DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters. They are the property of Paramount.
CHALLENGE: Klingon Phrase Story by Odon Write a Torres/Seven story basing each section (anything from a few words to a chapter) on one of the following Klingon phrases. You don't have to quote the phrase, but rather base each part of your story on either a literal interpretation of the phrase or your own interpretation of it's meaning. You can change the order of the phrases, but *all* the phrases must be used in some way. 1) Dal pagh jagh (No enemy is boring). 2) 'etlh QorghHa'lu'chugh ragh 'etlh nIvqu' 'ej jejHa'choH (Even the best blade will rust and grow dull unless it is cared for). 3) nIteb DujlIj yIchj (Navigate your vessel alone). 4) reH bang larghlu' (Love is always smelled). 5) Heghlu'DI' mobbe'lu'chugh QaQqu' Hegh wanI' (Death is an experience best shared). 6) tIqDaq HoSna' tu'lu (Real power is in the heart). 7) rut yIHmey ghom Hoch (Everyone encounters tribbles occasionally). 8) bItuHlaHbe'chugh bIquvlaHbe' (If you cannot be shamed, you cannot be honoured). 9) nuHlIj DawIvpu', vaj yISuv! (You have chosen your weapon, so fight!). 10) jach Suvwl' 'e' yIQoy! (Hear the warrior cry out!). 11) QongDaqDaq Qotbe' tlhInganpu' (Klingons do not lie in bed).
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Odon's Phrase Challenge
By Tina LaMarch
1) 'etlh QorghHa'lu'chugh ragh 'etlh nIvqu' 'ej jejHa'choH (Even the best blade will rust and grow dull unless it is cared for)
B'Elanna dragged her butt into her quarters and tossed a tool bag to the side. She walked over the the replicator and asked for a cold cream soda. The engineer kicked off her boots and lay back into the couch. Putting her glass briefly against her forehead, she closed her eyes.
Taking a deep draught of the cool beverage she felt herself relax fully. It tasted so good after a day of crawling through the Jefferies tubes. She put down the glass and reached for her novel laying half finished on the coffee table. It was so quiet in her quarters. She relished it for a moment.
After Tom Paris had ripped through her life like a hurricane, she was not in the least interested in dating. Long and short, she decided interaction sucked and she was taking the time to enjoy playing the crabby Klingon role to the hilt. On the surface, she was the crab she played. Underneath it all, she was not interested in finding her heart getting liquified like the Captain's pot roast again. It just wasn't worth trying anymore.
2)rut yIHmey ghom Hoch (Everyone encounters tribbles occasionally
Seven was growing frustrated. She had deconstructed the dating program seven times and it still was producing erroneous data. Seven tries had produced seven failures. She was about ready to give up and attempt learning human interaction through simple observation, despite Lt. Torres's earlier response to her education taking that direction during her Paris period.
Discomfort seemed to be the theme of the day with every date. Most famous of course was her dancing date which ended with Chapman's shoulder being tsk'd at by the doctor. It was by no means the only date to end in Sick Bay. Broken fingers marked the third date. Grabbing Seven was not a good idea.
There was the fourth through sixth dates which ended in abdominal discomfort for Seven. Despite the Doctor's assurance to the contrary, Seven was still unable to easily enjoy many of the food choices made by her dates. The Doctor had on her last visit laughingly requested she begin making reservations with him before her dates.
The seventh date was the most difficult. Her date, an ensign from engineering chose to take her to the beach and replicated a swimsuit and robe for her. His face upon seeing the extent of the implants dredged up every insecurity that Seven had ever faced about fitting in. The date ended awkwardly and Seven, upon changing went back to work with no desire to try that again.
3)bItuHlaHbe'chugh bIquvlaHbe' (If you cannot be shamed, you cannot be honoured)
B'Elanna finally decided to come out of self-imposed solitude for some dinner. She grabbed a tray and slid it onto an unoccupied table. "Hey hey look who came out of hiding." B'Elanna rubbed her forehead ridges and stood to face the voice.
"Back off Tom. Not the time. Not the place."
"Hey babe? Newsflash, you weren't worth getting into a fight over even when we were having sex."
B'Elanna's face turned red. "You are an unbelievable asshole."
Tom smiled at the Delaneys. He signalled that he would be there in a minute. "Tempermental, territorial, and totally without anything that could be remotely considered a feminine quality. I don't know what I was thinking."
