> Day two noonisn.
B'Elanna was quite happy with her find. The two trees that her hammock was tied between were only a few meters into the forest; giving her the shade of the trees, and yet all the light that came from the open area only a few meters away.
They had set up the sonic fence in a simple square form for now. Well, B'Elanna was sure that it was permanently until they were saved. She still was absolutely sure that they would be rescued. Though she did prepare herself for the fact that it would really take as long as they had calculated it would take Voyager to show up. After all, they would also have to discover the problem, find a solution, and then apply it.
And since she knew that she would get remarks like if she enjoyed her vacation, B'Elanna was determined to indeed enjoy her time off. So, there she was, swinging in her hammock. She had been smart enough to not just replicate the hammock, but also a piece of rope that she had tied to a third tree to the side and which she was now occasionally pulling at to keep swinging without putting much effort in.
She opened her eyes and looked to her side. Seven had taken one of the storage boxes out of the shuttle and was using it as a seat, using another tree as a backrest. Seven was once more dressed in her bio-suit, and B'Elanna wondered how long it would be before Seven would try something else. B'Elanna herself was seriously thinking of finding something else to wear. She was in her uniform, but even she, who liked it hot, was sweating from doing nothing but lying in a hammock. Maybe some shorts and a Starfleet undershirt. It would be nice to feel the breeze on her skin.
Then she rolled her eyes at herself and set up as best she could. It was enough to free her back and she quickly pulled off the uniform top before letting herself drop back onto the hammock. She saw Seven look at her, so she explained, "It's hot out. I just realized that there is absolutely no reason for being in uniform. As I noticed yesterday, being only in my undershirt will feel a lot better in this weather."
"I see," Seven said before admitting, "It is warm out."
"You told me once that the suit regulates your body temperature," B'Elanna said before asking, "But is that at no matter what temperature?"
"It does regulate my body temperature," Seven assured. "However it is not really comfortable at this temperature. I might go back inside."
"Or you could get yourself some other clothing," B'Elanna suggested. "Regulating body temperature isn't the same as comfortable. You still feel the heat on your face and hands, and it tells you that it is warm out. You might be better off just getting some thin and loose fitting clothing. You might be hot, but it's hot all over so you get adapted to it."
Seven lifted an eyebrow.
"Not that kind of hot, bitch," B'Elanna remarked.
The eyebrow lowered.
"We already established that you are hot," B'Elanna added with a grin. "No need to point it out when we are talking about the weather."
Seven gave her a ghost of a smile. "I will take your suggestion under consideration."
After a moment, B'Elanna shared her added reasoning for why she was more and more sure that it would take about four weeks before they would be rescued.
"If we get rescued, yes," Seven agreed.
"Won't that be a problem for your implants?" B'Elanna wondered, deciding not to comment on Seven's hint of maybe not being rescued. Of course they would be rescued.
Seven merely looked at her, clearly confused.
"Considering that you have to go to the Doctor once per week for a checkup," B'Elanna clarified.
"I see," Seven said. "You are making the same mistake that most of the crew does. Though I have to admit that you as Chief Engineer should know better."
B'Elanna bristled at the words and sneered at the blonde. "Being superior again, Ice Princes?"
"No," Seven assured. "I am merely being honest. There are billions of drones in the Borg collective. Do you really think that they all need a full maintenance check once a week?"
"Um, no, I guess not," B'Elanna admitted, confused by the strange twist to the discussion. "That would mean that half the Drones would just exist to maintain the other ones. Well, not really half of course. No, I would assume that they have an implant that checks all other implants and then signals if there is something wrong."
"There is," Seven agreed. "That task is provided by the cranial implant."
Now B'Elanna was totally confused. "Then why go see the Doctor once a week?"
"It is true," Seven began, "When I just joined Voyager I had the frequent checkups to make sure that my implants continued to work as they should. More so since seventy percent of the implants were removed. There was a fear that the rest would not keep working correctly because supporting implants were removed. However, once it was sure that I had stabilized and that the implants the Doctor could not remove would continue to work, the purpose of the checks changed."
B'Elanna thought for a moment before guessing with a grin, "Because the Dock also thinks you're hot and want to see you naked once a week?"
"No," Seven assured, before adding, "At least I do not think so."
B'Elanna barked a laugh at the remark. "Alright, so what is it then?"
