Hoshi turned on the water in her quarters and pulled a toothbrush out of a metallically silver cup. She started swishing it around against her teeth, trying to get them as white as possible. She had gotten off duty half an hour earlier, and had changed out of uniform. She wore a t-shirt and shorts that were shades of blue. A white cloth headband kept her hair out of her face. She was going to movie night tonight, with a date.

She and Travis weren't exactly a couple. They were just really close friends. As dubbed by the crew, they were officially an unofficial couple. They did almost everything together, though they hadn't done anything really… intimate yet. They hadn't even started holding hands. She didn't know what the Captain thought, or if he even knew that their friendship could become a relationship.

As Hoshi finished with her teeth, the door chime rang. She turned the water off and wiped her hands on the closest towel. As she moved to the door, she mentally noted that Travis was early. But Travis wasn't at the door.

"Counsellor Bynaul." Hoshi said in a semi-surprised voice. "I thought T'pol was giving you a tour of the ship."

"Oh, the tour finished about an hour ago. I, um, just thought I would stop by." Bynaul said uncertainly.

Hoshi raised an eyebrow. Why would he want to see her? Because she was a linguist? He seemed fine on his own. She couldn't see a translator on him anywhere, so he must've learned English somewhere before. Perhaps Vulcans or Klingons taught him.

"I wanted to take a look at the translator you bought. I was just, uh, curious as to how it works." He stammered when she didn't answer

"Can it wait? I'm about to leave for movie night. You're welcome to come, if you'd like." Suddenly Hoshi realised that the Counsellor was still standing there. She moved to the side of the door and gestured to her quarters with her hand. "Come in."

"Thank you." Bynaul said and followed Hoshi inside. "There." He said, spotting the translator on a shelf above her desk. It was placed beside a picture of her grandfather, Michio. "May I?"

Hoshi hesitated. What was this guy up to? Finally, she nodded slowly. She wished she was wearing something more covering, like her uniform or at least longer pants. Not that she was dressed like a slut, of course, but she just felt uncomfortable around the alien.

Bynaul took the translator off the shelf much like a child would pick up a kitten. He inspected it, turning it over and over in his hands, running a finger over the carving and the script that rounded the side. He started to smile. Hoshi was beginning to feel… awkward.

Bynaul noticed the uncomfortable look in her face. "I apologise. I had one when I was a boy, and haven't seen one since. I once wanted to be a linguist. When I was young."

That was it? He came just to revisit some childhood memories? Odd, but aliens were like that sometimes.

"One more thing, if I may?" He asked. Hoshi had no clue what he could have meant by that, but she gave him a go-ahead anyway.

"Of course."

He took out a small, slim tool from a loop on his belt, and flicked something on the side. White light shone out one end, and he held it up around the fine script that danced along the sides. The script began to glow dully.

"What are you doing?" She asked. Where was Travis?

"Oh, um, I always used to do this. It always helped me see the script better." He exclaimed. His voice was becoming more confident now.

"Did those come with the translators?" She asked, meaning the tool.

"Yes. No." Hastily, he turned off the probe tool and thrust it back in the belt loop. Shoving the translator back onto the shelf, he went on. "I should go now."

Hoshi nodded vigorously, relieved. She brushed past him and opened the door for him. Travis was there; his arm extended out to press the chime, a bowl full of popcorn cradled in his other arm. He was out of uniform as well. His eyes widened when he saw the counsellor, and the alien knew he was in trouble when he saw the shock in his face.

"I'll be going now!" He said, and pushed past Travis and stalked down the corridor. Travis watched him go a distance, then turned back to Hoshi. "What was that all about?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. He was inspecting my translator." Hoshi joined her date in the corridor and they went for the mess hall at a slow walk.

"Your translator?" Travis asked.

Hoshi stifled a gasp as she realised that could be taken two ways. She grinned at him. "I bought a translator down on Salindais today. It's no big deal."

"If you say so." He answered, returning her grin.

Hoshi seemed to notice the popcorn for the first time. "Hey, what's with the popcorn?" She asked, scooping up a handful.

