Neelix looked up as the command team entered the mess hall and made their way to the serving line. They made small talk with a few of the crew ahead of them in line then selected their food. As usual, Chakotay took fruit, something hot, and tea and the captain took coffee after examining just about everything in line. Neelix caught her eyeing Chakotay's fruit so he made a point of adding extra to the normal serving. Short of a red alert, the captain would eat half of the fruit delicately with her fingers – one stolen piece at a time.

"Good morning, Captain, Commander. Are you sure you wouldn't like to try a nice leola root omelet today?" Neelix tried to tempt them both but knew his offer would be firmly but politely rejected.

"No, thank you, Neelix. I'm just not hungry this morning." The captain did not disappoint Neelix. Neelix watched Chakotay's face as the captain paused longer than usual at the selection of pastries. As he passed the tray, he added a blueberry muffin to his selections. When she saw his hand move, the captain looked away from both Neelix and Chakotay with a satisfied little smile on her face.

Neelix loved watching them in the mornings, always the same pattern but with a dozen variations. Today he had expected the captain to be more interested in some of the fruit they acquired a few days ago from a trader. As the captain turned to walk to their usual table, leaving the tray of food for Chakotay to carry, Chakotay glanced at Neelix and winked. Neelix just smiled back and moved his head ever so slightly in acknowledgment, as much part of the morning ritual as the captain and commander's interplay.

The command team took their seats at 'their' table. Neelix watched as Chakotay placed the fruit and muffin on the table first – away from the captain's chair. As she had every other morning for the last six years, the captain moved the dishes to the center of the table under the guise of making room for the larger dish. The only item on the tray she removed was her coffee and that was placed firmly in front of her. Neelix smiled, content in the knowledge that all was as it should be this morning on Voyager.

Ten minutes later, Neelix had a break in the serving line and glanced over at the command team. Sure enough, Kathryn was talking directly to Chakotay forcing him to look at her as her fingers sneaked another piece of fruit from his plate. They confused Neelix in many ways. Everything he had learned about the cultures from the Alpha Quadrant told him they were much like his in many ways. He had never seen a couple as comfortable and familiar with each other as the captain and commander. In fact, he had seen only a few couples with the rapport the commend team shared and they had been together for many decades. He considered briefly that this was one difference between their species, then shook his head as he remembered that he had heard several of the crew make comments that supported his original belief.

Neelix forced himself back to the present and moved to get a fresh cup of coffee for the captain. In about one minute, the commander would be back at the counter to refill her cup. As Neelix returned to the counter, Chakotay arrived and grinned as Neelix held out the cup.

"Right on time as usual, Neelix. Am I really that predictable?"

"You're not, Commander, but the captain in the morning certainly is. Here's a nice bowl of fruit and another blueberry muffin. They just aren't going over very well this morning."

Chakotay grinned and accepted the offered food knowing that Neelix had saved them in case the captain was hungrier than usual this morning. Someday maybe she would surprise Neelix, but today was clearly not that day.

Neelix watched as Chakotay returned to the table and put the items down. Just from the way she held her head, he could tell the captain was eyeing the fruit and muffin. He smiled and began removing items from the oven that were for the Gamma shift's dinner. Shift change was only about ten minutes away and the breakfast crowd was already starting to leave for their duty stations. He watched as the captain and commander waited for the rest of those assigned to the bridge to leave before standing and moving toward the door. He noticed from their expressions that the tone of their conversation had gone from light to professional as they left the mess hall.

As they left, Neelix wondered which excuse the captain would use to avoid eating lunch. Today, his money was on ship's business and that she and the commander would eat in her ready room. Whistling, he started removing the breakfast items to the end of the counter for the stragglers and began setting out the dinner items for Gamma shift.

Harry had escaped Tom's attempts to gossip over breakfast by going to the bridge a few minutes early for his shift. He had finished checking the status of his board when the captain and first officer walked off the turbolift. They barely stopped their conversation long enough to relieve Lieutenant Weiss and listen to her report. Harry smiled to himself knowing that neither of the senior officers were particularly interested in the report – if there had been anything out of the ordinary they expected to hear it before the shift change. Harry could tell from Weiss's expression that she knew they weren't quite listening and was quite content with that situation. Once she had finished, the command team took their seats and continued their conversation.

Harry watched them briefly as they talked. Chakotay pulled something up on the screen related to their discussion. As he started to change the screen, the captain stopped him with a touch of her hand as she made her point about the current display. Neither seemed to notice that her hand lingered long after the reason for the contact had ended. They were keeping their voices low so Harry turned back to his board content to run a few diagnostics and scan the readings that had come in since he had gone off duty.

