They had worked on bracelet designs until nearly the start of gamma, and before Nyota had left, she had managed to make Spock promise to get some sleep. If pressed, he would be unable to adequately explain how exactly that had happened. Regardless, it was a promise he had kept, spending only enough time in meditation to maintain his faculties before going to bed.

Thoughts of the bracelets continued to occupy his mind through breakfast and then the pre-shift meeting, wherein he attempted to covertly gauge Jim's wrist size, and it wasn't until a few hours into his duties on the bridge that he recalled Nyota's highly confounding reaction to his initial declaration, replaying it word for word. It still utterly puzzled him. What other tradition could she have been referring to?

The answer came to him as he was relaying the results of a scan of a nearby anomaly to his captain, which was even more unfortunate than the location of his epiphany. His words fell to silence as he was struck with a memory of when he was a very small child, asking his mother why she always wore that ring. At the time, he had failed to understand why a physical representation of a marriage bond was considered necessary. In Vulcan culture, bonded pairs were easily recognizable from unique social cues, even if the relationship was not stated outright. He could say with near certainty that he had never interacted with Jim in a way that indicated either Vulcan or Terran courtship. And yet Nyota had thought…

"..ock? Hey, Spock, you okay?"

His captain's voice and a firm hand clasping his shoulder jolted him back to the present and the reality of its implications. To his horror, he felt a flush creep across his face as his control lapsed. Unable to meet Jim's eyes, he looked instead in the direction of Nyota's station. She was staring at him, concerned, which he realized was likely the current occupation of the entire bridge, but upon meeting his gaze, her own widened in apparent understanding. Biting her lip, she swiftly turned back to her station. If he'd had the capacity, he might've resented her abandoning him to his embarrassment, since this was her fault. As it was, he could only just barely manage to get his expression under control before returning his attention to his captain.

Jim gave his shoulder a slight shake, worry etched into his brow, and kept his voice low. "Spock, what's wrong? Should I get Bones?"

The thought of yet another person, let alone McCoy, witnessing his lack of composure galvanized him. He shook his head and reached up to loosely grip Jim's wrist, though he was careful to only touch his sleeve. "That will not be necessary, Captain. Nothing is wrong. I apologize for giving you cause for concern."

Jim did not immediately release him, only spent a moment searching his eyes. It was a struggle for Spock to meet Jim's gaze steadily, especially since he knew there was still some color in his cheeks and ears. Then Jim murmured low enough for only Spock to hear, "Du ac'ruth ha?" Are you sure?

Startled into speechlessness by the still-new switch to Vulcan, Spock could only jerk his head in affirmation. Despite still not looking completely satisfied with Spock's reassurances, Jim nodded in return and stepped back, and Spock experienced another layer of confusion as he simultaneously rejoiced at and mourned the loss of the wrist that he let slip from his fingers. He experienced more of the same when Jim turned away, the mantle of Captain settling across his shoulders once more.

"Chekov, report."

The bridge crew (all except for Nyota) startled as one at being caught watching the exchange and fell back into their duties, while their youngest officer picked up where Spock had so abruptly left off.

In a bit of a daze, Spock turned back to his station and sat, staring at one of his screens without truly seeing what was on it. But that was not acceptable for the chief science officer of a starship, so after a few seconds, he took a breath and made a concentrated effort to focus on his duties. He was Vulcan. Vulcans did not allow themselves such unprofessionalism.

He was met with middling success. Though he only experienced a minimal four percent drop in efficiency, the unwanted thoughts kept trickling in.

Nyota had thought… She'd thought it more likely that he was planning to "propose" to Jim than present a token of friendship? And though she'd certainly been shocked by the mistaken revelation, she had not been disapproving or disbelieving. As if it was within the realm of possibilities.

Which it most definitely was not. For numerous citable reasons.

Try as he might throughout the rest of alpha shift, he could not think of a logical hypothesis that would explain why Nyota had not truly questioned such a conclusion beyond the apparent timing. And so he resolved to seek her out after shift and request (demand) an explanation.

When his relief, a young lieutenant, appeared at the science station, he nodded to her and turned to the communications station, only to find that Nyota had already left the bridge, a deviation from routine which indicated a low probability of coincidence. His eyes narrowed. It was unlike Nyota to avoid confrontation. But no matter, he could use the extra time to further order his thoughts on the subject.

When he went to leave the bridge, Jim was holding the turbolift for him, as was his custom, and Spock did not allow himself to hesitate to join him. As soon as the doors closed, Jim turned to him.

"You up for another game this evening?" Though his tone was light, Spock could see the concern in his eyes and around his mouth. Jim wished to follow up about what had happened on the bridge, in the context of friendship rather than rank.

Spock looked back at the doors. "Negative. After dinner, I will be busy in the labs well into gamma shift." It was not a lie, and yet it left a similar sour taste in his mouth.

Out of his peripheral, he saw Jim's face fall with disappointment and perhaps hurt. "Oh. All right, no problem. Just don't wear yourself out, okay? Get some sleep, or meditation or whatever."

