"I don't care." Hoshi muttered to herself as she walked towards the bridge
before her shift. "Really, why should I." She reasoned. "I mean he's not
attached to anyone. He's attractive. Why shouldn't he get with every single
female alien we should happen to meet? Jealous? Who's jealous." Walking
down the hallways she ignored the other people giving her strange glances
as she passed them by, all the while arguing with herself.
Although she hadn't seen Trip in action with the alien he had brought aboard, rumors flew like wildfires and even if she didn't want to know who Trip was hitting on, she was bound to find out before the day was out. And oh how the rumors flew about Trip and Leana.
"It's not fair." She muttered darkly. "How come there are only cute female aliens? What if Hoshi needed some loving?" She demanded. Unable to help herself, she burst into a fit of giggles at the thought.
"What's so funny?"
Hoshi looked up. Speak of the devil, she thought to herself as she saw Trip slow down his pace to accommodate her shorter legs.
"Nothing." She responded quickly, still irked with her feelings of the ghostship incident.
Trip gave her a playful grin. "C'mon." He coaxed. "Sharing is caring."
Rather then admit to the jealousy she was feeling from his latest escapade, she decided to change the subject.
"Did you hear the Captain talking about the Lepstri?" She asked figuring Trip would have the most recent news about their visitors. A week after they had left the ghostship they had bumped into another ship. After several friendly messages, the captain of the other vessel was rumored to have come aboard, dining with Captain Archer and several of the other senior officers.
"It's a transportation vessel. There are around 90 aboard their ship, all headed to different places around this area. A dozen or so should be boarding our ship tomorrow for the grand tour."
Hoshi smiled. "And Lieutenant Reed's okay with this?"
"You know Malcolm. He gave the captain hell for approving the visitation so quickly. He's awfully paranoid."
"I guess that happens when you're the armory officer." She answered. "So, what are they like?"
Trip shrugged. "They look human, just taller and paler. Something about their sun. Actually," Trip racked his brains trying to figure out what it was about them that kind of stuck out, "now that I think about it they all kinda look the same."
"How so?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"You'll see tomorrow." He answered back. Lifting both eyebrows questioningly he asked, "Don't you have somewhere you need to be right now?"
Hoshi looked at the time. "Oh no," She groaned. "I'm late." Scurrying towards the bridge, she registered the faint sound of Trip chuckling.
*********************************
"Can I help you?" Hoshi questioned as she felt the gaze of the tall Lepstri behind her.
Walking towards her he motioned to her hair. "Do you mind?"
Nodding her head she tried not to look at him strangely, not wanting to offend him or any customs they might have involving hair care.
Reaching for her hair clip, he gently unhooked the small piece of metal from her hair. Immediately a wave of black crashed down past her shoulders, framing her
face. The Lepstri fingered several silky strands of her hair with awe.
Across the room Trip, who had been trying to get to know a cute female Lepstri better, frowned when he caught sight of the male alien touching Hoshi's hair.
Fascinated the Lepstri leaned forward to get a closer look. "Is your hair normally this color?" He asked.
Hoshi nodded. "Where I come from, many humans have black hair."
"I've never met anyone with hair as dark as the night. It's beautiful."
Trip became antsy, trying to crush the feeling of envy as he continued to be distracted by the coziness between the two, his own companion completely forgotten.
"I'm sorry but I need to talk to someone." Trip excused himself. After an understanding nod from his companion, he quickly tried to make his way toward the linguist.
"Tucker." Trip sighed and turned around when he heard his voice called. "Have you met Eslepi?"
"No, I haven't." Trip answered with a forced grin, trying to keep his eye on Hoshi and the captain at the same time. "I'm Commander Tucker, the chief engineer. Pleased to meet you."
"Eslepi was just telling me about her home planet. Perhaps you would be interested in joining our conversation." Archer continued.
"Actually," Trip apologized. "I have something I need to do now, another time would be nice?"
Eslepi nodded gracefully while Archer looked at him in surprise. "I didn't know you were busy."
Trip shrugged, "There's something I need to discuss with Hoshi."
