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“Hoshi!” Trip grinned.
“Yeeeeeees, Trip?” she replied cheekily.
Smirking, he said, “truth or dare?”
Grinning wickedly, Hoshi answered, “dare!”
A chorus of “oooooooooooo” sounded from Jon, Trip, Malcolm, Travis, and Phlox, while T’Pol simply raised her brows.
“Dare you to kiss someone,” Trip said, smirking again.
“Who?” she asked.
Leaning forward in his seat so the firelight caught his face better, he answered, “whoever… you… want.”
Grinning, Hoshi stood, making her way around the circle and kissing each of them on the cheek in turn, before resuming her seat.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Trip said, scowling slightly.
“Well then you should have been more specific, shouldn’t you?” Hoshi answered, smirking.
Shaking his head and trying not to smile, Trip said, “fine, you win this round.”
Looking at her fellow senior officers thoughtfully, Hoshi said, “T’Pol - truth or dare?”
All eyes quickly swivelled to T’Pol as she answered, “truth.”
“What’s your favourite Earth food?” Hoshi asked.
“Aw, come on, that’s not challenging enough!” Trip cried.
Hoshi raised both brows at him. “If you want to know T’Pol’s deepest darkest secrets, you can ask her - on your turn.”
T’Pol nodded, appearing slightly relieved. “My favourite food from Earth is potato. They’re very versatile, with many varieties and cooking methods, and can be easily flavoured to taste.”
“That’s a great choice,” Hoshi said, smiling.
“I do love a good potato, it must be said,” Malcolm remarked.
Jon, Travis, and Phlox all made similar comments of agreement.
“Captain,” T’Pol said when they finished chattering. “Truth or dare?”
Jon chuckled quietly. “Truth. Ask me anything you want to know.”
T’Pol gave him a thoughtful look, then asked, “what do you enjoy most about being captain of Enterprise?”
“Well that’s an easy one,” Jon said with a smile. “Serving with all of you. I have the best crew in the fleet, bar none.”
“Aw, shucks,” Trip said, smiling.
Phlox nodded. “I must say I am in agreement that this is a very fine crew.”
Jon grinned and said, “Travis, truth or dare?”
Travis grinned, teeth shining in the firelight. “Dare.”
“Uh oh,” Malcolm said, watching the captain.
“I dare you to see how many marshmallows you can fit in your mouth at one time,” Jon said.
Everyone laughed as Travis grabbed the bag and started shovelling them in, Jon counting as he did.
“Oi! Leave some for the rest of us!” Trip cried when the tally reached thirty without any signs of stopping.
Travis put the pack down and started chewing - enough room for movement left in his jaw to do so.
When he finally swallowed the last of the marshmallows, Travis grinned. “Alright, Malcolm - truth or dare?”
Malcolm grimaced slightly as he answered, “truth - but be gentle, please.”
“Who’s your favourite bridge officer?” Travis asked.
“With a question like that, certainly not you,” Malcolm answered, smirking.
Travis laughed. “Alright, but who is?”
Looking thoughtful for a long moment, Malcolm finally answered. “A tie between Hoshi and T’Pol. They listen to my advice when I give it, even if they don’t always agree with me.”
Hoshi gave Malcolm a very pleased look, and T’Pol inclined her head in acceptance of the compliment.
“Alright Doctor, I believe it must be your turn,” Malcolm said. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth, and you may be as gentle or as coarse as you like,” Phlox said, smiling widely.
Malcolm narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, “who’s the worst patient, of the six of us?”
Phlox chuckled. “Without a doubt it’s you who holds that title, Lieutenant. Though I’ve had far worse when serving elsewhere, if that’s any comfort. You at least allow me to treat you, even if you complain the entire time.”
Malcolm blushed furiously and hid his face in his hands. “I’m sorry I asked.”
Phlox grinned at Trip and said, “Commander Tucker, truth or dare?”
Trip returned the grin. “Dare, Doc.”
“I dare you to kiss someone seated around this campfire, after specifying where you’ll kiss them and gaining their consent,” Phlox said, brows raised.
“See, Phlox knows how to be specific,” Hoshi said, smirking.
Trip nodded, still grinning. “Yeah, alright, fair call on that one.” Turning to face T’Pol where she sat beside him, he added, “T’Pol - may I kiss the back of your hand while holding it, like in the old movies?”
Offering her hand, T’Pol nodded. “You may.”
“Thank you,” Trip said as he took her fingers lightly in his and lifted her hand, pressing his lips to the back of it while looking into her eyes.
The group watched as the moment held, the pair of them having lost awareness of their surroundings. Eventually though Trip lowered her hand and turned back to face the fire, wearing a happy smile.
Clearing his throat slightly, he eagerly said, “Malcolm! Truth or dare?”
Sighing heavily, Malcolm answered, “dare.”
Trip, Travis, and Hoshi gasped in surprise, then Trip grinned savagely.
“I dare you to kiss Hoshi - on the lips if she consents, on the cheek if she’d prefer that.”
Malcolm stood, moving around the circle to kneel beside Hoshi. “Which would you rather?”
Hoshi smiled. “Either is fine with me, you can decide.”
Eyes widened in anticipation as Malcolm closed his and took three deep, steadying breaths, then opened them and pressed his lips lightly to hers. She smiled, then returned the kiss, her hands coming up to cradle his face.
“Uh, well, I think that’s enough truth or dare for one night,” Jon said, standing and walking in the direction of the tents as the kiss lingered.
“You want to swap with Malcolm so they can have some privacy?” Trip asked T’Pol.
T’Pol raised a brow. “That would be agreeable, as it would also give you and I some privacy. There is much we should discuss.”
Trip grinned as he stood and offered his hand. “Sure, I’m up for a good conversation.”
Taking his hand in hers, T’Pol stood and went with Trip, the two of them quietly reorganising the tent arrangement.
“Uh, Doc…” Travis said, tapping Phlox lightly on the shoulder. “It’s rude to watch.”
“Oh! I beg your pardon! Thank you for the reminder, Ensign,” Phlox said, also standing and moving away.
When the kiss finally broke, Malcolm looked around in bewilderment. “Where did everybody go?”
Hoshi chuckled. “Giving us some privacy. And if I heard correctly, I think you’re my new bunkmate. Trip’s going to share a tent with T’Pol instead.”
“Oh! Well, that’s… Actually not terribly surprising, now that I think about it,” Malcolm remarked.
“How did he know that you’d want to kiss me, specifically?” Hoshi asked.
Malcolm blushed furiously. “I may have accidentally mentioned it one time when he and I shared a bottle of rather fine whisky. I suspect he dared you first in the hopes that you’d kiss me, rather than everyone on the cheek.”
Smiling, Hoshi nodded. “I think that was probably his goal too, but he should have been more specific. Words are my specialty, after all.”
“You do have a very talented tongue,” Malcolm said, bumping his nose off hers.
“Oh, you have no idea just how talented,” Hoshi said with a grin - then kissed him again, letting him learn.