Comments and constructive criticism, public or private, are welcome and always answered. Thanks to my beta readers, Nomi and Trkkr47 and to Bridget for her ongoing encouragement. Any mistakes you see are all mine.

Things That go Thump in the Night

A. Kite (July 2001)

Part One

There was that thumping noise again. Tom had only been in this cabin a few weeks, since his breakup with B'Elanna. He liked everything about his new quarters. Well, except for the loneliness and that damned thumping every night. How the hell was he supposed to pilot Voyager if he couldn't get his sleep?

"Computer, who occupies the cabin directly above this one?" He should have thought of this days ago. He'd go to whoever it was and ask them to quiet down. It wasn't like he could get a broom and knock on the ceiling. There were no brooms on Voyager, but boy, Tom wished for one now.

"Commander Chakotay occupies those quarters," the computer responded.

Shit, Chakotay. That complicated things. What could the man be doing up there to make all that noise? Tom sighed. Probably not anything kinky. It was probably something really ordinary, but several interesting possibilities came to mind. Tom told his mind to shut up. He told his other brain, the one in his pants, to pipe down too. So, it's been a while. No reason for you to get excited, and certainly not while thinking about the Commander.

Thump, thump, thump.

There it was again.

Tom walked over to the replicator and checked his rations. Yes, he had enough. "One set of earplugs," he ordered. Maybe that would help.

It didn't. The pilot lay in his bed with the pillow bunched around his head, and he could still hear it. Through the earplugs, through the pillow; nothing worked.

That's it! I'm not putting up with another night of this! Tom thought as he got up and threw on some clothes. He stalked out of his room to the turbolift and growled out his destination. Seconds later, he was chiming at Chakotay's door.

The thumps halted and the door slid open. Tom got the surprise of his life when the naked commander pulled him into the room.

"I thought you'd never get here, but I see you finally got the message." Chakotay leaned in and kissed Tom right on the lips. His hands fumbled at Tom's pants.

"What the...?" Tom sputtered and pulled away. His mind was reeling, but his body sure wasn't worried. No siree, little Tom was standing up and saluting the idea.

Chakotay was looking at him as if he were the one that had lost his mind. "Come on, Paris. Don't tell me you forgot your Morse code."

Tom did what any normal, red-blooded, horny human male would do. He lied. "No, I got the message all right. Let's fuck."

Part II - another view, or it could have happened this way

Chakotay sat on the floor in his quarters trying to meditate, but it was impossible. That damn thumping had started again. He took a deep breath and let it out. Getting angry about it wouldn't help, even if it took every bit of his self control not to get up and go over there and strangle Tom Paris. He should have known it would a mistake to assign the man new quarters next to his. But how was he to foresee that Paris would try to drive him crazy? He was trying to be calm and patient with Paris since he and B'Elanna broke up, but this thumping was maddening.

It was almost as if the thumps were trying to tell him something. Yeah, something like Tom Paris is self-centered, juvenile little shit who's trying to goad you into a display of some kind, he thought. Chakotay moved to sit with his back against the front of his couch. Boy, wouldn't Paris be surprised if I gave the kind of display I'd like to give him?

The commander let himself drift off into that favorite fantasy of his. The one where he shoved Paris against the nearest wall. He had just gotten to the part where he forced his tongue down the pilot's throat when the thumping started again. A long thump, two short ones...hold on, maybe those thumps were saying something. A code or something; maybe it wasn't Paris at all, but some alien trying to communicate. He listened again, really listened this time and detected a definite pattern.

Chakotay got up to investigate. He knew full well that he should call security but wasn't up to facing Tuvok's raised eyebrow if the noise turned out to be Paris playing some kind of childish joke. This was just the sort of thing he cautioned Kathryn about: taking foolish, unnecessary risks. He did it anyway. He walked over to the wall from where the noise was coming and thumped back.

The response he got was overwhelming for a moment. Then something in his head clicked. It was a code! Not alien either, but something ancient and all too Earthly. What was it saying? F, U, C,...what the hell!? Chakotay thumped the wall hard. Fuck you, was it? How dare he! He stormed out of the door in a rage. He used his override to open the pilot's quarters and stopped dead in his tracks.

Tom Paris was totally naked, aroused and obviously waiting for him. Chakotay stripped as he walked across the living area into the bedroom where Tom was standing against the wall, quaking slightly. "Fuck you, huh? Well, I'll take you up on that offer," he said as he reached the younger man and pinned him to the wall.

"No, Chakotay. Fuck me. Please," was Tom's desperate reply just as the commander's mouth descended on his, cutting off the begging for a time.

End