Archer immediately sought out Hoshi amongst the crowd, grinning knowingly when he spotted her. "Of course Commander," he replied, unable to keep the slight teasing out of his voice as he continued. "Although she seems somewhat occupied at the moment."
Trip followed his gaze and grimaced, the male alien was currently much to close to Hoshi for Trip's comfort. "I'll get back to you later Captain." He answered in a rush.
Archer observed Trip make a straight beeline towards Hoshi.
"He seems quite attached to your linguist." Eslepi cut in through Archer's thoughts.
"Who Trip?"
"Yes."
"Their good friends." Archer covered up, lifting an eyebrow when he saw Trip reach Hoshi and hover protectively behind her, glaring at the Lepstri besides her.
"Perhaps we should tell him the Lepstri speaking to your linguist is a happily married family man." She continued, a small smirk appearing on her face.
Archer chuckled and returned her smiled with one of his own. "That's alright. Trip can take care of himself." He replied.
"You have to be careful Hoshi." Trip pestered later that night as he trailed after her towards her quarters. "You don't know what they're like."
Hoshi rolled her eyes, not bothering to point out the various times he himself had gone off gallivanting with many different females from many different planets.
"Really, he might come from a patriarchal society. He could be very sexist. You want me to check their background for you?" He asked hopefully. "I'll have a full report for you in two days. You'll know by then whether it's safe or not."
"They're leaving tomorrow."
Damn Trip thought to himself. She caught that one pretty quick.
"Don't worry [i]Malcolm[/i]." She emphasized the armory officer's name meaningfully. "I'll be fine."
"I'm not being paranoid." Trip wheedled following Hoshi's train of thought. "I'm sure anyone on this ship would agree with me. Look there's Malcolm now," He
nearly shouted for joy, sure that he would agree with Trip and find some hiding place to lock Hoshi in until all the male aliens were gone and the coast was clear.
"Malcolm."
Malcolm looked around for the person who had called his name, pausing when he saw Trip waving frantically towards him. Walking to them he greeted them both.
"Malcolm, what did you think of the Lepstri?" Trip asked. "Did you feel there was something not quite right about them?"
"Nothing in particular." Malcolm replied slowly, wondering what road Trip was trying to lead him down.
"Are you sure?" Trip persisted. "How about that one guy Slestri. The one that was stalking Hoshi earlier today."
Hoshi gave Trip a look. "He was not stalking me Trip. We were having a conversation, I offered to show him around."
"I have a gut feeling that he's no good for you." Elbowing Malcolm in the ribs, Malcolm piped in.
"Uhm yes Hoshi. You can never be too careful."
"Not you too." She groaned. "What is wrong with you people today?" She questioned. Standing in front of her door she gave Trip a look telling him the discussion was closed. "I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight." Stepping in her room the doors closed shut on Trip's protesting face, leaving him alone with Malcolm.
************************
The next day Hoshi woke up in the morning and got ready for the day. Changing, she left her quarters to make her way towards the messhall for breakfast. As soon as she stepped out of her doors she sighed.
"What are you doing here Trip?"
"What a coincidence. I just happened to be walking this way towards the messhall and here you are. I'll walk you."
"Speaking of stalkers." Hoshi muttered under her breath.
"I heard that."
"You were supposed to." She retorted.
Trip eyes Hoshi suspiciously as they walked towards the messhall, realizing something was different with her appearance. "How come your hair's down today?" He demanded. "You never leave your hair down."
Hoshi tried to cover up her blush. Truth be told she was brushing her hair in the morning when she recalled what Slestri said about her hair. Thinking it was nice to be noticed once in a while, the female in her had insisted her hair remained down for the duration of their stay. However, she would be damned before she admitted that to Trip.
"I thought a change would be nice." She answered breezily.
Trip nodded. "Change is good." He agreed. "But it's better when there are no alien stalkers roamin' about the ship."
Hoshi rolled her eyes and walked away without bothering to reply.
**************************
"Correct me if I am wrong," Slestri asked after he had spent much of the day touring the ship with Hoshi, discussing things they found they had in common.
"But have we not seen that man everywhere we have gone today?"
Hoshi turned to look where Slestri was motioning, with a good idea of who the person was. Sitting in the corner of the room with a data padd, he was hunched over it trying to look inconspicuous.
