The BLTS Archive- Common Interests
Third in Scenes from A Marriage
by Julie Evans (Juli17@aol.com)

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Disclaimer:  Star Trek and its characters are the property of
Paramount/Viacom.  I am borrowing them for fun only, not profit.

Archive:  Okay to archive to ASC, PT Collective archive and BLTS.  All
others please ask author for permission.

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Tom ran a towel quickly over his body, and then slipped on his boxers
and t-shirt, feeling completely contented.  After being planetbound
for  seven days Voyager had received an escort out of Anari space this
morning, and had taken a short detour to the Kraylor homeworld to pick
up Harry and Seven before finally resuming course toward the Alpha
quadrant.  B'Elanna had spent much of the evening in Engineering
supervising the working diagnostics on the newly repaired engine and
propulsion systems, while Tom had completed a final helm diagnostic in
time to make his nineteen hundred hours reservation on the holodeck. 
When he'd arrived in their quarters shortly after twenty-one hundred
hours, he'd found B'Elanna already here, emerging from the sonic
shower.  After a quick greeting and lingering kiss he'd exchanged
places  with her.

As he came out of the bathroom now he saw that she was already in bed,
absorbed in a datapadd.  He joined her there, heaving a large sigh as
he  slipped his legs under the covers.  B'Elanna looked up from
whatever  she was reading.  "Rough day on the bridge?"

Tom shook his head.  "Nope.  Everything went smoothly.  I'm just very
happy we're back in space.  Being planetbound for a week doing repairs
was getting pretty tedious."

B'Elanna patted Tom's leg.  "I'm sorry you had to suffer.  I know you
would have preferred to go with Harry."

Tom smiled at the mock sympathy in B'Elanna's voice.  "You're right. 
I'll take a helm--even if it's not Voyager's--any day over replacing
every  conduit and relay on the ship."

"It was necessary, Tom," B'Elanna said.  She dropped her datapadd on
the bed, and frowned at him.  "I know it was a lot of drudge work, and
everyone was complaining, even the captain, but it's not like the ship
can  repair itself--"

"Okay."  Tom raised his hands in submission.  He leaned over and
pecked her on the cheek.  "I know it was necessary.  I wasn't
complaining--very much," he amended at her sharp look.  "You did a
great job, by the way.  The ship maneuvered like a dream today."

B'Elanna looked a little mollified at that acknowledgement.  Then she
gave him a quizzical look.  "Are you still annoyed with Harry because
he didn't take you with him?"

Tom frowned.  "I wasn't annoyed--" he paused at B'Elanna's raised
eyebrows.  Okay, so he'd sulked a little over it.  "Maybe I was a
little...hurt at first.  I thought it would have been fun, but as it
turned out

Harry could have used some friendly support."

"I don't know about that," B'Elanna said.  "Harry had some rough
moments, and he made mistakes, but that's part of the learning
process.   He wouldn't have learned as much if you'd been there
advising him  constantly, or had taken over when he got into trouble."

"You think I would have advised him constantly?"  Tom asked.  "Or
taken over for him?"

B'Elanna gave Tom a pointed look.  "Come on, Tom.  You've never  been
one to keep your opinions to yourself."

Tom acknowledged the truth of her statement with a shrug, and a small
smile flitted across his lips.

"Neither am I," B'Elanna admitted, returning his smile.  "And if you'd
been there while Harry was floundering you would have wanted to take
over, with the best intentions.  That's why he needed to do this
alone, so  he could find out for himself if can cut it in command.  He
needed a  chance to rely on his own instincts without someone else
there to bail  him out."

Tom nodded slowly.  "I do understand why he wanted to do it alone. 
And even if he had a setback or two, he stuck it out and he got the
Kraylor safely home with a pretty clever maneuver."

B'Elanna nodded in agreement.  "I wasn't sure before, but with more
experience, Harry just may be the one who has it in him to make
captain  one day--if we get back to the Alpha quadrant."

"Hmmm."  Tom pondered that statement.  "The *one*?  So you don't
think I have it in me to make captain?"

B'Elanna's eyebrows rose.  "You, Tom?"

Tom frowned at the skepticism in her tone.  It wasn't exactly the
response he'd been expecting.  "Yeah, me."

B'Elanna gave him a penetrating look.  "Do you have a burning desire
to  become a captain?"

Tom shrugged.  "I haven't really thought about it that much," he said
frankly.

"Exactly," B'Elanna said.  "Neither have I.  If a situation comes up
where I have to take command--on an away mission for instance--then I
do it, and with a fair amount of competence."

