~~~~~
Ten days later .
Perky bits.
Specifically, Hoshi's perky bits.
They haunted Trip.
No matter what he was doing, no matter where he was, something would come up that would remind him of Hoshi's perky bits and he would have to spend too much time trying not to think of them.
It was affecting his work. It was affecting his sleep.
But it was worse when she was around.
Now that he knew what she looked like nude, whenever he saw her, no matter what she was doing, she was doing it naked.
Eating lunch? Naked.
On the bridge? Naked.
Talking with some new alien species they had just met? Naked.
Lying on his bunk, calling his name? Naked.
Ok, so only in his imagination did he see her that way.
Trip couldn't understand it. Sure, he hadn't gotten laid in awhile, but it wasn't as if he liked her or .
Cutting off that train of thought, Trip started to bang his head against the warp core. Repeatedly.
He did like her that way, and it was about time he faced facts. Those words echoed in his brain, keeping time with the banging of his skull against the core.
Perky bits.
They were going to be the death of him.
----------
Malcolm watched as Trip downed his sixth beer in ninety minutes. Desperate for something to keep his mind of Hoshi and her bits, Trip had agreed to watch a game of football with the Armory officer. Testament to how bad off he was, Trip stuck around even after finding out that it was soccer, not 'real' football.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Trip looked over at Malcolm. "Talk about what?"
"Why you're bound and determined to get yourself drunk. Although it's going to take awhile drinking that water you Americans call beer."
Not rising to the bait, Trip stared at his empty glass. "Hoshi," he mumbled. "And her bits."
"Hoshi?" Something about the light refracting off the glass jogged Malcolm's memory. "Did something happen between you and Hoshi after the away mission?"
"Naw, not really. Well, she was hung over and got in the shower, not knowin' I was already there, but nothin' happened ."
"So what's the problem? It's not as if you like her or anything." A bad pass by his team distracted Malcolm and made him groan.
"Yeah," said Trip, suddenly tired. He got up and muttered some excuse to Malcolm as he left, his gait remarkable steady for one who had drunk so much in such a short time.
----------
Perky bits.
Although, if she was honest with herself, it really wasn't a bit. Not by a long shot. But it sure was perky.
Hoshi had successfully avoided Trip for the past ten days, mortified at her behavior in the shower and at the way her thoughts kept straying to his perky part. And his chest. Can't forget that part; how could she, after hiding her face against it in the shower, then seeing it again as he shaved.
Of course his other parts were very nice, but it was always the perky one that she kept coming back to, and how nice it was to be held against that broad chest .
No use thinking about what you won't ever get, she admonished herself. It isn't like he likes you or anything.
Her shift finally over, Hoshi went to her cabin and changed into something more comfortable than her uniform. Cutler had been dumped by Rostov, and a bunch of girls were going to get together to commiserate with Liz and bitch about men in general. Hoshi was quite looking forward to it.
----------
"Fill'er up, barkeep." Hoshi waved her little glass in the direction of Kelly, who was manning the liqueur bottle. Chocolate, of course. Hoshi and Liz had drunk the lion's share, Liz alternating between raging against and weeping over Rostov as the night went on. At that moment she, Johnson, and Miller were cataloging the attributes of the remaining forty-two crewmen, trying to figure out which one would be granted the honor of dating Liz next.
As Hoshi was unfamiliar with most of them, she just listened for a while as the party wound down. Leaving the crewwomen to their bunks, Hoshi said her farewells and wove her way to the lift, humming tunelessly under her breath.
Exiting on her deck, Hoshi came around a corner and stopped short, almost face to face with the owner of the perky and other parts that had been tormenting her. She frowned, not sure if she had left Liz's mad at men or not.
"Hosh."
She decided not. "Trip."
"How ya doin'?"
Hoshi grinned, biting back a laugh. "Perky." Catching the look on his face, she did laugh.
Grabbing his hand, Hoshi pulled him the remaining two feet to her cabin. She opened the door and yanked him inside, turning to look at him.
"Just perky."
