Chapter 3
"I don't give a damn!"
"Maybe that is your problem, Lieutenant. If you were to give a damn then you would understand that you are going to overstress the integrity field."
"Look, Borg, I have been doing this procedure like this for as long as I have been on this ship, which, in case you have forgotten, is four years longer than you. So I know damn well what I'm doing!"
Seven took a step away from the console. "If you truly want to die that badly, you may proceed. Once you have died, I will let the captain know that you died because you had forgotten to take the Borg changes into account."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" B'Elanna asked while also turning away from the console so that she could look at the blonde.
"It means that you were correct," Seven started.
B'Elanna pounced on the admission with glee. "Ha! You just admitted it, I'm right!"
"I said that you 'were' correct. Past tense. The settings that you want to use would have been... adequate... if we had not enhanced the integrity field with Borg enhancements last month. The Borg design would not cope too well with those settings."
B'Elanna turned back to the console and took another look, her interest roused by Seven's confident voice. "Yeah, that actually makes sense. The Borg design focuses more on keeping the thing working under stress, instead of having the readings be perfect when there is no stress on the integrity field."
"You do realize that you just basically said that I was correct. Is this the moment where I am supposed to say 'ha'?" Seven asked while lifting her eyebrow slightly.
"Oh, shut up, you damn bitch. Why don't you go assimilate those reports while I take another look at this?"
"Very well, I will go read the reports while you stand here and be humbled by your mistakes."
Seven had only taken two steps away from the console before B'Elanna's voice stopped her.
"Hey Seven?"
"Yes?"
"You sure that you're alright? You seem to move... a little different now."
Seven gave B'Elanna a reassuring smile, having heard the soft tone of concern in the Klingon's voice. "I am merely still getting acquainted with the lack of my abdominal implant. Its removal has changed my center of gravity and I sometimes overcompensate my movements. There is nothing to worry about, B'Elanna."
"Alright. I'll have another look at this, and then we can go have some lunch. Sound good to you?"
"Very well."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
"And?" Janeway asked as soon as Chakotay walked into her ready room.
"You do realize just how strange it feels for me to be spying on two crew members?"
"Of course," Janeway said with a smile. "That's why I'm having you do this instead of doing it myself."
Chakotay returned the smile before sitting down. "Well, they still fight, a lot."
"I know," Janeway sighed. "I would say that they almost fight daily now. But I was hoping... It just changed, Chakotay. Their fights... they... well... they were not good for the ship. They would break things, and frankly, they would scare a lot of people too. But now, they don't break things anymore. They fight, loudly, but mere minutes later you can see them working side by side, as if they were one. And where I used to get complaints from the crew about being scared about bodily harm, now the crew seems to be amused by their fights. I haven't had a complaint yet."
"And your hopes might be right, because there is a lot more."
The way he had said that indicated to Janeway that Chakotay had a bomb to drop. "Go on."
"I checked the sensor logs. Do you know where Seven spends most of her nights?"
"Unfortunately, I do. She regenerates. I really wish that we could give her some quarters, but I'm not about to throw some other crew member out just so that Seven can have their quarters. Can you imagine the resentment for Seven that this would create?"
"Well, I don't think that you have to worry about that any longer. Sensors show that nowadays Seven is only in the Cargo bay long enough to regenerate her eight hours every three days. The rest of the time she now spends somewhere else, with someone else."
"Really?" Janeway asked surprised. "Where? Who?"
"Guess."
"Chakotay," Janeway said slowly and the man lifted his hands slightly with a smile.
"That's alright, I'll just tell you. You would never have guessed right anyway. Seven spends the rest of her time living in B'Elanna's quarters."
After a minute of total silence, Chakotay finally started laughing at Janeway's shocked expression.
"I think that they've become friends, just as you wanted Kathryn."
"But... Why the fighting?"
"I think it's simply that they both like it," Chakotay stated with a shrug.