B'Elanna felt her nails cut into her palms. A light went on in her head. "OOoooooOOh I get it. You want me to hit you. Then you can tell your groupies over there what a brute I was. Almost would make up for me publicly dumping your ass for being a philandering narcissistic bastard."
Tom gave her a hard smile. "And so full of yourself to boot. Fucking cold hearted bitch. Maybe you should date the drone. You two are made for one another." He turned on his heel and collected the sisters on his way out.
B'Elanna shook in rage and shame at the helmrat's bull. She wondered briefly if anyone would catch on if the trasporters would malfunction just long enough to dump his ass in vacuum.
4) nIteb DujlIj yIchj (Navigate your vessel alone)
B'Elanna huffed. No way in hell was she going down that road again. She would be better off sucking vacuum than picking up another scar for her heart. Tom was the last lesson she needed to get her degree. She was better off alone.
Seven shook her head. There were no more permutations. The program was not going to work. It would be best to leave this particular aspect of human interaction to people who weren't hobbled by lack of experience and a weak digestive tract. She was better off alone.
5)Dal pagh jagh (No enemy is boring)
"What in Gre'thor do you think you're doing Borg?" At the familiar invocation, most of engineering found an elsewhere to be. Seven stood to take up her at ease stance in the face of the charging engineer. B'Elanna stopped just short of the former Borg.
"I would think that would be apparent, Lieutenant. I am resetting the EPS parameters to allow for more efficient use of power."
B'Elanna poked Seven hard. "You! In my office now."
She followed the blonde in glaring at the few remaining brave souls still standing within range of sight. "Get back to work now!"
She rounded on Seven as soon as the door slid shut. "What the hell is the problem? I know we don't get along most days, but do you have so little disregard for me that you enjoy yanking my chain this way? You know you have to pass changes like this with me. I know this isn't a matter of not understanding protocol. You are too damned brilliant to act this dumb. This is personal so what hell is with you?"
"I find the honesty of our interactions to be refreshing Lieutenant. I do not seek to cause difficulties for you but I by no means avoid it."
B'Elanna felt herself open and close her mouth like a landed fish.
"Lieutenant, are you well? Would you like me to contact sick bay?"
"No." B'Elanna shook her head. "Could you maybe avoid this? I promise honest interaction whether you do dumb shit or not."
Seven appeared to consider this. "Of course Lieutenant. Thank you. I will return the parameters to the original state and send you a report on my proposed adjustments."
B'Elanna felt the world become a very surreal place. It took all of twenty seconds to get more surreal.
"There is of course another reason, Lieutenant. During the course of our more heated exchanges I found that your heart rate increased, your eyes dilated and you showed other signs of arousal. I found that fascinating. Are you aroused by me Lieutenant or is that simply a Klingon genetic response to challenge?"
B'Elanna turned on her heel and left the office in a hurry.
Seven watched her leave. "Fascinating."
6) reH bang larghlu' (Love is always smelled)
Seven touched the door chime. Captain Kathryn Janeway opened the door and smilingly shooed the former drone in. "You are not surprised to see me Captain."
"It's been almost a month since our last late night chat. I was expecting you to turn up soon. Have a seat. Want something to drink?"
"I do not require… Thank you, no, Captain." Seven perched on the edge of the couch.
"I heard you and B'Elanna were having another discussion in Engineering, Seven." Janeway curled up in her chair putting an old book to one side and cupping her warm mug in her hands.
"Did Lt. Torres speak to you?"
"No. Usually she's the first to point out my need to keep you out of her domain, but surprisingly she's been keeping mum."
"I believe that we have resolved our issues. I will be attempting to avoid what she refers to as my `dumb shit' and she will continue to react honestly."
"React honestly?" Janeway was feeling a little confused.
"I have found most of my interactions with the crew to lack honest response. While many speak to me as a valued colleague I find that they are quite different in their private evaluation of me. I enjoy Lt. Torres's company because she does not prevaricate or hedge. These are the qualities which draw me to her company."
"You know you could have worked on a friendship rather than picking fights with her."
"Our original interactions were negative. If the nature of our interactions changed, I believed that it was possible that Lt. Torres's approach to me might have changed. That would have been unacceptable. Lt. Torres has promised to continue in her honesty despite a change in our relationship. Now it is acceptable."
Janeway laughed. "You are never going to be anything anyone expects are you?"
"It would foolish to attempt to be what another expects. I am me. That is what I will continue to be."
"It's going to be interesting to see the two of you trying to be friends."
"Would it be more interesting if we both experience symptoms of arousal in one another's company?"
