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Story Notes:
  Yes, they all belong to Paramount. Right now, it's my turn to visit with them.

          The door chime sounded incessantly as Neelix stumbled out of the bedroom. 

         "Come in," he croaked.  It was 02:00; what would someone want at this hour?  

         The door slid open to admit the Doctor. "Sorry to awaken you, Mr. Neelix," he said as he brushed past the Talaxian. "I need a word."

          "Well, it certainly must be important for you to come at this hour, Doctor," Neelix said, trying not to sound as peeved as he felt. "What's wrong?"      

           "I have here a sample of the fruit compote you gave to Commander Chakotay," he said, waving a small bottle. "Just how long have you been fermenting this?"    

           "Er ... since Prixin," Neelix replied uneasily.    

            The hologram's eyes widened. "Good Lord, Neelix, no wonder! There's enough alcohol in here to anesthetize a Targ. You could have killed the Commander and the Captain with this!"   

            Neelix's gut flopped in fear. Captain? Killed?   "Doctor," he cried, "what's happened?"     

           The hologram, realizing Neelix's distress, calmed down a bit. "The Captain called me to Commander Chakotay's quarters.  They were having dinner ..."     

          "Yes, yes, her birthday dinner," Neelix interrupted. "What happened?"   

        "According to the Captain, he ate a dish of your compote with some cake. Not long after that, he passed out."    

       "Heavens! I didn't realize it would have such an effect on him!"     

       "Really?" The Doctor looked closely at Neelix. "Why did you give him this particular compote?"     

         Neelix shrugged. "That's what he asked for. He said he wanted something special for the Captain's birthday dinner." 

         The hologram raised an eyebrow at this, and Neelix had the feeling that he'd just filed away an important bit of information. Not that the bucket of photons would tell him. 

         "Doctor, is the Commander going to be all right?"      

        The hologram nodded. "He's in Sickbay. I gave him something to counteract the alcohol, and he's sleeping it off.  But he's going to be rather ill in the morning."    

        "Goodness," Neelix began until another thought stopped him. "Is the Captain all right?"     

        "Oh, she's fine," the Doctor said dismissively. "She said she just had a taste; said it was too strong for her."          

       "Oh, she must be furious," Neelix said, wondering if he could be out of the mess hall when she arrived for breakfast.       

         "Actually, she's taking it all quite well," the Doctor replied. "She did ask if the Commander would remember anything of the evening. I told her it was unlikely. It is strange," he added, half to himself. "she did wait a good while before she called me."  

         "Well, maybe she thought the Commander would come around. Or maybe the compote affected her more than she realized," Neelix offered, wishing the Doctor would wrap it up.  He had to start breakfast in three hours.    

         "Perhaps. Well, I have a patient to attend to. Mr. Neelix, in the future, please keep the heavy-duty stuff away from the human members of the crew," the Doctor said in that schoolmarm tone of his.          

         "I will certainly do that, Doctor," Neelix replied as the hologram marched out.      

         Humans certainly were a funny lot, Neelix decided as he got back in bed. But the Captain didn't deserve to have her birthday dinner end that way.              

         As for the Commander, well, it might be a good idea to steer clear of him for a few days, he decided as he turned off the lights.  

         The next morning, he made sure to drop by the Ready Room with a pot of coffee.   

         "Why, thank you Neelix," the Captain beamed.   She certainly didn't look like someone whose evening had been rudely interrupted. In fact, she looked quite relaxed.        

        She took a sip and quirked an eyebrow. "A bit stronger than usual, my friend."  

        “I ... ah ...  thought you might need something to counteract the compote," he said hesitantly.            

         To his surprise, she laughed and wagged a finger at him. "Oh, no. I've tangled with your compote before. And I suspect Chakotay will never touch it again."        

         "Ah, well, likely not," he said, still a bit uncomfortable. "Captain, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your birthday dinner. Had I realized ..."   

          She put a hand up to stop him. "It's all right Neelix, but please, be more careful with that compote ... at least for those of us with human physiology."  She looked at him over her coffee cup. "As for my birthday dinner ... well, outside of getting stuck with the cleanup, it was a lovely evening."  

         He was about to reply when she put the cup down. "Thanks again for the coffee," she said with a wink. "See you at lunch."    

         He knew that tone ... and knew better than to linger.    

         He thought about their conversation as he walked to the turbolift. She was taking this rather well.   Too bad about those two, he thought. They just can’t seem to get together. 

       Ah, well, he decided as the lift doors closed. He'd just have to whip up a Parra cream cake.  Maybe the commander could use it as a peace offering.                                                                                                                                                                

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