Kathryn reached across the coffee table to tear off another piece of naan flatbread- no longer warm but still fluffy and perfect for mopping up the thick jalfrezi curry on her plate. The twinge in her back at the movement reminded her precisely why quarters were equipped with a dining table, but she didn't regret deciding on this more informal arrangement. Chakotay and Seven sat on the couch, comfortably joined at the hip- though Seven of Nine's stiff-backed posture did look a little incongruous with a plate balanced on her knee- while she and Tuvok were settled into the squishy armchairs she'd chosen back when Voyager was being furnished. Had Mark finished decorating the house without her? Without her, had he listened to her mother and ordered that cream suite that would only get covered in Molly's hair? They'd designed the living room to accommodate dinner parties just like this, where Mark's colleagues in the Philosophy department would enjoy trying to wrong-foot her fellow officers… "Did these recipes come from a book of old favourites, Seven? They're delicious!" To underline her point, she took another heaped spoonful of the contrasting korma curry- richly flavoured creaminess where the jalfrezi was finely balanced spiciness. She'd likely made the former to cater for Tuvok's heat adverse palate, but then again the variety had worked out.

"No, Ensign Jetal gave them to me just last week." Seven replied softly after swallowing another small bite. She seemed to eat either like a snake or a bird- tonight was an example of the latter, barely picking at what she'd prepared. Kathryn tried not to think too deeply on the report on Seven's implants she'd gotten from the Doctor and regretted ordering- if she did it was hard to meet the other woman's eye, the real or cybernetic one- but a moment of sympathy flowed through her nonetheless. "Her grandmother's."

"I'll have to mention to Ane how much we appreciated it then. She's enjoying Astrometrics?"

"She leads me to believe so."

"Good, good." Kathryn took a long sip of the synthehol at her elbow, relishing the fizz on her tongue instead of dwelling on the fact that they'd fallen into another silence. Normally- or from what she'd experienced so far anyway- Chakotay could be relied upon to take a topic and run with it, warm and a natural storyteller to boot, they'd even engaged in a gentle, careful debate now and then- but right now he was far away, seemingly content to glue himself to his partner's side and mechanically eat. The change was jarring as well as worrying. "You've made similar before though? With Indian cuisine being so easily vegetarian or not, I'd have thought-"

Seven's eyes skimmed over Chakotay. "Kolopak was not an adventurous eater, and I catered to him."

A tiny wince passed over Chakotay's features before he made a gentle snort, dark eyes settling on Seven's face. "He would've eaten what you made him."

Seven shifted, moving her plate onto the table to occupy her hands. "We…had a routine at home." She swallowed and shot Chakotay a look that was almost apprehensive. "On Dorvan." Kathryn couldn't help but feel surprised, 'home' had become a painful word for her crew, but she'd never really attributed a lot of that pain to Seven. 'The Cardassians strafe bombed her home long before the Caretaker yanked Voyager away…' Her conscience reminded her grimly, 'And Chakotay just left that home again. It's not just a sore spot, but a bleeding wound.'

A fond smile fluttered over Chakotay's face, a crack in his closed off features. "Creatures of habit the both of you, traditional, of course."

Seven's brows arched above sad eyes. "Traditional, am I?" That pulled a genuine chuckle from her lover.

"There are many different interpretations of the word." Tuvok said, his voice as smooth and cool as silk.

"Particularly on Vulcan." Seven agreed with a knowing glance towards him.

"The sheer amount of scholarship, particularly within the temple complexes, is astounding." Kathryn proclaimed, "Actually, I had one of the best meals of my life during a trip to Amonak."

Now it was Chakotay turn to be surprised, "Really?"

"Yes, really." She teased, "The Tellerite hot-pot was…well, out of that world. The chef had a cousin in San Francisco. It became one of my favourite haunts there. In my top five at least."

Chakotay sprawled out on the couch, engaged now, his arms behind his head. "What's your number one?"

"Park's Korean Barbeque." She answered without hesitation.

Chakotay grinned, "I loved the dim-sum at the Jade Dragon."

Kathryn looked to Seven, "San Francisco has been the heart of East Asian food on the North American continent for centuries."

"Though it seems like the Tellerites are getting a foothold." Chakotay said, winking at Kathryn, "I had some great Betazoid food there too…"

"So, Seven, one of the first things we need to do when we get back is take you out to eat, obviously."

Seven nodded, but it was more of an acknowledgement of the offer. "I've been to San Francisco, Captain."

Said Captain gave a start, blinking at the other woman owlishly and trying not to stare at the unmissable implant around her eye. "Wh- How?!"

Seven's answer was a fluid shrug. "I was not the least conventionally dressed there."

