Pas De Deux
By T.J.
B'Elanna couldn't believe it. It was bad enough that Tom Paris was marrying Jennifer Delaney from Stellar Cartography only two months after their relationship had fizzled out, but in typical Tom fashion he had to have a big fancy dress affair. He wanted an authentic 1930's wedding, black ties, ballroom dancing, the whole shooting match. She and Tom had agreed to remain friends after they broke up and they had been doing fairly well, but this was really too much. Tom wanted her to stand up with him at his wedding…she and Harry were to be his attendants. All of which meant that she only had two weeks to learn how to tango, not to mention waltz, foxtrot and any other of the idiotic dances he had programmed his holographic band to play at the reception.
Harry had convinced her that it would be bad form not to make an attempt to be able to dance at the wedding so now she, Harry and several other crewmembers were all meeting in the holodeck to take ballroom dance lessons from the doctor of all people. What could possibly be more humiliating than that!
They walked through the doors into the holodeck and saw Ensign Sara Keene, a young woman from Earth Sciences on whom Harry had had a crush for some time now. He turned the full force puppy dog eyes on B'Elanna,
"Come on B'Elanna, I've wanted to find a way to meet her for almost a month now. This is perfect, please," he begged.
"Yeah, perfect for you Starfleet, what about me? Who the heck am I supposed to dance with if you abandon me for Ensign Sweet Cheeks over there?" B'Elanna growled.
"The doctor will find a partner for you don't worry. Thanks B'Elanna, I owe you." Harry was already gone across the room.
The doctor cleared his throat to indicate that the lesson was about to begin. B'Elanna stood helplessly at the side of the holographic dance floor reliving every bad moment she'd had at dances from high school through her dismal academy days.
"If everyone would please face their partners. Oh, Lieutenant Torres you're here by yourself, well don't worry I'm sure we can…"
He never finished his sentence as the doors to the holodeck hissed open one more time and Seven of Nine walked through them.
"Ah, perfect. Seven if you wouldn't mind partnering Lieutenant Torres we can begin our lesson."
B'Elanna couldn't believe her ears. Not only had Harry abandoned her, now she was going to have to learn to dance with 6 feet of buxom Borg as a partner. This was getting worse by the second.
She turned to face Seven and they fumbled for a few seconds, as they were unsure of what hand went where in this situation.
"I believe that I should be the one to lead Lieutenant Torres."
"Why should you be the one to lead?" B'Elanna hissed in protest.
"I am taller," she stated calmly.
"Taller, that makes absolutely no sense. I should be the one to lead. I outrank you," B'Elanna stuck her tongue out mentally at the drone. She actually felt like stamping her foot in her outrage.
"I am not a Starfleet officer, therefore rank is irrelevant."
"Fine, then I'm older so I'm leading."
Seven could see that this was not an argument she could win so she merely settled for quirking her ocular implant at the agitated Lieutenant before capitulating to her demands to be allowed to lead.
The rest of the class had been observing their whispered exchange and now that they appeared to have come to an agreement the Doctor started the lesson.
He outlined the opening steps for the tango and helped the couples achieve the proper stance before starting the music.
"And one, and two, and three and step."
B'Elanna stepped forward and promptly felt Seven's foot crunch under hers.
"No no no B'Elanna, you're starting on the wrong foot. Let's try this again. Computer begin playback from time index zero," the doctor fussed moving them back to the starting position.
"Sorry Seven," B'Elanna smirked as they took up their opening stance again.
"And one, and two, and three and step."
This time B'Elanna missed Seven's foot but crashed her body full length into that of the Astrometrics officer. She found her head almost buried in Seven's ample bosom. Her face was several different shades of red as she leapt backwards as if she'd been bitten.
"You lead," she ground out.
The rest of the lesson went marginally better as B'Elanna finally calmed down enough to concentrate on the steps. She even managed to lead Seven around the floor in a semi graceful waltz before the end of the lesson.
The doctor dismissed the class with instructions to meet back for the next lesson in two days time.
That night B'Elanna practiced the steps to the various dances in her quarters, determined not to humiliate herself in front Seven at their next lesson.
"Come in." Captain Janeway called as the chime to her ready room sounded. She was surprised to see Seven of Nine standing at her door this late at night, but was always happy to have a conversation with her friend.
"What can I do for you Seven?" Janeway asked, having learned her lesson by now she didn't bother to offer Seven a seat.
"I have noticed that you often have a pleasing scent about you when you are off duty. I was wondering what the origin of that odour might be."
"Seven, are you asking me what perfume I wear?"