"You have more than a fair amount of that," Tom said gallantly, and
truthfully.      B'Elanna nodded, accepting that compliment without
reservation.  "You  don't doubt your own abilities any more than I
doubt mine, Tom.  You  certainly have more than enough ability to make
captain--if you wanted  it enough to put in the time and effort to get
there.  But you love being a  pilot, just like I love being an
engineer.  Would you really want to deal  with the politics of being a
captain while someone else was flying the  ship?"

Tom met her knowing gaze.  He thought about it for a moment, and then
shook his head.  "Maybe not.  I enjoy commanding a mission here and
there, but I'm not sure I could sit in the captain's chair fulltime
watching  someone else doing my job at the helm."  He gave her an
insouciant  grin.  "So, are you disappointed that you married a man
with no  ambition?"

B'Elanna snorted.  "Ambition for its own sake is overrated.  I didn't
marry you because I expect you to achieve some high-level position of
power one day at the expense of doing what really makes you happy. 
Just like I'll assume you didn't marry me expecting that I would be a
captain one day either."

"Hardly," Tom said.  "You're too gifted an engineer.  Your talent
would  be wasted as a captain."

"Yours might be too," B'Elanna said.  "And if piloting is what you
love  to do, and what you excel at, why would I want or expect you to
do  anything else?"

"Well, you never know," Tom mused.  "I might change my mind some  day
and decide I want to become a captain so I can outrank you
permanently."

B'Elanna patted his shoulder, unperturbed.  "Until you do, I'm more
than  happy to be married to a lieutenant."  She smirked.  "That's
assuming  you don't get booted back down to ensign again."

Tom returned her smirk.  "I think my ensign days are over."  He
grabbed  her hand as she started to slip it off his shoulder.  "What's
this?" he  asked, brushing his thumb over a scrape on the underside of
her arm that  was starting to bruise.

B'Elanna looked at the spot he was rubbing lightly with his thumb.  "I
slipped while I was rock-climbing."

"Oh, right."  Tom had forgotten that she'd set aside holodeck time to
go  rock-climbing this afternoon.   Recently it had become her
favorite  program to work out the kinks after spending hours crawling
through  Jeffries tubes and under consoles.  "I have the dermal
regenerator--"

B'Elanna shook her head as he started to reach for the drawer on his
side  of the bed.  "It's hardly worth it.  It'll be gone by morning."

It probably would.  B'Elanna healed quickly.  Tom rubbed his thumb
gently over the tender spot one more time, and then slipped his hand
down her arm.  "So how did Icheb like rock-climbing?"

B'Elanna gave Tom an odd look he couldn't quite interpret before she
answered.  "He cancelled."

"He did?" Tom wondered what had prompted Icheb's sudden change of
heart.  "I thought he wanted to get more involved in recreational
activities.  I invited him to try out my race car program this evening
but  he cancelled on me too."  And since Harry had been busy working
on his  away mission report Tom had found himself racing against only
holo- opponents after all.

B'Elanna gave Tom a contemplative look.  "Yes, he told me that you
challenged him to a race."

Tom's eyebrows rose.  "It wasn't exactly a challenge--or at least
that's  not the way I meant it.  I just invited him to...well, chase
me around the  track."

B'Elanna's lips quirked at Tom's grin.  "Somehow he got the idea that
you were challenging him over me."

Tom stared at her, confused.  "Over you?"

"Yes.  But even though he sensed my romantic feelings toward him, he
decided it wasn't honorable to come between a husband and wife, so he
told me that we had to stop seeing each other."

Tom's mouth fell open momentarily, before he burst out laughing. 
"What?!"

B'Elanna's eyes narrowed at Tom's incredulous tone, though there was a
hint of a smile around her lips.  "Is it so unbelievable that he would
be  attracted to me?"

Tom managed to contain his laughter.  "No, of course not."  He
squeezed B'Elanna's hand.  "I can completely understand his
fascination.   I just--he sensed your romantic feelings toward *him*?"

"He scanned me in Engineering while I was in a particularly frustrated
mood, and he interpreted my heightened emotional response
as...arousal."

"Oh."  Tom pursed his lips together to keep from laughing again,
though  he wondered in the back of his mind what the hell Icheb
thought he was  doing scanning B'Elanna.

"I was ready to kill him at first," B'Elanna said, as if she had read
his  thought.  "But then I decided it was actually pretty funny, and
kind  of...sweet."

