*Spock*
He had not even retrieved the items he went into his office for. He had intended to grab the PADDS locked away with the design plans for the Enterprise, and had instead spent 3 hours and 38 minutes reconnecting melted circuitry. He had intended to go back to his apartment to work on the design plans for the Enterprise, and had instead held an old fashioned door open to a restaurant, so that a young cadet could precede him.
Standing behind her inside the doorway, he had realized, not for the first time, how different she was to him. She was taller than was the average for a human woman, her waist was perhaps only 71 centimeters in diameter. She was just as alien to him as his mother with cool skin, rounded ears and brows, and their oddly sweet smelling iron red blood. She was wearing a pair of jeans she had rolled up at the ankle and a t-shirt that had "Maintain Standard Orbit" written in swirling letters across the front. He idly imagined it would look quite like a doll's shirt if placed next to one of his own. Her hands were half his size, and it was difficult to keep from touching her fingers as she handed him tools from the box. He had not needed her to do that. He could have reached into a box to grab tools. He had not needed to repair the console at all, considering that once he filed a damage report, they would more than likely replace it entirely.
He had wished to hear her voice. He needed to be near her.
She was carrying a messenger bag that still held what he supposed to be about half his students final exams from his afternoon Advanced Phonology class. She had insisted on completing her grading of the assessments within 48 hours, and it appeared she had been successful. She was a very capable aid, and he had gone through many. They had been seated at a table near a low window as she went over with him who she believed had improved and the opposite. She had already been speaking in four languages as she discussed his students progress, and was attracting no small amount of attention when he replied in kind. He had ordered his usual, and she had asked for the same before she had even known what it was. Illogical human woman.
She told him of her home in Africa, and that she was in fact French as well on her mother's side. He had supposed that explained her comparatively light complexion, and on the two other occasions he had heard her speak French, he had picked up on a regional dialect she must have learned from a native of the place.
He told her of the red and orange mountains of his planet he would explore as a child, tricorder in hand, and that his first interest in environmental sciences had stemmed from them. He had switched to speaking Vulcan as he described them, and she had of course followed along as if she were born to the language alongside him.
After their plates had been cleared from the table, she had asked permission to order an alcoholic beverage, which, were they in uniform she would have been required to do.
"Granted, Cadet, though we are hardly on duty." He had said, and she flashed him a smile that skipped his heart.
"Then you'll have to stop calling me Cadet, Commander."
She had her hands entwined under her chin in a way he had seen from her before. The way she had voiced his rank made his stomach twist, and he was a bit frustrated that she had been adding minutes to his meditation since before they had been seated.
"What would be your preference then, if I may ask?"
"Nyota. You can call me Nyota."
She had ordered a terran wine that she asked him to try. It was almost sickeningly sweet, and she had told him that the look on his face was "enough for her" though he was sure he had not changed his expression in a way that would warrant such a statement. She was still laughing at his expense as he held the door for her again when they left the restaurant. Although they had discussed his classes, it was the most comfortable he had ever been in a strictly personal setting. It was 1725 hours as they walked with no destination in mind when she stopped him on the path back to campus.
"Um, so… I have the rest of the PADDS graded from the final back at my dorm. If you're not trying to run away from me so fast, we could... go that way so I can get them for you."
She had done that before as well. She would not give him a way to refuse her offer without implying that he was indeed running away from her, or some similar phrase she would add. She did not ask much of him, and the illogical way she worded her requests had not made him think less of her.
"That would be satisfactory, Nyota."
It had earned him a smile that he was very nearly proud of.
They rode the turbo lift in silence up to an empty corridor in the student block hallway. He had not entered this section of the Academy since his own graduation from it, and yet it remained unchanged. The pathway was quiet as most of the students had gone home for the break, and she stopped him at the touch plate that would allow their entry, turning to face him. She was far too close, staring up at him like she was, but his mind would not let him move back. Beautiful human woman.
"Before we go in, I will apologize in advance for the disaster my roommate left our place in. As an Orion, Gaila has no sense of shame whatsoever."
"I am aware of the Orion proclivity to disregard common courtesy, but I would remind you that I was once a cadet myself." He was prepared to say something else, but had stopped short when he heard a small sound from inside. He lowered his voice. "You said that your roommate was away, correct?"
"Do you hear someone in there?" He nodded at her whisper in the affirmative, and she placed her ear to the door, but stepped back rather quickly. "Whatever, she probably just forgot everything she left on the ground."
She huffed out a little laugh, and triggered the door.
She must have noticed that he had not taken more than a single step inside, and that neither should she have. There was definitely someone there, and they were not alone. She had turned to regard him when they heard a female voice from the bedroom past the smoky partition obstructing their view.
"Ow! What's wrong with you?"
"Shh!"
Nyota rolled her eyes at him, and turned back toward the entryway, but her laughter quickly died in her throat to be replaced by a high-pitched scream. The sound shot through him, and he was by her side in an instant.
The scene he came upon was not at all as he had expected.