NOTE: These 100-word drabbles were all inspired by one-word prompts I got from tumblr today, September 27, 2015. Enjoy.

September 27, 2015

Tumblr Prompts

Without

"Peanut sauce."

He looks up at her sudden exhalation. "What?"

"Peanut sauce," Janeway sighs, tapping her fork on the plate. "I was trying to figure out what this is missing. It's missing peanut sauce."

Chakotay nods. "Among other things." He glances around the crowded Mess Hall at their crew, many of whom are sulking over similar portions of Neelix's flavorless concoction. "The 'Fleeters aren't accustomed to going without."

Janeway frowns. "And the Maquis are?"

He holds her gaze. "Yes."

She stabs at the noodles. "We'll just have to get used to going without peanut sauce," she says. "Among other things."

Infatuation

"It's harmless."

"It's against regulations."

"She didn't know that."

"That doesn't make it right."

"No, but I don't think her intent was malicious."

She gives him a look of disbelief. "You're not even bothered by this?"

"Did you expect me to be?"

"Yes! She made a hologram of you without your consent!"

Chakotay shrugs. "She wouldn't be the first."

"To make a hologram of you?"

He shakes his head. "To render someone in order to act on an…infatuation."

Janeway narrows her eyes. "You're flattered by this, aren't you?"

"Do you blame me?"

"No," she says softly. "I guess I don't."

Optimistic

"Captain?"

She squints against the sunlight and forces a smile. "Mister Paris."

"Bad session?"

She nods. "Have a seat."

Halfway between the counselors' offices and HQ, the Boothy Memorial Garden has become an informal gathering place for the Voyagers.

Tom lowers himself to the grass. "What was the topic?"

She turns away. "Personal relationships."

Her tone of resignation inspires him to give voice to something they've all been avoiding since their return. "It won't last," he says. "They won't last."

She stares at the rosebushes for a long moment. "Your optimism does you credit."

"I learned from the best, Captain."

Boisterous

For a bear, he's very light on his feet.

It's been years since she first thought of him as "the bear type," but realizes she's never really stopped.

Kathryn watches the tender bear of a man swing Naomi into his arms and spin in time to the boisterous music, his bare feet kicking up sand all around.

She can't help but notice that Chakotay is happy, and that, like herself, he is finally free of the burdens that weighed him down for so long.

She also can't help but notice that, like herself, he has come to this party alone.

Anticipation

He feels her eyes on him, and his heart beats fast.

He has danced in the sand with all but one of his former shipmates. All the while, he has felt her eyes on him, the warmth of her gaze across a gulf of distance and time.

When the jaunty music slides and slows, Chakotay releases Naomi to her mother. "She's been watching you," Sam murmurs.

He smiles. "I know."

When he reaches her table, she looks up with wary anticipation. "Dance with me, Kathryn," he says, and hopes she can hear him over the pounding rhythm of his heart.

Goosebumps

He leads her to the center of the patch of sand that has been their makeshift dance floor.

They take a few fumbling, faltering steps together. The entire party stills on an indrawn breath, watching them.

Then he slips his arm around her slim waist, and she whispers something that makes him chuckle. She tucks her head up under his chin, their clasped hands resting on his broad chest.

The entire party…exhales.

The Voyagers smile at a ripple of goosebumps.

And under the star-filled Arizona sky, Kathryn and Chakotay swing and sway to a rhythm that is all their own.

-THE END-