Hi all,

Thank you sooooo much for the reviews. (9 for one chapter is my new record, and I know some people get 40, but I think in this case it is very much quality over quantity. You guys rock!!!!)

A big thank you to Sweet A. K., who pointed out that I got the "Baby got Back" thing a tad wrong… MC Hammer? What? Anyways, I fixed it, and of course that's Sir Mix-a-Lot. (aside: I hope it was clear that the iPod thing was a joke, sometimes these things don't work so well in short messages.)

Another big thank you to miller330 for mentioning the idea of Spock mulling things over.

More on me getting things wrong: the Stardates I quoted were off 'cause I didn't do my research properly and used the year Spock Prime originates from to calculate my dates,…yup, I'm a dunce. (I will stick to making Spock older than 30 though, 'cause I think he should age much more slowly if he's going to live for another 150 or something years. I had a reference to that when he thinks of Lennox as only relatively, not technically older)

I'm also sticking with TOS's view of Orions as patriarchal. The whole "really, it's the women who are in charge, hee hee, isn't that funny" thing was a bit heavy handed in ENT, I thought.

To Deansleatherjacket: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Jane Austen in Space …again!!!

To vulcanvamp: I may just have bamboozled you with feminism and knitting, again. No kissing though. (hee hee, that sounds dodgy too)

To Black Mary Janes: Pffffff. Men. (shrugs).

Aureya woke the next morning with a head like a throbbing vat of tar and the distinct sensation that she was about to remember something horrible.

As it turned out, "horrible" wasn't quite the right word. "Insane", "bizarre', "completely inexplicable", and plain old "mortifying" fit the bill much better. Aureya groaned; how the hell had that happened?

"You're finally awake." Noyota's voice brought her to full consciousness. "Just as well we don't have any classes today, it's half past three."

Oh God, Noyota.

Aureya remembered the image of her roommate staring adoringly at Commander Spock with those gorgeous dark eyes of hers. Not that anything had changed, or happened, really, after all, they were both drunk, but she could definitely not tell Noyota.

Crap.

As a matter of fact, she couldn't tell anyone.

Again, not that it was a big deal, or that it really mattered, it was just a kiss, and she didn't even like the guy, or rather, she didn't really know what she thought of him, she remembered hating him at one point, and anyways, he was her instructor, and he was half Vulcan and she was half Orion, what a total recipe for disaster, and he was much older than her, she didn't even know by how much, what with Vulcan life spans and all, and then of course there was the whole thing about him not liking her, only that was odd, 'cause what the hell was he doing kissing her in the first place, and why had she let him, and why had she turned into a completely useless lump of jelly, and what the fuck was she even thinking about?

"'You OK?" Uhura handed her a cup of coffee, which she received gratefully.

"What happened to your lips? They look worse again, and really swollen, did you hit your face off something."

"Nnnnnmmmaaahh." was all Aureya managed to say to that.

"Ok then." Uhura gave her a sardonic look.

"You don't remember, do you? I heard you stumbling around in here last night; you were pretty bad. You don't have a clue what happened to your face, do you?"

Oh sweet Cassiopeia's tits, if only that were true.

She remembered exactly what had happened to her face, complete with blurred, black speckled vision afterwards that wouldn't go away, hence all the stumbling.

Seriously, what did they put in whiskey?

Looking at Noyota she merely shrugged.

Lie, damn it, lie.

"No idea."

Uhura giggled, shaking her head.

"Well, I'd better call Leonard to have a look at you, do you think he'd be conscious by now?"

"Give him another hour or so."

She hated lying, which given her genes, was probably unusual; that didn't mean she wasn't good at it. One of the reasons she avoided it as much as possible was that once she started, she tended to get carried away. Not today. She simply sat there, meekly sipping her coffee, hoping that maybe, just maybe, she would wake up a second time, this time for real, and that none of the stuff going 'round her head had actually happened.

No such luck.

---

"That vas a good night, vhat a vay to send Commander Lennox off, I don't remember much about the end, though." Noting Chekov's happy smile as they made their way to Commander Spock's office while her nerves were about to quite literally snap, Aureya could not resist the chance to cheer herself up a little.

"You slept with Captain Taylor."

"I vhat????!!!!!"

