Oneshot. Trip and Malcolm discuss Malcolm's "stinky" dream while having lunch in the mess.
. . .
In the mess hall...
Malcolm searched the shelves for pineapple, but saw nothing there with the delicious fruit. Finally he settled on a tuna steak with mango salsa. He grabbed the plate, slid shut the door, and walked over to where Trip was sitting. Trip was eating pecan pie, as usual.
"Feel like having a pessimistic fool for company?" Malcolm asked.
"Uh, sure," Trip replied, looking a little surprised. He gestured to the chair across from him. "Have a seat."
"Thanks," Malcolm said, sitting down. He immediately began digging into his meal. The tuna was grilled nicely, and the mangoes were good, but it didn't beat pineapple in Malcolm's opinion. "Anything interesting happen lately?"
"Other than gettin' stuck in the same shuttle as you? Nuthin'." Trip gestured to his pecan pie. "Wanna bite?"
"No, thank you," Malcolm told him.
A few minutes of silence passed. Then Trip asked, "So who's Stinky?"
Malcolm almost choked on a bit of mango. He swallowed it, though, and asked, "What?"
"Who's Stinky?" Trip repeated, looking at Malcolm.
Malcolm flushed slightly in the face. "It was only a dream. I'm sure plenty of people talk about things that don't make sense when they're dreaming."
"I still wanna know," Trip pressed. Suddenly he grinned slightly. "Is it a girl?"
Malcolm's face became more red and he looked down at his plate. "It's... private."
"Come on, Malcolm," Trip said. "I won't tell anybody, I promise."
Malcolm looked back up at Trip and replied in a low voice, "I... dreamt about T'Pol."
Trip just stared, dumbfounded. "What?"
"I dreamt about T'Pol."
"Uh, what'd you two exactly do...?" Trip wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"We flirted, I suppose," Malcolm told him, looking around to make sure no one was listening. "I kept... calling myself Stinky."
Trip continued to stare. "I don't know whether to laugh or just forget this weird conversation altogether."
"I would prefer the latter," Malcolm replied, poking at his tuna.
"Same here."
. . .
The end! :) Hope you all enjoyed, despite its shortness.