----------
Trip's fuddled brain couldn't quite believe his ears when Hoshi answered 'Perky', then laughed. He followed along as she drug him to her cabin and said 'Perky' again.
"Perky," he echoed, his voice hoarse. In a daze, he lifted a trembling hand, grazing it across her perky bits. He watched as Hoshi pulled off her shirt and then her bra. Frozen, he couldn't move as she stepped closer, running her hand over the front of his increasingly tight shorts.
"Perky," she agreed.
In a flash all their clothes were removed, and he held Hoshi close as she rubbed her cheek against his chest.
"Perky," she said again, taking his head in her hands and bringing it down for a kiss. Trip obliged, kissing her long and deep. He picked her up and placed her on the bunk, lying down next to her.
"Perky," his buzzing self repeated.
Not one second later they both had passed out, asleep.
~~~~~
Hoshi slowly awoke, becoming aware of someone warm and solid pressed up against her. Sighing happily, she snuggled back into the warmth, pulling him tighter around her. Wrapped up in her lover's arms was one of her favorite ways of waking up.
. lover's arms .
Hoshi's eyes snapped open. She didn't have a lover. So who was behind her? Moving ever so slowly, she rolled over to look into Trip's sleeping face. A double rush of longing and unease ran through her, if that was possible. It must be, as that was definitely what she was feeling. He was so handsome, lying there; his body felt so good against hers, but the reality couldn't be ignored. He was a Commander, she was an Ensign, and they were both drunk last night when they . she shied away from completing that thought. Quite sure of her feelings toward Trip, Hoshi wasn't all that positive he wouldn't wake up regretting what he did.
She sighed again, not so happily this time, and dragged her gaze away from his chest to meet his open eyes. They stared at each other a moment before Trip gave her a half grin.
"We gotta stop meetin' like this, darlin'."
Hoshi's weak smile faded as he pulled up the sheet up over her chest. Those strange double feelings were back. Gratitude that she wasn't naked anymore, chagrin that he didn't want to see her naked. Something must have shown on her face as Trip cupped her cheek with his hand and lifted her head to look at him.
"Nothin' happened, Hosh."
Regret and relief flooded through her. Why couldn't she make up her mind?
"How do you know?"
"I would of remembered."
"We were drunk ."
"Trust me, Hoshi," he said in a low voice. His eyes dropped to watch his thumb trace her bottom lip. "There's no way in hell I could ever forget makin' love to you, no matter what state I was in."
Hoshi could only stare at him. Finally, only one emotion ran through her: fear. She was scared. Scared at what his words meant, scared at what could be between them, scared at how much she wanted it.
Trip gave another self-depreciating half grin at her silence. "I'd better go."
Watching him silently as he dressed, Hoshi tried to force herself say something, anything that would make him stay.
But fear had closed her throat, and let him go without another word.
----------
Trip stared at the unopened bottle of Wild Turkey on his desk. Somehow he had gotten out of Hoshi's bunk, gotten dressed, gotten through the rest of the day. He had had an early breakfast and a late lunch and skipped dinner all together to make sure he didn't see her. He knew that it would take only two or three shots on an empty stomach before he was drunk enough to forget the look on Hoshi's face that morning.
Part of him wanted to open the bottle to forget, part of him knew it was short term solution at best, and a very small part figured if he did get drunk, then maybe, just maybe, he would see her naked again.
It worked the past two times, didn't it?
Damn Hoshi and her perky bits.
Against his better judgment Trip reached out and cracked the seal, lifting the bottle to his mouth. To hell with a glass, he'd only have to wash it afterward. Tilting back broke the weak bolt on his chair that Trip had been meaning to fix and he fell; fine Kentucky bourbon spilling over him and the floor.
Scrambling to his feet, Trip managed to save little more than half a liter. He grimaced at the mess on the floor and the uncomfortable feel of a wet t- shirt and shorts plastered against him. Taking a long swig, he put the bottle down before getting a towel to clean up the mess and strip off his sodden clothes.
