Chateau Picard wasn't much warmer than La Sirena but did have fireplaces.

A wordless conversation happened between Raffi and Seven as they stood shoulder to shoulder in the hallway Picard brought them to. The quirk of an eyebrow and the slight nod of a head was all either needed. They moved past him and into the same room without so much as a goodnight to the others.

Seven sat down on the bed with her elbows resting on her knees. Raffi moved to use what she could from a broken chair and bed post to light a fire.

Once Raffi managed to light the fire and get it really burning she turned her back to it. The room was dirty, broken and hadn't been of use to anyone in decades. She felt an uneasy kinship with the room that set her teeth on fire.

"I crossed a line today when I invoked Gabe's name. I owe you an apology," Seven said without looking at her but instead down at her fingertips.

"We've all had a few rough days," Raffi crossed the room to sit next to Seven without touching her. "Don't worry about it."

"I am sorry," Seven whispered as she turned her head to look at Raffi. The firelight played off of her features as Seven searched her face. Unaccustomed to without her ocular implant she had to squint slightly. "And thank you for starting the fire."

"It'll be warm enough for the night if we have it going almost too hot before we sleep," Raffi nodded. Her hands were folded in her lap even as her fingers itched to reach out.

"How do you do it?" Seven asked as she looked back at her own hands.

"Lighting a fire is a pretty basic skill that all Starfleet officers should know," Raffi said.

Seven snorted before her expression turned more serious again. "How do you live in a body without modification? No sensors for time or temperature or bodily functions. Nothing to augment the world around you with data points."

"It's been a long time for you, hasn't it?" Raffi moved her hand to rest in the middle of Seven's back as she asked.

"Something like 45 years," Seven admitted.

Raffi half turned on the bed to press a kiss just above Seven's eyebrow where one of her implants usually lived. She had kissed around it before, touched it, watched countless times as Seven arched her eyebrow and moved it. Now it was gone and with it the advantages and curses it brought to Seven's life.

"It hurts," Seven said in a small voice. "No, not now," She said quickly when she felt Raffi move back and then saw the panic on her face. "The assimilation process hurts. Mentally it is almost a blissful numbing once the Borg Queen takes over. But for the body? It's a violation, it's a trauma, it's so fucking painful. All you want to do is scream and you can't even open your own mouth once the real pain starts."

Raffi reached her hand out to wipe the tears falling with the pads of her thumbs. "You are extraordinary. In this form, in that form, in any form. A little bent but you never broke."

"Oh I broke," Seven gave a weak laugh. "The jury's still deliberating if I don't remain so."

"What a pair we are, honey. A Starfleet commander who is losing her damn mind and a Fenris Ranger learning her own body all over again," Raffi said. She shook her head at how fucked up this all felt.

"You are grieving Elnor," Seven corrected. She brought her hands up to take Raffi's before settling their joined hands in her lap. "You aren't losing your mind."

"Nice to hear at least one of us believes that," Raffi gave a weak smile to Save.

The crackling of the fire was all that filled the room for a moment. The pair held hands and looked at each other as they sat on a bed that was last made over eighty years before. A bed that was looking more and more tempting by the moment.

"We should get some sleep," Seven said as she looked down at their joined hands. "We have a lot to put in motion. And dress shopping. Unless we can get the ship functional enough to use the replicator."

"I didn't even think about the formal wear," Raffi's lip curved. "Not really how I was hoping to see you all dressed up for the first time."

"How were you hoping?" Seven asked.

"I have to attend Starfleet graduation," Raffi smiled. "There's a graduation ball that I was thinking of asking you to."

"Just thinking about it?" Seven smiled back at Raffi.

"If we get out of this hellscape and back to our timeline, will you go to the graduation ball with me?" Raffi asked. She couldn't believe now was when they were doing this but it fit somehow. And gave her something to fill her mind in the quiet moments when dark thoughts liked to swirl.

"Yes, Commander Musiker I will," Seven shook her head at the absurdity of it.

They shared a laugh at making plans for a date in the middle of trying to save the world. But both knew that waiting for the perfect moment often just meant waiting without action. Letting the light die out in hopes the next flame would be brighter just left you in the dark.

"We should get some sleep," Raffi echoed Seven's comment.

Wordlessly they both got off the bed and went to handle different things. Seven tackled using some spare sheets in the bureau to cover the window as much as possible to keep the cold air out. Raffi meanwhile stoked the fire until the room was almost too warm knowing they wouldn't add anything more to it for hours.

Seven grabbed the bag of supplies they took from La Sirena. The worn leather bag held a little bit of food, some water and some clothes Rios found. The real prize was a half bottle of bourbon that Seven found in one of the lockers.

"I could kiss you," Raffi groaned. She took the bottle from Seven after Seven pulled the stopper and took a drink of her own.

"You have before," Seven took the bottle back to take another mouthful.

Raffi grabbed one of the ration bars and ripped the packaging open. "Done more than that before."

"You have," Seven took one of the bars for herself.

"There are a lot of things you and I are going to have to do a better job of figuring out once we get this mess put back right," Raffi said. "I can't go back to how things were."

"No, we can't go back to how things were," Seven agreed.

Raffi finished her ration bar and took back the bottle for another drink from it. She wanted to talk now but it wasn't the time. They needed rest. They needed a backup plan for Picard's plan. They needed a working ship.

After changing into some spare clothes from the ship they crawled into the bed. It was clear enough and the room had warmed to a comfortable temperature. For a moment there was space between them before they moved toward each other at the same moment.

"Goodnight," Raffi whispered as she pressed a kiss to Seven's shoulder.

"Goodnight," Seven replied as she held Raffi close to her chest.