The BLTS Archive- Smooth Words
Story One in the Kathryn, for The Very Last Time Trilogy
by Delta Story (deltastory@geocities.com)

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A few stragglers remained in the mess hall. Left-over odors from the
evening meal commingled with scraps of conversation, like crumbs left
on the table. Soon, there were only two crew members left in the room.
They sat together at a small table partially hidden by the now-dimmed
lighting and tucked away from Neelix’s serving area. Cooled,
coagulated remnants of the evening’s repast withered on their plates,
toyed with but only half-eaten. The ship’s two senior officers, under
the curious observation of Neelix, were deep into a conversation.

"So... where do you want to meet?" Chakotay finally asked her.

Janeway’s eyes met his with a firm focus. "Oh, I don’t know. Someplace
where we can both be comfortable."

"Hmmm," he pondered. "Do you want to pull up a holodeck program?"

She shook her head. "I don’t really think that’s necessary. We don’t
need to draw attention to this."

"Well," he sighed, "that pretty much narrows it down to our
quarters..."

Her voice was low. "Do you think that’s wise?" She sat back, obviously
reflecting. "But then... we don’t have very many options, do we?"

He smiled. "There certainly shouldn’t be any question about our
quarters. After all, we *do* meet there over reports and coffee... and
an occasional meal. Why not this?"

"Of course," she answered. "I don’t know why I feel so uncomfortable
about this."

"It’s an entirely normal activity," he said. "But, if you are
unsure..."

"No!" she responded in a tone that made Neelix look in their
direction. "You have hinted around at this long enough, and I think 
I’m ready. In fact, this is long overdue."

His face brightened with a luminous grin. "I can’t believe that you
finally said ‘yes’ to my offers."

"There is a time and place for everything, Chakotay. You’ve been so
good at helping me with so many other problems, I’m sure that you will
perform this activity quite well, too."

"I don’t want to hurt you..." he said softly.

Her throaty laughter startled him. "Oh, I think I can handle anything
that you can dish out!"

"Are you sure?"

Her eyes twinkled with her answer. "There’s no pleasure in it if it’s
gentle."

"Do you want it firm and deep?" he asked.

She sighed. "Oh yes... until I ache! Only then will I know that it’s
doing any good!"

He chuckled at her emphatic response. "You sound rather experienced."

Again she laughed. "I’m not a virgin at this, you know!"

His face reddened at her candid words. "Well --- I worry about it.
Sometimes I get so involved that I can push a little too hard..."

She nodded her understanding. "I’ll just have to remember not to tense
myself too much; I’ll try to relax. No need to allow it to hurt..."

"Right," he agreed. "After all, the whole purpose of this is to
relieve stress and tension."

"I really should get out of this uniform and into something a little
more comfortable," she countered, her mind jumping ahead. "That will
make it better."

"I should change into something for comfort, too," he acceded.

Again, her mind zipped forward to another question. "Tell me,
Chakotay. Do you do anything to *warm up*?"

His head bounced in response. "Oh, I do a few flexing and stretching
exercises. And practice strokes always help..."

She smiled, thinking about the potential of his skill. "I’ve heard
you’re pretty good." The dusky tones of his face became reddish, a
blush covered his cheeks.

"Well, I haven’t had too many complaints... at least, none that I’ve
been told about!"

"You know that I’ve wanted to agree to this many times before. It’s...
just that the circumstances were never right," she murmured.

"Why are they *right* at this point in time?" he asked softly.

She paused in thought for a moment. "I honestly don’t know. It just
*feels* right." She shook her head. "That doesn’t sound very
scientific, does it? Oh, I know that I could have just as easily asked
the doctor to do this... patient/doctor confidentiality, you know...
And, as my oldest dearest friend, I’m sure that Tuvok would perform
nicely also. But, quite frankly, I think you will be much more
sensitive and understanding of my needs and limits."

He answered with a beatific smile. "Nice to know that I’m on your
short list. Maybe after tonight, I can graduate to the top of your
choices."

"After all of these years, you have proven yourself to be the most
loyal and trusted of my friends. I know that you will always be
discreet."

"I try to be," he affirmed. "That’s what I’m supposed to do.
However... this assignment certainly isn’t mentioned anywhere in a
Starfleet job description..."

"Do it well enough and it might be," she gleamed.

"Only if the task is for you and you only," he commented. "Speaking of
which... you never told me. Do you want me to start off soft?"

"That’s the usual way, isn’t it?" she questioned.

He nodded in agreement. "Yes; but I can do it in whatever manner you
want it."

"Mmmm," she mumbled thoughtfully. "Then, let’s start out soft and work
it up to something firm and deep." Her eyes teased his. "How long do
you think you can do it?"

It was his turn to laugh. "Oh, Kathryn, certainly you know me by
now... as long as it takes to get the job done. Sometimes I’ve worked
away for an hour!"

"Ouch!" she grimaced, recoiling. "I don’t think that *I’d* last that
long! However, with you, I’m sure the results will be satisfying."

He smiled at her obvious discomfort. "I just aim to please... anything
to make my captain happy!"

She was becoming a little hesitant. "Hmmmm. I just hope that I don’t
regret doing this."

His head tilted, as he considered her words. "Well, if you do have
regrets, you can always go to someone else the next time."

Her expression softened, as she said with her crooked little smile.
"Then again, you might spoil me for anyone else."

He grinned gleefully. "That’s my plan!"

She got up, pushing her chair under the table and placing her hands
firmly on the top of its back. "I guess I feel that I’m ready. You
know, I really need this. I don’t do it often; sometimes I forget what
it even feels like. I always go into it with some apprehension; but
once I’ve done it I always feel so good!"

He moved to get up, following her action of situating the chair back
in its place. "It’s a form of release for me, too," he smiled. "If I
don’t do it regularly, I get out of practice."

She answered with a nervous giggle. "We wouldn’t want that to happen!"

"No, we wouldn’t, would we?" he responded just as jittery. "It’s a
skill that I value." He noticed her slight hesitancy now, and walked
around the table to her. "You do trust me, don’t you, Kathryn?"

She tentatively raised her hand to his shoulder. Patting him
reassuringly, she said, "I thought that we’d worked through this a
long time ago. Of course I trust you! And it’s because of how our
relationship has grown and become so comfortable that I finally agreed
to this."

He leaned closer to her. "No regrets?"

She smiled back. "No regrets."

He pulled away slightly. "All right. I’m giving you one last chance to
back out of this..."

Her body straightened as she drew in a deep breath. "Not this time;
I’m ready."

"And you won’t put me on report if it’s not up to your
expectations..."

"Not even my personal logs," she laughed. "Unless I want to make a
commendation regarding your performance."

He smiled at the thought of warm words of thanks and praise from her.
"Um... we never really did settle on a place for this..."

She became pensive, gnawing on her lower lip as she thought. "Hmmm. We
probably would be more comfortable in one of our quarters...."

"Yours or mine?" he asked huskily.

"Do I always have to make the decisions?" she queried sweetly.

"Well, you *are* the captain," he rejoined.

"Oh, my," she pondered, muttering to herself and pantomiming with her
hands, picking a place for their appointed time.

"Come on, this can’t be that tough a choice," he stated impatiently.

"Kathryn for the very last time...where do you want to go in order for
me to give you a nice massage?"

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The End