I don't know what prompted my to write this little ditty after such 
a lengthy absense.  A long day?  Too much sunshine?  The fact that 
I suddenly realized I was an "old-timer" on the group?  Well, I don't  
suppose it matters much...here it is for your perusal.  There is a  
m/m relationship here but there is no graphic sex, so while it is  
slash it is not erotica, or pornography, or NC-17 (don't even get 
me started on that one).  Enjoy! 
 
Disclaimer: These particular boys belong to Paramount and  
I'm just borrowing them.  No copyright infringement intended. 
 
Twisted 
by R'rain
 
 
Being in mortal danger with someone else is supposed to make  
you just fall into the other person's arms or some nonsense  
like that.  Well, I didn't 'fall into Tom's arms' so to  
speak, but he'd like you to believe I did.  He'd like you to  
believe that *every*one just falls into his arms; he's just  
funny that way.  The truth of the matter is, *he* is the one  
who came knocking on *my* door.   
 
"Tom?" I said, a little bleary-eyed but conscious enough to  
remember to put on a robe before letting the door slide  
open, "Tom, do you know what time it is?"  Okay, *I* didn't  
even know what time it was, and I *had* gone to bed early,  
but it was just...odd.  Not that I minded. 
 
"2300 hours," he answered, as though he hadn't known the  
question was rhetorical, "Too early for you to be in bed,  
Harry.  *Especially* when you have tomorrow off."  He  
grabbed hold of my arm and began trying to drag me out of my  
quarters. 
 
"I'm not dressed," I protested, "And I don't *have* tomorrow  
off!" but I was already laughing and so was he.  My nerves  
were still on edge, I think I might have been bordering on  
hysteria, "Tom, I can't go out, I don't have any clothes  
on." 
 
"I don't mind," he said through his laughter and began  
tugging on my arm again, but this time I had gotten him far  
enough inside that the door had slid shut again. 
 
"Computer," I said, thinking I was thinking fast, though in  
retrospect it was just naive, "Level two lock, authorization  
Kim-delta-3."  My sleeve was fast sliding down my arm and  
the knot in my belt had come undone, "Tom, quit it!" I said  
desperately.  Five more seconds and it was all going to be  
flapping in the breeze.  Well, if there had been a breeze  
that is.  He let go and I thought I was safe.  We looked at  
one another, trying to catch our breath.  And then my robe  
just fell off. 
 
Tom looked at me, his mouth hanging open, and then he  
started to laugh.  Oooh, I could have hit him.  I grabbed  
his shirt and pulled and it came ripping off his body,  
buttons flying across the room like so many missiles.  His  
laughter stopped as he looked down in shock, but I was just  
getting started.  With a maniacal cry, I pulled the  
drawstring on his pants and let them fall the the floor  
around his ankles.  And then I giggled.  Oh I didn't mean  
to, really I didn't, but he just looked so silly standing  
there in his boxer shorts with the little red hearts on  
them. 
 
I backed up a step and turned around and tried to keep my  
giggles under control but Tom had gotten over his shock and  
he was laughing now too.  In fact, he was laughing so hard  
he fell down onto the floor.  And then I felt him come up  
behind me and I couldn't believe it because Tom Paris was on  
the floor, on his knees and he was kissing my ass.  Tom  
Paris was kissing my ass!  Okay, that just made me lose  
control *completely*.  I suppose that's why Tom found it so  
easy to hook his hands around my legs and bring me to the  
floor with him.  I suppose we were laughing because we  
wanted to scream or cry or shake or something else.  After  
all, we had almost *died* just a few hours ago.  But we were  
laughing. 
 
That, of course, was the point where we fell into one  
another's arms. 
 
You know, I don't even remember who grabbed who first.  I  
just know that suddenly there was a pair of lips on mine and  
we were kissing and nothing had ever made me feel as good as  
kissing Tom Paris at that very moment in time.  We blindly  
groped for one another's bodies, touching them in ways we'd  
never imagined.  Okay, maybe *imagined*.  I remember feeling  
along his back, and digging my nails into it as his tongue  
flicked across my nipples making them instantly hard.  Oh  
gods, it felt so incredible! 
 
We did make it onto the bed.  Well, actually, we made it  
onto the couch, onto my desk, and into the shower, *then* we  
made it onto the bed.  And we managed to get at least a  
couple of hours of sleep before we had to be on duty the  
next day. 
 