"Like fighting? Why would they like that? You know that fights eventually lead to someone getting hurt. If not physically, than emotionally."
Chakotay shrugged his shoulders again slightly. "Personally, I think that you are thinking too much like a 24th century human. 'Can't agree? Let's go see a counselor.' But you have to remember that neither B'Elanna nor Seven are normal humans."
"Go on," Janeway merely said, wanting to know where he was going with his way of thinking.
"You have to remember that B'Elanna is half Klingon. Klingons always fight. Heck, even their courtship consists of almost nothing but fighting. Do you know that with Klingons, the first time they have sex even that is a fight and can be very rough?"
"Every one knows that Klingon sex is rough," Janeway merely said.
"That is a common misconception," Chakotay disagreed. "I mean, sure Klingon partners can 'play' rough sometimes, which leaves them with some prominent bruises. But the stories you hear about broken bones and stuff, that only happens the first time a couple has sex. The reason being that during that first time they establish who the dominant partner is. They fight to see who will be in control of the sex life, so to speak."
He frowned for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, I got sidetracked. The point is that Klingons fight all the time, and even though B'Elanna is half human, she is just as much half Klingon and therefore she too needs to fight from time to time. Just not as all out like full Klingons do. But the thing is; who can she fight with? Who can she really let go with without that person being scared to hell of her?"
Janeway thought about that for a moment. "Physically I would say only one of the Vulcans, or maybe one of the Bajorans. But the thing is that B'Elanna doesn't really fight physically. So the Vulcans would be out since they would not respond and the Bajorans are out as well since they prefer to end a fight, not prolong it."
"Right," Chakotay agreed. "But even though B'Elanna doesn't fight physically... normally... she still has the physical power. If she stands in front of you blowing steam out of her ears, she can be very frightening. You just know she is going to kill you in the next minute."
"But Seven," Janeway said, finally seeing where Chakotay was going, "Seven can overpower B'Elanna at any moment, if she wants to, and also is more than a match to her verbally."
"Right. And I think that it is even simpler for Seven. I think she loves to have a fight with someone who doesn't fear her being part Borg. Like it or not, most people still have it in the back of their mind that Seven still has her assimilation tubes, that Seven can turn anyone of us into a mindless drone in a few seconds flat. While most people no longer actually fear her, nobody except for B'Elanna would actually dare to deliberately enrage her."
"You have some very valid points," Janeway had to agree. "So, how do you think I should handle this?"
"I think you've been doing a good job until now. I would say, go on like you have been. As long as their fights don't interrupt the running of the ship, let them have their fights. But if it does interrupt the running of the ship, discipline them. I think that is the best way to... steer their fights to where they can have them, and yet not have the rest of the ship suffer."
"Well, I must admit that I'm glad that they are getting along. It's so damn hard being tough on them." Janeway was quiet for a moment before adding, "This stays between us, but you know, sometimes I see those two as daughters of mine."
Chakotay merely lifted his eyebrows a little.
"Well, I don't mean daughters, daughters, but sometimes I see them as mine. I want to make sure that they are alright, that they 'grow up' right." Janeway got up from behind her desk and started to pace a little. Seeing the look that had settled on Chakotay's face after her last statement, Janeway assured, "Don't worry, I'm not about to develop a maternal streak, but I feel like I want them to be alright, more than I want the average crewmen to be alright. It's more like a mother wants their children to be alright. God, this is so hard to explain."
Chakotay laughed. "Actually, I think I kinda understand what you mean." He was quiet for a moment before continuing. "Seeing that they're your daughters, you might also want to hear the other rumor going around about them."
"Why do I have the feeling that I'm not going to like this one?" Janeway asked when she saw the look on his face.
"Probably because it is the obvious one, and you can guess it already. Two single women who live together, who seem to get along very well lately, both very good looking... it's not a hard guess. Rumor has it that they're sleeping together."
Janeway sucked in a breath of air and let it out slowly. "Do you think there's any truth behind those rumors?"
