It Was Our First Date?

Chapter 1

Jonathan Archer decided to join Hoshi, Malcolm and his fiancé, Trip, in the crew mess for lunch. They were having a jovial conversation, laughing and carrying on about one thing or another when Travis sat next to them.

The sour look on his face, instantly turned the lighthearted atmosphere into one of dread and concern for their helmsman and friend. "What's wrong, Travis?" Hoshi asked.

Travis pinched at the bread of his sandwich, not sure if he really wanted to eat it or toss it in the recycling chute. "Nothing." He replied glumly.

"Oh come on, mate. Something is bothering you, it's all over your face." Malcolm gave a small gasp as it hit him. "Oh. Your um, date with ensign Trudeau didn't go so well last night?"

Travis sat for a moment, shifting uncomfortably. "I don't want to talk about it."

Hoshi placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a friendly smile. "Hey, it's ok, we've all had bad first dates before, I'm sure it's not that horrible. Why don't you tell us about it, it might help to get it off your chest."

"You just don't know how horrible it was." Travis replied. "I highly doubt anyone in the universe has had a worse first date than I did last night. She probably won't ever speak to me again, it was that bad."

Malcolm let out a snort. "I'm sure you're just blowing everything out of proportion. Why don't you tell us and let's see if there's something we can do to help you fix it."

Travis shook his head slowly. "You'll all laugh. Besides, I'm sure Hanna is already telling everybody she knows and it'll be all over the ship by dinnertime." He gave a sickening look at that thought.

Hoshi gave a thoughtful look. "How about we all tell you about our bad experiences, and maybe yours won't seem as awful as you think it is. When I was in college, there was this guy I really liked. I couldn't believe it when he actually asked me out!"

"So anyways, he told me that he never tried Japanese food before and I really wanted to impress him. There was an authentic Japanese restaurant in Santa Monica, and I suggested going there. I spent all day getting ready, picked out the perfect dress, hair and nails done. I really wanted to wow this guy."

"So we got to the restaurant and everything was going great, until his lips and eyes started to swell. Turns out he was allergic to fish, and most of the foods in Japanese cooking use a fish-based sauce. On the way to the hospital, he puked all over my dress and shoes. Now that's what I call a bad first date."

Everyone at the table chuckled at the image of Hoshi covered in vomit. "So what happened to the guy?" Trip asked.

"He was fine after the doctor treated him. We went out a couple more times after that, but decided that we weren't on the same page as to what we wanted out of life. We stayed in touch for a while, but slowly drifted away." She gave a slight shrug of her shoulder.

Travis looked towards Malcolm. "What about you, sir? Any bad dates in your collection of women?"

Malcolm gave a smirk. "Plenty. Never got puked on though. The one that always springs to mind for me, well...it really was just a miscommunication."

Everyone eyed him a moment before he finally let them in on the story. "Well, it was a blind date my sister set up. I got to the pub where we were supposed to meet. After an hour and half, I conceded that I had been stood up and left."

"The next day I got a nasty message from this woman questioning why I stood her up. I sent back a reply, full of venom, that she was cracked and that she stood me up. The messages went back and forth all day before we figured out...I went to the wrong pub."

Travis barked out a laugh. "So you did stand her up!"

"Not intentionally!" Malcolm protested.

"Did she give you another chance?" Jon inquired.

Malcolm shook his head. "We did accept that it was a misunderstanding and decided to start over, but we just couldn't get our schedules to line up, so we just let it go." He thought for a second. "You know...we never did meet in person. Huh."

Travis shook his head, smiling as he turned to Trip. "And you sir? Bet you got tons of stories to tell."

Trip gave a sideways glance at Jon. "I don't talk about my past relationships in front of Jon. It's not the gentlemen thing to do."

Jon gave him a little chuckle. "Oh come on Trip, I know you have a past, just like I do. I'm not jealous."

"I know you're not jealous, but I'm sure you don't want to hear my past any more than I want to hear about yours, so just keep your stories away from me. Ok?" Trip demanded.

Jon put his hands in front of him in a mock surrender. "Ok, ok. I won't say anything. Don't need you going around beating up my old flames." He chuckled.

"Oh ha ha. As if I'd really do something like that. Nope, I'm content with the fact that I'm the one who got you and the rest can suffer. So there." Trip grinned widely at Jon.

Hoshi let out a giggle. "Ok, so why don't you guys tell us about your first date then? Knowing the commander, I bet it involved candlelight and romantic music."

The pair looked at each other perplexed for a moment before Jon spoke. "Well...um...we...uh...we really didn't have a first date, I don't think. Did we have a first date?" He asked looking at Trip with a confused expression.

Trip looked equally confused. "You know, now that I think about it, I guess we really didn't...at least nothing I would consider as a date."

Travis was stunned. "Well how the hell did you end up together if you didn't date then?"

Hoshi and Malcolm nodded their heads, just in as much shock by this revelation. "Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. I mean, how do you go from not dating to engaged?" Malcolm questioned.

Jon shrugged a shoulder. "We were good friends at the warp R and D compound, and I guess our relationship just grew from there."

Hoshi slapped her napkin onto the table. "Ok, now you really have to explain. You don't go from being friends to lovers to engaged without some sort of detail to it! Seriously, how did you end up together?"

Jon gave himself a moment to think about when their friendship became something more. A wistful smile crossed his face once he had that moment pinpointed. "Belize." He whispered.