the Doctor responded in kind, loosing complete sight of the conversation as all the recent praise went to his head.

Neelix looked about ready to burst with happiness, tears filling his little beady eyes. 'Oh Doctor, you don't know how happy you've just made me,' he sobbed as he hugged the Doctor quickly before scurrying off, overcome with emotion.

The Doctor, feeling a whole lot better about himself than he had upon entering the mess hall, stared after him fondly before walking out of the room cheerfully, humming an upbeat song all the way to sickbay. Yes, he thought, he was a pretty impressive person.

Fine