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Author: Nautika
Series: ENT
Pairing: Reed/Phlox
SPOILERS: None.
Rating: PG
Parts: 1/1
Date: February 2003
Feedback: All comments are welcome and appreciated!
Archive: EntSTCommunity, my page. Anyone else that archives from the EntSTSlash mailing list.
Disclaimer: The usual.
Notes: Written for the Doctor Fuh-q Fest 2003 Valentine's Day Challenge: "The doctor of your choice and their lover or soon to be lover are celebrating, through the ship/space station wide mandate, Valentine's day. Explain how they spend this day. The story must include three stereotypical things associated with Valentine's Day, and three endearments of some sort. The story must be a minimum of 1300 words long."
No beta for this version. And a big thank you to Ane for her hard work at the Enterprise Character Canon page at EntSTCommunity - http://links.entstcommunity.org/canon/ - Very useful when looking for character names!
Summary: After being turned down by T'Pol, will Malcolm find romance with Phlox?
by Nautika
"ACHOO!!"
"Ah, Mister Reed," began Phlox looking up from an experiment, "What can I do for you?"
"Well...ah, ah,... CHOO! Hoshi shoved the bouquet of flowers she got from Tri...i...ip, ah...Trip for Valentine's Day right in my face." Malcolm sniffled and wiped at his nose.
"And you seem to be allergic." Phlox gestured at a bed, "Have a seat, please." Malcolm hopped onto a bed and peered at the doctor through red, swollen eyes.
"Do Denobulans have any kind of holiday like Valentine's Day, Doc?" he asked, as Phlox began his ministrations.
"Not as such. We celebrate our love for each other every day. Not too mention, it's slightly more complicated with multiple spouses."
"I see." Malcolm looked thoughtdul. "The Captain ordered the entire crew to participate in celebrating Valentine's Day...do you have any plans?"
"I plan on attending the crew celebration later tonight. It will be an excellent opportunity to observe the mating rituals of humans." Phlox gave Malcolm that Denobulan smile. "I take it from your predicament that Commander Tucker has finally approached Ensign Sato for a date?"
Malcolm chuckled, "Yes, Hoshi came running up to me and thrust the flowers right under my nose. She was as giddy as a little girl."
As Phlox finished up, he asked, "And what about you, Lieutenant? How are you celebrating this occasion?"
Malcolm's smiled faded and he looked down at his shoes. "I'm not sure that I will be, Phlox."
~~ The previous day ~~
Finally...today was the day Malcolm Reed would make his move. The day he had been looking forward to since the Captain gave the absurd order that all crewmembers were to celebrate Valentine's Day. The day he would profess his feelings to T'Pol.
He had been preparing for days. Three days ago, he had gotten two of those little candy hearts with sappy sayings on them from Trip. How the chief engineer had managed to find them, Malcolm didn't know, and didn't care - he had left the two candies on T'Pol's console that morning.
Already at his post, Malcolm watched as T'Pol walked over to her console and noticed the pink and white candies. One eyebrow went up as she examined them. Jonathan Archer noticed her expression and asked, "What's the matter, T'Pol?"
"Someone's left what appear to be sugar cubes on my console." T'Pol poked at them with a dainty finger.
Jonathan walked over and looked at the sweets. He picked one up and read out loud, "Sweet Heart". Replacing that, he picked the other one up and said, "Hot Stuff". He chuckled before explaining, "These aren't sugar cubes. They're candy. It's an old human tradition for Valentine's Day; you give the one you love candy." He smiled warmly at the Vulcan. "It looks like you've got a secret admirer, T'Pol."
"This whole holiday is quite illogical, Captain," she said examining the little hearts once more. She couldn't help but wonder, however, who the secret admirer might be. She glanced at Archer as Malcolm hid a smile.
Later that day, at his planned time, Malcolm was heading for T'Pol's quarters to ask her to the Valentine's celebration. He was hoping the anonymous love letter he'd sent earlier in the afternoon would've softened her heart to his request.
Jonathan Archer, with a goofy grin, slapped Malcolm on the back in greeting as he walked past him. "Evening, Mister Reed." At the time, Malcolm had thought nothing of it. But a few minutes later, he understood just why the Captain had been smiling so brightly.
