Charles 'Trip' Tucker the 3rd was not in a good mood. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he think he was extremely irritated. And yet, there was nothing wrong with the ship, other than the occasional and sometimes literal power struggle between Engineering and the Armory. Malcolm argued that more power should be allocated to weapons because if they ran into hostile aliens, the weapons were much more important. Trip replied the engines needed more power because they wouldn't need weapons if they could outrun the aliens. Malcolm retorted that if they could cripple the aliens, then they wouldn't need to run. Trip exclaimed that Malcolm was paranoid to a fault...And so on.
But today, Trip didn't care so much as to what a stubborn idiot his fellow shipmate was. Rather, he was just annoyed with everything he laid eyes on. Right now he was staring up at his second in charge. Hess was inspecting a injection manifold with a Philips Laser 38a, when obviously a 38b was a better fit--and she was humming a ridiculous little ditty that made him feel more nauseous than giddy. He briefly thought about kicking the ladder from under her and stranding her on the upper alcove.
"Is there something wrong, Sir?" Hess had turned around upon feeling the steady glare of the Chief Engineer. Then Trip felt like an asshole for thinking Hess was an asshole when she hasn't done anything remotely asshole-like--all of which made him feel more like an asshole. In fact, the way she was standing, with the soft blue glow of the manifold behind her, she looked angelic, peering down at him with a look of concern that was almost...maternal.
Trip sniffed and felt the distinct urge to cry.
What the hell was wrong with him?
"Commander, I think you should have Dr. Phlox take a look at that," Hess said carefully, as if noting his odd mood. She pointed at his left arm.
Trip glanced down to see himself absentmindedly scratching his left forearm. There was a growing patch of red there that was not there this morning. His own body was betraying him. Was there no end to this unholy torment?!
Man, he would give a warp 10 engine to have some pecan pie right now. Just like his mama use to make.
At the thought of pecan pie, Trip's bottom lip quivered.
At the thought of his mama, Trip started bawling.
Hess nearly fell down from the stairs at the sight of her supervisor crying like a baby. She hurried down from the second level and gently asked him what was wrong.
Trip raised his head with a glint in his eye that had nothing to do with tears. His expression was almost feral. It took all her might not step back.
"Do you have any chocolate on you?"