Disclaimer... All the characters mentioned do not belong to me. I own nothing to do with Star Trek and will not profit from this. The plot, what there is of it, is mine though.

Warning... This fic contains relationshippy stuff of the male/male variety. If you don't like, don't read! It's as simple as that.

~ Chapter 2 ~

"Come in." The voice came from inside and the doors slid open. The senior officers each had there own quarters, and while not hugely spacious it at least meant they did not have to share. Reed stepped inside and they door slid closed behind him. Trip was bent over a chair, searching for something in the bottom of his wardrobe.

"Uh... Trip?" Reed tried to see what the Commander was doing, or at least what he was searching for. He suddenly stood back up; a huge square bottle filled with amber fluid was in his hands. It had a black label with white lettering on.

"I knew it was in there." Trip held up the bottle for display. "Jack Daniels. The best whiskey there is, and hard to come by these days."

Reed held up his own bottle. "Brandy. Some generic brand. Not as good as your I fear, but alcoholic."

"And that's all that matters!" Trip replied with a grin. He placed the bottle of Jack Daniels on the desk and motioned Reed to take a seat while he found two clean glasses. "I'm sorry the place is a mess. I only just got back so you'll have to put up with my stuff lyin' around." Reed glanced about the quarters. Slightly untidy, but somehow he had expected the man to be messier. Well, he would not have become Chief Engineer if not for at least a vaguely organised mind.

Trip placed the glasses on the table and poured out two shots of the whiskey. They both held them up. Reed suggested a toast. "To not dying?" Trip smiled and clinked his glass against Reed's, echoing the sentiment. Reed knocked his drink back. The burn of the whiskey was pleasant in his mouth and throat. It slipped down well leaving a sharp but enjoyable aftertaste. He licked his lips to make sure he had missed none.

"That is some whiskey!" He said, noticing that Trip had also downed his glass and was pouring two more.

"Ain't it? That stuff of the Cap'n's was good, but nothing beat ole JD." They again knocked their glasses together and downed the shots. Reed suspected that they were both trying to drink enough to relax with each other before settling into drinking more slowly and at ease. Reed suggested opening the brandy next and they both had a few shots before deciding that the Jack Daniels was definitely better.

Reed could feel a slight buzz from drinking the shots so quickly. The conversation was flowing more freely now and both were sat back relaxed. They talked about the ship, the mission, the people. Reed was surprised at how much they had in common. On the surface they seemed so different, but on talking their opinions and ideas were very similar, with just enough different to make it interesting to talk. Plus their shared dedication to work, and similar fields made topics easy to come by.

Inevitably the conversation turned to women. The revelation in the shuttlepod that they had both shared time with Ruby was a source of amusement and lead to further discussions of failed relationships.

"I don't know." Trip said. "I just seem to always end up with the wrong sort. They're pretty and sweet, but then they turn round an' stab you in the back."

"I agree. But sometimes I think that I'm the one that's the wrong sort. I find it so hard to let down boundaries." Reed picked up the brandy bottle and poured himself a glass, holding it up as an offer. Trip held out his glass for a refill.

"But you've opened up to us. On the ship. Well, to some. I've seen to chattin' to Hoshi at times, Dr. Phlox, your staff. Then you're here now, havin' and drink with me." Trip used his glass to point at himself. Whilst not drunk, the slight tip of the glass betrayed a mild inebriation.

Reed nodded. "Ah yes, but with you it's different. There was something to force me to open up. The ship for a long period of time, then the shuttlepod. If you shut me and a girl in a shuttlepod for that amount of time I'd probably open up to her too."

Trip knocked back his drink, seeming to think about what Reed was saying. "Yeah, but we argued a lot of the time. But you saved my life." Trip looked up into Reeds eyes. Reed returned the gaze.

"Well... I just didn't want to be sitting there with my dead Commander above my head. It would have been creepy. And lonely." Trip grinned again, offering up another toast to their survival. Both the Jack Daniels and the brandy were half empty, but neither man seemed inclined to slow.

"So I guess neither of us is going to end up happily married." Trip said. "Maybe we should just do this." He held up his glass to indicate them drinking together. Reed smiled.

"Yes. Sod the lot of them. We'll just come back to yours, drink cheap brandy and expensive whiskey!" Reed poured some JD into his glass and swigged from it. Some of the liquid escaped and slid down his chin, slipping down towards his neck. Trip looked mock outraged.

"Hey! That's good Jack Daniels you're wasting there!" He said, leaning forward. Before Reed knew what he was doing Trip had used his tongue to lick the whiskey from up his neck and chin, and to his lips. He was shocked that the other man had done that, but strangely entranced by the way it had felt. Trip had obviously also not considered his actions either. He had paused, mouth still only inches from Reed's own.

"I... I'm sorry, I wasn't thinkin' what I was doin' there..." Trip began, still not moving away. Reed interrupted him.

"No, it's ok. I shouldn't have wasted the whiskey." Trip nodded, but Reed noticed he was still not moving away. He licked his lips again, tasting the whiskey from his skin. He watched as Trip's eyes followed his tongue. Without thinking he leaned in and kissed the other man on the lips, his slightly intoxicated mind wondering what he was doing. Just as he was about to back off and apologise profusely he felt Trip lean into the kiss. As their mouths opened and their tongues joined the kiss Reed could taste the Jack Daniels in the other man's mouth. The sensation was incredibly arousing.

As one man Reed and Trip moved closer, bodies pressing against each other. The kiss grew deeper as Trip reached behind Reed's neck and back, pulling. After a few minutes the two men broke away, eyes clouded with the lust drawn out from the kiss. Trip looked slightly abashed, and look Reed had never seen on him.

"Wow." Trip grinned again. "That was somethin'"

Reed nodded. "It really was." He waited, wondering what the other man was going to do. He wanted nothing more than to kiss him again and to see how things would progress, but it was something he had never considered before.

"Well, this was not exactly what I had in mind when I said we didn't need women, but I don't find myself objectin' to the idea. Do you?" Trip looked questioningly at Reed. And did he? He had not thought about the possibility of a relationship with the Engineer, but now that opportunity was presenting himself who was he to say no? He grinned too.

"Put it this way." Reed picked up the bottle of Jack Daniels. "I can think of a much more fun way to drink the rest of this whiskey." Trip looked mischievous. He pulled Reed to his feet and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him in for another deep kiss.

"Now that's my kinda suggestion." He said. It was the last coherent thing either of them said for the rest of the night.