AN: Here we are, another chapter here!
I'm not sure if you saw yesterday's post, so please don't miss that chapter if you didn't see it before!
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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"Don't be an asshole," Daryl said. "You like—fuckin' owe it to me."
Chakotay laughed to himself and drank several large gulps of water from one of the jugs that they used. The river water looked clean enough, straight from the source, but they boiled it to be sure and stored it in some jugs that they're replicated. A few smaller ones allowed them to drink the water as they moved from one task to another.
There were still several hours before nightfall.
Chakotay and Daryl had spent the entire day building a bed frame. With the tools that they had replicated, though, and learned to use with the last bed frame and the bathtub, and using the supplies that was leftover from the wood that was planked for those projects, the two men were able to put the bed together and make it satisfactorily stable in record time. It was already inside the little house and all four cots had been stacked neatly against a wall in the chance that they needed them for making different furniture later.
Now, Chakotay was following Daryl around as he checked snares and wrung the necks of a few fat birds that would be turned into their evening meal with a few of the leafy vegetables and root vegetables that had proved to be non-toxic.
Carol and Kathryn were off somewhere, checking the insect traps that Kathryn had set for her research.
"I owe you information about my sexual activities?" Chakotay asked with amusement.
"So, you admit there are some activities?" Daryl asked. He laughed, too. "That's an advancement right there. Fuck it. I help build the bed an' get it in the damned house. Damn near break my back an' that elbow ain't gonna be the same for at least a couple days. The least you can do is tell me if that means that there's somethin' goin' on, or if you gonna just have me haulin' that bed right back out of there."
"The bed stays," Chakotay said. "One way or another—it's better designed for long term sleeping than the Starfleet issued cots. But—I don't remember demanding information about your private activities with Carol."
"Hell—that tells me that there ain't shit goin' on worth knowin' about," Daryl said. "You don't gotta ask about me and Carol because you already know it. I'm not shy about my sex life and neither is Carol. Life is too damn short—and that's even with seventy or eighty years stretched out in front of us. I'd say I'm livin' the dream, but I didn't even dream it could be like this. She's wakin' me up in the mornin' asking if she can—if she can take care of shit for me. Askin' me if that's alright like I'ma tell her hell no it ain't alright and scold her for startin' my morning off about as good as it can. So, you don't gotta ask me shit. My sex life is so damn good I was tellin' the little monkey that lives around here about it this mornin' 'cause we scared the shit outta his ass catchin' a quick minute alone out here."
Daryl looked amused with himself when Chakotay pressed his fingers into his eyelids. Daryl was the kind of man who liked to see if he could get someone to squirm.
Of course, Chakotay also had no doubts that Daryl and Carol were doing their part to sexually christen every single square foot of their new planet. They had been waiting ten years, according to Daryl, and they were both anxious to make up for lost time and were unapologetic about their enthusiasm.
It was oddly refreshing, but also terribly enviable.
"The bed is just a bed," Chakotay said. "For sleeping." He laughed to himself. "Don't look at me like that. I don't need your pity."
"You might not, but your dick does," Daryl offered, nonchalantly wringing the neck of a fat bird and dropping it into the sack before he bent down to reset his snare.
"We've talked," Chakotay said.
"Talkin' is good," Daryl said. "Carol and I like to talk."
"We'll see where it goes from there," Chakotay said.
"Bed's a start," Daryl offered.
"Bed's a start," Chakotay echoed.
Before they could continue the conversation, the wind suddenly whipped by them in a gust that pushed Chakotay sideways a few steps to compensate. Daryl, too, surprised by the sudden strength of it, toddled in an effort to stay upright and not drop the bag he was holding.
"Fuck was that?" Daryl mused.
"Wind," Chakotay said.
"Tornado winds? Shit…"
Chakotay didn't have time to speculate too much about the odd gust of wind because it was followed by several more. Before he knew it, they were being whipped back and forth as wind came from one direction and then another. It was so sudden that neither of them really knew what to do except to reach out to nearby trees and hold on against the wind and the sand that stung their faces.
"What the hell is happening?!" Daryl barked.
"I don't know!" Chakotay yelled back, barely able to hear him over the wind. Suddenly, the sand that was stinging his face was replaced by the sting of rain. It was hard, cold rain. It bit into Chakotay's skin as the fierce wind threatened to blow them both off their feet.
"I hope Carol an' Kathryn's got cover!" Daryl yelled, voicing the thoughts that immediately surged through Chakotay's mind.
When the sharp bolt of electricity cracked loudly as it split the sky around them, the bolts beginning to dance wildly around them, Chakotay's heart began to pound.
"It's an ion storm!" He yelled.
"What?" Daryl asked.
"It's an ion storm!" Chakotay yelled again. "They're very dangerous! They could be killed if they're caught in it!"
Without any need for Chakotay to try to explain why he felt they were somehow better equipped to handle the storm than Kathryn and Carol would be—though his real reason for feeling they would better equipped was owing to the fact that they weighed more than the women and, therefore would be able to keep their feet better and move more effectively against the wind—Daryl took off running, as fast as the whipping wind would allow him, in the direction where the women had gone earlier.
"Carol! Kathryn!" He yelled out.
Chakotay didn't hesitate to follow him. He bent his face down, trying to shield it slightly from the stinging rain, ignored the electric crackle of ionically charged particles around him, and ran as fast as he could.
"Kathryn! Carol!" He yelled, hoping that one of them could hear them.
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"Oh! Look!" Kathryn declared, dropping to her knees with her trap in her hand as she scrambled for her case.