"The simple fact that before me there never was a former Borg drone that could be checked on a regular basis. The few times Starfleet had contact with the Borg before I joined Voyager, all they could do is scan a drone, at most. However, I am the first former drone that not only shows up every week for an inspection, but even tells them the function of implants and how one is malfunctioning. Voyager, and by extension the Federation, has learned more about the Borg from my weekly checkups and willingness to answer questions, then they did from any other contact with the Borg combined."
"Duh," B'Elanna said, freely admitting that she should have guessed that. If she thought of Borg drones as machines for a moment she would make sure that they were built in a way that they would keep working even if slightly damaged. She most definitely wouldn't make them so sensitive that they would break down as soon as someone sneezed at them. "So we don't have to worry about something breaking down?"
"There is always a chance," Seven admitted honestly. "Having said that, one could say that it is ignorable. For instance, there is a chance that my ocular implant will stop working. However, that chance is lower than the chance is for you that you do not watch where you are walking and walk into a tree branch that damages your eye beyond repair."
"Good, one less thing to worry about," And to her own surprise, B'Elanna felt that she meant it. Seven still had a lot more implants than people would assume. When she had seen Seven naked, she had seen implants all over the blonde's body. Much more than one would expect if you look at her in her formfitting bio-suit. There were of course the three implants you could see if Seven was dressed. The artificial hand, the starburst implant close to her left ear, and the implant above her right eye. But there were also four starburst implants on each leg. Two on the lower, and two on the upper legs. Then there were two of the starburst implants on Seven's abdomen. One close to the left hip, and the other was to the right of the middle of the abdomen. There were also four starburst implants on Seven's back. But these were divided along the spine, with the top one being just below the neck and the lowest one being just above Seven's butt cheeks.
'No, above her sexy ass,' B'Elanna corrected to herself amused.
The starburst implants were interesting. The four starburst implants on the spine were in one line, but the other starbursts were all in places where there wasn't a copy on the other side of the body. On the left leg one was just under the knee, but on the right leg the starburst that came the closest to that position was actually located on the calf. Just like the starburst implants were the Borg's idea of hi-tech lentigines. There was one more implant, B'Elanna remembered, Between Seven's breasts. Actually slightly more to the left. Come to think of it, right where the Human heart was located.
"Why do you have an implant above your heart?" B'Elanna decided to ask. But before Seven could answer, B'Elanna waved a hand in Seven's direction. "You know, what's the ironic part? Those bands around your middle that people can see in the bio-suit? It so looks like it's some big implant that can be seen because it forms the stretchy material of the fabric around them. So the only implant you can see through the bio-suit isn't even one. But you have those starburst implants all over the body, but those can't be seen through the fabric."
"Because they are not that thick," Seven explained. "They are only half a centimeter thick in the middle. But they are five centimeters wide and have sloping arms. Which means that the fabric of the bio-suit flows over them and it looks like a normal curve in the body. As for the bands in the bio-suits, they are part of the body heat distribution system. Though I agree that you have a point that the lack of covering of my hands and face make the suits less effective as they could have been if it had been fully body covering."
"So what's with the implant above your heart?" B'Elanna repeated.
"It is part of my heart implant," Seven explained. "It is basically a protective cover for the input panel where my heart settings are corrected. You would probably call it, 'where one can tweak my heart settings'."
B'Elanna merely looked at her with open mouth.
"You are speechless," Seven said amused.
"Why the hell would you have settings option on your heart?" B'Elanna blurred. "I thought you had a cranial implant to regulate stuff."
"Different situations demand different workings of the heart," Seven reminded. "Even with you, your heart needs to work harder here than it did on Voyager. Just that your body can handle it because this gravity comes close to the one of Qo'noS and your genes lean more to the Klingon side than to the Human side. I however only have Human genes. If it was not for my implants, my heart would have to work harder here than on Voyager, which would not be good in the long run. And since Borg drones are often to be found in different situations, the Borg made it possible to change 'settings' of the body. While you are correct that most implants are regulated by the cranial implant, some are regulated by other implants. Just in case it is actually the cranial implant that is malfunctioning."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," B'Elanna allowed.
