Chapter Twelve: Adventure

It had been two months and three weeks since the 'mess hall incident,' as Hoshi called it. She and Trip had gone to every movie night together, sat in the mess hall during certain meals together, and even a minor glitch on the bridge somehow warranted for Trip to be there to either fix the situation or supervise. All these moments, though, had to be well-planned. They made sure to sit in the back during movie nights and only arrive when the lights were down. They never sat alone together during meals, and they avoided as much eye contact, when on the bridge together, as they could.

One day, Trip decided he wanted to be bold.

"What are you doing?" Hoshi asked, surprised, when Trip took her hand in his. They were walking through an empty hallway.

"Just thought I could hold my gal." Trip grinned. "Am I being bad for doing so?"

"No…only we could get caught."

"If you've noticed, Hoshi, there's nobody around."

"You know the rules on frater—"

"—nization," Trip finished. "I'm trying to be cool about hiding this, but it's starting to be really frustrating." He frowned. "Not being able to touch you whenever I want, or even look at you whenever I want." He stroked her hair.

"I know," Hoshi said sympathetically, relishing the way he caressed her hair. "It's all that we can do right now." She stroked Trip's face in assurance.

"But in the meantime…" Trip pushed Hoshi against the wall, his hand around the back of her head.

She gasped and he crushed his mouth to hers. She threaded her hands through his hair, loving the texture. They broke apart, breathing heavily. Their eyes locked on each other, watching as the other calmed down. Suddenly, Hoshi laughed and Trip followed.

"Your hair, it's messy," Trip said.

"What about you?" Hoshi asked. "You've got some shades of my lips on you."

"Leave it on." Trip patted Hoshi's hands away from his mouth. "I kinda like it that way. It'll remind me of how luscious those lips of yours are."

"Yeah, well, as much as you like the color, Trip, I don't think the captain would like seeing his chief engineer prancing around with red lips." Hoshi wiped away her smeared lipstick off Trip and fixed her hair.

As they departed their ways to tend to their shifts, Trip and Hoshi failed to notice a pair of hazel eyes watching them.