It Felt Like Home
Workforce Redux
A Star Trek: Voyager fanfiction
by
CanonAntithesis
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Kathryn practically skipped through the doors of the bar. She was coming here after work on the thinly veiled pretense of eating dinner. It had been a week since she had first met the intriguing man known as Tom Paris and she was as giddy as a school girl to see him again. Plus, today had been a great day at work. She hadn't caused any core overloads and she had received an injection which protected her against ambient radiation. She certainly felt lucky to have an employer who cared so much about her health.
The only downside was an odd encounter she had had with a dark-skinned alien named Tuvok. The strange man seemed to think he knew her from before they came to Quarra. She tried to assure him that he was mistaken, but he became very agitated when she suggested he should go to the infirmary. Then, he abruptly left. Kathryn decided to forget about the incident.
She was one of the first people in the bar after shift change, so it wasn't too busy yet. Hopefully, Umali wouldn't mind if Tom fraternized a little before business picked up. He was facing away from her, hand-drying some glassware, so she quickly slid onto a bar seat.
"Hey, barkeep! What does someone have to do around here to get some service?" Her words were serious, but her tone was playful.
Tom spun around in surprise and dropped the glass in the process. "Oh, crap!"
"I'm so sorry." Kathryn sprang up and came around the bar to join him on the floor. "Here, let me help." They started to work on picking up the pieces.
"It's not your fault. I'm just really tired today."
"While I'll admit I did have a little trouble falling asleep last night, I feel fine now," she quipped lightheartedly.
Tom didn't meet her eyes and quietly started, "To tell the truth, Kathryn, I-". He gasped and pulled back his left hand in pain. "Damn it!"
"Let me see," Kathryn insisted as she examined his hand. Blood beaded up on his index finger and Tom winced when she touched it.
"Ow," he exclaimed, trying to pull away from her.
"Hold still, you big baby. I think there's still a piece of glass in there." She pulled him toward the bar sink. "Here, the water should wash it right out."
Kathryn gently washed off his finger and the glass did, indeed, wash out without incident. She bandaged it and then, without thinking, brought the injured finger to her lips. She pulled away and met his eyes with embarrassment. "Sorry," she murmured. She started to pull her hand away, but Tom stopped her.
"Don't be sorry. No one's done that for me since I was a little boy. It's nice."
"Then, may I always be able to kiss away your pain." Kathryn looked back to the mess on the floor. She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You stay here and I'll finish cleaning up."
/***\
Umali walked up to Tom with a twinkle in her dark eyes. She indicated over to Kathryn who was now diligently studying at a small table in the corner. "Now, that's my kind of customer loyalty. She cleans up the place, cleans up my bartender, and still buys her dinner here. I think that one's a keeper."
Tom, who had been preparing a drink behind the bar, smiled in Kathryn's direction. "I do, too." He loaded a bowl of soup onto a tray along with the drink.
Kathryn closed her book and slid it off to the side of the table when she saw Tom approach.
"Hi, I want you to try something I've been working on for a couple of days." Tom placed the steaming bowl of soup and a spoon in front of Kathryn. His eyes were twinkling with expectation..
She leaned forward and inhaled deeply trying to place the smell and therefore, the type of soup. A smile crept across her face.
"Is this what I think it is?" she asked in anticipation, the spoon already poised in her hand.
"Give it a try."
Kathryn twirled the spoon around in the broth-like liquid, puzzling over the lilac color which did not match the aroma of the dish. She took a spoonful, blew on it gently and cautiously brought it to her lips.
"Hmmm... it's delicious. I haven't had tomato soup this good since my mother's back on Earth. Wherever did you find tomatoes on Quarra?"
Tom pulled up a seat and sit down next to her. "They're called Talaxian tomatoes. Apparently, most people on Quarra think they're disgusting."
"Well, I think it's wonderful. Only..." Tom expression took on a worried look, "the light purple coloring had me a bit confused at first."
"Keep eating. I'll need to get back to work soon, but I wanted to ask you something first."
"What is it?"
"You mentioned that you were off tomorrow and I was wondering if we could get together during the day and take a walk by the river."
"I'd like that," Kathryn replied a husky voice.
"I love your voice," Tom just suddenly blurted out.
"What?"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, but you have the sexiest voice I've ever heard. When you talk, I can practically feel your voice crawling over my skin. It's exhilarating."
Kathryn blushed visibly. "I'm not really sure how to take that."
"Take it as the compliment it was meant to be from an honest admirer." Tom leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "You enjoy that soup and I'll see you on my break."
She nodded. "I will."
He started to walk away, but whirled back around excitedly. "You just wait. I'm still working on it, but my next culinary venture will be a good old-fashioned grilled cheese sandwich to go with that soup."
Kathryn smiled broadly. "I can't wait."
/***\
Kathryn looked a little lost until she caught sight on Tom sitting on a bench by the transport platform.
