The next day, Tal walked into the Astrometrics lab early, and with quiet energy. She had spent the evening before in meditation, calming her mind. While one eye was on her work, the other was turned inward. She smiled to herself, sure that she would make no mistakes that day. Little steps, she reminded herself. Start with today.
Hearing Seven's entrance, she looked up and nodded at her, going right back to her work without waiting for the return nod.
Throughout the shift, the brunette worked hard and consistently, trying to keep her energy levels high. Nearing the end, against her best wishes, her stomach started to gurgle. Blanching a little, and catching Seven's raised implant, she coughed and tried to pretend that it had not happened. She knew, however, that with her extraordinary hearing, the tall blonde would be able to hear it no matter what. The young woman hoped that it wouldn't bother her.
Finally, as the night shift came to take over, Tal stepped back. Feeling a little stiff but satisfied with the analyses she had completed (even a little thrilled that Seven hadn't come by to check her work at all), she turned to exit the lab.
But once again, she was blocked by a solid body. Quickly scooting backwards with a small yelp, she realized that she had again run straight into Seven of Nine.
"Crewman Celes, is this some Bajoran custom I am not familiar with? This is the second time in 23.14 hours you have pushed your body against mine. I am aware the first time was an accident. Was this one as well? It seems an inefficient way of greeting."
Clicking her jaw shut after she felt it going dry from having dropped open, Tal stuttered. "Uh, Seven, I, you were behind me and…" Her mind racing, the shorter woman realized that she could technically still be on shift, so she pulled herself together after taking another step back. With the added bonus of not having to look up so high to meet Seven's eyes anymore, she also felt a bit more comfortable with the distance. Seven managed to be so intense.
Tal straightened her spine, "I apologize, Seven. I didn't realize you were behind me. It… It was just an accident. Another accident." She couldn't help muttering the last part to herself.
Seven did not answer right away. She studied Tal, her face impassive. Tal hoped she wasn't fidgeting physically as she was mentally. The ex-borg's gaze seemed to be moving up and down her body, cataloging information no doubt. It may have been impersonal, but it still made her uncomfortable.
"I detect an average slowing of 1.3% of the natural speed of your internal organs, Crewman Celes. Most notably in your heart. It is beating half a percent slower than the normal Bajoran with your stature and health." Seven cocked her head to the side. "Is this a result of your not ingesting?"
"No, Seven. I think that's from my meditation…" Glancing around the lab, she decided she really didn't want to have that particular discussion at that moment. Starting to step forward, then thinking better and stepping back again, she tugged nervously at her ear.
"Do you… Can we… Uhm, do you want to come back to my, my quarters to talk about this?"
A surprised look flashed across Seven's face, quickly flitting away. However, even if it was her imagination, the ex-borg's deep blue eyes seemed to have softened a fraction. "That would be acceptable," she said pointedly and turned on her heel to stride out of Astrometrics.
"Great," the brunette muttered to herself, gathering up her courage and following Seven out to the hall. She shouldn't have been surprised that Seven knew where her room was, but she was surprised to find that the woman had held the turbolift for her. She had assumed that the ex-borg would have gone on ahead. Well, I guess that's not a nice assumption, she thought to herself, smiling nervously at Seven in thanks.
She was about to state her destination when Seven interrupted her, "I have already stated your deck and section, Crewman."
"Oh… Okay. Thank you, Seven."
Seven nodded curtly.
Silence reigned in the small turbolift. Out of the corner of her eye, the Bajoran studied the other woman's profile. Seven wasn't so tall that Tal had to crane her head back to look at her in the face, but she definitely was more than a head taller with her heels. Surreptitiously studying the starburst implant under Seven's ear, she came to the realization that it could almost be an earring of its own.
Seven's bone structure was beautiful, she had to admit; at least in an aesthetic way. She had heard from various conversations that Seven of Nine's face and body were similar to those of humans that originated from the Nordic part of Earth, but Tal had to take their word for it. She had never bothered to study the geography of Earth, as she already had too much to worry about at the Starfleet Academy.
Tracing down the subtle curve of the taller woman's neck, seeing the strong muscles and tendons, the brunette found herself trying to guess if the strength portrayed was caused by leftover Borg technology or the result of her genes. She continued her perusal down, past Seven's clavicle and the beginning of her purple bio suit. Skipping over her chest, feeling too embarrassed to give it anything more than a single glance, Tal busied herself with studying the ribbed portion of the suit. She still hadn't figured out if it was a part of the outfit or leftover exoskeleton around Seven's waist.
