She really didn't want to get up. She really didn't want to get up and get ready for work. But she really didn't want to get up and get ready for work and go to work. Staying up to meditate most of the night, Tal still hadn't come to a clear understanding of what she had done to deeply upset Seven of Nine. She didn't know if she should address the issue outright, or act like it had never happened. Finally, she admitted that the choice would be made for her depending on how Seven acted.

Still, Tal didn't feel better yet. Reaching over to slap her combadge where it lay on her bedside table, she whispered fiercely, "Celes to Telfer. Billy, I need your help!"

A groggy voice greeted her; her best friend had slept in again as usual. "Telfer here. Tal, what is it? I had five minutes left…" His voice became muffled. Frowning, her eyebrows furrowed, she tried to make out the rest of what he said, "…really don't want to do it."

"Billy! Take the pillow off of your face!"

There was a groan, but a rustling sound told her he had complied. Yawning, Billy's voice asked again, "What is it?"

Pausing for a second, Tal glanced at the other bed in her room, hoping that she wasn't bothering her roommate, who had come in right after her day shift to immediately crawl into bed. Amanda wasn't moving or making noise, so the brunette figured it was okay. "I don't want to go to work today!" she hissed.

"What? Tal, if this is about Seven…"

"Of course it's about Seven!"

Billy's voice became pointed, sounding like he was reprimanding her. "Really, Tal, can't you just talk to her?"

Shaking her head, Tal realized Billy couldn't see it, so she grumbled.

"What?"

"I said," she started, pulling her pillow into her arms to hold onto it tightly, feeling ashamed of herself, "I can't talk to her."

Billy sighed. Tal could see the rolling of his eyes. "And why not?"

"Because talking to her started this! I should have never agreed to have a conversation with her. I should have known it would end badly!" Hearing a warning noise from Amanda, Tal lowered her voice again, hunching under the covers and bringing her badge closer to her, "We never talk. She probably hates me now."

There was silence. Fearing he had gotten frustrated and turned off the channel, she frantically whispered, "Billy? Billy!"

"I'm here, I'm here." Mumbling under his breath, there was another shifting noise, making Tal think he had pulled his pillow back over his face. After a second, he asked quietly, "You're sure you're not just scared of hurting her again?"

What? Staring at her badge with a disbelieving expression, her mouth dropped open. Trying to gather words in her head and successfully speak them, she found she couldn't. She was still reeling from the accusation.

"Look, Tal. I'm sure it'll be alright. Think about what I said. I'm going to get up now; you should too."

Tal could hear the beginning of a goodbye in his voice, so she nodded, "Okay, Billy. Thank you."

"No problem. You'll be okay. See you after shift?"

With an "of course," Tal closed the channel.

Was what Billy said really how she felt?

*

Straightening the collar of her turtleneck for the umpteenth time and trying to tuck the two stubborn locks of hair that insisted on falling in front of her ears into the bottom of her bun, Tal took in a deep breath. Holding it, cheeks puffing out, she stared at herself in the mirror. Brown eyes big, the whites clearly showing, she looked positively ill. Dark bags stood out against her pale skin, and she chewed her bottom lip worriedly. She just knew that whoever looked at her would know she hadn't slept a wink.

Taking a step back, she couldn't help the slump to her shoulders. It was only the second day of her fasting, but she looked like she was in her second week. With a pang, she knew that if her parents could see her, they would think poorly of her. Once again, Celes Tal was not living up to her Bajoran heritage.

"What happened to you?"

Startled, Tal turned towards the bathroom. Leaning against the door frame in her gray bathrobe was Amanda, toothbrush in her mouth. Talking while she brushed, the blonde nodded at her, "You look terrible."

"Thanks, Amanda. You don't have to rub it in." Shaking her head, Tal continued staring at herself, finding more things to be ashamed of. She adjusted the shoulders of her uniform, brushing off a stray hair that had fallen onto her arm. Sighing, she decided she'd punished herself enough, walking over to her bed. Grabbing her combadge, she pinned it on.

"No, seriously." Amanda walked closer to her after spitting, pulling the toothbrush out of her mouth in the process. "Are you sick? I can take you to Sickbay, if you want."

Tal was tempted. Call in sick… No, she shook her head. How could she even have considered it? During the Time of Cleansing, you were responsible for yourself. Feeling like more of a failure, she sighed. Straightening her spine and mustering up a smile, she knew she was acting silly. "I'll be alright. Just feeling a little under the weather, but I'm okay."

Getting a nod in response, she exited the room.

*

Somehow, Tal had found her way to Astrometrics. Staring at the doors, she didn't know how she had gotten there. Had she blanked everything out? No… Shaking her head, brows furrowed, the brunette thought she had exchanged greetings with someone… Didn't she? Yes. A male voice. In the turbolift. Black hair, yellow uniform… Tal had barely looked at him, she remembered. She'd been staring at the floor again. But his voice was familiar…

Oh! Of course! Ensign Harry Kim had entered the turbolift. She remembered now. She'd been concentrating so hard on what she planned to say to Seven if it came to it, that she had almost forgotten he was there. They'd said hello to each other (Tal knew it was just reflex), but then Harry had tried to involve her in a conversation. First it was about the day, and how she planned to spend her off hours. Then it was the party coming up that the captain was throwing. She'd really didn't pay attention, grunting and nodding in the appropriate places. And then…

Oh. Oh my. Ohh my! Harry asked her if she wanted to attend the party with him. In her fugue state, Tal had automatically accepted.