Chakotay merely shrugged his shoulders.
"If they are, then they sure are doing a good job of letting their private life not interfere with ship's business," Janeway said after a moment of silence. She knew that even though Chakotay was reporting the rumors he heard, he would never start speculating himself.
"I must admit that I'm a little surprised that you don't worry about Seven, about her having to 'deal' with the 'Klingon sex' we just talked about," Chakotay said.
Now it was Janeway's turn to shrug her shoulders. "As you said, it's a blown up story to begin with. But even if it was true, we just agreed that Seven is far stronger than B'Elanna. Beside the fact that I just don't see B'Elanna 'taking' Seven if she doesn't want to, I know for sure that if they ever had a 'fight' for control over the relationship, B'Elanna would never stand a chance."
Chakotay had to agree to that. Beside everything else, he too simply could not see B'Elanna ever participating in anything that wasn't fully consensual.
"You do realize," He started slowly after yet again a moment of silence between them, "That since they are both on the senior staff, you do have the right to order them to not have a relationship."
"Yeah, right," Janeway snorted, "And just when is the last time that rule was ever enforced in Starfleet?"
"I'm just..."
"I know, Chakotay, I know. You are just mentioning it because it is your job, not because you actually want me to do anything. But no. Let's forget for a moment that I would never interfere with their love life, that I would never hold them back from trying to find happiness, I could never enforce that rule. First off, knowing how stubborn both B'Elanna and Seven can be, it would only result in them starting or staying in a relationship, even if they both feel that it would be best for themselves just to end it. Second, if I started on the course of controlling the private life of my crew, where would it end? Forget about B'Elanna and Seven, 'I' don't want to go down that road. Third, I would lose all the respect I have with the crew if I started pulling stunts like that. Fourth, I didn't step in when B'Elanna dated Tom, nor did I step in when Seven dated Harry, so I can't in all reality step in now. And let's not forget the big one. Telling them that they can't date someone else on the senior crew would be damn hypocritical of me. Somehow I think that the chief Engineer dating the chief science officer is not as 'bad' as the captain being in an ongoing relationship with her first officer."
Chakotay smiled. "True. As I said, I had to mention it. Truthfully, I sincerely doubt that you could ever stop them from trying to be happy. Besides, B'Elanna and Tom broke up, Seven and Harry broke up, yet they manage to function together just fine. I don't think that it would be any different with B'Elanna and Seven. I think that both of them are smart enough to end a relationship while they are still friends."
Janeway played with her empty lucky coffee cup for a moment before saying thoughtfully, "Which brings us back to the essence of this whole conversation; we don't even know if they're in a relationship. All we know is that they're sharing quarters together when Seven is not regenerating, and even that is not official. I do wonder how the rest of the crew will handle them being in a relationship, if they are of course."
"I think that most will be disappointed at worst, happy for them at best."
"Disappointed?" Janeway asked surprised.
Chakotay gave her a smile before speaking. "Yes, disappointed about the fact that two of the most desired women on Voyager are 'off the market.'"
"Hey," Janeway said with a fake growl. "Are you looking at other women?"
"Kathryn, you know I love you," Chakotay said softly and warmly before adding amused, "But if you've never seen that B'Elanna and Seven are very good looking women, then I think it's time you finally have that exam that the doctor is bugging you about all the time. Especially time to let him check your eyesight."
Janeway 'humffed' before giving him a small grin. If there was one thing she had to agree to, then it was that both Seven and B'Elanna were very attractive women.
"Alright, so you've got a point. Anyway, I think it's time I got some work done. The thing is, I really do hope for them that they are happy, be it as just friends or as lovers, but the ship does come first. If their way of fighting changes again, or if people become uncomfortable with them fighting... let me know."
"Yes, Captain," Chakotay said while he got up. He knew a dismissal when he heard one.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
"So what are we going to do the rest of the evening?" B'Elanna asked.
