"Good morning B'Elanna!" beamed Neelix as Voyager's Chief Engineer walked up to his counter. "What would you like for breakfast?"

B'Elanna Torres looked pensively at Neelix's breakfast selections. One of the dishes looked like an omelette, but with Neelix, looks could always be deceiving. A second offering looked like bright blue mashed potatoes. The third - the third looked like a chalk-white porridge of some sort, with green and purple bean-like things suspended in it. "I don't know, Neelix. What are the options?"

"Well, this morning, we have cheese omelets, my Breakfast Surprise," he said pointing to the porridge, "and by special request, my whipped pilarbra tubers au gratin."

"I think I'll just stick with a cheese omelette, Neelix," said B'Elanna.

"You really should try the tubers, B'Elanna," said a familiar voice over her shoulder.

"Harry!"

"I take it you'll have the tubers, Harry?" asked Neelix. Not waiting for a response, Neelix continued. "Oh, and I found a clarinet in the mess hall this morning as I was making breakfast. I assume it's yours. Late night practice session?" He handed Harry his clarinet.

"No, I was just playing and watching the stars."

"O.K. Have a good breakfast Harry, B'Elanna." Neelix then went on to serve his next diner.

Harry and B'Elanna made their way over to their usual table. Sitting down, Harry said, "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you lately, B'Elanna. I didn't -"

B'Elanna interrupted him. "No, I'm sorry for ripping into you like that a few days ago, Harry. Seven just got my hackles up, and you were an easy target."

"Apology accepted, B'Elanna. It did give me a few things to think about."

B'Elanna eyed her friend curiously. "Is that what you were doing last night? Playing alone in the dark, worrying about your troubles?"

"Yeah, until I had a visitor show up. Had a good conversation, too." Harry smiled at the half-Klingon woman. "I bet you'll never guess who."

B'Elanna's immediate response was, "Seven?" She still spoke the name with a little bit of venom in her voice.

Harry shook his head. He may be making up with B'Elanna, and he hoped to make up with Seven, but it wasn't going to be easy dealing with the two of them together. "No, Seven didn't show up last night."

"Well, it probably wasn't Tom. He said was going to be working on the Delta Flyer late into the night." A smile crossed her face. "Was it Sue Nicoletti?"

"No, why would Sue show up?"

B'Elanna looked a little guilty, and said, "Well, she has been asking about you a lot in Engineering lately. She also seems to walk on air on nights after you two practice your instruments together." B'Elanna grinned at that, and leaned in closer to Harry, conspiratorially. "I think she has a crush on you."

"Sue?" Harry didn't expect that. She had seemed friendlier lately, but the thought that it was because she was interested in him had never crossed his mind.

"There's nothing wrong with Sue Nicoletti, Harry. You could do a lot worse. She's pretty, a good worker, and she enjoys music as much as you do. You should go for her!" B'Elanna hoped he did. She thought Sue would be better for Harry than that Borg woman.

Harry shook his head. "Sue's a great woman, B'Elanna, I know. But I'm not interested in her."

B'Elanna's face hardened. "Because you're interested in Seven."

"Yes." He paused. "Part of the reason I reacted the way I did a few nights ago was that you spoke directly to my fears." His steady voice began to waiver a little. "That she could never return my feelings for her..."

"So. You're admitting you like her, now." B'Elanna wasn't happy at this turn. She saw how Harry dealt with the ex-Borg, and knew how he felt, but so long as he kept denying it, she thought there was a chance he'd get over it. Now that he was admitting his feelings for her, she feared they'd be more permanent. And that her friend would really get hurt by the former drone.

"It's more than like, B'Elanna. I..."

The mess hall door slid open at that point, and in walked Seven of Nine. She saw Harry and B'Elanna sitting together and strode forcefully over to them. "Good morning, Lieutenant Torres, Ensign Kim." She looked directly at Harry. "Ensign Kim, it is imperative that we speak. Privately," she said, looking directly at B'Elanna.

B'Elanna metaphorically raised her shields. "Now, just wait a minute here, Seven. I was here first and..."

'Oh no, not again,' thought Harry. He interrupted his friend. "Is this about ship's business, Seven?"

"It is not," she responded. "It is about... us." She seemed less sure of herself at that point.

