How I fell in love

Arrival

Your shuttle is commencing the auto-docking sequence. As it does, your mind is filled with questions about the future. You have never met humans before, but have been told they are emotional creatures. Despite your best efforts, your heart rate is increased. You are nervous. You wonder if you made the correct decision. You just left the comfort of the only ship you have ever served on. Captain Cylar had requested you as soon as you had graduated. But there was no room for advancement there, not for you. And, though you would never admit it, exploring space sounded infinitely better to you than another Vulcan science mission. Than another Vulcan anything. Ever since you were a small Vulcan child you knew their teachings were flawed. By now you knew those flaws thoroughly. You embraced logic, but you also used your emotions instead of burying them. So you asked for a transfer.

You stood with your hands stiffly at your side. In your left hand was duffel bag carrying clothes and a memento from home. The doors hissed and every muscle in your body tensed. The smell was overwhelming. It smells sour and disgustingly sweet at the same time. Your nostrils flared but you maintained your composure.

A human male was on the other side of the doors. He was smiling warmly at you. His face had a few wrinkles, but his eyes were young and hopeful. He tried and failed to mimic the gesture of the Vulcan standing at his left. She was no doubt T'Pol. Which made him, "Jonathan Archer. Welcome aboard, Commander Dallyn!" The Captain said with a nod. You took in his wide smile, the excitement in his voice, humans were indeed emotional.

"Thank you sir" you replied with an even voice as he led you down the corridor, T'Pol falling in behind the two of you. "I also need to thank you for allowing me to serve on your ship. I understand you are not especially fond of Vulcans." T'Pol cleared her throat. You hoped she was not sick and shot her a glance -which of course for Vulcans is the epitome of showing concern- before continuing.

"However, your choice to retain T'Pol as your first officer shows that you do not let that effect your relationships. I respect that." Archer had stopped walking, you continued for two steps before realizing and turning to face him. He had an eyebrow raised incredulously.

"Relationships? What do you Vulcans think is going on over here?" He asked rather loudly.

"Professional relationships" you clarified.

He looked at T'Pol, she nodded slightly and he sighed.

His smile was back but not as wide nor as genuine. "Let's show you to sickbay" he started as he resumed leading you down the corridor. "Phlox wants to do a quick exam, then we..." he looked at T'Pol and raised both eyebrows "...have a tour arranged!" She gave him another small nod as she followed you into the turbolift.

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Archer led you through the sickbay doors. It was bright, and it felt cold. You resisted a shiver.

"This is Dr. Phlox." Archer gestured towards a Denobulan who wore an even broader smile than the Captains. "Doctor, this is Commader Dallyn."

"Ah yes, nice to meet you Commander!" The Denobulan said with a small wave.

"Doctor."

Archer looked between the two of you. "We'll leave you to it then" With that he turned to leave.

You nodded at your new Captain then turned and faced the doctor. "I am to receive an examination?" You asked with your eyebrows raised expectantly.

The Doctor pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows. "Right this way, Commander" he instructed as he waved his arm towards a biobed.

Archer spun around on his heels, "Oh!" He exclaimed. "Dinner in my mess tonight. 6 o'clock." He pointed his index finger at you. "Captains orders!"

"Yes sir" came the plain reply. Humans sure smiled a lot.

T'Pol let her gaze linger on you for a moment before she followed Archer out of the sickbay.

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Two hours, twenty three minutes, and one clean bill of health later, you were following Commander Tucker out of sickbay.

"No, really, call me Trip" the words came out with a drawl that you identified as southern. "First stop, engineering" he nodded at himself emphatically as he pressed the turbolift button.

He spoke almost continuously, mostly about the engines and warp core. He showed you the anti-matter chamber and the nacelles. Once the two of you had left engineering however, he had much less to say.

He was still talkative, especially by Vulcan standards. But he asked you about yourself a lot more. He had never been to Vulcan and had quite a lot of questions about it. You were concerned about his intentions until he revealed nonchalantly that he and T'Pol were engaged in a romantic relationship.

You were approaching an intersection near the armory when you heard a loud and obnoxious "COMING THROUUGGGHHH!" Commander Tucker backed up into you as a thin man with dark hair carried a large crate through the corridor, moving rather quickly. Your eyes followed the man as he walked away from you and disappeared around a corner.

"That's Malcolm, don't mind him" the engineer waved his hand flippantly in the direction the other man had gone. "Commander, that was Lieutenant Malcolm Reed. He is to be my commanding officer while I serve aboard this vessel. I believe it would be most wise to 'mind' him."

Shaking his head, the Commander replied, "No, no, no. I didn't mean that you shouldn't follow orders, I jus' meant that.." he worked his mouth for a moment, "he can kinda be a pain" he finished. "Anyways, it's gettin' late an' we are all due for dinner in the captains mess in jus' over an hour. Let's get you to your quarters so you can settle in."

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The room was small. Logical. It had a twin size bed, a simple table beside it, and a dresser with three drawers and a small mirror above it. Attached was a small bathroom with your own shower, a nice surprise. You started by unpacking your duffel bag, putting your clothes in the drawers neatly, leaving out a formal outfit for dinner. You set your small IDIC sculpture on the table beside your bed, staring at it for a moment before stripping off your clothes and taking a quick shower.

Clean, dry, and in what you considered to be your best outfit, you stood in front of the mirror. Your reflection looked back at you with a cold stare. You pulled down on your tunic. It was light blue, sleeveless with a v-shaped neck line, laid over a loose fitting gold colored short sleeved shirt. Then you smoothed out the one wrinkle in your matching light blue slacks, and picked a fleck of glitter off of the inside seam, the glitter was from the stripe of gold that ran along the outside of your right pant leg from your hip to your shoes. You frowned at your shoes, the gold was a slightly different shade than the gold on your suit.

Looking at the clock on the wall, you knew you should head to the captains mess for dinner. You wanted to be early, but not early enough to be caught up in unnecessary conversation. You pulled down on your tunic one last time before heading out the door.