Title: Kyupit's Oro
Author: ZenosParadox
Summary: RS friendship, Tu. When a cherubic alien buzzes the Enterprise and lets loose his weapon, Malcolm discovers he doesn't see Hoshi as a sister. Sequel to Off the Pedestal but can be read without that story.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Paramount. This fiction was written solely for personal enjoyment.
KYUPIT'S ORO
Chapter 1: Cupid, Draw Back Your Bow
The Kyupit awoke from his drunken stupor and looked around in a daze. Perhaps he had outstayed his welcome on the Boomer ship. He frowned at the thought of abandoning his research. The Kyupit had found humans to be very interesting given the wide variety of behavior they exhibited. To his delight he discovered the ship was docked with a larger, sleeker vessel that carried 83 new subjects for study, the Enterprise. Perfect! He'd have the data for his graduate thesis collected in no time!
The Kyupit's little wings beat furiously as he roamed around the ship, his movements and small size making him practically undetectable except for a slight buzzing noise. The Kyupit carried only one weapon, the Oro, for protection, but thus far had found it nothing but a burden. Humans seemed to be congenial enough, although he had observed sufficient violence to understand that they could be a threat to his well-being. Still, the Kyupit was confident he could remain undetected on this ship. He roamed about, hoping he could find a human male and female who were relatively isolated from the others to study.
The Kyupit hovered in a room that had a control console and two long projectiles on either side of the console. Then he spotted them. There was a man with dark hair talking quietly to a woman who also had dark hair. They wore the same type of clothing as he had seen on most of the others. The man gave the woman something. It appeared to be a weapon! What kind of humans were these who armed their women? Curious.
The Kyupit then had to move quickly as the woman aimed directly at him and fired. The Kyupit did not realize the light he saw was intended for the holographic target behind him or that it was innocuous. Instead, the Kyupit moved quickly to another position and she fired again as if she could see him.
Each time the Kyupit changed position, he would find the woman firing on him!
The firing stopped while the man and woman talked again. The little Kyupit was heaving, trying to catch his breath, his little wings barely able to flutter. The man actually looked pleased with the efforts of the woman. Both of them were smiling!
What a vicious woman this was! The Kyupit would show her! He aimed his Oro at the woman after setting his weapon to minimum disruption. The projectile would disrupt her nervous system and he would have his revenge!
Just as the Kyupit stretched the string that would release his projectile, another human male entered the room. The vicious woman stepped back and the new male, this one taller with lighter hair, stepped into her position. The Oro's projectile struck this male instead!
The little Kyupit was now furious, but knew he should hide in case the shooting started again. It would take a day for his Oro to recharge, so he hid and observed the humans. At least the Kyupit could verify the effects of the Oro on them.
------
Trip Tucker entered the armory interrupting the discussion Reed and Sato were having about the improvements in her accuracy. Sato turned her back on the two men as she unloaded the practice phase pistol. She glanced up briefly, thinking she heard a buzzing noise, but couldn't localize it.
Tucker moved into her position to give a PADD to Reed. Just as he released the PADD, he felt a sharp sting on his neck. Tucker looked at Reed and suddenly felt the urge to put his hand on the Lieutenant's shoulder.
Reed looked up at Tucker and then to the shoulder where the engineer had placed his hand. "These specifications look like they'll work, Commander. We'll get on it first thing tomorrow morning."
"That's great, Malcolm," said Tucker, now beginning to rub Reed's shoulder as he looked into his eyes. Why hadn't he ever noticed how nice Malcolm's eyes were? Why did they have that weird look in them right now? Tucker didn't realize he had been stepping forward into Reed's personal space. Trip was unconsciously shifting his body to meet each change Malcolm tried to make to avoid physical contact.
"Ahem. So, how about we go over these in more detail, say in my quarters? We can get really comfortable there." Tucker wondered where that had come from. It almost sounded as if he were making a pass at Reed. There went his hands again. What on earth was going on?
Reed thought the Commander had needed to find a woman on Risa more urgently than he thought. "I, uh, think tomorrow is soon enough, Commander. Right now I have to, uh, go over some technical details with Hoshi on trianglulating signals. Good night."
Malcolm practically dragged Hoshi out of the armory to get away from Trip's peculiar behavior.
"Was Trip coming on to you back there, Malcolm?" Hoshi asked with a slight smile when they got to her quarters. "I thought you were both attracted to women."