She burst our laughing, noting a slight underlying note of hysteria that was not entirely in reaction to Chekov's horrified expression.

"Like babies, both of you curled up on a couch, snoring away happily."

"Shit Eya, you just nearly gafe me a heart attack." he playfully whacked her arm with the palm of his hand.

"Pavel, from what I hear, you would remember, I think." She gave him a sheepish grin, then fought a wave of sheer panic as they rounded the corner of the corridor and Commander Spock's office door came into view. Chekov was oblivious to the fact that she was hanging back and after giving a polite ring, entered the numeral sequence and stepped into the office. Aureya took a deep breath and followed. Commander Spock was seated at his desk, PAD in hand, and gave them both his usual uninterested nod of acknowledgment.

"Cadet Chekov, Cadet Newman, please take a seat."

Nothing. Just the same as always.

Aureya wasn't sure if she felt relieved or slightly irritated at this.

"I am afraid I have to cut my office hour short today, as I am required for a simulation exam at 1400 hours and need some time to prepare. Furthermore, I need to speak with Cadet Newman in private before I leave, so I propose we perform our usual duties until 1230 hours, agreed?"

Chekov just nodded his agreement, clearly completely unaware of anything amiss with what the Commander had just suggested, he had requested private conversations with both of them on numerous occasion.

Oh holy crap, did he expect her to sit here for half an hour and just wait for him to pass judgment on whatever the hell it was they had done two days ago?

.

.

.

Yup, apparently he did.

After the most excruciatingly, agonisingly useless 30 minutes of her life, of course no student had braved the dragon's den that was Spock's office hour, she heard the Commander clear his throat. Chekov took the hint, packed his bag and rose to leave:

"I'll see you in the mess hall for lunch. …Oh and are you going to that thing Bones is organising for Jim? Something to do vith "he vill need cheering up"?"

"Yea, I'll be there, but I'll see you in the mess hall first."

Huh, that was interesting, she sounded almost normal. And she'd given the right answer. Very odd, considering that a really loud voice in her head was screaming:

"NOOOOO!!!! DON'T LEAVE ME!!!!"; she was actually kind of proud of herself.

Chekov gave her a cheerful smile, then vanished through the door; it closed with a smooth 'whoosh' behind him.

"Cadet Newman." She turned from where she had watched Chekov disappear through the door and faced Spock. She momentarily considered the option of putting her fingers in her ears and just going: "la la la la la la.", but decided against it.

"Sir?" as he stepped out from behind his desk those blasted black dots started to dance before her eyes again.

What the hell? She hadn't even had any whiskey.

"I wanted to properly apologise for my behaviour at Commander Lennox's informal memorial."

Good. That's good,… isn't it?

"I am highly aware of how inappropriate my actions towards you were, and I have no logical explanation for them. I appear to be suffering some rather peculiar reactions to your close physical proximity, the cause of which I am not entirely certain of. This, in combination with my consumption of some alcoholic beverages, had a most unexpected outcome."

Are you fucking serious?

The small black dots were doing the samba, and making it rather difficult to focus.

"I am also aware that my assault on you could be interpreted as a romantic advance, however, on closely and meticulously analysing the situation, I have come to the conclusion that that is not a possibility.

Our respective genetic make-ups, our cultural and ethical – though not intellectual – incompatibility, as well as the significant difference in our physical size and our sexual needs, makes it nigh impossible that I could have, even subconsciously, chosen you as a potential mate."

Oh now you're just plain screwing with me.

Looking rather pleased with himself, in that infuriatingly opaque way of his, he raised his eyebrows, clearly expecting her to comment on his conclusion.

Deep breaths Aureya, deep breaths, you can do this.

"Thank you, Sir. I am very relieved to hear you say so. I assure you, I did not interpret your behaviour as an advance, I was certain that you were merely suffering from an adverse reaction to the alcohol I forced you to drink. I accept your apology and extend my own."

Well done, that sounded pretty good. Nice and pompous too, just the way he likes it.

"Accepted Ms Newman, and thank you."

He looked minutely smug.

"Dismissed."

Aureya swiftly packed her belongings and managed to get out of the office without stumbling, once the door closed behind her, however, she had to lean against the wall and take a few steadying breaths. To her immense relief the dancing black spots subsided slowly.