He had turned on the shower and was stuffing anything that had gotten bourbon on it down the laundry chute when his door chime rang. Annoyed at the world in general and himself in particular, Trip yelled out a 'Come in' without stopping to consider the state of undress he was in, or who might be on the other side of that door.
"We already did drunk and a shower, Trip."
He froze, trying to find something, anything he could cover himself with. The bed with its sheets and the bathroom with its towels and the drawers with their clothes were equally far away. Putting on a brave face, Trip cupped his hands in front of him and turned slightly, trying to act like this happened to him every day.
"Hey, Hosh."
----------
Hoshi had spent the rest of the day alternating between hiding from Trip and screwing up her courage to seek him out and start all over again. But he never came to the bridge that shift, and he wasn't at lunch or dinner.
Staring up at the rivets in her ceiling, Hoshi came to the realization that she was going to have to beard the lion in his den. She got up of the bunk, changed her uniform for something less 'official' looking and went to Trip's cabin.
The first thing she noticed after the door opened was the sight of Trip's naked backside. Then the almost overwhelming smell of alcohol, the steam coming from the bathroom, and the chair lying on the floor. But her eyes kept going back to Trip. She smiled to herself. Maybe this wouldn't be as tough as she thought.
"We already did drunk and a shower, Trip."
She did smile as he panicked, searching for something to cover up with. Finally he turned, and Hoshi tried hard not to laugh at the expression on his face.
"Hey, Hosh."
"What on Earth happened?" Walking up to him, she pressed her fingertips to his chest a few times. "You're all sticky."
"I, ah . spilt a bottle of bourbon all over me."
"And your cabin, it looks like."
"Yeah, well ."
Hoshi smiled at him again. "Go take your shower. I'll let the room air out." As he moved past her, a little imp in Hoshi made her reach out her hand and smack him on the cheek. Trip jumped slightly, then shot a quick glance back at her.
Hoshi could swear he was blushing.
----------
Trip quickly washed off the bourbon, trying to figure out what Hoshi was doing in his cabin. This was not what he expected, given the tension in the air as he had left her this morning. He toweled off, then looked at the small scrap of terrycloth he was supposed to cover himself in.
A knock at the bathroom door made him start. "You done in there?"
"Ah ."
"Here." The door slid open to show Hoshi holding out boxers, shorts, and a t-shirt, demurely looking away.
"Thanks," he mumbled, grabbing the clothes and frowning at the suspicion of a smirk on her face. Trip got dressed, then looked in the mirror, trying to give himself some courage. He gave up and sighed, and went to see what the girl he almost wished he didn't like or anything wanted.
----------
The air in the cabin had only marginally cleared by the time Trip came out of the bathroom. Hoshi had straightened as best as she could, but the chair was beyond her expertise and she didn't know what to do with all the little pieces of . whatever they were that Trip was working on. So she had gathered them up in a little pile on the desk, and sat on the bed waiting for him.
"We need to talk," she said as soon as he came out.
Trip stopped short, then nodded, coming over to sit on the other end of the bed.
Taking a deep breath, Hoshi plunged into speech. "How do you feel about me? When you aren't drunk, that is?"
Blinking, Trip thought for a moment. "I like you. You're a nice person. You have a great sense of humor, and are a lot of fun t' be with. You're an excellent linguist, you've saved us too many times t' count."
Hoshi's heart sank at the clinical way Trip was talking. "This morning, from what you said, I had thought maybe ." Her voice trailed off as Hoshi tried to walk the fine line of finding out how Trip felt and not making a complete fool of herself.
The problem was rendered moot as Trip leaned forward and kissed her.
----------
The alcohol hazed memories of their previous kisses hadn't prepared him for how sweet she would taste. Trip's arm wrapped around Hoshi's waist and he dragged her across the bunk onto his lap. Half of him . ok, more than half of him was waiting for her to pull back and slap him across the face. He groaned in relief as instead she twined her arms about his neck and kissed him back.
For their first sober kiss, it wasn't half bad, he thought, trying to keep some kind of hold of his sanity. But it was lost the next second as Hoshi straddled his waist and pushed him back on the bunk.
Not half bad at all.