"I'm not quite sure what was going on back there. He's probably trying to play a joke on me considering our little adventure on Risa. Thanks for being my alibi, Hoshi."
Back in the armory, Tucker stood there for a minute with a disappointed look on his face. As he saw the pair leaving, Trip wondered why he had never noticed the nice ass Malcolm had before. As soon as the Lieutenant was out of sight; however, Trip shook his head in amazement. What was wrong with him? Maybe he should have found a woman on Risa!
------
The next day, the Kyupit had now rested but was still intent on revenge on the vicious woman who had attacked him. The Oro had an interesting effect on the tall male human, but perhaps the Oro would disrupt the woman's nervous system in the way it was intended. The Kyupit would have to find her again, so he began searching the ship.
~~~~~~~
Reed spent his entire day dodging Tucker. The Chief Engineer's behavior appeared normal enough when they were with a larger group, but whenever the two were alone together, it would again become disconcerting. Reed had finally crawled into a maintenance tube to hide until the Commander was called away to Engineering. The joke was going far too long! And tonight he would have dinner with the Captain. Was Tucker setting him up for an embarrassing evening? Malcolm groaned at his friend's sense of humor.
At dinner, Jonathan Archer looked at the two men sitting at the table along with Sub-Commander T'Pol. Porthos had also joined them this evening, but sat quietly napping at Archer's feet.
Tucker's eyes were practically glowing every time he looked at Reed whereas the Lieutenant's eyes looked very wary. The Captain exchanged several questioning glances of his own with T'Pol, both asking what's gotten into these two. T'Pol left early, leaving the men to have a private discussion.
"Why don't you join Trip and me for a beer, Malcolm?" asked Jon. Getting the two men to relax would be the best way to start a conversation.
Oh, no, he's in on it, too, thought Malcolm immediately. Trip had moved his chair to sit closer to Malcolm and even now had an arm across the back of the chair. Malcolm thought desperately for a way out, then saw Porthos at the Captain's feet.
"Uh, no, thank you, sir. Why look at Porthos! He looks like he really needs a walk, don't you think? How about I take him for a quick one. Really, I insist," said Reed as he moved to wake up the pup even as he was spewing out his reason for leaving. "I'll have him back soon, sir."
Reed grabbed Porthos who struggled out of his arms as soon as they were in the corridor. Porthos wagged his tail expectantly at the Lieutenant who merely said, "Come on before Trip decides to follow us. Now, where do you want to go?"
------
Back in the Captain's mess, Jon Archer looked at his friend's crestfallen face and asked, "Trip, is there something about you, some change in, um, attitude I should know about?"
"What? Oh, no, no. It's not what you think. Actually, I don't know what to think myself," Trip replied in a frustrated tone.
"Then why did you look like you were mooning over Malcolm," Jon asked his friend bluntly.
"The hell if I know, Cap'n. I'm fine as long as I'm not around him. But I got this odd sensation last night when I went to find him in the armory and it comes back whenever I see him. But I swear, I'm not thinking about him in, you know, that way."
"He looked perturbed by your behavior. Why don't you chase Malcolm down and explain, or at least clear the air, alright?"
------
Reed was feeling relieved and beginning to enjoy his little stroll with Porthos--then he heard the Southern drawl as Tucker greeted someone in the corridor behind him.
Bloody hell, would the man not let up with his joke! Reed looked frantically around and realized he and Porthos were near Sato's quarters if he just moved around the corner. Great plan! She'd understand his ducking in there to avoid Tucker.
Reed buzzed Sato's quarters and called her name several times. Porthos merely stood by him wagging his tail. Porthos recognized where he was and knew he would be able to wrangle some cheese! But Sato did not answer and Reed could estimate that Tucker would soon be bearing down on him.
What Malcolm couldn't see was the Kyupit who was tired of searching all over the ship and fatiguing the capacity of his little wings. As soon as the Kyupit recognized the dark-haired man, he became hopeful of finding the vicious woman again.
Malcolm quickly opened Hoshi's door with his security override and stepped quickly into Hoshi's quarters with Porthos at his heels. He locked the door behind him and closing his eyes in relief. Simultaneously, the Kyupit entered with his Oro now recharged.
Porthos barked a greeting at Hoshi and Malcolm heard a loud gasp and opened his eyes. There stood Hoshi, fresh out of the shower, completely naked! Hoshi had a large white towel that she held behind her back, her arms out, as if offering a perfectly unobstructed view of her body. She was so surprised by Malcolm's sudden intrusion that she just stood there paralyzed for a moment.