"Oh, I helped set up the screen and thought I'd steal some for us tonight so that nobody would get it first. And Malcolm and I chucked a few kernels at each other, too, so I wanted to save some before they all ended up on the floor." Travis explained, his grin becoming mischievous.

"A food fight in the mess hall." She speculated.

"It was just a little one!" He said innocently.

Hoshi let out a laugh, and Travis returned it with a chuckle.

"So, how was your visit to Salindais? I hear Chef went down with you, Trip and Malcolm."

"Chef was there, alright." Travis said. "Anywhere food was, there he was, too. He cooked up some Earth delicacies, like Chinese food and stew. The Salindais had lots of fun with the spaghetti, I heard." He joked.

"Spaghetti? He didn't, did he?" She said disbelievingly. Her grin deepened to a smile as she absorbed what he told her.

"He did! The Salindais didn't know what to make of it! He had to tell them to curl it around on the forks, though most seemed more interested in inhaling it or dangling it like worms."

Hoshi laughed. Again. Travis always made her laugh. She was, for a moment, reminded of the time he had taken jello into deacon and said it was a life-form that she needed to communicate with.

"Did he try any Salindais foods?" Hoshi asked.

"Of course! The first thing he tried was something that resembled a mix between pizza and salad."

"Ugh!" She said disgustingly.

"And then there was something that looked like a Christmas tree, the way it was seasoned and decorated." He paused to watch her reaction. "But then of course he brought back a ton of fruits and vegetables that he'll be using to feed the crew."

"Let's just hope they're like normal fruits and veggies!"

The thought of alien bananas suddenly reminded Travis of something. "Have you noticed that Salindais have four stubby fingers? And their pupils are white!"

Hoshi nodded. "I like their tattoos. And their eye colours. It's always something soft and pale."

"I saw a guy with purple eyes while I was down there." Travis said. "And he had blue hair."

"Blue hair? And I thought the Counsellor's hair was bad!" She joked. She scooped up another handful of popcorn and tossed the kernels in her mouth a couple at a time.

They entered the mess hall then, and took a seat in the middle, where they continued their discussion about the Salindais.

- - -

Trip nudged Malcolm as Hoshi and Travis entered the mess hall. "You should've taken her while you had the chance."

"Hmm?" Malcolm asked, snacking on popcorn from a large glass bowl he held in his lap.

"Hoshi. You should've asked her out while you had the chance." There was a gleam of amusement in the Commander's eye.

"Why would I do that?" Malcolm asked, pretending not to know what he was talking about.

"It's obvious you like her." Trip lied, in hopes of getting Malcolm to see reason. "You need a woman in your life, Malcolm." Malcolm chuckled, but Trip went right on as if he hadn't heard. "Hoshi is perfect for you. I know you used to have a fling for T'pol, but she's married to Koss, so there's no hope for you there." He mentioned Koss with a hint of regret in his voice.

"What?" Malcolm asked. "How did you know?" He took a deep breath before continuing. "I did not have a fling for T'pol!" Try as he might to cover it up, it just wasn't working.

Trip chuckled.

"Do you find something amusing?"

"Just spare us all and ask her out, would ya? Offer to take her down to Salindais to watch the moon rise. There's gotta be countless stars you can see down there. Learn some constellations, stroll along the banks of a river, ride horseback along a beach…." He trailed off, leaving more items on the list to Malcolm's imagination.

He snorted.

"Hey," Trip said before Mal could interrupt. "I know you're by-the-book and all that, and know not to fraternize with crewmates, but T'pol and I did pretty good."

Malcolm gave him a sideways glance, as if his reply were obvious enough that Trip should know it. "That was before she joined Starfleet."

"Yeah, but, you know what I mean." Trip gave up on the pleasantries and shot Malcolm a glare.

The room darkened as the movie began to play. 'Battle in Outer Space'. An old Japanese movie.

Malcolm took the opportunity to glance at Hoshi a few rows ahead, relieved that nobody's eyes seem to have adjusted yet. The moment wasn't right. Not now, and probably not in a million years. Pity. He let the thought drift as the movie rolled on.

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So y'all can get an idea of what Hoshi looked like: http:www.voyager.cz/enterprise/epizody/images/058/058obr001.jpg