Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Thank you to everyone who reviewed.
Oratt stepped into the room, glancing around at his students before sitting down. "Please give me your reports, and then turn to page 262, and begin reading while I study your projects."
He heard his com beeping as the reports filtered into his system. He sat in long silence, forcing himself to save Pepper's report for last. He sent them back one after another and he only glanced up to see their groans as they saw their grades. When the rest of the class had been graded, only then did he allow himself the pleasure of reading Pepper's project.
He noted she was staring at him with anticipation and worry, perhaps concerned about the way everyone else was looking at their PADDs. He smirked slightly and held her gaze for a moment longer than necessary, and she blinked, her blue-green eyes darkening.
He turned back to her report and read it over, flushing at her description of Vulcan genitalia. He was sure now that Pepper was his little starsnstitches, and he finished the report with a pleased expression, glancing up at her. She was still staring, but he let his expression soften.
You did well, he commented on her report. Stay after class, if you would please.
He sent her the report with high marks and his commentary, and he watched as he received it. Her eyes widened, and she looked up at him with a bright grin. He nodded and looked down at his PADD in order to distract himself from his tingling fingers. He thoroughly enjoyed the sight of her smiling at him, and he felt warm and contented as he moved on with the class.
When the bell rang, signaling the end of class, the students got up and filed out quickly. It pleased Oratt that his students were not lingering today. He went to his desk and sat, watching carefully as the one student he wished to stay approached his desk.
"Yes, Osu Oratt, you wanted to see me?"
"I did. Your report is remarkably detailed, and you turned it in much sooner than expected." He leaned back to look more fully upon her. "I am pleased. You received the highest marks in the class."
She gasped in delight, making his fingertips tingle even harder, and she bounced a little in her glee. "Sorry, Osu, but...wow! I worked really hard on it, and I'm glad you liked it. I think the most interesting thing I learned was that you purr...like giant cats, right?"
He considered stopping himself from purring, but decided to anyway, to humor her. "Yes, we are descendants of-"
He was cut off by a knock at the door, and he called for the visitor to enter, glaring at whoever had dared interrupt his time with Pepper. It was his fellow professor, Tos of Shi'Kahr, and the scrawny Vulcan approached Pepper with what looked like a very satisfied expression.
"I have something for you, Ms. Blake," he said, his voice low. Oratt narrowed his eyes at the seductive tone in the other man's voice. He knew that tone...it displeased him to hear it directed at Pepper, and not from his own mouth.
"Yes, Osu?" she said, her blue-green eyes bright with interest.
Tos reached into the interior pocket of his robe and pulled out a credit chip. He let his hand linger there, not fully extending it to her, making Pepper step to him. "This is the payment in full for the last project I commissioned, and the full payment for the one you are working on now."
Pepper stepped forward, and Oratt winced. She was unfamiliar with Vulcan seduction methods, it was obvious, but Oratt saw what she could not. He knew what would come next and he stood when he saw he was correct. The rabid sehlat let his fingertip brush with Peppers as he exchanged the chip, the Vulcan version of licking one's lips or winking.
"Thank you, but you didn't have to pay for the current project until it was done," she protested, eying the chip.
"As you have told me, T'Sai, but your work has great merit and that should be rewarded."
She paused a long moment, then nodded, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I'll have that other robe to you in about a week, ok?"
"Very well, Ms. Blake," Tos purred, and she offered him a smile.
"Anyway," she murmured. "I need to go. I've got studying to do, and a robe to finish. Osu, aren't you helping with the Valentine's Day Ball? I read about that on the campus news network."
"Yes," he replied with a smirk. "I have been commissioned to help."
"As have I," Tos interjected. Oratt glared at him. "I assume we will see you there?"
"Well, I was going to ask Osu Oratt if he wanted me to help him. I could even bring my sister."
Oratt frowned. "Do you live with your sister?"
"Yes," she said with a confused look on her face. "Her name is Ivy. We're fraternal twins."
