A/N: My previous fic took place in TOS timeline, whereas this fic takes place more in the Kelvin timeline (though if you want to imagine it as TOS go right ahead). Considering in the Kelvin timeline we know Admiral Archer is still alive I'm going straight ahead and assuming some other Enterprise characters are still alive. Unfortunately I'm not fluent in Vulcan, so please excuse me I've just written in when a character is meant to be conversing in Vulcan. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and sorry if any of the characters seem a bit OOC.
In the Academy
When Spock had decided to join Starfleet he was not expecting a distant relative and his mother to both burden him with delivering gifts.
"Spock, I understand you are travelling to Earth to study at Starfleet Academy." T'Pol was a distant relation, but considering her time served with Starfleet Spock supposed it was not unusual she would reach out to him now.
"Indeed, I am departing for Earth in two days' time."
"Would you take this letter with you, along with a small gift for my friend Hoshi Sato." T'Pol offered an envelope and small box wrapped in ribbon to Spock.
"Would it not be more efficient to send correspondence to her electronically?"
"It would, but then it would not arrive at the same time as the physical gift." She paused for a moment, "Besides, from my time on the Enterprise I found it helpful to have someone I could talk to in Vulcan. Using my request to deliver these items will provide you a meeting with someone who can correspond with you in Vulcan."
"I see. Very well, my mother has also requested I deliver a letter to Hoshi Sato – it appears she served as my mother's tutor back when she was first learning Vulcan." Gingerly Spock took the envelop and gift from T'Pol, putting them aside. "Is that all?"
"Yes, that is all." It was odd but Spock could have sworn he saw a smile upon T'Pol's face as she left the estate.
Upon reaching Starfleet Academy and settling into his quarters, Spock set out to find Hoshi Sato. The academy campus was expansive but the xenolinguistics annex was rather small in comparison to the other buildings. It was at least all laid out in a logical manner, Spock had no trouble finding the staff offices and in a few short minutes was knocking on the door for Professor Hoshi Sato.
"Come in," A steady yet frail voice calls out from behind the door.
"Excuse me, Professor Sato." Spock steps in as the door slides open.
"Are you in one of my classes?" Professor Sato is a rather small woman, shrunken with age, her back is to Spock as she tends to a small window planter.
"Not as of yet Professor, I do intend to take some of your classes though xenolinguistics is not my field of study. I'm actually here on behalf of my family, both my mother and distant cousin wished for me to bring you a gift."
"Oh?" Professor Sato turns from her planter to look at Spock, "Ah, you must be Spock."
"That is indeed my name. You were expecting me then Professor?" Spock has a habit of raising his eyebrows when caught off guard. A grin spreads across the wrinkled face of Professor Sato.
"Hoshi, please call me Hoshi. I wasn't expecting you but from your voice I could tell you were Vulcan, besides you said your mother and a distant cousin wanted to send me something so of course you could only be Spock. Your mother was one of my best students, I remember Amanda fondly… and T'Pol well she's the only Vulcan I could call a close friend, certainly the only Vulcan who would go through the trouble of asking a distant cousin to deliver something to me."
"Professor," Spock stops as he notices the crease in Hoshi's forehead, "Sorry, Hoshi. These are the letters and gifts I was asked to bring you."
"Thank you, Spock. Would you care for a cup of tea? I have a lovely blend of Vulcan tea I can brew for you." It's almost unnoticeable when Hoshi switches to speaking in Vulcan, there is no hesitating or pondering of words.
"Thank you, Hoshi. That would be nice." He takes the seat she offers him as she hurries to prepare the tea. "Your Vulcan is excellent."
"Oh, high praise. I've had many years to perfect it, though there are still some words that escape me at times. T'Pol actually helped me quite a bit, it's helpful to have a native speaker guide you." Hoshi pours the tea out into two separate cups and brings it over, "Do you mind staying here while I read the letters? My eyesight is starting to go and I'm sure T'Pol's written in Vulcan so I could use an extra set of eyes."
"Of course, I will help as best I can." Spock's quite pleased by how well Hoshi's brewed the tea, he enjoys sipping it in silence as Hoshi opens the letters and begins to read them.
"Hmm," Hoshi pauses in her reading to retrieve a set of glasses from a desk draw. "Oh, I see."
A soft giggle from Hoshi as she reads causes Spock to raise a single eyebrow, it seems she is reading the letter from T'Pol so he is curious why it would cause her to laugh.
"Is there something funny?"
"Oh, just a little sarcastic humour, classic T'Pol." Hoshi's mouth quirks into a smile.
