Crawling through the innards of Voyager, wasn’t Harry’s favorite way to spend his birthday. Not that it was good anytime, but this day he lacked the patience to put up with B’Elanna’s sniping.

All he wanted was to sleep.

Well, not all.

He grinned at the tool in his hand before going back to work. Down the Jefferies Tube, he could hear some poor guy in Engineering getting yelled at, but it didn’t register.

His mind was on more pleasant things. Harry sighed. He was remarkably happy, considering that he was involved with a dream. Especially now that he was starting to remember things about his lover.

Eyes black as space, with all the twinkle of the stars in them. Lately he’s found himself going through the crew roister in his head. There was no one with truly black eyes, but Libby always said that his eyes looked that way when… the mood was right.

Mentally he’d compiled list after list. Weeding out possibilities and then reconsidering those choices. It helped him feel that this destiny was not running away from him, and he was sure that this was his destiny.

The more he tried to figure out who his lover was the more he felt like he was betraying him. Yet, somehow he was certain that his lover was someone he knew. Maybe the time wasn’t right. Maybe he just needed to be patient. It was just hard, not to want the contentment of the night to become reality in the day.

“Hey, Harry!”

He pulled his thoughts to the present. He looked the length of the tube, at Tom who had a strange smile on his face. That could only mean one thing… a birthday party.

“No.”

He vaguely remembered protesting further, but soon he was in the mess hall blowing out candles. He sighed. He doubted if his wish would come true, that he could leave right away.

Half an hour later he managed to slip out the doors. He grinned. He felt wonderful. In a way, he was sneaking off to meet his lover in secret. No wonder love was so often portrayed in music; he could all but hear the notes in his head.

He rushed to his quarters. He moment he got there, he tried to calm himself. Excitement was fine, but it didn’t help him go to sleep. Of course, in the past weeks he’d gotten that down to an art.

As he snuggled down into his bed, he smiled. He thought about the heat of his lover’s skin and the peace and belonging in his arms. A minute later he open his eyes.

He was alone in bed and fully dressed. He frowned for a moment. Then he heard movement in the other room. He got up to investigate and found his lover lighting candles on a short table.

He looked up and grinned. “Happy Birthday, Harry.”

A broad smile spread over his face. He walked further into the room and into his arms. They exchanged a few gentle kisses. Harry wanted it to continue but his lover drew away.

“Open your gift.”

He led him to a small pile of pillows before the table. Harry eased down then looked up at his lover who nodded. He slid behind Harry as he sat forward to pick up the brightly wrapped gift. One hand slid down to rest on his knee the other pulled him back against his chest in a warm hug.

Opening the box, he found an antique clarinet. It was of beautiful, hand-carved dark wood. The metal had been polished to a high sheen. The reed was broken in to perfection.

He looked over his shoulder and grinned into smiling black eyes.

"Play for me, Harry."

He shivered at the beauty of his voice. He laughed, truly happy, at last. He brought the instrument to his mouth. Harry started playing random pieces that he loved, pieces that he was good at, wanting to please his lover.

The music skittered, as one hand drifted under shirt to play with his nipples. It didn't take too long before he stopped playing at all, unable to draw enough breath. He always knew just how to touch him.

The clarinet hit the floor with a thud as his other hand moved to touch Harry through his pants. Soon his groans filled the room. His head rolled back against his lover’s shoulder, his glazed eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling.

"I like this best. You make wonderful sounds when played just right. Do you like the way we make music together?"

All he could do was moan louder and louder as the touches got harder and rougher. All the time he whispered in his ear; things about his body, things they'd do together, things that made Harry even more excited.

He screamed when the touch vanished. A chuckle sounded before he felt hands move to the button of his pants. "Calm down, we'll get there.... Eventually."

He toyed with the button and teased the zipper down slow enough for Harry to cool off the tiniest bit. He couldn’t remember ever being this aroused this fast. He growled in frustration, as his lover caressed him through his underwear for a moment.

"You're an evil, evil man."

That got another laugh. "And you enjoy it."

Mercifully, the hand slipped inside to touch his skin. Despite the light, teasing touch over his cock, it didn't take long before Harry was close to coming. He whimpered and tossed his head against his lover’s shoulder.

He screamed it as he came. A moment later, his eyes opened languidly. He smiled into the candlelight. “Thank you. I love my gift.”

He heard a chuckle. “Really? How much?”

Rising he led his lover into the bedroom, he murmured, “Let me show you.”