"That's Commander Tucker." She answered, "Our head engineer. Apparently he's insane."
Slestri looked at her in alarm.
"I'm sorry. It's a joke." She responded when she saw the look on his face. "It's one human way of relieving tension."
"Ah I see." He replied. "Is something bothering you?"
Hoshi gazed at Trip, a smile slowly spreading across her features as an idea sprung into her head. "Actually, I'm feeling much better."
At that moment Trip decided to glance towards Hoshi's direction to spy when he noticed she was staring at him. He gulped nervously when he saw her give him a feral smile.
So you want to play? She asked Trip in her head. Turning her head while she knew Trip was still watching her, she leaned over to whisper in Slestri's ear.
"Would you like to have dinner with me?" She asked.
"That would be nice." He replied, noticing the male across the room making a sour face.
"I'll meet you back here in twenty minutes." Hoshi smiled, getting up to leave. "Let me changed and get ready."
"You change for dinner?" He questioned.
Hoshi grinned and looked at her uniform. "I get tired of wearing this all the time." She answered. "It's nice to change everyone once in a while."
Slestri nodded, "I will wait for you here."
"Alright." Standing up she ignored Trip who was throwing her pathetic glances from his side of the room, and left to get ready.
*************************
"So what are you two headed?" Trip casually asked after dinner, trying not to appear stalkerish.
"To my quarters." Hoshi smiled sweetly. "Slestri is interested in human literature. I have a few padds in my room to show him."
Trip looked scandalized. "In your room? Just you two?"
Hoshi nodded emphatically. "It'll be nice, quiet," she looked at Trip meaningfully, "private..." her voice lingered in the air.
"Excuse me for one second Slestri," Trip asked, "Can I steal Hoshi for a bit."
"Of course." He answered, an amused expression on his face as he watched their exchange.
"Thanks." Grabbing Hoshi's hand he dragged out of the hearing range of Slestri. "Are you crazy? You can't bring him in your quarters with just the two of you. It's dangerous." He ranted, trying to come up with more excuses. "Inappropriate."
"Don't worry Trip." She smirked. "I promise to be nothing but a lady."
"No." He groaned. "There's a movie playing, you can watch a movie. Heck, it's probably based on some type of human book. Why don't you two watch that? It'll be visually stimulatin'."
"I think we both would rather go for the real deal." She replied, "but thanks for being so thoughtful." Giving him a pat on the shoulder, she sauntered back to where Slestri was waiting, and entered her quarters.
"Damn." Trip cursed as the doors closed, blocking his view.
*********************************
"And then she shows up at the mess hall with this lil' black dress. I've never seen her in a dress." Trip ranted. "Have you seen her in a dress?"
Malcolm shook his head.
"No, I didn't think so." Trip complained. "But she's wearing it for this Slestri and she starts laughing and leanin' in towards him like this." Trip demonstrated on Malcolm, causing a few eyes to swivel towards there direction in amusement.
"Ahem." Malcolm coughed awkwardly, backing away from Trip. "You're a handsome man commander but I just don't feel that way about you."
Trip realized the position he was in and quickly moved away. "Quit joking around Malcolm. This is serious, they both went in her quarters alone. To study human
literature. That's just a weak excuse to get her alone." He continued petulantly.
"Did you follow her?" Malcolm wondered aloud, "You seem very well informed of what she did all day today."
Trip averted his eyes, "Er, not all day. I'm not with her now."
"The Lepstri left an hour ago."
"Yeah and Hoshi went to her quarters when they did."
"Careful commander." Malcolm grinned. "You're beginning to sound like the jealous boyfriend."
"Jealous?" Trip asked affronted. "I'm merely concerned of the well bein' of another officer. Concern, not jealousy." He emphasized. "There's a difference."
"Right." Malcolm replied in a tone that clearly indicated he felt otherwise.
"Really," Trip continued to defend himself. "Why would I be jealous? Just because he starts practically gropin' Hoshi and she doesn't seem to mind doesn't mean I'm jealous." Listening to what he was saying he paused. "Does it?"
Malcolm nodded. "Yes, Yes it does."
