The first time Jonathan Archer meets Hoshi Sato, he notices that she is beautiful, in a way that is so very different from most other women. Some are physically striking, others shine with something innate, and still others have a near witchy way about them. Hoshi is some of all three, he thinks, distantly noting that in the shadows on the edge of the outdoor classroom, a slender, dark haired man is strolling. It takes time, but he convinces Hoshi to come.
When he interviews what appears to be his best candidate for Armoury officer, he is surprised that Hoshi storms in, her gaze only for the soft spoken, sharply uniformed Brit across from Archer. She shouts
"Really, Malcolm? The Enterprise? Why-" She doesn't finish her exclamation, because Malcolm rises, fluidly, not speaking, to frame her face with graceful hands and lays a kiss on her that shuts her right up. When they part, Jon barely catches his murmured sentence.
"You're my wife, Hoshi. How can I protect you, as I swore I would, if I am not with you?" She tears up, just a little, nestling into his embrace as his arms wrap around her.
"Sorry." She mumbles, finally daring to return her gaze to his own. Jon watches wordlessly as she melts in the other man's eyes, as if comforted by what she saw. Clearing his throat, Jon leans over and announces
"You've got the job, Reed. But Hoshi?" She looks at him, eyebrow raised, and Jon asks
"Why are you going by Sato if you're married?" She shifts uneasily, when her husband runs a hand over her hair, and it is Malcolm who replies
"I am what you would call a former intergalactic operative for Earth, Captain. Much as I would like her to carry my name, it offers Hoshi a little protection to keep her maiden name." With a nod, Jon dismisses the duo, exiting his office with them, verbally enforcing their 'unmarried' cover by asking in earshot of several officers if Lieutenant Reed would mind assisting him in showing Ensign Sato around. Reed answers with his usual austerity, and away they go.
When it comes out, as things are wont to do, that Ensign Sato is married to the Chief Armoury officer, Malcolm 'Stick up his arse' Reed, she is cornered by female crewmen in the mess hall. Elizabeth Cutler, however, does not ask why, how or even when, but simply
"He's so…stiff. How do you deal with it?" Hoshi laughs, and laughs, finally gasping out
"He's not stiff! He's… austere." When she has regained her breath, she dons a Cheshire grin and adds
"Besides, reformed rakes make the best husbands!"
At that moment, Malcolm comes over, extending a hand and saying solicitously,
"Hoshi darling, I know you did not get enough rest last night, perhaps a massage will help?" The innocent face is distinctly at odds with his wicked gaze. Hoshi, of course, smiles delightedly, and purrs
"Why thank you, husband. Perhaps I will even return the favor." They exit together, Hoshi throwing a triumphant look over her shoulder as she points to Malcolm's butt. It, the women observe, is a very nice butt.
Malcolm is carefully watching Hayes and Hoshi from the corner of his eye, as they converse, from where he sits with Trip and a newly arrived Jon and Phlox. Archer asks with unfaked concern
"Malcolm?" Without moving his head, Malcolm says softly
"I trust Hoshi, but I also know how attractive she is and Hayes is telegraphing." The men realize ribbing Malcolm about this was a Very Bad Idea, but when Hoshi breaks off her conversation with Hayes, they are relieved when she comes over to promptly drop herself in his lap, and it is telling that he doesn't protest. Malcolm is no longer focused on the MACO, intent on his wife, but the others see Hayes watching, with just the slightest bit of dismay plain on his features.
Hoshi studies her husband. He isn't talking, but that's okay, he'll talk later. He was being very good, and she is very flattered that he believes she is still attractive to other men. She knows she is, but that he knows and trusts her regardless, and is worried about the men coming onto her. Well, her stoic Brit is just wonderful somedays. So, she decides, she will reward him.
