The Scent of Rain
Disclaimer: Star Trek and all its intellectual property belong to Paramount/CBS. No infringement intended, no money made.
Authors' Notes: During the original run of Voyager I became a Paris/Torres fan and first discovered fanfiction. Later, when Seven of Nine joined the crew I became an ardent proponent of the Kim/Seven pairing and began to write my own fiction about the couple. I posted my stories to the Resistance is Futile newsgroup and a few other sites. I lost interest in Voyager during the sixth season. It was going in places I didn't want to follow. A few years and a computer crash later I thought all my stories were gone. I recently came upon a cache of them while looking for Enterprise fiction. I'm a huge Trip/T'Pol fan. So, I've saved the stories, clean them up a little and decided to start posting them here. I hope you enjoy them.
Summary: My response to the Soothing Summer Rain challenge. Seven likes to observe relationships. Harry likes the rain.
Seven of Nine stood at the edge of the lush, green meadow. Scanning the area she located her objective and strode forward. Any other person would have noticed the lovely sprays of colorful wildflowers at their feet or the moss covered rock formations around her, but she was not any other person. "Ensign." she said firmly.
Harry turned to see the former Borg almost behind him, her brow arched quizzically. "Yes, Seven?" he asked casually, turning back to gaze out at the lovely view in front of him.
They stood on a raised and wooded rock overhang that overlooked a mist shrouded green valley, Beyond them the tips of snow capped mountains peeked through a mass of storm clouds.
"Ensign, is the machine functioning along normal parameters?"
"It sure is," he motioned to a hexagonal shaped machine that lay a meter away. Buttons flashed in a myriad of colors indicating that it was active. "As we speak this little baby is digging down into the ground and extracting the duranium that B'Elanna has been begging for."
"The machine 'is' functioning along normal parameters," Seven repeated succinctly.
"Right," Harry agreed.
"The machine will function without your continued presence?" she continued.
"Right again."
"Then why have you not returned to the Delta Flyer?" the Ex-Borg asked.
"Because I'm waiting for the rain to start," the Chief Operations Officer explained.
"That is not logical. Ensigns Nigawa and Lang have returned to the Delta Flyer. You should return also. Before the precipitation occurs," Seven said firmly. She moved close to him and placed her Borg enhanced hand firmly on his arm.
"No. I'm going to stay here," Harry replied just as firmly.
"If you stay here you will be rained on," she pointed out to him.
He nodded, "I know that. That's why I'm here. Can you smell the rain?" Confusion showed on her usually placid features as he continued, "It's almost here. I've been watching the storm for a while. It's moving fast." As he spoke, they began to feel the first feather soft brushes of sprinkles on their skin. Harry smiled in satisfaction. "I haven't been in a good storm since we left San Francisco."
Seven looked up at the sky, then back to her companion. "You are pleased by this?" Harry nodded. "You are getting wet," she stated, her clear, blue eyes focused on his warm, brown eyes.
"Are you going somewhere with this Seven? Because if you're not, I'd think you were trying to engage me in irrelevant conversation," he said with a smirk.
The icy blond stood even taller than before, she opened her mouth to begin refuting his comment, and then closed it again. She had to respond. Her analytical mind quickly processed several statements. The only one that came to her lips however was, "I am getting wet."
"I can see that," Harry nodded, a wide grin spreading across his face as he continued, "Don't worry you're not made of sugar, you won't melt."
Seven's eyes widened at the ridiculous statement. "Of course, I am not made of…" she began, but instead of finishing the statement she found herself matching his grin, suddenly a sound erupted from inside her throat, surprising her almost as much as Harry. She brought her other hand up to her mouth, her eyes wide with surprise.
His eyes twinkling naughtily, Harry gently removed her hand from her mouth, "I saw that. I heard that. Could that have been a laugh?"
"I believe it was. A curious sensation," she observed.
"Felt good didn't it?" Harry asked, savoring the expression on her face. Suddenly the full force of the storm arrived, splattering them both with huge, warm drops of rain. A look of uncertainty crossed Seven's face, she looked up into the water falling from the sky and back at her companion.
Harry watched her. He knew how she thought. He knew that there was a little battle going on in her oh-so logical mind. He placed his arm on her forearm, mimicking what she was doing to his other arm. Looking into her eyes, he said gently, but firmly, "its okay to just get wet, Seven. There is no reason to do it, except that it feels good. Doesn't it?"
Her huge, blue eyes looked into his searchingly. He saw a hint of fear along with the indecision. She smiled softly, "Yes it does," she admitted. "I do not understand why it should, but it does." Standing taller she continued, "Nevertheless, we should return to the Delta Flyer. You are in charge of this away mission. We should not leave the other Ensigns unsupervised."