"My cousins are fraternal twins," Oratt mused out loud, and smirked inwardly at the way she hung on his every word. "One of them works here at the university. Osu Sirak."
"Oh my sister Ivy had him! He has...kind of golden eyes, doesn't he?"
"He does."
Tos stepped forward. "Your sister, Ivy, has done work for his brother as well. I believe Sirak recommended her to Sorak."
Pepper nodded. "Yeah, Sorak was over at the house last night. He commissioned a Vulcan tea set from her. It's really pretty. He seemed pleased with it, and last night he asked her to do a meditation lamp and an IDIC I think..."
"Yes, I was unable to attend last night, as my work called me away, but he did speak to me today and showed me the work she had made him. Very well done, and Sorak was most pleased."
Oratt cleared his throat, displeased at being left out of the conversation, even more so that Tos was even here. "You said you were leaving, were you not, Ms. Blake?" he said, and she turned to him with a bright smile.
"Well, I don't have to leave right away...is there anything else, Osu?"
"I would be very pleased if you helped me set up the Valentine's Day Ball. Feel free to bring your sister as well. Is she currently enrolled in a Government class?"
"Yes!" Pepper exclaimed, grinning. "She has Osu Kuvak, and between you and me," she lowered her voice, "I think she thinks he's cute as a button."
Oratt smirked. "Osu Kuvak will be helping me set up the ball. I am sure he would be pleased to see your sister there."
Tos glanced over his shoulder at Oratt. "I will walk with you, T'Sai, if you are agreeable."
She paused again, and Oratt noted she looked uncomfortable again. "All right," she said, finally acquiescing. "But I need to talk to Osu for a moment, alone. It's about my grade."
The doctor brightened as Tos left the room, and he noticed with even more delight that his door didn't have a window, so he couldn't watch them. He turned to Pepper with eager anticipation, and she fiddled with her bag, avoiding his gaze. He frowned.
"Is something wrong?"
She shook her head and looked up at him under her lashes. "You want me to help you with the setup for the ball?"
"Yes," he said truthfully. "If you do not wish to go, you are under no obligation to help."
"No, if you want me to go, I'll go," she muttered, keeping her voice down. She obviously remembered the strength of Vulcan hearing from her research. "I have no other reason to be there than to help you."
He stared at her, weighing her words. They pleased him, but he was left slightly confused.
"What are you saying, Pepper?"
She looked up at him, her blue-green eyes blazing with fear as her cheeks flushed pink, and she looked away.
"Just telling you where my loyalties lie," she said very quickly, then shrugged and backed away. "I'll see you there, then! Have a good evening, Osu."
"And you, Pepper."
She scampered away, leaving his blood rising in heat. Where my loyalties lie... He allowed himself a small smile.
…
Kuvak listened to another oral report on Vulcan's influence on foreign policy and gave the young man a fair grade. He had done well, not as detailed as he might have liked, but well enough. The boy sat down, and he called Ivy Blake to the front and leaned back to listen to her report.
His eyes widened and his fingertips started tingling when she recited line for line the paragraph Mudgirl had shared with him over the comm, and he swallowed thickly, watching with bated breath as she continued her report. He was enthralled, captured by her vision of Earth's future, as she imagined a great Federation and peace throughout the galaxy.
"Well done, Ms. Blake," he said quietly as she passed him to go back to her seat. "Full marks."
She turned abruptly and stared at him with the most endearing expression of excitement, and he called her back as the buzzer rang and the class filed out.
"Very well done, Ms. Blake. I especially enjoyed your analysis of new trade routes and inter-stellar law. Quite impressive."
She grinned at his feet and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Oh, thank you, Osu!" He smirked and tilted his head, suppressing the purr that threatened to erupt from his throat.
"Look at me," he commanded gently before he could stop himself, and she looked at him, her blue-green eyes wide. "I am helping set up the Valentine's Day Ball next week, and I would be pleased if-"
He was cut off by a knock at the door, and he glared at his visitor, which turned out to be Sorak. However, Soval's aide was not here to see him. He was here for Ivy.