"But-" Kathryn struggled to gather her thoughts and saw that Tuvok too appeared surprised, though he expressed it with more grace that she was. She couldn't help but draw a bit of satisfaction from that- after he'd omitted the Maquis' freaking former Borg drone from his reports to her entirely! "I thought-"

"Dad brought her with him for my Starfleet graduation." Chakotay informed them pointedly, giving Seven's knee a squeeze as he regarded her tenderly, "I'm glad you thought it was relevant."

Pink dusted Seven's cheeks. "As am I, Chakotay."

Kathryn was still dumbfounded. "The risk-?" She'd obviously underestimated the sheer balls of Kolopak Kotay, not only hiding his self-appointed ex-drone ward from the Federation, but taking her to the heart of it and back without detection, all for the ceremony inducting his son into the very authority that would want to claim custody of that ex-drone. She wasn't sure whether she should admire that or feel horrified- a mixture of both was a safe bet.

Chakotay's smile faded, "We did have some things in common, taking risks for family being one of them."

"Hardly the worst trait in the world to share." Kathryn replied levelly, "Perhaps one of the best." Her throat was dry, beginning to ache, but when she picked up her glass she didn't take a sip. Her other hand toyed with her fork. Lucky, lying sprawled by Chakotay's feet- looked up at her hopefully, lips smacking as he eyed up her scraps, a whine building in his throat. She was tempted to slip him a tidbit just to distract herself-

"No." Seven warned in a low but strident tone and the dog slumped sourly to the floor- caught. Kathryn, too, was sheepish- she'd considered breaking pet etiquette, when the mere memory of Aunt Louise trying to slip Molly chocolate (chocolate!) still left her angry. "Discretion is the better part of valour."

Kathryn blinked, her mind still on dogs, but she recovered quickly. "You've read Henry IV?"

Seven raised her chin by a fraction. "I am not familiar with the human source of the sentiment." She conceded tightly, "But it has been expressed in some fashion by every species the Borg has assimilated."

'Discretion didn't serve them very well as a strategy then, did it?' Kathryn thought uncharitably, taking a steadying breath before she spoke aloud, "Caution, like risk, has its place. Without Kolopak exercising both, you wouldn't be here."

Seven lowered her gaze just as guilt struck Kathryn full force. "Indeed."

"I suggest that you do read some Shakespeare, Seven." Tuvok interceded carefully, "The language is…antiquated and a great deal of historical context is required in places, but it is a worthwhile undertaking."

"Your extensive reading does you credit, Mr Tuvok." She replied softly.

"Maybe start with a comedy?" Chakotay suggested with an awkward sound trying to be a chuckle. "Not that I could, or wanted to, grasp a lot of it in Terran Lit…"

"Being graded on it does take almost all the pleasure out of it." Kathryn agreed with a strained laugh of her own as she looked towards her bookcase. "I have a few volumes with me, not 'Henry IV' unfortunately, but I could give-" 'Not "The Taming of the Shrew" for sure, though I think we've been acting as bad as each other…'

"No need, Captain." Seven said hastily, "I can easily download them onto a PADD with the appropriate analyses and contextual evidence required-"

"PADDs are all very well, but there's nothing like holding a real book in your hands, reading as our ancestors have for centuries…" Kathryn sighed as she rose and moved towards the bookcase, imagining the leather covers under her hands. She'd have been given more for her birthday no doubt- by Mark and Mom and-

The crackle of the comm. system jolting into life brought her body and mind to a halt. "Baytart to Lieutenant Tuvok."

Tuvok was on his feet before he answered, "Go ahead, Ensign."

"I've had to change the flightpath Lieutenant Paris set earlier before going off-duty, sir. Scanners picked up signs of Botha activity beyond the perimeters we'd set to avoid. You asked to be kept updated, I'm sending you the latest scanner report now."

"Thank you, Ensign. Change the flightpath as you see fit with regular reports." Tuvok took the PADD Kathryn pressed into his hands and seamlessly logged into it with a swipe of his thumb- eyes already intent on the data popping onto the screen.

"Good work, Pablo." Kathryn interjected warmly, "I owe you a coffee for this particular night shift, okay?"

"I might just take you up on that in the morning, Captain." The wry words didn't disguise the genuine touched pleasure in the pilot's voice.

"Do take me up on it, Ensign. That's an order." Her tone was jovial, but the feeling just as sincere. Listening, Seven wondered how she could keep it up- those small acts of morale boosting with people she couldn't possibly have had an chance to really know. She did it with such ease she doubted few that didn't have the problems with socialisation that she herself did could recognise the skill behind the Captain's manner. Especially when she switched to sharp attentiveness as soon as the comm. link clicked closed. "Tuvok?"

"It appears as if the Botha have detected our proximity to their borders." Tuvok said as he handed her the PADD.

She skimmed it quickly, making a disbelieving sound in the back of her throat as she reached the end. "According to this, their territory has suddenly grown outwards towards us, by fifteen lightyears in some places." She shot Seven a worried frown, "Can these Botha interfere with how we're seeing these readings?" She passed her Science Officer the PADD.

