Author's note: Paramount owns it all.
Icheb sat in the mess hall, staring out the porthole. The once-hot mug he held had lost all it's steam an hour ago, but Icheb didn't feel like drinking it. He wasn't depressed or unhappy, in fact he was quite chipper when anyone spoke to him and the small smirk on his face revealed little. He had been there for an hour and half, but he felt his free time was his own, and he wasn't going to hide out in his quarters, nor in the holodeck. The next social gathering wasn't planned for another week and a half; but plans had been finalized and decorating wouldn't begin for a week and two days. Icheb began to muse over how things had changed since he had joined Voyager. Seven and Chakotay were engaged to be married, Tom and B'Elanna were busy with Miral, the rest of the Borg children had left long ago, and he was finally a Star Fleet officer. Neelix had left, and along the way a few others had as well. Harry Kim's love life seemed to be that same, at least.
Icheb had changed, perhaps more than he had ever wanted, but no one else seemed to mind; it was all for the better. "Especially Naomi," he thought, "she doesn't seem to mind me changing at all." He remembered his first encounters with Naomi; he was stolid and rude. She was young then, she understood, she took it in stride. She was one of the few people who had, Seven had, the doctor, the captain most of the time, but not always, and of course Q-ball, but he had his own agenda.
Time seemed to pass more slowly in the mess hall, if only by a second or two. It seemed to him he had to like torturing himself, because he had been waiting for Naomi to get off her half shift for the past hour and a half. He could have read a book, talked with Harry, or played a practical joke on the doctor, or even worked on some new something in Astrometrics, but he didn't. He sat with a mug of cool café latte, staring out the porthole at the stars flashing by at high warp.
He had worked a shift and a half, which happened to be most unfortunate because Naomi had the half shift after that, that day. She was on half shifts so that she could study for the other half of the shift and then get some free time. It had actually been Icheb's idea, but when Naomi pitched it to the captain she forgot that little detail. Not that he minded; it gave the two of the more time together regardless.
He had another two and half hours to wait for her, and he changed his mind about hanging around.