"Is there a reason you are staring at me?"
Surprised by the cold, crisp tones of Seven's voice, Tal's snapped her eyes back up. She hadn't noticed that while she was studying the ex-borg's body, her head and chin had lowered, tilting to left, giving herself away. She felt trapped, unreadable blue eyes drilling into her. Heart beating quickly in her chest, she stuttered out the first thing that came to mind, "I-I was just wondering why that was the only thing you wear, Seven!"
Feeling triumphant that what she had babbled out was understandable, she waited for a reply.
Seven arched her implant. "This is not the 'only thing I wear', Celes. I have a suit in silver, one in brown, another in blue, and one in black. I also have a black suit for playing Velocity with the captain. On some occasions, I even put on the deep space suit as well. Your question is flawed. Perhaps you wish to rephrase it?"
Was… Was Seven of Nine teasing her? Tal searched the blonde's face for any sign of mockery. She couldn't find anything, but that didn't mean much with the usually expressionless Seven. "That's not what I meant. I knew that, Seven. I meant…"
"Yes?"
"I meant that…" Tal struggled to express what she wanted to say without insulting the other woman. Really, how had she gotten herself into this? Taking a quick glance at the turbolift's display, she wondered why it seemed like the trip was taking far longer than usual.
"Seven, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but, well," Tal waved her hand vaguely at Seven's midsection, "What you're wearing, it's… Unorthodox. The style, I mean. The style. It's…" Deciding to forge ahead while she still had the chance to maybe get herself out of the situation with her job and pride intact, Tal burst out, "It's too revealing! You can see… You can see everything! As one woman to the other, I'm just pointing out that it's… It's very revealing."
While Tal didn't have any problems with the shape of her own body, and she wasn't jealous of Seven's, she still felt embarrassed for the woman. It wasn't like the blonde appeared to be self conscious or doubtful about her ability to actually pull the outfit off; it was more like she just didn't notice the reactions it inspired. Although Tal had disliked the woman when she first arrived (distrustful was more like it. Okay, she'd admit it. She'd been scared of the ex-borg), she still had felt bad about the comments and rumors that had popped up. It hadn't seemed fair.
Billy had asked her once what she thought, "You know, because you work with her." He had never joined in the Mess Hall conversations, of which Tal felt proud of her best friend for. The former hypochondriac, while not convinced that he wasn't dying at any given moment, was really a sweet man. She didn't know what she would have done without him. He was the leading factor for her continuing mental and emotional health, as well as his being the reason she still had a job on Voyager, not having been regulated to waitressing.
His question came one night after a particular stressful shift where Seven had reamed her out for faulty analyses a record six times. She and Billy were resting in one of the many common rooms, suits unzipped, talking casually about what they had planned the following day. Tal had let her hair down, and she was just in the process of fluffing it out when her best friend's question seemed to come out of nowhere. Pausing, unsure if she had heard him right, she asked him to repeat himself.
"Well, you've worked with her for a while now. I was just wondering if she's anything like what Paris says." Billy looked at her with an earnest, curious expression.
Tal snorted, pulling her hair pins out of her mouth and tucking them into her pocket. "Billy," she admonished, "I bet Paris makes up everything he says. Besides, I've told you about her before. And, honestly, I'd rather not talk about that woman right now." All she wanted was to forget about her stress, flashing blue eyes, and narrowing lips. In fact, in a fit of productivity the night before, she had managed to get all of her work done in advance, which meant she didn't have to worry about it or Seven that day or the next.
Nodding, Billy managed to make staring down at his PADD look positively crestfallen. Starting to feel guilty, thinking that maybe she had snapped too brusquely, Tal had reached out and rubbed his arm. Noting with worn concern that his eyes had deep bags under them again, she tried to smile reassuringly.
"Hey, I'm sorry. What did you want to know?"
Billy's face erupted into his boyish grin. "It's about the way she dresses. Does she do it to show off? Paris says that she likes teasing everyone and –"
"Oh, no, no, no." Shaking her head roughly, Tal interrupted him. "It's not like that at all. Seven's… I think she only dresses that way because it's the only thing she knows."
