Title: Grandma Doesn't Always Know Best.

Author: Linstock

Code: Spock/Uhura/Galia

Rating: G

Betas: (in alphabetical order) atana71 and SpockLikesCats

Type: Humour

Warning: Nudity.

Summary: Grandma had given Nyota a lot of good advice, but it seems she doesn't always know best…or sometimes we are our own worst enemies. (A Galia, Nyota and Spock pre-movie academy fic.)

Disclaimer: do not own the Star trek the characters or profit in from this writing.

AU: OCC? Yes, I know it…but it's for fun. Enjoy.

As always my sincere appreciation to atana71 and SpockLikesCats for their ideas, energy, attention to detail and support. I can not express how much I value this input and encouragement and the time you spend.

##

Galia didn't so much walk into the quarters she shared with Cadet Uhura as charge in, talking full pelt, while getting undressed and dropping her study gear in a messy trail from the door.

"I saw Kirk in the corridor outside the lab again today," she said as she dropped a bag on the floor and her PADD on the bed. She stood with her back to the second bed in the room and started to pull off her uniform. Her voice became muffled as she pulled the cloth over her head but she continued, "I just gave him a look, you know, like this," she dropped her uniform on the floor, put one hand on her hip and looked down her nose at the PADD she'd dumped on her bed. Then she bent over and started removing her right boot. "So he grins at me and does that thing with his eyebrows and although I…" She kicked her boot off and it hit the floor with a bang and Galia turned and plonked herself down on the bed and started to unzip her boot.

At this moment Galia realised something was not right. Galia glanced up as she pulled at the second boot. Nyota sat rigid and immobile on her bed, breathing erratically. Galia's second boot dropped to the floor and she was instantly at her roomie's side.

Oh my, something is definitely wrong.

Nyota was pasty looking and trembled slightly, breathing in short, breathy gasps.

"Nyota? Sweetie?" No response. "Nyota," Galia waved her hand in front of Nyota's face. "Nyota - you're scaring me. Speak to me."

Galia moved her hand slowly back and forth in front of Nyota's face until she noticed her eyes start to track the movement, and then she slowly moved the hand over toward her own worried green face. Nyota's head moved stiffly, her eyes following the moving hand until she was looking at Galia. Well no, technically she was "looking at" Galia, but Galia doubted Nyota actually saw her.

"Nyota," said Galia slowly and clearly, "are you hurt?"

Nyota's eyes were large and panicked-looking, but she shook her head, a small tight shake.

"Sweetie, I'm just going to check, okay?" said Galia. Nyota nodded with another quick tight movement. Galia quickly performed the body check they were taught in the field first aid class. Nope, nothing obvious anyway. But if she had to guess she'd say Nyota was in some sort of shock.

Fluids, people in shock need fluids, Galia remembered. She dashed to the bathroom and returned with a small mug of water and helped Nyota take a sip. Galia pulled a face as most of the sip went down the front of Nyota's uniform.

Okay, so water, not such a good idea if the person can't move their lips. Noted.

"I want you to lie down," said Galia, "I'll help you sweetie."

Gently, she eased Nyota back and pivoted her around until she was lying down on her bed. Galia could feel the faint tremors running through her. She lay on the bed as stiffly as a corpse in full rigor. Galia was surprised Nyota wasn't bowed off the bed, she was so tense.

Galia fussed, fluffing a pillow and forcing it under Nyota's head and adjusting Nyota's hair so it wasn't caught behind her head; Galia knew she hated that. She reminded herself, Nyota needs you to be calm, so calm down.

"Speak to me, what's wrong, what's happened?" said Gallia trying to keep her voice steady. Galia was worried, really worried.

Nyota opened her mouth and then closed it again. She clenched her jaw and then took a deep breath and tried again.

"I…I…I…" her trembling increased.

"Okay sweetie, I get it, that you …something. Don't try to speak. Just relax and Aunty Galia will give you a nice soothing Orion foot massage. You like them, don't you?"

Again Nyota did the tight quick nod. At least she can understand me, Galia thought.