*****
Ten days later .
Perky bits.
Specifically, Hoshi's perky bits.
They haunted Trip.
No matter what he was doing, no matter where he was, something would come up that would remind him of Hoshi's perky bits and he would have to spend too much time trying not to think of them.
It was affecting his work. It was affecting his sleep.
But it was worse when she was around.
Now that he knew what she looked like nude, whenever he saw her, no matter what she was doing, she was doing it naked.
Eating lunch? Naked.
On the bridge? Naked.
Talking with some new alien species they had just met? Naked.
Lying on his bunk, calling his name? Naked.
Ok, so only in his imagination did he see her that way.
Trip couldn't understand it. Sure, he hadn't gotten laid in awhile, but it wasn't as if he liked her or .
Cutting off that train of thought, Trip started to bang his head against the warp core. Repeatedly.
He did like her that way, and it was about time he faced facts. Those words echoed in his brain, keeping time with the banging of his skull against the core.
Perky bits.
They were going to be the death of him.
----------
Malcolm watched as Trip downed his sixth beer in ninety minutes. Desperate for something to keep his mind of Hoshi and her bits, Trip had agreed to watch a game of football with the Armory officer. Testament to how bad off he was, Trip stuck around even after finding out that it was soccer, not 'real' football.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Trip looked over at Malcolm. "Talk about what?"
"Why you're bound and determined to get yourself drunk. Although it's going to take awhile drinking that water you Americans call beer."
Not rising to the bait, Trip stared at his empty glass. "Hoshi," he mumbled. "And her bits."
"Hoshi?" Something about the light refracting off the glass jogged Malcolm's memory. "Did something happen between you and Hoshi after the away mission?"
"Naw, not really. Well, she was hung over and got in the shower, not knowin' I was already there, but nothin' happened ."
"So what's the problem? It's not as if you like her or anything." A bad pass by his team distracted Malcolm and made him groan.
"Yeah," said Trip, suddenly tired. He got up and muttered some excuse to Malcolm as he left, his gait remarkable steady for one who had drunk so much in such a short time.
----------
Perky bits.
Although, if she was honest with herself, it really wasn't a bit. Not by a long shot. But it sure was perky.
Hoshi had successfully avoided Trip for the past ten days, mortified at her behavior in the shower and at the way her thoughts kept straying to his perky part. And his chest. Can't forget that part; how could she, after hiding her face against it in the shower, then seeing it again as he shaved.
Of course his other parts were very nice, but it was always the perky one that she kept coming back to, and how nice it was to be held against that broad chest .
No use thinking about what you won't ever get, she admonished herself. It isn't like he likes you or anything.
Her shift finally over, Hoshi went to her cabin and changed into something more comfortable than her uniform. Cutler had been dumped by Rostov, and a bunch of girls were going to get together to commiserate with Liz and bitch about men in general. Hoshi was quite looking forward to it.
----------
"Fill'er up, barkeep." Hoshi waved her little glass in the direction of Kelly, who was manning the liqueur bottle. Chocolate, of course. Hoshi and Liz had drunk the lion's share, Liz alternating between raging against and weeping over Rostov as the night went on. At that moment she, Johnson, and Miller were cataloging the attributes of the remaining forty-two crewmen, trying to figure out which one would be granted the honor of dating Liz next.
As Hoshi was unfamiliar with most of them, she just listened for a while as the party wound down. Leaving the crewwomen to their bunks, Hoshi said her farewells and wove her way to the lift, humming tunelessly under her breath.
Exiting on her deck, Hoshi came around a corner and stopped short, almost face to face with the owner of the perky and other parts that had been tormenting her. She frowned, not sure if she had left Liz's mad at men or not.
"Hosh."
She decided not. "Trip."
"How ya doin'?"
Hoshi grinned, biting back a laugh. "Perky." Catching the look on his face, she did laugh.
Grabbing his hand, Hoshi pulled him the remaining two feet to her cabin. She opened the door and yanked him inside, turning to look at him.
"Just perky."