…

Wow. Biting back a giddy smile at even the thought that someone wanted to go with her, she suddenly frowned. Was this a date? She'd been attending with Billy so long that she'd almost forgotten there were men on the ship who were available. How had Kim meant the invite? She really wished she'd been paying more attention to the handsome man!

An ensign walked by, startling her out of her thoughts. Tal blushed. She'd probably been standing there for a long time, staring into space. She bit her lip, worry rushing through her body again. Was she late to shift? That would be just great, she thought. She'd have no hope of reconciling her working relationship with Seven at this rate!

Head down, she rushed through the doors, power walking to her station. Let's have a good day, let's have a good day, she chanted in her head. She took a deep breath. Ignoring the slight tremble of her arms as she gripped the console, she ran through a Bajoran calming meditation just for good luck. Logging into her console, she expected to hear footsteps or an unemotional voice reprimanding her for her tardiness.

Instead, as the seconds, and then minutes, ticked by, the only sound in the lab was the typing of information Tal was inputting to the computer. Pausing, she kept her fingers resting lightly on the screen. Only the beating of her heart, air moving in and out of her lungs, the soft gurgles of her stomach, and the ever present low hum under her feet reached her ears.

She slowly twisted around with her waist, keeping her body taut in case she needed to suddenly jump back into position. She widened her eyes, scanning the room twist by twist. When she had turned around as far as she could without falling, she realized her ears hadn't been lying. It was past the start of her shift, and Seven of Nine was nowhere in sight.

Immediately, Tal felt horrible. Even though her rational mind told her that she couldn't have possibly hurt Seven enough that she wouldn't go to work, the brunette still believed it had to be her fault. She'd love to be able to apologize… if only she knew what she had to apologize for! The small feeling of happiness that had gathered in her chest after Kim asked her out slowly drained away. Tal must have well and truly screwed up.

The doors opened. Startled, Tal's plan failed. As she jumped with surprise, a nerve in her side pinched, and she tried to snap herself back. However, she had contorted herself just enough that her slightly rigid Bajoran physiology couldn't fight balance and gravity. With a yelp, Tal found herself sprawled on the floor. Laying there for a second in disbelief, a hot blush flushed across her face and down her neck. Pushing herself up, rubbing her side where it felt unhappy, the brunette suddenly heard the sound she had been dreading all day.

"Crewman Celes, that does not look productive," the sound of Seven of Nine's voice accompanied her heels as they came closer, "Do you require assistance?"

Before Tal could decide if she needed help or not, a hand was offered to her. Still confused by her sudden fall and why Seven wasn't yelling at her, she accepted. "I, uh, thanks, Seven."

The ex-borg's hand was warm, warmer than she had expected. Knowing that metal and technology still resided throughout the other woman's body, she had foolishly thought that Seven would be as cool as a robot. Instead, Seven's skin was slightly warmer than a normal human's. It made her wonder how the mesh covered left hand would feel.

Expecting a gradual pull up, Tal suddenly found herself face to chest against the taller woman. She let out an oomph! with the sudden contact. Amazingly, the first thought that came to the brunette's mind was that locks of hair had fallen loose from her bun, and that she should fix it. She then wondered if Seven had done it on purpose, but common sense chased that away. It wasn't until the taller woman froze and pushed her away a second later did Tal understand that for lack of better words, she had been hugging Seven of Nine. Even if it was on accident.

Stumbling a little with the force of Seven's push (which, thankfully, hadn't been as powerful as the blonde's help up) Tal finally found herself balanced on her own two feet. Stunned silence mixed with the already heavy tension in the room. Straightening her uniform in lieu of having to react, Tal's mind belatedly sent her the feeling of Seven's body. It had been… strong. But surprisingly soft, too. That was the overwhelming consensus from her nerve endings.

"I do not believe…"

Hearing the soft words, Tal raised her gaze.

Seven was studying her hands, a strong frown on her face. "I apologize, Crewman Celes. I did not mean to accost you." Looking up, the blonde reached up to touch under her jaw, where her star implant was. "I had a 'check up' with the Doctor this morning and did not compensate for my increased strength."

Tal nodded, not able to meet Seven's eyes. "That's fine, Seven." Impulse made her blurt out, "Are… Are you okay?"

"Okay?" The blonde raised her ocular implant, shifting her arms to behind her back again. Tilting her head in subconscious imitation, Tal wondered if that stance was Seven's 'default'.

"Yes. Did I… uh… did I hurt you? Whe-when I hit you?" Internally, the brunette groaned at her question. She had been originally asking about the day before, but hadn't the nerve to follow through. The hair that had fallen out of her bun was beginning to tickle her face. It wasn't fair that Seven's was still perfect. She straightened her uniform to try to regain some dignity.

"That is not important, Crewman. My body is reinforced. It is I who should ask you." Seven walked forward, heading towards her usual station. She didn't turn around as she waited for the reply.

"I'm fine." Standing where Seven had left her, Tal realized she couldn't keep staring at the blonde's back. It seemed that after her acceptable answer, Seven had started ignoring her. Sighing, Tal rubbed her side again and took the couple of steps back to her station. Taking a second to try to shove her hair back into her bun, hoping against hope that she wasn't making it worse, she was quickly entering and deciphering information again.