"The heart and the brain are considered the two most important organs," Seven continued. "As such they both have a main control implant attached to them. And while those implants exchange data, they do not need each other to function. Even if my heart would be destroyed in an accident, my cranial implant could take over control and still let the body function for as long as it would take before the lack of pumping blood would cause too much brain damage and result in that implant seizing to function as well. On the other hand, if my brain was damaged and the cranial implant destroyed, then the heart implant could still make the body function. As long as there is still some functional brain mass left."
"That will probably be the most basic stuff then," B'Elanna guessed. Like, say assimilating someone so that this person could complete your task."
"For instance," Seven agreed.
B'Elanna nodded. "That also explains why Borg drones can be knocked out or killed by hand phasers if the drone's personal force field armor is inactive. But if you use a Phaser rifle or disrupter rifle on a drone they sometimes keep walking. Both still use beams to shoot, but they do it in a concentrated beam. While the hand phaser's energy spreads all over the body if it hits. So a hand phaser knocks out both control implants, but a disrupter rifle just knocks out, say, the heart implant and the drone still comes at you."
"Indeed." Seven tapped the spot where her heart was located. "As I just said, there is cross control, so if situations only change for a short time my cranial implant will simply sent data to my heart implant that it has to work differently."
"Like going for a game of zero-g velocity," B'Elanna guessed. "A match is less than an hour, so no reason to change de default settings."
"A good example," Seven approved. "However, if the situation is more permanent, then the heart implant changed the default settings and controls them from then on as default so that the cranial implant does not have to manage it anymore. On this planet this implant allows my heart to work like it did on Voyager. Plus, having the heart controlled by a separate implant means less processor demands from the cranial implant, which allows it to regulate more other things. Though as I said, both can take over functions from the other implant. So you could also consider them backups."
"Don't they pull?" B'Elanna asked when she wrapped her mind around the idea of having backups. The thing that made it understandable for her was the realization that it was basically a lot like Klingons. Klingons had backup organs. They had an eight-chamber heart that was often referred to as having two hearts. So this was basically just the Borg version of what Klingon's genes had managed long ago. "I mean, don't the implants pull at your skin? The one above your heart is attached to your boob for crying out loud. Doesn't that hurt when you move?"
"It does not," Seven assured. "Though an implant is one complete device, they exist out of several parts that are attached to each other with flexible connections." She lifted her hand and touched the starburst implant on her cheek. She pushed against it and B'Elanna saw that the middle moved in a bit while the outstretched arms merely flexed with the skin. "As you can see, they can move just like I can move my fingers on my enhanced hand just as easily, yet you never wondered about that."
"Good point," B'Elanna had to admit. "So what's with all those starburst implants? The hand, they eye, and now the heart thing, I can see the use. But what function do the starburst implants have? Especially since the Doctor didn't remove them?"
"They were the main attachment points of my body armor," Seven explained. "One of the reasons why my body armor was considered an implant even though it was on the body."
B'Elanna's only reply was a frown.
"There were sensors in the body armor," Seven clarified. "I could feel with it just like I can now feel with my skin. I could feel a touch, temperature, moisture. You could consider my body armor a second skin. Just that it was a lot harder to damage than real skin."
B'Elanna nodded. "I get it. Those sensors had to be connected to the body somehow. But you can't really connect every nerve on your skin with the armor. So there were... plugs... so to say, the starburst implants, where the sensors were attached. That also explain why they don't mirror each other. Why the ones or your left leg are not in the same spot as on your right leg. Simply because the body armor didn't look like that. The left leg looked different then the right leg, just to keep on the legs example. And since they looked different, I assume for some kind of functionality, the plugs had to be in different spot on either leg?"
"That is correct," Seven agreed. "And the doctor could not remove those 'plugs' because they are still tied into the nerves of my body. If they were removed I would lose the sensation of touch all over my body."
"Which is a bad thing because touch is our first alarm system," B'Elanna said in understanding. "That, and stuff like feeling warmth warns me to not pick up something that is red hot. So are you telling me that all the nerves in your skin are rerouted to those starburst implants and that you can only feel touch there?"
Seven's eyebrow lifted. "I can assure you, this is most definitely not the case. After all, if I could not feel touch then this would make sex rather uninteresting."
"Erm," B'Elanna said before Seven relented.
