Title: You Would Even Say She Glows
Author: Wildcat
Series: TOS
Rating: T
Codes: S/U
Summary: Shortly after she and Spock secretly begin their relationship, Uhura throws a Christmas party.
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Spock, Uhura, and company. I have just borrowed them for a while and will not profit from any of this.
The character of Suzanne Brandt is owned by Jungle Kitty, who graciously gave me permission to use her in this story. Note that her Kirk/Brandt Trekiverse and my Spock/Uhura Trekiverse only overlap occasionally, so there are many events in her timeline that did not take place in mine, and vice versa.
Also, thanks to Jungle Kitty for cheeseball assistance (and more) and to Rabble Rouser and Kathy D. for comments, encouragement, and support.
This story takes place between Almost a Kiss and The Flame Within.
Feedback is desired.
You Would Even Say She Glows, chapter 1
"Computer, lights off. Illuminate tree."
Uhura paused just a moment to appreciate the tiny white lights that twinkled from the corner of her San Francisco living room, then scampered across the floor and threw herself onto the sofa. Flames crackled from the fireplace, but she still wanted to hurry under the comforter. Doing so turned out to be a bit of a challenge, however, because her companion didn't want to give any of it up.
"C'mon, Spock, let me under."
"Nyota, I do not understand why you insist on keeping the temperature so low."
She smiled as she pulled the blanket up to her chin. "Because it's December! It's almost Christmas, and we're supposed to cuddle by the fire, drink spiced tea, and listen to Christmas carols."
"I see." He put his arm around her shoulders. "It would appear that we are successfully cuddling by the fire, and we satisfied the hot tea prerequisite earlier, but we do not have any Christmas carols."
"I can take care of that. Computer, play Christmas assortment by Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and, um, the Martian Pops."
The first song that drifted into the room was "Silver Bells," and she sighed in contentment. "It's been ages since I was on Earth during the holidays. I don't know who Dr. McCoy bribed to schedule the refit of sickbay this close to Christmas, but whoever it was, I owe them. I can't get over how lucky we are to be here now."
"It is unfortunate that the Enterprise will leave for Sector Six before Christmas day."
"Oh, that doesn't matter. The weeks leading up to Christmas are always better than Christmas itself, anyway. Walking around town to admire the decorations, window shopping, being part of the hustle and bustle... That's the best part. I know you don't like to shop, but maybe we can find a performance or something we'd both enjoy."
"That would be agreeable, although I anticipate that we will not have a great deal of free time until the weekend."
"Our sessions at the seminar should be over no later than suppertime each day, so at least we'll have the evenings. I'll have to spend a little of my free time preparing the portion I'm teaching, but I've done the material often enough that it won't be too bad."
"I hope you are not offended that I signed up for the lab instead of your session."
"Not in the slightest. You'd be bored to death. I'm just tickled that you agreed to do the rest of the seminar with me. I know that communications aren't a big interest of yours."
"On the contrary, I have always found them fascinating, although I must admit that they have become even more fascinating over the last months."
"Maybe you're just motivated to see them from a new perspective."
"That is possible. There are certainly a number of things I see from a new perspective now. Ah, I did not intend a double entendre by that."
She chuckled. "And here I was, just getting ready to ask if you wanted to see something else from a new perspective tonight."
"Nyota, it will be difficult for either of us to see anything from a new perspective tonight, because I assure you that I will not come out from under this blanket if you do not raise the temperature."
"Mmmm." She came to her knees and shifted until she faced him. "I'll keep you warm."
She slipped her hand behind his neck and kissed him, lazily running her tongue across his upper lip and catching his lower lip between her teeth. The fire popped in the background, the perfect accompaniment to the music and the sound of their moist kisses. Neither of them was in a hurry, and she savored the moment—her housemates were off-planet, their shipmates were away visiting friends and family, and there was absolutely no reason for Spock to leave before morning. On the ship it was different, but that was part of the price they paid to keep their relationship a secret. She didn't really mind. Although there were times when she wanted to share it with their friends, he was uncomfortable with the idea of going public. And as far as she was concerned, there was definitely something to be said for the thrill of knowing that no one in the universe had a clue about them.
The current song ended, and she smiled against his lips when she heard the next one.
"You find something amusing?" he asked.
"Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer," she sang, "had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph—"
"Laughing reindeer?"
"Sure! At Christmastime, the reindeer fly, play games, do all sorts of things." She chuckled. "We used to love Rudolph when we were kids. These songs bring back so many memories of being with friends and laughing and singing." She pulled away. "You know, I should have a party. Maybe on Saturday. I'll make punch and decorate the rest of the house, and have everyone over. What do you think?"