~~ Present ~~
"I had hoped to pursue Sub-commander T'Pol...turns out, the Captain had already asked T'Pol to the celebration and she had accepted. I guess she thought he was her secret admirer."
"I see." Phlox placed his hand on Malcolm's shoulder and said, "You're cured, Lieutenant, at least, of the allergies. As for your other predicament, have you thought of asking Ensign Cutler? She's quite attractive, though a bit young for me."
"She's going with Travis. Lieutenant Hess is going with her girlfriend, Crewman Kelly, Novakovich is going with Rostov, Ensigns Porter and Tanner are going with each other, et cetera, et cetera. Almost everyone has a date." Malcolm looked at the floor. "I suppose I could go alone...or not at all. If the Captain asks if I celebrated, I can say I ate a box of chocolates, I suppose."
"Don't be ridiculous, Malcolm. Why don't you accompany me to the celebration? At the very least, you can help me understand some of the bizarre rituals we'll be seeing?"
Malcolm looked slightly uncomfortable, but intrigued at the idea. "Very well, Doctor Phlox, I accept. This should prove most interesting."
~~ The Valentine's Day Celebration ~~
The mess hall had been decorated, the computer's collection of love songs had been loaded, and Chef had prepared an enormous amount of aphrodisiacal and amorous foods for the party guests to consume. Captain Archer surveyed the scene and felt proud of his crew for coming together. He hoped this would help dispel the loneliness he knew some of them were feeling.
Trip and Hoshi were the first to walk through the door. Jon greeted them with a warm, "Hello!"
Trip, with his arm around Hoshi surveyed the setting, "Everything looks great, Cap'n. What do you think, Darlin'?"
"Just perfect, Captain." The pair moved on and Jon concentrated on greeting the guests as they arrived. When everyone was accounted for, he made his way to T'Pol. Sitting down at the table next to her, he looked out at his assembled crew. He was a little disappointed to see that no one was dancing or mingling. He began to think maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
"Sir?" asked T'Pol, sensing something was wrong.
"This isn't going well. No one's talking, no one's dancing..." he turned to look at his second in command. "Sub-commander, would you like to dance?"
"Vulcan's do not dance. However...under the circumstances, I would be honored." Jon took her hand and led her to the dance floor. After an initial awkwardness, T'Pol adapted to the sensation of dancing with a human and the pair moved smoothly across the floor. Trip and Hoshi soon joined in, and others began to follow their lead.
"Fascinating," observed Phlox from his table with Malcolm. "I must say - you humans are very intriguing. Do you suppose Commander Tucker and Ensign Sato have already mated?"
Malcolm nearly choked on his drink. "I think not. Trip was too nervous to even approach Hoshi until now, let alone take her to bed. He's a true gentleman, Phlox. Now...Rostov and Novakovich," he gestured to the two men dancing rather intimately, "They've already mated," Malcolm finished with a sly smile.
"Of course."
For the next few hours, Malcolm and Phlox drank, gossiped about the crew, and enjoyed each other's company. As they walked back to sickbay, the two passed several couples making out in the hallway. Malcolm pulled Phlox away from peering too closely at one pair. "Phlox! Come on! Give them some privacy, would you!"
"I believe Crewman Kelly just referred to Lieutenant Hess as 'Pookie'."
"I'm sure she did, people in love call each other all sorts of odd things. Let's not lollygag; it's really not polite to stare." A pause. "I once knew a girl that insisted I call her 'Sugar Daddy' -", Malcolm stopped abruptly; concerned he may have shared too much with the good doctor. Phlox was excellent at doctor/patient confidentiality, but as far as ship's gossip went, he simply could not be trusted.
Phlox gave Malcolm a quizzical look - "Sugar Daddy? That's a good one," the amusement was clear in his voice. Opening the door to sickbay he added, "You'll have to tell me more about that another time, Malcolm. I hope you had a pleasant evening, Lieutenant Reed. I certainly did, and I hope we can do this again sometime."
"As do I, Doctor. One thing before I go?"
"Yes."
Malcolm reached up and placed a quick peck on Phlox's lips. "That's another Valentine's tradition - giving your date a good night kiss." Malcolm turned and walked away, leaving a surprised Phlox.
Phlox just watched him walk away, wondering if he'd ever figure humans out.
The End