"And if this was the case, then I would also not have a problem with the heat; I would not feel it. No, it is the other way around actually. You could say that the nerve has been tapped. The nerve information goes to the brain. And at the spot of the starburst implants there is an artificial tad off the nerve that goes to the implant and delivers a copy of the information there. Which means that I can feel sensation on either the real nerve, or the tab in the implant, and both send the same data to my brain. With the one difference that the real nerves are distributed all over the skin while in my implants come together."
"So," B'Elanna said slowly, "What you are saying is that those pieces of metal are sensitive?"
"Very," Seven assured. "I believe it would be acceptable to say that each of my starburst implants is an erogenous zone."
B'Elanna's eyes got wide at that, but then she realized and guessed, "But since we are still talking nerve endings that are normally part of the skin, it also compares to that. Meaning, just touching one of the implants won't drive you into a screaming orgasm, but caressing them, and placing gentle kisses on them sure will drive you as wild as nibbling on my ear drives me wild."
"It does?" Seven asked, interested.
B'Elanna shrugged. "Yeah, it's not much of a secret, and seeing what you already told me about you, I think it's save to admit it. But yeah, during a gentle and tenderly slow foreplay I can come close to coming if it's done right."
"Meaning if both the setting and then the touch are done right," Seven said in understanding. Then she admitted. "My implants are not that extremely sensitive for me. Touching them does not make me come close to my peak, but touching them can sure make me moan. For me it is more the fact that I have a lot more than you have ears. It is close to impossible top not touch one of the starburst implants during a leisurely caress. For me that drive me wild more, to use your words. A roaming hand that moves aimlessly over my body and sometimes spends a moment to treat the implants to some quality time and moving on before the random touch can start to feel like an aimed focus."
"Amazing," B'Elanna had to admit.
After a moment of hesitation, Seven asked. "What do you think of the implants?" Seeing B'Elanna's confused look, she added, "I do not mean as in continuation of what we just talked about. I mean as in visually. The bio-suit hides most of the implants. The two implants that can be seen on my face are then often considered intriguing. Some species we met that do not know the Borg even assumed that they were decorations."
"Decorations," B'Elanna repeated.
"They see it as some kind of jewelry that I had added deliberately, like others have their ears pierced for earrings," Seven explained before lifting her enhanced hand to indicate it. "And they normally assume that my enhanced hand is the result of an accident. Since most species know prosthetics, even if the technological standard varies per species, they normally just assume that my hand is merely an advanced prostatic. So I was curious what you think of my implants. Besides the fact that I am a walking machine of course."
B'Elanna scratched her cheek, clearly recognizing one of her own remarks. "Well, I'm not going to apologize for saying that. You 'were' acting like a bloody machine back then. As for what I think of your implants... I'm not really sure what you mean. I, I remember seeing your hand once in the beginning. One of the first times you were going to play velocity with Kathryn. Your exercise clothing had a sleeveless top then. I remember seeing where the metal met the skin. Your arm looked all gray stained there then. Like you had some really bad gray rash. I don't see any of that now."
Seven looked at her enhanced hand. "That was because then the doctor was still treating me and my new skin was not thick yet in all places. Then you could see the metal under my skin. Now the skin is thicker and as you can see, it looks as if the metal bands of my hand are on top of my skin."
"Yeah," B'Elanna agreed. "All of them look like that now. I know that they are imbedded in your skin, but they look like you glued them on. It totally changes how they look. I remember that back then I thought your arm looked ugly as hell. Like you had some disease. But now... I don't know, I think those species that think that it's some kind of body art can be forgiven for thinking that. It's only your hand that clearly isn't a decoration. But the starburst implants, and that thing above your eye, they actually don't look bad. Especially the starburst on your cheek and the implant above your eye could easily be described as sexy." She chuckled. "They fit very well with that hot babe thing."
The implant in question above the eye lifted at that.
"The implant that is over your heart," B'Elanna continued, "well it's... I don't know, it's kinda like it could be mistaken as body art, but then it would be a missed chance. Like you told some doctor to put the pendant of a chain on your skin instead on a chain. Just that it has no real design to it other than being somewhat irregular hexagon shaped."
Seven looked down at her chest, even though it was impossible to see the implant now that she was dressed. "And that is a missed chance, how?"
"Well, like someone forgot to put the really cool decoration like a crest on there." B'Elanna paused before adding, "Or, if you want to go tech, since it's connected to your heart, how about having some light on it that would blink with every heartbeat."
