Chapter 6: Touch Me!

Subcommander T'Pol resisted the urge to vocalize her relief with a sigh. If the removal of the only body hair that Vulcans had left below the head could cause such a strong positive reaction by visual stimulus already, it made it more likely that the experiment would not end in the disappointment she was afraid of. In fact she was quite convinced that the Commander would find a way to make the experience even more agreeable than she was expecting. He had done so for all experiments so far.

Her thoughts went back to the early days of the ship's mission, specifically the time she'd spent with the commander in the decontamination chamber after the away mission on Rigel X. Even though her relations to the ship's chief engineer had still been of a mostly antagonistic nature at that time, she quite vividly remembered the intensity of the Commander's touch when he had explored her physique much more thoroughly than the application of Doctor Phlox's balm strictly required.

Had he known what his gentle caressing of her ears had done to her composure?

For the moment there was a somewhat awkward silence though as both of them inspected each other's physique and she was quite sure he was as eager to start the experiment as she was even though T'Pol was not yet sure how the fact of being blindfolded would affect her. She had been deprived of her vision during the away mission on Paan Mokar, and she did not remember the experience as particularly pleasant.

To break the silence she decided to broach the subject of her cosmetic change to her appearance.

"I take it the decision to remove my pubic hair has influenced my appearance in a positive manner?" she asked and diverted her glance towards the cooler in which she had stored refreshments for them.

With satisfaction she noticed that he did not immediately collect a beverage. Instead he took the bottle of wine, opened its screw-top and served her a drink in the plastic cup provided with the bottle. It was not her usual practice to consume alcoholic beverages, but during the first part of the experiment, conducted with Ensign Sato the day before, it had helped to make her less tense and overcome the mild discomfort of being touched in intimate places by the human female.

Once he had settled with his beverage, the Commander gave the answer she had been waiting for.

"Well, as you can see," he said, pointing at his crotch. "I'm preferring the Brazilian option myself, but you shouldn't take that as a scientific finding. There are people and whole cultures, who consider pubic hair erotic. In fact Hoshi is a bit unusual for a Japanese in that regard. Most of her fellow women back home leave it on."

"So there are humans, who would regard the removal as detrimental to my appearance," she stated in search for clarification. When the engineer confirmed her statement with a nod, she entered the information in her PADD for later inclusion into her research paper.

They settled into silence again, both consuming their beverages. She was surprised that the Commander was still fully erect, but did not seem to be discomforted by this open manifestation of his arousal. Considering that she had effectively hoped for such an impact on him, T'Pol found it quite satisfying.

"So, how did it go with Hoshi?" he inquired about the first part of the experiment, calmly drinking his refreshment.

"It appeared to have been a much more agreeable experience for the ensign than it was for me. I found the use of blindfolds rather ... unsettling. Being deprived of a major sense is quite disconcerting."

"It's pretty important though," he argued. "How are you going to research the importance of touch and smell, if those inputs are overridden by the one sense which at least we humans rely on the most? On the other hand, if it makes you too uncomfortable, it may influence the results just as well. Maybe you shouldn't be doing that experiment at all."

"I believe I can manage, commander," T'Pol added hastily, hoping he wouldn't notice how disagreeable the thought of abandoning this part of the experiment was to her.

"Well then, Subcommander," he said with a smile. "Why don't we start 'managing'?"

She got up and to her surprise he fished something out of the pocket of his discarded uniform. She wondered why there was a visible blush on his face. But then she recognized the item.

"Commander, we do not plan to engage in intercourse. I can see no need for condoms. And even if we would, there would be no need as you cannot impregnate me."

"I know," he answered, still visibly embarrassed. "But when you ... um ... touch certain parts of me, there could be a messy surprise and I don't want to have stuff end up on your floor. It's been a while since I had... 'my tensions eased' as you like to put it."

She took the rubber item from him. "My floor is made of solid tritatium alloy Commander, so unless your ejaculate is acidic, any mishap would merely lead to me asking you to clean up after yourself."

With an entirely unseemly sensation of triumph, she could see him blush some more. For reasons she could not explain, the sight of the commander's discolored face was agreeable. Ensign Sato had used the adjective 'cute' to describe it.

She stood behind her test subject and carefully fixed the blindfold to his head before doing so with herself. With a voice command she started the camera to record the experiment, as for obvious reasons she would not be able to take notes.

Carefully she let her finger tips glide up the Commander's neck and started exploring his features while standing behind him. The first aspect she noticed was the clarity of his emotional state through the touch-telepathic contact. This had not been the case with Ensign Sato, leading her to the conclusion that the ship's chief engineer entered the experience completely open-minded ... and highly aroused.

Of course, as much had been obvious before she had obstructed their vision, but now she could clearly sense the emotional state he was in, and it was a revelation. The level of affection she was faced with upon her touch was unexpected to say the least. She had been suspecting for some time that she was more than just another crew member to the Commander, but the confirmation was so strong she had to interrupt the touch and the Vulcan took a step back, gasping when she realized what a profound effect this finding had.