Chapter Text
The first time Thera Regina noticed the scent, she ignored it.
Though usually, her species was able to discern one scent from another, Deep Space Nine was full of so many strange, new, and different scents, that she assumed that this was just one of them. The second time she noticed it, however, was a couple of weeks later, when she was having lunch with her best friend from Starfleet Academy Dr. Julian Bashir and his Cardassian friend Garak in the replimat. Again, she ignored it, thinking that it had something to do with the infinite diversity of the people and the food by which she was surrounded. After that second time, she went into heat, and while she was able to deal with it on her own, she hadn’t any idea of what had caused it, as her species only went into heat upon finding their mate.
Surely there was no way that her mate was aboard this station at the same time as her? That would have to just be coincidence, and she -like Garak- didn’t trust coincidences. Her first thought, -and a rather harrowing one if she were to be honest-, was that her mate was Julian, though her mother had assured her, that had Julian been her mate, she would’ve gone into heat long before now. Well, that just left any number of people, and until she found out exactly which one it was, she’d have to deal with her heat cycles on her own. At that, another thought came to her, what if, whoever was her mate didn’t want her in that way? Again, her mother assured her, that as long as they were in her life, and she could be near them for the first week of her cycle without having to become involved with them on a romantic level, she would be fine.
If she was honest, it alleviated her fears that she wouldn’t have to practically force someone to be with her, especially if they were interested in someone else. It still left the problem though, of finding out exactly who her mate was, and where they were. The only thing she could do, is figure out when the scent assaulted her, and from there she could figure out from whom it was coming. So that’s what she did, every time she was in a new situation, she discreetly scented the air, trying to gauge whether the aroma was wafting around or not, but it wasn’t until she had lunch with Julian and Garak, that the scent hit her again.
Okay, so it was someone in the Replimat, who went there at the same time as Julian, Garak, and herself. Obviously, they were sat rather close to their table, or else the scent wouldn’t be this strong, but where was it coming from? This time, Julian seemed to notice that something was up with her, and he asked her about it. “Can you not smell it?” She asked. Julian took a deep breath and shook his head. “Smell what?” He questioned. “What’s going on Thera?” The fact that she was the only one who could smell it, had her growling quietly. Even Garak discreetly scented the air, and it was clear that even he couldn’t find what it was that was driving Thera to the brink of insanity.
“Ever since I came onto this station, there’s been a scent, it’s a natural scent, not man-made and it’s mouth-watering! I don’t know where it’s coming from!” She snarled. Both the brows of Julian and Garak rose to their hairlines at the aggression with which she stated her dilemma. It was clear that Julian was concerned about whether she was having olfactory hallucinations or not, but at the same time he was aware that, as she was a Shifter, her sense of smell was almost ten times that of his own. “Thera, where’s the best place for you to find a scent on someone?” He inquired. Thera’s head snapped back towards him, and she had to think about the answer, as her brain seriously wasn’t in gear at the moment. “Uh, there’s three places where the scent is strongest on a humanoid body. The genital area’s the most obvious, the inside of the wrist and on the neck, just behind the ears,” she replied, as if she was in a daze.
As he was a doctor, Julian knew about the two obvious areas, the genital area, and the spot behind the ears, he, however, did not know about the wrist. “Okay, so what is it about this mouth-watering scent that’s driving you bonkers?” He requested. Again, Thera turned towards him, and she opened her mouth to speak, just as Garak stood to remove his plate from the table. Almost immediately, she stood as well and followed the Cardassian. Garak, sensing that someone was right behind him, turned quickly in order to catch his pursuer off-guard, only to find that it was Thera. He gave her a slight simper and opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a rather feral growl. Instantly, the ex-spy was on his guard and his eyes began to shift between Thera and Julian, who had followed the former, curious as to why she’d chased after Garak.
“Thera?” Julian ventured. The only reply he received was a fierce growl, and the aforementioned female took a step forward, placing herself in Garak’s personal space. As soon as the latter made to move, the Shifter uttered yet another growl, causing the Cardassian to halt his advance. Again, he eyed Julian, who was frowning at the seemingly threatening behaviour of his female friend. “Uh…Doctor. What is she doing?” Garak demanded. Julian looked to his reptilian friend and gave a slight shrug. “I don’t know Garak, I’ve never seen her act this way,” he answered. Julian stepped forward and placed his hand on Thera’s arm to try and break the spell that she seemed to be under, but it only resulted in her grabbing his arm, wrenching it up around his back and slamming his face into the nearest table with a vicious snarl.