"Sarcasm, I did not think she would indulge in such a human concept."
"Is it a human concept? I've met many Vulcans who seem to indulge in it… or perhaps that's just a misconception." Hoshi sets the letter down on her desk to drink some of her own tea before starting on the letter from Amanda.
When Spock had first arrived on Earth and made the acquaintance of Professor Hoshi Sato, he'd never expected to be conscripted into helping with her Vulcan language classes. He'd been rather caught off guard when she enlisted him as a teacher's aide, and felt uncomfortable at the prospect of turning the sweet old woman down when she had been nothing but kind to him since his arrival.
"Spock, I know you're graduating soon but I here you intend to spend time teaching while you wait for an official appointment?" Hoshi had made it a rule that they strictly spoke Vulcan when they were meeting to discuss lesson plans over a weekly tea session. Her reasoning was it helped keep her skills from getting rusty.
"Yes, that is correct." Spock tried to not look directly at Hoshi's piercing gaze.
"Then perhaps, you'd consider taking over my classes on Vulcan?"
"Why would I do that? You are perfectly adept at teaching the Vulcan language and have an advanced understanding of our culture. My own mother was taught by you." There was something unnerving Spock had found at having an old woman stare you down, specifically having Hoshi crease her eyes and furrow her brow as she pursed her lips.
"Spock, I'm over a hundred years old. It may not seem so old to you Vulcans, but I'm tired and I'd really like to retire… Problem is my best student lives on Vulcan, your mother would have been the ideal candidate to pass this task onto." Hoshi took a big breathe, "There's no other students I've had who've mastered Vulcan well enough for me to entrust them with teaching. Please Spock, you're the best choice and I've already got replacements lined up for my other classes. Vulcan is the only class I need you to take over, and it won't interfere with your other classes… I've already checked."
There was that classic cheeky grin, Spock should have known Hoshi had already checked all the details.
"Very well, I am acquainted with your teaching curriculum already. I suppose you had this in mind when you first asked me to be your TA?"
"It was your mother's suggestion actually, do you remember the letter you brought me when you first arrived at the academy?" A soft chuckle leaves Hoshi's mouth as Spock nods in acknowledgment. "Well she asked if I wouldn't mind taking you under my wing, give you a safe space to feel accepted. Consider this my way of showing how much I like you Spock, this'll give you the opportunity to engage more with the cadets whilst also helping inform them of your culture."
"My other classes will allow me to carry this out,"
"Yes, I'm sure they will. But Spock, you're extremely guarded and pardon me but you're very Vulcan. You need to relax sometimes Spock or at least engage a bit more, and honestly I think you'll find it easiest to do that by teaching Vulcan and being able to converse with others in Vulcan, some of the cadets might surprise you." Hoshi cuts him off, fixing him with a hard stare.
"Very well, I will take over your class. As a favour to my mother and as thanks for your aid over these past few years." Spock thought the urge to avert his eyes, Hoshi's face lit up with a large smile at his response.
Nyota Uhura loved learning new languages, it was part of the reason she applied to Starfleet. In her first year at the academy she'd been thrilled to cram her schedule with various language classes, most of all she'd been excited to study Denobulan, Klingon and Vulcan under the renowned Professor Hoshi Sato.
Vulcan had rapidly become one of her favourite languages to study with its intricate nature and complicated forms of pronunciation; though her roommate Gaila insisted it was because of the cute teacher's assistant. Honestly Nyota hadn't paid much attention to the teaching assistant, she knew he was Vulcan but he seemed rather cold and abrasive… though from what she'd learnt that wasn't uncommon in Vulcans.
But then in her third year of studies things became rather interesting and she found her curiosity about the Vulcan TA was peaked.
"Attention class, I'm sorry to announce today will be my last day teaching you all. As you've probably noticed, I'm rather old." Professor Sato chuckled to herself before continuing, "Anyway, it's high past time I retired and I finally have someone I think is up to the task of taking over for me teaching Vulcan. So without further ado I want to introduce Commander Spock as your new teacher. You've all seen him here before working as my teaching assistant and I'm sure you've all noticed he is Vulcan so be sure to make the most of having him as your teacher."
There was a series of murmurs through the lecture hall as Commander Spock stepped up to the podium.
"Thank you, Professor Sato. I will endeavour to do you justice and put the maximum amount of effort into teaching this class." Commander Spock then turned to face the class, "Professor Sato will be sitting in on today's class, though I will be the one teaching today so please direct any questions to me."
With all that said Commander Spock dived into the day's curriculum.
When class ended for the day Nyota was surprised to be stopped on her way out of the lecture theatre.
