The Quickie Thread

[Brandyjane]

You can't stop there, Elessar! I'm about to go out of town, and I want to know how this turns out!

[Elessar]

Hmm... double scene day for the newbie girl Stby...

[Brandyjane]

I'm leaving in less than an hour, and I want to know if Trip's going to stop and turn around.

[Aikiweezie]

I have had an idea for a micro-fic series. Too small to go to all the trouble of posting, at least for now.

Ethics
Episode 1
Setting: Right before Borderlands. Awwwwkward.

Trip eased into a seat nearest the drink dispenser after filling his cup nearly to the brim with chocolate milk. It was after midnight and nobody was left in the Mess Hall save a few service crewmen cleaning the equipment and preparing for the Delta shift's breakfast period in a few hours. A slice of key lime pie, a half dozen precariously-perched Oreos and a thick chocolate chip cookie were all that stood between Commander Tucker a solid night's sleep. He lifted an Oreo to his lips and crunched on it with a cathartic sigh. Then a flickering tickle picked up behind his right eye and had he not known better he might have thought something was irritating his vision. Of course he did, and a few seconds later the latent telepathic premonition cued the science officer's entry into the Mess. Though his back was to the door, the whirring slide of the door and the absence of the sound of it closing told him that T'Pol had been as surprised, perhaps even unpleasantly, as he. Trip sighed and carefully laid a half-eaten Oreo back on his plate, considering his next move.

WOW! What could T'Pol have done to make Trip want to gorge on sweets?????

[Elessar]

Ethics
Episode 3
Setting: Right before Borderlands. Awwwwkward.

The Mess Hall was empty save for the science officer and chief engineer. Trip stopped short of the trash receptacle and dropped his tray atop it with a thud. He didn't hear, but sensed T'Pol close behind him, so when he turned he was not surprised to find she'd approached to just a foot away. Her gaze was steady, thick with... something. He still strained for enough command of the strange connection he felt to her emotions to look beneath the surface. Even the surface, however, was embroiled with movement - with change.

T'Pol pursed her lips, looking from one end of the empty Mess Hall to the other. She leaned on her toes and looked over the counter, finding the kitchen empty. Trip followed her, looking himself before putting his hands on hips.

"Trip," T'Pol breathed, searching the air for the next words out of her mouth.

Tucker shook his head lightly, his face softening. "You don't..." he blinked. "You don't have to say anything, I'm sorry for..."

"You've been clearly upset with me since we returned from Vulcan," she said quickly as if to spit the words out before they could retreat back into the places the words that don't fit into logic hide. Her eyes slid from one end of the Mess to the other, brimming with a glimmer of fluid. Trip winced and moved forward instinctively, his feet moving without any conscious command.

"T'Pol," he said, his voice full of concern. "I've been sleepin' like shit, but..." he raised a hand to stroke his fingers across her cheek. She trembled slightly against the touch, her eyes closing for a moment that drew out like a slick blade striking light into that dark hiding place, stirring things that Vulcans dared not stir. "You look worse off than me."

Pausing at the curve of her jaw his fingers opened slightly to cup her cheek against the warm hollow of his hand. She swallowed heavy and pushed the thunder bubbling from underneath down with the massive weight of years' emotional suppressive training. Blinking heavily, she could not stop the single, betraying tear that dribbled down her cheek.

As if coming to some decision, stepped forward crisply and planted his lips against her forehead. The heat beating through her temples pulsed against his lips and her arms instinctively reached forward and held him.

[Brandyjane]

Nice! Thanks for that. I'm so glad you didn't end the scene with, "Archer to T'Pol." Now I can leave in peace, though I'm still looking forward to reading more when I get back tomorrow night.