Porthos was somewhat taken-aback by this unexpected turn of events, but he certainly wasn't complaining. It wasn't every day (or any other day, ever) that T'Pol accompanied him and his master on their evening walk. He ran happily ahead down the corridors, regularly glancing back to check that the two people were still following.

They had been speaking of inconsequential things as they walked, occasionally nodding a greeting to passing crewmembers, most of whom seemed to accept her unprecedented presence on the Captain's familiar walks without a second thought.

That is not particularly surprising, she thought. It is common for senior crew to converse during off-duty hours.

They had been enjoying a companionable silence for the last couple of minutes, and she turned her head slightly to glance at him. Archer's face wore an easy smile, and he looked utterly relaxed - more so than he had in some time.

A crewman appeared from around the corner up ahead - Ensign Yates, her mind supplied - and she noticed Archer almost imperceptibly draw himself up slightly, to his full height. The relaxed look never left his face, however, and she was almost certain that his smile widened slightly.

"Good evening, Captain; Sub-Commander," said Yates as he drew near, and Archer replied with a somewhat fatherly "'Evening, Ensign." T'Pol nodded by way of response, and Yates passed by and continued on his way.

The next section of corridor was empty for the moment, and she came to a stop. Archer stopped only a moment later, and glanced around at her with a question on his face.

"I am... puzzled by your behaviour," she said, and saw his eyes widen in good-natured confusion.

"Oh?" he replied, seeing her head incline very slightly as she carefully chose her words. She spoke again after a brief moment.

"I believed that you might feel uncomfortable when we encountered members of the crew, given recent events," she said, and he smiled knowingly, "yet you seem in fact to relish the experience."

He nodded slowly, which she knew was a confirmation of the truth of her observation. She knew that he would elaborate in a moment when he had gathered his thoughts, and so she waited.

"It's a little silly, actually," he grinned, a trace of pink creeping into his cheeks as he absent-mindedly scratched his left ear. "It's just... well, this is just nice, you know?"

Seeing her even more puzzled expression and one perfect raised eyebrow, he laughed out loud.

"No, I guess you don't know," he continued. "Look, I know we're -" he glanced around briefly, checking they were still alone "- keeping things quiet for now, but I'm just enjoying being able to do something like this with you, out in public."

"'Something like this' meaning our present walk with Porthos?" she asked, and he nodded, clearly amused. She thought for a moment before speaking again.

"Even though the crewmembers we have encountered will have assumed we were discussing ship's business, and will not suspect any change has taken place in the nature of our relationship?"

"Yes, even so," he replied, smiling. He could see that her mind was working, attempting to frame his answer in the context of confusing human emotions. She was silent for several seconds this time before she met his eyes once more.

"I believe I understand," she said, and he smiled.

"You do?" he asked, genuinely interested to hear her interpretation; the truth was, he wasn't exactly sure why he was enjoying the walk so much. It was usually Porthos' and his time together, but her presence only seemed to add to the experience.

She nodded confidently, though of course efficiently.

"You are gratified because we are participating in a family event," she said simply.

Her words hammered home, and he felt like all the breath had been knocked out of him. His mouth fell open, and he saw what passed for a look of surprise briefly cross her face.

A family event? he thought, stunned at the idea of it. The word 'family' had elicited a very brief pulse of the anxiety reaction that most men felt when a woman they cared about first mentioned such things, but it passed just as quickly as it had appeared.

The more he thought about it, the more he realised that she was actually right - in essence, his enjoyment was based on sharing a personal occasion with her, and the fact that Porthos was there too was the icing on the cake. In a manner of speaking, it was indeed a sort of family occasion.

Once again, the woman that people think has no emotions ends up teaching me something about my own, he thought, and he smiled at her.

She had been looking at him with another expression of mild puzzlement, but her brow smoothed out when she saw his smile.

"Was my deduction incorrect?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"On the contrary," he replied, "you saw it more clearly than I did."

Again she gave him that ghost of a smile.

"It means a lot to have you here with me and ol' Porthos," he said quietly, and she very quickly reached out and touched his arm, before once again clasping her hands behind her back as they heard approaching footsteps from further down the corridor around the corner.

The beagle had by this point returned and was pacing agitatedly around their feet, giving occasional small yips of impatience. He found it very difficult to understand how standing still could be even remotely as enjoyable as walking.

Trip had decided to walk Hoshi back to her quarters before returning to his own, and they had been so completely caught up in their conversation (which at the moment was largely concerned with him trying to determine what sort of movies she liked), that they hadn't even noticed the small sounds Porthos had been making.

They turned the corner and saw Archer and T'Pol standing there, seemingly also in the middle of a conversation, and Porthos fussing around at his master's feet as usual.

"Well hey there, Cap'n; T'Pol," Trip said warmly, and Archer nodded and smiled.

"'Evening Trip," he replied. "Trying to find out if Hoshi shares your passion for horror movies?"

Hoshi and Trip both laughed, and T'Pol noted with interest that the younger woman blushed slightly as she reflexively glanced up at Commander Tucker.

"I'll get 'er one of these days," the engineer replied, and T'Pol had the distinct but ill-defined sense that the statement was not intended purely to answer Archer's question.

Archer himself only raised an eyebrow and grinned, before glancing briefly at T'Pol.

"Well, Porthos will eat through my boots if I don't pick up the pace a little," he said, and Trip nodded as he glanced down at the small animal, who was wagging his tail furiously but still standing beside his master.

Trip and Hoshi stepped to the side to allow them to pass, and Archer and T'Pol once again nodded their goodbyes as they resumed their path down the corridor. They had only taken a few steps when Archer turned back. Porthos had not yet moved, and all four of them looked at the dog in mild puzzlement.

Porthos' tail was still wagging, and T'Pol saw that his large and appealing eyes were focused entirely on her. To her surprise, she felt her first note of genuine affection towards the diminutive quadruped.

"Porthos, come along," she said. "It is time to continue your walk."

The beagle immediately ran to her feet and then circled around in front, giving one final yip before plunging away down the corridor ahead. T'Pol nodded in satisfaction.

"Well I will be goddamned," Trip said softly, and Hoshi grinned and clasped her hands together.

T'Pol turned and set off slowly in the direction Porthos had gone, and Archer paused only to shrug with a wide smile at his friend before following her.