Regret was gnawing at him as the lift opened once more onto the Officers Deck. They walked in a rare uncomfortable silence down the corridor toward their adjoined quarters. When Jim stopped in front of his own door and put his palm on the scanner, about to step inside, Spock reached out to catch his elbow with just a brush of his hand. It was enough to turn Jim around in the doorway, surprise clear on his expressive face. Any touching between them was usually initiated by Jim. Today was proving to be an anomaly in many regards.

"What's up, Spock?"

Spock glanced up at him and then away again. "I would not be averse to taking a 'rain check' until, perhaps, tomorrow evening?" Their second scheduled chess night for the week took place the day after that, which would mean two days in a row of spending his free time with his captain. It would not be a hardship.

He met Jim's gaze once more and was greeted with a brilliant grin that made his stomach feel as if a dozen tiny lara birds had taken up residence. It was an alarming sensation, but he assumed it was due to the relief of removing the disappointment from Jim's expression. "Sure thing, Spock. See you in the mess for dinner?"

Spock inclined his head and released him. "Indeed, Captain." He regretted his slip of using the title out of habit (they were still in a public corridor) when Jim's too-blue eyes dimmed somewhat, though the smile remained as Jim stepped back and the door closed between them.

Though their exchange had been brief, Spock found that he was feeling calmer after interacting with Jim. They were the same as they had been yesterday, regardless of Nyota's assumptions, as was logical. Nothing had changed or needed to. It was just a silly misunderstanding, nothing more.

-.-.-.-.-

Feeling only slightly guilty for leaving the bridge without talking to Spock, Nyota took a lift down to medbay and barged into Leonard's office without asking permission. She made sure her features were severe and disapproving.

He jumped a bit and started griping before he'd even looked up, "What in blazes is so -. Oh. Nyota. Ya need something?" His glare faded into nervousness as he took in her expression.

She crossed her arms and raised her brows at him. "So. Friendship bracelets?"

He went a bit pale and held up his hands. "Ah, hold on now, I didn't mean no harm." Her expression remained unimpressed.

"Uh huh. So you didn't mean any harm by purposely misleading him on the nature of some childish human tradition?"

"No! It's not like Jim's going to give him shit for it. Hell, he'll probably just end up even more smitten." His eyes widened in panic. "Shit, did you tell him the truth? The hobgoblin's gonna snap me in half for…"

His guilty diatribe was cut off by Nyota's sudden laughter. It wasn't quite the level of mirth she'd given into once she'd gotten back to her quarters last night, though, and didn't last nearly as long. She grinned as she fell gracefully into one of the chairs in front of the desk while Leonard embodied the definition of gobsmacked.

"Oh, man, you should see the look on your face, Len. Calm down, he has no idea and is probably on his way to the labs to work on those bracelets as we speak. I helped him design them myself." She winked.

Leonard relaxed. "Well thank God. You had me thinking you were gonna string me up for teasin' him." He gave her a considering look. "I didn't take you for a prankster."

She smirked. "And I hadn't realized what an evil genius you could be. Sounds like we could help each other out."

His eyes narrowed in consideration. "With what, exactly?"

"Getting those two idiots' heads out of their asses, for starters. I mean, have you seen them during pre-shift meetings? It's disgusting."

"Ugh, don't remind me. Didn't think I'd ever see Jim with such obvious hearts in his eyes. And the pining. The fuckin' pining." He rubbed at his temples as if fighting off a headache.

"It's pretty painful. I don't think Spock even realizes how he feels yet. Though, after last night, he might be well on his way…"

Leonard raised his brow. "Yeah? What happened last night?" He made a face. "Wait, do I wanna know?"

Nyota snorted delicately. "Nothing like that, at least not that I know of. No, Spock invited me to dinner last night and asked me for help on the bracelets, only he didn't come out and say that, oh no, he had to be all vague and start out asking about types of jewelry Jim might like, and, uh." She cleared her throat, a faint blush darkening her cheeks. "I may have jumped to the conclusion that he'd figured his shit out and was thinking of putting a ring on it, as it were." And from what Jim had confided in her, she'd been pretty sure Spock would get a "yes," as ill-advised as rushing that kind of thing might be.

For a long moment, Leonard just stared at her, before being taken by a fit of laughter that made him hunch over his desk and knock over a stack of PADDS with the force of it. "Oh dear lord, no fucking way. Did you tell him that?" He burst into another round of laughter, probably thinking of Spock's reaction.

She sighed and rubbed at her forehead, the embarrassment still sharp. "I was able to play it off a bit – badly – but I think he realized this morning on the bridge. He just kind of…shut down mid-sentence, the poor thing."

Still snickering, Leonard shook his head. "I would've paid money to see that."

"I think if you had, he would have snapped you in half, just for laughing. You know how proud he is," she said dryly.

"Boy, do I." He moved to straighten his PADDs. "So, you were wantin' to join forces or something? What'd ya have in mind?"

She grinned and rested more of her weight on her arms on the desk. "Nothing too interfering, of course. No one likes a matchmaker, let alone a pair of them. I think we mostly need to focus on helping Spock realize the nature of his feelings. And with the upcoming mission, we should have some good opportunities to do just that. You in?"

His grin matched hers. "You bet your ass I'm in."