"But that would mean I have feelings-" Understanding dawned in Trip's face.
"Smart man." Malcolm uttered.
"I'm going to have to break our plans for tonight." Quickly he headed back towards where they came when he heard Malcolm's voice call after him.
"Hydroponic bay."
Trip looked at him questioningly.
"I believe there are fresh flowers growing there."
Trip flashed Malcolm a grin. "Thanks." Taking a left, he made a quick pit stop at hydroponics to snitch some flowers before ending up in front of Hoshi's door.
******************************
"You again." Hoshi answered when she saw who her caller was. "The Lepstri have left, you don't have to 'protect' me anymore."
Pulling the flowers from behind his back, he nervously presented them to Hoshi, who arched an eyebrow in response.
"Are you going to do this every time I talk to a male alien?" She sighed.
"Only the cute ones." He answered back with a grin.
"If it make's you feel better, Slestri is happily married with 4 kids."
"What-?" Trip spluttered, "But-"
"But what?" Hoshi grinned evilly. "We had a lot in common. It was nice talking to him, but there was no attraction between us at all, but of course that wasn't what you were worried about, was it. It was my well being you were concerned for."
"Of course." He agreed. "But it's single cute males I'm worried about. You have to think, there's a reason they're not with anyone. Yup," He lectured, "those are the ones you should stay away from."
Hoshi rolled her eyes. "Let's make a deal Trip. You try to keep from getting pregnant from alien females, and I'll see if I can try to contain myself around the
males."
"But it's not the same." He argued. "I swear I just put my hand in a pot with her. I was bein' a perfect gentlemen."
"Did I mention Slestri has a single brother that would love to meet me?" Hoshi threw in.
"Agreed." Trip quickly shot out. "But only if you promise not to get pregnant by any alien males either." He added as an afterthought. "Now can I come in?" His face looked at her hopefully.
"I don't know." Hoshi replied doubtfully. "Just you and me, alone in my quarters. Doesn't it seem kind of, well, inappropriate?" Despite her words she stepped aside to let Trip in.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you," Trip asked grinning deviously. Stepping forward to grasp Hoshi's waist, he pulled her towards him and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Inappropriate can be good."
The door to her quarters slid shut, leaving the two alone to feel out the values of inappropriate behavior.
Although she hadn't seen Trip in action with the alien he had brought aboard, rumors flew like wildfires and even if she didn't want to know who Trip was hitting on, she was bound to find out before the day was out. And oh how the rumors flew about Trip and Leana.
"It's not fair." She muttered darkly. "How come there are only cute female aliens? What if Hoshi needed some loving?" She demanded. Unable to help herself, she burst into a fit of giggles at the thought.
"What's so funny?"
Hoshi looked up. Speak of the devil, she thought to herself as she saw Trip slow down his pace to accommodate her shorter legs.
"Nothing." She responded quickly, still irked with her feelings of the ghostship incident.
Trip gave her a playful grin. "C'mon." He coaxed. "Sharing is caring."
Rather then admit to the jealousy she was feeling from his latest escapade, she decided to change the subject.
"Did you hear the Captain talking about the Lepstri?" She asked figuring Trip would have the most recent news about their visitors. A week after they had left the ghostship they had bumped into another ship. After several friendly messages, the captain of the other vessel was rumored to have come aboard, dining with Captain Archer and several of the other senior officers.
"It's a transportation vessel. There are around 90 aboard their ship, all headed to different places around this area. A dozen or so should be boarding our ship tomorrow for the grand tour."
Hoshi smiled. "And Lieutenant Reed's okay with this?"
"You know Malcolm. He gave the captain hell for approving the visitation so quickly. He's awfully paranoid."
"I guess that happens when you're the armory officer." She answered. "So, what are they like?"
Trip shrugged. "They look human, just taller and paler. Something about their sun. Actually," Trip racked his brains trying to figure out what it was about them that kind of stuck out, "now that I think about it they all kinda look the same."
"How so?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"You'll see tomorrow." He answered back. Lifting both eyebrows questioningly he asked, "Don't you have somewhere you need to be right now?"
