The Birds and the Bees
"Is anyone else hungry?" asked Phlox as the
trio sat around the bridge in silence, watching the stars hurtle by at
warp two and monitoring the sensors.
"I could eat." admitted Trip.
"The two of you should have a meal then. I
will remain here and continue the task at hand." said T'Pol.
"Can we bring you back anything?" asked Trip.
"It would not be appropriate to have food
on the bridge."
"We won't tell if you won't."
T'Pol raised an eyebrow at Commander Tucker
and said, "I am not concerned with being caught. I am merely stating that
it would be a breach of protocol to eat at one's station, especially considering
our current situation."
"I give up." said Trip, rolling his eyes and
walking toward the lift with Phlox.
"I believe that in her own way, Sub-commander
T'Pol is just as overwhelmed as we are about our ... situation." said Phlox
as they ate in the empty mess hall.
"She has a funny way of showing it. How can
she talk about protocol at a time like this?" questioned Trip, just shaking
his head as he shoveled food into his mouth.
"There is comfort in structure and familiarity
for some people. As long as she has duties to perform and rules to follow,
she need not think about other things, such as what we will do if we are
permanently trapped seventy million years in the past."
"I never looked at it like that." admitted
Trip, frowning.
"You are fond of the sub-commander after a
fashion, aren't you?"
Trip dropped his fork and stared blankly at
the doctor.
"Come again, doc?" he choked, having sudden
difficulty in swallowing his food.
"I'm sorry, commander. Did I say something
wrong?" asked the Denobulan, not looking at all apologetic.
"I'll say!" exclaimed Tucker. He paused and
asked, "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Many things, commander: the way you go out
of your way to get into a conflict with her, the way you look at her, your
insistence upon annoying her, and most telling of all, the fact that despite
all of these other things, you are at your best when you work with her.
Oh, yes, commander, the signs indicate that you are very fond of T'Pol
indeed."
"And her? Do you think the sub-commander
is fond of me at all?"
Phlox grinned broadly and said, "She is a
Vulcan. Don't forget that. If she were fond of you, she would go out of
her way to suppress any sign of it."
"Okay, so if she liked me, I would never know
it."
"No necessarily. The suppression of her fondness
for you would possibly force other emotions closer to the surface, such
as irritation, for instance. Vulcans that I have worked with respond to
annoyances with cool passivity. That is not always the case with Sub-commander
T'Pol."
"Are you trying to tell me that T'Pol acts
pissy toward me because she likes me?" asked Tucker incredulously.
"It is something to consider, commander."
"I'll say." muttered Trip, finally picking
up his fork again and returning to his meal.
"Try not to let what I have told you distract
you too much from our mission."
Tucker looked him in the eye and laughed,
"Good one, doc."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------