Title: Cocoa, Cuddling, and Nora Ephron
By: Chibi-Kaz
Vignette
For Miera
Rating: PG (some lite smooching)
Ship: R/S
Spoilers: Little to none.
It's not that she'd had a hard day. Not at all. Merely a frustrating day.
The Ityddwytl were a remarkably friendly race of sentient avians, eager to share data and cultural intricacies. They just proved to be a unique challenge for a linguist -- three official languages plus specifics of body posture meant that she had three to four times the normal amount of work. Fortunately, she'd translated enough to get the ball rolling, and now looked forward to a relaxing shower and a good amount of sleep.
It didn't help that she'd snapped at Malcolm this afternoon as well. She
just couldn't help it. And what's worse, after three months of dating, he
was finally beginning to be comfortable enough to show some public displays
of affection, but she'd barked at him in the Mess when he'd leaned over to
press a kiss on her cheek. His bland responses to her ranting had made her
feel even worse. Well, she'd apologize tomorrow. She assumed he'd leave
her alone this evening after that scene, even though they had planned to
spend this evening together.
With these tired and gloomy thoughts, Hoshi stabbed a finger at her doorpad
and entered her quarters. And found herself in another dimension
altogether.
The lights, normally set to simply off or 100%, were dimmed to a comforting
45%. Her hot plate glowed faintly under a steaming pot. A quick sniff
identified the contents as warming cocoa. Her bed was turned down with
pillows propped against the bulkhead, turning the bunk into a lounger. From
the lavatory came billows of steam and the scent of lavender, coupled with
tuneless humming. Hoshi smiled -- Malcolm couldn't carry a tune in a
bucket, but he seemed to hum a lot when alone and relaxed. He also knew the
words to more off-color sea chanties than anyone she'd ever met, but
fortunately those didn't require much of a singing voice.
Stepping from the lav, Malcolm smiled shyly at her. "Evening, luv." He
paused, unsure of her reaction.
"Oh, Malcolm!" Hoshi stepped into his arms and kissed him warmly. "You did
all this for me?"
He smiled in return. "Cocoa is warming, the shower's at 98 degrees and I
snagged two films from the database. I thought we could just settle in and
relax tonight."
"Works for me!" Hoshi immediately divested herself of her uniform, with
Malcolm's appreciative assistance. "What two films?"
"I looked up that director you said you liked last week, and picked out
'You've Got Mail' and 'Sleepless In Seattle'."
Hoshi paused in the doorway to the lav. "You? Picked out two romances?"
Malcolm flushed. "I just thought... well, you seemed to be rather stressed
lately, and I thought..."
Hoshi leaned over and dropped a kiss on his nose. "You are so wonderful,
you know that?" She ducked into the lav before he could protest and
showered quickly. After she dried off, Hoshi dressed in her comfortable
pajamas and joined Malcolm on the bunk, where they cuddled up together and
sipped cocoa, exchanging light kisses and sweet smiles while watching Tom
Hanks and Meg Ryan navigate the perils of love in the late 20th century.
As the first film ended, Malcolm said, "I was thinking about the Ityddwytl,
and what you said at lunch about the language." He spoke hesitantly, not
wanting to upset their comfortable bubble of contentment.
"Hmm? What about it?"
"Well, you were saying you had three times the translation work, but it all
seems rather like Balinese theatre to me."
Hoshi sat up. "What?"
"Er, well, in Bali, each line is performed in each official dialect, plus
the formal dance positions. They just repeat themselves in each
dialect....." Malcolm trailed off. Hoshi's mind started wheeling. She'd
been looking at the Ityddwytl languages as discrete, but if she applied the
structure Malcolm described, it all made sense! It was a theatrical
formality!
Hoshi set her mug down deliberately on her desk. Turning, she plucked
Malcolm's mug from his hands and set it aside as well. Malcolm looked at
her warily as she grinned at him.
"Strong, sweet AND smart. I think you're a keeper!" And she proceeded to
show Malcolm just how much she appreciated him.
END
