A conversation in a corridor. In the aftermath of the incident with the Orion women, Trip's departure for Columbia is imminent. As the crew prepares to bid him farewell, Malcolm and Hoshi discuss his departure and the significance of the presence or absence of another crew member.
This is un-betaed. Any errors are entirely my own.
Disclaimers
Star Trek: Enterprise and its characters are copyright CBS/Paramount. No copyright infringement is intended by me. This work is solely for the purpose of entertainment and is not for profit.
Inappropriate
Lieutenant Reed stood with his back against the corridor bulkhead, a dour look on his face and his arms folded. Almost everyone present, which was most of the Enterprise crew, assumed his sour mood was from the fact that nearly three quarters of the crew had jammed themselves into the single corridor leading to the shuttle bay. It was a security officer's nightmare. Once well placed device could incapacitate the ship by disabling much of the crew.
There was one member of the crew who knew that Lieutenant Reed's current mood had more to do with the circumstances of the crew gathering, rather than the number of them packed into a single corridor. Ensign Sato stood next to him with her arms folded as well and finally could not keep silent any longer. In a quiet, almost pleading tone she said, "Malcolm. Snap out of it."
Letting her speak to him like that was totally inappropriate, he knew it. He just couldn't bring himself to say anything about it. How long has she been calling me Malcolm in uniform? Since Trip left the first time probably. But there were so many ways she could say his name, and he never got tired of hearing her say it. So he answered with the first thing that came to his mind. "She isn't even here. It's just like last time, when she didn't even show up to his farewell party."
Hoshi narrowed her eyes and spoke deliberately this time, "She had breakfast with Trip and the Captain this morning."
Malcolm looked at her sideways through tightened eyes.
"And she said goodbye to him in person in his quarters before he left last time." She added.
Malcolm's expression changed slightly, pursing his lips a little. "How do you know that?"
Hoshi hesitated a moment, not sure how much she should actually reveal about how she knew "I… just do." Then she just shrugged her shoulders a little, deciding that she could trust Malcom. "Maybe it's just a lingering effect of the mind meld." She paused for a moment then continued in a low, but even tone, "The point is, she's not just blowing him off."
In lieu of making a slightly off color comment about what he wished T'Pol was doing for Trip, Malcom simply grunted "Sure."
Hoshi leaned in close to him so her lips were just a few millimeters from his ear and said in a low but sharp tone, "Malcolm." His name came out as almost a single syllable. She waited just a second to let her tone sink in then said, "Stop being like this."
Malcolm suddenly realized that her shoulder was pressed against his as she leaned in to whisper in his ear. This is so inappropriate, he thought as he noticed a couple of his armory crew looking his direction. But that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was she was right. She was always right when it came to this sort of thing. His hard shell cracked, and he admitted the truth. "It's just that yesterday, it was just like old times. The four of us were in Sick Bay all laughing, well, three of us were laughing. T'Pol was even trying to make jokes. And now Trip's leaving again."
Hoshi pulled back a little from his ear to a more 'appropriate' distance. "And you're going to miss him."
Malcolm merely nodded.
She softened a little and said in a more mellow tone, "She's going to miss him too."
"She sure doesn't act like it," he grumbled in response.
Hoshi narrowed her eyes again. Now he's just playing dumb. "She's Vulcan. They don't express their emotions."
Malcolm responded to her admonition with a sharper tone in his voice. "Fair enough, but you don't know what I know. You weren't there. You didn't spend a week with him when he came back from Vulcan."
Hoshi's eyes remained narrow, but her expression changed. Now she was curious. Let's see if he takes the bait. "Fair enough... But I know things you don't know too."
It was hard for him to look at her directly when they argued like this, but he turned to face her. As much as he hated to admit it, he found her incredibly sexy when she was passionate about something, and a gentleman didn't entertain thoughts like that about a female colleague or close friend. It was difficult for him to concentrate the moment he looked into her eyes, but he managed to say in an even tone. "Fair enough… Maybe we should discuss it… Maybe over lunch."
A warm smile crossed Hoshi's lips as she responded, "Maybe we should."
Author's Notes: This is just a little scene that is part of a larger project that has been languishing. I figured I would just post is as is.
