Summary: Trip is a stud. �Nuff said.

Chapter 6 - The Morning After

Veronica woke up first. Her first thought was to wonder why she was so uncharacteristically happy this early in the morning. Her second thought was a realization of how many places on her body ached with overuse. Then she rolled over and saw Trip and was happy once more.

�Hey,� she said quietly as his eyes fluttered open inches from her face.

�Hey yourself,� he said, smiling widely. He tried to push up onto one elbow but flinched in pain.

�You all right?�

�Yeah, yeah, I�m okay,� he answered, grimacing as he tried to work the kinks out of his shoulder muscles.

�You are much better than okay,� Veronica teased, closing in for a soft kiss. It was nice, but lacked the intense spark of the day before. Guess we�re just not morning people, Veronica dismissed it.

�Man, I�m starvin�,� Trip announced, rubbing his muscled stomach. The movement made Veronica look down, and she noticed that Trip�s amazing never-flagging erection seemed to have finally flagged. It was just as well, as she was afraid it might take a crowbar to pry her legs apart, she was so stiff. �I think we forgot dinner.�

�Yeah, we were a bit busy, weren�t we,� she teased. She rolled slowly over and out of the bed, standing with difficulty.

�You all right?� it was Trip�s turn to ask.

�Yeah, I�m okay,� Veronica dutifully answered.

�You�re much better �n okay,� Trip completed the script, and they laughed softly.

�Nothing a good, hot shower won�t cure,� Veronica added as she hobbled toward her clothes. She definitely needed clean ones from her own quarters. �Meet you in the mess hall in half an hour?�

�Sure,� Trip agreed, slowly levering himself up to a sitting position. He sat there watching Veronica dress, an awkward silence beginning to develop around them. When she was done, she turned to him and kissed him quickly.

��Bye.�

��Bye.�

And she was out the door.

Trip sat staring at the closed door for a while, wondering if he should have said something else, done something else. Or maybe he was just stalling before forcing his sore body to stand. Finally he made a decision, managed to stand, and hobbled toward the shower.

�Commander, over here!� called one of his engineers, Ensign Larry Redburn, gesturing at an open seat. Since there weren�t many other places to sit, Trip accepted the invitation. �We were just talking about how sick we all got yesterday. You were down there, right?� Trip nodded. �What happened to you?�

Stalling for time, Trip took a large bite of his bagel. Luckily for him, his interrogator was the type that liked to talk about himself.

�I had the worst case of gas ever. You have that?�

Trip shook his head, still chewing.

�That�s nothin�,� another member of the group chimed in. �I had these huge pimple things everywhere my skin was exposed.� He indicated his hands and face. �Lucky I didn�t have to take a whiz, eh, Butler?� He elbowed the woman next to him, who blushed, setting off a cacophony of laughter all around the table. Trip used the distraction to take another bite and chewed slowly.

�Who were you down there with, anyways?� asked Redburn, turning back to Trip, when the merriment had passed. Trip chewed more obviously, but Redburn just sat and waited, so that he eventually had to answer.

�Hunter. You know, the geologist.�

�The-� Redburn seemed to be thinking, then his eyes lighted up suddenly. �Oh, the geologist, yeah.� And he made a motion near his chest that Trip might have felt compelled to call him on if someone else hadn�t interrupted.

�Hey, there she is now.�

Everyone glanced at the door, which had just opened to admit none other than Veronica Hunter. She scanned the room, her eyes finding Trip. Her lips curved up just a little at the sight, not giving too much away, before she headed over to get her food.

Once more, Redburn took matters into his own hands.

�Make some room, hey, move over.� He managed to carve a space and found a chair somewhere, so that when Veronica turned around he was waving her over to sit between Redburn and Trip. Her face set passively, she squeezed into the seat.

�Commander,� she acknowledged Trip quietly.

�Ensign,� he returned.

�So, you two were down there together? What happened?� Redburn inquired.

Veronica took a sudden interest in her eggs. Trip realized he�d stalled long enough.

�Nothin� like what you guys had, apparently. Just a buzz, kinda, ya know, elevated heart rate, euphoria.�

�You lucky stiffs!� Redburn commented, apparently buying it. �Doctor Phlox ought to bottle up that one. Sounds much better than what Fletcher got; heard he was out cold.�

�Yeah, and McCain was still tossing his cookies last I saw him.�

As the rest of the table continued to regale each other with tales of their woes, Trip and Veronica exchanged a quick glance and a small sigh of relief.

Several minutes later, the crowd had run out of �top this!� gossip, as well as food on their plates, and scattered.

�Nice cover,� Veronica whispered when she and Trip were finally alone. �The truth, just a bit�understated.�

�Understatement of the year, I�d say,� Trip rejoined, smiling jauntily.

�And what about today? Have your �symptoms� recurred?� Her eyes flicked down to his lap and then back to meet his gaze.

�Not like yesterday. I�m sore in muscles I didn�t even know I had.� He rolled his neck from side to side and winced in illustration.

�I�m a bit sore myself,� replied Veronica, wiggling in her chair slightly to indicate exactly where.

Trip glanced down, then back up into her eyes. �Sorry.�

�No, you�re not,� Veronica disputed, softening it with a smile. Trip had the decency to blush just a little. �You know, a good massage could help your problem,� she added.

�Might make yours worse,� Trip rejoined, with a suggestive eyebrow raise.

�A chance I�m willing to take, Commander.�

�After you.� Trip rose, making room for Veronica to get up, then followed her toward the door.

But before they could reach it, it opened, revealing Doctor Phlox, smiling hugely.

�Just the two people I wanted to see,� Phlox said. �If you�ll follow me, please.�

Back to Chapter 5

Wham, Bam, Thank You, Commander chapter listing

On to Chapter 7

To Ginny's page

To Main MEG Archive page