"I do not see the use of that," Seven informed.
B'Elanna shrugged. "Then you aren’t thinking hard enough. Come on, Seven, that implant is only visible if you are naked, or decide to wear a bikini. But if you were a bikini most people would still not see the details because to do so they would have to really look at your boobs."
Seeing Seven open her mouth, B'Elanna added, "Yeah, I know, there would be people that would look at your boobs anyway. But most people I know, even the horny as hell ones, only steal glances because it is considered extremely offensive to actually stare at a woman's chest for minutes on end. So for the most of it, only Kathryn, or eventually another lover will see the implant in detail. Now, don't you think Kathryn would think it's really hot that she could see that whatever she is doing is increasing your heart rate?"
"She is quite capable of finding that out without an indicator light," Seven stated confidently.
B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "And you being wet will also tell her that you are fucking horny, doesn't mean that she won't still ask you if you like what she is doing."
"How do you know she does?" Seven asked surprised.
"Um, because I dated her for five months?" B'Elanna countered. "You really think you are the first one she ever asked, 'you like that', while you are already begging her to continue?"
"You beg?" Seven asked surprised.
Seeing how open they were talking, B'Elanna saw no harm in admitting, "In bed, sure. My sexual preferences are all human. Well, besides the fact that I also have the Klingon Hornyness. I want to get some at least three times a week, preferably once a day with the occasional 'not in the mood' exception. But other than that, yeah, I'm more human in my sexual preferences. I'm actually kinda glad about that. I studied the 'Klingon sex' thing, and know that all the broken bones stuff is just nonsense. But one thing that is true is that Klingon sex is more down to the point. Just fuck and forget about the foreplay and after time. Though they do have their stamina. Klingon sex tends to normally last between forty and sixty minutes. But I don't know, I kinda like the foreplay and winding down after."
Seven's eyebrow lifted again. "Are you saying that you do not like sex to last? Most people talk about having sex for hours on end."
"Eh, fantasies," B'Elanna said dismissively. "Mind you, I had occasions where time did get away from me and making love lasted an hour or so. And I can even believe it when you are with someone new and are getting over the 'I wanted to get my hands on her and now I am', feeling and just fuck and fuck again. But for the most part, I honestly think that if it would last longer than forty minutes I would, a, be bored, and b, be sore. The times that it did last longer, I sure felt it the next day. Not that I minded. But certainly not something I would like to have to suffer each day. Occasionally is fun, and special. And occasionally also keeps it special."
"Would it be too personal to ask how long you and Kathryn normally made love?" Seven asked.
"Why, want to compare?" B'Elanna wondered.
"Yes," Seven honestly admitted.
B'Elanna hesitated for a moment before allowing, "Let's just say that on a sexual level we matched each other a lot more than we did on a conversational level."
"If I were to add the times where time gets away from us, like you just called it the average time would change," Seven said, feeling that some honestly of her side was needed. "But normally when we make love it does last one hour on average from first kiss to last kiss. When I say kiss I make a difference between normal kisses and the ones that are clearly the start, or finish, of making love. And I am of course not counting the time where we are clearly finished, yet stay lying in each other's arms because we like the closeness. As I said before, Kathryn is not in the habit of kicking me out of bed once we are done."
"That's pretty much double the time she and I used to have," B'Elanna admitted, clearing up the average time as well. "I wonder why. I do have enough Klingon in me to like a good down to the point fuck mind you, so we also did that sometimes. But all in all I also love it if I'm pushed to the point where I beg. That always feels like it lasts forever, but is normally only five minutes or so of the total thing. But in general, yeah, half an hour was about normal. Build up, be on top of the world for a few minutes, and get helped down. And then do it again for the other person. So how come it's you longer with you?"
"Maybe I am that much better?" Seven asked, hoping that the teasing would not be taken wrong.
"You must be, being an Ice Princess and all," B'Elanna countered, having guessed right that Seven had not been seriously. "Oh, that would explain it. It lasted longer because she first needed to defrost you."
"Nice comeback," Seven approved. "Maybe the difference is actually in the love. You and Kathryn were in love. I and Kathryn are not. So with us the satisfaction must come from the sexual acts. But with you the satisfaction might have come from the fact that you were making love. From where the kissing before and after do not just feel nice, but are actually truly a part of the lovemaking because that too feels wonderful. Which would also mean that your shorter lovemaking must have felt better than the sex Kathryn and I have."