"You look beautiful," Tom said as he walked up to greet her with a quick peck on the cheek.
"Thank you."
Tom took her hand and they started walking toward the paved walkway which ran next to the city's magnificent river. Despite its cold nights, Quarra was normally quite pleasant during the day, like late Spring on Earth. Kathryn wore a casual red dress with ¾ length sleeves which fell just above her knees and comfortable flats on her feet. She tired of those cursed heeled boots which she wore everyday to work. It was nice to give her feet a break. Tom looked very relaxed in beige slacks and a striped knit pull-over shirt with long sleeves.
They followed a footpath down to the river proper and stopped when they got their first good view of the water. Kathryn's apartment didn't face the river, so she had never actually seen it. She always seemed to be busy with work or meeting Tom at the bar.
Her voice caught in her throat. The river was beautiful and much wider and wilder than Kathryn expected. The river built up speed and force as it fell over a series of steep, jagged rocks and flowed into a narrow gorge. The gorge appeared to have been sliced through solid rock. The river here was wild and remote. It was hard to believe they were only a few minutes walk from a highly industrialized city. Budding trees lined the bank where they stood which was why they had had to walk this far down to see this magnificent sight of nature. An evergreen forest grew on the far bank and she knew this was a designated green space that the city had put aside which would always remain undeveloped.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" commented Tom, having to raise his voice slightly due to the rushing water.
"Absolutely, lovely." She looked over at him curiously as something occurred to her. "You've been here before." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yeah, I like to walk down this way in the mornings. It's a nice way to start the day. Gives you a unique perspective on things."
Pointing to the green space on the other bank, Kathryn commented sadly, "If only Earth had such enlightened ideas, I might not have left."
Tom lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. "But if you'd stayed on Earth, I would have never met you and that would have been tragic."
She leaned into him and sighed, enjoying the roar of the water and the closeness of Tom's quiet strength.
/***\
They stood in companionable silence for a few minutes until Tom suggested they move to a great location nearby. Taking her hand in his, they climbed some moderately steep rocks until they came to a wide flat area at the top. It afforded the perfect view of the water fall as the river rushed through the narrow gorge.
"This is the perfect spot for a picnic," announced Tom.
"Too bad we didn't bring anything," Kathryn commented wryly.
"Don't be so sure of yourself." Tom stepped behind a small scrub and reappeared with a large woven basket. "Voila! Your feast, madam."
Kathryn smiled broadly at his over exaggerated gestures as he opened the basket and pulled out a blanket. With much pomp and circumstance, Tom spread it out on the ground and started retrieving the contents of the basket one by one. Kathryn sat down on the edge of the blanket with her legs tucked under her.
"What do we have here?" she asked with much anticipation. She realize how hungry she was until she saw the food start to emerge from the basket.
"Well, I decided to go native... no grilled cheese, no tomato soup, no PB&J." He opened the basket to reveal an assortment of brightly colored food. He passed Kathryn the plates, napkins, and utensils and she set them out on the blanket.
"First, let's start with some silmic wine and brill cheese." He pulled out a carafe of wine and a bowl of ball-shaped pieces of white cheese. He placed the bowl between them and filled two glasses with wine. He passed Kathryn her drink and was lifting his glass to his lips when Kathryn stopped him.
"Wait! We need a toast. To a fresh start!"
Tom smiled in agreement. "Perfect. To a fresh start!"
They clanked glasses and Tom picked up a piece of cheese. "Here, taste this. It's really good."
Kathryn obediently opened her mouth and Tom fed her the cheese. "Hmm... that's actually quite tasty."
"It's brill cheese, made from schplict, the milk of a grakel." Tom paused for a second and grabbed another piece of cheese. "Now, the really interesting thing about this cheese is how it's made." He popped a piece of cheese in his own mouth and continued. "To speed the fermentation, they add live Napinnen maggots to the schplict milk."
Kathryn stopped chewing. "Maggots?" Was it her imagination or was something moving in her mouth?
"Don't worry; Umali always removes the maggots before serving the cheese." He leaned closer to her. "Some restaurants don't. To be on the safe side, I'd never eat anywhere but Umali's."
"Good advise."
Despite the assurance that all the maggots had been removed, Kathryn avoided the cheese for the rest of the meal.
"Next, we'll enjoy a salad made of horva greens and hosi cucumbers, and our main dish of Alfarian hair pasta with marinara sauce made from Taxalian tomatoes."
"Now, those I trust."
"Let's dig in."
They served themselves the pasta and salad and enjoyed the less adventurous portions of their meal.
/***\
Scraped-clean plates and empty containers littered the blanket, along with an empty carafe of wine. Tom sat propped against a large rock formation with Kathryn leaning back against his chest as they sat together and watched the rushing river.
Kathryn sighed with contentment. "This has been a wonderful day. Thank you so much for suggesting it."
