Entanglement
Disclaimer:
A/N: Herpaderp. I set up this whole thing with Spock's scarf in the last chapter, and totally forgot to go anywhere with it. Also, I apologize for the enormous delay in getting this up. Life, you know?
Chapter 7
The first linguistics tea of the semester was loud and raucous compared to the more subdued gatherings at the end of the previous term, and it wasn't until a few minutes after her tutorial with Commander Spock was supposed to start that Uhura managed to excuse herself. She was worried that Spock would chastise her for being late, but when she arrived at his office the door was closed and the light was off.
"Good afternoon, Cadet."
He strode down the hallway towards her, his arms laden with a large box that looked heavy. "Please forgive my tardiness. I was detained while retrieving this package."
She reached for it. "Here, let me help you with that."
"Thank you, I can manage." He balanced the box on one arm and opened the door with the other. The light snapped on when he entered, and he set the package on the desk.
Uhura followed, appreciating the familiar room. Everything looked the same as it always did - his books and small collection of personal things were neatly organized, and there was even a small stack of PADDs by the window. The only things that seemed out of place were the enormous box and the bright orange scarf that was wrapped around Spock's neck and mouth.
She shrugged off her coat and draped it on the chair. "So what's in the box?"
"New components for my computer science project." He pulled the top open and briefly inspected a slip of paper. His brow furrowed briefly, and he set it back down. "Unfortunately, this is not my entire order, and I will be further delayed." He moved the box to a corner of the room, then unwound the scarf from his neck.
"Say, I meant to ask you about that scarf before," Uhura said. "Is it new?"
He glanced at her, and the light in his eyes was playful embarrassment. "A gift from my mother. She says it's not the holidays without gifts, so every Hanukkah she gives me something of limited practical usefulness."
Uhura smiled. "It seems like you like it well enough."
"It keeps the chill away." He hung the scarf on one of the hooks by the door. "I apologize for my disorganization today. Please have a seat. I assume you brought your script workbook?"
"Yes, sir." She retrieved it from her bag and set it on the desk in the space where the box had been a moment before, open to the latest page she had completed.
He examined it without sitting down, and turned back a page. "Excellent work. Your stroke weight modulation has improved."
"Thank you."
"I would like to do a dictation exercise. Do you have lined paper?"
"Um, no." She felt a moment of panic. Was she supposed to have some? She rarely carried paper as it was.
He moved to a side cabinet and withdrew a few sheets of blank paper, then reached into a drawer for a straight edge. "Two-centimeter spaces, please."
Uhura's ears burned as she set to work lining the paper. "If I'd known, I would have brought some paper with me."
Spock had moved the box to a shelf by the window and was going through the items one by one. "It is of no consequence."
For a little while, the room was quiet but for the rustle of plastic and the dull scratch of pen on paper. Uhura cleared her throat. "I have one sheet ready."
"That will do for now," Spock said, still examining the contents of his box. "Please write each each sentence in standard and formal calligraphy. One. In the winter time, the wind shear on my father's house rattles the windows."
Nyota confidently put pen to paper, inscribing the sentence in the basic script. But when she moved on to the formal calligraphy and tried to focus on the correct tilt of the pen to produce the stroke weight that implied the proper respect inherent in the word t'sa-mekh, she found herself distracted by Spock's activity in the corner.
With a soft huff, she lifted her chin and gave him a little glare. "Commander, do you mind?"
He turned, an eyebrow raised in surprise. "I beg your pardon?"
"It's very distracting to have you working on something else. Some might call it rude."
Both eyebrows went up, and he turned to face her fully. "Rude?"
If he were anyone else, it would have sounded like he was taken aback, but she knew him better than that. He was genuinely confused. "To have your attention divided between the person you're working with and something else. It's like you don't care about what I'm doing."
"I meant no such disrespect, Cadet."
"I know. Academically. But humans don't like to feel like they're a burden. Like they're getting in your way of doing something else."
His eyes dropped to the floor for a moment before he moved to sit in the chair opposite her. "I apologize."
"I suppose Vulcans multi-task a lot."
"It is often inefficient to do otherwise."
"Lots of humans aren't capable of much multi-tasking," Uhura explained. "It's generally assumed that if you're doing two things at once, you're not doing either with much care."
"I see." He seemed to mull this over for a moment, then raised his eyes to hers. "This explains a great many things. Thank you for your honesty, Cadet."
She smiled with relief. "Any time. So what's made you so busy, anyhow? Not just your new box of toys, I hope."
He gave her a look that she interpreted as mild exasperation. "The parts are hardly toys. They are vital components to a project."
"Of course. But that can't be the only reason you're so busy right now."
"Indeed, it is not. I would have picked up the package and inventoried its contents this morning, but my aide for Intermediate Phonology quit unexpectedly and I have been - as humans say - scrambling to replace him."
"Isn't Ben Joshi your TA?"
"He was," Spock said with a note of bitterness. "Captain Jordheim informed me this morning that he messaged her and declined the position, saying that I was difficult to work with."
"What?" Uhura failed to keep the shock from her voice. "I mean, you're different than the human professors, and you have high standards, but it's not like you're mean or anything."
"Captain Jordheim seemed surprised as well. She sent Cadet Joshi an email asking for more information, but he has apparently not yet responded."
"Jesus," Uhura breathed, sitting back in her chair and folding her arms. "You think you know somebody, and it turns out he's a coward when it's actually important."
"A coward?"
"Yeah, I would have thought he'd have the decency to say it to your face, instead of hiding behind not only email, but email and Captain Jordheim."
"Perhaps it was more efficient this way."
Uhura pursed her lips. "Perhaps."
"In any case," Spock continued, pointedly ignoring her irritation, "my situation is the same. Since the semester has already begun, it is difficult to find qualified cadets who are interested in applying."
Uhura had a crazy thought, and let it get out before she could think on it. "What about me?"
His glance showed surprise. "You?"
"Sure." She felt foolish already, but decided to just go with it - it was too late to back down now. "I took it with you last year and was at the top of my class. Plus, it would be great for my record. And we both know I don't have any trouble working with you." She really hoped he wouldn't detect the note of fawning in her last statement.
"Unfortunately, you are a second-year cadet, and the position is only open to third and fourth years."
She leaned forward, and did her best not to sound desperate. "You couldn't make an exception?"
"The Academy's policy is clear. Furthermore, such an act of favoritism would be strongly reprimanded, which would harm both of us."
Uhura sat back and tried to sink into the floor as her ears prickled with heat. "Oh."
Spock blinked calmly. "Shall we continue the dictation?"
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please drop me a review and let me know how you liked this one :3