"You know, Mal-" She begins, pleased when he looks straight at her
"My hearing has improved since I came onboard Enterprise, and that you still find me attractive, after all these years, but trust me not to stray…Well. I think you should get something out of your wonderful attitude. Any ideas?" His pupils dilate, and his voice acquires the slightest rasp when he speaks
"Darling, I think I have just the one." She wants to squeal now, because he has that look in his eye, the one that says she'll get so thoroughly fucked, her brains will leak out her ears. Oh, she revises that opinion, almost immediately. He's going to reward her for rewarding him. Her pussy clenches together, moistening at the thought of his mouth on it. Hoshi barely hears her husband bid their friends goodbye as he hefts her up against his chest, and doesn't care how many people see them because he's murmuring in her ear, sexy promises that make her melt. Oh, and how she melts, because he never treats her as disposable, always treats her as something precious, someone to whom promises must be kept. Promises he keeps.
They spend hours making love after the encounter with Hayes. Malcolm goes down on her for so long, she thinks she just might black out before they get around to sex. She doesn't, but the idea is intoxicating, somehow. He's never, in the history of their marriage, asked for a blow job, but she has, on occasion, given him one. He is unlike any other lover she could have had, in that all the things he tries with her are fun, pleasurable for both of them, or sometimes, just her. He insists her pleasure stimulates him quite well, but…
Sometimes she coaxes him into allowing her to blow him and it is her favourite way to please him, because he doesn't force his cock down her throat, doesn't bunch his hands in her hair. The fact she has to coax him allows her time to prepare, and prepare she must. He so dislikes the idea of her discomfort, that even a blowjob means padding the floor where she will kneel. Silly as some people might have seen it, she loves that he won't allow her to be uncomfortable or afraid, if he can do anything about it.
He is very much unlike any other man. Stereotypically, men are untidy, loud, pigs. Malcolm, by contrast, is military neat, quiet and polite nearly to a fault. For all his goodness, he does have faults. Like chewing out his people in British slang, pestering the Captain about security issues, his over formality when nervous. But, he is a good man, and the one she loves to madness.
Hoshi's family wholeheartedly approve of Malcolm. He is too calm to every strike Hoshi without some kind of interference, he is kind to her younger family members and respectful to the elder. But most obviously, he dotes on her ridiculously. Oh, they know he will never lavish her with extravagant gifts, but so much the better, because he brings her things that interest her, speak to her spirit, as it were. But, perhaps the biggest selling point was an overheard conversation, from their first visit. Hoshi and Malcolm were having a disagreement in the room that Oba-ue Masako, the head of the family, had bugged.
"Malcolm?"
"Yes, love?"
"Do you remember, before we left, you ah, sucked me off?"
He sounded slightly testy when he responded, and a tad clipped.
"Yes, I remember, Hoshi, but this is your family's home, and besides, there's nothing soft for you to kneel on, even if you did want to return the favour."
Even scandalized, the family listened intently, shocked when Hoshi answered petulantly
"I do want to suck you off, because you never ask! Why not, Malcolm?" He took a minute to respond, but when he did…
"I wasn't raised like you, Hoshi. I was raised by a cold man who ruled his family, and that is not the man I want to become. I've been a military operative, seen horrid things. Of all I will do, I will not add mistreating the woman I adore to that list, not if I can help it." He is vehement, and Hoshi perseveres
"How is my giving you a blowjob mistreatment?" He sighs, and elaborates bluntly
"Part of my training was to allow another trainee, a female, to seduce me. This was all before you, of course, as I was single. That was my first one, and-" He trails off, and Hoshi sighs her defeat before assuring him
"I'll convince you, in time." His bland reply exposes the game
"Perhaps when we are not in your family home where your relatives are listening in."
Jeremiah Hayes does not understand how Hoshi Sato can adore Malcolm Reed but not be attracted to him in the slightest. He can tell by the way she focuses on her work when the shorter man is absent, and the way she lights up when he's in the room. The man himself doesn't change at all, or so he thought.