"What do you mean?" Billy leaned forward.
Half grimacing but having to smile at how eager her friend looked, she had continued. "I think it's because it's what the Doctor dressed her in. She probably doesn't know any better. Although," the young woman hadn't stopped the curling of her lip back in disgust at the Doctor, "I still haven't figured out if her bio suits are needed for regulating her human and Borg systems, or if it's just the Doctor's way of perving legitimately."
Billy had stifled a chuckle at her last statement, but quickly sobered. "That's sad though, isn't it?"
Tal nodded in agreement.
Running his hand through his hair, looking thoughtful, the other crewman had suddenly leaned forward again to ask another question. In the back of her head, the young Bajoran had to admit that it was very cute of William Telfer to be concerned for a crewmember he had probably only came into contact a handful of times. "Does it embarrass you?"
Tal's eyes had gone wide at that question. "I, well." That had been new territory for her, and she had to put a little more thought into what she said. Finally, looking back up, she had nodded, a little embarrassed herself. "I guess… I guess I'm embarrassed for her. It's a woman thing, you know?"
Taking that as an end to the conversation, Billy had thankfully switched to another topic, grilling her on 'Zero G Is Fun'again.
As all that flew through her mind at light speed, she couldn't believe that she had let her mouth say words before she could stop them, again. Feeling drained of energy, head down and studying the turbolift floor (had it always been this color?) with her shoulders drooped, Tal waited for her reprimand.
…And waited. All her ears could pick up was the low hum of the turbolift and the occasional gurgling of her stomach. Inside her chest, her heart pounded. Her hands were beginning to tingle. She wished she could rub her nose ridges. Not since she had accused Captain Janeway of hiring her out of sympathy had she felt the same way.
More seconds passed. Was what she said so bad that Seven was never going to speak to her again? Or was she preparing herself to send a small Bajoran woman to the Sickbay by way of pain? Or, or… Frowning to herself, the brunette realized that she couldn't think of any other reason why Seven would continue to be silent. The arm and leg in Tal's line of sight gave no hint as to what their owner was doing.
Okay, she was getting really concerned. Had she broken Seven? At the instant feeling of guilt to rush through her, Tal raised her head.
Seven of Nine was staring at her with an expression Tal had never seen before.
The smaller woman shuffled her feet and unconsciously shifted her body. When the turbolift doors opened, should she make a run for it? Would she get to her room in time? And would the doors be strong enough to keep Seven out??
Tal turned as the turbolift doors opened.
Her exit was halted by a soft voice, "Crewman Celes…"
Said crewman swallowed. Her better nature prevailing, the young woman turned back, "Yes, Seven?"
Seven blinked, as if she was surprised that Tal had even stopped. She studied the wall next to the Bajoran's head.
Feeling uncomfortable still standing in the turbolift, Tal offered, "Uhm, Seven, do you… Let's finish this conversation in my room, okay? I imagine other people will want to use this turbolift. It would speed up efficiency, as you would say." Her mouth quirked up in a half smile, and she stepped back, opening the way for the tall woman to exit.
At the mention of the word 'efficiency', Seven suddenly snapped back into her usual self. Her spine seemed to straighten itself, though Tal hadn't noticed if it had slumped before or not, and her face was unreadable again. Craning her head slightly in agreement, Seven made to walk forward. Instead, she stopped right outside the closing turbolift doors.
"Crewman Celes, I am uncertain if I shall wish to discuss this matter at a later time. I do not think I shall be… brave enough. May I ask one question now?"
This was another day of firsts, Tal decided. The perfect, faultless woman in front of her was admitting to be afraid! Whatever Seven had to say, it couldn't be so bad, right? If the ex-borg was mad at her for what she said, she would have mentioned something already, right? By the Prophets, it was hard figuring out Seven of Nine!
"Of, of course, Seven. Go right ahead." She felt happy that she had barely stuttered through that opening of her mouth.
"You called me a woman. Did you mean that?"
Out of everything Tal had blurted out, she hadn't expected that to be what had disturbed the blonde.
Taking her silence as a denial, Seven of Nine instantly became emotionless again, striding quickly away down the hall.
Wait, what? "Seven! Uh, Seven?" Pushing her body to hurry after her, Tal's mind whirled. What had just happened?