The sharp bang Julian created when he was slammed into the surface, had people stopping their own conversations and looking around to see what was going on. At first, Julian struggled to get out of the hold, but he found that the more he struggled, the louder the growl that emanated from his friend. In the end, he stopped struggling, and Thera seemed to calm down, until she let him go. When he was sure that she wasn’t going to slam him into the table again, he stood himself up and shook out his arm in order to get the blood circulating again. The sound of a quiet rumble behind him, caused him to turn towards his friends, and upon doing so, he saw Thera lower her head to Garak’s neck and slide upwards until her nose was settled behind his ear. Garak for his part, looked absolutely shocked at the turn of events especially as said events were happening in a public space! The Cardassians were a secretive race by nature, -with the exception of a select few-, and Garak was one of the most secretive Cardassians that Julian had ever met.
Julian could tell that his friend wasn’t in any way comfortable with how Thera was practically salivating over him, in view of everyone in the Replimat, but given what he’d witnessed when Julian himself had tried to touch the Shifter, it was also clear to him that he didn’t want a repeat performance of that. Suddenly, Kira appeared next to Garak, and the second Thera spotted the Bajoran, she sprang into action. She ripped herself away from the Cardassian, and took on a defensive crouch, glaring and snarling at the Major. Obviously, Kira was confused as to what she’d done to deserve this kind of treatment, so she held her hands up in what she believed was a placating way, only to have Thera snarl at her even more and advance forward. “Whoa! Hey! What’s going on here?” She demanded. Just as Julian was about to open his mouth to speak, there was a snarl from the Shifter.
“Mine!”
At first, both Kira and Julian were perplexed by the statement. What exactly was Thera claiming was hers? For how smart he was, Julian really didn’t understand what it was that was happening here, and therefore he had no idea how to react in a situation like this. “I don’t know what’s going on Kira! Garak got up to put his plate in the replicator, and Thera just went mad,” he exclaimed. Kira looked between Thera and Garak, seemingly in deep thought. She didn’t know what was happening, but she did know that if it wasn’t got under control soon, there would be trouble. “Thera, I don’t know what’s going on, but you need to calm down,” she said. With her hands up still, she took a step forward, causing Thera to give an even more vicious snarl.
“Mine!”
Confusion was written all over the faces of Julian, Garak and Kira as the Shifter just didn’t seem to want Kira anywhere near her; or was it Garak that Thera didn’t want Kira to come anywhere near to? Just as Kira was about to reach for her weapon, Odo appeared in the replimat, followed by one of the Bajorans who had been sitting at a table in the far corner. “What is going on here?” The Changeling inquired. While Julian related the story to the Security Chief, Kira stepped away from Garak, causing Thera to calm down a little. For all his training, nothing could’ve prepared the ex-spy for what was currently occurring, for once he was stunned into silence.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a transporter beam, and before he knew it, Thera was no longer in front of him, and he gave a sigh of relief. His posture seemed to relax too, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that Julian was right there, in front of him. “Are you alright Garak?” He asked. The Cardassian plastered on a smile and gave a singular nod. “Yes thank you Doctor,” he replied. “What a strange turn of events. I wonder what set her off.” Julian shrugged and gently placed his hand upon his friend’s shoulder. “I have no idea, but I promise you, I’m going to get to the bottom of it,” he reassured. Garak gave another nod, and turned towards Odo, giving him a slight bow of the head in thanks, before turning back towards Julian. “Well, I think that’s quite enough excitement for one day. Same time next week Doctor?” He inquired. Julian smiled and nodded meekly, waving his friend off as he turned to meander back to his shop.
For now, Thera was locked up in her quarters, but Julian was determined to find out exactly what had just happened between his friends. Finding out meant that he’d have to visit Thera, and he could only hope that she’d be in a better mood by the end of his shift.
Chapter Text
The first time Julian Bashir met Thera Regina; he fell flat on his arse after having bumped into her. Due to having been augmented, his eidetic brain allowed him to relive the memory as if it was yesterday.
