Malcolm had never been particularly fond of the Dixon Hill films. He had watched some of them when he was younger, and he thought they lost most of their appeal once you were aware of the plot.
Nonetheless, he made his way to the mess hall on E Deck right after his shower, padd in hand. Maybe he could at least get that report done while he was there. Usually, these things came easily, but with this report, there were some things that were undoubtedly out of place in a document that would be subject to many readings by many different pairs of eyes, including those of Captain Archer, Admiral Forrest, and an officer assigned to evaluate the captain's command decisions.
Also, there were still some things that he had no memory of and maybe Trip could fill him in. Malcolm counted on the presence of other personnel to dissuade them from getting off-topic the way they had earlier that evening. Malcolm was still feeling a little betrayed by the way Trip had behaved, but he was willing to ignore that in order to get some answers.
"Hey, Lieutenant," came a voice from behind him. Malcolm spun around to find himself face-to-face with Captain Archer. "Going in to catch the movie? I hear Trip picked a good one tonight."
Clearing his throat, Malcolm nodded. "Dixon Hill, Sir. It's a decent film, but I remember who's behind it all in the end."
The captain laughed, clapping Malcolm on the shoulder as they continued their walk towards the mess hall. "Well, I guess we can count ourselves lucky that you decided to show up anyway. In your place, I would probably opt for a quiet night in with Porthos."
"Quite right, Sir. To be honest, though, I think I've had a little too much alone time this past fortnight. In any case, I brought some work." Malcolm held up the padd that was still quite empty except for the headline and the purpose of their away mission.
"Your report?" asked the captain, indicating the piece of technology. "I must admit I'm very eager to read it. Microsingularities aren't really something you encounter every day."
Malcolm gave a non-committal laugh, but was spared having to answer by their arrival at the mess hall. Captain Archer gave his shoulder another squeeze and then went off to greet Dr. Phlox.
Malcolm let his eyes rove over the people already gathered in the room, and quickly discovered the blond commander standing next to the food display case. He appeared to be talking to Hoshi while they were both picking up bowls of popcorn.
Hesitating for a second to make sure he had his expression under control, Malcolm made his way over to the two other officers, greeting them with a smile. Hoshi beamed at him, handing him one of her bowls so she was free to pick up new ones.
"Hey, back from your brush with death?" she joked, nudging him slightly with her elbow. "How was it?"
He forced himself to laugh briefly.
"I'll let you know in about two hours," he jested, and then turned to Trip. "Speaking of the away mission, could I have a quick word with you? I feel like I missed some things on my report."
Trip looked at him quizzically, but nodded. "If you'll excuse us, Hoshi."
She nodded and went off to distribute the bowls and find a seat.
Once she was gone, Trip turned to face Malcolm, an expectant look on his face.
"You wanted to ask something?" It sounded a bit cold.
Malcolm handed him the padd. "The captain asked me to write the report on our away mission, but I can't seem to recall most of what happened after we got that transmission. I thought maybe you'd be able to help."
Trip shook his head. "I know as much as you do. My guess is that we passed out."
"I thought about writing that, but it just sounds so unprofessional to include speculation in an official document."
The commander shrugged. "What else would you do? It's going to be almost impossible to find out what happened, unless you happened to install a surveillance camera on board the pod that I'm not aware of. I'd say guessing is your best shot here." He turned away from the crowd slightly to hide his expression as he asked his next question. "Are you alright, Malcolm? You seemed a bit rattled earlier."
Looking over his shoulder to check that no one was within earshot, Malcolm passed a hand over his mouth to calm himself. "If you must know, I didn't appreciate being mocked by you."
"I did WHAT?" Trip looked at him in disbelief, seemingly oblivious of the volume of his voice. Malcolm was uncomfortably aware that many of the room's occupants had turned in their direction, including Captain Archer. Fortunately, though, they quickly went back to their own conversations when they had satisfied themselves that the situation would not turn violent. An incredulous laugh issued from Trip's lips. Then he went on in a slightly more appropriate manner. "I'm sorry, but when did I mock you?"
Lowering his voice even further, Malcolm explained. "Earlier this evening, when we were in your quarters. You said something about me, right after my ... after I ..." He just couldn't bring himself to say 'climax' or 'came'. His cheeks were already burning anyway, but Trip seemed to catch his drift, and when comprehension dawned on his features, it brought with it a soft laugh and smile that made Malcolm a little madder, even as his heart skipped a beat at the sight.
"Oh, that!" Trip exclaimed quietly. "I'm afraid you totally misunderstood that in your weird British sense of pride. I thought I was giving you a compliment."
He had been about to ask why his ancestry had to come up in almost all conversations they had, when Trip's revelation gave him pause. "A compliment?"
The grin on the commander's face was full-fledged now. "I thought it was obvious. The way you let yourself go in that moment ..." Trip leaned over to whisper in Malcolm's ear. "It was incredibly hot."
With that, Trip gathered his popcorn bowls in his arms and went to get movie night underway, leaving Malcolm struggling to regain his composure. When he was reasonably sure that he had banished the flush from his cheeks and closed his mouth, he found a seat for himself in the last row and settled down with his bowl and padd.
Captain Archer was just welcoming everyone and presenting an outline of the film. Malcolm pretended to be listening, but actually he was reliving the scene in Trip's quarters. He remembered his climax and Trip's affectionate banter. How could he have misinterpreted that? Was he really that unsure of himself? He'd have to apologise.
The film had started, but Malcolm was still not paying attention. It was hard to focus with that tantalising statement ringing in his ears: 'It was incredibly hot.'
He forced himself to push all that away, however, to work on his report. He couldn't let this infatuation distract him. That would be very unprofessional and wasn't like him at all.
Two hours later, he had actually managed to give a fairly detailed account of their away mission, their encounter with the microsingularities in the asteroid field, and the decisions they had made when life support threatened to fail. He felt obligated to include their pilfering the captain's bourbon, but omitted what had happened under the influence of said liquor.
Looking up from his work, he realised that the film was almost over, and decided to at least act like he wasn't dying to get a certain blond man alone in a room and apologise thoroughly. Shaking his head, he picked up the bowl that had been sitting on his lap the whole time and stuffed some of the popcorn into his mouth. Stop behaving like a teenager, he chided himself. Stop second-guessing everything you hear and enjoy yourself for once.
He settled more comfortably in his chair and focused his attention on the screen. Dixon Hill had just uncovered some secret plot and some members of the audience seemed honestly surprised by the development. Malcolm smiled to himself. Doctor Phlox was right. There was something amusing about watching other people watch a film.
When the film ended, Malcolm went to speak to the captain, handing him the padd.
"You weren't kidding when you said you brought work," he observed with a chuckle. "Well, thanks. I think you've just made my night's reading more interesting." With that, Archer took his leave and left.
If he only knew all the things that I left out, Malcolm thought wryly. I bet that would make for a way more interesting read.
More and more people drifted out of the mess hall, until finally it was just him and Trip ... and Hoshi. She seemed determined to help tidy up and was chatting away with Trip. Malcolm sighed to himself. It seemed like he had little choice but to grab some chairs himself if he wanted this over with. While he was pushing a chair into its proper place next to a table, he was surreptitiously watching the other two, trying to decide what to say. He was just about done playing the situation out in his head, when Hoshi was called to the bridge. She gave Trip an apologetic shrug and a wave, and then she was gone, leaving him alone with the commander. There seemed to be an electric crackle on the air when Malcolm made his way over to where the other man was stacking popcorn bowls, which only intensified when Malcolm put his hand on Trip's arm and made him turn around.