"Hmmm," Tom replied noncommittally.  He supposed B'Elanna would  see
it that way.  Icheb was just sixteen years old after all, and socially
very inexperienced.  It was probably just a momentary overreaction for
him to hope the kid stayed away from Engineering forever.  "So what
did you say to him?"

"That I was devastated, but that I would find some way to accept the
truth and go on."

This time a chuckle did erupt from Tom's lips.  Then he cleared his
throat  "Well, if you're sure about that, B'Elanna.  I wouldn't want
to  stand in the way of true love."

"Very funny," B'Elanna said, kicking his leg under the covers.  Then
she  gave him a smug smile.  "Though it is nice to know that I have a
back up  now if you don't work out."

Tom managed to suppress a dismissive snort at the idea.  B'Elanna
would probably hit him for being egotistical.  Instead he frowned.
"If I  don't work out, huh?  So you'd go after a younger man,
B'Elanna?"

B'Elanna shrugged.  "Why not?  Icheb was completely attentive to
everything I said.  He did what I asked practically before I asked
him,  without a question or an argument."  She gave Tom a meaningful
look.   "It was an interesting change."

Tom smirked.  "So, you led him around by the nose, and he followed
you like a devoted puppy.  We both know that's not really your type."

"Maybe, maybe not," B'Elanna said lightly, settling herself against
her  pillow and returning her attention to her datapadd.  "Blind
devotion does  have its merits."  She didn't notice Tom's skeptical
look.  "And he was  eager to go rock-climbing with me."

Tom watched her for several seconds, not sure if she was still ribbing
him.  "B'Elanna, if you really wanted me to go rock-climbing with you,
I  would have--"

"Tom."  B'Elanna looked up from her padd and fixed him with an
admonishing look.  "I was teasing."  She paused for a moment, and then
admitted, "Mostly.  I wouldn't refuse you if you wanted to go rock-
climbing with me.  But I know it isn't your favorite pastime, even if
you  are the one who taught me the finer aspects."

When they'd first started dating they'd gone climbing several times
together, since B'Elanna had wanted to learn more about the sport.
She  knew Tom had a lot of experience, thanks in part to the incident
on  Sikari, so he'd obliged her.  It was only later that he'd told her
he didn't  care for climbing much anymore as a recreational activity.
He'd done  most of his rock-climbing as a cadet at Starfleet Academy,
scaling  several well-known peaks with a close-knit climbing group,
and earning  an expert-level rating.  But like many things he'd done
during his  Academy years, subsequent events had made the memories of
even  those good times with friends painful to recall.  Though
B'Elanna knew  the deeper reason, Tom preferred to use the simple and
partially true  excuse that he'd been there and done that, and had
moved on to other  interests.

He looked at B'Elanna now, and saw that she was watching him intently. 
"You know me, I always like to try something new.  Besides, rock-
climbing makes me all sweaty."

B'Elanna rolled her eyes, but followed his lead.  "Getting sweaty
isn't a  bad thing, Tom," she told him dryly.  She trailed a finger
over his arm.   "And I rather like you all sweaty."  She pulled her
hand away before he  could grab it.  "Anyway, I do know if it doesn't
involve something with  an engine, you're generally not interested."

"Hey, I have other interests too," Tom said.

"Right, the twentieth century programs, and..." B'Elanna wrinkled her
nose, "your role-playing programs."  

"Well, I can't give up Captain Proton because Harry loves it so much,"
Tom said, eliciting a disbelieving groan from B'Elanna.  He grinned. 
"Okay, so do I.  But I think Fair Haven has run its course."

"Thankfully," B'Elanna muttered, returning her attention to her
datapadd.

No one had used Fair Haven in several months, including the captain,
and B'Elanna didn't have to tell Tom how she felt about the demise of
that program.  He already knew her reasons all too well from the
previous words they'd had on the subject.  "B'Elanna...do my
holoprograms really bother you?"

B'Elanna looked up again, obviously surprised by the question and the
seriousness in his tone.  "Why would you think that?"

"I know you don't like most of them--"

"I wouldn't say *most* of them," B'Elanna corrected.  "I did enjoy
learning to drive a car.  And I do like some of your twentieth century
programs, like the movie theatre, and the Roaring Twenties dance club
in Chicago.  A lot of the others don't interest me, but that doesn't
mean I  mind you doing them, Tom.  After all, I have some of my own
holoprograms too."

"That's what I mean," Tom said.  "We do a lot of things separately.
Maybe we should be doing more  together."

B'Elanna stared at him, uncomprehending.  "Tom, we're not joined at
the  hip just because we're married.  We don't have to be together
every  second."

Tom nodded.  "I know.  But maybe we don't have enough common
interests."