Though normally B'Elanna was a person who needed her space, recently she'd spent almost every free minute she had with Seven. But then, the three weeks the blonde had shared her quarters now had taught both her and Seven that 'having space' wasn't really about physical room, it was about simply being left in peace. To simply be able to sit and read, or do something else, for hours on end without the person you are with wanting to do something else. Or asking you to go do something you find boring, or letting you know that the person was bored, or...
No, she and Seven could simply sit on the same couch for hours reading and not speak a single word. In a way it was weird, and if she didn't like it so much it might have actually freaked the very private Klingon out, but she and Seven were just... 'in tune' with each other. They could sit and say nothing, then one of them would get up to get something to drink, or eat, and give the other something too, and it was just... right. It was that drink that they wanted, or it was that food that they felt like eating.
Even weirder was, since Seven ate less often than B'Elanna, that B'Elanna still somehow knew when to get something for Seven as well, and when to only get something for herself. Weird.
Seven, being Seven, had simply brushed it off as subconscious training. She had told B'Elanna that she had learned around what times Seven was hungry, and would get her something as well at those times, and not at the others.
B'Elanna found that explanation a little lacking. Actually, she found it a lot lacking. But then Seven, being Seven, had simply told her that it was irrelevant and that she should stop trying to analyze it.
Which had then of course led to a full-blown discussion about just who of them was the one analyzing things the most.
"I was thinking about finishing the 'book' tonight." Seven said after thinking about the question for a moment.
B'Elanna grinned and walked to where Seven's 'book' and B'Elanna's own 'book' were lying. Which really were simply two PADD's that held files that once, in centuries gone by, had been published in books. "You never told me if I was right."
Seven sighed before dipping her head slightly. "Yes you were right. I still find it very inefficient to read a book word for word, instead of simply taking in the text and analyzing it after that. I must admit that there is a certain appeal about reading a text and wondering for days how the story will evolve, and if there will be a satisfying ending."
Now B'Elanna actually laughed. "Yes, who would have ever thought that the Ice Princess is a sucker for stories with a happy ending? But I saw you cheat yesterday, don't you deny it."
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Seven said in her cool Borg voice.
"I'm talking about you first reading the last page of the story to see if the couple ends up happy together. Don't you know that you spoil the entire story like that for yourself?"
"Oh, that," Seven said flatly before giving B'Elanna a small smile. "That is one of the advantages of being Borg. I do not spoil the story for myself. I read the last page, and once I know for sure if the story has a happy ending, I erase all knowledge of it from my memory. Except, of course, for knowing if there was a happy ending."
B'Elanna returned the smile with a grin before sitting down on the couch. "Why don't you take a shower first, and once you're done, you can select our dinner for tonight while I have my shower. Today is after all, an uneven star date which means it's your turn to pick dinner."
"You can take your shower, I will shower in sickbay tomorrow morning," Seven disagreed while starting to walk to the replicator.
When she passed B'Elanna however, the Klingon softly took hold of her arm. "Seven, you can't ignore it for the rest of your life. Sooner or later you'll have to deal with it. The longer you wait, the harder it will become."
Seven looked at B'Elanna with her well-trained Borg coolness, and B'Elanna knew that had she been anyone else, Seven would have told her to mind her own business. But now Seven merely held B'Elanna's stare for a moment before dropping her own eyes.
"I do not want to. In sickbay I always use a sonic shower and am done in thirty seconds. I hurry because of the Doctor's presence in sickbay. But here I look at... them... even though I do not want to."
"I can understand that. But how long do you want to run Seven? Do you really think that it'll become easier over time? You of all people should know that it won't. How long has it been since you assimilated someone? Is knowing that you did that easier for you now than it was years ago?"
"B'Elanna..."
"What is it that you fear so much?" B'Elanna interrupted.
"You do not understand. I have... I have scars."
"So?" B'Elanna asked, knowing full well how blunt she sounded.