Hoshi looked at the time. "Oh no," She groaned. "I'm late." Scurrying towards the bridge, she registered the faint sound of Trip chuckling.
*********************************
"Can I help you?" Hoshi questioned as she felt the gaze of the tall Lepstri behind her.
Walking towards her he motioned to her hair. "Do you mind?"
Nodding her head she tried not to look at him strangely, not wanting to offend him or any customs they might have involving hair care.
Reaching for her hair clip, he gently unhooked the small piece of metal from her hair. Immediately a wave of black crashed down past her shoulders, framing her
face. The Lepstri fingered several silky strands of her hair with awe.
Across the room Trip, who had been trying to get to know a cute female Lepstri better, frowned when he caught sight of the male alien touching Hoshi's hair.
Fascinated the Lepstri leaned forward to get a closer look. "Is your hair normally this color?" He asked.
Hoshi nodded. "Where I come from, many humans have black hair."
"I've never met anyone with hair as dark as the night. It's beautiful."
Trip became antsy, trying to crush the feeling of envy as he continued to be distracted by the coziness between the two, his own companion completely forgotten.
"I'm sorry but I need to talk to someone." Trip excused himself. After an understanding nod from his companion, he quickly tried to make his way toward the linguist.
"Tucker." Trip sighed and turned around when he heard his voice called. "Have you met Eslepi?"
"No, I haven't." Trip answered with a forced grin, trying to keep his eye on Hoshi and the captain at the same time. "I'm Commander Tucker, the chief engineer. Pleased to meet you."
"Eslepi was just telling me about her home planet. Perhaps you would be interested in joining our conversation." Archer continued.
"Actually," Trip apologized. "I have something I need to do now, another time would be nice?"
Eslepi nodded gracefully while Archer looked at him in surprise. "I didn't know you were busy."
Trip shrugged, "There's something I need to discuss with Hoshi."
Archer immediately sought out Hoshi amongst the crowd, grinning knowingly when he spotted her. "Of course Commander," he replied, unable to keep the slight teasing out of his voice as he continued. "Although she seems somewhat occupied at the moment."
Trip followed his gaze and grimaced, the male alien was currently much to close to Hoshi for Trip's comfort. "I'll get back to you later Captain." He answered in a rush.
Archer observed Trip make a straight beeline towards Hoshi.
"He seems quite attached to your linguist." Eslepi cut in through Archer's thoughts.
"Who Trip?"
"Yes."
"Their good friends." Archer covered up, lifting an eyebrow when he saw Trip reach Hoshi and hover protectively behind her, glaring at the Lepstri besides her.
"Perhaps we should tell him the Lepstri speaking to your linguist is a happily married family man." She continued, a small smirk appearing on her face.
Archer chuckled and returned her smiled with one of his own. "That's alright. Trip can take care of himself." He replied.
"You have to be careful Hoshi." Trip pestered later that night as he trailed after her towards her quarters. "You don't know what they're like."
Hoshi rolled her eyes, not bothering to point out the various times he himself had gone off gallivanting with many different females from many different planets.
"Really, he might come from a patriarchal society. He could be very sexist. You want me to check their background for you?" He asked hopefully. "I'll have a full report for you in two days. You'll know by then whether it's safe or not."
"They're leaving tomorrow."
Damn Trip thought to himself. She caught that one pretty quick.
"Don't worry [i]Malcolm[/i]." She emphasized the armory officer's name meaningfully. "I'll be fine."
"I'm not being paranoid." Trip wheedled following Hoshi's train of thought. "I'm sure anyone on this ship would agree with me. Look there's Malcolm now," He
nearly shouted for joy, sure that he would agree with Trip and find some hiding place to lock Hoshi in until all the male aliens were gone and the coast was clear.
"Malcolm."
Malcolm looked around for the person who had called his name, pausing when he saw Trip waving frantically towards him. Walking to them he greeted them both.
"Malcolm, what did you think of the Lepstri?" Trip asked. "Did you feel there was something not quite right about them?"
"Nothing in particular." Malcolm replied slowly, wondering what road Trip was trying to lead him down.
"Are you sure?" Trip persisted. "How about that one guy Slestri. The one that was stalking Hoshi earlier today."
