Something- Ch. 5

Something From Nothing

By tigerkitten

PG, General, Romance
Disclaimers in Chapter 1

Chapter 5

Day 4

*************

The warmth of the blue light seeped into her skin, and she fought back the urge to close her eyes. Looking down, she reconsidered the cause. The man whose bent head brushed her shoulder as he examined her upper arm was standing very close to her side. He was also making a mesmerizing pattern as he smoothed gel over the bruise he found there.

"Humans are very tactile," she said, feeling the need to start a conversation.

"Yeah, well," he began, not looking, "you should be used to it after three days." He used her elbow to guide her gently around, her back facing him. "You'd think that. What the hell is this? T'Pol! I didn't even know these bruises were here. Look at this! Why didn't you say something?" He turned her half way around again, as his fingers traced a gentle path over a line of bruises along her waist to her abdomen.

"I can hardly 'look' at them, Commander" making him frown, "and I didn't mention the injuries because in comparison, they negligible."

Foregoing comment, he tsked at another set of bruises along her neck. "Aw, look at this!" he said, stopping short to give her a warning look. "Jesus, T'Pol, you're one giant bruise. How could you just let this slide? You've got to be so stiff you can barely move," he said, emphasizing the analysis by rubbing gel deeply between her neck and shoulder.

"I'll talk to Dr. Phlox when we've finished," she interrupted, hoping he would take the hint to end his ministrations. She was about to seek reprieve by asking him to turn, but she lost her train of thought as gentle fingertips slid up her neck and skimmed over to her ear, stopping to stroke and play with the pointed tip. She looked up through her lashes to see the rapt fascination on his face before ducking her head out of his reach. His brow furrowed in disappointment.

Holding up her hands and arching an eyebrow at him, Trip took his cue and turned around. T'Pol smoothed the gel along his shoulders quickly, but slowed as she worked her way down his muscular back. She was unaccountably drawn to the taught lines and planes she'd found. As she touched him just under his shoulder blade, his muscle tensed, causing a hardened lined that she traced in rapt attention with a delicate finger. Commander Tucker let out a grunting breath. Realizing she'd become distracted, T'Pol finished applying the gel, passing over his back, and repeating the gesture. She smoothed the gel over him a third time, pressing more deeply, and telling herself that it would be unwise to risk unnecessary contamination due to inadequate coverage.

Finally, she stepped back, and he turned towards her almost hesitantly, trying to catch her eyes, which had suddenly found the gel case engrossing. He looked down at her, and ran an unsure hand through his hair. "Man, my head itches," he began lamely, but stopped short as she reached up to him.

Brushing her fingertips hesitantly through the hair at his temples, T'Pol avoided looking into his intense gaze as she said, "It is probable that you have also brought back some form of flea." Almost reluctantly, she dropped her hand and went on, "you should ask Dr. Phlox for a hair cleanser." Against her own intensions, T'Pol looked up into Trip's eyes. Their gazes locked, his fervent and unsteady with confusion. T'Pol turned away and opened the door, silently leaving him behind. Unconsciously, Trip's whole body leaned forward as if to follow her. Instead, he dropped his head and shook it, chastising himself for being a fool.

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They were well under way when Trip got off duty that evening. It had been a sad business, contacting the settler's homeworld, and learning of that planet's fate. They had put great stock in their agricultural experiment, and had suffered greatly from its lost.

So much had been lost, in fact, that much of the story of the settlement itself was gone from the peoples' minds. They had known of an effort to end the epidemic starvation on their world, but had lost all records of its location, or any measure of its success.

Their leader was quietly joyful when told of Enterprise's discovery, and had high hopes that the engineered seeds and scientific data would be of great use to his people. At the end of their transmission, he had even indicated a cautious hope to launch another expedition, though such an attempt had not been made in hundreds of years, and much of their technical knowledge had been lost.

Trip heaved a heavy, but contented sigh as he helped himself to dinner. He felt good. He'd had a long and trying week, but he had a definite sense that things had been accomplished. There was also a nagging feeling of anticipation he chose to ignore.

As he turned to head to a table, he nearly walked straight into T'Pol. "Oh, uh. hi," he said, barely raising his eyes to her. "Good evening, Commander," she said calmly, but he noticed that she kept darting her glance from his face to an invisible spot over his shoulder. "No fruit this evening?"

"No," she said pursing her lips sardonically, "I have had quite enough fruit for sometime."

After a long pause, he said, "Feels kinda strange not eating with you for a change." She looked away as if she would leave, so he went on "or maybe I'm just regretting my chance to try those bugs."

Catching her eye, Trip gave T'Pol his widest Southern grin. Her lips arched ever so slightly, and she nodded her head, acknowledging his joke. She turned to retrieve her dinner, and Trip continued on his way, his grin grown even wider.

--- Finis

More Author's notes: Heavy sigh of relief! It only took 9 ½ months to complete. Yes, yes, nothing like being stuck alone in a remote location to fast track feelings and get beyond all those pesky hints at potential relationships which would normally take weeks to build. Stay tuned (someday) for Episode 2, in which Trip does something stupid.

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Seven people have made comments

Great season one story, tigerkitten. I like the subtlety of their growing understanding. Hope to see more from you.

Very good story, I like how you handled Trip & T'Pol's relationship, letting them get to know each other better with out any interruptions from the Enterprise. How they had to rely on each other to survive. Any chance of a sequel, continuing the development of their relationship?

Very well done and a wonderfully built relationship between T'Pol and Trip. I greatly enjoyed the subtlty you remained. Kudos. I look forward to reading more of your work.

I very much liked and enjoyed this story though I have to admit I was hoping for more romantic entangements. Well, you can't blame a girl for trying. Very good story, well written with a mystery to solve and a logical plot. Well done - MORE! Thanks, Ali D :~)

The story at the end of chapter two was "The Eyes Of The Dragon" by Stephen King, right? It's one of my favorites and I recognized that part, now I'm gonna go crazy if I don't know! lol, I know, I'm strange. Anyway, it was a good story. I liked it, it was well written, and I have no complaints about stupid details, which is strange.

I love this!!, especially the parts where Trip was trying to keep T'Pol from falling asleep. The way he was trying to have one sided converssation and trying to play games with her. I could see it happening on the show.

It was cute and funny.

Very nice. The best parts had to be Trip and T'Pol's conversations, over meals and, especially, when he's trying to keep her awake.
Looking forward to more!