Janeway's coffee changed direction as the captain began coughing. "No doubt," she finally rasped out.
7) QongDaqDaq Qotbe' tlhInganpu' (Klingons do not lie in bed).
B'Elanna did not want to pull the blanket down. It had covered her head for almost 6 hours. She berated herself for being such a gigantic wuss. Of all the things to run from. The Borg's analysis might have put her on the spot both internally and externally, but it was not going make her quail. She was no cotton ball. She got up and went to hunt down the source of her current issues.
8) Heghlu'DI' mobbe'lu'chugh QaQqu' Hegh wanI' (Death is an experience best shared)
It took all of ten minutes for B'Elanna and Seven to end up in the brig. She found Seven poking at plate filled with what could charitably be called food. Tom Paris swept in just as B'Elanna sat down across from the former Borg.
"So you went and did it didn't you B'Elanna? What's it like to fuck a machine?" Paris called out.
B'Elanna stood up and smashed her arms across the helm rat's chest forcing him to the wall with a rush of forced out air. She lifted her fist. It was held from behind her. The next thing she knew Seven had gently moved her out of the way and proceeded to lift Mr. Paris by his throat.
"I believe that Mr. Paris was leveling an insult against me. It is therefore my place to take action."
B'Elanna shoved at the Borg. She didn't move a hair. "This is my fight, Borg. Back off."
Seven appeared to consider this momentarily before leveling her gaze at the flyboy on the wall. "It appears, Lieutenant that it would be in our best interest to take turns discussing our differences of opinion with him."
B'Elanna slowly grinned showing teeth and looked first at Paris and then at Seven. "I do believe you have a point."
Witnesses were hard pressed to decided which came first, Security or Paris's damp crotch.
9) nuHlIj DawIvpu', vaj yISuv! (You have chosen your weapon, so fight!)
"What the hell were you two thinking?" asked Captain Janeway. "I realize I have often asked the two of you to get together in the spirit of cooperation. I didn't want it to be cooperating to kill our pilot."
"He was insulting both myself and Lt. Torres, Captain. It would have been dishonorable to allow the comments to pass."
"Yeah, what she said." B'Elanna grinned at Seven. She was actually having fun now that she scared the bejesus out of the ego monster.
Janeway sighed. She knew the players well enough to know what happened. She didn't want to ask but, "Maybe if you apologize he'll drop the charges."
"Screw him," answered B'Elanna.
"What she said," followed up the Borg. Her implant quirked and the Klingon burst out laughing.
The Captain sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Hope you two enjoy the cell. You will be sharing it for the time being." She left.
10)jach Suvwl' 'e' yIQoy! (Hear the warrior cry out!)
B'Elanna looked at Seven who was sitting on the edge of the bunk quietly. "Thanks."
Seven tilted her head. "I believe the response to the insult was mutual, therefore you have my thanks as well."
"I actually was there to talk to you about what you'd said earlier. You know, about the arousal thing."
Seven watched her patiently waiting. "Right. I do get aroused by you. You are sexy, and brilliant, and you match me in strength. I don't scare you. Even if I weren't half Klingon, that would be a huge turn on. See the thing is, I'm a little gunshy. After Tom, I'm not ready to date."
"I too am disinclined to date."
B'Elanna felt a little disappointed but this was good. "Maybe we could try being friends first. See where we end up from there?"
"That would be an excellent idea, Lieutenant."
"B'Elanna. Friends bail you out, real friends are in the cell with you. Real friends call me B'Elanna."
"B'Elanna." Seven smiled a Mona Lisa smile that took B'Elanna's breath away.
"Screw it. Paris is not going to scare me off. We're going to date. I'm going to show you the time of your life."
Seven tilted her head. "That would be acceptable."
11) tIqDaq HoSna' tu'lu (Real power is in the heart)
It was a week and a half later when the two made their way from the brig. After sorting out various minor crises in their departments, they made their way to the Holodeck for the first of many dates.
"Perhaps we should send Mr. Paris a fruit basket for his part in our dating, B'Elanna."
"Nah. Having way too much fun watching him flinch every time we walk past."
"It is amusing."
"Indeed," replied the engineer ribbing the former drone good naturedly.
Seven kissed B'Elanna gently. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not allowing Mr. Paris to dictate the nature of our relationship."
"Raw courage and contrariness are my defining qualities." B'Elanna chuckled.
"Though by no means the only qualities I value in you." Seven wove her fingers in B'Elanna's as they stepped through the door.
The End