Hawkins' eyebrows, what the hell…?

Turning to face the door she added out loud:

"…and what the hell…?"

She knew she had been suspiciously quiet during lunch but assumed that Chekov didn't remark on it because Lennox's passing gave them all plenty of reasons to be quiet. When she began to repeatedly stab her steak, however, he gave her a worried look.

"Are you all right? Vhat did the Commander vant?"

Yea, what did the Commander want? And why wasn't she all right. Damn it, what was she even upset about?

"I'm fine, Pavel. Really." She gave him a rather weak smile.

'With the lying again. She knew it, once she started it always got out of control. She should have told Commander Spock that she thought his behaviour had been confusing and upsetting, and that she could not explain her physical response to it either. Nothing wrong with that, it was the truth. She had no problem with him not being interested in her, after all, she wasn't interested in him. So, why did she lie? And why was she so fucking mad at him?

"Hello? Earth to Aureya. Please cone in."

"Sorry Pavel, pointy-ears just pissed me off,… never mind…. Want to head for the Green Wolf, it's coming up to three?"

That's better. That was all true.

"Sure. Vhy does Jim need cheering up again?"

"Kobayashi Maru, second time." No further explanation was needed, Chekov just nodded knowingly.

---

"Guys, I really appreciate your immense faith in me. Setting up a condolences party before even knowing that I've failed again, is just sooo sweet of you."

Aureya and Chekov had just sat down, having made their way to their chairs by taking the long way round, passing the little table in the corner, rubbing the wooden top as they went.

Kirk was already half way through his first beer. He most certainly did not look victorious.

"Well, Jim, did you pass?" Bones asked rather cruelly, the prerogative of a best friend.

"Shut up."

"Right."

"Damn it, there has to be a way though." Kirk shook his head, then took another swig from his drink.

"I think the basic idea of the exam is that there isn't…a way, I mean." Aureya had been a little surprised to see Noyota there; she did not usually come along to the less upstanding events their little group so frequently attended. She was even more surprised when her roommate took a sip from what was clearly a whiskey sour.

"Yea, the programming is so complex, it would take at least 6 months to break that, and then there is still the numeral sequences and the access modem and all the abstract space calculations,…I mean, you can't even hack it." Gaila had one arm slung around Kirk's shoulder in a comforting gesture and was holding P'Grell's hand on her other side.

Well, at least that was the same as usual.

"Exactly." Chekov nodded emphatically. "The numeral sequences and abstract space calculations haf at least 20 codes embedded in them, each. Trial and error on that vould take a long time."

"Yea, and the access modem, even if you had all your calculations done, needs to be physically linked to the simulation mainframe, and that would be what? Shrem?" Aureya turned to her friend.

"Almost impossible." P'Grell answered as intended.

"Holy shit!!!" Kirk jumped out of his seat so suddenly and forcefully that the entire group gave a collective start, Gaila, Uhura, and P'Grell all sounding out a little squeal.

"That's it!" He was beaming at them with a smile that was as much delight as it was mania.

"What?" Bones had noticed his expression too and sounded concerned.

"Hacking it." Kirk stated simply.

"Come on, look at us. We have four of the most talented students in Starfleet right here – well, actually, we have five, but you're no use to us, Nyo – " he through Uhura a brief apologetic look, "we can totally kick that Vulcan's ass."

"…use to you, you mean." Noyota glared at him, lips pursed and eyebrows raised.

"And that's a felony, Jim. You can't hack into military exam programs, are you out of your mind?" she looked rather upset, so Bones stroked her hand reassuringly.

Whoa, hang on a minute, what's going on there?

"Yea, fine, help me. And I don't see it as a felony if the exam is rigged. 'Cause that's what you call an exam that can't be passed." Kirk looked utterly convinced.

"And you guys can't tell me that you're not itching to get your hands on that program. The Kobayashi Maru is infamous, Starfleet history, imagine taking it down."

Oh, Kirk could be extremely seductive when he wanted to be. Aureya noted that both Gaila and P'Grell wore an almost identical grin, then realised that so was she. Chekov looked a little concerned, but his eyes were sparkling as if with a welcome challenge.

"You guys are not actually listening to him, are you?" Noyota looked appalled.

