Charles 'Trip' Tucker III

I am back from hiatus... but am not actually coming back here. I realised, after my break, that there’s almost nothing I’m reading on my dashboard and no one I’m RPing with.

I know the solution is to go and find people to play with, but I’ve done that multiple times and it always seems to fizzle out. I just can’t muster up the enthusiasm to do it again.

        ❛ We have the best and brightest in the ‘fleet, Commander, ❜    she answered with a light laugh.    ❛ We have the best and brightest in the ‘fleet, Commander. I think we can manage something. ❜    They arrived at the turbolift doors, and once inside, Una activated the controls.    ❛ Deck 1, ❜    she instructed, before addressing their guest once more.    ❛ Though it would help to know what you were doing out in an EV suit. ❜    And how he’d gotten separated from his ship, she added to herself, but left that question for later.

“I don’t know.” Although he was a little distracted looking at the controls and wanting to disassemble the whole thing to get a better look. He didn’t have any tools on him, not that that would have stopped him, but he would have to wait until he was alone. If that situation ever occurred.

“I really don’t,” he added, looking round at her, as he belatedly realized that sounded a little suspicious. “I wish I did, it would make some sense of all this.” He waved an arm to indicate their general area. “Although I’m glad I was wearing an EV suit and wasn’t just out in the vacuum of space.” He grinned. He wasn’t worried about the prospect since he didn’t know how it had happened in the first place.

T’lar wondered why a complete stranger would approach him in this manner if they were not in need of medical assistance. Curiosity got the better of her, however. She decided to hear him out. 

She continued working on the patient profiles as he spoke, but with every word her concentration continued to break until she had stopped working altogether and was frozen with a single finger pressing the PADD screen. She looked up with an eyebrow raised. “And how do you know this?” She scanned his uniform for a rank but found she couldn’t figure it out. “I assume you are Starfleet because you were currently standing on a Federation ship,” she said with some annoyance. She was a little warier now. Too many things about the situation were out of the ordinary. “Who are you?” 

Well. That was probably exactly the reaction he was expecting, if it came down to it. He’d just been hoping for blind obedience, however unlikely that was.

“My name’s Charles Tucker and I am in Starfleet. I’m from the future,” he explained. “It’s a little hard to believe, I know.” Technically he was from the past and just working with an agency from the future but explaining that was not going to help his case. However, if he told her exactly who he was she might have heard of him and that would just make things even worse. Fortunately, his was a common enough name that it shouldn’t raise too many eyebrows.

T’Pol straightened her back and took a deep breath. She should have expected that response, perhaps. He seemed to enjoy making her uncomfortable.

“I doubt I need to remind you that jealousy is a Human emotion.” She tilted her head, adding in a clinical tone, “As is the Human concept of projecting one’s own desires onto the intentions of another, which I suspect is a particular failing of yours, Commander.”

“You’re saying I flirt with other people because I think it’ll make you jealous.” He grinned, purposely misunderstanding. Before she could have the opportunity to correct him, he added, “In the future I’ll make sure to flirt with you some more.”

            Una shrugged.    ❛ If our positions were reversed, would you do otherwise? ❜    She could justify the decision: there were always timeline considerations to evaluate. Assuming he wished to return home, that was. As a Starfleet officer, she suspected he was capable of coming to the same conclusions, and so she let the question stand alone.

“No, I wouldn’t,” he said with resignation. It did make it hard to negotiate to be let into Engineering when he knew, if he was in charge, there’s no way he’d let someone from the past in there. He wanted to protest that at least he knew what a warp drive was, but ultimately he knew it wouldn’t do him any good.

T’lar had a reputation of being what was, in her opinion, Vulcan, but what was, in most other’s opinions, not very friendly. Because of that, many people left her alone while she worked. Small talk had quickly faded away to ‘I guess I should stop trying’, and most eye-contact was nonexistent. People generally avoided her unless they had to. 

Which made it much odder when a stranger walked right up to her and began speaking. 

T’lar took her time in finishing the task before her. Categorizing patient profiles was simple, mindless work that should have been done by a lower-ranking offer, but she found it somewhat relaxing. It kept her hands busy. It gave her an opportunity to think. 

She placed the PADD on the table in front of her and raised her eyes to see a man she had never seen before. She looked him up and down for a moment and made an assessment: he didn’t really look like he was in a mess. But he had come to the right person. If he was in trouble, T’lar would do anything she could to sort it. 

The doctor crossed her arms over her chest. “I am available,” she said. “Do you require medical assistance?”

He smiled at her as she looked him over, more out of instinct than him thinking it would have any effect on a Vulcan. “Not exactly,” he said slowly. He stuck his tongue in his cheek as he looked around the room. Now it came to it, it was a little hard to explain.

One of the problems with working with the Temporal Agency was learning who to trust. Fortunately, for this mission, he'd been given a name. Although nothing about why she was trustworthy. Or why they couldn't have sent someone with the relevant qualifications to begin with.

He'd had a couple of days to settle in, meet the other engineers and do some research. Which was two days more than he had, really, but he'd been hoping to run into Dr. T'Lar in the meantime. Since he hadn't, he'd gone to visit her in the lab during a time when he hoped she'd be alone.

T’Pol looked at him unwaveringly. She could determine from the context that ‘an item’ indicated a romantic relationship.

“Regardless of whether or not you and the ensign are ‘an item,’” she repeated the phrase as if it left a bitter taste in her mouth, “your behavior is inappropriate. This would hardly be the first time that your demeanor has been interpreted as… flirtatious. If that is not how you intend to be perceived, perhaps you should strive to be more self-aware.”

Trip grinned. "I'm not flirtatious, I'm just friendly." Okay, so maybe he could be a little flirtatious, but he had no intention of admitting to T'Pol that she could be right.