Carol pushed the case toward her, but she didn't bother getting to her feet. The sun felt wonderful. The grass this close to the water was soft. Kathryn was cleaning bug traps, but Carol was mostly enjoying the relaxation and the company. She liked hearing Kathryn talk about her feelings—especially when those feelings didn't revolve around the absence of a bug that she hadn't already seen—and Kathryn seemed particularly full of feelings today.
"Something new?" Carol asked.
"He might be the one," Kathryn said. She deposited the bug into one of the collection cups that she had. For every new bug they came across, she filled one of the cups. So far, none of the bugs had proven to be the one that had bitten them. There was some different protein strand in their DNA or something equally confusing that Carol didn't understand at all.
Carol waited until the case was locked and moved out of the way to bring up the discussion they'd been having. She waited until Kathryn stretched her legs out and rubbed them against the grass in an almost feline manner.
"Speaking of—possibly being the one," Carol teased. Kathryn eyed her, but there was a smile playing at her lips that said that she welcomed picking the conversation back up—even if she might pretend otherwise. "You've already said you love him. The hesitation—it doesn't make sense."
"What if—I make the wrong decisions and something happens to Chakotay? As a captain…"
"But you're not a captain," Carol said. "Here, you're Kathryn. I'm Carol. You're Kathryn. And if we're being honest? I'm probably the best person to tell you that shit happens, Kathryn. Whether you want it to or not? It happens. And no matter how careful you are or—how high you build those walls? Something awful can always manage to happen."
"I feel weak just admitting this—small, even—but…I don't know if I would want to live in a world without him. Not now that I know what having him in my world feels like."
"And you think that—keeping your distance is going to somehow make that better?" Carol asked. She laughed to herself. "Of course, you do. We all do. Like if I pretend it doesn't hurt, then it won't. But that's bullshit and you know it. Maybe it's weak to feel the way you do, but if it is? We're all weak. I'm just going to give you one piece of advice. You take it if you want it."
"Ok," Kathryn agreed.
"As far as relationships go," Carol said. "And that's all I'm talking about. Men. Relationships. I've never really regretted the things that I've done. I made some terrible choices, but there was something good about each of those choices. There was something that made that choice—as terrible as it was in hindsight—exactly what it had to be at that moment. Well…maybe I regret some things. A little. But—my point is that…the greatest regret I have about relationships isn't what I did. It's what I didn't do. Kathryn—for the first time in my life. In my whole life—I feel really alive. I feel—loved. I feel—valued. I feel full. Like when you're really hungry and you eat until you're just…satisfied. And the only thing that I regret is that I let a million other things keep me from feeling that for years when I could have had it—years when I needed it."
Kathryn considered Carol's words a moment. A wind gust came, from nowhere, and blew hard against them. Both of them laughed in response as it sent hair whipping around both of their faces before it was gone.
"Whirlwind," Carol mused. Kathryn hummed.
"I really do love him," she offered.
"Then stop trying to be his captain," Carol said. "Just be—Kathryn. Love him. Let him love you."
Kathryn didn't get a chance to respond. The whirlwind that had innocently whipped around them wasn't alone. Almost instantly, the wind picked up violently. They stared at each other a moment, and both fought against it to scramble to their feet. Rain came almost as suddenly as the wind. It was freezing and it slammed into Carol hard enough that it stung and she imagined it might be bruising them.
"We have to get cover," Carol yelled out.
Kathryn was already gathering up her case. The case normally wasn't too heavy, but the wind grabbed it and snatched it. It threw Kathryn roughly to the ground and Carol stumbled around and did her best to drag Kathryn back to her feet.
"Leave it!" She called out as Kathryn reached for the case again. They were touching, but Carol was almost certain that Kathryn couldn't hear her over the howling wind and the driving rain.
"What if it's the right insect?" Kathryn called back. "I'll need it."
She screamed when a bolt of lightning unlike any that Carol had ever seen before crackled through the sky and struck down nearly at her feet.
"It's an ion storm!" Kathryn yelled. Carol didn't have to know what that was to know that she didn't want to be in the middle of one. She held tight to Kathryn's arm and did her best to tow the woman with her toward the house. Kathryn held the case that she refused to abandon until the wind caught it again. The gust was particularly strong and it threw both of them to the ground. For just a moment, Carol lie there and wondered if she had the muscle strength to push up against the wind that felt like it had her flattened against the ground. Around them, the lighting crackled and hissed and shook the ground where it touched down.
Carol heard the cry—practically a battle cry—that Kathryn made as she pushed up against the wind. Carol followed suit. Soon both of them were on their feet again, clinging together to remain upright. Kathryn tried to drag the case with her, but it was flat and caught the wind, threatening to throw them off balance again.
"Leave it!" Carol demanded.
"It might be the right one," Kathryn lamented.
"Then we'll find another fucking bug!" Carol yelled. She pulled on Kathryn. "I'd rather come out of this with you than the bug!"
They didn't have much time to fight about their situation. Carol didn't know that Chakotay and Daryl even knew where the traps had been set. She knew that Daryl couldn't possibly track in this weather—no matter how talented he was. Still, she heard them both yelling out their names.
It was a welcomed sound in the storm. The only thing that was more welcomed was the moment that Carol felt Daryl's arms wrapping around her and, for just a moment, shielding her from the icy sting of the wind and rain.
"Come on," he said, his face close to hers. "We gotta get inside. It's only gettin' worse."
Carol agreed and let Daryl lead her. Behind them, Chakotay brought Kathryn as they all struggled back toward the structure that they now called home.
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AN: If you're enjoying, please let your friends know about the story. I know some people are possibly shying away because they don't know about a couple that isn't originally their OTP or maybe because they're not familiar with one show or another. If you're enjoying, please let people know!
And, as always, if you're enjoying, please let me know! Thanks so much for reading!