After that incident in the mess, where Sato broke off a conversation to sit in Reed's lap, only to be swept away in his arms after purring in his ear, Hayes had looked more closely. Reed was an austere, formal man, but he also had a sense of humour, and after his relationship with Sato came out, he relaxed. Where before his staff had been loyal but weren't exactly enamoured of the Brit, they were now loyally dedicated, and happy to work with him.
So, he waited until he could speak to Sato, and it didn't occur until a ship wide celebration for their successful return. Reed had gone to get something for her, and Hayes walked up to the woman.
"Sato?" She turned, pursed her lips unhappily and asked abruptly
"You want to know why him?" When he nodded, she smiled dreamily and listed off
"He adores me, but won't pander to me. I can't count the times he's soothed my nightmares, held me when I cried, fed me when I was hungry. He doesn't expect the same from me, and he is so grateful that I do, we rarely fight. He doesn't talk in the conventional sense, and learning his language was the best challenge of my life. Sometimes," She confessed, a blush colouring her cheeks
"I feel inadequate, like I'm not enough, and then he sweeps me off my feet and won't let go. I'm so lucky, I can't tell you how much!" She finishes breathlessly, and turns when Reed replies quietly from her elbow
"You aren't the only one darling." She is absorbed in him immediately, stepping closer and tucking herself under his arm, cooing up at him when he chuckles at a joke from another nearby officer. It's then that Hayes sees the change he dismissed as nonexistent. Reed's eyes soften from a hard, blued steel, to a blazing indigo fixed on Sato's mushy dark eyes. With a sigh, Hayes moves away, deciding to shelve all this as a learning experience.
Aiden Dauntless, whose grandfather changed their surname, is actually of English stock, as is his old friend and current CO, Malcolm Reed. He is the only one on the ship who knows Hoshi has already gotten the other man to the altar. Oh, he knows that when it's safe, if she desires it, they will have a grand wedding for all to see. But. Malcolm has more on his plate than anyone but Hoshi realizes.
First, at present, he is the Chief Armoury Officer on Enterprise. He is responsible for the safety of the entire crew, and Archer, Aiden thinks ruefully, makes it difficult.
Second, there is the matter of his family estate. Due to the fact Malcolm's late grandfather, Marcus, the Lord of Glastonbury and Headmaster of Glastonbury Tor, the foremost military school in England, had left Malcolm everything, Malcolm had his grandfather's duties to the people of his estate and the school.
Third, Malcolm was the Head of the Reed family, per his late grandmother's wishes.
Fourth, Section 31. Oh, nominally, Malcolm was done with them, but were you ever done being an operative?
Five, Hoshi. Perhaps he should have listed her first, but did it really matter? She was Malcolm's whole world, and she made him happy. The duties he'd listed before Hoshi were inherited, but Mal had chosen his bride, and his duty to her.
On top of all that, Bernard, current monarch of Britain, and a school chum of theirs from the Tor, was making noises about knighthood, or, god forbid, the Earldom of Windsor. Mal would hate it, but he would accept so he wouldn't shame Bernard, and so he could give Hoshi the title of Countess.
Aiden shuddered. For all Mal would hate the responsibility of the Earldom (the day to day stuff he would immediately shove off to his trusted butler Sebastian) he would take great pleasure in boasting about Hoshi being 'a grand Countess'. Hoshi, being who she was, would take equal delight in calling her husband "his Grace."
For all that he is 'one hell of a butler' as Lady Hoshi has been quoted to say about him, Sebastian Smith, steward of Glastonbury and chief adviser to the headmaster of the Tor, is satisfied with simple things. Like when Master Marcus announced that Master Malcolm would take over rather than Mister Stuart. Or when Lord Malcolm brought home Lady Hoshi, and forbid everyone to insult her, else they'd face his wrath.
Lady Hoshi is good for Lord Malcolm, he knows. She loves him for who he is, not the money he has inherited. But, she too has exalted lineage, being descended of several shogunate families and a handful of Japanese Emperors.
