A Normal Human/Vulcan Dinner
Trip had got dressed in a casual, yet smart suit and had dabbed on a bit of cologne. He and T'Pol had decided to have dinner in the Mess Hall tonight to try and sort everything out. The Mess Hall was, to quote T'Pol, the most 'logical' choice, as neither of their rooms were big enough.
Trip walked down to T'Pol's quarters, where he buzzed her door. T'Pol opened the door from the inside, and she stood there wearing one of her Vulcan outfits, that by human description could be called a tight-fitting tee-shirt and a long skirt with a twist. As usual, T'Pol's outfit was crimson red, and he thought that she must of figured out that it was his favourite color on her. Trip knew that T'Pol only wore these types of clothes on special occasions and he very much appreciated the effort.
Trip grinned. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you." T'Pol replied modestly.
"Are you ready to go?" Trip asked, extending his arm in a gentlemanly fashion.
"Yes." She took her arm in his and the doors automatically closed behind her. As they walked down the corridor towards the Mess Hall, several officers and ensigns passed by, looking at them questioningly. T'Pol began to feel a little uncomfortable.
"Do you think we're drawing too much attention to ourselves?" T'Pol whispered.
"Maybe. But it's really none of their business." Trip replied, but sensed her unease. "Do you want to go back?"
"No, I'm fine." T'Pol reassured him. They continued down the corridor, ignoring the judging faces that passed them.
When they had got to the Mess Hall, they were surprised, if not shocked and nervous, to see the Captain, Hoshi, Travis, Malcolm and the doctor having a very late dinner. The whole idea of them showing up late was to avoid everyone. Trip and T'Pol looked at each other self-consciously.
"There is no reason to leave because of them." T'Pol stated, but underneath her neutral voice was a layer of nervousness.
"Right. Let's go in the corner, then." Trip walked over to the corner table, pulled out a chair for T'Pol and then sat himself down. Before either one of them have a chance to speak, a human that everyone seemed to called 'Chef' appeared.
"Commander, Sub-Commander," Chef greeted brightly. "Eating late like your colleagues, I see."
"Yeah," Trip laughed uneasily. Turning to T'Pol, he said, "Are you ready to order?"
"Yes." Turning to the Chef, she said, "I'll have the specially prepared Vulcan plat-tu."
"And I'll have the steak with mashed potatoes on the side." Trip smiled in appreciation.
"Would you like some wine?" Chef asked. Trip looked at T'Pol as if to say 'Whatever you want'.
"Please. We'll have some red wine, from the Californian district on Earth." T'Pol replied and Trip was impressed with her suggestion.
"Great. I'll be back with your food and drinks in a moment." Chef disappeared to leave Trip and T'Pol alone once more. T'Pol glanced to the table where her other colleagues were seated and it seemed that they hadn't noticed them yet.
"Do you want to continue with the neuropressure?" T'Pol asked.
"Yeah, it really does help me sleep. Besides, I get to spend time with my favourite Vulcan." Trip smiled. Once again, T'Pol did the Vulcan equivalent of blushing. In that moment, Trip noticed that she was almost as nervous as him, except she hid it better. The Chef arrived with the wine and poured it into their glasses. With an appreciative nod from Trip, Chef returned into the kitchen.
"So maybe we should talk about the past couple nights." Trip suggested. T'Pol looked down subtly and started playing with her napkin. Trip decided to go first, hoping to ease T'Pol into the subject. This would be an uncomfortable topic for both of them, Vulcan logic or no.
"For me, well you know how I feel about you and I'm happy with what we're doing now." Trip said. T'Pol looked at Trip and found that, without trying to, she could feel very comfortable with him.
"I am also having a good time, but I can't help worrying about my Vulcan logic. I was taught to always keep my emotions buried inside of me, but when I'm around you I erupt – especially over the last couple of days." T'Pol confessed.
"Do you want to keep them covered up? On Earth, we find that emotions give us power." Trip said encouragingly.
"I appreciate that, but I'm not human and to succumb to emotions, that I have spent my whole life burying, could cause me some problems." T'Pol explained.
"Is there anyway you could fix this and still see me? Maybe Phlox could –"
"I already tried that. I went to see him this afternoon." T'Pol almost sighed. "He said that the only way to stop it would be to stop doing what causes these emotional outbursts, and even that's not a certainty."
Trip seemed really frustrated. "There must be someway to do both. There's a human expression, 'If there's a will, there's a way'."
T'Pol smiled, and although it was rare, Trip found her even more beautiful when she did.
"We just need to find the way." Trip smiled reassuringly and reached over to hold her hand. T'Pol appreciated the gesture and took comfort in his ongoing effort to make this relationship work, no matter what.
Holding hands over the table, they talked about how each other's life was going on board Enterprise, what life was like back home and childhood memories. Before long, their food had come and they had totally forgotten about their other colleagues sitting over from them and watching closely.