About an hour later, Harry's attention was drawn back to the captain as she stood and told Chakotay she would be in her ready room. Harry was careful not to check the time too obviously but when he did, it was within five minutes of her usual departure -- time for another cup of coffee. He did some quick calculations taking into consideration that it had been a very boring week and guessed that Chakotay would follow her in about thirty minutes. He noticed Tom not watching the clock as well and knew he was making the same calculation.

Harry miscalculated. About ten minutes after the captain went to her ready room, Chakotay stood and walked over to the helm. Tom was definitely distracted and nearly jumped off his chair when Chakotay touched his shoulder and inquired about their heading and speed. Harry stifled his laughter and saw Tuvok's eyebrow twitch. Chakotay then slowly made his way all the stations on the bridge, pausing to talk quietly a few minutes with each person. Something must have caught his interest because he stayed at the science station for nearly fifteen minutes. His last stop was Tactical. He and Tuvok were discussing the next security drills for about ten minutes before Chakotay nodded and turned the bridge over to Tuvok. Harry checked the time as the door to the ready room closed behind Chakotay – he had been wrong by more than forty-five minutes today.

Harry turned his attention back to his board as Ayala took over Tactical and they checked the interaction of the two stations. When Harry's relief for lunch arrived, the command team had not yet left the ready room. Harry wondered what reason they had for eating there today – they had at least a dozen standard reasons that always made sense – even when they were in such a seemingly innocuous sector.  He decided it didn’t matter – the command team was relaxed and confident so all was well on Voyager.

B'Elanna rushed into the mess hall with only five minutes left before she was due at a meeting of the senior staff. The next time someone told her running a diagnostic on all the diagnostics programs at the same time was easy, she would tell them they could do it. She glanced around to see if any others on the senior staff were still eating. They were conspicuous by their absence – as were most of her shift.  B'Elanna grabbed a piece of fruit hoping it was one of the better varieties they had picked up recently and headed for the briefing room.

B'Elanna rushed into the briefing room relieved that she had beaten the captain and Chakotay. Quickly she slipped into the only vacant seat – not counting the captain's and the one Chakotay always used. She swallowed the last of her token lunch as her commanding officers entered. They took their seats and the meeting began. B'Elanna paid attention for the first part but when Tuvok started explaining his plan for additional security drills, she checked to make sure Harry was taking notes then allowed her mind to wander just a bit.

It wandered to the end of the table where Chakotay and the captain were listening to Tuvok. B'Elanna could see Chakotay nod ever so slightly as Tuvok made his points – in great detail. Once in a while, the captain would tap his arm slightly to get his attention and look at him as if asking a question. Whatever the question, she always seemed to get the confirmation she sought from his answering glance.

Once when Chakotay wanted her attention, B'Elanna noticed that the captain was startled by his touch. That reaction was surprising because they always seemed to anticipate the other's actions. Even Chakotay seemed somewhat surprised by her slight start but her slight smile erased his confusion. B'Elanna felt Tuvok's gaze on her about that time and she forced her attention back to the conversation. She envied them their easy familiarity while on duty, wondering if she and Tom would ever be that attuned to each other.

Tom followed Harry to the bridge after the meeting. The only redeeming part of the whole thing was that it had broken the monotony of a dull area of space and given him a chance to study his commanding officers. He made a mental note to find out from Harry all the minor details later. He could have sworn that the captain was downright jumpy during the meeting and had all but jerked her hand from Chakotay's touch at one point. Now what could be going on?

Tom's attention was dragged back from his theorizing by the appearance of both his commanding officers on the bridge. Hmmmmm. Usually the captain went to her ready room after a meeting to make notes about the discussions and decisions. He quickly learned why she hadn't done that today – she was having Chakotay write up the summary for her.

Without turning his head, Tom couldn't tell what the captain was doing but he could hear the tapping of a keypad as Chakotay worked on the summary. Every once in a while, he could hear one or the other of them comment on the summary so the captain must have been keeping an eye on what Chakotay was writing.

Tom smiled to himself – he could see her with her head bent over the shared terminal pointing to mistakes or omissions and completely redoing what Chakotay was writing. How long before Chakotay turned the keypad over to Kathryn? Chakotay's patience lasted an entire hour before Tom heard him mention her comments and pass her the keypad. They exchanged a few teasing insults before Kathryn left for her ready room to finish the summary.

Tom knew without seeing them that Chakotay's eyes followed the captain to the door of the ready room. He wondered what Chakotay was thinking as he watched the captain leave the bridge. The sound of his name sounded authoritatively across the bridge as Chakotay repeated a question directed at him. Oops! Caught daydreaming yet again. Chakotay was not completely heartless – his punishment was only enough to keep Tom busy until the end of the shift. Tom was certain that Chakotay had the timing of all the various simulations and station diagnostics filed away in his memory and could pull out a combination to take whatever amount of time he deemed appropriate. Tom turned back to the helm more determined than ever to learn to look like he was paying attention to his duties even when he wasn’t.