"Well, Seven, I'm having breakfast with B'Elanna at the moment, but I think you're right, we do need to speak. Privately. It's just that now... really isn't..."

Seven stopped his explanation. "Ensign, you have barely spoken to me for four days and have been avoiding me wherever possible. Every time I try to speak with you, you tell me we will speak later. We need to talk NOW."

B'Elanna was about to say something when Harry raised his hand as a warning to her. "I said, you're right, we need to talk. But I think this evening would be a better time. Are you going to be busy at 1930 hours, Seven?"

"I do not think so."

Harry tried to sound more confident than he really was at this point. "Would you like to join me in my quarters for dinner then? We can talk privately then."

Seven's mouth rose into a slight smile. She had not expected this reaction. Lieutenant Paris had led her to believe that the Ensign would still try and avoid her, and from his recent actions, that was what she also expected. She had an image in her mind of her having to pin him against a bulkhead and force him to speak with her. She was glad it hadn't come to that.

"That would be acceptable. I will leave you to your breakfast with Lieutenant Torres." She then left the two and went off to the Astrometrics lab.

B'Elanna was bewildered at her friend. "She comes in here, ordering you around, trying to kick me out of this conversation, and you take that as a cue to make a DATE with her? I don't understand you sometimes, Harry." She shook her head.

Harry, on the other hand, was just smiling. "Yeah, I suppose it was a date. Wow. Now I have to figure out what to make for dinner. I hope I have enough replicator rations..."

B'Elanna reached out and touched her friends arm. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Tom wasn't kidding, was he, Starfleet? You really are in love with her."

"Yes. I thought you knew that. That's what you told her, at any rate."

Her face flushed. "I was just trying to annoy you. I knew you had a crush on her, but I didn't know you had this... depth of feeling I can see you do." She shook her head. "This is too weird."

"No weirder than watching you and Tom dance around each other for months," he smiled.

"Now, Tom and I were completely different..." B'Elanna stopped. "We weren't, were we?" Seeing Harry shake his head, she continued.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt, Harry. You're my best friend on the ship, other than Tom. I just worry that Seven's going to break your heart."

"Have a little faith, B'Elanna. It's a possibility, but when is it ever not?"

B'Elanna persisted. "Sue Nicoletti wouldn't break your heart..." Harry just looked at her. "Fine, Harry. I just hope I don't have to say 'I told you so' to you. And don't expect any double dates with me and Tom," she said, pointing a fork at him.

He smirked at that. "You'll grow to like her. If anything works out, that is..." His face fell a little.

B'Elanna looked at the chronometer on the wall. 0750 hours. "You better get to the bridge, Harry." She then smiled warmly at him. "Well at least keep your hopes up, Harry. You got her on a date, at least."

"Yeah, there's that."

"See?" B'Elanna shook her head. "Imagine, me trying to make you feel better about Seven. Huh." Then, smiling warmly at her friend, she said, "I'm glad we could have breakfast like this, Harry."

"Hey, I always like eating with a good friend." He smiled back at her.

They took their trays back to Neelix's counter and left the mess hall together.

B'Elanna opened the door to her quarters and walked in. She was immediately enveloped by a pair of strong arms from behind. "Morning, Babe," came the voice of Tom Paris.

"Hi Tom," she turned around and kissed him. "Tom..."

He put a finger up against her lips, and led her to the couch, where they both sat down, with her in his arms.

"Mmm, Tom," she continued, "I'd love... for you to stay, but I just worked a double shift, and I have to be at work at 1700, so I need my rest. I'm sorry, but I don't have time for..."

"For what? For sex?" B'Elanna nodded. Tom just continued. "It's not always about sex, B'Elanna. I know your tired, and that why I'm here. I just thought it would be nice for you to fall asleep in the arms of the man who loves you."

B'Elanna turned to look at him. "Tom, you've never told me you love me before!"

The pilot looked uncomfortable. "Well, it's true. I do. Love you, that is."

He paused a moment while she reached her head up and took him in a passionate kiss. As he broke the meeting of their lips, he said, "I know I should say it more often, but I get uncomfortable saying it."

"I know, Tom. It's nice to hear it, though."

"Well, I'll remember that. How was breakfast with Harry?"

