Author's note: This comes after 'Wet'
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Shopping - Part One
He heard her footsteps in the hall and wondered fleetingly where she was going - she should be headed to class now. When she stepped into his office he lifted his head from the papers he was grading, raising one eyebrow in question.
She removed a small sack from the bag she always carried around the campus and set it in the center of his desk. He looked down at the bag and back up at her, still questioning.
"um, I did some ... shopping. I was wondering ..." She faltered, took a deep breath, began again. "If you could just slip that in your briefcase so I don't have to carry it across campus...." Her voice died away again.
One hand reached out and pulled the sack closer, reached in and brought out something long and round. Looking down, he saw that he was holding a bottle of shower gel. His temperature rose 2.3 degrees and his heart rate sped up 5.4 percent. He raised his eyes back to hers, darker than they had been. Without looking, his other hand reached down beside the desk and brought the standard issue StarFleet briefcase that he carried back and forth between his office and his quarters every day up to the surface of the desk and unlatched it. He laid the bottle of shower gel in the briefcase and closed it again.
As he was about to fasten the latch, she spoke again, her voice hesitant. "Uh, there are other ... things."
He reached back into the sack and brought out two more items. Dropping his eyes to his hand, he saw a toothbrush and a small canister of toothpaste. These joined the shower gel in the briefcase. Once again his hand reached into the sack and drew out a comb and hairbrush. He raised his eyes to hers again. If possible, his eyes were even darker than they had been before. Without looking, he added these items to the briefcase. Once again, he started to latch it.
"There's one more thing in the sack." Her voice was small, very quiet. Her eyes were huge, staring at him.
He reached into the sack again and brought out a small blue box. Both eyebrows rose.
"I...I'll need those... next week." She was breathing faster than normal and her heart beat was somewhat erratic.
The small blue box went into the briefcase. Cocking his head slightly to the side, he questioned silently.
"That's all." Her voice was still very quiet, tentative.
He latched the briefcase, set it back on the floor. He took the now empty sack, smoothed it, folded it. The hand holding it disappeared over the side of the desk.
That's not the side the wastebasket's on. What did he do with it?
"I shall convey your belongings, Cadet." His eyes were still dark, deep pools that she felt like she was drowning in. "I believe that you will be late to class if you do not hurry." He paused. His voice became even lower, even huskier. "I will see you in the linguistics lab this evening."
"Yes, yes, you will. And ... thanks." She turned and hurried out of his office, off to her class.
He sat at his desk, the fingers of his left hand caressing the small, neatly folded sack in the second drawer on that side of his desk.