Lord Malcolm is good for Lady Hoshi too, he's been told, in the course of his correspondence with the Sato family head servant, a Shibuya Kazuya-san, who usually goes by 'Oliver' in England. A strange man, to be sure, but a reliable fellow servant, and an excellent lover in the bargain. Oliver is here, at Glastonbury now, having served Lady Hoshi's grandfather, she wanted him to be comfortable in his retirement. Not, that he isn't comfortable, sharing Sebastian's bed as he does.
Oliver's opinion on Lord Malcolm is much like Sebastian's. Both men, well past their prime, have been sternly ordered that though they must be respectful to lady, any form of address is fine when it comes to the lord of the manor. When she gave the same orders, the men had a good chuckle.
Magdalena Cavanaugh, the only female alumnae of the Tor from the same year as Aiden, Bernard, and Malcolm, is always aware that Malcolm may wish a bodyguard for his wife, and maintains her professionalism as she teaches at the Tor. Oh, she might have fancied Mal once, but a good look at Aiden cured that. She might wish them to return home, but know their work is important, no matter how many other Tor alums are on Enterprise (she checked, there is a female alum like herself to watch out for Lady Hoshi).
When Aiden returns to her, shucking her under his chin and murmuring
"Maggie darling, I'm home." She wants to cry. The wait has just about killed her, all those cold nights alone and desolate days teaching boys like him.
Mal is behind him, arm around Hoshi and she greets them with as much dignity as she can muster, tears in her eyes and plastered to Aiden's chest.
Bernard is the King of England, and as such, has a duty to his people. Much though he would like to date someone like Hoshi Sato (Reed), who is smart and beautiful, or Magdalena Cavanaugh (who should be Aiden's wife soon), tough, pretty and practical, he must date women of his 'station'.
That, however, does not stop his friend's beloveds from interrogating every eligible woman around him for more than a day. Hoshi insists on a certain level of intelligence, nodding when Maggie says sternly
"You need to have standards, Bernard. She must be capable of counselling you through any storm, as well as weathering it herself."
It is because of Maggie and Hoshi he meets the woman he makes his bride. He thought, once, that his friends might interfere. Ade and Mal snicker and point out how intelligent their wives are. When his darling Katharine suggests doing the one thing they hate most in retaliation, he does so, posthaste.
Which is how Malcolm Reed, Lord of Glastonbury, and Aiden Dauntless, became knighted, and made the Earls, of, respectively Windsor and Wessex. If not for Hoshi and Maggie beaming at the recognition their husbands received for 'service to England and Earth' he would've had two school chums with apoplexy on his hands.
Like most everyone else, Trip didn't know what was going on with Reed and Sato. Oh, that didn't mean he didn't understand it. After all, his close friend Zach Stone had a similar marriage. So he hadn't said anything, waited and watched and speculated to himself.
What did surprise him was that Malcolm didn't really care about his height. Well, when he found out the Brit had an empire at his fingertips that kind of explained it all.
He surprised Malcolm by mentioning that had Elizabeth lived, he'd have been her godfather, and he was gratified that his friend was honoured, especially since Jon was too close to not be his baby's uncle.
Trip thought nothing else could surprise him, until Hoshi and Mal took him to the flower garden, where a stone fountain stood. It was in an out of the way corner, and in the center, a figure with wings stood tall, an infant cradled in its arms. The imposing male was human, but a closer look at the child revealed pointed ears. Choking up, Trip leaned forward to read the plaque on the lip of the fountain.
In the Archangel Gabriel's Hands,
May you be taken into the eternal care of the Lord,
T'Elizabeth Tucker
daughter of Charles and T'Pol
Neither of them spoke, but they didn't have to. Trip was honored that they'd given his daughter such a private, beautiful memorial, where his daughter's likeness would reside in beauty and caring arms, protected by the seclusion of the Tor.