Disclaimer: ST: VOY isn't mine. I highly doubt Paramount has time to sue me but this is just a precaution.

Author's Note: OMG! We've hit double digits in chapter count? This story must die soon. xD

Volatile
by mistress amethyst une

Part 10: Ration Replenishment

"And you thought my marrying him was a bad idea," smiled B'Elanna smugly as she rerouted rations from Tom's account to Chakotay's. A good thing about marrying the ship's designated "big spender" was that one could easily dip into his savings. B'Elanna only abused the privilege when necessary, when the wealth was ill-gotten, when her dear husband had delayed in paying a debt he had the means to resolve. Yes, she abused the privilege a lot.

Chakotay was relieved to know that he now had rations to last him the next two weeks. He'd thought his head was going to spontaneously combust when he didn't find Tom in Engineering. What he did find was the wily helmsman's combadge. He resisted the urge to crush the damned thing to dust, and instead pocketed it. The moment he had some free time on his hands, he was going to take up playing darts again. Tom was definitely going to get his combadge back. The doctor would need to pry the communications device out of the helmsman's skull once Chakotay was through. Or maybe he could propagate Native American stereotypes, sharpen the damn thing, and scalp Tom with it...

It was fortunate that B'Elanna had found him when she did. He'd been furious, and about ready to keel over from hunger. When she discovered what had been vexing him, she just had to laugh. After she'd placated him by paying her husband's debt, she gave him a thorough looking over. Judging by the level of annoyance he was exhibiting, she could tell that he hadn't told her everything. She was quite sure Tom wasn't the only thing irritating Chakotay.

"What did she do this time?" asked B'Elanna knowingly.

"She? If you're referring to Tom, that's an insult to women."

"Chakotay, you know very well which 'she' I'm talking about. The doctor told me all about your Sickbay struggles. What else did she do to you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

She pointed to the stain on his uniform jacket. "Yes, you do. Spill."

"The captain's ill. You know that. I treated her to breakfast, and it didn't go exactly as planned. That's all."

"And your sudden desperate need for rations?"

"Ambizine was more expensive than I thought."

"I know about the ambizine bit. Serves you right, actually. You should've known better. That's still not enough to deplete you of all your rations."

"Thanks for chewing me out for her," he said, unable to keep from rolling his eyes. "Is this interrogation over?"

"Far from it. Why do you need the rations so bad? You're a tightwad, and usually have more than enough. That's why the captain only steals from you."

It was true. Kathryn knew very well that he wouldn't call her out on her little acts of larceny. As the years passed, he'd grown accustomed to the strange deficit in his rations. He wasn't exactly sure when she'd begun stealing from him. During the first year, he'd gotten his allotted amount of rations intact at the beginning of every week. As the journey wore on, the amount he received lessened. At first, the portion deducted was small, almost insignificant. He really didn't pay too much attention since he was quite frugal. But after seven years...he would need to talk to her about her petty theft once she got her voice back. With all the coffee she was drinking, he was fairly certain that she wasn't subsisting primarily just on her rations. Then again, the more upset she got, the more coffee she drank, and the more rations he lost. He decided he was better off keeping his mouth shut.

"Then it should be self-explanatory," he remarked. "She stole too much this week, and I ran out."

B'Elanna scoffed. "Going to sink that low, and blame it all on her? Tsk, tsk, Chakotay..."

He sighed. "I don't need to explain my expenses to you. What exactly do you want to hear?"

"That you wasted those rations on your sick lady love?"

He snorted. "She's hardly a lady."

"I hear no denial."

"Hear what you want to hear. I'm off to get myself a new uniform, and a late brunch."

"Not even a thank you?"

Through gritted teeth, he mumbled an awkward "thanks," before turning his back on her. Great...he could already tell by the sly smile on B'Elanna's face that she would probably soothe Tom's financial loss with gossip. Well, he'd survived seven years of far more vicious rumors. What difference did one more make?

Glad that that little confrontation was over, he hurried off to his quarters, and replicated himself a big bowl of mushroom soup. After half a day of hell, he had every right to indulge. He already knew dinner was going to be a horrid affair. He had, after all, asked Neelix to save him and the captain some of that vile stew. For sure, he wasn't going to feed Kathryn that yellow sludge. Still, he knew he would have to eat it, if only to avoid hurting their cook's feelings. Besides, now that he had rations again, he didn't intend to waste them. Being broke was far too traumatic.

With his hunger sated, he moved on to the second item on the agenda and replicated himself a new uniform jacket plus spare uniforms for the days to come. He'd definitely learned his lesson about not keeping spares. The day could only improve now. At least, he didn't have to spend the rest of the day covering a phlegm stain with a PADD. He could finally get around to reading that security report instead of using it as a fashion accessory.

Yes, things were definitely looking up. With all that taken care of, he replicated Kathryn a light lunch. No coffee. He wondered if she would whine about that. She hadn't complained about the lack of her favorite beverage at breakfast. Then again, that was probably because she'd been embarrassed by that little coughing incident. Well, she couldn't express her displeasure verbally. He shuddered...but she would find a way to express it, of that he was sure. Taking a deep breath, he took his meager offering and went next door.

I wonder how long I can keep this up. :)