Chapter Text
'Anyone know what they've got up their sleeves?' Kathryn asked. 'B'Elanna, you've been spending an awful lot of time with Tom lately - surely he's given you some hints?'
She sat on the couch, taking her hair down from its workday bun and brushing the kinks out vigorously.
'Your guess is as good as mine, captain,' B'Elanna said, not meeting her eye.
'Harry almost burst when we had music practice together earlier,' said Susan. 'They're pretty excited about it, whatever it is.'
The mysterious invitation had been circulated to the entire crew a few days earlier, telling them only to make their way to the mess hall at the appointed time. The grapevine had suggested that Tom and Harry were behind it, and Neelix was surely involved too, but nobody had any idea what they were walking into.
They collected Kes from airponics and Seven from the cargo bay on their way. When they arrived at the mess hall, there was a small crowd already gathering outside the doors.The crowd grew as they waited, the noise level rising, until finally Tom slipped through, allowing only a glimpse of vibrant colour behind him before the doors closed again.
He was dressed in dark boots and pants, a rough tunic and a loose green waistcoat. He grinned at the assembly, and bowed deeply in Kathryn's general direction.
'My lady,' he said, 'and honoured guests - you are warmly welcomed to Voyager's first Renaissance fair!'
On cue, the doors opened, and he bowed them through. The mess hall had been transformed - the tables lined two of the walls, set up like stalls, covered with homespun cloths. Some of them were laden with food, others set up with games. Somewhere they had found straw - it was strewn on the ground, and bales of it dotted the room. A recording played - a blacksmith's hammer, chickens clucking in the distance - and in a far corner, Lieutenant Ayala was playing Tuvok's lute.
Harry was at the door, handing out brightly coloured skirts and tunics to anyone who wanted to don them on top of their own clothes. Kathryn took a skirt and slid it over her head and down to her waist, grinning at him as the crowd flowed in around them.
'Mister Kim, I'm very impressed!' she said. 'How did you put all of this together?'
He beamed. 'Tom, Neelix and I saved our rations and pooled them - but we didn't even need them for most of it. Kes donated the straw from the airponics bay, we scrounged up whatever fabric we could find, Tuvok has already been teaching Ayala to play the lute., Neelix has been stretching the supplies so we'd have some spare for this... next month we're hoping some people might make crafts to sell.'
'Next month?'
'If it goes well tonight...'
'I'm sure it will, Harry,' she said, patting his shoulder. 'I can't wait to explore!'
The others had already gone ahead - she could see B'Elanna attempting to explain the Renaissance to an interested Kes and a bemused Seven. Susan was already trying her hand at the ring toss. Kathryn spotted Chakotay in the doorway and caught his eye. He headed towards her and she linked arms with him.
'Come on,' she said. 'Let's try out some of this food.'
* * *
B'Elanna had challenged Chakotay to beat her at the axe throw, Seven had excused herself after a token few minutes, and Susan was having her hair done in an authentic Renaissance style by Crewman Anderson. Kathryn found Kes leaning on the counter, watching Neelix lift little Naomi Wildman up to take a turn at the ring toss.
'Penny for your thoughts,' she said.
Kes smiled. 'Neelix would be such a good father. I hope he gets that chance someday. But the more time goes by, the more certain I am that I made the right decision about my own procreation.'
'I'm glad.'
'Isn't this wonderful?' Kes said, gesturing at the crowded mess hall, the delighted faces of the crew. 'It's been weeks since I've seen everyone this relaxed.'
'I knew having no access to the holodeck would bother Tom and Harry,' said Kathryn. 'But I didn't anticipate something as big as this. Tom tells me they have other plans, too - they want to organise some kind of role-playing game - like a holodeck but without the holograms. Almost like an interactive, communal theatre performance.'
'Do you know who would love that?' said Kes.
Kathryn nodded. 'I know. The Doctor would be in his element with all this.'
'I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, I know you have a lot of competing demands to balance - but could we find a way to activate him sometimes, just for occasions like this? We've been doing so well on energy efficiency...'
'Kes...'
'He's a member of this crew, the same as anyone. The only difference is that he uses the ship's energy directly, while the rest of us use it via the lights and gravity and replicators. If we ever get out of this, this experience will be an important part of our story. It's cruel to exclude him from it completely.'
Not for the first time, Kathryn was disarmed by Kes's calm certainty.
'Alright,' she said, 'I know when I'm beaten. Go activate him for this evening. Tomorrow we'll talk about a longer-term solution.'
'Thank you, captain,' Kes beamed, and hurried away.
Kathryn stood for a moment, watching the crew, and then Naomi beckoned her over to play.
* * *
After comprehensively beating Chakotay at every game available, B'Elanna excused herself to go see how Seven was settling into her new "quarters". She couldn't quite believe she was doing it, but there she was, knocking on the little partition that separated Seven's alcove from the rest of the cargo bay.
'Lieutenant,' said Seven, opening the door and peering at her suspiciously.
'Uh, hi,' said B'Elanna. 'I thought I'd come and see how you're doing. And... I brought you something.'
She thrust out her hands, and Seven took the bundle with a dubious expression.
'What is this...item?' she asked.
'It's a rug,' said B'Elanna. 'A rag rug. Uh... it's for you.'
'For what purpose?'
'You put it on the floor. It's decorative... and it makes the space a little warmer, I guess.'
'The temperature is adequate for my needs.'
'I know, Seven, but give it a try? You'd be surprised how much difference a little decoration makes to a place. When I first came aboard, I didn't have anything. I'd lost all my belongings. Harry gave me a couple of things of his to brighten up my quarters, and it was the first time I felt even a tiny bit at home in there.'
Seven peered at her. 'This rug belongs to you.'
B'Elanna shrugged. 'Yeah, it did. It's yours now, if you want it.'
'I... thank you. I will try it.'
'Great!' said B'Elanna.
Seven gingerly put the rug on the floor, and B'Elanna helped her to roll it out and arrange it.
* * *
B'Elanna liked sharing a room. She knew nobody would expect it of her, but almost every time in her life that she'd felt safe and welcome, she'd had roommates - in the Maquis, at the Academy before that had turned sour, with her Klingon cousins that one summer she had felt like she belonged to something. Living on her own made her lonely and cranky. She was the first to admit that she wasn't the easiest roommate - but she liked it.
Right now was the time of day she loved best, in her new routine. Late evening. Kes had already breezed through to change into her gardening clothes for a few more hours in the airponics bay. The captain was sitting on the couch in pyjamas, feet tucked under her, reading her book and occasionally reading out funny bits. Susan was about halfway through her esoteric nightly skincare routine, softly humming the piece she and Harry were getting ready for the concert Neelix had organised for next week. B'Elanna herself was changing into her own nightclothes when the captain's combadge, on the table in front of her, chirped.
'Bridge to captain.'
B'Elanna watched, curious and wary, as the captain picked up the badge to respond.
'Yes, Ensign Baytart?'
'Captain, you said you wanted to be notified immediately if we detected any dilithium within range?'
'That's right.'
B'Elanna caught the captain's excited eyes.
'Well, captain, we've just found a considerable deposit, and it would only require a minor course change.'
'Well done, ensign. Set a course. I'm on my way!' She was already pulling her uniform back on. 'You coming, B'Elanna?' she asked.
B'Elanna shrugged back into her own jacket. 'Wouldn't miss it. Who needs sleep when there's dilithium?'