It was dreary mid-morning. The streets were filled with a dense fog that seeped through even the heaviest of overcoats. Only the ones moved by urgent business dared to feel their way to their destinations. Boutiques and coffee shops found themselves overrun by customers desperate for a safe haven. One particular corner coffee shop was so packed to the brim that almost all the chairs were taken, almost.
At the counter, a tan arm shot out of a ratty gray sleeve as lean fingers wrapped around the piping hot cup of tea. The petite, but heavily bundled woman didn't even flinch. She pushed, shoved, and elbowed her way to the booth area. One particular corner booth caught her eye. A man sat reading on one side; stacks of papers were organized into four neat piles which took up two thirds of the table. Vala scanned the coffee shop again. Not a seat in sight. She shrugged. And she nimbly slid into the other side of the booth. The average person would have been bound by the rules of common courtesy and asked before acting, but Vala found such rules arbitrary and was more than happy to ignore them, especially when it meant a comfortable seat in her favorite coffee shop.
The dark haired man took another moment to finish reading a line before looking up at the unwelcome intruder into his private space. Vala beamed, her pearly teeth glistening from countless whitening strips to counteract her tea addiction. "Hi." She said. Her sharp voice cut through the noise of the shop. This day was turning out more unpleasant than usual. Khan did not reply.
The grave man's silence did nothing to dissuade her. "My name is Vala. Thanks for letting me sit with you." Khan looked back down at his papers. They were all in code, and he had spent the entire morning cracking the cipher. He thought he had almost revealed something before the ruddy cheeked child with her worn oversized coat and disheveled hair decided to force her presence on him. Before he lost his place he looked back down. Her wide gray eyes continued to look at him as she took a silent sip of the steaming tea. Her right hand went up to brush a strand behind her pointed ear. As she sipped her eyes wandered from the man, still in his heavy overcoat like her, to the crowd of people milling about and waiting to place their orders. Vala's soon drew her feet up to cross her legs, making her petite form look even more like it was being swallowed by a navy blue monster made of cloth.
Khan found no difficulty in damming the flood of stimulus from the rest of the crowd, but he couldn't help but look back up at the fidgety form that was his compulsory booth mate. It had only taken a moment to assess her as a non-threat but a second glance had him reassessing his assumptions. He frowned. Khan was rarely wrong.
She wasn't human. The girl had pointed ears but her brows were curved which suggested a mixed heritage, probably part Vulcan or Romulan. Then he had assumed she was physically weak from her size, but he couldn't be sure of that either as she had several loose fitting layers on. Then he had also assumed she suffered from a mild social disability from her lack of courtesy but then again, this was a different time. He had made a lot of assumptions about his guest and Khan didn't like assumptions.
"Goodmorning Vala." Her eyes widened in surprise, as if she was suddenly caught in headlights. It took her a moment to shake off the daze she had slipped into, back into sharp lucidity. "Uh, hi." She said, instantly regretting her weak minded redundancy. His rich voice was so penetrating she wasn't sure if she had only imagined it.
Khan smiled. It was meant to be warm, but Vala managed to catch the second where Khan wasn't able to mask its more ominous intent. She hadn't wanted to disturb the man, especially since he had looked so busy, but she wasn't going to let some stranger intimidate her into ruining her morning tea. She smiled back. Khan's sharp eyes also caught a hint of her true feelings – apprehension, distrust, and a slight disinterest. His smile faltered. He found her apathy to him refreshing but also disappointing. Khan recounted numerous times he had been complimented on his stern, yet aesthetically pleasing features. Who was this uncombed girl to not appreciate his form?
Khan dropped the smile and instead chose to initiate conversation. "How is their mint tea here?"
Vala cocked her head to the right and took another little sip. "Usually very strong, but they make it weak for me." Khan opened his mouth to make some more empty chit chat before she interrupted him. "Isn't it hard to decipher such a complicated code without a computer?" She took another sip and looked him straight in the eye.
Khan did not react physically, but he now regretted not leaving as soon as he realized the coffee shop would get too crowded to maintain his privacy. "It was a pleasure meeting you Vala, I hope you enjoy your mint tea." Khan's steady hands quickly began to fold the papers into one large pile.
"No…" Vala called out. She pouted her already plump limps as her eyes got as wide as saucers. Vala was bold, but she also followed a strict moral code. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to invade your privacy. I promise I won't do it again. I really didn't mean to offend. I just happened to glance at it and I thought it looked like code. I don't even know any cryptology. My friend Antoine is the one really into that stuff. It wasn't right for me to look at your papers especially after you shared your booth with me. Again, I'm really sorry, sir." Vala uncrossed her legs and stumbled as she scooted over to the end of the seat. She stood up, her legs still wobbly and a little numb. Her already rosy cheeks were now flushed scarlet.
Khan realized what she was doing and instinctively grabbed her wrist. They made eye contact. Khan pulled back his hand as soon as he realized what he had done. He cleared his throat and maintained eye contact, trying to regain his formal composure. "No. It will not be necessary for you to leave." Khan waited for her to make a choice.
oo00oo
Author's Note:
Looking for a Beta Reader for this story and those to follow.