"Yes, I believe I am. My research has indicated that humans often use cologne or perfume as a method of attracting a mate. I wish to further my knowledge in this area."
"Is there someone special Seven?" Katherine inquired.
"I am unsure at this time, but I believe there may be."
Katherine knew when she was being stonewalled so she gave in and showed Seven the various perfumes and scented oils that she used from time to time when she was off duty. After a thorough conversation on the subject Seven thanked the captain for her time and returned to the cargo bay to regenerate.
B'Elanna walked into the holodeck for her second dance lesson and stopped in her tracks at the sight of Seven of Nine. The former drone was not wearing a biosuit for the first time that B'Elanna could ever remember. Instead she was wearing a pair of black dress pants and a dark blue silk shirt that accentuated the colour of her eyes. B'Elanna was further shocked to notice that for once she was not wearing heels, putting her much closer in height to the Klingon herself.
"Seven, you look….amazing," B'Elanna managed as she walked up to her dance partner.
The lesson was beginning and as they stepped into one another's arms the young engineer was stunned at the intoxicating scent of the former drone. Her head swam for a moment before she gathered herself together enough to commence the lesson.
B'Elanna was distracted anew by the fact that as they danced she could now look into Seven's eyes. She felt herself held in the younger woman's steady gaze as they moved together over the floor. All at once she was keenly aware of the sensation of her hand resting on the gentle swell of Seven's hip, and how good it felt to be holding that gently swaying body in her arms.
Seven was pleased to note the fiery engineer's response to her research. B'Elanna's eyes were clearly dilated and her pulse rate was skyrocketing as they danced together. Seven herself was not immune to the effects of the nearness of the young Chief's body to her own. She felt lightheaded as she noticed the way in which B'Elanna's well-muscled shoulder moved under her hand as they danced. She missed a few steps herself in her distraction, and as their bodies brushed together when they stumbled Seven felt herself grow weak in the knees. It was a miracle of sorts that neither of them ended up on the floor over the course of the rest of the class.
The day of the wedding finally came and B'Elanna and Harry were waiting at the front of the church clad in matching black tuxedos. Tom was wearing a topcoat with tails as he waited nervously for his bride to come down the aisle to the traditional Bridal March. The holodeck was packed with guests, almost the entire crew had turned out for the occasion. The captain performed a very traditional ceremony while the doctor snapped off an endless stream of holoimages. When the ceremony was finished Tom entered a few commands into the holodeck arch and the room was transformed from a cathedral into a banquet hall complete with a dance band already tuning up at the front. He led his bride onto the floor for the traditional first dance and when that was finished the rest of the crew flooded onto the dance floor.
B'Elanna wandered aimlessly along the edges of the crowd, stopping to pick at some of the food on the buffet table as she watched the festivities. 'All dressed up and nowhere to go,' she thought wryly to herself, 'story of my life.' She stopped and leaned against a pillar, observing the happy couple and their friends celebrating. Suddenly she was aware that she was not alone; her senses roared to life as the intoxicating smell of perfume wafted around her. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck prickled to life as she heard a soft voice whisper in her ear,
"May I have this dance B'Elanna?"
She turned to face Seven, who was dressed in a stunning midnight blue dress that hung on one shoulder, one side of the hem was higher than the other, the right side cut to mid thigh while the left side hung down several inches below her knees. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders and once again she was not wearing high heels.
B'Elanna couldn't manage any words so she settled for offering Seven her arm and leading her out onto the dance floor. Seven held her right hand up indicating that B'Elanna was to lead and they stepped into one another's embrace. As they began to move around the dance floor B'Elanna found herself gradually pulling Seven closer, until not even the smallest particle of light could have found a way between their bodies. The young drone gradually allowed her head to rest against B'Elanna's forehead and the rest of the world ceased to exist.
When the music stopped Seven kept her arms around the young Klingon, and they stood that way for a moment until B'Elanna raised her head and looked into Seven's liquid blue eyes. She saw the answer to her unasked question there and without a word they left the holodeck hand in hand, walking in silence to B'Elanna's quarters. Once inside the doors B'Elanna ordered the computer to play the music selection from their dance classes and they moved into one another's arms again. As they danced B'Elanna felt Seven's lips graze her neck before moving up to the highly sensitive spot behind her ear. She felt the younger woman gently nuzzling her neck and nipping at her earlobe before ascending oh so slowly to caress her lips in their first kiss.
When the earth shaking moment had passed and they were once again in control of their faculties Seven spoke,
"May I have this dance for the rest of my life?"
B'Elanna kissed her in answer and slowly began to dance her partner toward the bedroom.
The End