"Not getting jealous, are you?" B'Elanna wondered.
Seven shook her head a little. "I do not see why I should. The intercourse between Kathryn and me is very satisfying, I do not feel like I am missing out. And an added benefit is that if I finally do find a lover, it will only feel even better."
"Be careful there, that sounded almost profound," B'Elanna said amused. "I might be tempted to start thinking that you actually have a brain if you keep that up."
"In that case I will put more effort into lowering myself to your intelligence level," Seven countered.
B'Elanna grinned. "Hmm, that insult thing is actually kinda fun if I know you don't mean it."
"Likewise," Seven only said.
After a moment of silence, B'Elanna waved a lazy finger at Seven to indicate the blonde's body. "As for the implants, I'm not so sure about the other starburst implants. I think on their own each one of them would be interesting. Just like the one on your cheek. I always found that kinda sexy, not that I would have ever told you that before now of course. But since you have some many of them, it takes away of the special and makes them just one of several. I guess what I'm saying is that they don't really add or distract from the total picture. They are simply you."
"Simply me," Seven repeated.
B'Elanna shrugged. "Well if you want the really blunt answer, if I were to see you naked again and I were to let my mind wander, it would be your ass and tits that would get me horny, not your implants. But on the flip side, if I had you lying beside me and my hands wandered, you can bet that pretty ass of yours that I would play with those other implants. That I would trail them with my fingers just like I would trail the curves of your body."
B'Elanna laughed when for the first time she could ever remember, Seven actually looked at her with her mouth open. "Come on, Seven. We already established that I like the ladies. Hell, my longest relationship ever was with Kathryn; a woman as you surely know. We also established that I think you are one hot babe. And I don't hate you anymore these days. You honestly think that the guys on Voyager are the only ones that sometimes wonder about fucking you? Though I wouldn't bother with trying to record it; I do have more honor than that."
Seven frowned. "Kathryn told me that you do not believe in casual sex."
B'Elanna shook her head. "That's wrong. I have absolutely no problem with a casual fuck with someone I don't know. Hell, I go to the holodeck and do just that at least twice a week. Even if they aren’t real, they sure have sex like they are real. The thing is that I can't do what you and Kathryn do. Being friends and have sex as a friendly activity. If I have a relationship with someone, then I want to build from that and have the sex be lovemaking that belongs in the relationship."
Interesting," Seven said, and it sounded sincere. "So if I understand this correctly, if I were to offer to you now for us to have sex to pass the time, you would decline the offer. However, you would have no problem thinking of me as you masturbate in the shower?"
B'Elanna sat up so fast in reaction that she actually fell out of the hammock. The rolling action of the hammock made sure that she hit the ground face first and was spitting out leaves when she heard a sound she had never heard before. She looked at Seven to see the blonde laughing. She should count the times that she had seen Seven laugh on one hand; the blonde generally only smiled at best. But even when she did laugh, it was very restrained, more like what would be called a chuckle with other people. But B'Elanna had never heard this unrestrained laughter that Seven was producing now. Not that she was howling with laughter either, but it was definitely unrestrained.
And it was at that point that B'Elanna realized that she had well and truly been had. Seven had expertly steered the conversation to the eventual climax without B'Elanna even realizing that she was being played. She shook a finger at the blonde. "I was right in calling you a Princess, because you sure are one royal bitch."
Seven got up and helped B'Elanna back to her feet. "I am not sorry. Because the most important part was to see that even now you feel embarrassed at falling on your face and me seeing it. You do however not feel anger towards me and wish that I would die."
"Well, there is that," B'Elanna had to admit. She climbed back into the hammock. "And we discovered that you actually do have a sense of humor. Just that it's dryer than a desert. That was nasty, girl."
Seven moved back to her crate. "Maybe. B'Elanna, since we landed here, you have been quite forthcoming in admitting that you think I am 'hot'. I wonder why. Or more to the point, why now. It is not like my appearance suddenly became more attractive since we landed."
B'Elanna chuckled. "Seven, in case of the worst case scenario and we really would be stuck here, only us two on this entire planet. Well, it would actually be the total truth to say that you are the most beautiful person in the world. You bet your ass that your stock would go through the roof. There is no doubt in my mind that sooner or later we would be screwing like bunnies."