Hoshi gave Trip a look. "He was not stalking me Trip. We were having a conversation, I offered to show him around."
"I have a gut feeling that he's no good for you." Elbowing Malcolm in the ribs, Malcolm piped in.
"Uhm yes Hoshi. You can never be too careful."
"Not you too." She groaned. "What is wrong with you people today?" She questioned. Standing in front of her door she gave Trip a look telling him the discussion was closed. "I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight." Stepping in her room the doors closed shut on Trip's protesting face, leaving him alone with Malcolm.
************************
The next day Hoshi woke up in the morning and got ready for the day. Changing, she left her quarters to make her way towards the messhall for breakfast. As soon as she stepped out of her doors she sighed.
"What are you doing here Trip?"
"What a coincidence. I just happened to be walking this way towards the messhall and here you are. I'll walk you."
"Speaking of stalkers." Hoshi muttered under her breath.
"I heard that."
"You were supposed to." She retorted.
Trip eyes Hoshi suspiciously as they walked towards the messhall, realizing something was different with her appearance. "How come your hair's down today?" He demanded. "You never leave your hair down."
Hoshi tried to cover up her blush. Truth be told she was brushing her hair in the morning when she recalled what Slestri said about her hair. Thinking it was nice to be noticed once in a while, the female in her had insisted her hair remained down for the duration of their stay. However, she would be damned before she admitted that to Trip.
"I thought a change would be nice." She answered breezily.
Trip nodded. "Change is good." He agreed. "But it's better when there are no alien stalkers roamin' about the ship."
Hoshi rolled her eyes and walked away without bothering to reply.
**************************
"Correct me if I am wrong," Slestri asked after he had spent much of the day touring the ship with Hoshi, discussing things they found they had in common.
"But have we not seen that man everywhere we have gone today?"
Hoshi turned to look where Slestri was motioning, with a good idea of who the person was. Sitting in the corner of the room with a data padd, he was hunched over it trying to look inconspicuous.
"That's Commander Tucker." She answered, "Our head engineer. Apparently he's insane."
Slestri looked at her in alarm.
"I'm sorry. It's a joke." She responded when she saw the look on his face. "It's one human way of relieving tension."
"Ah I see." He replied. "Is something bothering you?"
Hoshi gazed at Trip, a smile slowly spreading across her features as an idea sprung into her head. "Actually, I'm feeling much better."
At that moment Trip decided to glance towards Hoshi's direction to spy when he noticed she was staring at him. He gulped nervously when he saw her give him a feral smile.
So you want to play? She asked Trip in her head. Turning her head while she knew Trip was still watching her, she leaned over to whisper in Slestri's ear.
"Would you like to have dinner with me?" She asked.
"That would be nice." He replied, noticing the male across the room making a sour face.
"I'll meet you back here in twenty minutes." Hoshi smiled, getting up to leave. "Let me changed and get ready."
"You change for dinner?" He questioned.
Hoshi grinned and looked at her uniform. "I get tired of wearing this all the time." She answered. "It's nice to change everyone once in a while."
Slestri nodded, "I will wait for you here."
"Alright." Standing up she ignored Trip who was throwing her pathetic glances from his side of the room, and left to get ready.
*************************
"So what are you two headed?" Trip casually asked after dinner, trying not to appear stalkerish.
"To my quarters." Hoshi smiled sweetly. "Slestri is interested in human literature. I have a few padds in my room to show him."
Trip looked scandalized. "In your room? Just you two?"
Hoshi nodded emphatically. "It'll be nice, quiet," she looked at Trip meaningfully, "private..." her voice lingered in the air.
"Excuse me for one second Slestri," Trip asked, "Can I steal Hoshi for a bit."
"Of course." He answered, an amused expression on his face as he watched their exchange.
"Thanks." Grabbing Hoshi's hand he dragged out of the hearing range of Slestri. "Are you crazy? You can't bring him in your quarters with just the two of you. It's dangerous." He ranted, trying to come up with more excuses. "Inappropriate."
"Don't worry Trip." She smirked. "I promise to be nothing but a lady."
"No." He groaned. "There's a movie playing, you can watch a movie. Heck, it's probably based on some type of human book. Why don't you two watch that? It'll be visually stimulatin'."
