Chapter 3: Date

“Hey Mal, got a minute?”

“Sure,” the Brit answered and indicated Trip to follow him into his cabin. “I’ve heard your cabin has grown considerably in size.”

“Yeah, I almost passed out when we came home from that away mission,” Trip answered with a chuckle.

Malcolm opened a nondescript drawer and took out a bottle, holding it in Trip’s direction as an unspoken offer.

“The ship’s most law-abiding officer has a secret stash of beer?” Trip asked with a grin.

“We obviously all have our dark secrets, Commander,” Malcolm replied dryly, when Trip took the proffered object.

“Thanx, Mal.”

“So, what happened to ‘I should never have gotten involved with her’?”

“Well, she finally gave up her reluctance to admit the obvious, that’s what happened.”

“Obviously. I think that, except for the two of you, pretty much everyone knew that one day you’d end up with the same address.”

“Tell me about it,” Trip said with a chuckle.

“The Captain seems remarkably laid back about it.”

“Yeah, good on him. Actually that’s why I’m here, Mal. I think I know, whom you would like to ‘share an address’ with.” Trip took a swig and regarded Malcolm with a mischievous grin.

“You do?”

“Mal, even T’Pol sees that you and Hoshi have it bad for each other. In fact, at this very minute she and Hoshi are having a little girl talk.”

“You know that it isn’t possible,” Malcolm answered. His sadness was badly hidden. “You and T’Pol have the same rank. The Captain would never be so benevolent about it if I started dating a subordinate.”

“He will, Mal. Jon didn’t make any announcement, because he doesn’t want his ship to turn into a high school, but Forrest gave him permission to exempt people from the no-frat rules if it doesn’t impact job performance. If anyone on this ship could separate duty and private time as good as T’Pol, it would be you.”

“So you honestly believe that Captain Archer would allow a Lieutenant to date an Ensign?” Malcolm replied with a disbelieving look as if Trip had just claimed that Earth was flat.

“Hell, he would allow you to date Porthos as long as you do your job on the bridge.” Both men shared a laugh about that.

“Thank you for that image, Trip.”

“You’re welcome,” Trip quipped and they toasted each other before a taking swig of their beer.

“I like the news,” Malcolm sighed with a far away look. “I’ll think about it.”

“Think about it?” Trip asked with a mock-incredulous look that soon turned into a grin. “You’ve had it bad for Hoshi for what? 2 years now – and you need to think about it?”

“Actually three,” Malcolm admitted shyly. “Ever since we barbecued the Klingons on that deuterium mining colony. A gorgeous girl who’s good with weapons, who can resist that...?”

“You should see T’Pol wielding a staff, hm...,” Trip added as both broke into laughter again.

“Actually, Mal,” Trip continued. “I already expected you to start brooding over it, probably for weeks. That’s why we decided to make next movie-night into a double-date. T’Pol’s proposing the same to Hoshi and you know what her answer will be.”

“She’ll probably squeal like a schoolgirl – ‘ooh, T’Pol, I’d like that’,” Malcolm quipped in a not very convincing imitation of Hoshi’s voice.

“Did you know that T’Pol and Hoshi had some sort of girl talk ever since we ran into that Romulan mine?” Trip asked.

“Now there’s a surprise. How did that come about?”

“Actually, I think I might have had something to do with it. A few weeks before that, she started having trouble in her science department. People wanted to be transferred to other departments, mainly engineering. So T’Pol came to me one day, asking for advice. We started to have regular meals together at that time.”

“You have no idea how hyped up the rumor mill was. Half the female contingent was hell bent on getting closer to you, but you started having meals with the resident Vulcan, of all people,” Malcolm said with a chuckle.

“After Hoshi was injured, I asked T’Pol how she was and she didn’t know, because she saw no logical reason to ask. For her it was logical that Phlox would say something if there were problems in ‘Ensign Sato’s healing process’. I explained how much it meant for crewmen if their boss dropped by now and then while they were laid up in sickbay.”

“And she took your advise?”

“Obviously. Ever since then she’s gone to Hoshi whenever she was confused about some human behavior or language. And with me teasing the hell out of her, you can imagine that she had plenty reasons to ask Hoshi about it.”

“I can imagine. So Hoshi and T’Pol are actually friends?”

“In human terms, they’re the best of friends, y’know, the type of girls who chat endlessly about how good their men were in bed last night. If there’s anyone on board, who knows even half as much about T’Pol as I do, it’s Hoshi.”

“I have trouble imagining T’Pol gossiping about your shagging performance,” Malcolm giggled.

“Well, probably not that, but for Vulcans, telling their age is considered somewhat intimate and Hoshi knows T’Pol’s age. That should tell you something.”

“I’ve never heard T’Pol address her as anything but ‘Ensign Sato’, though” Malcolm remarked in surprise about the news of Hoshi and T’Pol being such close friends.

“That’s because she doesn’t. After almost 3 years of girl-friendship, T’Pol still addresses her by rank. Hoshi said she’s still trying to find a way to explain that it is logical to address her by first name. That’s the only way T’Pol will accept it. Mind you, as soon as Hoshi finds such an explanation, it’ll be second nature for T’Pol to call her by name, that’s my darlin’ for ya,” Trip explained and for the umpteenth time Malcolm noticed that somewhat dreamy and goofy grin that crept up on Trip’s face, whenever he talked about T’Pol. Yep, they really have it bad for each other.