Seven turned away. She was furious at the Klingon, but did not want to fight with her. The way she was feeling it would be a real fight, and that would not be fun. "As I said, you do not understand. You are part Klingon, to Klingons scars are something to be proud of. For me it is a disfigurement I do not want."
"You are wrong," B'Elanna disagreed forcefully, trying to get through to the stubborn blonde. "To Klingons scars are only something to be proud of if they are scars you got while fighting an honorable fight, which you won, or which you lost against tremendous odds. I wouldn't be any more proud of having scars from removed implants than you are now. The thing that I'm trying to make you understand is that you don't really have a choice. Seven, like it or not, those scars are now a part of your body just like the abdominal implant was. Accept them, it is your body, and you have to live with them."
"It is not that easy!" Seven shouted while turning her back to the Klingon, realizing only after she had done so just how much she had come to trust and rely on B'Elanna. She would never have let her control go like that in front of anyone else.
"I never said it was easy," B'Elanna said softly, while putting her hand on Seven's shoulder. "Look, Seven. I'm not a counselor; I don't have degrees like they do. Maybe what I'm telling you here is the worst advice one person ever gave to another. All I'm doing is talking to you as a friend. I see you hurting over this, and I'm honored to be the only person that you actually show that hurt to. Maybe because of that I should actually just shut up and simply give you a shoulder to cry on. But that's not me. I'm an Engineer at heart. If I see a problem, I want to fix it. I see a problem, you hurt. The only way I know from my own experience to fix hurt is to confront it. And that's the only advice I can give you; confront your hurt. Deal with your scars Seven."
Seven looked over her shoulder into the eyes of the Klingon. Eyes that showed a softness that many people would never suspect the Klingon of being capable of. After a long moment, Seven finally dropped her eyes. "I will take my shower now, here. Thank you for being here for me, B'Elanna. Thank you for understanding me."
"Any time Seven. Any time."
B'Elanna watched Seven walk to the bathroom. There was a slump to those shoulders that B'Elanna had never seen before, and she hoped on everything that was dear to her that she had done the right thing in convincing Seven to deal with her problems now.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
Seven stepped into the bathroom and leaned for a long moment on the cabinet that stood under the mirror. She had looked at herself often in that mirror. The days before her surgery she had spent long times just standing nude in front of the mirror and looking at the abdominal implant that soon would be gone forever.
She knew that B'Elanna was right, she had to face this... but that didn't make it any easier. She sighed and turned her back to the mirror. She started to open her biosuit with hands that were shaking slightly despite her best efforts to keep them still.
Too soon for her own taste, Seven was naked and ready to take her shower. She knew that she should do just that; simply take her shower. Yet a mere moment later she found herself staring into the mirror, looking at her body. Her eyes drifted immediately to her middle, where her implant had been.
Her logical mind told Seven that it really could not be that bad. Medical knowledge was far removed from the 'cut and patch' approach used centuries before. Now there were bone knitters, dermal regenerators, healing gel-packs. And if all of that wasn't enough, there were ways to reproduce every single part of the humanoid body, up to big parts of the brain. So even if she had been totally disfigured and the doctor had to patch her up, she would still not have marks that would make her stand out amongst other humans.
In fact, her clearly visible Borg implants made her easily stand out, yet that had never bothered her that much... once she had grown accustomed to actually looking like a human again.
Seven knew all that, yet for some reason the scars where the implant had been removed were clearly visible to her in cruel, grotesque lines. She moved her hands over the scars and she could feel them like they were mountains that had grown out of her body. Seven was sure she was totally disfigured, a monster, a thing, a modern day Frankenstein.
She was ugly.
She didn't want to be ugly, no matter how much that thought contradicted with her knowledge that aesthetics were irrelevant.
She felt like crying.
But just as the first tears started to form, there was a knock on the wall right beside the door.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
B'Elanna had asked the time five times already. That was why she knew that Seven had been in the bathroom for more than ten minutes now, yet the water hadn't started to run yet. Concerned about Seven, B'Elanna got up and knocked on the wall beside the door to the bathroom, making sure not to touch the actual door.