***** 
 
I woke up, and I wasn't alone.  The problem was, I couldn't  
remember at first who was in bed with me.  I mean, I wasn't  
like Tom Paris or anything, I hadn't just hopped into bed  
with anyone since before I was even assigned to Voyager.   
But that didn't change the fact that I wasn't alone.  I  
reached out and felt the firmness of a male chest and then  
my eyes flew open.  Of course at that point I remember  
precisely what had happened.  Oops. 
 
"Tom," I said urgently, shaking his shoulder, "Tom, wake  
up."  His eyes, when they looked at me, were as wide as  
mine. 
 
"Oh, shit," he said and leapt out of bed holding the sheet  
around his waist. 
 
"Um, Tom," I said, finding myself giggling again, probably  
from shock this time, "I know you're trying to be modest and  
all but they really isn't much I haven't seen now." 
 
He looked down at himself and grinned ruefully, "Yeah, I  
guess you might be right."  But he didn't let the sheet drop  
and he began casing the room, picking up various articles of  
clothing.  He held up his shirt in front of him and moaned,  
"Did you have to, Harry?  I liked this shirt."  But he still  
pulled the buttonless garment on, then his red-heart boxer  
shorts, which made him blush and probably wish he had worn  
something else.  But how could he have know what would....I  
mean, *I* certainly didn't know.  He was dressed pretty  
quickly.  "We're, um, on duty soon," he said, "I'll see you  
on the bridge." And then he left my quarters like someone  
had set fire to his ass. 
 
My neck cracked as I stretched and got *myself* out of bed,  
stumbling towards my bathroom.  My coordination was all shot  
to hell, but if I remembered correctly it had been pretty  
good last night.  It all felt like some weird dream now.  I  
mean, I did not fuck Tom Paris.  I would *never* fuck Tom  
Paris, he's my *best friend*.  But then, the evidence was  
all over my quarters and I couldn't help but smile when I  
looked at the couch cushions that were strewn across the  
floor, the still-wet pairs of footprints across the carpet  
leading to the bed.  Aw, hell, who was I kidding.  Last  
night was the best time of my life. 
 
I certainly didn't feel like cleaning up the disaster that  
was my quarters and besides, I was on duty in...Five  
minutes??  You would not believe how fast I was in and out  
of the shower, into my uniform, and onto the bridge.  My  
hair was still wet when I got there, and you can be sure  
*that* didn't go unnoticed.  Especially since Tom showed up  
a few minutes *after* me and he looked even worse.  The  
Captain, she looked from him to me and she smirked and all I  
could think of was that she *knew*.  I blushed guiltily and,  
I think, so did Tom. 
 
"Mr. Kim," she said, not even turning around to look at me,  
"we encountered a nebula during gamma shift.  I'd like you  
to go over the sensor logs and look for any anomalies." 
 
"Is there anything in particular I should be looking for?"   
Okay, routine I could handle.  Routine was good. 
 
"We had some minor power fluctuations," she added, "And  
we're looking for the cause." 
 
"Aye, Captain."  I could go over sensor logs in my sleep, so  
idiot that I am I looked at Tom.  He was studying his  
console and touching buttons diligently, but I knew enough  
about piloting to know that he wasn't making any crucial  
adjustments.  It was busy work, and it made me feel just a  
little wee bit better about how *I* was reacting to the  
whole thing. 
 
Okay, so I woke up in bed with Tom.  No big deal, right?  We  
can still be friends.  We can still hang out, it doesn't  
have to change anything.  Never mind that I *want* it to  
change things.  Never mind that I think I'm in *love* with  
him.  Whoa, where'd that come from??  Okay, so I'd never  
really admitted that before.  Tom is my best friend.   
Period.  And that's the way it has to be.  And maybe once I  
tell him that he'll *relax* a little. 
 
"Mr. Kim, how are those logs coming along?" 
 
I looked down and saw that I'd barely made a dent in them  
and, blushing a little, I went back to work and *tried* not  
to think about Tom.  About Tom naked, in my quarters, in my  
life.  Unsuccessfully tried. 
 
"Paris to Kim," came over my comm badge, "How are you  
doing?" 
 