"If it pleases you, it is a good idea."
"Will you help?"
"Of course."
"Wonderful! I'll have to invite all our friends from the Enterprise, and there are bound to be a lot of people I know at the communications seminar. My housemates are going to kill me when they learn that I had a party without them, but heaven knows they've had enough parties while I was off-planet. I need to be sure to invite the neighbors. I don't see much of them because I'm gone all the time, so this will be a good chance to get to know them better. For a group this size, I probably don't want to have a dinner party. Maybe I'll just make some finger food. And some desserts. Oh, and eggnog, and—"
"Nyota." He touched her lightly on the lips. "Perhaps you can wait until tomorrow to plan your party."
She grinned. "Sorry. I suppose that I do have better things to do right now."
"Yes. You do."
As she pressed her lips to his again, she made a mental note to find her recipe for eggnog. She should probably make some mulled wine, too, and...
Spock gently eased her down onto her back, and she decided that maybe he was right. The party could wait until tomorrow.
...
As Spock crossed the Academy quadrangle, he reflected on the fact that everyone he met seemed to be livelier than usual. People walked purposefully, and the subdued greetings he normally received were instead hails of good wishes accompanied by broad grins and waves. It was fascinating to observe, for even those beings who attached no special significance to this Terran holiday appeared to be affected by the general high spirits. Of course, the low temperature and occasional flake of snow no doubt contributed to everyone's brisk movements, but he suspected that the mood would be the same regardless.
He ascended the front steps of the Stubblefield Communications Building and brushed a few snowflakes from his hair as soon as he stepped through the door. The snow was another curious matter. Even though snow was not typical of the climate, no one had objected when the weather engineers announced yesterday that they would not dissipate the rare snow clouds that were gathering overhead. It seemed that people actually welcomed this sort of weather during the weeks prior to Christmas and Hanukkah. At least it was not the artificial snow that inevitably appeared on the Enterprise each year at this time, along with tinsel and other rather gaudy decorations.
He entered the lab. The objective of this session was to explore the decryption of subparticle communication bursts using Daystrom self-aware computer technology, and he was pleased to see eight of the latest model M5-d consoles arranged in the room. There were already eleven people present, a combination of communication specialists, scientists who like himself were interested in the topic, and people he did not know.
"Mr. Spock!"
He turned to see a familiar face beaming at him from the doorway.
"Lieutenant Rand. Greetings."
She stopped before him. "Fancy meeting you here! It's been ages since I saw you. How have you been?"
"I am well. And you?"
"I'm fine. I didn't know that you were interested in communications."
"I have always been curious about the practical applications for Dr. Daystrom's research. The session promises to be fascinating."
"I've always been curious, too." She looked around. "I thought that Nyota might be here, but I don't see her. I can't believe she'd miss this. Have you talked to her recently?"
Spock raised his eyebrow just a fraction of a centimeter. He had indeed spoken with her very recently—sixteen point eight minutes ago, to be precise. There was no need for Lieutenant Rand to know that, however. He decided to avoid the question.
"She is attending the seminar," he said, "but she is teaching a class during this time period."
"Oh. I guess I didn't look too closely at the other sessions being offered this week. This is the only one I'm attending. You don't think she'll be upset when she learns I'm not taking her class, do you?"
"I anticipate that she will not mind."
"Good. I—"
A man entered the room. "Good morning, everyone. I'm Bob Marsdon, and I'll be your lab instructor this week. If you could, please pair off and claim a computer."
Rand looked up and grinned. "Do you want to be partners?"
"I would find that acceptable."
"Great! This should be fun. It's probably just as well that Nyota didn't take this class, because then we'd either have to fight over who got to be your partner, or the two of us would be partners and you'd be too close to avoid listening to us gossip the whole week."
This time, his eyebrow traveled all the way to his hairline as he followed her to the nearest console.
...
A shopping bag swinging from each hand, Uhura lifted her chin and inhaled the clean, bracing air. The seminar was over, but she hadn't had time to relax yet. After staying up late last night, she was out this morning as soon as the stores opened—which was unusually early, since most places were accommodating holiday shoppers—and she couldn't wait to sit down in that little French cafe and have a hot bowl of soup with Janice. Too bad she couldn't stay for a long lunch, but at least she and Janice would have some quiet time to catch up with each other. There wouldn't be much quiet time at the party tonight, or at least she hoped there wouldn't.