"We would?" Seven asked surprised.
B'Elanna nodded. "No doubt. You have already proven to have no problem with having sex for the sake of sex... that's a statement, not an insult in case you are wondering."
"I was not wondering," Seven assured. "However, I feel that I must point out that I indeed had no problem with having sex for the sake of sex, but I am not indiscriminate in my choice. I will not have sex with someone I do not like... or that wants to record the activities for that matter."
B'Elanna smirked. "I don't blame you. But with only us here, and you being as civilized to me as you are now, I think that eventually I would become an acceptable sex partner. And for me, well, it would really be simple. I can't have sex without there being a relationship. But, well, with there being no holodeck there, but there is a willing person around, I think that sooner or later my hornyness would win out."
"You are incorrect about one thing though," Seven pointed out. Before B'Elanna could ask about what, Seven added, "I am not the most beautiful person on this planet."
"Why... oh," Amazingly, B'Elanna could feel herself starting the blush. "Thank you. You, um, liked what you saw too then?"
"I did," Seven assured. "I just had no need until now to point it out."
"Well, it's kinda the other way for me," B'Elanna explained. "And that also answers your question as to why I talk about you looking hot. It's because you do. I always thought so. Well, from the moment the Doctor peeled you out of that body armor. But I hated how you busted in and wanted to take over all. How you wanted to come into my, I repeat my, Engineering, and tell me what to do. So, I started to hate you. And when I hate you, the last thing I am going to say to you is, 'I wish you would die, but man do you have a hot body'."
Seven lifted her eyebrows at the statement. "I can see how you would not."
"But recently I have started to like you better," B'Elanna continued with a shrug. "And you have learned simple things like saying stuff like 'if I may suggest, you could try'. Instead of saying 'you are doing it wrong, I will do it correctly'. And it's since we landed that I discovered that you won't be insulted by me saying stuff like that you are hot,"
"Or admitting that you have fantasized about 'fucking' me," Seven interrupted.
B'Elanna paused and went over the conversation, realizing that she had basically said that. After all, she had said that the men on Voyager weren’t the only ones that thought of doing that. That basically indicated her. "Well, yeah. I now know that you can take hearing stuff like that. Plus the big one, there is nobody here to hear us. On Voyager I might watch my words more simply in case someone 'might' hear me. As Lieutenant I do have an example position and have to make sure that I don't do certain things just so that others don't think it's alright for them to do it too."
"Was I any good?" Seven asked.
"B'Elanna opened her mouth to reply, but then hesitated. She narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "Are you setting me up again?"
"Maybe," Seven admitted.
"In that case I plead the fifth."
Seven frowned. "What does that mean?"
"Um," B'Elanna started before admitting, "I have no clue. I heard Tom say it, and I do get the gist of it. I like how it sounds. Maybe it once was something of pleading to a god. You know, 'plead the fifth', as in pleading to the fifth god; keeper of secrets and lies. Or something like that."
"That would indicate that you were lying," Seven pointed out. "While your words indicated that you simply did not want to answer the question."
"Okay," B'Elanna said slowly. "How about if it means that you plead to this god of secrets and lies that he makes sure that you don't have to explain yourself. You know, as in, 'damn I really just said that, please don't let them notice or ask me to explain it.' Or, or even better, you know those situations where no answer will be good enough? Where if you say 'this' than people will be pissed, but if you say 'that', then people will still get pissed because you aren’t saying what they want to hear and they assume that you are lying. So instead you say 'I plead the fifth' and basically say to them, 'I'm not going to tell you, so there put that in your pipe and smoke it'."
"As good a guess as any," Seven approved. "I especially liked the last option since you clearly made that up on the spot."
B'Elanna grinned. "I plead the fifth on that."
She was rewarded with a small smile. And after that, a silence fell. But B'Elanna noticed that it was simply because neither had something to say and not because they didn't want to talk to the other. In fact, it was a very comfortable silence. Very well suited for a vacation where you enjoyed doing nothing at all. Because, B'Elanna was sure, that was exactly what it was. In a few weeks time, Voyager would find a way to rescue them and then everyone would razz them about their nice little vacation. So B'Elanna was determined to enjoy that vacation. And not to worry about nonsense like not being able to leave the planet again, ever.
~~~