Flashback
Julian Subatoi Bashir exited the classroom with his nose buried in his PADD, the book on the screen was called ‘The Fundamentals of Applied Pathophysiology,’ one that he’d been really anxious to read. After all, if one knew the physiology of a disease or illness, one would know how to treat it. In theory. He was so engrossed in his book, that he didn’t see her coming towards him in the busy hall, until he collided with her. In that moment, time seemed to slow down, as his PADD flew out of his hand, his rucksack dropped off of his shoulder and his body began to fall backwards at -what seemed to be- a glacial pace. The second his backside hit the floor though, everything sped back to normal.
“Sorry!” He cried. “Sorry, just really into this book and, I know that I should’ve been looking at where I was going, but I just wanted to-.” His eyes met hers and for a second, he thought that she was going to pummel him, until she gave a small -albeit shy- smile and held out her hand. “No, I’m the one who should’ve been paying more attention to my surroundings,” she said. “Here, let me help you up.”
Julian took hold of her hand and was surprised when she pulled him up as if he weighed nothing. He gave a nervous chuckle and thanked her meekly. “No problem. I’m Thera Regina,” she said. Julian offered his own name and took Thera’s hand when she offered it to him to shake. This time though, she didn’t let go and her face seemed to take on a blank look. “Uh, is something wrong?” He asked.
Thera seemed to shake herself out of whatever stupor she’d been put in and gave him another smile. “Not at all Mr. Bashir. Are you headed to lunch?” Julian nodded and the young woman seemed to give a slight flick of her head. “In which case, join me in the mess,” she said. Due to the fact that he only had one friend in the academy, Julian all but jumped at the opportunity to make a new one and followed her to the mess hall. After that, the two of them became good friends, probably even better friends than he was with Felix.
End Flashback
It hadn’t been until a couple of months later, when he’d found out that he’d been genetically augmented, that Thera had let on that she’d known from the second she’d helped him to his feet. Of course, he’d asked her how she’d known about it, and whether his augmentations were the reason she was friends with him. She’d seemed rather insulted that he’d assume that she was friends with him because of his ‘modifications’ but informed him of her dual heritage and that whether he was genetically augmented or not, she would’ve been friends with him. After all, his genetic modifications were as much a part of him as being able to shapeshift into an animal was a part of her.
He remembered her asking him if he was friends with her due to her being a Shifter, and he’d told her that ‘of course not! Until you told me, I didn’t even know,’ prompting Thera to tell him that he’d pretty much answered his own question. He came out of his reverie just as he arrived at the door to Thera’s quarters and shook his head. Reaching out, he pressed the chime and waited.
From where he was stood, he could hear the occupant telling someone named ‘Talok’ to ‘get in the bedroom you naughty boy.’ Had his hair been longer on his forehead, his eyebrows probably would’ve disappeared into his hairline. Did she have someone else over, a lover perhaps? Did she even have a lover? No, it didn’t make sense. If she had a lover, she wouldn’t be on the verge of going into her first heat due to Garak’s scent. “Come in Julian!” She called.
At this point, he didn’t ask how she knew that it was him, as it was probably something to do with scent anyway. As he stepped into the room, he again, discreetly lowered his nose to his own armpit, and upon finding that he smelt a little…ripe, made a disgusted face. If he could smell how bad he smelt, what was it like for her? He then realised that he probably should’ve gone back to his own quarters and freshened up first. Oh well, too late now.
When he saw her, she was sitting herself on her couch with a PADD in her hands. She gave him a bit of a smile and then motioned for him to sit next to her, an invitation of which he accepted. The cushion he plonked his arse on wasn’t as cold as he’d thought it would be, in fact it was quite warm. Warmer than it had any right to be unless Thera had been sprawled across it whilst reading. However, he wasn’t here to interrogate her about whether she’d had other guests in her quarters or not, he was here to continue the conversation about her heat cycle from the infirmary.
“Why Garak?” He asked, as she leaned forward to place her device on the coffee table in front of them. It was almost comical, the way she stopped with her arm outstretched and her body at an odd enough angle, that had she been human, probably would’ve caused a strain in her back muscles. The PADD made a slight ‘pat, pat’ on the darkened glass of the tabletop, and he watched as she leaned back and drew her knees up to her chest. Had she been anyone else, he would’ve thought that such a move was indicative of being uncomfortable, with Thera though, it indicated the opposite.