"It went fine. I'm glad he's speaking to me again." She then turned to look at him. "Of course, Seven showed up and started pestering him. Harry made a date with her for tonight."

Tom looked shocked. "He did? Good for Harry. Looks like my talk with her last night... Uh-oh," he said as he saw the look on B'Elanna's face.

"You went to talk with her about Harry?"

"No, actually, she started talking about it while we were working on the Delta Flyer. I told her not to let Harry avoid her forever."

B'Elanna's eyes narrowed. "So help me, Paris, if she hurts him in one of her little sociological 'experiments'..."

Tom just held B'Elanna more tightly. "I told her the same thing, B'Elanna. I said only to do something if she really cared for him, and that if she hurt him, there's be hell to pay with both you *and* me."

"Oh. Good. Wait a minute. Does she love Harry?"

Tom laughed. "No, not yet. But she cares about him. Look, we have to trust Harry. He's a big boy. He can handle himself."

"I just don't know if he can handle that Borg."

Tom kissed the top of B'Elanna's head. "I'm sure we'll see, Babe. Now go to sleep." He pulled out a padd.

She closed her eyes. "What are you reading, Tom?"

He read the title of his padd to her. "From Little Rock to the Bell Riots: American Civil Unrest, 1957-2024."

"Oooo. Sounds fun," she teased.

"Well, I like it. Nighty-night."

She fell asleep in his arms. He was soon engrossed in his hobby, twentieth-century American history, but not so engrossed that he didn't feel he was damn lucky to be here with such a beautiful woman he love so much cradled up against him, softly breathing in her slumber.

On the bridge, Commander Chakotay and Captain Janeway got off the turbolift and walked towards the Captain's ready room. Chakotay stopped to speak with Harry, who was looking a little worried, but not nearly as upset he had been in recent days.

He put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Did you take my advice, Harry?"

The ops officer smiled. "Yes, sir. Tonight."

"Ah. Good. Carry on." He gave the Ensign a warm smile, and he and Janeway entered the ready room.

"Well, Commander, what was that about?" the Captain asked her First Officer.

"Oh, I was just talking to Harry last night. I wanted to see if he had listened."

Janeway smiled at him. "Well, it must have worked. He doesn't seem so glum today. May I ask what you talked about?"

"Well, it's sort of private," Chakotay said.

"I promise, it won't leave this room."

Chakotay's face broke into an evil grin at that. "You realize, Kathryn, that that's how the gossip mill on this ship works, don't you? One person tells another, and so on..."

Janeway smiled back. "Yes, I suppose it does. Well, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine..."

Chakotay sighed. "Well, it was about love. That's all I can really say. I gave him some advice, and we had a good heart-to-heart. I'd never really done that with Harry before."

Janeway's eyes twinkled. "Love? About a certain numerically-named crewmember?"

Chakotay nodded, almost imperceptibly.

"Since when did you become Mr. Lonelyhearts, dispensing advice to the lovelorn?" she asked. Harry's affection for Seven of Nine was widely known on the ship. So was the fact that despite it, Seven of Nine had remained true to her Borg passionlessness.

Chakotay's face took on a cloudy expression, an he said, "It's just that I knew what he was going through. I've been there before - loving someone and not knowing they can return your feelings. So I told him that she should know how he feels. That way she at least knows the option is there, even if she doesn't take it."

Captain Janeway considered that. Chakotay acted on his beliefs, and was always willing to share his advice with others. Trying to avoid thinking of the more personal implications of his advice, however, she said, "I'd say that's good advice for young Mr. Kim. He's been keeping this to himself for to long, if the rumours are true, and you're telling me that they are." Then her eyes twinkled. "She does always ask specifically for him when she wants help. Who knows what will happen with them."

"Well I hope it works out between them, myself," said Chakotay.

"Speaking as Kathryn, and not the Captain, so do I. Although as the Captain, I wouldn't be opposed to it. She could hardly find a nicer young man than Harry."

Janeway resolved to ask Seven about this sometime in the future. In the meantime, there was work to be done. So she pushed thoughts of love out of her mind. A part of her bitterly thought, 'Like you always do, Kathryn'. That part got a mental 'Captain's Glare'.

"So, let's talk about crew promotions, shall we Commander?"