DISCLAIMER: No profit is intended in the writing of this story. Star Trek - Enterprise and its characters are the property of Paramount and Viacom.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
BETA: Bev and GroovyGoddess.
Dusk
By Olli
T'Pol stood in the shower and washed away the sand and salt. She had spent the whole day on the beach with Hoshi, and only returned to their hotel suite thirty minutes ago.
While the warm water poured down on her, she thought about the last couple of hours and she had to admit that it'd been a lovely day. Despite – or maybe because – she had decided to gave in to Hoshi's wish to wear the bikini. Even the fact that she had claimed Hoshi for herself in public, after watching this shark on two legs chat her up, didn't seem that bad any more.
That she had touched Hoshi in a very intimate way, as she had applied the sun blocker to her back, seemed in this context not worth mentioning. It just seemed right. At the other hand T'Pol couldn't imagine to proclaim Hoshi as her lover in the mess hall of the Enterprise, but here...? Maybe she could do it here, because no one knew her.
T'Pol lifted her left leg and put her foot onto a step in the big tub, grateful that it was not only a shower but a bath and a whirlpool, too. It made a shower much more comfortable. She began to soap her leg slowly and carefully, remembering her pay back. She had persuaded Hoshi to go paragliding with her along the coast, dragged by a motorboat. They had used a tandem para, watching the coral reef. As the young man from the para service had put the harness on Hoshi, her eyes had widened and as he had explained the safety regulations the human had swallowed heavily. As the boat had sped up and the para filled with air it suddenly gave a jolt and carried them up into the sky. Hoshi had screamed and clung to the Vulcan, but a few minutes later she seemed, her lover thought, to find it great fun. Fascinated Hoshi had gazed down to the reef and through the binoculars she and T'Pol had borrowed from the clerk, they were able to see the bottom of the ocean and all the underwater animals and plants. The people of Risa were very strict about their environmental protection and the number of boats or divers on the reef were strictly limited, so not too many of them had disturbed the view.
Hoshi hadn't let go of T'Pol, but the Vulcan could no longer sense fear in the younger woman – only enthusiasm.
After an hour in the air and a smooth landing on the beach, they had walked back to their place. T'Pol recognised such scenes of the movies she and Hoshi had seen on Enterprise. Two lovers holding hands while taking a walk, but Hoshi hadn't taken T'Pol's hand and the Vulcan couldn't say if she was disappointed or relieved.
They had spent the rest of the day lying in the sun, occasionally going into the water.
T'Pol soaped up her other leg and thought back to the promises Hoshi had given her on Enterprise two months ago. After their first night together Hoshi had promised she would never embarrass T'Pol in public or make her uncomfortable. The Vulcan had to admit again that there had been nothing embarrassing today, nor for one moment had she felt uncomfortable. Well, she had been a little bit nervous when she had left the room and had been seen by the first people, but when she had left the hotel, she had been barely noticed. That had made it easier for her; she had truly disappeared into the crowd.
Hoshi was sitting on the bed applying some body lotion to her legs, having showered before T'Pol.
The day had been wonderful; both of them had done things today they had never been able to do on Enterprise. She was glad that T'Pol had gone through all of this. Hoshi had been afraid that she'd pushed her luck. As she sat on the beach she realized that she had forced her lover to do something that was completely against her character. She had remembered her promise and suddenly she'd understood that she had broken it. It had been like a slap in the face! She had been overwhelmed by the mood of their vacation and she had disappointed T'Pol! Just at that moment she had wanted to stand up and go back to apologize. It was then that a beach boy had strolled up and started shamelessly flirting with her.
Then T'Pol had appeared and dumped the guy. The sight of her had taken Hoshi's breath away, she had seen T'Pol naked before but in this bikini she looked magnificent. The young woman had remained in the sand, not that she had still been angry with T'Pol but she had been ashamed of her own behaviour. On the other hand the Vulcan had every reason to be angry with Hoshi. It had taken all of her courage to finally sit down next to T'Pol, and when she had given her the bottle with the sun blocker, the Vulcan had let her know in her own subtle way that everything was alright. Hoshi had been very relieved.
And during the rest of the day it had become clear that T'Pol liked the air a lot more than the water.
Now the only thing she had to do was to tell T'Pol how much she regretted her earlier behaviour.
The Vulcan left the bathroom and hesitated for a moment, enjoying the lovely sight in front of her. Hoshi was sitting on the edge of the bed, her left leg slightly bent upwards on the blanket, her right leg hanging over the edge, her foot on the floor. Slowly and deliberately she massaged the lotion into her skin. The silk robe clinging to her body couldn't hide the fact that she wasn't wearing anything else. T'Pol wasn't wearing much more herself .
Slowly, she walked over to the bed.
Hoshi was completely absorbed in her thoughts and didn't notice the Vulcan. But when T'Pol sat down on the mattress behind her, the other woman was startled. She glanced at T'Pol, but couldn't look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
The Vulcan gazed at her lover for a moment, and then she laid her hand under Hoshi's chin and gently raised her head, forcing the human to look her in the eyes. T'Pol let all the emotions she normally hid deep inside shine in her eyes, and the moist touch in Hoshi's eyes disappeared. Gently, she pulled Hoshi into her arms. With a sigh the young woman snuggled up to her and T'Pol kissed her hair, the Vulcan then leaned back on the headrest of the bed.
Hoshi relaxed in the other woman's firm embrace, and rested her head on T'Pol's chest. It was exactly like their first night on Enterprise, she thought. T'Pol's heartbeat, her body heat and even her scent… everything was alright. She couldn't imagine feeling the same way in another person's embrace.
T'Pol looked down at Hoshi, while she gently stroked the other woman's hair. How could Hoshi ever believe she could be angry with her for more than a moment?
The End