Malcolm was no better off. His mind registered the beautiful woman in front of him and his eyes scanned her automatically. How could he ever have thought of Hoshi as a sexless, cold, statue! He closed his eyes willing himself to think brotherly thoughts, think brotherly thoughts. Why did his eyes keep wanting to sneak a peep!
"Hoshi, I'm sorry. Trip was in the corridor and I just needed to duck in for a bit to lose him," began Malcolm, wondering why Hoshi wasn't screaming for him to get out.
Hoshi had now regained her composure and was enjoying the thought of getting some payback at Malcolm. Little sister, was she? Hoshi took her time draping the towel around her, noticing that Malcolm would inadvertently open his eyes slightly, only to try to close them tighter. Hs blush deepened each time it happened.
"Come here, boy," said Hoshi. Malcolm and Porthos both moved forward at her command. Stifling a giggle, Hoshi then said, "I meant Porthos, Malcolm. You can open your eyes now."
The relief flooding Malcolm soon dissipated when he realized that from his position, he could still see quite a bit of Hoshi's upper torso. The Ensign knelt on the floor to greet Porthos who was busy licking at the fingers of her hand. Lucky dog, thought Malcolm.
"I'm very sorry to intrude, Hoshi. If you just give me a few moments, we'll be on our way," said Malcolm, actually shifting his head a bit to get a better view of Hoshi's bosom before he realized what he was doing.
At this point, the Kyupit had ceased his dance of joy and was taking aim with his Oro, ready to strike at the vicious woman who was kneeling by the four-legged creature. The Kyupit shot, but once again the target had shifted. The projectile struck the four-legged creature instead of the woman!
Hoshi thought she heard a small buzzing noise again when Porthos gave a sudden yelp and turned his head. At that point, Hoshi's bunny slippers came into his view. All thoughts of cheese disappeared as Porthos noticed the lovely fur, the soft ears, the inviting grin of the Bunny Slippers.
"I understand, Malcolm. Trip has been acting rather strangely lately when I've seen him around you. What do you think is going on?" asked Hoshi.
The Kyupit was shaking with rage at having missed again, but then he had never been the best aim in his class. He was an academic, not a soldier! Oh, this was just too much. The Kyupit fluttered to sit on Hoshi's desk, fuming at the four-legged creature who now approached another furry set of objects in the room.
"I think that Trip is playing a rather elaborate joke on me. At least that's all the sense I can make of it. Oh, look, I think Porthos has decided to make friends with your bunny slippers," said Malcolm.
"Oh, how sweet! He just looks so adorable sitting between them like that, licking their noses. If only we had Trip's camera! Porthos really likes them...Malcolm, is he doing what I think--"
"No, no, bad dog! Bad dog!"
Malcolm quickly bent to pick up Porthos before nature could take its course.
The Bunny Slippers merely looked back with a rather lascivious grin on their expressions. Obviously they had not suffered from the foreplay.
"My goodness, what's gotten into him?" asked Hoshi as Malcolm held a wriggling Porthos who had begun howling.
"I guess he didn't get any on Risa, either," commented Malcolm. "Look, thanks for the hideout. I better get Porthos back to the Captain."
Malcolm left Hoshi's quarters quickly. In the meantime a now exhausted Kyupit lay sleeping, waiting for the 24 hours to pass so that his Oro could recharge.
------
"Not the bunny slippers again!" said Archer as Reed tried to explain what was going on. Porthos was now whining and howling nonstop.
"Sir, perhaps Doctor Phlox could sedate Porthos for the night. I don't think anyone is going to be able to sleep with all the commotion."
"That's a good idea, Malcolm. I'll do just that. Oh, Malcolm, did Trip find you?" asked Archer as he held the sadly whining, howling dog.
"Um, no, sir, I didn't see him. Why do you ask?" queried Reed.
"Well, it's just--well, it's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow, I'm sure."
As Malcolm left, he heard the Captain talking to Porthos saying, "If you needed a female that badly, you should've let me know when we were on Risa!"
*****
Author Notes:
Written May, 2002 and posted at LD. A sequel to Off the Pedestal, but can be read without it. Chapter 2 coming up to complete the story.
Thanks for reading my version of the stupid cupid cliche. No reviews are necessary.
