Disclaimer: I am not making any money of this fic, nor do I own Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation or the original series, or anything else I make references to. If you saw the character on any show, then it is not mine. The same goes for ships, planets, cultures, et cetera. This story will depict a loving relationship between two women and there are no apologies to be made over this. Chapter 9 title is from "Mouth" by Bush.
Genre: Action-Adventure, Drama
Codes: K/7, T/7
Feedback: Please, reviews are the food of the muse…
Home, Chapter 9
Soul Machine...
Present, 2379...
"Ensign Kim?" Seven looked up from her breakfast to acknowledge the grinning Ensign.
"Hi, Seven. How are you?"
"I am... well. Yourself?" Seven replied, calling up her social lessons.
"I'm good. I have something I want to ask you." Harry was almost bouncing with excitement. Seven raised her ocular implant.
"Very well. You may ask."
"Well," Harry said, sitting down opposite her. "Lately, we've been spending more time together, getting to know each other. And I like you, Seven, I enjoy your company."
"As I do yours," Seven said, smiling slightly. No one had ever specifically told her that they enjoyed her company and she was surprised at how positive it made her feel. Harry looked as if his smile was beginning to hurt: it became so wide. It fascinated Seven, since smiling was something she was still not used to doing.
"Then may I ask you out? On a date, that is. Not to copulate, but just a regular date?" Seven was startled. She had been so worried that B'Elanna would resume dating that she had never considered the possibility that she might be the one asked. Truthfully, since her romantic disaster the last time she had attempted to 'date' she had not even considered pursuing a romantic affiliation. She was still slightly embarrassed. But now Ensign Kim, whom she had believed to have given up his infatuation, was requesting that she date him.
"May I have time to… 'think it over?' I am not fully prepared to give you an answer at this time."
"Of course," Harry said, his smile never faltering. "Take all the time you need, then let me know." He reached over and squeezed her hand, then departed the Mess Hall. Seven finished her nutritional supplement, then proceeded to seek out Lt. Torres for advice... and permission.
…
"Harry asked you out?" B'Elanna slipped on her uniform jacket and looked at herself in the mirror. She had accidentally overslept and if Seven hadn't shown up, then she would have been late for her duty shift.
"Yes."
"I thought that crush was long past," B'Elanna said, running a brush through her hair. Seven watched B'Elanna's morning routine, finding that she enjoyed this activity.
"As did I. I was seeking your advice on the matter."
"My advice?" B'Elanna glared at the one strand of hair that refused to lay flat, attacking it with her brush until it behaved.
"Yes."
"Well..." B'Elanna stopped to think for a moment. Something bothered her about Seven dating Harry. No, that wasn't it. Something bothered her about Seven dating. Period. She glanced at Seven in the mirror and wondered what she was thinking. Technically, there was nothing wrong with Seven dating Harry, after all, she wasn't attracted to Harry like that, but still, she was... bothered.
"Are you all right, B'Elanna?" B'Elanna shook herself a little to clear her mind.
"Yeah, just thinking." 'Who am I to stand in the way of Seven's happiness?' B'Elanna tried to think of any reasons that Seven shouldn't date Harry, specifically, but what she came up with wasn't convincing, so she dismissed it. "I think you should go for it," B'Elanna managed to say, disguising the fact that she was avoiding Seven's eyes by straightening her jacket again.
"Indeed? Then you think it is a good match?" Seven looked at B'Elanna, secretly wanting her to say 'no, you're mine,' but willing to accept that the half-Klingon didn't share her feelings.
"Yeah, Harry's a great guy. I think you two would make a cute couple." B'Elanna felt like she was choking as she said the words, but wanted Seven to be happy, not restrained by feelings that B'Elanna wasn't sure she, herself, understood. She turned and looked Seven in the eyes. Seven detected elevated levels of pheromone production, increased heart rate and dilated pupils when she looked at B'Elanna, but didn't know what they meant. Perhaps she was attracted to Harry?