With his arms wrapped around her waist, he placed his chin on the top of her head and hummed back in response. "It's not over yet."
She angled her head back to look him in the eye. "Oh, what did you have in mind?"
With their lips being in such close proximity to each other, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world … any world … to kiss her. And that's exactly what he did. A few minutes later, Tom smoothly rolled Kathryn onto her back and continued to ardently kiss her. At first she seemed to return his passion, but then...
"Ow!" Kathryn shouted as she arched off the ground.
Tom jerked away from her in concern. "Did I hurt you?"
"No, not you. There's something stabbing me in the rear."
She moved and Tom pulled back the blanket to reveal a large flat stone, smooth and rounded on one end, but sharp and jagged on the other. It was wedged in the ground with that sharp edge facing up. Tom's eyes lit up in recognition. He quickly dug out the stone and showed it to Kathryn.
"Take a look at this."
"I've been feeling it for several minutes now. I'm not interested in examining it any further."
"But this isn't just any old rock. It's a tool; look at it." He held out the stone for her to see. "It's obviously a river rock. See how it's been worn smooth by being tumbled in the water?"
"The part that was poking me didn't feel very smooth."
"Exactly! That's how we know it's a tool." He pointed to the sharp edge. "This isn't natural. It was sharpened to an edge by some primitive being."
"Primitive being? There are primitives living on Quarra?"
"Not now, but there were, sometime in the past and I mean the distant past, like millions of years ago." His eyes were shining with excitement. "Isn't this amazing? This was probably a knife used for skinning game or maybe it was attached to a handle and it was an ax used for chopping down trees. And it's just been sitting here for all these years, waiting for someone like me to come along and recognize it for what it is."
Kathryn massaged her left buttock where the rock had jabbed her. "Don't forget the contribution my aching backside played in this historical discovery." While she didn't share his enthusiasm for this tiny bit of history, she did love seeing Tom so excited by it. "So are you an amateur archeologist or something?"
"No, not at all. I just like old things - always have, but not usually this old. I think I was born in the wrong century. And you're right. I think your butt actually deserves the majority of the credit. Maybe we could name this rock after it." He held the rock to eye level and stroked his chin as if in deep contemplation. "How about … Oh I know. You've heard of Stonehenge in England back on Earth?"
Kathryn nodded. "Of course. Archeologists are still trying to unravel its mysteries."
"Right. So what if we called our little rock here … stone hiney?"
"Don't you dare, Tom Paris." Kathryn took the stone out of his hand and tossed it away, accidentally throwing it directly into their basket.
He laughed and pulled her up flush against him, carefully massaging her bruised derriere.
"Okay, I promise. And no more talk of rocks. Now where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?"
/***\
After deciding to not chance lying down on any more archeological discoveries, Kathryn decided that they should go to her apartment. Getting there was a hormonal blur. They threw the picnic stuff in the basket and virtually ran back toward the high rise building. It was late afternoon by now and luckily shift change had happened two hours ago. Holding hands, they stepped into an empty elevator and the doors slowly creaked closed. The normally swift elevator seemed to move with glacial speed. Tom had had enough waiting.
He dropped the basket and pulled Kathryn to him, claiming her lips in a heated kiss. Kathryn rose up on her tip toes and grabbed him behind his neck, pulling him down to her level. She returned the kiss with equal hunger. Oh, she may not remember everything clearly about her life, but she definitely remembered that she had never been kissed like this before.
A loud bell caused them to step apart as the elevators door slowly slid open. Tom grinned broadly and picked up the basket with one hand and grabbed Kathryn's hand with the other, pulling her down the hall, as the door closed.
"Stop!" Kathryn called in laughter as she pulled on his arm with both hands to try and slow Tom down.
"No!" He shouted back in glee. "I'm taking you to bed, woman!" Thankfully, the hallway was completely deserted.
"Fine," she replied in frustration, "but you're going in the wrong direction!"
Tom stopped so abruptly that Kathryn crashed into him.
"What?"
"I live in that direction," Kathryn pointed down the hall in the opposite direction.
"Oh," Tom said sheepishly.
When they finally reached her door, Kathryn fumbled clumsily in her pocket for her identification card which was also the key to her apartment. Tom wasn't helping things by kissing and sucking on the slender column of her neck just under her left ear.
Oh dear Lord... How could he possibly know that this was exactly how she liked, no needed, to be kissed? A sudden flood of passion swept through her and centered itself low in her belly.
When Kathryn finally managed to open the door, they were locked in a frantic embrace and yet, somehow managed to make it into her bedroom and tumble onto the bed.
/TBC\
A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. I'm glad people are reading and enjoying the story.
Sorry not much happened in this one. It was just a relationship building chapter. I can't have them jump each other right when they first meet, now can I?
BTW, there really is a cheese which uses live maggots. It's Italian and called casu marzu.