Galia carefully removed Nyota's boots and socks taking the opportunity to check her legs for any injury; there was a bruise on Nyota's upper thigh but nothing that would cause this reaction. Still the bruise increased Galia's concern.

Thoughtfully Galia sat cross legged at the end of the bed and placed Nyota's two bare feet in her lap. Orion foot massage, the nMauseula, was an art form and Galia was proficient, if not a true mistress of the craft. Proficiency alone would have been enough to increase her price by ten percent on the slave block. She was quite proud of that. Humans often talked about knowing their self-worth; well, all Orions knew their worth… right down to the last credit.

NMauseula practitioners know every system in the body is affected by massaging the appropriate part of the foot. Galia was fascinated to find a similar discipline existed on Earth and it proved very helpful in adapting the Orion massage form to human physiology. Of course nMauseula was much more effective, that went without saying; when an Orion wanted to stimulate something you had best believe it got stimulated! The paradox of nMauseula was although it was all about stimulation, if the right nerve was stimulated in the right way, a nMauseula adept could reduce an irate Klingon to a puddle of warm goo.

Galia picked Nyota's left foot and started to massage. She worked steadily and firmly. Nyota's feet were as delicate as the rest of her, fine-boned and high-arched, unmarred by corns or calluses and with the second toe just a smidge longer than the big toe. Galia worked the stiff foot, feeling it slowly soften in her hands like plasticine being softened by warmth and movement.

Speaking softly Galia said, "Nyota I want you to breathe with me. In for the count of six and then out for the count of seven. Here we go in, two, three, four, five, six and out, two three, four, five, six, seven…" Nyota and Galia often used this simple breathing relaxation technique and Nyota quickly fell into the familiar rhythm. Galia started to work on the other foot and kept the breathing rhythm to six breaths a minute.

She felt the tension slowly drain from Nyota and the faint trembling diminish and then stop. During this time Galia became aware of something incongruous, a scent that she did not associate with her goody-two-shoes roomie. Galia smelled arousal. You can trust an Orion to detect arousal and this was strong. Galia's own preoccupation and then her concern about Nyota had stopped her picking it up at first. She was really starting to wonder what had happed to her roomie that had shaken her up so badly…. but also really turned her on.

Galia decided to stop the direct questioning and take a different approach. "Nyota, what did you do after we left the room this morning? I went to the computer lab and started running my tests. You were planning on going to the library weren't you?"

"Uh huh," Nyota nodded and Galia noticed that the movement was more fluid this time. Her voice was soft and a bit dreamy like someone who had just woken, "I went to the library and searched the journals for that paper on syntax. There is that old inconsistency between Jensen and Bartook's on the usage of the word "becl'a". I thought I could use that as a basis for the discussion of mistranslation and the way errors become entrenched and are still influential even when discredited. Anyway I've found another inconsistency between major authorities and I wanted to see if it had been noted in the journals yet..."

Once started Nyota's voice became firmer and she prattled on about "inconsistency this" and "social influences that" and "embedded cultural something else". Galia sighed mentally. She didn't know how Nyota could stand it all this airy-fairy social science stuff. Galia liked computers and coding; you knew where you were with coding…well, most of the time.

Eventually Galia felt that Nyota was now comfortable enough for her to move on.

"Okay sweetie, you did your thing in the library and then where did you go?"

"Huh?" said Nyota still caught up in the detailed, (excruciatingly detailed from Galia's point of view) analysis of translation. "Oh, I went to the gym, we had that game of Parreses Squares scheduled; Com against Engineering. We won but it wasn't easy. Watson whacked me across the thigh so hard I bet there'll be bruises for days." Nyota reached down and lifted the left side of her uniform skirt and Galia saw the area that was slightly discoloured. "I was limping for an hour after that. But we won and we're second in the league now."

"That's nice" said Galia, she was concentrating on working a really hard lump out of Nyota's left foot. Honestly Nyota shoulders must be giving her hell if this was anything to judge by.

"And then…" prompted Gallia gently.