"Miss Uhura, would you mind staying back for a moment?" Professor Sato had grabbed her arm lightly as she passed by.
"No, of course not Professor." Nyota smoothed down her uniform skirt as she stood waiting for the rest of the cadets to file out.
"Thank you for waiting, Miss Uhura." Professor Sato face wrinkled as she smiled, turning to face Commander Spock who was about to exit the room himself. "Spock, if you wouldn't mind taking a moment before heading to your next class."
"I am in quite a rush Professor, as I am sure you are aware my next class is across campus."
"I'll only take a second of your time, please Spock entertain an old woman on her last day teaching?"
"Very well Professor, please make it quick." Nyota tried to keep her eyes averted as Professor Sato and Commander Spock conversed.
"Of course, Commander Spock this is Nyota Uhura. She's the top student in this class, and all my other xenolinguistic classes." Professor turned from Commander Spock and beamed a smile at Nyota, "Taking into account that you've just started teaching you may find it helpful to enlist a teaching assistant, if I may I'd like to suggest Miss Uhura – she has a fine grasp of Vulcan language."
"Oh, you flatter me Professor." Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Nyota finds her eyes moving up from the floor to focus on the commander standing directly in front of her.
"I will take note of your recommendation Professor, now I must be going to my next class." Commander Spock is about to exit the room when he turns around "It was pleasant making your acquaintance Miss Uhura."
"Then he just walks out of the room?" Gaila hasn't stopped asking Nyota questions since she returned to the room. "Seriously? No handshake?"
"Gaila, he was in a hurry. And touching, even just grazing fingertips is a very intimate action for Vulcan's… haven't you been paying attention at all in class?"
"Uh, I mean yeah I've been paying attention. But the man is a tall glass of water, and isn't he supposedly half-human?"
"You mean, you've been ogling him and kind of paying attention to the course material. Half-human or not he was raised Vulcan, so it'd still be rather unconventional and uncomfortable for him I would think." Nyota fixes Gaila with a firm glare as she wiggles her eyebrows at Nyota. "Anyway have you seen my quantum physics textbook?"
"Are you still taking that class?"
"Yes, of course I am Gaila. It's important to know a variety of things when serving on a starship!" Leaning to look under her bed Nyota's pleased to discover the text in question, "Found it!"
"So any idea if Commander Spock intends to take you on board as his TA?" With significant emphasis Gaila leans forward on her bed.
"No, he said he'd take Professor Sato's recommendation into account but we'll just have to wait and see." Playfully Nyota thumps Gaila's leg with her textbook before leaving for her next class. "And I don't want to hear any more on this when I get back."
Spock was finding himself stretched thin between the various classes he was teaching, and indeed had found himself missing the weekly tea sessions with Hoshi. To replace the tea sessions he'd started to engage in more frequent communications with his mother.
"So how's teaching, are you enjoying it?" His mother asked as they commenced their weekly conversation.
"It is fine, mother… though I must admit it can be rather taxing."
"Hoshi said she recommended you take aboard a teaching assistant, have you given that any further thought?"
"I have considered it, but I have not had the time as of yet to search for an appropriate candidate."
"Why not trust Hohi's judgement and just go with the student she suggested?" It was more a statement than a question as Amanda fixed her eyes on her son through the monitor.
"It would be unfair to the other students if I did not take the appropriate time to analyse the data and choose the most qualified candidate. Besides, that would only provide me aid in one subject. I am confident that upon conducting a finer survey of student data there will be an appropriate candidate who is taking at least 2 of my classes." Spock noticed the less than enthusiastic smile his mother conjured up at his response, but chose not to comment on it.
"Very well, I'm sure you'll manage… Oh, your father's just returned would you like to speak with-
"Sorry, mother. I must go, there is a faculty meeting this evening and I am told my attendance is mandatory. Live long and prosper." At the mention of his father Spock found himself cutting his mother off and ending the call with a Ta'al.
He felt bad for ending their weekly call so abruptly but he did have a faculty event to go to, Captain Pike was adamant that Spock needed to engage more.
Cramming her schedule to the brim with different subjects had seemed like a decent plan when she first started at the academy. But now it was becoming a hassle, so Nyota found herself pouring over her schedule for classes she could cut back on.
"I guess I could put off Denobulan, I can always finish studying it once I'm in service. And I don't really need to take the piloting classes seeing as I'm training to be a comms officer." She bit into the end of her pen before hesitantly crossing the subjects off her course sheet.
"Are you still working on lowering your course load? How'd they even let you take that many classes?" Gaila leaned over her shoulder.