“Did you notice how much T’Pol changed the last days? Sometimes I think she’s trying to become human, like cracking that joke in sickbay for instance.” Malcolm inquired.

“She’s not trying to become human, but she’s trying to blend in more. That’s just T’Pol’s logic. She’s in a relationship with a human on a human ship. The same way, she’ll expect me to stop grinning at everything and to hold back on laughing when we’re among Vulcans. We’re trying to find some compromise that doesn’t require her to become too human or me to become too Vulcan. I’m quite surprised about how many concessions she’s willing to make.”

“Seems to work though. You two look good together,” Malcom said as he chucked the empty bottles into the recycler.”

“Works great so far. Gotta go, Mal. T’Pol has informed me that we ‘have ... plans’,” Trip said with an imitation of T’Pols raised-eyebrow gesture.

“Trip,” Malcolm called after his retreating friend. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Trip nodded, turning back just short of the door. “Knowing about your little secret stash now, I’ll probably blackmail you into sharing.”

“Get out,” Malcolm quipped with a chuckle.

Malcolm Reed slowly navigated the corridors of the ship. Sleep had not come easy after the exciting news that Trip had brought the night before. It was still an hour before the shift began, but he was too nervous to wait in his cabin or to sit in the Mess Hall. The introverted tactical officer was slighthy bemused by Trip’s unexpected psychological skills. He had foreseen his reaction with an impressive accuracy, knowing ahead of time his reluctance to make a move on Hoshi even knowing that such an action would now probably have the Captain’s blessing.

“Good morning.”

Malcolm was startled out of his brooding by an all too familiar female voice.

“Good morning, Ensign,” Malcolm answered, letting a bit too much of his nervousness seep into his voice.

“I heard that we have a date tomorrow,” Hoshi said shyly with an equally nervous smile.

“As I was informed by Commander Tucker.”

“Are you ok with that? You don’t have to...” Hoshi offered, slightly warily.

“Oh, I am, definitely,” Malcolm assured, slightly wary himself. “And you?”

“Malcolm,” Hoshi said, taking his hand. He looked nervously at their clasped hands. “I know you aren’t like Trip. ‘Hey babe, I like ya. Wanna go on a date?’” she quipped, imitating Trip’s southern twang with the sharp skills of a linguist.

Malcolm laughed out loud and Hoshi smiled at the sight of Malcolm’s guffaw.

“Actually, I find it cute that T’Pol is going along with Trip in playing matchmaker,” she added with her patented coy smile.

“He’s right though,” Malcolm admitted. “I would have said nothing for weeks, brooding about how to ask you on a date. It’s not my strong suit.”

“I know,” Hoshi giggled. “That’s why, as soon as T’Pol told me about the relaxed no-frat rules, I had decided that, if you hadn’t made a move by this afternoon, I’d be knocking on your door tonight.”

“Looks like our friends are even more impatient than you are,” Malcom answered with a chuckle.

“Join me for breakfast,” Hoshi offered, still smiling.

“Sure, ma’am.”

Trip and T’Pol waited at the entrance to the mess hall, watching Malcolm and Hoshi approach arm in arm.

“Hoshi, Malcolm,” T’Pol greeted with a nod and noticed Malcolm’s surprised look about being addressed by his first name. It seemed that Hoshi had found a logical explanation.

“T’Pol, Trip,” he returned.

“What’s showing?” Hoshi asked, all smiles.

“Heartbreak Ridge,” Trip said and made a gallant gesture for all of them to enter. A lot of already seated crewmen turned their heads and broke into smiles and chuckles about the entering foursome.

“Must be something in the air,” Phlox mused and flashed his trademark acre-wide smile.

“I’ll get the popcorn,” Trip said and walked off, while the others looked for 4 adjacent free seats.

“Do you know that movie?” Hoshi asked.

“I’ve never seen it before, but Trip seems to like it. Something about Marines, so I’m sure it’ll have weapons in it,” Malcolm explained, chuckling.

“Good,” Hoshi grinned and snaked her arm around his.

Trip returned just in time for the start of the show, placing a big bowl of popcorn between himself and T’Pol, giving the second one to Malcolm and Hoshi.”

About an hour later T’Pol leaned in and whispered in Trip’s ear. “I appears that Hoshi and Malcolm have progressed in their courtship most expeditiously.”

Trip glanced over and catched the final moments of Hoshi planting a kiss on a very flustered Malcolm’s cheek.

“You do know that you are supposed to watch the movie, not Mal ‘n Hoshi darlin’, don’t ya?” Trip whispered back with an amused grin.

“We are watching an aging man with severe language assembly deficits show frequent emotional outbursts to his subordinates. He is also most cumbersome in his interaction with his desired mate. I find the interaction of Malcolm and Hoshi far more fascinating and enlightening. I still need to learn a great deal about how to interact with a human mate.”

Trying desperately not to disturb the other viewers by laughing out loud, Trip kissed the tip of her ear and whispered “You’re doing fine, darlin’. Just watch the aging man.”

Archer slowly walked through the corridor in a glum mood. Porthos trundled along with an excitedly wagging tail. Their walks after movie night were the little beagle’s favorite time as the stream of returning crew members would mean that enough passers by would stop to pet him or give him a little scratch behind the ears.