B'Elanna frowned.  "Enough common interests for what?  To be
married?"

"No.  I just mean--"

"Is there a rule that we have to have a certain number of common
interests?  Or that we're not supposed to have separate interests or
friends because we're married?"

Tom shook his head at B'Elanna's sharp tone.  "Of course not--"

"Besides, we do have common interests, even on the holodeck.   What
about the beach programs?  Or dancing in Sandrine's, or at the club on
Risa?  The ski lodge?  The sailboat on Lake Como?"

Tom nodded, surprised by her vehement response.  "I know--"

"And there's the wrestling program we did last year."  The trace of
annoyance in her expression was replaced by mild amusement.  "I seem
to recall you did sweat a little in that one..."

Tom smiled at that memory.  "Yeah.  We should resurrect that program,
only this time I think we should add some--"

"Mud," B'Elanna finished for him, her voice dry.

Okay, so he'd suggested that one before, several times.  She hadn't
taken  him up on it yet.

"So what's the problem?" B'Elanna asked, her gaze on him probing.

Tom brushed his fingers over hers.  "No problem.  I just don't want
you  to think that we're not spending enough time together.  It's been
an issue  with us before.  And sometimes we don't see each other all
day--"

"But we always see each other at the end of the day," B'Elanna pointed
out softly.  She entwined her fingers with his.  "No matter how we
each  spend our day, we finish it together.  We sleep together and we
wake up  together.  We usually eat breakfast together, and dinner more
often than  not.  When you add it up, Tom, we actually spend more than
half our  time together."

Tom's mouth twitched.  "I guess I never did the math quite that way,
but  you're right."  Though he and B'Elanna had spent plenty of nights
together before they were married, it hadn't been the consistent thing
it  was now, not counting the occasional away mission.  He knew some
married couples made do with much less, especially those in Starfleet. 
His parents had shared far less time together, with the demands of his
father's position keeping him away for weeks or even months at a time.

B'Elanna held Tom's gaze for several moments before she spoke again. 
"That's the difference now, you know.  And it's what I like most about
being married."

"What?" Tom asked expectantly at her complacent smile.

"Knowing that no matter what happens during the day--good or bad--or
who else I see or what I do, when it's all over and I come home,
you'll be  here."

Tom recognized the sincerity in her quietly spoken words, and he was
silent for a moment.  Then he smiled softly.  "I like that about being
married too."  He kissed her forehead lightly.  "In fact, we should
have  done it a lot sooner."

"You should have asked me a lot sooner," B'Elanna returned.

"I should have," Tom agreed.  Then he looked at her thoughtfully as
something occurred to him.  "When we were discussing who should take
whose name you pointed out that this *is* the twenty-fourth century. 
So...how come you never asked me to marry you, B'Elanna?"

B'Elanna looked momentarily nonplused at his question, and then she
gave him a wary look.  "I don't know," she said honestly.  She
hesitated  for a moment.  "Would you have said yes?"

He could see that she meant the question seriously.  He tried to
imagine  a scenario where B'Elanna might have asked him to marry her.
He  couldn't quite envision it, since she was even more leery of
rejection  than he was.  But he had no doubt about his answer.
"Absolutely."

B'Elanna smiled, satisfied.  Then she squeezed his hand.  "I don't
think it  matters how many hours we spend together, or how many
interests we  have in common, Tom. You can pursue your own hobbies all
you want,  and I'll do the same.  As long as I have you here with me
at the end of  the day that's what matters."

"You don't have to worry about that," Tom told her firmly.  "But I
will  have you know that I have given up a thing or two for you."

B'Elanna looked at him curiously.  "You have?"

"Sure.  Like rescuing slave girls on Planet Ten."

"Slave girls?" B'Elanna echoed.  "On Planet Ten?"  Her eyes narrowed. 
"I don't recall that program."

"That's because I gave up that program quite a while ago, about the
time  we got together."

"Really?"  B'Elanna's gaze on him was astute.  "I assume these slave
girls were very...grateful for your heroic assistance, and rewarded
you  appropriately."

Tom cleared his throat.  "You could say that."

"I see," B'Elanna said softly.  She was silent for several moments,
and  then she scowled deeply.  "I have a problem with this, Tom."

Tom's eyebrows rose.  He hadn't anticipated that.  B'Elanna wasn't
prudish, or judgmental about anything he'd done before they'd become a
couple.  "You do?"

"Yes."  B'Elanna arched a brow.  "You didn't mention the slave girls
on  Planets One through Nine.  Don't tell me you just left them to
suffer  their tragic fates?"

