***

2148

Trip: This is Mary's room - jeez, she kept every single one of 'em!

He ruthlessly tossed the stuffed animals aside.

Trip: She's not here, don't worry. Just step over 'em. Women in their forties don't need a hundred little stuffed bears, do they?

Archer, oppressed by the air that moved like water around him, confused by the never-ending supply of 'relations', and dazed by the overwhelming hospitality of the Tuckers, could only mumble something he hoped Trip would interpret as agreement. What he got was an odd and slightly concerned glance.

Trip: You okay? You fadin'?

Archer: It's warm in here.

Trip: I told you not to overdress.

Archer: It's not that, I'm just sort of...

Trip: Yeah, you are pretty hot. Your blood must just be...

Trip had moved very close to him and was blowing gently on his neck. Archer ran his hands down Trip's back, damp with sweat in the hot room.

...

Archer: Would your sister mind if we

Mrs. Tucker: BOYS! LEMONADE!

Trip: Sonofa... COMING, MOMMA!

Trip led the way down the back stairs and out onto the porch where Mrs. Tucker had just left them two tall glasses of lemonade.

Trip: Thanks, Momma.

Mrs. Tucker: It's good to get a little peace and quiet. Jonathan, set for a minute and rest. You've gone all red in the face.

Archer: Thank you, Ma'am.

Mrs. Tucker: He learns fast!

Trip: Yes, he does!

His eyes glinted with joy and pride. She left them be on the back porch.

(...)

Archer: You were telling me about a pond?

Trip: It's just a little one in MacKenzie's woods. It's perfect for skinny-dippin'.

He let this sink in.

The sun drifted lower into a haze of gold and vanished below the treetops.

Archer, revived by the lemonade, was looking over his future engineer very carefully, head to toe. Skinny-dipping didn't seem out of the question at all. Trip was leaning back on his elbows, his shirt clinging to him in the heavy air, his legs dangling off the porch, toes scrunching the grass. He tipped his head back and looked at Archer, who was practically in a trance.

Trip: C'mon, I'll show it to you! Follow me!

He took off running across the yard, vanishing quickly through a hedge of lilacs, beyond which lay the forest and MacKenzie Pond.

Trip: Watch out for the rabbit fence!!

Thinking he couldn't have heard the words correctly, Archer pushed through the row of bushes, seeing the low woven-wire fence barely in time to avoid falling headlong over it.

Trip was already a long way ahead of him, to judge by the muted crashing and hollering, but in the dim blue-green of the forest at twilight he couldn't see much of anything. Ahead of him was a glimpse of the pond, sparkling with an early full moon and a few fireflies.
Archer: Trip? ...<crickets>...Trip?? <crickets and cicadas>

Trip: Over here, sir!

Archer walked closer to the shore and lost what little breath he still had.

...

The moonlight showed an old man of seventy, with Trip's boyish features giving his face life. Archer stared. He could see Trip's future right there in front of him and then Trip laughed and it was gone. He was suddenly conscious of a feeling inside, a longing to be there when Trip reached seventy, to be next to him.

You're beautiful.

(...)

***

2154

T'Pol: Captain, what do you intend to do about the Tabran?

Archer: T'Pol...

T'Pol: I've just spoken to Phlox. He informed me that the Researcher has injured you and Trip in the time he's been here. After his actions during shore leave, I think it would be best...

Archer: This doesn't concern you, T'Pol.

...

Archer: I'm sorry. Thank you for your... interest, but I can handle it. Tegl simply needs to be left to complete his work. He'll have all the data collection done in a month or so more. Until that time, continue to keep an eye on him as you would any guest or visitor. If I feel he's dangerous, I'll let you know.

T'Pol: Captain,...

Archer: Am I asking too much?

T'Pol: The level of disruption he is causing is greater than the Researchers on Vulcan caused.

Archer: Well, I wouldn't expect Vulcans to be easily disrupted. We're humans and humans sometimes overreact. You should know that.

T'Pol: Humans can also be slow to react to situations that pose a threat.

Archer: He's not a threat. He's just doing anthropological research on us, which he's sharing with Starfleet and the Vulcan High Command. They haven't complained about his reports. I'm not going to let a small disagreement jeopardize our contact with Tabra.

***

T'Pol: He wouldn't listen to my concerns. He is convinced that the Tabran is not a danger.

Phlox: Perhaps if you spoke to Commander Tucker? He claims he was shown the Tabran homeworld by means of a holographic projector.

T'Pol: That isn't possible - their homeworld is their most closely guarded secret.

Phlox: Perhaps if you spoke to Commander Tucker...?

***

2154

Tegl's blood roared through his body. He answered the door only to be pushed back inside by Trip.

Trip: Are you insane?

Tegl: No one is stationed on this entire corridor. Your Lt. Reed saw to that.

Trip: Still. Put something on.