She mentally reviewed her shopping list as she trotted across the street. Five big, crusty loaves of French bread were in one of her bags, as were the cranberries for the salad, a couple of wheels of brie, and the other odds and ends she'd needed. She'd picked up the holly for the mantle, the wreath was already on the door, and she had enough appetizers in stasis to feed an army. She'd sent Spock in the other direction to buy whatever fresh produce looked good this morning, and hopefully he was already back at her house cutting it up. She couldn't forget to stop by the deli for the dip, and the first thing she needed to do when she got home was make two ice rings for the punch.
When she neared the restaurant, Janice waved from a table just inside the front window, so Uhura hurried inside.
"Janice!"
Janice gave her a quick hug, then helped find a place for her bags.
"Hi, Nyota! It looks like you've been busy."
"I sure have." Uhura hung her coat on a nearby hook and sat down. "I was able to get a lot done after class the past few days, but you know how it is. No matter how much you prepare in advance, there's always a lot left to be done on the day of a party."
"Can I help? How about if I go home with you after lunch? I can't stay long, because Hendrik's coming in this afternoon, but I can help for a while."
"I appreciate the offer, Janice, but I'm fine. Enjoy your Saturday."
"But getting ready for a party like this is a monumental task, and I hate the thought that you're having to do it all by yourself. Honestly, I—"
Uhura reached across the table for Janice's hand. "Janice, relax! I have it all under control. Tell me about Hendrik. Where did you meet him?"
"I was in Antwerp last spring, and I sat down in the park to watch some children chase the pigeons. One of the little girls fell and skinned her knee, so I got up to help. It turned out that she was his daughter, and when she ran to join the other children again, Hendrik sat down with me. The next thing we knew, the sun was setting and we were still talking. We've been going out ever since."
"That's a great story. What's he like?"
"He's terrific. He's a pilot for Belgian Shuttlelines, tall, blond, and divorced. He likes the same things I like, and he has a wonderful sense of humor. We really don't get to see a lot of each other, especially now that I'm on the Reliant, but we try not to let that bother us."
"Are you serious about him?"
"Oh, no, not really. Not yet, anyway." Janice lowered her voice conspiratorially. "So, tell me all about the man—or men—in your life. I want to hear all the juicy details."
Uhura shrugged lightly. "There's nothing to tell."
"What?" Janice sat back in mock astonishment. "Nyota, you always have something to tell. Aren't you seeing anyone right now?"
"Nope." Uhura felt a flush rise in her cheeks, and she covered it by pretending to study the menu. "I'm not seeing anyone. No one at all. Not a soul."
"I can't believe it. When you walked up, I thought, 'Now, there's a woman with the glow that comes from having a man in her life.' I swear, you were all lit up like Rudolph."
"Oh, no, not me. It must be from the cold weather."
"Well, then we need to do something about that. Hendrik's copilot is a great guy, and he's single. Maybe I can get him to come with us tonight. I think you and he might-"
"Thanks, Janice, but no thanks. I'm fine."
"He's tall and blond, just like Hendrik. Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Why not? You don't have anything to lose."
To Uhura's great relief, the waitress chose that moment to approach their table. It was hard to get anything past Janice, and after a few more minutes of this interrogation, she might not have been able to resist spilling it all.
After they ordered, Janice folded her hands on the table. "Well, you won't believe who my lab partner was this week. Spock!"
"I know! It sounded like the two of you made a good team." She tensed in the middle of unfolding her napkin. "Uh, we were both at Thursday's lecture, and he told me about it."
"He went to the lecture, too? He said that he was taking the lab just to learn about Daystrom's research, but evidently he's more interested in communications than I thought."
Uhura couldn't help but grin. "It's a recent interest."
"I guess so. I'll have to ask him about it on Monday when we go back to check our results."
"Your lab session isn't over? Monday is our last day, I mean..." Uhura caught her breath before she let slip that Monday was her last day of leave with Spock. "I mean, I thought Friday was the last day. Of the seminar."
Janice narrowed her eyes slightly. "Nyota, is something up? You've been acting odd."
"No, no, I'm fine. I was just surprised to hear that you have to go back to the lab. For a moment, I thought I'd gotten my days mixed up. It must be from the excitement of planning the party." Uhura smiled with what she hoped was calm reassurance.
Her eyes still on Uhura, Janice responded, "We left our programs running over the weekend to see if the computer will make any intuitive leaps. You should know that. You were one of the pioneers of using Daystrom techniques for decryption."
"So I was. Like I said, I'm in a whirl. Don't mind me."
Janice finally looked away when the waitress brought their food, and after that, Uhura was careful to steer the conversation to a safe topic.
End chapter 1