Now now, you've got this interpretation all wrong! Phlox wasn't setting up Trip by suggesting the rose petal bath. He was asking if she offered it to him because it meant she was interested, presumably because she'd done that sort of thing before. And there's a difference between him throwing his wife at Tucker (which he didn't) and saying, hey, if she's interested it's okay with me and I won't nay-say it. She was just asking as any normal Denobulan woman would when attracted to a man. He was acting as any normal Denobulan man would in a society that bases their marriages on something OTHER than sexual fidelity...though this begs the question (if I could be serious about it for a minute)...why the heck DO they marry? To maintain status, family genetics, wealth, legitimization of offspring??? What would such ties (marital) actually give the Denobulan people? Apparently, they aren't binding sexually, and clearly they aren't binding in terms of companionship since they have other husbands/wives/lovers and don't even live together most of the time, so why even bother with 'bonds' of permanency?