Seven considered the question for a long moment after reading the report. "It is within their capabilities, yes." Her jaw tightened, "But their telepathic manipulation is generally more insidious, more…extreme."

"So, if they were really messing with us, we'd be seeing pink elephants, not false sensor readings?" Kathryn huffed out a breath, "It's the old intimidation tactic of adjusting border beacons. They're playing chicken with us!"

'Elephants and now a chicken?' Seven would've shrugged off the apparent idioms but Chakotay's anxiously jumping leg told her he needed the distraction. A touch of his shoulder brought his clouded eyes- still slightly bloodshot from lack of sleep- to meet hers. "Chicken?" she murmured.

He relaxed a fraction- the restless limb not quite stilling but not quite as evident. "Brinkmanship."

"It is not brinkmanship when one side so absolutely outguns the other."

"Precisely why we won't be engaging with them." Kathryn assured firmly, "At all. In this case, it's not worth the risk." She held their gazes, letting her own breath out as the couple relaxed. 'At least they take me at my word. That's a step forward.' She turned away as a painfully brittle, too revealing, laugh escaped her taut lips. "So…ice cream?"

"Sure." Chakotay agreed warmly, though there was a tiny quiver in his deep voice. "Chocolate for me, please." Great to know that her First Officer could back up her weak diversionary tactics.

"Strawberry, please." Seven supplied politely.

She shot Tuvok a quick smirk. "And vanilla for you if I'm not mistaken." At his confirming nod, the smirk widened to a grin. "Seems like we all need to move to Naples when we get home." To her surprise, it was Seven who gave a quiet chuckle at the quip.

After they all settled cradling their ice cream- the quiet having become comfortable for the first time that night- Kathryn commented, "I hope this satisfies the Doctor's orders."

"Doctor's orders?" Seven echoed, her serious quizzical tone belied by the dab of pink ice cream clinging onto her chin. How had she managed that eating out of a dish? Even if she had dug in with startling enthusiasm…

"He's under the impression I'm in need of some recreation. I…may have been a little crabby this morning."

Chakotay gave a languid shrug, his attention mostly focused on wiping Seven's chin for her- she made an embarrassed huff and went over where his thumb had lingered with a napkin. "Aren't we all?" He choked a little as he caught Tuvok's answering raised brow, "I mean…aren't we all in need of a little recreation?" He ducked his head, but his smile was good-natured. "What were your plans?"

"Nothing definite." Kathryn replied a little too quickly, "Maybe a holonovel, but I'm not really in the mood for it anymore…" And it wasn't anything she wanted to share with them. She highly doubted holonovels counted as relevant- and maybe that was a good thing, Seven wasn't judgemental in most conventional sense, she hadn't been among humanity long enough for that. Still, the thought of airing the fantasy of a campy gothic romance romp to a real-life couple, the only long-term one on the ship so far, well… It shattered it. Being in their presence rubbed salt in the gaping hole that was Mark's absence, it shouldn't be that way- rarely had she met a pair so different from herself and Mark as Chakotay and Seven- but… "Any recommendations?"

"I'm unfamiliar with holonovels." Seven's uninterested tone was just as she'd anticipated.

Chakotay bit his lip and shot his girlfriend a mildly exasperated look- said exasperation didn't stop him from picking the social baton Seven had unceremoniously dropped with a thud. "We mostly just use the holodeck to walk Lucky."

A reminiscent smile pulled at Kathryn's lips. "Nothing like a dog to distract you." The smile widened into a grin as Lucky rose and plopped his head into her lap. She tickled his velvety ears, remembering the comforting red silkiness of Molly's fur. "Yes, mister, we're talking about you…"

"You may take him for a walk whenever you wish." Seven suddenly said softly, "It helps me." Chakotay didn't know about the recreation of Dorvan she'd made to bask for minutes at the time in memory- Kathryn wouldn't be discovering that either, but she could borrow Lucky on occasion.

"I'd appreciate that." Kathryn said warmly, noting that the younger woman shifted shyly. Maybe they'd never find ease, but this could be a start. "Really." She leaned back in her seat, a mischievous glint in her eye. "One day, we can go through the database and find at least one holonovel that catches your eye, Seven. It's our main form of entertainment and we've got a few years ahead."

Seven felt it would be hypocritical to grimace at the reminder, given how often she'd reminded the Captain of the harsh reality of their situation. "…I'm happy to research recreation." She heard Chakotay snort beside her and elbowed him lightly in the side, rolling her eyes.

Kathryn caught the exchange and burst out laughing, throwing up her hands. "You two can conduct that kind of research without me over your shoulder!"

A/n: Please review my final chapter of 2019! All the best to all of your for 2020 and the new decade!