"Sorak!" she exclaimed as he entered, "I didn't expect to see you today. Did I forget something from last night?"
Kuvak stood, frowning.
"I forgot something at your home last night, Ivy, and Sirak told me this was your class last period. I waited outside but was concerned when you did not come out." He stepped forward to her. "This is your last class of the day is it not?"
"It is." She cleared her throat. "This is my teacher Osu Kuvak."
Sorak raised the ta'al to him. "Minister...it is...appreciable to see you in person."
Kuvak returned the ta'al, staring coldly at Sorak. "And you, Sorak," he said neutrally.
"I made a tea set for Sorak a few weeks ago. I was really proud of it, but he commissioned some more things for me to do. So once more unto the wheel!"
Kuvak smirked at her brightness and nodded. "As I was saying, Ms. Blake, I would greatly appreciate your assistance in setting up the Valentine's Day Ball."
"You should come," Sorak urged her, and Kuvak suddenly wished he could reach out and nerve-pinch the diplomatic aide for interrupting his conversation. "I will be there as well, as will Osu Tos, from the History department."
"Oh, yeah! Tos commissioned a robe from Pepper a few weeks ago. I think he also asked for another one, but I can't be sure." She shrugged at both of them, then turned fully to Sorak. "What'd you forget?"
"I left my satchel under your desk, Ivy." He put his hands up as if to say "silly me".
"Oh! You know I didn't even see that."
"It is no matter. I thought I would walk you home, and perhaps, since Osu Tos also had business with your sister, I could treat us all to dinner."
The stylus in Kuvak's hand bent around his finger. Ivy didn't notice, but when he looked up, he saw Sorak eying him smugly.
"I think we can," his student said brightly. "I have a lot of work to do, though, so it can't be long."
"If it is my things that would take you away from dinner quickly, as I said last night there is no rush on any of them."
"No, Osu, I have another tea set that has been commissioned. A gold and red one, and the gold came in this morning before school."
Sorak blinked, and he glanced at Kuvak who was staring down at him.
Ivy's gaze flicked between them, and she turned to Kuvak. "Well, I'm really glad you liked my report! I'll see you tomorrow, Osu! And I think Pepper will agree when I say we'd be honored to help you with the Valentine's Day Ball!"
She waved cheerily at him, her smile warming him to his core, and he watched as she strode out of the classroom with Sorak at her side, and he had to suppress a growl.
…
"We have to do something about this, Oratt," he growled as the doctor chopped vegetables. Kuvak was pacing in the kitchen, his eyes tracing an invisible line over the tile floor. "I cannot stand the thought...what do we do?"
"We will find an answer, minister," Oratt assured him, though Kuvak noted his own tone was rather shaky. "We will have to come forth to them soon, or we will surely lose them."
"I am now perfectly aware that our silence may mean our loss. I am not agreeable to that, Oratt, not at all."
"Nor am I, Kuvak. We cannot dispatch them...but we can-"
The door bell rang and Kuvak turned to answer it, opening the door he saw the formidable Vulcan woman that his clan mother had chosen for him. She held up the glass of water, and he shut the doorin her face, locked it, and walked back down the hall.
"Who was it?'
"That...female." He sat at his comm terminal. "There is much to do, Oratt, and the first thing I must do is contact my mother to let her know of my refusal of that woman, and of my prospective mate."
"Indeed." Oratt turned to his com and frowned. "What does Tos have in this? He dislikes humans..." He sighed and typed out a message to his Pepper.
"It appears Tos has found a human he is agreeable to," Kuvak sighed. "It is a shame that human is your Pepper."
"And that my cousin sees a mate in your Ivy. It is a disagreeable arrangement...one we will remedy."
A/N: sensara: Well, well, well, look at Pepper, being all bold! And we have a title drop!
fameanon: :C why u no like Tos? Tos is...sooo cuuute! So...he so adorable I could cry!
sensara: Then by all means, marry him. -_-