Psyche and Sound- Epilogue

Psyche and Sound

by Orion9

Disclaimers in Chapter 1

***************

Epilogue

It was two days later when Archer walked into Engineering to find his Chief Engineer in a midst of a ferocious battle … with a stubborn section of his chair. Caught up in his work, the younger man was oblivious to his presence so Archer used the time well to study his best friend. He frowned as his thoughtful gaze took in Trip’s careworn appearance, seeing all too clearly the ravages of the recovering man’s recent illness on his lean frame. Although he was well on his way to a full recovery and looked a lot better, Trip was still way too thin, despite all the food that Phlox had been trying to get into him.

Archer suppressed a grin as he remembered Trip’s less than quiet show of dismay last night when he had to eat yet another one of Phlox’s special meals, which was specially prepared with the necessary nutrients to hasten the healing process. Only the promise of a swift return to duty prevented the cranky man’s natural urge to rebel, although it wasn’t enough to stop the string of curses that had automatically emerged from his mouth. He chuckled then, remembering T’Pol’s raised eyebrow when her sensitive hearing had picked up the irate engineer’s muttered complaints.

Realising the same thing, the embarrassed man had quickly fallen quiet, but that didn’t stop him from shooting the Denobulan physician dark looks throughout the meal. Not that the rest of them at the Captain’s Mess had escaped unscathed – even he received his fair share of the famous Tucker glare, especially when Trip spotted the smile that he’d failed to conceal on time. Malcolm almost choked on his soup when he caught sight of the glare that was aimed at the amused Captain by the annoyed engineer. It took several poundings on his back before Reed could stop coughing, and by then Trip had totally forgotten all about his own complaints, distracted by his concern for his red-faced friend.

Overall, it had been a thoroughly enjoyable meal.

“You’re jus’ gonna stand there the whole day?”

The soft drawl drew him from his thoughts and Archer eyed the many pieces of dismantled furniture on the floor surrounding the Commander for a couple of seconds. “You were supposed to be taking things easy…” he reminded the engineer.

“But I am takin’ things easy!” Trip protested, a little indignantly. At the sight of a brow raised sceptically back at him, he swiftly amended with a sheepish look. “Well, it started off easy enough…”

Archer shook his head, eyes crinkling in mirth as he allowed the smile to emerge. Phlox was going to have the still recovering man’s hide for this. Watching as the engineer struggled with a particular difficult section, he commented wryly, “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I asked you to take a look at it, Trip.“

“Really? You know, Cap’n, it feels really good not being able to know what anyone’s thinking right now,” the young man countered with a contented grin, earning a laugh from his superior officer.

“Don’t overdo it, okay? You’re still recovering.”

Trip nodded, recognising the concern beneath the mild tone. He grinned disarmingly, sending out an unspoken message with his eyes along with a verbal one. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

Archer acknowledged his best friend’s silent thank you with an answering smile. Anytime, Trip. Anytime. He continued to watch the nimble fingers fly about, deftly putting of the scattered parts together for a few minutes more, before turning to leave. A thought occurred, and Archer paused at the doorway. “And, Trip…”

The dark blond head lifted, distracted eyes turning inquisitive. “Yeah?”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like my chair back, in one piece no less, by start of my next shift…”

Trip grinned. “Consider it done, Cap’n.”

* * * * *

“Say, Malcolm, I’ve been meanin’ to ask you ’bout somethin’…”

Reed looked inquiringly at his friend sitting across him, immediately suspicious of the curious look on the other man’s face. Carrying his tray containing his supper, Trip had plopped himself down at the table just a few minutes ago. He’d barely taken a bite of his food before the question had popped out. Wishing that he didn’t have to, Malcolm asked circumspectly, “What is it, Commander?”

Ignoring the use of his rank – in other times he’d have immediately taken the younger man to task about using it while they were off duty – Trip shifted in his seat, trying to think of the best way to express the question that had been on his mind for some time now. Finally, he blurted it out, “What’s with the flyin’ monkeys in business suits?”

Startled by the unexpected question, Malcolm’s mouth dropped open. He stared at his closest friend onboard for a full minute before he finally found his voice.

“What?” He cleared his throat, staring disbelievingly at the Commander. His eyes narrowed. ”When?”

Trip grinned at the look on Malcolm’s face. This should be good. He didn’t pretend to misunderstand the question, answering it with an airy wave of his hand, “The other day … when you stopped by Engineerin’ after I had contact with the creature on t’surface.”

“You mean, when you were still getting pictures instead of thoughts?”

“Yep,” Trip nodded and rubbed his chin distractedly, peering into the other man’s face. “Quit stallin’, will ya?”