"You are not romantically interested in Ensign Kim, are you? If so, I shall not—"
"No! Harry?" B'Elanna laughed. "No, Harry and I are just friends, we've never been interested in each other like that, don't worry." Seven nodded, accepting B'Elanna's words.
"Thank you for your advice. Have a pleasant day." Seven said, smiled and left. B'Elanna watched her leave, her gaze snaking down to Seven's backside, making her realize that she had just made a huge mistake.
…
"The doctor has suggested that I take lessons in piano, but I have not truly developed an interest." Seven brought the Chablis to her lips, tasting it with her tongue before allowing it to pass into her mouth. Ensign Kim had assured her that it was non-alcoholic, though she couldn't tell by the taste. She liked the dry flavor, but was reluctant to drink much.
"Are you interested in any instruments? Personally, I never liked pianos or keyboards that much. To play, that is. My interest was always in woodwinds and brass."
"I find many brass instruments to be... unpleasant and loud." Harry laughed and Seven smiled a little.
"They can be, but in the right hands, they can also be melodic and beautiful."
"I believe that is true of many things," Seven observed. Harry nodded enthusiastically.
"You know, Seven? You are a great person." Seven felt an odd sensation as her cheeks were infused with blood and the corners of her mouth turned up involuntarily. Harry smiled. "And you're cute when you blush." Seven raised her eyebrow.
"What instrument would you recommend I try?"
"Well, I can teach you the clarinet, but I personally think you'd look great playing the cello." Seven's implant rose higher.
"What does my appearance with the instrument have to do with its sound or my performance?"
"It's not always just playing the instrument, sometimes, it's looking good doing it. Truthfully, you could make a tuba look sexy, I just think that a cello would show off your legs and hands wonderfully."
"My hands are large."
"No, they're not!" Harry captured one of the hands. "They're beautiful, just like the rest of you." The move to hold her hand had brought Harry much closer to Seven. She looked into his eyes and set her drink on the table. Slowly, she leaned forward, brushing her lips against his. This sensation was new, as the blush had been. She tasted the sweetness of his lips, startled at the texture against her own. He didn't press anything, but gave her time to decide what she wanted to do next. She broke away slowly.
Harry looked at her, watching her expression to see how she felt about it. Unsure, she decided to try again, this time allowing her tongue to play a part of the dance. She found she did not dislike the experience and pushed to continue. Harry lost himself in the kiss, feeling the happiest he had in a long time.
…
"...dating Harry Kim?"
"Poor Harry, does he know what he's getting into?" Seven tried to shut out the voices, schooling her face to avoid revealing the fact that she could hear the two crewmembers' conversation as clearly as if they were sitting at her table.
"What if he cuts himself on one of her implants? I mean, who knows where the Borg stick those things." Seven realized suddenly that she had crushed her eating utensil into a ball of metal. She set it on the plate in front of her and glared at her remaining food.
"She's attractive enough on the outside. But other than that? She doesn't have a personality. Hell, I've never even seen her smile."
"Can she even feel it, do you think?" Seven stood and walked out of the Mess Hall, having lost her appetite all together.
…
B'Elanna rubbed Seven's back, trying to comfort her. She wanted to beat the hell out of the ensign who had made the implant comment, after Seven recited their entire conversation verbatim.
"I don't know how anyone thinks that's acceptable behavior, Seven, because it's not. Their comments were not only in bad taste, but for them to have that conversation when you were within earshot—"
"They were not aware that I could hear them. They believed that they were sufficiently distanced from my table."
"That doesn't make it right!" Seven was sitting, her back ramrod straight, on B'Elanna's couch. B'Elanna had seen Seven stalking out of the Mess Hall and lured her back to her quarters to talk, seeing that she was in distress. "You should go to the captain with this." Seven shook her head.
"That would only serve to heighten the crew's animosity towards me." Seven said, softly, betraying the emotions inside of her. B'Elanna's fury rose exponentially.
