caprice

“Uh, thanks, Doctor,” he replied. “I didn’t do anything… bad while that thing was infecting me, did I?” He wanted to get the question out of the way; he didn’t think he could handle not knowing when he went back to duty.

“Oh, no,” Phlox assured him. “In fact, you paid me a rather nice complement! After yelling at me for a bit, of course.”

Jonathan froze. “Phlox. What did I say?”

“Nothing rude! You were simply angry that one of the insects had escaped decon,” Phlox replied cheerily.

“Not that. I mean—the nice thing.” Jonathan thought he might’ve been turning red, but he was still a little disoriented.

“Oh, there you go again!” Phlox gestured to Jonathan’s face, confirming his suspicion. “Changing colours! You should do that more often, it’s really quite spectacular.”--Jonathan Archer has a massive problem: he's in love with the ship's doctor, and also can't stop getting himself sent to sickbay.