"Oh, come on Nyo, we all know you have a bit of a thing for the pointy eared bastard, but this is just too good to pass up. When is there ever going to be another group like us?" She looked momentarily stunned at Kirk's words, then turned on him:

"You are in all earnestness going to turn your friends into a group of petty criminals?... And my former infatuation with Commander Spock has nothing to do with this. It is quite beside the point. I don't have to defend a little crush to you, and I am sure that many other cadets have noticed the fact that he is an extremely attractive individual, both physically as well as intellectually." She gave the other two women a questioning look, then briefly glanced at P'Grell, before recalling some obvious evidence to counter that misjudgement.

Gaila merely looked at her with a scowl of disgust, while Aureya fought the urge to bang her head off the table.

"And may I remind you that you all still have those temporary notes on your records from the last bright idea you all went along with." Noyota had hit a nerve there.

"I'll take the rap, no need to get anyone else into trouble." Kirk announced brightly.

"You mean you'll take the glory." Bones stated rather dryly.

"I don't mind that, I just want to do it for the fun of it." Gaila looked excited. She wasn't the only one.

---

Heading back to their room with Noyota, Gaila in tow, who had decided she needed a girly chat, Aureya kept glancing at her roommate from the corners of her eyes.

"So,… I suppose you're welcome?" she said with a rather wicked grin.

"For what?" Uhura looked clueless.

"For me always getting into trouble…falling off things, running into things…like knife wielding Klingons…for needing so much medical attention." She wriggled her eyebrows at her friend.

Noyota burst into embarrassed giggles, then defended herself:

"I really shouldn't be drinking in the middle of the afternoon, he's already a bad influence on me." Her wide grin completely negated her words.

"For a linguist you sure have problems with the definition of the word 'student'." Aureya pointed out.

Their girly afternoon proved surprisingly civilised and mostly involved drinking coffee and talking about the recent developments between Bones and Noyota. Gaila occasionally gave unsolicited sex advice, heavily relying on rather graphic examples using Kirk and P'Grell in rotation. Both Aureya and Uhura eventually begged her to stop. Slightly upset about the fact that her only recent "romantic" experience was in no shape or form open to public scrutiny, Aureya had just taken another sip from her cup and was contemplating asking an abstract question about her situation, when Uhura got up and announced:

"Sorry girls, I shall leave you here, I have an appointment." And proceeded to fish a small bag from the back of her wardrobe.

"What's that?" Gaila indicated the bag. "It's too small for an overnight bag, even for you."

"What? No, I'm not … It's nothing."

"Oooooooo, something's up." Gaila sounded intrigued rather than judgmental.

"It's nothing like that… and I'd really like to keep it private."

"You're not helping your case here, girl." Gaila wouldn't let it go.

"Fine. I knit, Ok? I'm going to Taylor's knitting circle, are you happy now?" Uhura's defensive stance and flustered expression were just too funny.

Aureya, who had nearly spilled her coffee at the words "knitting circle", had to laugh:

"What are you guys, some secret underground movement?" for good measure she lifted her fist in a rebel salute.

"Do you have to kill us now that we know?"

Uhura just sighed in exasperation.

"I wanna come." Gaila announced, looking eager.

"Yea, me too." Aureya found herself saying.

"Oh no, no way. I'm not having the two of you sitting there, pointing and giggling and going 'Oooooo, look at granny Uhura'. 'Not going to happen." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked determined.

"Oh please, please, please." Gaila whined, while Aureya did her best puppy impression, bouncing up and down on the bed and letting her tongue show while panting.

"Oh God. Fine then, but you go, you knit, got it?"

This time both women gave her the salute.

---

Taylor's quarters had an old fashioned cosiness about them that did not entirely come as a surprise. The same could not be said of one of the members of the circle. Shrem P'Grell was seated on the couch with a substantial piece of scarf suspended from two needles, sipping a cup of tea. Next to him were two young women Aureya was not familiar with, doing pretty much the same thing. On second thought, Aureya concluded that it wasn't actually that much of a surprise.

"Shnoozy." Gaila squealed, heading straight for Shrem.

"Oh, crap." He groaned, throwing Noyota an accusing look.

Captain Taylor emerged from the kitchen with a large tray of cookies and a homemade cake.

"Oh, welcome." She smiled brightly "New blood, I see."

