The sounds and smells of thousands upon thousands of dirty sentient beings filled the starbase. Every meter of ground covered brought a new stinging, cloying scent to Trip's nose. He glanced over at T'Pol and could see that she was struggling to keep her face neutral. The strong smells were overwhelming to his human nose but as a female Vulcan they must be mind numbing. He quickly directed them towards a quieter section of the base filled primarily with Humans and Vulcans. He found it interesting that in the large base Humans and Vulcans would choose to reside together instead of with other species.
The face of the building was covered in a collage of posters and advertisements for various performers and shops. Trip was doubtful that this place was what they were looking for but he was desperate. The door opened with a pneumatic hiss as he and T'Pol entered and made their way to the front desk. The attendant, a young woman with bright red curly hair and a smattering of freckles greeted them.
"Good afternoon sir, ma'am. How can I help you?" The startling thick Georgia accent that greeted his ears made him smile instinctively.
"Good afternoon Darlin'. I'm wonderin' if you by any chance have rooms available?" He smiled as brilliantly as possible. T'Pol wondered if he noticed that his accent became thicker whilst speaking to this young woman. She was also mildly annoyed by the open flirtation he was using to secure rooms for them.
The young woman behind the desk, whose name tag designated as Anna May, blushed a deep red and smiled shyly back at Trip. She tapped on the keyboard, her eyes flicking back and forth between the screen in front of her and Trip's face. Finally she frowned and her eyes flicked, for the first time, to T'Pol's face. "Well sir, I have two empty rooms. Will you be needin' both of 'em?"
The sound of the door opening behind them drew T'Pol's attention. The sight of their fellow traveller caused her to move instinctively closer to Trip. He glanced back and suppressed the desire to bare his teeth. He turned his attention back to the woman at the front desk and smiled. "No thank you, my wife and I will only be needin' one room." He knew T'Pol wasn't entirely happy with this arrangement but it couldn't be helped. He'd rather sleep on the floor or the sofa for the foreseeable future if it meant T'Pol wasn't vulnerable to that man.
The young woman behind the desk seemed to wilt at his words. Perhaps her hopes for a minor flirtation with Trip died at the mention of a wife. T'Pol was surprisingly pleased at this change. Trip made the arrangements for the room and payed the young woman. As they made their way up the stairs towards their room T'Pol could hear the Vulcan man inquiring into the last room available.
Trip sat comfortably on the edge of the bed and waited for T'Pol to exit the restroom. He looked around the small hotel room he was sharing with her and sighed. It was small, very small. He hadn't expected it to be so sparsely furnished. The queen sized bed that took up the majority of the room and the small table that stood against the far wall facing the bathroom took up what was left of the space not needed just to navigate the room. The small walk in closet that sported a crooked hanging sliding door was just large enough for T'Pol to stand in and hold her arms out to the side as long as they were bent at the elbow.
This little hole in the wall hotel was anything but charming but it did offer Trip a unique opportunity. He was practically required to sleep in the same bed as T'Pol. He would be lying to himself if he said that he had not been thinking about that since they arrived in their room. He would also be lying to himself if the thought hadn't popped into his mind while lying awake at night on the uncomfortable sofa in his previously shared room with T'Pol.
The sound of running water drew his attention and he looked expectantly at the door to the restroom. T'Pol exited with a raised eyebrow and sat down next to him on the bed. He tried not to notice how she sat much closer to him than when they first started on their journey. He focused on her lips, which he noticed absently were quite lovely and mentally shook himself so that he would pay attention to her words.
"It would seem we are required to share a bed." She motioned to the bed they were sitting on and Trip nodded his head.
"Yeah, sorry about this. If I had known how small the rooms are I would have taken us somewhere else"
"There is no need to apologize. The young woman at the front desk did not give us a description of the room and we were otherwise occupied by the presence of the Vulcan passenger from our transport." She paused and looked down at the bed once again. "It may not be the most desirable of situations but it would seem that our sleeping arrangements are not reversible at the moment. It would be logical to prepare ourselves for the remainder of our stay here."
Trip suppressed a sigh and nodded. "You're right." He placed his palms flat on his knees and stood from the bed. He turned to her and smiled. "Hungry? I think I saw a Vulcan restaurant on the way here."
T'Pol stood gracefully from the bed and moved closer to him. "Indeed. Are you willing to consume more Vulcan cuisine?"
Trip smiled again more broadly and offered the crook of his arm to her. She linked arms with him and allowed herself to be led out of the room. "Of course Darlin', anything for you."
Tolaris watched as the Human couple made their way towards the commerce section of the base. He could already smell the familiar scent of Plomeek broth wafting through the air. The smell stirred long since buried feelings of homesickness. He suppressed them and focused once again on his job. The weight of the data device pressed gently upon his left thigh. Every step caused his burden to bump against his thigh. His contact was not happy with recent developments and would be getting ahold of him shortly to rethink the schedule.
He sighed deeply and moved away from the window. His employer was not a patient man and would be greatly displeased at his current level of distraction. The soft pinging alert tone sounded from his communicator drawing his attention.
