Star Trek Imagines (Reader-Inserts) Part One

Ent. Trip Tucker - Tension

A/N: There are slight mentions of sex in this, but there aren't any details

"How much longer until we rendezvous with Enterprise?" you asked.

Trip looked at the console before him. "Another two hours."

You sighed and Trip smirked. "Tired of me already?" he teased.

You glanced at him and shrugged. "Only mildly."

"What can I do to make ya less tired of me?" Trip asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

You laughed lightly. "You could stop looking at me like that, for starters."

"Like what?" he asked with a smirk.

You smiled softly but tried to keep your expression neutral. "Like you're mentally taking my clothes off."

Trip laughed. "I wasn't..."

You raised an eyebrow. "Then how are you looking at me?"

He shrugged sheepishly and smiled. "I'm just admiring the view, is all. Is that a bad thing?"

"No, though it does make it hard to concentrate."

"On what? There's no scans to take and no intricate piloting that needs to happen."

You sighed, exaggerating it a little. "If you must know, I'm trying to concentrate on not thinking about you."

Trip grinned. "Oh yeah? And how's that working out?"

"Not well," you admitted which only made his smile grow wider. "But it's all your fault, you know."

"Is it?" he asked. "And how is it my fault?"

You shook your head slightly. "It just is."

You and Trip teased each other like that often. It started out as a joke, but somewhere along the line the remarks started to be based on truths and now here you were, both pining for each other pathetically and only admitting it when it was in a snide remark. The flirting was fun, you had to admit that. Though some days you wished it would become more than just flirting.

"So how do you think about me?" Trip asked after a few moments of silence.

You focused on watching the readings on your console. "How do you think I think of you?"

"Answerin' my question with a question, I see how it is." Trip turned his chair so that he was facing you fully. "All right, I'll bite. I think you think I'm very charming. You must, since you indulge in my banter and compliments. And you think I'm funny. You laugh at all of my jokes – even the lame ones, which is most of them. And I think you find me attractive."

You huffed in laughter, but Trip ignored it and continued, "I see you looking at me when you think no one's looking. Now I'm not sayin' this to boost my ego or anythan', I'm just tellin' ya what I've observed."

Your lips twitched into a faint smile. "Even if I did find you charming and attractive, that doesn't mean anything."

"No?" he asked, leaning closer to you. "Then why are you blushin'?"

"I'm not," you defended, but as you said it you could feel how warm your cheeks were.

Trip smiled.

You rolled your eyes. "You're one to talk. I see you staring at me all the time."

"Maybe," he admitted.

You looked at him. "So, what? What does all of this mean?"

Trip thought about that for a moment before he answered. "Honestly? I'm not sure. We clearly both find the other one attractive."

"Clearly," you mumbled, gaze moving down to his lips unintentionally. You were a little surprised that you two were actually talking about your feelings instead of just pushing them aside. Surprised, but not upset about it.

He saw you looking at his mouth and smiled. "And there's quite a bit of tension between us. Unless I'm crazy."

"You're not."

He leaned in more, reaching over to put his hand onto the edge of your chair. "No?"

You shook your head and moved closer to him.

Trip put his hand onto your cheek and met your eyes briefly to make sure you were okay with it. Then, he tilted his head and pressed his lips against yours.

--

You zipped up your jumpsuit and pulled your hair out of your collar. "What does this mean?" you asked.

Trip shook his head and tugged his boots on. "I don't know. What do you want it to mean?"

You shrugged slightly. "I don't know. I don't know if we should label things right now. Maybe we should just... see where things take us."

He smiled slightly. "So does that mean if I ask you out on a date, you'll say yes?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On whether the date is movie night or not."

Trip laughed and adjusted his shirt collar underneath the jumpsuit. "Would movie night be a bad or good date?"

You gave him a look and he nodded. "Okay, no movie night."

"Movie night is too public," you told him. "Until we know what this is... I think we should try and keep it to ourselves."

"I think you're right."

"Enterprise to Shuttlepod One," Archer's voice said through the speakers.

Trip went to the front console and pressed a button which brought the image of the bridge up on the screen. "Tucker here."

"We're a little ahead of schedule and will be there within half an hour," the captain said. His brow furrowed slightly.

"Understood, Sir," Trip said. "We'll see you soon."

The captain nodded. "Archer out."

You smiled, thankful that Archer didn't call a few minutes earlier. Then, you spotted a red mark on Trip's neck and your eyes widened. "Shit."

"What? Y'okay?" Trip asked, looking back at you.

"Yeah, no, just... um. I'm not certain, but the captain and the entire bridge crew may have just seen a hickey on your neck."

Trip's eyes widened. "What?"

You went to him and gently touched the mark on his neck. "I'm sorry—I didn't realize..."

"S'not your fault," he said. "I probably should have made sure I was decent before answerin'. And maybe they didn't see it."

"Maybe," you said, praying that was true.

"Even if they did see it, they won't say anythan'," he assured you. "Besides, we're all adults here. What we do in our free time isn't anyone's business but our own."

You nodded, smiling slightly at the sureness in his voice. "You're right."

"I know," he said with a grin. "Now, about that date..."