The First Smile - Definitions and Actions

by Riss

Back and forth. Back and forth. He was beginning to wear a hole in the carpet as he paced his quarters. Options, decisions, desires and most definitely lust, flowing through his mind.

It has been 22 hours since Seven left him behind in the Mess Hall with her parting comments. Besides an uncomfortable and mildly painful sensation coming from where she had brushed her Borg enhanced hand, his mind had instantly been swarmed with ideas. First off, that he should follow her out of the Mess Hall and complete what they had started. Second, was the that the Captain would kill him if she ever found out. Third, was that he really was in pain. A quick fourth came with an image of B'Elanna, which he quickly dismissed.

As much as he had feelings for the feisty engineer, there were bigger problems now. After all, wasn't Seven's favorite phrase, 'Resistance is Futile.' Anyway, how could someone resist the almost six feet of soft delectable flesh that had attempted to seduce him last night.

That was Tom Paris' current dilemma. Any moment now, Seven of Nine would be at his door ready to complete what they had started last night. It wasn't that he felt no attraction for the woman. In fact, far from it. Despite his intentions to spend his time trying to find a way out of the situation, all he could thing of for the past 22 hours was exactly how he could remove her silver suit and discover exactly which parts were not 'Borg enhanced.'

In some ways he was lucky that he had been in Sickbay all day. Despite his skills for flying, he would probably have taken them into the middle of a star without realizing it. Though, it did have its downsides. Eight hours of boredom as well as using every ounce of respect he had for the Captain not to break into the medical files and find quick answers to all his questions about Seven.

One part of his brain was screaming about how this wasn't right. Seven has only spent about six years of her life as a human. While she looks like a grown woman, she has the emotional understanding of a child. No matter what she knows from the database about sex and human interactions, she does not posses the necessary understanding of them.

Yet, the look in her eyes after he kissed her. It wasn't just lust. And she wants it. How could he turn down her offer.

At exactly midnight the door chime rang. Tom looked up from where he had finally settled into the couch, dread and desire written across his face. Slowly he rose to greet his visitor.

"Good Evening Tom."

"Hey Seven," he managed to choke out as his eyes took in her outfit. "I like that dress!"

Before answering, Seven brushed out a slight wrinkle which had appeared on the deep blue long sleeved dress she was wearing. While the top portion of the dress was close-fitting and slightly lower cut than her normal catsuit, the flowing skirt left a lot more to the imagination. The skirt fell to just below her knees, and as Tom's eyes flowed lower, he realized that she had even replicated a pair of high healed sandals to compliment the dress. A pair of small Borg enhancements were showing on her right leg, one at the ankle and the other just below the level of the dress. "The database indicated that this was appropriate attire for a date."

Finally remembering to breathe, Tom answered, "Ah, yes. Well, come in and have a seat."

"That would be an inefficient use of time. We should..."

"However, didn't the database indicate that discussion of interesting topics was also standard on a date."

"Correct. Very well, I will join you in this meaningless social activity."

"Thanks Seven, I feel so useful now."

"On the contrary, you are a very useful participant in the planned activities of this evening."

Tom dropped down onto the couch and stared at the floor a moment before asking, "What exactly are the planned activities of this evening?"

Seven joined him on the couch, and took a deep breath of her own before answering. "I had understood you to be an expert in these matters. The database indicates that after kissing, a relationship moves on to such aspects as petting, making-out, and copulation."

"Then I have a question for you, what is a relationship?"

"Are you not familiar with this concept?"

"That's another subject," Tom answered with a shake of the head. "More importantly right now is that you know what your doing. I know you can recite the terms, but do you understand the implications."

"The database indicates that the first time a person copulates, they loose their virginity. It also indicates that the actions incite pleasure in the human body, something which should be irrelevant, yet I, appreciated our actions last night."

Moving from the other side of the couch, Tom took Seven's hands in his. Again he could feel the desire running through his body, but the past few years had taught him that instant gratification wasn't everything. He had to say, and do the right thing for Seven, and for himself.

"The problem is that a relationship is so much more than that. I can't do what you ask right now."

Seven had been staring at their joined hands, but her eyes flew to his as he declared his stand. "Judging by your physical responses, you are quite able." She pulled one of her hands out and started moving it up his thigh. However, before it moved too far up, he captured it in again. This time he held both hands in one of his, securely, as he moved his other to capture her face and look into her eyes.

"There was a time where that was all that mattered. But, your not ready to understand the feelings it would cause. I can see the confusion in your eyes. I respect the Captain, and you too much to take advantage of you like that."

Abruptly Seven stood and yanked her hands away and stood quickly. "Perhaps Ensign Kim will assist me in my study."

"I'm not saying you need to leave, but that we need to go slower." Seven turned around and faced him, though she looked behind him, rather than his face. "I am not saying no, just lets go through the steps. Two nights ago, you didn't even fully understand the concept of friendship and tonight you want sex. Let me show you what it is like to be friends and then see what happens." Standing, he reached out his hand. As he moved closer, he moved her face so he could look into her eyes. "I can't deny I'm attracted to you Seven, but one thing I've learned is that I need to live with myself in the morning. As you said, I could do it right now, but when you understand the things you are feeling, you might not agree. Until I'm sure that you understand those feelings and the implications of our actions, this is all I can give."

For a moment, he just looked into her eyes, trying to make sense of the confusion and feelings reflected there. Then, slowly he moved forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. As he started to pull back, she brought her own hands to his face and urged him to stay.

When Seven left a couple of hours later, she felt less confused. Though she still had not experienced, what the databases called making love, she started to understand what it had described as other pleasurable factors. While the first kiss she had received from the lieutenant had been pleasurable, the kiss he had given her on the way out identified why it was not a meaningless action. She now had a better understanding of the 'spark' of which the database had spoken of. Perhaps his idea of getting to know someone was not quite as irrelevant as she first believed. This deserved additional exploration, which she could engage in at their next date in four nights on the holodeck.