Author: ZenosParadox
Summary: RS friendship, Tu. When a cherubic alien buzzes the Enterprise and lets loose his weapon, Malcolm discovers he doesn't see Hoshi as a sister. Sequel to Off the Pedestal but can be read without that story.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Paramount. This fiction was written solely for personal enjoyment.
KYUPIT'S ORO
Chapter 1: Cupid, Draw Back Your Bow
The Kyupit awoke from his drunken stupor and looked around in a daze. Perhaps he had outstayed his welcome on the Boomer ship. He frowned at the thought of abandoning his research. The Kyupit had found humans to be very interesting given the wide variety of behavior they exhibited. To his delight he discovered the ship was docked with a larger, sleeker vessel that carried 83 new subjects for study, the Enterprise. Perfect! He'd have the data for his graduate thesis collected in no time!
The Kyupit's little wings beat furiously as he roamed around the ship, his movements and small size making him practically undetectable except for a slight buzzing noise. The Kyupit carried only one weapon, the Oro, for protection, but thus far had found it nothing but a burden. Humans seemed to be congenial enough, although he had observed sufficient violence to understand that they could be a threat to his well-being. Still, the Kyupit was confident he could remain undetected on this ship. He roamed about, hoping he could find a human male and female who were relatively isolated from the others to study.
The Kyupit hovered in a room that had a control console and two long projectiles on either side of the console. Then he spotted them. There was a man with dark hair talking quietly to a woman who also had dark hair. They wore the same type of clothing as he had seen on most of the others. The man gave the woman something. It appeared to be a weapon! What kind of humans were these who armed their women? Curious.
The Kyupit then had to move quickly as the woman aimed directly at him and fired. The Kyupit did not realize the light he saw was intended for the holographic target behind him or that it was innocuous. Instead, the Kyupit moved quickly to another position and she fired again as if she could see him.
Each time the Kyupit changed position, he would find the woman firing on him!
The firing stopped while the man and woman talked again. The little Kyupit was heaving, trying to catch his breath, his little wings barely able to flutter. The man actually looked pleased with the efforts of the woman. Both of them were smiling!
What a vicious woman this was! The Kyupit would show her! He aimed his Oro at the woman after setting his weapon to minimum disruption. The projectile would disrupt her nervous system and he would have his revenge!
Just as the Kyupit stretched the string that would release his projectile, another human male entered the room. The vicious woman stepped back and the new male, this one taller with lighter hair, stepped into her position. The Oro's projectile struck this male instead!
The little Kyupit was now furious, but knew he should hide in case the shooting started again. It would take a day for his Oro to recharge, so he hid and observed the humans. At least the Kyupit could verify the effects of the Oro on them.
------
Trip Tucker entered the armory interrupting the discussion Reed and Sato were having about the improvements in her accuracy. Sato turned her back on the two men as she unloaded the practice phase pistol. She glanced up briefly, thinking she heard a buzzing noise, but couldn't localize it.
Tucker moved into her position to give a PADD to Reed. Just as he released the PADD, he felt a sharp sting on his neck. Tucker looked at Reed and suddenly felt the urge to put his hand on the Lieutenant's shoulder.
Reed looked up at Tucker and then to the shoulder where the engineer had placed his hand. "These specifications look like they'll work, Commander. We'll get on it first thing tomorrow morning."
"That's great, Malcolm," said Tucker, now beginning to rub Reed's shoulder as he looked into his eyes. Why hadn't he ever noticed how nice Malcolm's eyes were? Why did they have that weird look in them right now? Tucker didn't realize he had been stepping forward into Reed's personal space. Trip was unconsciously shifting his body to meet each change Malcolm tried to make to avoid physical contact.
"Ahem. So, how about we go over these in more detail, say in my quarters? We can get really comfortable there." Tucker wondered where that had come from. It almost sounded as if he were making a pass at Reed. There went his hands again. What on earth was going on?
Reed thought the Commander had needed to find a woman on Risa more urgently than he thought. "I, uh, think tomorrow is soon enough, Commander. Right now I have to, uh, go over some technical details with Hoshi on trianglulating signals. Good night."
Malcolm practically dragged Hoshi out of the armory to get away from Trip's peculiar behavior.
"Was Trip coming on to you back there, Malcolm?" Hoshi asked with a slight smile when they got to her quarters. "I thought you were both attracted to women."
