Okay. Someone asked me if I could write a story about Spock and Uhura's friendship's beginning. Or romance. I forget. lol So, this is before the movie. yeah. What else should I put here? Oh, my sister seriously helped me edit this, because my Spock was not Spock enough, and I had quite a few grammar and transition errors. If there is anything you see is wrong, please tell me. But tell me it politely. srsly.
This is dedicated to uki200, who asked for me to write this.
Oh, disclaimer. Right. Well, I don't own Star Trek. If I did, then it would be soooo different, and probably not liked as much, because I am not anywhere near as great as Gene Roddenberry.
"Cadet, have you not noticed that you are fifteen minutes early?" Spock questioned. He noticed her sitting in the front left corner seat as soon as he walked in the door.
"No, I purposely come early to class everyday. However, if it bothers you I could leave," Uhura replied. Although she didn't actually want to leave, afraid that someone would take her favorite seat, she also didn't want to get on the bad side of her teacher. Or at least not on the first day.
"No, it is logical for you to come early. I was just questioning why you came before scheduled because it is unusual for cadets to come to class sooner than expected. It is even more unusual, though, for students to enter my class early," Spock stated, writing his name on the board for all the new students.
Although Uhura knew that people were not fond of Vulcans, she saw no reason why. Yes, they were different from humans, but so were Orions and people were always nice to them.
She also didn't know why everyone thought that being alone with a teacher was awkward and uncomfortable. Uhura saw no reason why teachers should be treated like vampires.
Discovering that there was only one window in the classroom, was glad that she had chosen the left side. That way she wouldn't get sidetracked by the only source of distraction in the class. It wasn't as though she would be looking out the window too much, because no matter what, school came first. However, in case she had to pull an all-nighter (and Uhura was sure she'd have a couple of those) and wasn't as focused, she didn't want to be looking away from the teacher.
"Spock-" Uhura began, only to be cut off by her teacher.
"Cadet, I do believe that you are in class and therefore must refer to me with the correct title," he said, without even looking away from what he was doing.
"But class has not begun yet, as you have already stated before, and so I don't see any reason why I should refer to you differently. Also, I am aware that professors allow their students to call them by their first name. Why should you be any different?" Uhura retorted, giving Spock her best Do-Not-Tell-Me-What-to-Do look.
Sadly, yet unsurprisingly, Spock did not buckle down in any fashion from her stare. "Yes, they allow their students, but I will only let you refer to me by what you should during the learning sessions. Since the way you first stated my name I think it is logical to believe that you had a question you wanted to ask. What is it that you are wondering?"
Uhura, lost for a moment, quickly remembered what she had first been wondering. Smiling, she responded, "Well,professor, I was curious as to if I could call you by your first name. Although now I know that I cannot, so I have nothing left to say."
"Very well, Cadet. If you do not mind, I wouold like to be uninterrupted because I must set everything up for class," Spock told her, turning back to his work.
Uhura replied with a nod and continued observing the classroom, still amazed that she was actually here, at Starfleet Academy.
Unlike most classes she'd seen before in the academy, this one was very bare. There were no inspirational posters on the walls, and no signs that stated the rules. Most teachers put those so then they wouldn't have to announce the same rules every year. She started thinking about why Spock had no rules, but then shook her head at the thought.
Most likely, Uhura thought, smiling, people are too afraid to even move in his class, just because he's determined to make his students to work hard, so rules would be unnecessary.
Uhura carried on looking around the room, finally noticing that the walls were not gray like she thought they were. They were a dull white, dark enough to confuse someone to think that the painters had forgotten to continue after the primer.
In addition to the walls and posters, Uhura skimmed her eyes around the room. Glancing back, thinking she saw something interesting, she acknowledged that there were glasses perched on Spock's desk.
Tentatively, she raised her hand, but then quickly brought it down. She knew he didn't see because he would have said something about it. Instead, she called out, "Are those your glasses on that desk?"
Spock raised an eyebrow and looked at Uhura. Then he glimpsed at his desk and gazed back towards her.
