"So these are like your Ten Commandments, huh?" Trip asked.
T'Pol glanced over at him. He was lying on her bed on his back, holding The Teachings of Surak at arm's length above his head.
It had been his idea. Yesterday during her tutorial on the Vulcan language – which had tested the limits of her seemingly infinite patience – he made the comment that it had been some time since they'd engaged in a cultural exchange.
"What do you think we are doing now?" she had asked him, secretly relieved for the break. Five hours of listening to Trip hack his way through her language had been more trying that she'd originally believed.
He had shaken his head. "No, no. It doesn't count unless you're doin' somethin' Earth-y."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you propose?"
He grinned.
That was how they had come into their current situation, with him supine on her bunk immersed in a translated version of The Teachings of Surak and her seated rigidly in her desk chair paging through his very battered copy of The Lord of the Rings. She hardly considered it to be a fair trade; after all, The Lord of the Rings was over one thousand pages, and The Teachings of Surak – even in Vulcan – was less than a tenth that length. But Trip had been insistent for her to read that particular book, despite the fact that he had more than a dozen in his possession.
It was also very difficult for her to read with his constant remarks about the book he was reading.
She returned to The Lord of the Rings. "I suppose you could make that correlation."
"Well, sure," he said, turning the page. "I mean, most Christians base their lives off the Ten Commandments, and you Vulcans seem to base your lives off Surak's teachings. I think it's a fair comparison."
She refused to spare another glance in his direction. "Perhaps."
He looked at her. "Which one's your favorite?"
T'Pol closed her eyes and counted to ten. Sometimes, he could be extremely infuriating. It had been some time since he'd so effortlessly managed to irritate her, but now he seemed to put her on the defensive with every sentence. "Commander Tucker, if you wish for me to read this, please refrain from asking me further questions."
The commander rolled his eyes and sat up. He shut the book with a snap and set it on the bed beside him. "What's a guy gotta do to get you to call him 'Trip'?"
She tensed in her chair. In truth, she thought of him as "Trip" and had for several months. It took an extraordinary amount of mental control to stop herself from referring to him as such. Other than that one time, the first time she had ever called him anything but "Commander" or "Mister Tucker", she tried to maintain an air of formality with him. Calling him "Trip", even in private, made her believe that there was an intimacy between them that simply could not exist.
She was attracted to him, physically and emotionally. He was a good man – caring, compassionate, intelligent, resourceful. He made her feel comfortable, as if she were just one of the crew and not the only Vulcan on board Enterprise. She had affections for him. She cared about him deeply. She was constantly worried about his safety, so much so that she suspected it would soon affect her performance as First Officer. But he was human, and she was Vulcan, and an intimate relationship would only lead to disastrous consequences. The circumstances surrounding their coupling were hardly ideal; she did not think there would ever be ideal circumstances. She would be shunned from Vulcan society, more so than she already was, due to her condition. He would probably receive the same treatment from his people.
"You know the significance Vulcans place on first names," she said.
He furrowed his brow. "I do. But it's just you and me, T'Pol. No other Vulcans around. You can call me 'Trip', if you want."
She did want to, but she couldn't. She couldn't allow herself to be deluded into thinking that a human-Vulcan relationship was possible. It simply wasn't, and to assume otherwise would be foolish.
T'Pol took a deep breath and faced him. "Are you finished with the book, Commander?"
Some of the sparkle left his eyes as he shook his head slowly. "Not yet." He moved to lie down once more but stopped, bracing his weight on one arm. "Whatcha think of The Lord of the Rings so far?"
Of course. He had an insatiable curiosity to learn what she thought about Earth culture, and she should have known it would not be limited to films. "Highly improbable."
He smiled, but it held none of the warmth that his smiles usually displayed. "It s'posed to be improbable, T'Pol. It's fantasy. But it's not about that. It's about the ultimate showdown between good and evil. It's about learning that you can be more than what you are. It's a classic." He raised an eyebrow. "You got a favorite character yet?"
She closed the book, holding her place with her thumb. "I am quite fascinated by the character of Frodo. He seems to be the most conflicted of the group."
"You don't know the half of it."
She let that comment slide, assuming that it was a reference to something that happened later in the story, but he didn't seem to be mocking her choice. In truth, she identified with Frodo the most because she saw herself in his position. As the only Vulcan on Enterprise, she was under a constant struggle to remain true to her culture yet still adapt to her human crewmembers. It was a battle she sometimes failed.
"Arwen was always my favorite," he said, startling her out of her reverie. He was once again on his back with the book above his head.
"She is the daughter of the Elven king, correct?" T'Pol asked, pleased that she had remembered the detail despite Trip's constant interruptions.
He nodded, one side of his mouth turned up in a half-grin. "Yeah. I've always had a thing for Elves. I think it's the pointed ears."
A/N: I don't own The Lord of the Rings either. I just really like the book. I don't own either. I just really like the book.
I also have a thing for Elves. It is the ears. ;)