"I'm not quite sure what was going on back there. He's probably trying to play a joke on me considering our little adventure on Risa. Thanks for being my alibi, Hoshi."
Back in the armory, Tucker stood there for a minute with a disappointed look on his face. As he saw the pair leaving, Trip wondered why he had never noticed the nice ass Malcolm had before. As soon as the Lieutenant was out of sight; however, Trip shook his head in amazement. What was wrong with him? Maybe he should have found a woman on Risa!
------
The next day, the Kyupit had now rested but was still intent on revenge on the vicious woman who had attacked him. The Oro had an interesting effect on the tall male human, but perhaps the Oro would disrupt the woman's nervous system in the way it was intended. The Kyupit would have to find her again, so he began searching the ship.
~~~~~~~
Reed spent his entire day dodging Tucker. The Chief Engineer's behavior appeared normal enough when they were with a larger group, but whenever the two were alone together, it would again become disconcerting. Reed had finally crawled into a maintenance tube to hide until the Commander was called away to Engineering. The joke was going far too long! And tonight he would have dinner with the Captain. Was Tucker setting him up for an embarrassing evening? Malcolm groaned at his friend's sense of humor.
At dinner, Jonathan Archer looked at the two men sitting at the table along with Sub-Commander T'Pol. Porthos had also joined them this evening, but sat quietly napping at Archer's feet.
Tucker's eyes were practically glowing every time he looked at Reed whereas the Lieutenant's eyes looked very wary. The Captain exchanged several questioning glances of his own with T'Pol, both asking what's gotten into these two. T'Pol left early, leaving the men to have a private discussion.
"Why don't you join Trip and me for a beer, Malcolm?" asked Jon. Getting the two men to relax would be the best way to start a conversation.
Oh, no, he's in on it, too, thought Malcolm immediately. Trip had moved his chair to sit closer to Malcolm and even now had an arm across the back of the chair. Malcolm thought desperately for a way out, then saw Porthos at the Captain's feet.
"Uh, no, thank you, sir. Why look at Porthos! He looks like he really needs a walk, don't you think? How about I take him for a quick one. Really, I insist," said Reed as he moved to wake up the pup even as he was spewing out his reason for leaving. "I'll have him back soon, sir."
Reed grabbed Porthos who struggled out of his arms as soon as they were in the corridor. Porthos wagged his tail expectantly at the Lieutenant who merely said, "Come on before Trip decides to follow us. Now, where do you want to go?"
------
Back in the Captain's mess, Jon Archer looked at his friend's crestfallen face and asked, "Trip, is there something about you, some change in, um, attitude I should know about?"
"What? Oh, no, no. It's not what you think. Actually, I don't know what to think myself," Trip replied in a frustrated tone.
"Then why did you look like you were mooning over Malcolm," Jon asked his friend bluntly.
"The hell if I know, Cap'n. I'm fine as long as I'm not around him. But I got this odd sensation last night when I went to find him in the armory and it comes back whenever I see him. But I swear, I'm not thinking about him in, you know, that way."
"He looked perturbed by your behavior. Why don't you chase Malcolm down and explain, or at least clear the air, alright?"
------
Reed was feeling relieved and beginning to enjoy his little stroll with Porthos--then he heard the Southern drawl as Tucker greeted someone in the corridor behind him.
Bloody hell, would the man not let up with his joke! Reed looked frantically around and realized he and Porthos were near Sato's quarters if he just moved around the corner. Great plan! She'd understand his ducking in there to avoid Tucker.
Reed buzzed Sato's quarters and called her name several times. Porthos merely stood by him wagging his tail. Porthos recognized where he was and knew he would be able to wrangle some cheese! But Sato did not answer and Reed could estimate that Tucker would soon be bearing down on him.
What Malcolm couldn't see was the Kyupit who was tired of searching all over the ship and fatiguing the capacity of his little wings. As soon as the Kyupit recognized the dark-haired man, he became hopeful of finding the vicious woman again.
Malcolm quickly opened Hoshi's door with his security override and stepped quickly into Hoshi's quarters with Porthos at his heels. He locked the door behind him and closing his eyes in relief. Simultaneously, the Kyupit entered with his Oro now recharged.
Porthos barked a greeting at Hoshi and Malcolm heard a loud gasp and opened his eyes. There stood Hoshi, fresh out of the shower, completely naked! Hoshi had a large white towel that she held behind her back, her arms out, as if offering a perfectly unobstructed view of her body. She was so surprised by Malcolm's sudden intrusion that she just stood there paralyzed for a moment.