I tapped the badge and answered in a low voice, "I'm doing  
fine, how are *you* doing?" 
 
"Fine," he lied, "What are you doing after shift?"  I looked  
over at him and he shifted slightly in his sleep, his back  
to me. 
 
"I don't know.  Cleaning my quarters?" 
 
He cleared his throat audibly, "I'm heading to Sandrine's,  
would you like to join me?" 
 
"Beats cleaning up," he admitted, "just let me change  
first." 
 
"Will do.  Paris out." 
 
Before the Captain could prompt him again, Harry got back to  
those readings and managed to get through them all without  
*too* much difficulty.  Of course, every time he snuck a  
glance at the back of the pilot's head, he became very glad  
he had a console to stand behind.  Mental note: wear  
something unrevealing to Sandrine's. 
 
"Mr. Kim, those readings?" 
 
"No anomalies, Captain," he reported, "And nothing at all  
that could explain those power fluctuations."  Grateful that  
he was finished, he slumped against his console for a  
moment.  He had to find something to do for the next two  
hours and he began running random diagnostics.  Diagnostics  
were always a good thing to do during your spare time, even  
if you *weren't* looking for something to keep you from  
jumping the pilot. 
 
I was still running diagnostics when my replacement arrived  
and I yielded the console to her gratefully, racing into the  
turbolift ahead of Tom and heading for my quarters.  I found  
that pair of loose black pants that I knew would hide from  
Tom what I was thinking and a white t-shirt that I just,  
frankly, liked.  And I knew that Tom liked it too, judging  
from reactions he'd had to it in the past.  Hmm, reactions?   
Maybe...no, we were friends.  End of story.  I just had to  
keep my libido under control. 
 
So I went down to Sandrine's alone and Tom was already  
there, chatting it up with B'Elanna and eyeing up Megan  
Delaney.  "Harry," he said congenially, "come, sit, have  
some wine." 
 
"Yeah, sure," I said and I sat and I must have started  
staring at B'Elanna because she glared at me and growled.  I  
sighed, and I must have done that pretty obviously because  
everyone at the table looked at me, including Tom.  And Tom  
*knew* why I was sighing but he didn't do anything about it.   
In fact, he moved a little closer to B'Elanna and away from  
me. 
 
So we sat there and we drank and we talked about nothing and  
Tom flirted outrageously with Megan so I flirted  
outrageously with Jenny and I don't think they were taking  
us too seriously but everyone was laughing.  Finally,  
finally, I caught Tom's eye...and everything just stopped.   
There was just us at that table, in that bar, on that ship.   
I don't know how long we stared, but I felt Jenny tugging on  
my arm and that brought me out of it. 
 
"Come on, Harry, let's get out of here," she said, standing  
me up.  When I looked, I saw that Megan was doing the same  
to Tom and B'Elanna was gravitating towards the pool table  
where Chakotay was playing with the Captain.  Looks like  
*every*one ended up here tonight.  She actually got me all  
the way to the door before I swung around to look at Tom one  
more time.  And again, I caught his eyes, so blue, so  
beautiful. 
 
I said "This is ridiculous," at the same time he said, "this  
is a farce" and seconds later we were in one another's arms.   
Yes, literally.  And he was kissing me so hard and so deep  
and I never wanted him to stop.  We were in no condition to  
notice the stares that we were getting from all over the  
room, the smug look on the Captain's face, the shock on  
Chakotay's and the glares coming at us from the Delaney  
sisters. 
 
"I'm sorry, Harry," he whispered, "I was being an idiot.  
Forgive."  I didn't answer him, I was too busy kissing all  
over his face, and then his throat, and then his hands.   
"How long have I loved you without even knowing it?" he  
murmured. 
 
"Maybe as long as I have," I whispered with visions of all  
the dime-romance novels my mother used to read dancing in my  
head.  Tom's hands clenched the collar of my uniform and he  
kissed me again, for so long that I thought I was going to  
run out of air and didn't really care if I did because I was  
in Tom's arms and that was all that mattered. 
 
"Next time," he said, taking my hand and leading us out of  
Sandrine's, past the pool table, past the Delaney sisters,  
past everything, "let's not wait for a near-death  
experience." 
 
"You got it," I said breathlessly.  And that's how Tom and I  
got together. 
 
--End--