"I do believe I told you not to bother me. All the same, I have recently come to a conclusion that many humans are persistent, and you are not excused from this conclusion. So, yes, those are my glasses. Before you query as to why I need to use them, I will tell you that it is because at some times, I have trouble seeing things from far away. Now, please, do not disturb me while I finish my work," Spock proclaimed, once again going back to his task.
Uhura, very close to blushing, took out her book called Vulcan Translations. Figuring it couldn't hurt to brush up on her languages before classes, she took a mental note of which words and which verb conjugations flustered her.
If that cadet is attempting to pull me into a conversation, then she is doing an admirable job at it, Spock thought as he opened his mouth to ask a question. "Are you efficient enough in Vulcan to be able to uphold a conversation when you are speaking it?"
It took Uhura a second or two to realize that Spock was speaking to her, even though he said that he was too busy to talk.
"Yes, I've been studying Vulcan since I was thirteen. In fact, when I was fifteen, my family and I spent a week on Vulcan. I used it to my advantage in order to become better at hiding my emotion when I spoke so that then people wouldn't be confused when I spoke to them," she said.
After she told him all that she felt as though it sounded too much like bragging. Hoping he wouldn't discover she was vaguely embarrassed by her words, turned away to look at the instructions he put on the board for a moment.
Spock raised an eyebrow and practically muttered, "Fascinating."
"And what is so fascinating about it?" Uhura questioned, pursing her lips.
"Nothing, it's just fascinating that in one week you progressed your ability to speak in Vulcan so well. Excuse me if I sounded rude, I was just curious," Spock stated, impertinent at how someone could misunderstand him when he so clearly declared his sentence without any hint of being surprised or disbelieving.
"Oh," Uhura said, a faint pink rising to her cheeks. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. Sometimes people just don't believe what I tell them, but I don't know why they don't..."
"That is understandable. Many people do not believe me when I notify them that Vulcans do not lie. People that do know the truth but witness these incidents in which people are disbelieving find it amusing. I do not agree with their thoughts, though," Spock informed the cadet.
She listened intently and when he was finished she spat out, "Why wouldn't they believe you? I mean, maybe if they had a personal experience with a lying Vulcan, then they'd be allowed to talk! Ugh. Some people are just so... so annoying and such know-it-alls!"
Spock raised his eyebrow again and said, "Cadet Uhura, you seem irked by those people even though you have never met them. Why do you feel so ill towards them? Why is that?"
"Well, I just don't think people should act like they're right about Vulcans when a Vulcan is telling them that they're correct. They should really get information about the species they will be meeting before they say anything."
Uhura looked up to see what time it was and realized that people were coming towards the door. "I think you have to start teaching now, Professor."
(line)
Walking briskly back to her dorm, Uhura spotted Spock. Part of her wanted to continue the conversation from earlier, but she noticed another teacher coming towards him, so she didn't want to interrupt. Instead, she just smiled to him and kept walking.
In about two minutes, she had reached her dorm. She was excited that her roommate was Gaila, because she was Orion and Uhura had never spent over a week around people from other planets. And although Uhura knew that Orions had green skin, she figured seeing one in person would be an interesting experience. They were the only planet with a unique color skin.
However, she was dreading the fact that Gaila would most likely bring lots of guys back to the dorm.
"Hello, Gaila. Wasn't the first day fun? It was very different from what I expected," Uhura commented, taking off her shoes and then getting PADD's to start her homework.
"Oh yeah, homework on the first day is real fun," Gaila mentioned sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I did like my one class, though. I got paired up with a girl named Jenny, and she knows all the places to hang out. You wanna join us tonight?" Gaila asked, getting ready to go out for dinner.
"No thanks. Like you said, we already have homework, so I think I should get started on it. So, you know Spock? He really isn't as rude as everyone says he is. In fact, earlier today we were talking and he actually seemed sort of nice," Uhura told Gaila, completely focused on her Romulan questions.
"Really? I think you're just going crazy from being excited that you're actually at Starfleet." Gaila joked, getting her cosmetics bag from the floor.
"As soon as I saw you I knew you'd go for the smart ones," Gaila teased, beginning to put on make-up.