"Then we showered and went to the mess and I was sitting eating with Marie and Sueling from the team when I got a message with my results for the linguistics paper and translation test."

Galia felt enlightenment dawning.

"Not the result you expected?"

"Not the grade I deserved!"

Yup, that's my girl. Galia never knew anyone who took their grades as seriously as Nyota.

Nyota continued, "You know I work hard."

There was the understatement of the decade, Galia thought with a sigh.

"And I am not unrealistic."

Might be best to let that one pass…

"But I swear Commander Spock hates me."

"Nyota he is a Vulcan. He doesn't hate anyone. Hating would be feeling, and he's Vulcan sooo... he doesn't hate, full stop."

"Oh right," Nyota said in a dismissive voice. "He doesn't hate me, that's why he marks all my work down, and that's why he made me repeat the word I mispronounced twelve times in front of the whole tutorial group before he was prepared to let it go."

"You mean, before you got it right?"

"Well. Yes. Okay. But he could have done it in private after the class and …"

"But when you told me about it you said you challenged him in class.."

"Yes, but…"

"...And he answered you and proved his point and corrected you until you could get it right?"

"Yes," she, sounded like she was frowning. Galia looked up quickly- oh yes, Uhura was not only frowning actually pouting too. "Whose side are you on?"

"I didn't realise there were 'sides,'" replied Galia. "Has it struck you that Commander Spock devotes a lot time and effort to ensuring you reach the level of perfection that you demand of yourself, morso than any of your other instructors, and yet you resent him for it?"

Nyota did not reply.

"He is so …"

"Right?"

Nyota's lips thinned out and her eyes flashed.

Let it go, Galia thought, and move the girl on.

"So you got the results and decided that Commander Spock's 'vendetta to humiliate Cadet Uhura' was continuing."

"You can sneer if you want too, but it's true. He seems to expect more of me than any of the other students. I'm sure he has a separate marking rubric that applies only to my work and he never, ever, lets anything go, he hammers away on any small point until I want to scream…"

"Who does that remind me of? Let me think." Gaila tilted her head to one side and dramatically blinked a few times before pointing one perfectly manicured nail at Nyota's face, "Oh, yes! You!" said Galia.

Nyota frowned.

"It's true," said Gaila, raising her hands in completely insincere mock surrender, "that is exactly what you do."

"Well, that's...I mean I...it's just...It's just different okay," said Nyota in a sulky voice. "I'm mostly like that about myself and on the rare occasion that I'm referring to someone else at least I have their best interests at heart. He's just a controlling megalomaniac in instructor's clothing."

Then Galia felt it, through Nyota's foot, the faint trembling was there again. Okay, so now we're getting close.

"What did you do?" Galia asked in an almost disinterested tone.

"I finished my lunch and mentally reviewed the translation exercise. I was absolutely sure I had performed better than that mark indicated. I can make mistakes, and I can admit that, but I could not see how I had performed so badly that I deserved a 62%." Nyota continued.

Galia suppressed another sigh. Most cadets would be thrilled to get 62% from the notoriously perfectionist Commander Spock, but not her roomie. Nyota only saw the marks she hadn't got. Galia knew that when Nyota looked at 62% she saw -38%, if she had a 98% grade Nyota saw was a -2%. She really needed to let it go, but the concept of "good enough" was one Nyota had more trouble grasping than warp core physics.

"So after lunch I went over to Commander Spock's office to discuss the issue."

Galia rolled her eyes safe in the knowledge that Nyota couldn't see her.

"Straight away before I'd even said a word he just blindsided me by saying" and Nyota slipped into a very creditable imitation of the Commander's precise tone, "'Cadet Uhura this is fortuitous. I was intending to email you to ask if you are interested in the position of my lab assistant next semester. I will be running the communication lab practicals and believe that your aptitude and superior aural acuity mean that you are adequately qualified for the position.' Just like that, Galia. I'd be 'adequately' qualified. Adequately. Ha!"

Careful here, Galia thought, this is not the time to blurt out, "What an honour, wow! One of the most distinguished academics on staff, the youngest professor on record, the notoriously hard-line, finicky, pernickety, perfectionist Vulcan thinks you "adequate", which is like a normal person thinking you're amazing. No this was the time for a non-committal, Humm?