Jenny nudged her elbow in Ayala's side when she saw the topic of their conversation enter the room. Ayala's eyes followed his current captain and former captain as they made their way to the serving line without breaking his verbal stride. The pair was nothing new to him and the fact that the small group was discussing them didn't bother him in the slightest. He wasn't saying anything that he wouldn't say to Chakotay even if he might change his phrasing if the captain were present.

Megan picked up the conversation and Ayala allowed his attention to remain on his former captain. He had known Chakotay for many years and he couldn't quite figure out why he was so willing to be held at arm's length for years. Ayala knew that Chakotay could probably be with almost any woman on Voyager, and even a few of the men if he chose, yet he chose friendship with the one woman who seemed content only with friendship.

Ayala watched as Chakotay reached for items beyond Kathryn's reach and not so gently put a few things on her tray that she clearly did not think she needed. She yielded after a suitable protest that Chakotay steadfastly ignored. Ayala knew that the days when she didn't protest were the days she wouldn't touch whatever Chakotay had added. Those days were few and far between – usually during or after encounters with less than friendly ships or groups. Chakotay paused to talk briefly with a few of the crew at a neighboring table before following the captain to "their" table.

Jenny tuned Megan out when she drifted to a long tale that Jenny had heard at least twenty times. Idly she glanced around the room and saw the commander sitting down with the captain. She had already taken her food off the tray but it was sitting on the table. With practiced ease, Chakotay picked up the tray, put it under his own and emptied his tray to the table before putting both trays on the next table. It was late and no one would be sitting there while the command team ate.

Jenny watched Chakotay sit down and the two of them start to eat without speaking. She glanced away and when she glanced back, the two were discussing something that obviously was of great interest to the captain for she was gesturing with her fork instead of eating. Chakotay was smiling and finally made a comment that earned him a mock glare.

Jenny stared at her first officer wondering if he looked as good in the buff as he did in uniform. With most men his age, she would have said the uniform improved the physique but with Chakotay, she wasn’t so sure it would be true. Jenny stared at her captain wondering why she wanted to keep such a specimen at arm's length knowing the 'how' would be beyond her understanding. She wasn't sure whether she should admire the captain's will power or feel sorry for her. Jenny shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts – the captain was clearly happy with the situation so there was no point speculating further.

The only time either of them seemed uncomfortable was when they fought and the entire crew was in no doubt when that happened. Jenny considered those fights – all had been professional and all had clearly distressed both the commander and captain. Surprisingly the worst fights seemed to be the ones they dealt with most easily. Some of the smaller ones seemed to go unresolved for weeks. Jenny had to wonder if there were personal reasons mingled with the public ones for those. If so, it was the only indication that the two were anything except fellow officers.

Ayala asked Megan a question that clearly questioned the veracity of her entire story so Jenny brought her attention back to her companions to watch her twin try to wriggle her way out of the fiction she was trying to pass off as fact. By the time Megan had made excuses for every flaw in the story, the command team had finished eating. The small group all glanced up as they left and allowed their voices to rise a bit as they continued their heated discussion.

Chakotay watched Kathryn searching for something to do with her hands. She kept picking things up and putting them down, then she would move them a millimeter.  He knew what was bothering her but he was hoping she would bring up the topic on her own. Finally, he admitted she wouldn't. He stood and walked over to her and took her hands to still them.

"Stop it, Kathryn. You're dancing around the room like butter on a hot griddle."

Chakotay's choice of words was rewarded by a smile. Kathryn took a small breath and let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry. It's silly to be nervous now."

"It's silly to be nervous at all."

"Our crew know us too well for them not to have noticed something was different today."

"Yes, they know us but not that well. It was business as usual all day."

"Not Tom. He was watching us even without watching us."

"That's Tom. As I said – business as usual." Chakotay paused not wanting to ask the next question. They still had a lot to discuss but he didn't want to push Kathryn.  "Would you rather I left?"

"No!" Kathryn's voice was sharp and definite. "No, I don't want you to leave. I feel like I have a hundred and forty parents watching me."

Chakotay chuckled. "I know what you mean. They may be watching but they can't see you or me and they definitely do not know anything unless we tell them. Now, I really will leave if you want me to."

"Is that all last night was – a one night stand?"

"Not at all and I won't be offended that you seem to think I'm that shallow. I just don't want you to think that because you shared your bed with me last night that I expect you to let me share it every night."

Kathryn sighed and stepped into Chakotay's embrace.

"I guess I needed to hear you say the words again. I know you don't expect me to do that and I don't expect you to stay unless you want to stay. I would like you to stay though."

"I love you, Kathryn. I'll stay as long as you want."

"I'll hold you to that, mister, because I love you, too and now that you're here, I'm not going to let you go."