Chapter 5: Before The High Council

"Ugh," Trip groaned after another long meditation session. "Two and a half hours, I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"You did well," T'Pol reassured him.

"We should add some furniture to that white space of yours," he said.

"Meaning?"

"I mean it's nice to be with you in your mind, but all we can do is stand, sit or walk around in that white space, can't we add some scenery?"

"That would be possible, but it would also distract from the main purpose of meditation."

"I guess, I'll hit the shower then, it was a long day," he groaned while getting up from the meditation cushion with some problems.

-=/\=-

T'Pol's head rested on Trip's shoulders. After an exhausting day, he had quickly succumbed to sleep, their entangled naked bodies giving each other comfort. T'Pol had decided, that, since the... 'icing on the cake' was obviously beneficial to his wellbeing and healing, it would be logical to sleep without any night-clothing. The wave of positive emotions that washed over through the bond when she snuggled up to him, wearing nothing but an elevated eyebrow, proved the validity of her assessment.

She had noticed that although it had only been a few days, since they started to spend the nights together, the frequent close contact between them had an impact on their bond. The transmission of emotions was still random and she could only pick them up, if his emotions were very strong. Those spontaneous transmissions became more frequent every day, although there were no signs of him picking up any signals from her, at least not consciously. Their meetings in the white room became easier as well. Trip was an eager learner and became more adept at meditating with her. T'Pol made sure to award his effort every time, with the smile that he cherished so much.

The young Vulcan was still trying to understand how such small things could make such a big difference. Smiling was just a small change in her face's appearance, yet it was obviously enough of motivation for him to endure hours of immobility and meditation, something that was definitely not a natural talent of his. Also the seemingly irrelevant fact of sleeping without clothing, making the difference between waking up in contentment or waking up with so much pleasure, that it was strong enough to wash over through the bond, was something her logic couldn't explain. It was obvious that she had to investigate human behavior more thoroughly. He had spent hours every day learning about Vulcan culture and traditions, it would only be fair to do so herself. She made a mental note to get hold of appropriate material from the Vulcan Science Academy and Ensign Sato the next day. With that thought in mind, she drifted into a good night's sleep herself.

-=/\=-

three days later...

Enterprise was on her way to Vulcan. They were expected to reach Vulcan orbit at 0900, giving them enough time to prepare for the departure of two of their officers. Trip and T'Pol had rarely left their quarters during their travel to the – now former - science officer's home world. Both were buried in PADD's studying each other's cultures and continued their intense meditation training. Although Trip was still as emotional as ever, he had learned to hide his emotions for longer periods and let them out with nobody around, preferably in their meditative white space. T'Pol had made a point of engaging him in long talks about his sister Lizzy and their baby Elizabeth, to stir emotions in him and took pride in the fact that it took sometimes more than an hour for him to succumb to tears. At times he even managed to return to calm without the need of her cradling him. She did embrace him though, even if he managed to calm himself without that. Depriving her mate of the cherished contact with her was not an option she was willing to take. Her logic failed at explaining it, but at times it was actually she, who yearned for the contact.

Trip had spent half a day with Kov, making sure that the transition was smooth. His engineering crew had taken Kov to their hearts immediately. The Vulcan, who was not the typical pointy eared variety, was very adept at interacting with the emotional humans around him, and unless Trip had completely lost his people skills, it seemed that Kov and Anna spent a lot more time conferring with each other than he had ever done.

Shran meanwhile had come to grips with his new position as second in command pretty well, too. Being surrounded by so many pink-skins was still new to him, but he had enough experience from his long stay aboard during the fight against the Romulan drone ship. At least he had both his antennae this time. Since most of the crew knew and respected him, interaction was surprisingly flawless. Off duty he spent much time with Malcolm trading weapon and fight stories or in the captain's mess, or he educated captain Archer about the finer points of drinking Andorian ale.

Soval had instructed the ship's 'First Couple' on how to care for their budding bond. His typical, clinically blunt approach had caused Trip to jettison his drink through his nose at more than one point, for instance when Soval completely stoically explained not to forget to 'consummate the bond' regularly. Damn! I like the sound of 'at, but there must be a more tactful way to say 'don't forget to boink each other regularly.' he had thought to himself. But he had gotten a good laugh out of it as well, when T'Pol's eye brows went into arctic explorer mode at the blunt instruction to jump each other's bones, even without a pon-farr around the next corner.

Through Soval's lectures Trip had learned the inner workings of Vulcan couples and he found that T'Pol's behavior towards him was not that different from any other Vulcan's behavior. Human contact needs were far less subtle than those of Vulcans, so instead of the ozh'esta, the Vulcan finger kiss, they exchanged human kisses. They did however resolve to practice the subtler Vulcan variety, when in public view.