“Honestly? I don’t know Julian,” she admitted. “From what my mother told me earlier, we Shifters don’t choose whose scent our bodies react to. I wish it was that simple, and I’m sure that the Shifter Elders wish that too. Especially Onil.” She noted the look of confusion on Julian’s face, but simply shook her head, signalling that it was a story best left for another time. She gave a bit of a sigh and crossed her arms upon her knees, before resting her chin on the top arm and staring at her friend. Julian nodded and moved so that he had one knee bent sideways on the couch and the other flat on the floor, he turned his body so that he was facing her and smiled. “So, you said something about your heat cycle getting worse if it’s ignored. Will it get bad enough that you’ll be forced to take a mate, even if it’s not Garak?” He asked.
“No, not at all. I mean, I could scratch the itch with another male, but that’s all it would do. I would only be using his body, there wouldn’t be any emotional connection,” she explained. “Mostly though, if Garak doesn’t accept me as his mate, I’ll be heartbroken sure, but I’ll be able to get through my heat with toys and my hands.” If he was honest, the thought of Thera masturbating -though it was a perfectly natural and healthy activity-, had his face heating up with embarrassment. He cleared his throat and nodded, before inhaling deeply and letting the breath out slowly. “So, it’s definitely not a….”
“Fuck or Die thing? No Julian it’s not,” Thera said. “It’ll be uncomfortable for me, but it won’t kill me.” She watched as his shoulders seemed to sag with relief and gave a bit of a chuckle. Standing up, she gave a bit of a stretch and wandered over to the replicator. “Did you want a drink?” She asked. Julian turned towards her and nodded, asking for a Tarkalean Tea. Thera turned back to the replicator and ordered Julian’s tea, before ordering her own Earl Grey tea. Once they’d materialised, she took them and headed back towards the couch. “The only thing I should tell you, is that during the third week, I probably won’t be eating a lot,” she said.
“Wh-” he began, his brow dipping into a confused frown, before he remembered what she’d said about the third week of her mating cycle. “Oh yeah, because you’ll be more focussed on other things, right?” He asked. Thera nodded and handed him his tea as she sat down, pulling one leg up under her backside as she did. Julian arranged himself so that he was in the same position, only facing her and took a sip of his tea. “Can I ask you something?” He inquired. Giving a bit of a smirk, Thera looked towards him. “You just did, but I guess you can ask another question,” she replied. Julian gave a fake laugh, before putting his cup down on the table in front of the couch.
“Who’s Talok?” Thera stopped with her cup against her lips and caught her friend in her peripheral vision, she took a sip and then put it down on the table. Turning towards him, she raised an eyebrow and folded her hands in her lap. “I think it’ll be better to show you who he is, rather than tell you,” she said. With that, she rose from the couch and headed over to the bedroom doorway, which had a force-field across it. With a sigh, she called for the computer to lower the force-field. The computer did so, and as soon as it was down, a huge animal came lolloping out of the room and reached Julian in three bounds.
“Talok, nicely,” Thera ordered. The animal looked around to her, before turning back towards Julian, who seemed to be trying to climb up the back of the couch. Thera looked up at her friend and chuckled a little. “Julian, calm down. He won’t hurt you,” she said. The Doctor calmed himself down and sat himself back on the couch. “He’s a Sehlat isn’t he?” He asked. Thera nodded and moved to sit down next to her friend. She reached over for Julian’s hand, and slowly pulled it towards the nose of the creature, who sniffed at it and nuzzled it. Thera then let go of Julian’s hand, nodding at him and picking up her tea. “He seems pretty friendly,” he said.
Thera chuckled a little and shook her head. “Only because I told him to be friendly, that and you have my scent on you. If it weren’t for that, you’d’ve probably lost your hand,” she stated. Julian gave an audible swallow and looked to his friend with fear in his eyes. Thera chuckled into her tea and shook her head a little. Before long, Talok calmed and lay himself down next to Julian’s feet. The two friends chatted for a little while longer, before Julian declared that it was late, and that he had a long shift in the infirmary tomorrow. Thera nodded and walked him to the door, saying goodbye with a hug, and smiling him off. Once he was gone, Thera yawned and patted her thigh as she walked into her bedroom. Though the bed wasn’t that big, she was used to sleeping with Talok, and found it more comfortable than sleeping alone. She settled down in the bed and called for the lights to be turned off, and when they were she settled into a deep sleep with the Sehlat.
xanthewhiskers23 (Guest) on Chapter 1 Tue 25 Jan 2022 10:17PM UTC
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Guest (Guest) on Chapter 2 Thu 13 Jul 2023 05:56PM UTC
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