Uhura threw her lip gloss at Gaila's head, but Gaila ducked and moved her head to the side, dodging the lip gloss perfectly.
"How come I can't just have a friend that's a guy?" she asked, exasperated, looking at Gaila instead of going back to her assignment.
"Oh, come on, I'm just kidding, Uhura. So are you sure you don't want to join me and Jenny? It'll be a lot of fun," Gaila questioned again. She tossed back Uhura's lip gloss and starting heading towards the door.
"No, I really have a lot of homework. Spock especially gives doesn't hesitate to give projects," Uhura told her. She went back to her work, and Gaila walked out, she heard her say something about Spock being a strict Vulcan-head.
Uhura smiled and shook her head, wondering if Spock knew what everyone gossiped about him. She figured he did, considering word travels fast, and Spock is very quick to observe things that went on around him.
(line)
"Hello, Nyota," Spock greeted as soon as he walked in.
Flabbergasted that Spock knew her name, she stuttered, "Why-How, I mean, do you know my name? Er, I guess I could say why, too. Haven't you ever heard of privacy?" She turned around and glared at him, annoyed that he went into her records.
"Lots of teachers are allowed to speak to their students using first names. Why should you be any different?" Spock replied, walking towards the board to write down instructions.
Nyota cursed at herself as she realized Spock was just paying her back for yesterday. Or attempting to make a joke. From his stern face, she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Keeping it safe, she smiled and answered, "Very well, Spock. If you wish to call me by my first name I should be granted permission to call you by your first name. Sounds fair, right?" She looked through her purse and put on lip gloss.
"If you bring up calling me Spock every day, then it will be as though I already did give you permission. So just in case anyone overhears you referring me as Spock, it would be logical for me to allow you to call me by my first name." He finished writing and put on his glasses to make sure the words were visible from slightly far away.
"Oh, so now you don't mind if I call you Spock or not. Why not?" Uhura enquired.
"I does not annoy me anymore because now I get to call you Nyota."
Spock strode to his desk and set down his glasses. Then he started to hand back assignments, carefully planning where the papers were put because they would be the permanent seats for the school year.
"But I don't think that my name is a good one. I think Uhura fits me much better," Uhura notified, waiting for her pop quiz from yesterday to be handed back. It was just a quiz about what they already knew in Vulcan, and Uhura thought she might have gotten six wrong. However, there were a total of fifty questions, so if she didn't get a perfect she would most likely still get a good enough grade.
"I am not particularly fond of having my students call me by my first name. So really, it is a lose-lose situation," Spock stated. He placed Nyota's paper on her desk and she quickly scrambled her fingers from her purse to check her grade. She received an eighty-four. She usually had problems with work if she didn't study and this quiz was a textbook example.
If Spock was not present, she would have hit her head. Uhura wasn't used to making these kinds of mistakes, and since she had been talking in Vulcan for over five years it was humiliating.
"Actually, Spock, I think we both lost and we both won. You get to call me Nyota but you get called Spock, and I get called Nyota but I get to call you Spock," she joked after she brought herself together.
Spock, noticing Nyota's disappointed look, said, "Nyota, I have obviously checked your records, looking for your first name, and while doing so I have realized that you are normally first in your class. May I ask why you didn't do so well with your quiz?"
Uhura smiled at him. "I really only do well if I study hard. If I don't review everything that will be on the test, I don't do so well," she explained, putting her quiz face down.
"Fascinating. I expect you will be studying from now on. I expect nothing but hard work from everyone." Spock finished handing out all the papers and he opened the door.
"Oh, please, Spock, you don't have to tell me that. I expect to do nothing but hard work while I'm at the academy," Uhura laughed.
Shortly afterwards all the other students came in, and Spock began to lecture everyone about their mistakes.
(line)
"What are you doing?" Gaila asked as she walked in the dorm, followed by two other girls. Uhura recognized one as Rebecca, but she wasn't sure who the other girl that was hanging out with them was.
"Studying. I can't believe how difficult all the assignments are here. Although it's not like I expected for it to be a walk in a park. Some teachers just drown us in homework," Uhura told her.