"I knew it, it's a cult." Aureya remarked and pretended to make for the door.

"Brought you some knitting virgins, Miriam. 'Got some spare needles and yarn?" Noyota took a seat and patted the spot next to her while looking at Aureya.

"Sure, always."

As it turned out, Aureya's technical ability had its limits. Half an hour into the experience she had a shrivelled lump of wool on one needle that refused to slide to either side and would not allow her to stick the second needle anywhere near it.

Fortunately the knitting seemed to be only part of the point of the little get together.

"So?" the young woman introduced to them as Cadet Kate Renvelle gave Noyota a meaningful look "I hear there is some interesting news with you."

Gaila answered before Uhura had a chance to:

"Yup, someone likes playing doctor these days."

"You sure have a thing for authority figures, Noyota." Renvelle remarked.

"What about you sweetheart?" Taylor smiled at Aureya "I always see you with that pretty Russian boy. So you like them young, huh? Well, I can empathise."

Aureya had to giggle at that, despite having heard that line so many times, the way Taylor put it had to be her firm favourite.

"No, Ma'am, Cadet Chekov is my best friend."

Then she added: "How come no one's grilling Gaila, she has much more interesting stories to tell, ones where stuff actually happens?"

"First off," Taylor gave her another smile "call me Miriam in my own house, secondly, we all know what Cadet Gaila is up to."

Gaila did not seem perturbed by that at all, she just grinned widely.

Shrem felt the need to elaborate:

"Well, there's Kirk, and then there's me, and that guy from Navigation."

"Oh yea, I forgot about him." Gaila sighed.

"You always do, sweetie." Shrem gave her an affectionate smile.

"Ah, Cadet Kirk," Taylor remarked "the young man with the lovely firm bottom."

They all broke into giggles at that.

"I can see why Shrem doesn't mind, Andorians being polygamous and all, how come Jim is Ok with all this?" Aureya felt terribly naïve for asking.

"Friends with benefits isn't quite the same thing as lovers, pet." Taylor pointed out rather astutely. Aureya was marginally glad that things seemed complicated all around.

By the end of the evening both Gaila and Aureya were converted, if not necessarily to knitting, then at least to the circle. They called Taylor "el Capitan" when they left, and Gaila promised to bring Orion crunch balls for their next meeting.

With only five weeks left until the end of the academic year, Chekov contracted Denobulan hic ups. A stupid name for a rather unpleasant if harmless illness, for while it was not dangerous to the patient, the term 'hic up' was in fact misleading, since it referred to short, violent fits of vomiting. He was prescribed bed rest for at least two weeks, and so Aureya ended up not only having her private tutorial, but also Commander Spock's office hour, to sit there and feel awkward.

The Commander behaved mostly normal, with a few exceptions when he initiated blatantly pointless conversations about topics that had nothing to do with what they had been discussing previously. Aureya concluded that he must be feeling awkward too.

During the second week of Chekov's absence, they had just finished grading first year mock exams, he asked:

"On Darius 12 you made an analogy of food, music, and art. I believe you never had the chance to reply to my question as to how you perceive them to be linked. May I ask that you do so now?"

And here we go again.

"I'm sorry, Sir, I don't believe I recall the exact circumstances. Could you remind me?'

"I believe you were strongly in disagreement with my statement that food is merely food and should hold no intrinsic value beyond a simple physical function."

"Oh that. Yea, that's bollocks."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Good food is capable of eliciting great pleasure, of evoking memories, of influencing our state of mind in any given situation, that, in my view makes it art." Aureya clarified.

"Surely that is not an adequate definition of art. Technical perfection, mastery, the meticulous attention to detail, those are some of the aspects which create art. And I may not be too familiar with the visual arts, but I have a passable knowledge of music, and I know for a fact that it is the precise and mathematical arrangement of notes, which defines it."

Aureya laughed rather patronisingly:

"Sir, that's like saying that a paint brush is a painting. You just listed tools, the objects and abstract ideas that are used in order to create art, not the work itself."

He was momentarily silent, so she took the opportunity to add:

"And I know a thing or two about music too."

This seemed to pique his interest:

"You play?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Orion harp?'

"Acoustic Guitar, Sir, though Cadet Gaila is teaching me the harp. Do you play, Sir?"