Vulcan's had obviously no clue about caressing each other either, if Soval's lectures were any indication. While T'Pol obviously liked it when he brushed, groped or otherwise caressed several body parts, it was nothing to be found in any Vulcan textbook. Their idea of anything erotic was obviously switching the light off, and go straight for the main dish before rolling off each other again. It's a damn sin, to just wolf down the steak and leave the dessert to rot. he had thought with a chuckle.

-=/\=-

A happy sigh signaled Trip's return to consciousness, followed by the wave of pleasure transmitting through the bond that she had waited for in anticipation. He planted a kiss on her lips, as he idly brushed and groped a cheek of her well-shaped behind.

"Do I correctly believe that you have found another... 'delicious part'?"

"Damn right, darling," he said.

"I do not understand your fascination with specific body parts, but it would be dishonest to deny, that it is a most agreeable experience."

Trip burst into laughter.

"You find this amusing?"

"Yeah, nobody can say 'I like it when you grab my butt' and make it sound like a diplomatic introduction." he chuckled.

Suddenly, he turned serious again though, there playful banter forgotten in an instant.

"Listen darlin', I think I've got all the pieces together for that hearing of ours, but we must make sure that no one gets near us. Don't want any nerve pinches or anything."

"I doubt that anyone will try to assault me or you, but I concur that it would be advisable to be 'rather safe than sorry', as the human expression says. I spoke with the Captain yesterday. Minister T'Pau has agreed that we will be escorted by Enterprise's security personal. He will also send down Ensign Sato with us, so she can act as your translator in case of need."

"Well, I have you. Surely you can translate for me," he said with a hint of surprise.

"We will most likely be separated too distantly. There is reason to believe that the High Council will try to avoid interaction between us. We must also refrain from touching each other in such a public place. It would be considered most inappropriate, even between bond mates."

"Ya, figured that," he sighed as he rose from the bunk, unwillingly letting go of her soft derriere.

-=/\=-

"Ready to kick some butt?" Trip asked as the big doors to the main chamber of the Vulcan High Council opened.

"It would be inappropriate to revert to violence. I must warn you..."

"Just, drop it darlin'. Guess I'll have to teach you more about human phrases," he sighed.

"Agreed."

True to her promise Minister T'Pau allowed Malcolm and his group of heavily armed security officers, who had formed a protective circle around Trip, Hoshi, T'Pol and Soval, to escort them right into the chamber. She waved them to leave, once the four were safely standing in the center of the hall.

"This show of force was unnecessary. You will not be harmed." T'Pau said without as much as a greeting.

"Peace and long life," Trip opened in Vulcan, with a slight drawl and a flawlessly executed Vulcan salute.

"Live long and prosper," T'Pau answered and returned the gesture.

"With all due respect Minister, that advice should have been given to that colleague o' yours some days ago, when he tried to rip my brains to shreds." Trip declared.

"Minister V'Lon's behavior was regrettable and he has been made aware of his mistakes. We do not condone his misconduct and we regret the discomfort it has caused you. That does not however warrant your own misconduct. Ambassador Soval, what is your reason to attend this meeting?" T'Pau asked.

"Minister, I am here as legal counsel to both Commander T'Pol and Commander Tucker." Soval droned and nodded in her direction.

With the niceties out of the way, the commanders were seated on the left and right side of the hall, far from each other, as T'Pol had predicted. While Hoshi took a seat beside Trip, Soval seated himself with T'Pol.

V'Lon started the proceedings. "T'Pol of Vulcan, rise! You have been brought before the High Council to answer for several cases of grossly inappropriate behavior. You have publicly displayed emotional indulgence, intimate contact with a human and grossly disrespectful behavior toward a member of the High Council. Do you deny these charges?"

"Partially," T'Pol declared coolly after standing up. "I did act disrespectfully towards you, Minister when I momentarily lost the ability to suppress my emotions. I do disregard all other charges as irrelevant."

"You have been seen at the burial ceremony for that 'thing', holding that human's hand in yours. Do you deny that?" V'Lon asked. Trip winced at V'Lon's attempt to hurt them again.

"You might wish to remember, Minister, that Elizabeth T'Les was not a 'thing'," T'Pol replied in a heightened voice. "She was a child with both human and Vulcan genes. You have been made aware of that. As the child's mother I must insist that you pay her the respect she deserves. I do not deny nor do I regret the contact with Commander Tucker's hand. It was a human gesture of support. I felt responsible to help the Commander, as he was as distraught as I was, if not more."