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Tents pitched on an endless vista of grass. Stalks the colour of the sea off the Pensacola coast rustled beneath the footsteps of the first rotation of crew members or the small guinea pig like creatures that seemed to be the only inhabitants.
Shore leave, in the style of Starfleet's first exploratory mission.
Trip had been looking forward to this ever since the Captain had announced it. Shore leave. Camping under an alien sky. Well deserved R&R before they carried on deeper into space. Sure, Trip couldn't sleep properly without the warp engines of his ship humming around him, but the novelty - and the freedom to be with company - more than made up for it.
Given Starfleet fraternisation rules, they kept themselves to themselves for the most part, relationship-wise. Even though the Captain preferred to turn a blind eye to his crew members exploring their romantic entanglements, and nobody would have so much as batted an eye, keeping things on the down low was just simpler. Aligned more with the Vulcan sensitivies of the woman he was crazy about.
But. A night off-ship. An alien world. No pressure of duty or the pressure of being the first crew of the first Starfleet's ship to explore outside their own solar system. Enough of a respite that Trip's part logical, part emotional, all hopeful persuasion had borne fruit.
T'Pol had requested shore leave on the same shift as Trip - and Captain Archer had just grinned and wished them a relaxing forty-eight hours.
And so here they were, lying on a blanket outside their reasonably isolated tent, campfire crackling, staring up at the starlight. Not quite not the First Officer and Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise, but off duty enough that their roles didn't matter. At that moment.
“It's incredible, isn't it?” Trip marvelled, stretching out on the blanket. “Giant balls of gas thousands of light-years away. Inspiring hundreds of different races to go out and see what was among 'em.”
Trip didn't need to see her face to know T'Pol had arched her eyebrow. “Indeed. On Vulcan, the clarity of the atmosphere often makes the stars feel... closer. This world has a similar luminosity.”
Trip smiled up at the stars, touched by T'Pol's reply.
Even thousands of light-years away from their home planets, starlight could make them feel - for a moment - like they were back home.
Trip moved his eyes off the stars twinkling above, smiling as he saw the starlight reflected in T'Pol's eyes.
“And they're pretty to boot.”
T'Pol's eyes flickered quickly towards Trip and back to the stars. “If I did not know better, I would assume you were flirting with me, Commander.”
Trip fought back a cheerful smirk. “Now why would I do a thing like that, Subcommander?”
“I could not presume to comment.” T'Pol would sound aloof to most others, but Trip felt the warmth in her voice. The way it usually was for him, when they were off duty together.
“I'll bet.” Trip chuckled, moving a smidgen closer on the blanket. The air was cool, he didn't want T'Pol to feel it.
T'Pol shifted closer too, brushing the first two fingers on their hands together. Trip's fingers tingled the way they always did, humming with the impression of warmth and emotion he couldn't begin to process.
Trip didn't comment. This wasn't one of the things they discussed aloud. He just smiled, feeling like this luckiest son of a gun in the universe.
He raised his free hand, tracing constellations in the sky. “Back on Earth, when I was a kid, we'd lay under the stars and make up our own constellations. Picking our own points of light and our own stories for 'em.”
T'Pol was silent a long moment. Trip didn't press, letting her make her own mind up if she wanted to engage more or just lay comfortably with him under the stars. Either made him more than happy.
T'Pol nodded to herself, her head brushing his shoulder. “What constellations do you see tonight?”
Trip raised his finger, tracing the brightest points of starlight. “Well, those brightest stars over to the left, I reckon they've gotta be the constellation T'Pol. Most beautiful sight in the night sky.”
T'Pol's eyebrow arched in the way that meant a smile. “Then the stars orbiting closer to them must be the Chief Engineer constellation. Always at her side.”
Trip turned, offering another touch of their fingers. His smile was hurting his cheeks. “And never wantin' to be anywhere else.”