"Vulcan lute."

"Ah."

Oh great, right back to bloody awkward.

"So, Cadet Newman, what exactly makes music what it is then? What quality have I, according to your standards, missed?"

"I don't think you've missed anything, Sir. And I don't think it has a name, it is what it is, just because you are not aware of it, doesn't mean it's not there…. Have you ever played a sad song and made someone cry, Sir?"

"I believe that on occasion my playing has been described as quite moving, yes."

"Then there you go, now that's not maths, is it?"

He gave her a very thoughtful look, then nodded curtly.

Fuck, there go the black dots again. 'Should really ask Bones about that.

"Sir, I believe it is 1305 Hours." She had never witnessed him losing track of time before, and the little start he gave on being informed of it proved that he was not used to it either.

"Before you leave,… Captain Pike has asked me to inform you that he requests your presence at a short meeting with a small Orion delegation. I believe it is merely as a cosmetic show of inclusion. I have informed him that you are not particularly versed in Orion culture, but he believes that both your as well as Cadet Gaila's mere presence will adequately illustrate our good intentions."

"Certainly, Sir."

"Thank you Ms Newman, I shall see you at 1800 Hours tomorrow evening at the mess hall. Dismissed."

"Cosmetic" clearly was the operative word of the evening. Aureya and Gaila were part of the little group greeting the Orion delegation, then waited outside while the actual talks took place.

"So, what do you think? I like the green bald one." Gaila joked as they were left standing to attention in the hallway.

"The big guy freaked me out, he was staring at me like I was cake." Aureya scrunched up her nose and gave her friend a disgusted look.

"Oh I'm sure his many, many years of experience make up for the bulge." Gaila grinned.

Aureya merely shuddered at this, not entirely convinced that Gaila was actually joking. Judging from her happy grin and the fact that she was humming classical music, she concluded that it would be a bad idea to ask her what she was thinking.

The talks merely lasted an hour, Orion/Federation relations being a rather fragile affaire with everyone involved happy to get things over and done with before anything could go wrong.

The women's "cosmetic" services were required once again as they accompanied the Orions to their shuttle. Captain Pike looked noticeably relieved that the entire thing had gone off without a hitch and was extending a hand in farewell, when the most expansive of the Orion's addressed him:

"Surely, as a sign of good will, it would be within my rights to request a small token of appreciation?" The somewhat disconcerted expressions of the other Orions alerted them all to the fact that something had just gone horribly wrong. Captain Pike, clearly at a loss as to how to reply, wisely chose to reserve his answer by merely giving the Orion a questioning look.

"The half human female intrigues me; I would appreciate it, if she is not in anyone's possession at the moment, if you would bestow her as a gift." He stated this so matter of factly that it took everyone a moment to realise what he had just said.

Captain Pike looked rather stunned, throwing Commander Spock a somewhat helpless look. His decision to dismiss Captain Taylor straight after the talks had clearly been a mistake. With no anthropologist at hand, he seemed rather uncertain as to how to proceed.

The general sense of confusion did nothing to staunch Aureya's rising panic.

They wouldn't, would they?

"Ahhhhm…" Captain Pike began rather lamely, when Aureya felt two hands placed firmly on her shoulders from behind.

"As a matter of fact, Cadet Newman is presently not at liberty to accompany you, Ambassador." Commander Spock had his entire body pressed against her back, his voice was a deep growl in his chest and Aureya deduced from the rather frightened expression of the Orion delegate, that he was giving him his sternest look. Black spots started to seriously impair her vision and the Orions began to swim before her eyes. She could still make out their hasty farewell and retreat though. When they were out of earshot, Pike laughed with relief.

"That was brilliant, Spock, for a moment there I thought we were in serious trouble. I didn't know Vulcans could lie."

"Thank you, Christopher. However, if you recall my words correctly, I did not, in fact, lie. I may simply have inferred some none existent circumstances in a rather forceful manner." Spock's voice was back to normal, he had, however, not let go of Aureya's shoulders. As she turned and tilted her head upward to look at his face, the black dots grew dramatically in size. The last thing she actually saw was the floor lurching towards her at an odd angle and with alarming speed.

Then nothing.

Just blackness.

A/N: Nobody panic!

Reviews? Pretty please?