"Fuck them. They don't deserve to breathe the same air as you." Seven raised her eyebrow.
"I believe that you are overreacting, once again. That statement was highly illogical."
"Yeah well, haven't you learned by now that I'm not a fan of logic?"
"Indeed." Seven relaxed for a moment, allowing herself to lean against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. "Do you believe that the crew shall ever relinquish their hateful opinions of me?"
"I wish I could tell you, Seven." B'Elanna curled up on the other end of the couch, hugging her knee to her chest.
"Perhaps if I reverted to my human name? Become Annika Hansen?"
"Do you feel like Annika Hansen?" B'Elanna rested her chin on her knee.
"No. I am more comfortable with my current designation."
"Good. It wouldn't help, anyway. My mother called me Lanna as a kid, and so did one of my teachers, trying to help me fit in better, but the other kids still treated me differently, even if the name sounded human. They just didn't see me as human, no matter how hard I tried to fit in. Eventually, I stopped trying." Seven took B'Elanna's hand and gently applied pressure, for reassurance.
"I am sorry that have been ostracized." B'Elanna shrugged with one shoulder.
"Right back at you." Seven smiled, forgetting for a moment, the events that had transpired to bring her to Lt. Torres' quarters and just enjoyed being there with her friend.
…
"Slow down, Seven. One step at a time. I don't want to rush this." Seven sighed in frustration.
"I do not share your feelings in this. I wish to proceed to the next level. Now."
"We've only been dating a week. You still forget to call me Harry! Also, I believe that you're drunk."
"My sobriety has nothing to do with the sexual frustration I have been developing." Seven reached for Harry and he darted back, causing her to fall off the couch.
"Seven! Are you okay?" He quickly helped her sit up and she took advantage of the situation, tugging at his shirt. He fought her off and took her hands in his, trying to prevent their further exploration.
"Do you not find me attractive?"
"Of course I do!" He pressed her hands together and kissed them, letting out a silent 'thank you' that her ethics were still intact enough to prevent her from using her Borg strength. "But I am not going to have sex with you when you're drunk. How the hell did you get synthehol anyhow? I ordered yours without any."
"Apparently, the replicator is mal-mal—isn't working." Seven freed one of her hands and reached behind her to undo the catch on her biosuit, but Harry caught the errant hand before its mission was complete. "I wish to copulate!"
"Yeah, well, I'm not in the mood." Harry said, chasing her left hand as it snaked its way toward his trousers. Seven stopped and looked him in the eyes.
"Are you afraid of me?"
"What?" Harry asked, incredulously.
"Are you afraid of injuring yourself on one of my implants? I do not have any there, the abdominal implant is entirely internal and above my cervix, which I still have, though I do not have a uterus—"
"Seven! What the hell are you talking about? Of course I'm not worried about anything like that!"
"Then do you not wish to copulate with me because you find it fruitless? Because I-I..." Seven's body shook and a tear ran from her organic eye. Harry pulled her into his lap as best he could and began stroking her hair.
"Seven, I don't know where this is coming from, but the only reason I don't want to have sex with you is because I respect you and I care about you. If you were to have your first sexual experience while you were inebriated, then it would be the fault of the person who took advantage of you. I won't be that person."
"You care about me?" Seven looked into his eyes, vulnerability plain on her face.
"Yeah, I do." Harry said, still caressing her hair. "Now why did you think... those things?"
"I overheard some members of the crew talking about us."
"Who?" Harry asked, getting angry. Seven hiccuped.
"I do not wish for them to know I was listening."
"Why?"
"Then their remarks may be redirected to my face, rather than behind my back."
"They shouldn't be making those kinds of comments at all." Harry fumed for a moment. "So who were they Seven?" There was a moment of silence. "Seven?" Harry looked down at Seven, who was asleep. He managed somehow to get her to his bed, then he grabbed a pillow and began making his couch comfortable, finally settling down for the night.
To be continued…