Malcolm was no better off. His mind registered the beautiful woman in front of him and his eyes scanned her automatically. How could he ever have thought of Hoshi as a sexless, cold, statue! He closed his eyes willing himself to think brotherly thoughts, think brotherly thoughts. Why did his eyes keep wanting to sneak a peep!
"Hoshi, I'm sorry. Trip was in the corridor and I just needed to duck in for a bit to lose him," began Malcolm, wondering why Hoshi wasn't screaming for him to get out.
Hoshi had now regained her composure and was enjoying the thought of getting some payback at Malcolm. Little sister, was she? Hoshi took her time draping the towel around her, noticing that Malcolm would inadvertently open his eyes slightly, only to try to close them tighter. Hs blush deepened each time it happened.
"Come here, boy," said Hoshi. Malcolm and Porthos both moved forward at her command. Stifling a giggle, Hoshi then said, "I meant Porthos, Malcolm. You can open your eyes now."
The relief flooding Malcolm soon dissipated when he realized that from his position, he could still see quite a bit of Hoshi's upper torso. The Ensign knelt on the floor to greet Porthos who was busy licking at the fingers of her hand. Lucky dog, thought Malcolm.
"I'm very sorry to intrude, Hoshi. If you just give me a few moments, we'll be on our way," said Malcolm, actually shifting his head a bit to get a better view of Hoshi's bosom before he realized what he was doing.
At this point, the Kyupit had ceased his dance of joy and was taking aim with his Oro, ready to strike at the vicious woman who was kneeling by the four-legged creature. The Kyupit shot, but once again the target had shifted. The projectile struck the four-legged creature instead of the woman!
Hoshi thought she heard a small buzzing noise again when Porthos gave a sudden yelp and turned his head. At that point, Hoshi's bunny slippers came into his view. All thoughts of cheese disappeared as Porthos noticed the lovely fur, the soft ears, the inviting grin of the Bunny Slippers.
"I understand, Malcolm. Trip has been acting rather strangely lately when I've seen him around you. What do you think is going on?" asked Hoshi.
The Kyupit was shaking with rage at having missed again, but then he had never been the best aim in his class. He was an academic, not a soldier! Oh, this was just too much. The Kyupit fluttered to sit on Hoshi's desk, fuming at the four-legged creature who now approached another furry set of objects in the room.
"I think that Trip is playing a rather elaborate joke on me. At least that's all the sense I can make of it. Oh, look, I think Porthos has decided to make friends with your bunny slippers," said Malcolm.
"Oh, how sweet! He just looks so adorable sitting between them like that, licking their noses. If only we had Trip's camera! Porthos really likes them...Malcolm, is he doing what I think--"
"No, no, bad dog! Bad dog!"
Malcolm quickly bent to pick up Porthos before nature could take its course.
The Bunny Slippers merely looked back with a rather lascivious grin on their expressions. Obviously they had not suffered from the foreplay.
"My goodness, what's gotten into him?" asked Hoshi as Malcolm held a wriggling Porthos who had begun howling.
"I guess he didn't get any on Risa, either," commented Malcolm. "Look, thanks for the hideout. I better get Porthos back to the Captain."
Malcolm left Hoshi's quarters quickly. In the meantime a now exhausted Kyupit lay sleeping, waiting for the 24 hours to pass so that his Oro could recharge.
------
"Not the bunny slippers again!" said Archer as Reed tried to explain what was going on. Porthos was now whining and howling nonstop.
"Sir, perhaps Doctor Phlox could sedate Porthos for the night. I don't think anyone is going to be able to sleep with all the commotion."
"That's a good idea, Malcolm. I'll do just that. Oh, Malcolm, did Trip find you?" asked Archer as he held the sadly whining, howling dog.
"Um, no, sir, I didn't see him. Why do you ask?" queried Reed.
"Well, it's just--well, it's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow, I'm sure."
As Malcolm left, he heard the Captain talking to Porthos saying, "If you needed a female that badly, you should've let me know when we were on Risa!"
*****
Author Notes:
Written May, 2002 and posted at LD. A sequel to Off the Pedestal, but can be read without it. Chapter 2 coming up to complete the story.
Thanks for reading my version of the stupid cupid cliche. No reviews are necessary.