----------
Trip's fuddled brain couldn't quite believe his ears when Hoshi answered 'Perky', then laughed. He followed along as she drug him to her cabin and said 'Perky' again.
"Perky," he echoed, his voice hoarse. In a daze, he lifted a trembling hand, grazing it across her perky bits. He watched as Hoshi pulled off her shirt and then her bra. Frozen, he couldn't move as she stepped closer, running her hand over the front of his increasingly tight shorts.
"Perky," she agreed.
In a flash all their clothes were removed, and he held Hoshi close as she rubbed her cheek against his chest.
"Perky," she said again, taking his head in her hands and bringing it down for a kiss. Trip obliged, kissing her long and deep. He picked her up and placed her on the bunk, lying down next to her.
"Perky," his buzzing self repeated.
Not one second later they both had passed out, asleep.
~~~~~
Hoshi slowly awoke, becoming aware of someone warm and solid pressed up against her. Sighing happily, she snuggled back into the warmth, pulling him tighter around her. Wrapped up in her lover's arms was one of her favorite ways of waking up.
. lover's arms .
Hoshi's eyes snapped open. She didn't have a lover. So who was behind her? Moving ever so slowly, she rolled over to look into Trip's sleeping face. A double rush of longing and unease ran through her, if that was possible. It must be, as that was definitely what she was feeling. He was so handsome, lying there; his body felt so good against hers, but the reality couldn't be ignored. He was a Commander, she was an Ensign, and they were both drunk last night when they . she shied away from completing that thought. Quite sure of her feelings toward Trip, Hoshi wasn't all that positive he wouldn't wake up regretting what he did.
She sighed again, not so happily this time, and dragged her gaze away from his chest to meet his open eyes. They stared at each other a moment before Trip gave her a half grin.
"We gotta stop meetin' like this, darlin'."
Hoshi's weak smile faded as he pulled up the sheet up over her chest. Those strange double feelings were back. Gratitude that she wasn't naked anymore, chagrin that he didn't want to see her naked. Something must have shown on her face as Trip cupped her cheek with his hand and lifted her head to look at him.
"Nothin' happened, Hosh."
Regret and relief flooded through her. Why couldn't she make up her mind?
"How do you know?"
"I would of remembered."
"We were drunk ."
"Trust me, Hoshi," he said in a low voice. His eyes dropped to watch his thumb trace her bottom lip. "There's no way in hell I could ever forget makin' love to you, no matter what state I was in."
Hoshi could only stare at him. Finally, only one emotion ran through her: fear. She was scared. Scared at what his words meant, scared at what could be between them, scared at how much she wanted it.
Trip gave another self-depreciating half grin at her silence. "I'd better go."
Watching him silently as he dressed, Hoshi tried to force herself say something, anything that would make him stay.
But fear had closed her throat, and let him go without another word.
----------
Trip stared at the unopened bottle of Wild Turkey on his desk. Somehow he had gotten out of Hoshi's bunk, gotten dressed, gotten through the rest of the day. He had had an early breakfast and a late lunch and skipped dinner all together to make sure he didn't see her. He knew that it would take only two or three shots on an empty stomach before he was drunk enough to forget the look on Hoshi's face that morning.
Part of him wanted to open the bottle to forget, part of him knew it was short term solution at best, and a very small part figured if he did get drunk, then maybe, just maybe, he would see her naked again.
It worked the past two times, didn't it?
Damn Hoshi and her perky bits.
Against his better judgment Trip reached out and cracked the seal, lifting the bottle to his mouth. To hell with a glass, he'd only have to wash it afterward. Tilting back broke the weak bolt on his chair that Trip had been meaning to fix and he fell; fine Kentucky bourbon spilling over him and the floor.
Scrambling to his feet, Trip managed to save little more than half a liter. He grimaced at the mess on the floor and the uncomfortable feel of a wet t- shirt and shorts plastered against him. Taking a long swig, he put the bottle down before getting a towel to clean up the mess and strip off his sodden clothes.
