Meh I know it's short but I promise the next chapter will be longer..
She didn't see him the rest of that day save for a brief time on the bridge when they had finally been given clearance to leave and it was a rather slow and unmoving shift in which all they were doing was 'exploring' so to say.
T'kel winced as she entered the turbo lift. All her years in the academy and the few days in space dock didn't heal the fact that she hated these things. The whooshing sound of the doors and enclosed area it encased her in was enough to cause throat tighten with every breath and yet she stood here about to return to her quarters after a day of bromidic work.
"Computer hold lift" a familiar voice ordered before the commander came around the corner and stepped in. "Lieutenant" Spock greeted with a respective nod in which she returned in favor. Something happened then that she would have to mull over in her mind for hours when they both reached for the control consol, for a brief moment that any other human would just pass over, their hands touched ever so slightly and it sent a jolt up her spine and into that painful center of her brain.
"Excuse me commander" T'kel quickly apologized and was doing a poor job at hiding the pain he had just caused her but yet it was something of pleasure she couldn't describe and definitely didn't want. On his face under those dark forboding eyes he had just experienced the same tentative feeling and he was just as bewildered by it as her.
He only nodded and pressed the button for the turbo lift to resume "Deck 3" Spock ordered and asked if that is where she was headed. The only response he got from T'kel was a slight nod. The lights passed on the sides of the lift and that sickening feeling in her stomach from being dropped down swirled up again but her years of 'handling it' played in part.
"I presume your first bridge day was exceptionable?" he questioned flatly to remove all tension from the air.
"uneventful would be the appropiate term commander" he noticed how her throat was constricting with every word and was puzzled by this "but none the less the first day is always to be presumed … mundane"
"it appears so" was his reply and their eyes locked for a brief moment before the door opened and quicker than he expected she bristly walked out and down the opposite hallway after giving him a goodbye nod.
Another uneventful day on the bridge plagued the entire crew with boredom. Captain Kirk sat slouched in his command chair using one elbow to prop up his head or at least until a young red haired ensign barely to reach the age twenty walked up to him carrying a PADD. He smiled seductively and gave her a nod and thank you before he watched her walk her way out.
Despite herself T'kel smirked and swirled her chair back around to face the consoles. She would never understand the captains persistency in other women. The bio scans she had been running were reading nothing as usual. Her green eyes flittered across the screen and followed the scanning beam until it had almost lulled her in a hypnotic way.
Lieutenant Pavel Chekov was seated only feet away at his own consol, he was so young to be in Starfleet, probably the youngest ever to enter. She watched in interest as he shared mild chat with Chief helmsman Hikaru Sulu whom in turn was nodding and keeping his eyes on the stars flying by at warp speed. The fascination she had with human social interaction was something the Lieutenant always found mildly enthralling though she isolated herself enough to not pick up their emotional habits. In ways she wished she could be that way and in other ways she was strict about preserving her vulcan heritage.
"Lieutenant" Spock approached her and she quickly snapped to attention.
"yes commander?" she was turned completely around and ready for orders and then again Spock could see past that vulcan mask she seemed quite volatile on his approach.
"it isn't for certain but we might be entering a M-class planet system detected by one of the probes launched, it would be advisable for you to increase your bandwidth on the bio sensors"
"yes sir" T'kel quickly replied and started rapidly pressing buttons on the blue screen. Spock lingered behind her to watch her progress then after a few seconds he returned to his post. Why she was acting so distressed around him was beyond him, maybe he should question her actions privately though that might provoke more of these..responses.
Hours later T'kel was drumming her fingers on the console until the blue screen started flashing.
"Sir I just a reading back from the probe I am detecting three M-class planets, abundance atmosphere high in nitrogen and oxygen" her fingers flittered across the keys as if she was born to do this "and two class J gas giants, uninhabitable" green eyes glowed with a slight hint of excitement, this was their first find in weeks even and the entire bridge seemed to wake up from a slumber and rapidly pressed their console buttons.
"How far Lieutenant?" Captain Kirk leaned forward in his chair with a smile.
"twelve light years sir" was the vulcans stiff reply "estimated trajectory two days and eleven hours at warp 5 until arrival"
"Finally!" Kirk exasperated and spun his chair around to face the front of the bridge "Lieutenant Chekov lay in a course and Sulu let's pump it up to warp five I don't wanna spend an extra day just drifting around in space" the both of them nodded eagerly and got back to work "and Lieutenant T'kel try to get more readings from that probe, I wanna know which planets are inhabited and if it's safe to proceed.
"aye sir" T'kel replied and immediately got to work.
She rubbed her forehead and blinked her eyes open after a few more hours of staring point blank into the screen. The readings from the probe had stopped as if it had detected nothing new which was probably correct and by now the vulcan could use a spot of hot tea and a good book to calm her nerves. As if to answer her question her junior science officer came to relieve her of duty. T'kel gave a nod of gratitude and received a wink from the Captain as she left the bridge.
A wink from the Captain? T'kel shivered. She did not know the full fundamentals of human suggestive gestures but from her time spent at the academy a sense of logic told her one thing while experience told her another for she had acquired that reaction several times with the opposite sex . Dismissing the subject T'kel curtly walked toward her quarters after leaving the turbo lift, giving slight nods and recognition to the ensigns and other equally ranking officers that passed by. She was halted when her ears twitched at the sound of boots following her.
"Hey K'tel" it was Pavel Chekov and he looked about out of breath "I was trying to catch you before you went into your quarters" during the week she has been on board T'kel had gotten acquainted with his thick and undecipherable accent.
The vulcan's lips twitched up into a small smile, she might as well consider this guy as her friend "what can I do for you Chekov?" has even started calling him by his last name instead of Lieutenant every time.
"Oh uh I was-" for some reason that T'kel found eccentric he seemed quite nerved all of a sudden "was just wondering if you wanted to join me in Ten Forward for a" the Russian male gestured as if to find the right word "a drink or something?" T'kel found his body language to suggest he was definitely solicitous about his invitation for reasons she could not decipher. "McCoy and Sulu will be there" as if that was supposed to help things.
"I thank you for the invitation Lieutenant but my meditating is overdue, perhaps another time" she could see a shimmer of disappointment in the young officers eyes but he quickly made up for it with a understanding smile "alright then, I will see you later" she watched him continue on his way before entering her access codes to her quarters.
T'kel felt her mind separate from her body, the feeling was one she always enjoyed, one she has always relished. Keeping her back straight she breathed silently in and out her nose. Images floated through her head, as they did always, they were ones of home. The previous red and some times blue sky and how it overcastted the rocky terrain. She saw her old room as well, before she went off to the academy, T'kel imagined a younger image of herself meditating with her father in the middle of the floor. The softness of his voice as he told her repeatedly "you are my daughter, you are a part of me" in a vulcan way it means love though her logic would never allow herself to admit it and nor would her fathers. The candles around the mat she was currently positioned on filled the room with an intoxicating scent that smelled of something between mountain air and ocean water, it was the two scents that reminded her of home. Sweat drops glistened on her skin and matted underneath the meditation robe she was wearing. Faces came to pass, old family members that had long since been dead but then it changed to a small boy. A small boy that looked vaguely familiar, the image was puzzling and she tried to focus her thought on it but found it to be unwilling to clear.
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