"Hold still, Harry. This is not going to hurt."

"It does," Harry whined.

"Stop being such a baby." Tom repositioned himself to try another angle of attack.

"Why am I the only one who gets to suffer?"

This statement stopped the rustling behind him. "I can’t believe you said that, Har."

Stubborn silence greeted this remark.

Tom Paris walked completely around the shorter man and waited until Harry looked him in the face before enumumerating. "One, if I could take your place I would, but you’re the one the Chalthkians think is a God. Two, because of the prime directive, we can't set them straight, so you have to go back down there and take part in tonight’s ceremony and three, once Voyager leaves here, you’ll never have to wear this again."

Both men turned to look at the ornate and extremely heavy headgear with its complicated strapping system. It was part of a larger costume which would cover Harry completely, leaving only his face visible.

"That headpiece might look pretty, but it’s heavy and after a while it hurts my head. I don’t wanna put it on."

Coaxing, Tom offered rashly, "If you wear it, I’ll arrange to have a nice treat waiting for you when you return."

"Promise you’ll give me a scalp massage?" Harry whispered.

"I promise." Tom agreed fondly.

"OK, then do your worst."

Tom returned to his former position and was soon heard muttering, "Damn, does tab A slide into slot B?"

From his position, he could not see the wide smile playing across Ensign Harry Kim’s lips. Before the night was over, he intended to have been treated very well and have Tom Paris' tab A fit very snugly inside his slot B which would lead to production of liquid C. After all who said a scalp massage had to be performed with both people fully clothed?

The End!!

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