Tom looked at her speechlessly for a moment, and then he laughed. 
"B'Elanna, you never quite say what I expect."

"That's good, isn't it?" B'Elanna asked archly.

"Hmmm."  Tom watched her drop her padd on the bed.  "For your
information Planets One through Five were rocky planetoids devoid of
atmosphere.  And Planets Six through Nine were gas giants.  Only
Planet Ten was suitable for sentient life."

"That's not a very likely planetary alignment," B'Elanna murmured as
she rubbed a hand lightly and provocatively over his t-shirt covered
chest.

"I guess planetary physics wasn't one of my priorities," Tom said
nonchalantly as she closed her fingers in the neck of his t-shirt. 
"Speaking of one of our common interests...horny tonight, honey?"

"Why should tonight be any different?" B'Elanna asked slyly as she
tugged the t-shirt down so she could tweak several of his chest hairs,
hard.

Tom winced.  "Ouch!"

"That's for calling me honey," B'Elanna said as she slipped one leg
over  him.

"So horny is okay?" Tom asked impishly.

B'Elanna grinned and shifted until she was straddling him.  Then she
paused and looked down at him with a curious expression.  "Do you
think anyone has more sex than us?"

Tom blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.  "On *this*
ship?   Hardly."

B'Elanna chuckled.  "Good point.  But do you think it's strange that
we  have more sex now than we did before we were married?"

Tom shrugged.  "It's relative."  He grinned roguishly.  "We had quite
a  bit of sex before we were married too, you know."

"True," B'Elanna said as she helped him pull off his t-shirt.

In turn he slipped the narrow straps of her gown off her shoulders and
skimmed his hands down her arms.  "And we've only been married for
three months, so maybe this is a symptom of the honeymoon phase."

"You think so?" B'Elanna asked, nibbling at his neck.

"No," he answered honestly, and with no small amount of satisfaction.

B'Elanna chuckled against his throat as she shifted again--and at that
moment the commlink beeped.

"Ensign Bristow to Lieutenant Torres."

"Dammit!" B'Elanna slapped Tom's shoulder hard with one hand. 
"Sorry," she said immediately, and rubbed the offended spot as she
answered the call with a soft growl.  "What?"

"The warp drive efficiency has dropped twenty percent in the past
thirty  minutes.  We think that one of the new infuser coils isn't
fully aligned--"

B'Elanna slipped off Tom.  "Start a level two diagnostic.  I'll be
there in  five minutes."

"We're pretty sure we've found the problem in the fifth infuser relay,
but  we wanted to confirm it before--"

"You can give me the details when I get there.  Torres out."

B'Elanna had already pulled off her nightgown, and Tom watched her
retrieve her uniform from the closet and step into her pants.  "Sorry
about this."

Tom shook his head.  "I've gotten used to it," he said, without
rancor.

She pulled on her jacket and fastened it, then sat down on the edge of
the  bed to put on her shoes.  "I'm pretty sure I know what the
problem is.  It  shouldn't take long to correct it."

"I guess this is what I get for being married to the most
indispensable  person on the ship," Tom said lightly.

"Hmmm."  B'Elanna leaned across the bed and kissed him quickly on the
lips.  "I should be back in an hour."

"I'll be here," Tom said softly as she rose.

B'Elanna smiled.  "I know."

Tom watched her rush out, and sighed.  Then he picked up her datapadd
that was half buried in the sheets, and read the words on the screen.

"K'Nesa stepped over the bloodied bodies and severed limbs of the
Romulans who'd fallen on the battlefield and raised her bat'leth.  'I
did  not need your help at the stream!' she snarled at Tor.  'I will
see you die  a hundred thousand deaths, by my hand!' "

Ah, a Klingon warrior romance.  One of B'Elanna's few vices, or so she
thought of her inclination with just a little embarrassment, though he
couldn't see any reason for it.  What fun was life if one couldn't
enjoy a  self-indulgence or two?

"Tor swung his bat'leth in a defensive arc, barely deflecting her
frontal  attack.   Their bat'leths reverberated loudly, and he gave
her a wide  smile that bared his sharp teeth.  'I look forward to
surviving every  attempt.'

"K'Nesa lowered her bat'leth glared at him.  'Contemptible targ," she
growled, before she turned and stalked away.  She knew with a mixture
of disgust and anticipation that they would meet again soon."

Tom chuckled.  Obviously these two were made for each other.  He  made
himself more comfortable against the pillows, and with datapadd  in
hand settled in contentedly to wait for B'Elanna.

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The End