He had turned on the shower and was stuffing anything that had gotten bourbon on it down the laundry chute when his door chime rang. Annoyed at the world in general and himself in particular, Trip yelled out a 'Come in' without stopping to consider the state of undress he was in, or who might be on the other side of that door.
"We already did drunk and a shower, Trip."
He froze, trying to find something, anything he could cover himself with. The bed with its sheets and the bathroom with its towels and the drawers with their clothes were equally far away. Putting on a brave face, Trip cupped his hands in front of him and turned slightly, trying to act like this happened to him every day.
"Hey, Hosh."
----------
Hoshi had spent the rest of the day alternating between hiding from Trip and screwing up her courage to seek him out and start all over again. But he never came to the bridge that shift, and he wasn't at lunch or dinner.
Staring up at the rivets in her ceiling, Hoshi came to the realization that she was going to have to beard the lion in his den. She got up of the bunk, changed her uniform for something less 'official' looking and went to Trip's cabin.
The first thing she noticed after the door opened was the sight of Trip's naked backside. Then the almost overwhelming smell of alcohol, the steam coming from the bathroom, and the chair lying on the floor. But her eyes kept going back to Trip. She smiled to herself. Maybe this wouldn't be as tough as she thought.
"We already did drunk and a shower, Trip."
She did smile as he panicked, searching for something to cover up with. Finally he turned, and Hoshi tried hard not to laugh at the expression on his face.
"Hey, Hosh."
"What on Earth happened?" Walking up to him, she pressed her fingertips to his chest a few times. "You're all sticky."
"I, ah . spilt a bottle of bourbon all over me."
"And your cabin, it looks like."
"Yeah, well ."
Hoshi smiled at him again. "Go take your shower. I'll let the room air out." As he moved past her, a little imp in Hoshi made her reach out her hand and smack him on the cheek. Trip jumped slightly, then shot a quick glance back at her.
Hoshi could swear he was blushing.
----------
Trip quickly washed off the bourbon, trying to figure out what Hoshi was doing in his cabin. This was not what he expected, given the tension in the air as he had left her this morning. He toweled off, then looked at the small scrap of terrycloth he was supposed to cover himself in.
A knock at the bathroom door made him start. "You done in there?"
"Ah ."
"Here." The door slid open to show Hoshi holding out boxers, shorts, and a t-shirt, demurely looking away.
"Thanks," he mumbled, grabbing the clothes and frowning at the suspicion of a smirk on her face. Trip got dressed, then looked in the mirror, trying to give himself some courage. He gave up and sighed, and went to see what the girl he almost wished he didn't like or anything wanted.
----------
The air in the cabin had only marginally cleared by the time Trip came out of the bathroom. Hoshi had straightened as best as she could, but the chair was beyond her expertise and she didn't know what to do with all the little pieces of . whatever they were that Trip was working on. So she had gathered them up in a little pile on the desk, and sat on the bed waiting for him.
"We need to talk," she said as soon as he came out.
Trip stopped short, then nodded, coming over to sit on the other end of the bed.
Taking a deep breath, Hoshi plunged into speech. "How do you feel about me? When you aren't drunk, that is?"
Blinking, Trip thought for a moment. "I like you. You're a nice person. You have a great sense of humor, and are a lot of fun t' be with. You're an excellent linguist, you've saved us too many times t' count."
Hoshi's heart sank at the clinical way Trip was talking. "This morning, from what you said, I had thought maybe ." Her voice trailed off as Hoshi tried to walk the fine line of finding out how Trip felt and not making a complete fool of herself.
The problem was rendered moot as Trip leaned forward and kissed her.
----------
The alcohol hazed memories of their previous kisses hadn't prepared him for how sweet she would taste. Trip's arm wrapped around Hoshi's waist and he dragged her across the bunk onto his lap. Half of him . ok, more than half of him was waiting for her to pull back and slap him across the face. He groaned in relief as instead she twined her arms about his neck and kissed him back.
For their first sober kiss, it wasn't half bad, he thought, trying to keep some kind of hold of his sanity. But it was lost the next second as Hoshi straddled his waist and pushed him back on the bunk.
Not half bad at all.
*****