"Humm?"

"Yes, I know, I thought the same," said Nyota radiating indignation, "Humm? Indeed, exactly."

"Did you accept?"

"Well...I didn't 'not' accept. I know an opportunity when I see one, even if it means working with a boss who hates me. I said I had to check my other commitments."

"He asked you, how much can he hate you?" Galia asked, firmly resisting more pressing questions like, "Are you nuts?"

Nyota "humphed", crossed her arms over her chest and looked sulky again, "He was right wasn't he? I'm best qualified for the post, even though he'd rather swallow his own tongue than say that. Mr Perfect Diction couldn't say, 'You are the best qualified student". Oh no, he had to say, 'are adequately qualified'." Nyota "humphed" again.

You forgot to mention modest, thought Galia.

"Once that was out of the way I raised the issue of my marks and we had a discussion of the topic." Nyota continued.

Careful, Galia remember the object is to keep her talking. "Discussion?"

"Yes, discussion, a lively debate, an intense exchange of ideas, perhaps..it got a bit.. heated… at one point but it was still a discussion."

"Commander Spock was heated?" Galia was surprised into asking.

"Well, no, not actually. He was infuriatingly calm. So I was heated enough for both of us."

I bet.

"Ohhh, you should have seen him dodging and weaving, figuratively at least, trying to justify his actions. Ha!"

Galia could feel the tension starting to build again.

"He... logic-ed me." Nyota said bitterly, "Every time I raised a point he countered it. He was so… so… uppity and calm and prissy, I just wanted to slap him."

Galia felt that Nyota's reaction to Commander Spock boded ill for future negotiations with other species if her response to being thwarted was to slap them. Galia frowned; this was all so out of character for her friend. Nyota was usually a calm and forgiving person, patient to a fault, dedicated and balanced in her judgements except when it came to Commander Spock.

Ohhhh….really, mega-ohhhh. Riddle me this Galia of Orion, what can cause a well- balanced and intelligent woman to act like a hormone-oppressed, semi-hysterical teenager? Galia started to grin.

Nyota noticed, "See, you want to slap him too. Ha! Me first! Bumptious, pedantic, logical Vulcan."

Nyota started to calm down and Galia could feel the tension oozing into her legs. "He was just so overwhelming, so logical, so calm, I felt like I was in a sword fight and I was the one being backed inexorably into the wall and the next thing," Nyota made a sudden jabbing motion with the arm, "straight through the heart."

Well you got that right ... and wrong, thought Galia.

"Then I thought of my nyanya."

"Who?"

"My nyanya," Nyota sounded exasperated, "my grandmother."

"Oh, the female elder of the family," said Galia and nodded. " A source of much wisdom."

Nyota's looked dubious but then nodded. Her voice sank lower. "There was this trick nyanya taught me. I'd used it before and it had always worked."

Nyota's voice had a definite wobble in it now. "Galia my own mind betrayed me!" there was desperation and a tinge of panic in Nyota's voice now. Her poor little feet were flexing like claws. In a whisper she said, "It was horrible."

"What was, sweetie? Tell Aunty Galia."

Nyota made a strangled noise somewhere between a moan and a cough. It was not a good noise. "Gnaaa,"

"Nyyy-ooo-taaa... what did your grandmother tell you?"

Nyotas slowly replied as if reciting, "When someone is intimidating you or you feel on the back f…foot then …then… you need to level the playing field."

"Okay, how?"

Grams said, "picture the person….with...no...clothes…on…" Nyota's voice had trailed away to only whisper.

"And you pictured Commander Spock?"

Nyota nodded. "Galia," Nyota said is a tight strangled voice," Nyanya just didn't know!"

Gaila just gently patted her friend on the knee then resumed massaging her right foot. "I'm sure she didn't sweetie."

TBC…

AN: I'd love to know what you think so far. If it made you smile leave a comment. Remember the warning about nudity…well you'll just have to keep reading….