Malcolm popped the last of his pancakes into his mouth and chewed slowly, a thoughtful look replacing the previously appalled expression.

“Well?” Trip prodded once more. The Lieutenant seemed to have forgotten his presence at the table; in fact, he looked effectively lost in thought.

“Hmmm?” Malcolm focused a wary gaze at his animated companion, whose face was alight with inherent curiosity and quickly suppressed a resigned sigh. As infuriatingly tenacious as the man was sometimes, Malcolm was suddenly reminded once more how different life on Enterprise would be without the affable Chief Engineer around. That reality by itself was enough to taper his annoyance at being hounded for an answer at the moment to the barest minimum.

But, as wonderful as it was to have his friend back, all healthy and back to normal, it didn’t mean that he had to answer every question the man asked. Not that he ever had any intention of answering this one … well, not with the complete truth, anyway. A small smile curved his lips as he looked candidly back at the engineer, grey eyes twinkling. “Monkeys in business suits, huh?”

“Uh huh…” Trip answered guardedly, not buying the wide-eyed, innocent look for one single moment. The man was definitely up to something.

Malcolm stood up, preparing to leave the Mess Hall. “Well, when I came to see you, I was thinking that you’d probably be … uh … up to some monkey business…”

“What?” Standing up as well, Trip demanded, “Then what ’bout the flying part?”

Malcolm met exasperated eyes. Without missing a beat, he deadpanned, “We’re currently on a starship,” he paused for effect. “And in deep space, aren’t we?”

Using the opportunity, while Trip was momentary speechless from his surprise, Malcolm favoured his friend with a small smile and dipped his head slightly. “Good night, Commander.”

Without waiting for an answer, he turned and made for the door. Watching the fast disappearing figure of the Armoury Officer with a dubious expression on his face, Trip sat down and quickly gulped down the rest of his supper. He then proceeded to hurry after the enigmatic lieutenant, much to the amusement of those eating there, who’d pretty given up the pretense of eating and were openly listening to the fascinating conversation between the two senior officers. They could still hear the engineer as his long-legged strides took him away from the Mess Hall, some feeling incredibly hard pressed not to follow just so that they could hear the answer to the question that was being asked.

"Hey, Malcolm, wait up! … You were kiddin', right? … Right? … Hello? ... Mal…?"

The End

__________________________________________________
Rinne: Well, I tried but it still took a while before I managed to liberate these two chapters. Sorry for the long wait. Thanks for staying with me!
Neo Getz: Haha! Glad that your ‘ghost town’ is starting to fill up. It wouldn’t have been possible without your continual support and wonderful enthusiasm. Thank you! Oh, I hope you liked the ending. :D
pam w: Hey, it’s always better late than never right? Thanks for the review! :) It’s always great to hear from someone new.
Laura B: Thanks! Hope you enjoyed the ending.
Gabi: Thanks, Gabi! That really meant a lot.

A/N: Psyche and Sound was a lot harder to write than I’d anticipated and there were times I wondered if I’d bitten off more than I could chew. But it’s finally done (Wahoo!) and I could only thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read, and especially to review this story. Special mention goes out to Neo Getz for the many reviews and interesting comments, and to myst123 for doing such a great job – thanks for everything!

Special thanks also goes out to Rinne, tracy-thecubednag, Gabi, cryogenie, Ocean, Laura B, shadowmoon, Luna, Hoshis sis, vanishingp2000, akin, isis and pam w for your wonderful reviews. And not forgetting those of you reviewing after this. Thank you all so much for your fantastic support! :)
Finally, huggles to sHoT for the beta. You’re the best, sis! :D

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A handful of people have made comments

I scored another personal special mention! n u deserve every gd comment u get!

Yep i need a name 4 my ghost town now it ahs ppzl in it.

Loved the ending, glad u got both chapters out together, saved the NERF bat from surfacing, though its a shame to have to wait for u to adopt a new bunny.

Like i said, u ever need a beta or sum1 just to give u feedbk call me (getz@neogetz.tk or neo@neogetz.tk) up 2 ne1.

Loved it! yey Trip's bk!!!!!! and to normal!

:D

Yipee another chapter and oh no the story is finished. Great ending for a great story. Thanks

Excellent! Thanks so much for a great story. So glad to see the reappearance of Trip's fear of insects!

And, of course, as a die-hard Trip and T'Pol shipper, I have to know what she said to him when he asked if there was anything he could do for her!

Thanks for writing, and hope to see more stories soon!

Yay it's finished!!! Although now I'm struggling to remember how Trip hit Mal in the eye..

The ending was great. it was really well written. Hope a sequel is well on the way.