Since it had become clear that Seven was going to be more than just a guest for a few days, they had changed the settings on the doors in the quarters to where they wouldn't simply open if the sensors detected a living being within a certain range of the door, which could result in the door opening accidentally, but to where the door would open as soon as there was a small pressure against is. This meant that now the doors opened as soon as someone simply put a hand against it. But this also meant that B'Elanna couldn't knock on the door, since that would actually open it.
"Seven, are you alright?" B'Elanna didn't raise her voice, knowing that even without her enhanced hearing, Seven would have heard her through the still not insulated door.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
Seven heard the question and knew that B'Elanna was worried for two reasons. First simply because she cared, and second because the only reason that Seven was now in the bathroom was because the Klingon convinced her to go there. She looked at her scars once more and closed her eyes. Her rational and emotional mind were in total conflict and neither side seemed to be winning. Then a thought struck her. Maybe it was time to get the opinion of someone else.
"B'Elanna, I would like to ask you for a favor."
"Sure, anything," B'Elanna said right away without even having to think about it. "But can I open this door now? It feels kinda strange talking to a door."
"You can open it, but you can not yet come in, or look in. I need to explain something first."
"Fair enough, I'll just stand against the wall for now." Only moments after B'Elanna had said the sentence, the door opened.
"What is it, Seven?" B'Elanna asked, even though talking like this was still kinda strange, standing in the living room and talking to someone in the bathroom; it wasn't as strange as talking through a closed door.
"As I said, I have a favor to ask of you, but I want to make sure that you do not misunderstand the situation. Please understand that when you come in here that I want nothing more from you than an honest opinion."
"Alright," B'Elanna said slowly, not sure what Seven was getting at, but more than willing to do what ever it took to help the blonde.
"Very well, you may come in now."
B'Elanna did so, and a second later her proverbial jaw hit the floor. "Kahless, Seven! You are naked!" B'Elanna shouted before turning around quickly.
"I know," Seven said softly, totally misunderstanding the reason why B'Elanna turned around. "You just answered my question. I am sorry that seeing me naked repulsed you, rest assured, it will not happen again."
"Whoa, wait a minute, Seven," B'Elanna said while turning around once more, but she still tried to keep her eyes off Seven. "You didn't repulse me at all. I have a feeling that I know why you think I turned around, you think that it is about your scars, don't you? Well let me tell you, I didn't have time to see those scars. The only reason I turned around is something called decency. I wouldn't want someone to leer at me, so I won't leer at someone else either."
"I... see. I apologize for the confusion. Maybe it would be better if,"
"Seven' let's just forget it alright?" B'Elanna interrupted. She really wasn't in the mood for a round of apologies on apologies. "Why don't you simply ask me the favor you wanted to ask?"
"I... Very well. B'Elanna, my problem is indeed with my scars. My rational mind tells me that with the present day medical knowledge, there cannot be that much visible evidence that I ever had surgery, and certainly not that I ever had an abdominal implant. Yet, despite knowing that, I still see vicious scars; my fingers feel the scars as if they were prominent lines protruding from my body. I need an honest, independent view. I would like for you to take a look and tell me honestly what you think."
"Um, Seven, I would be more than willing to do that, but, um, you do realize that I will have to look at you for more than a second; I will have to look at you close up too."
"Ah," Seven merely said, understanding what B'Elanna said. "Well, I would really like to hear what you think, so I now give you my permission to look at my naked body for as long as you want."
'You really don't want to go there,' B'Elanna thought, 'Scars or not, if I could look at you as long as I wanted, we wouldn't be leaving these quarters for months to come.'
Taking a deep breath, B'Elanna finally looked straight at Seven, seeing her standing as she so often did, back straight and hands behind her back, just for the small fact that now the only thing the blonde was wearing was her hair. For a moment B'Elanna wondered if Seven knew that this particular stance made her ample chest appear even more ample. Then she decided that Seven probably didn't, but B'Elanna wasn't about to point out to Seven that she might want to change her stance. She liked the way it made Seven look while clothed, and she sure as hell liked it while Seven was naked.