"Well, they couldn't refuse when I managed to point out that they were on different days at different times and could all be fitted into a schedule without conflict." Nyota leaned back into her chair sighing, "But they weren't wrong, it's no easy task balancing such a full course load."
"Yeah, but you love challenging yourself, you know once you cut down on classes you're going to have a bunch of free time."
"I'm sure I'll find some way to fill it up… I've been meaning to get back into my music studies,"
"OH, OH, then we should totally do a weekly karaoke then! There's an awesome music setup in the recreation centre."
"Maybe, we'll see." Nyota shrugged Gaila off, "Okay, I've got to go hand in my reconfigured schedule."
It had been irksome scanning through all the class records only to find Professor Sato had indeed recommended the best candidate, not that Spock would admit that. Nyota Uhura not only excelled at Vulcan but was studying a number of science and engineering subjects, she would no doubt be able to assist him with any of his classes. Over a month had passed since he'd taken up teaching, he could only hope that Miss Uhura was still interested in a teaching assistant position.
As the end of the morning's Vulcan class drew near he prepared himself to ask Miss Uhura to take up the position.
"That is all for today, there is a vocabulary test tomorrow so I expect you all to study."
Nyota took a deep breath before putting away her class materials, she had an engineering class to get to on communication systems. At a light jog she went to exit the classroom when she was stopped.
"Miss Uhura, do you have a minute?" Her ponytail flipped over her shoulder as she turned around to look at Commander Spock.
"I've got a specialisation class to get to but I can spare a minute, Commander." She resisted the urge to pull at her uniform skirt as the Vulcan stared at her.
"Thank you, I won't keep you long. I wanted to ask if you are still interested in becoming a Teaching Assistant, I find I am in need of one." Looking at him closely Nyota could definitely see why Gaila kept calling him a tall glass of water.
"Um," Nyota cursed herself for being distracted, taking a breath to compose herself before answering. "I am still interested, but if you don't mind I'd like some time to think about it. Can I give you an answer after tomorrow's vocabulary test?"
"Of course, I will await your response." With that Commander Spock nodded and headed off presumably to his next class.
"So, you gonna take him up on it or what?" Gaila crooned as she brushed out her hair.
"Hmm, I think so. You know, I've got a lot of extra time and I hear working as a TA can really improve your understanding of course material." Nyota slowly switched her earrings in front of the mirror, "Which is better, the blue or the gold?"
"Gold, definitely." Gaila briefly turned to observe Nyota, "So then, you're going to spend plenty of time up close and personal with Commander Gorgeous?"
"Would you not call him that Gaila, it's disrespectful."
"Fine, fine. Do you need a hand with that zip?" Gaila pouted, standing behind Nyota.
"Yes please." Nyota double checked her makeup in the mirror as Gaila began zipping up her dress, "Now remember, we're only going for an hour. We have to study for tomorrow's vocab test."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just happy you agreed to come to Karaoke with me." There was that signature grin of Gaila's, Nyota rolled her eyes.
Gaila had obviously refused to return to their dorm after the first hour of Karaoke, but Nyota had been firm and left to study. So it was no wonder Nyota found herself forcing her roomie out of bed the next morning.
"Come on Gaila, we don't have time for this! We're going to be late for taking the vocab test in Vulcan!"
"Ughh, just leave me here. I want to sleep…" moaned Gaila as Nyota pulled her from the bed.
"Not a chance, no way, now let's go." Luckily for Nyota, Gaila had a habit of wearing her uniform out and while she might not like turning up to class in yesterday's uniform she wasn't in a position to argue. "Come on, I've got your bag ready for you so all you have to do is get up."
"Ugh, you're so mean in the morning." Nyota just grinned at her clearly hungover Orion roommate and best friend as she stumbled out of the bed and grabbed her bag. "Okay, I'm coming alright."
"That ends the time for today's vocabulary test." Testing could be tiresome according to the other teaching staff there wasn't much more to be done than watching and waiting. However Spock had utilised the time to go over some of his other class materials.
"Commander, can I have a moment of your time?" As the students filtered out Nyota Uhura stopped in front of him.
"Of course, Miss Uhura."
"In regards to the teaching assistant position, I'd like to take you up on that offer." A slight smile found its way onto Spock's face.
"Very well, meet me in my office tomorrow to begin going over the course work."
"Thank you, Commander. I assure you I am the best choice for this job, I look forward to working with you." Miss Uhura said, expressing her gratitude by thanking him in Vulcan.
The next day Spock and Nyota would commence working with each other closely, sparking the start of an intriguing friendship and later relationship. But at that moment, they did not know what awaited them.