"Oh, I think Lang and Nigawa will be just fine on their own for a while," her companion said smugly.
"You are withholding information from me," Seven stated with a tilt of her head.
"Yes, I am. But it's just gossip, I know you wouldn't be interested in something so irrelevant," he challenged her. Just to tease her more he shook his head sending a cascade of drops into her face.
Her eyes widened in surprise at his unexpected action. It was efficient however, she conceded and responded in kind, enjoying the look of pleasure in the Ensign's eyes. She tried a different method of information extraction, "You believe that the Ensign's possess sufficient field experience to warrant them spending time alone on the Delta Flyer?"
Harry smiled to himself, he knew she'd have to follow up. It was not in her nature to allow information to be withheld from her. "I think that them, spending time alone in the Delta Flyer will give them the experience they need," he explained with a hint of mischief in his eyes.
Seven scrutinized his expression. "Do the Ensign's share a romantic affiliation?" she questioned him.
"They don't yet, but hopefully if we give them a little time alone together…" he said suggestively. "That reminds me," he said, tapping his combadge. "Kim to Nigawa."
:::Nigawa here:::
"Seven and I have decided to ride the storm out here. We'll take cover in that rock overhang we saw about 15 meters away from the drill. I'm no meteorologist but I think it'll be a couple of hours at least."
:::Okay Harry, we'll see you in a while?:::
Smirking slightly, the Operations Officer said, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Talk to you later, Kim out." He took Seven's arm and drew her to the overhang he had mentioned. It still afforded a splendid view of the valley, but did give offer some protection from the storm. Harry sank down onto a low flat rock. Seven copied his movements. For a while they sat, watching the storms and the lightning in the distance. Finally Seven asked, "Do you believe they are copulating now?"
Chuckling slightly Harry observed, "Do you know you have a one-track mind?"
Her features pinked with embarrassment. "I am interested in relationships. You did not answer my question," she pointed out.
"Okay already, no, I don't think they are copulating. I think right about now, they're feeling each other out a little," he said thoughtfully.
"You believe they are fondling each other?" the Ex-Borg asked with interest.
An outburst of laughter erupted from the young man. Seven watched him with an arched brow, a smile curling her lips. Finally he recovered himself enough to answer, "Not 'feeling each other up,' He continued, 'Feeling each other out' means they are getting used to each other, trying to figure out how the other person feels," he wiped his eyes and continued, "It's very subtle, each person taking their cues from the actions of the other."
Seven listened to his explanation with interest. "But if they both feel attraction to each other, why do they go through these motions?" she asked, shaking her head slightly.
"You have to be careful in situations like that," Harry replied. He looked back out at the storm as he continued, "Sometimes you might feel something that the other person doesn't. You need to take your time and move slowly. If things don't work out, it might not hurt as much."
Seven watched him, watching the clouds. She knew he was no longer talking about the Ensigns. She felt an obstruction in her throat, swallowing she made a decision. Placing her hand on his arm she said in a softer voice than he had ever heard her use, "Sometimes do feelings that were not evident before, emerge?"
Harry looked into her eyes. These were not the indifferent blue orbs he was used to, these eyes were warm and inviting. Softly he admitted, "Sometimes."
A gentle smile spread across her face, "Tell me what else you believe is happening on the Delta Flyer."
He nodded, "Well, they are probably standing close to each other looking out the viewport." Seven abruptly pulled them both into a standing position. He grinned and continued, "Nigawa might brush a strand of her hair back." He demonstrated, smoothing back a strand of her shining blond hair. "He would let his hand rest there. Feeling the softness of her cheek," his breathed, "And seeing if she minds his hand being there."
"And if she does not mind?" she prompted, surprised that her own breathing was becoming labored.
"Then he might lean in and just barely touch her lips with his. Like this," Harry said, moving forward and pressing just a whisper of a kiss on her lips. "Then he will look into her eyes to see if she wants another kiss."
Seven looked into the deep brown eyes that seemed to envelop hers. A surge of warmth spread through her body as she asked "And if she does?"
"Then he will put his arms around her and kiss her deeply," Harry replied with feeling as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, pressing his lips to hers.
Seven awkwardly moved her arms up around his neck. Her eagerness made up for her inexperience as she returned his kiss. Harry drew back for a moment, struggling for breath. He smiled tenderly at her, his finger brushing softly over her lips, "Seven maybe I was wrong. Maybe you are made of sugar."
The End