Seeing the blonde standing there, there was only one word that came to B'Elanna's mind; Perfection.
Despite the fact that B'Elanna had promised to give an honest and clear review of Seven's body, she could not help but be affected. She noticed that even the speed of her breathing and her pulse had picked up. Seeing how that blonde eyebrow lifted ever so slightly, Seven sure as hell had picked up those signs too.
Looking at Seven's breasts, B'Elanna decided that even though Seven's chest was very ample, she still had perfectly shaped breasts. Or at least shaped in the way that B'Elanna liked them the most, with proudly erect nipples pointing horizontally at B'Elanna; making it very clear that the blonde's breasts were not about to start drooping for quite some years yet.
B'Elanna's eyes drifted lower until she reached the apex of Seven's legs, slightly surprised to find that the blonde was totally bald there, which B'Elanna had always found a total turn on, and did so once more.
Seven could see where B'Elanna was looking, and she answered the question that she was sure had to be on the Klingon's mind. "Borg drones are always bald; all hair growth is halted because it might interfere with implants. The growth of my hair had to be stimulated by the Doctor. He apparently never thought about stimulating my hair growth there. Since I first found it convenient, and then actually liked it this way, I never corrected him."
Seven didn't need her enhanced senses to hear and see the increased breathing that B'Elanna was doing. She liked that she had this effect on the Klingon since it clearly meant that her scars could not be as repulsive as Seven had assumed. "Do you like it?" Seven asked a little too innocently, her tone bringing B'Elanna back to reality.
B'Elanna tore her eyes away and looked at safer, and more polite, things; Seven's eyes. "Kahless Seven, I'm sorry for staring at you like that. It is just that..." B'Elanna gave up, and decided to simply state the honest truth, "Damn, you are one hot woman."
Seven gave B'Elanna one of her most genuine smiles, the one not many people got to see. "Thank you. I appreciate your candor. However, you were going to look at my scars."
"Right, scars," B'Elanna agreed while coming closer. "Do you mind if I kneel in front of you and have a closer look, or is me telling you that I sure don't see any scars from here good enough for you?"
"You may come closer. I have them, I can see them, I can feel them."
B'Elanna tried to take a calming breath and knelt in front of the naked blonde. The breath hadn't been calming at all though and she let it out in a big gush of air; surprised to see the belly in front of her pull together slightly and hear a sincerely un-Borg like giggle coming from above her.
"I apologize; that tickled."
"Who would have thought, a ticklish Borg," B'Elanna mumbled, knowing that Seven had heard her only too well. "Now..." B'Elanna focused on the perfect belly in front of her and examined the smooth surface. "Tell me, Seven, your abdominal implant, did it also cover your bellybutton? Did the doctor have to repair that as well, or is that all yours?"
"That is mine, as you like to call it. Why?"
"Because if the doctor had made it, I would have had to give him a compliment... in his absence of course. But now, let me tell you, you have a very beautiful bellybutton. It fits the rest of your gorgeous body."
"B'Elanna..."
"That is just an honest statement," B'Elanna interrupted, not really sure what Seven was going to say. "Now, back to your scars. I'm sure that you aren't imagining them, but I don't see them, and I'm so close now that my nose is almost touching you."
"Do you not see them?" Seven asked surprised. "They are right here..." Seven drew several lines across her belly with her fingers, "...you can clearly feel them."
B'Elanna lifted her hand until she was almost touching the blonde. "May I?" She asked, trying very hard to forget that she was about to touch the most beautiful person she had ever seen.
"You may," Seven permitted while she took hold of B'Elanna's hand and put her fingers against one of the scars.
B'Elanna could indeed feel the finest of irregularities under her fingers, and now that she knew where one of the faint scars was, she could also see it, kinda.