"I think we both would rather go for the real deal." She replied, "but thanks for being so thoughtful." Giving him a pat on the shoulder, she sauntered back to where Slestri was waiting, and entered her quarters.
"Damn." Trip cursed as the doors closed, blocking his view.
*********************************
"And then she shows up at the mess hall with this lil' black dress. I've never seen her in a dress." Trip ranted. "Have you seen her in a dress?"
Malcolm shook his head.
"No, I didn't think so." Trip complained. "But she's wearing it for this Slestri and she starts laughing and leanin' in towards him like this." Trip demonstrated on Malcolm, causing a few eyes to swivel towards there direction in amusement.
"Ahem." Malcolm coughed awkwardly, backing away from Trip. "You're a handsome man commander but I just don't feel that way about you."
Trip realized the position he was in and quickly moved away. "Quit joking around Malcolm. This is serious, they both went in her quarters alone. To study human
literature. That's just a weak excuse to get her alone." He continued petulantly.
"Did you follow her?" Malcolm wondered aloud, "You seem very well informed of what she did all day today."
Trip averted his eyes, "Er, not all day. I'm not with her now."
"The Lepstri left an hour ago."
"Yeah and Hoshi went to her quarters when they did."
"Careful commander." Malcolm grinned. "You're beginning to sound like the jealous boyfriend."
"Jealous?" Trip asked affronted. "I'm merely concerned of the well bein' of another officer. Concern, not jealousy." He emphasized. "There's a difference."
"Right." Malcolm replied in a tone that clearly indicated he felt otherwise.
"Really," Trip continued to defend himself. "Why would I be jealous? Just because he starts practically gropin' Hoshi and she doesn't seem to mind doesn't mean I'm jealous." Listening to what he was saying he paused. "Does it?"
Malcolm nodded. "Yes, Yes it does."
"But that would mean I have feelings-" Understanding dawned in Trip's face.
"Smart man." Malcolm uttered.
"I'm going to have to break our plans for tonight." Quickly he headed back towards where they came when he heard Malcolm's voice call after him.
"Hydroponic bay."
Trip looked at him questioningly.
"I believe there are fresh flowers growing there."
Trip flashed Malcolm a grin. "Thanks." Taking a left, he made a quick pit stop at hydroponics to snitch some flowers before ending up in front of Hoshi's door.
******************************
"You again." Hoshi answered when she saw who her caller was. "The Lepstri have left, you don't have to 'protect' me anymore."
Pulling the flowers from behind his back, he nervously presented them to Hoshi, who arched an eyebrow in response.
"Are you going to do this every time I talk to a male alien?" She sighed.
"Only the cute ones." He answered back with a grin.
"If it make's you feel better, Slestri is happily married with 4 kids."
"What-?" Trip spluttered, "But-"
"But what?" Hoshi grinned evilly. "We had a lot in common. It was nice talking to him, but there was no attraction between us at all, but of course that wasn't what you were worried about, was it. It was my well being you were concerned for."
"Of course." He agreed. "But it's single cute males I'm worried about. You have to think, there's a reason they're not with anyone. Yup," He lectured, "those are the ones you should stay away from."
Hoshi rolled her eyes. "Let's make a deal Trip. You try to keep from getting pregnant from alien females, and I'll see if I can try to contain myself around the
males."
"But it's not the same." He argued. "I swear I just put my hand in a pot with her. I was bein' a perfect gentlemen."
"Did I mention Slestri has a single brother that would love to meet me?" Hoshi threw in.
"Agreed." Trip quickly shot out. "But only if you promise not to get pregnant by any alien males either." He added as an afterthought. "Now can I come in?" His face looked at her hopefully.
"I don't know." Hoshi replied doubtfully. "Just you and me, alone in my quarters. Doesn't it seem kind of, well, inappropriate?" Despite her words she stepped aside to let Trip in.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you," Trip asked grinning deviously. Stepping forward to grasp Hoshi's waist, he pulled her towards him and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Inappropriate can be good."
The door to her quarters slid shut, leaving the two alone to feel out the values of inappropriate behavior.