Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately.
A/N: So I just really wanted a modern day Star Trek AU and I couldn't find one, so I wrote one. And it grew. Quite a bit. It is currently 7.5k with several more scenes planned plus stories that aren't Spock/Uhura so it will be a whole 'verse really. The whole thing will read like a series of one shots that may or may not be in chronological order, if they aren't I will tell you where they fit in the author's note. Finally; read, review and let me know if there is anything you want to see/ didn't like. Thanks to Emma for the beta and Kate for the support.
Title is from Shiver Shiver by Walk The Moon. Go check out their stuff, it's pretty awesome.
Uhura was rapidly rethinking her recent life decisions. She'd known that bullying the admin staff into giving her the information she wanted was not one of her better ideas, but she still went through with it. And now here she was, outside Professor Spock's office waiting to ask him if he would tutor her in Romanian, his native language.
There had always been plenty of rumours about Professor Spock; some were nice others not so nice. He was one of the most renowned engineers in the world and his work with long range stealth communication equipment was unparalleled. He also had a bit of a reputation for being an impossible lecturer and an even harsher marker. No one enrolled in his courses had ever received full marks for any project over his five year tenure. It didn't help that he didn't socialise with anyone unless forced to by the University Board and even then only under extreme duress.
Uhura knew all the rumours (her roommate was an excellent source of gossip) and yet despite this was still standing outside his door with her doctorate proposal and notes clutched to her chest. At least she knew one thing about him, always come prepared. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.
"Enter." Well, at least he had a nice voice.
The office she stepped into was not at all what she was expecting. She'd been preparing for minimalist furniture and blank walls with maybe a potted plant on the window sill; instead it was full of personal mementos. One wall was a floor to ceiling bookshelf filled with well read books and small trinkets scattered throughout. Another wall was covered in what appeared to be engineering plans for a small device of some kind. The third wall was clearly a sci-fi nerd's version of heaven. It was covered in posters and autographed photos from Doctor Who, Star Wars and many others she didn't know. She noticed with some amusement that the remaining wall behind the desk was clear except for a window where a small potted plant sat on the sill.
"Can I help you, miss..?" He was seated at his desk and looked slightly bemused at the disturbance to his personal haven.
"Oh shit, sorry. Um, yes hi." Well, that had been a terrible start. She winced internally. "My name is Nyota Uhura and I am currently working on my Doctorate in Linguistics. My study is on the morphology, syntax and phonology of modern languages, particularly how the Latin based languages have evolved in the different continents." She paused for a moment, gathering her courage and continuing. "I am currently studying the languages spoken in Europe and I was wondering if you could perhaps tutor me in Romanian. I am somewhat fluent in the language at the moment but I find it is much better to learn from an actual speaker instead of the teaching recordings that I have been using..."
"Please have a seat, would you like a cup of tea?" Spock had risen from his chair and indicated to the one opposite him.
Pulled from her babbling she nodded and unceremoniously dropped in the chair, some of her tightly clutched papers escaping her hold. By the time she had collected the dropped papers and arranged them in some semblance of order a steaming cup of tea was sat in front of her.
"I find this blend is best served without milk or sugar, I hope you don't mind."
"That's fine, thank you sir." She placed her pile of stuff on the corner of his extremely neat desk and cradled the warm mug in her hands.
"Now, you wish for me to tutor you in Romanian for your Doctorate in Linguistics?"
"Yes sir, if you have the time and are willing." She studied her tea.
"How often would you need tutoring and what exactly would it entail?"
"For several hours a week I would need tutoring in conversation, colloquialisms and any dialects you know and/or use. Any old or historical Romanian you know would also be useful but if it entails further research don't worry about it, I will do it in my own time."
"When would you like to start and for how long would you like to continue?"
"As soon as possible and I would like to keep up the lessons until I am fluent or as close as possible."
"I assume that you have several free hours at the moment?" She nodded "Excellent, tell me what you know."
She stumbled out of Professor Spock's office two hours later, her notes held haphazardly in her arms and her head spinning with everything she had learnt. They had managed to schedule two tutoring sessions a week until the end of semester after much rearranging of timetables. She managed to make it back to her dorm room without injury and discovered it empty and quiet. She thanked whatever deities that existed that her roommate had found entertainment elsewhere for the night and she could spend the rest of the night in silence. She organised her notes from the tutoring session, ate a quick dinner of two minute noodles before collapsing onto her bed, running over everything that had happened that evening.
Nyota had no idea where the rumours about Spock had come from, he was one of the most intelligent, attentive and helpful tutors she had ever had. And if he was this helpful for her, someone who was not one of his students, then she could only imagine how he great he would be for one of his actual students. She could only conclude that the rumours had been started by students feeling they had been slighted by the stoic professor. Admittedly she had no idea how he even ran his lectures, having never attended and resolved to attend at least one this semester to see if she could determine how the rumours started.
It was to thoughts of Spock and the rumours surrounding him that she eventually drifted off.