B'Elanna removed her fingers from Seven's belly and leaned back a little and looked up through the valley between the blonde's breasts to see her face looking down. "I told you I would be honest with you, Seven, so I will. Yes you have scars, yes you can see them, yes you can feel them. But Seven, really, your 'scars' are fainter than most people's normal body markings."
B'Elanna pulled up her sleeve a little and showed her arm to Seven. "See that line here?"
"Yes," Seven replied, looking down at B'Elanna's arm and seeing a faint five centimeter long line starting just above the wrist. The line was really nothing more than a little lighter tan than the rest of B'Elanna's light caramel colored skin. If B'Elanna hadn't pointed it out, Seven might not have noticed it. In fact, she had never noticed it, even though B'Elanna wore short sleeved, or non sleeved, shirts most of the time she wasn't wearing a uniform.
"Well, that is nothing more than a scratch that I got in Engineering once. But since it was just a scratch that stopped bleeding before I had stopped swearing about it, I didn't use the dermal regenerator to heal it properly, not realizing that the metal had been covered in oil and therefore the scratch would actually leave a faint scar. Feel it."
Seven did as she was told and felt the line. She could just feel the faintest of lines, so faint that Seven wasn't sure if she would have been able to feel it if her sense of touch hadn't been more sensitive than Humans without Borg enhancements.
"I was honest with you, Seven, now I want you to be honest with yourself. Does this look hideous or repulsive to you? Does it look ugly?"
"No, it does not," Seven was forced to admit.
"Now once again be honest with yourself," B'Elanna pushed on, "What is, or looks, worse? This scratch, or your scars?"
Seven closed her eyes for a moment, trying to be totally honest. She liked the fact that B'Elanna wasn't simply telling her that her scars were nothing. The Klingon acknowledged the fact that Seven had scars. But B'Elanna had also shown Seven just how insignificant her scars were. In fact, now the blonde realized that the only way someone could ever see her scars was if Seven deliberately pointed them out, and if the person looking had eyes as good or better than those of a half Klingon.
Seven smiled down and softly put her hand on B'Elanna's head. "Thank you, B'Elanna."
Hearing those words, and feeling a woman's hand on her head forced B'Elanna to close her eyes. While she was having her discussion with Seven, she had been able to force down the fact that a very naked and beautiful woman was standing right in front of her. But now B'Elanna's mind flashed back for only a moment to the last time she had been in such a position, and to the fact of what the woman had been thanking her for.
B'Elanna knew that all she had to do was lean in a little closer, bent down a little more, and she would be able to taste a woman once more, able to taste this woman, taste Seven. B'Elanna's breathing, which had calmed down during their discussion, picked up once more and actually rose to the point where she was panting softly but clearly. This only made B'Elanna's ordeal worse since she could smell Seven with every breath she took. No matter how pristinely clean the blonde was, there was no mistaking the scent of a woman when your nose was only a hand length away from the source of the sweet smell.
"Seven," B'Elanna finally managed to choke out, she knew that she had to stop this right there. "Please leave, I really need to take a shower right now."
Seven had been fascinated by the effect her presence was having on the Klingon, and only realized what B'Elanna had said when the Klingon added another 'please.' Without a word Seven walked out of the bathroom, taking her biosuit off the commode on her way out.
B'Elanna didn't bother with getting up and turning the water on. She knew that as turned on as she was now, there was no way that Seven wouldn't hear what she was going to do. She was only glad that the soundproofing to the other quarters was more than enough so that others wouldn't be able to hear her. She was even gladder that she and Seven had taken some time once to actually test out just how much sound was needed to get through the soundproofing in the walls between quarters. No matter how loud B'Elanna would be, there was no way that she could ever be that loud.
B'Elanna decided that the only thing that would work for her right now was a quick but powerful release. Without moving from the spot, she simply moved her hand into her pants and started to work on taking away the ache that was almost killing her.
Continued...