Gaila raised her eyebrows and said, "It seems like you could use a break. It's only the second day and already you're getting exhausted. Why don't you join me, Jenny, and Rebecca to get something to eat?"
Uhura frowned. She didn't particularly like Rebecca and she had never met Jenny.
"No, sorry, Gaila. I have to study a lot. Otherwise I don't get good grades, and my parents don't really like it when I do badly. Maybe next time." Nyota turned away, getting some of her PADD's out.
"Ugh. Fine. But don't come crawling to me when you're crying about your social life. I mean, how many friends did you make since you came here?" Gaila said.
Hesitating, trying to think of the right words, Uhura answered, "Two. I'm friends with you, and I'm pretty sure I'm close enough to Spock to be considered a friend." She was about to go back to her work when she added, "How many classes have you fallen asleep in from being visiting too many bars?"
Gaila glared and retorted, "Only one, but at least I'm not being such a huge teacher's pet. I mean, it's so obvious. Spock's the toughest teacher so you suck up to him to do better. Oh, and remember orientation? We had four days to make friends there!"
She went out to the hallway with her friends and slammed the door, leaving Uhura infuriated by her roommate's words.
During orientation I was placed with a group full of cocky idiots. How could I make friends with them? Uhura thought, wishing she had said that to Gaila.
She went back to polishing up on her Romulan and her Vulcan. They were the two hardest subjects, because, just like Gaila said, Spock was the toughest teacher. Although Romulan was difficult because she hadn't learned that language until she was sixteen. It wasn't her smartest move, considering Romulan was an important language to learn.
Romulus wasn't part of the Federation, so they could turn on them whenever they wanted.
Blocking out all her thoughts about Gaila, Spock, and the Federation, Uhura focused harder on her studying.
(line)
"If someone was glad about the fact that your father somehow chose that human scum you call a mother, than you would be famous for a different reason, Spock. Not because your father is an ambassador," a Vulcan said, spitting out the insult Spock.
A younger Vulcan, hid his emotions and replied, "If someone was intrigued by the fact that you can't even correctly bully a half-human, then I'm sure you wouldn't be as famous among the people you associate with."
Spock thought he could notice a glint of hurt, or a loss of pride, in the adolescent's eyes. It lingered for a fraction of a second before it exited through his mouth. "Perhaps I am not trying to bully you, just inform you about my thoughts. However, it was obvious you were attempting to bully me, for your revolting human eyes show everything you think. Being a son of Sarek, everyone had believed you would at least have some amount of control. Perhaps your mother is too much of an influence. She should really just go back to Earth, where she is welcomed."
Furious and depressed at their continuous attacks to get Spock to show emotion, Spock clenched his teeth. An obvious sign of emotion, yes, but Spock was restless from their insults.
"Don't speak about my mother that way. She has done nothing to harm you, and therefore doesn't need to be gossiped about like this."
Had he been human, the Vulcan teen would have snorted. Instead his face remained stone, only his mouth moving. "You cannot command me to do anything. You are nothing but an illogical half-human, desperately trying to be a Vulcan. When will you realize that your human side is too over-bearing for you, Spock. You are not Vulcan. You are human. Instead of just your mother leaving, you should be taken as well. That way we won't have to see your pitiful attempts to be like us," he snapped, turning away to walk back to his 'friends.'
Rage over-powering his thoughts, actions, and anything else capable of being tamed, Spock lunged for his bully. They tumbled and rolled, fists reaching each other's faces. Green blood was began to cover each of their knuckles, faces already smeared with blood.
After another few minutes of brawling, an official had come and ordered the two Vulcans to stop. He then took them to both of their families.
Amanda was currently at their home making dinner, so Sarek had come to take Spock back to their house.
Spock, for the first and only time, could see emotion in his father's eyes.
The emotion that blanketed father's eyes was disappointment.
Waking up, Spock realized cold sweat was on his face.
Apparently, the saying 'History comes back to haunt you' was not mistaken, he thought, putting his head back down on his pillow to go to sleep.
So, please tell me what you thought of this!
=)
So that means review. I love reviews. Oh, and have a great day/night/whatever it is for you!