Trip hadn't taken his hands off Tegl's chest yet, and the warmth was pulsing through them, driven by a racing heartbeat. He couldn't keep from looking at Tegl's body.

Trip: Why is your heart pounding?

Tegl: I was dreaming.

Trip: Was it that bad?

Tegl: It was you.

Trip felt a familiar stir of his own body as the Tabran's chest continued to pound - the excitement was in him now too.

Tegl: You can do whatever you want. Or should we not talk about it? That is the human custom.

Trip wanted nothing more than to explore Tegl's anatomy. He pulled his hands back but the arousal didn't subside.

Trip: Stop it. Make it stop.
Tegl: I'm doing nothing. I have no secret powers, I've told you. This is you. Listen.

Trip: I came here to...

Tegl felt Trip's hands on him again.

Trip: I need to...

He moved up next to Trip, a blazing fire of a presence, touching every inch of Trip's body. Trip hadn't felt this good since the night they first kissed in Jon's apartment.
(...)

Tegl: Do you enjoy music, Trip?
Trip: I ...sometimes,...yeah.

The alien slid up across Trip, his hairy torso trim, but still wider than Trip's, so fiercely hot it felt like fever. The room had already warmed by several degrees. Trip's eyes closed and he arched his neck back. A soft moan escaped.

Tegl pushed the button on the radio, and the room was filled with music, pulsing and pounding, lyrics of sexual desire and love unfulfilled.

Trip's eyes popped open and he saw Tegl was enjoying it, his head turning to catch every word. His arm flew up to switch it off before things could get any worse.

Trip: We don't need that right now.

The alien inhaled slowly then breathed out the word ' n e r v o u s n e s s.'

Trip: Yep, that's it. ... Yer enjoyin' it!

Tegl: I didn't think Starfleet sent its most nervous officers into deep space.
Trip: I'm not nervous about much, just bugs and a...

Tegl bit softly into Trip's chin.

Trip had nowhere to go, pressed on his back by a very large alien. As Tegl ran his teeth over Trip's chin and down his neck, he could focus on little else and his body slowly relaxed.

Trip: That's...

Tegl's hands brushed down Trip's body, leaving a fiery trail, orange in Trip's mind. His bearded face, powerful, swept across Trip's right thigh, then ...almost... and he felt the teeth on his left leg.

Trip was barely able to think, but he grabbed Tegl's shoulders and pulled him up, across his body, to bury his face in Tegl's chest. Tegl rumbled his approval. The muscles under his hands were tight, ready to spring.

The door comm wrenched Tegl from his dream.

***

2150

Jon stood silently, neither looking at Trip, nor looking away. Trip couldn't surface - he struggled under the water, desperate for air, desperate to live, to wake up. Immobilized, speechless. The diner closed, and the lights inside went off. They had struck a bargain that neither wanted. A bargain they could live with, even as it killed both of them.

***

2154

Tegl was something else. The attention was wonderful. It warmed him, and he knew it was wrong. It went nowhere; it was a promise that asked for nothing in return, but could give him nothing.

(( So why do I feel so good in his hands? Give me your hands, Cap'n. Just for a second, and I can change your mind about this. ))

He pushed the entry comm at Archer's quarters.

Archer: Come in.

Trip: Evenin'. You, um, finish rewatching your team lose to Texas again?

Archer: Phlox told me to take it easy for a day or so.

Trip: How many times is this now?

Archer: Four. Or five.

Trip: Doesn't change, does it? Stanford still chokes.

Archer: There's always next season.

...

Trip: What did he do to you, Cap'n? What did you say to get him upset?

Archer: He just got a little personal. His temper is worth avoiding.

Trip: Did he hurt you?

Archer: I can take care of myself. I'm all right.

Trip stood, worried. Archer looked all right, but tired. He was holding back - Trip recognized the clipped sentences very well.

Archer: Did you get the shielding up to the level you wanted?

Trip: What did he ask you about us?

They waited each other out after the simultaneous questions.

(...)

Archer's head dropped, his lips tight. Trip came closer, tilting his head to the side to see his friend's face.

Trip: I'm here.

Archer looked up sharply at that.

Archer: What's he been telling you?

Trip: Nothing. He thinks you and I should be together.

Archer: Why did he show you his homeworld?

Trip: I...I don't know. I asked him what the gizmo was, and he turned it on.

Archer: Tabrans don't share anything about themselves or their world. Why did he do that? Why you?

Trip: I...think he wants me to trust him. If I trust him, maybe I'll listen to his ideas.

Archer: Don't trust him.

Trip: Why? What did he say to you?

Archer: The same things.

Trip: Did he show you Tabra? It's beautiful. It looks like the forest back home.

Archer: Trip... Be careful.

Trip: You're one to talk. You went to Phlox for who knows what injuries and never told me?

Archer: I can take care of my..

Trip: Yeah, you said that. We each take care of ourselves, inn't that what you said? But you always protect me. You're tryin' to right now.

(...)