Work Text:
Reg had been through many things, holodeck addiction, transporter malfunctions, turned into a spider and had a disease named after him. So, he knew he shouldn’t feel too shocked about getting whipped back in time and ending up on the Enterprise NX-01 and meeting Captain Archer. His sense of adventure had inspired Reg growing up. Reg had studied the man, even made a few holodeck programs centered on some of the man’s missions but that hadn’t prepared him for the reality of it.
He wasn’t used to a ship where the communication officer had to translate as much as Hoshi did or one where relationships with the Klingons were so openly hostile. At least Dr. Phlox had been kind and help with the…well what should he call it? Motion sickness? Temporal sickness? Time ick? He didn’t know what but at least he had stopped throwing up by the time he met the captain.
Archer was every bit as dynamic as Reg had hoped he’d be. As much as he admired Captain Picard, there was something more compelling about Captain Archer. To Archer’s surprise this wasn’t even part of the Temporal Cold War and Reg struggled to remember what he learned about that event from his academy days.
They had been able to send fragmented messages through time back to his Enterprise. T’Pol, Data and Geordi seemed to be on the verge of finding a way back to his time for him but until then Reg threw in the best he could. At least once every ten minutes he wondered if he was creating time paradoxes. This crew hadn’t even heard of holodecks since they weren’t due to be invented yet. Well if he couldn’t get home, that would be invented much earlier.
Tonight he could barely contain his excitement. Archer had invited him to his quarters for dinner. He was too excited to eat really but he had to go because how could he not? Archer answered his door and stepped back to allow Reg in. He didn’t get more than two steps inside when a dog bounced over to sniff his boots.
“Who is this?” Reg smiled, squatting down so the dog could inspect his hands.
“Porthos. He knows its dinner time and there’s nothing he likes more.” Archer grinned.
“Hello, Porthos. Aren’t you a beautiful boy?” Reg scratched Porthos’s head. Porthos bayed at him and then licked his hands to death. “Such a friendly boy.”
“He likes you and Porthos is a good judge of character.” Archer smiled even broader.
“I like him too. I read about him in adventures you have gone on.”
“I want to know but I know I can’t hear about them.” Archer wrinkled his nose.
“I wish I could tell you. I loved reading about your adventures. It’s not a spoiler to tell you, you’re considered one of the greatest explorers in the galaxy. And I’d love to hear about some of your stories.”
“I’d be happy to tell you.” He beckoned for Reg to follow him. “But first, I made dinner. I was thinking you might like to watch the water polo matches with me.”
“I have never seen one. You’ll have to explain it.”
Archer frowned, “Please tell me water polo hasn’t died out by your time.”
Reg shook his head. “I don’t think so but I…well, sports were never my thing but I’d like to see a match. What’s for dinner? Can I help?”
“You’re my guest so please have a seat. And I have tacos plus a hot dog or two cut into pieces for Porthos. The spices in tacos aren’t good for him and he begs mercilessly.”
“Sounds great. And after the match maybe you could tell me about your favorite mission to date.” Reg pet Porthos’s back and joined Archer at the table.
“That would be my pleasure. If you want to wash all the dog lick off your hands…” Archer pointed to the door to the washroom.
Reg cleaned up and went back to set down to tacos and water polo. He gladly flipped bits of hot dog to Porthos. No matter what happened time wise. This was going to be a good night.