Of Tea and Music

Chapter 10: Aftermath

The next day Uhura insisted on reporting to the bridge at her regular shift. Spock was not happy. He spent much of that shift standing behind her chair, watchful, intent on keeping Charlie away from her. He drew several odd looks. Uhura finally motioned him away rather pointedly. He went to his own station, seated himself, but kept his chair angled so that he could see her at all times.

When the shift ended he escorted her to the mess hall and then to her room, where he cautioned her to stay inside, out of Charlie's way, until they could figure out how to handle the disturbed adolescent. As she was still sore from the attack, she did not argue with him. In fact, the concern was quite pleasant. She hadn't been the subject of such an amount of protectiveness in quite a long time - if ever.

Spock went down the hall to the rec room for his regular game of chess with Captain Kirk. Jim played a very illogical game of chess, which made anticipating his moves very interesting. He even managed to win a game on a fairly regular basis. As they were finishing their game, Charlie came into the rec room and wanted to play. Spock set the pieces up and tried to offer instruction, but Charlie was impatient and would not listen. When he quickly lost the game, he became quite angry, so Spock left the rec room immediately, not seeing that behind him, Charlie had melted the chess pieces.

***

The next day, Spock was at his station engrossed in some energy readings when Uhura's console erupted in sparks. She yelped, throwing her arms up and flying out of her chair to the floor. Kirk was out of his chair and around to help her, blocking Spock's way before he could disengage from his instruments. He called over his shoulder to Spock to call McCoy to the bridge, which Spock quickly did. How seriously was she injured? His heart sped up. He tried to get up to go and check on her, but Charlie came onto the bridge and pinned him to his chair with the force of his mind, making him recite poetry. Somehow Kirk was able to convince the seriously deranged young man to leave the bridge. Spock immediately left the bridge to go to sick bay and check on Uhura. She had only a couple of bruises and one minor burn, thankfully. Doctor McCoy gave him a very strange look as he escorted her out of sick bay and back to her quarters again.

***

The next day things got even worse. Charlie somehow managed to freeze all the controls on the bridge. Uhura couldn't even get a clear subspace channel. Spock came over to help her and they worked on the console for some time trying to unfreeze it with no success.

Charlie came onto the bridge and usurped the command chair, controlling the whole ship. Spock finally had an idea and Bones concurred, so they started turning on every system they could find - all the instruments on all the consoles. Uhura caught on to what they were doing and starting helping them. It was too much for Charlie and he finally lost control of the ship and its systems. It was right after that that the entities that had kept him alive came and reclaimed him.

***

The ship slowly settled back into its normal routine. However, there was a problem. Spock realized how out-of-character he had been acting. People were eyeing him strangely in the corridors. He wasn't sure how to handle this. Finally, he determined that he must consult with Nyota. He paced down the corridor to her quarters, careful to be unobserved. He tapped the touchpad beside her door and was startled when it opened immediately. He stepped inside quickly and looked around. He did not see her, but he could hear her singing softly. Then a soft noise he had not paid much attention to stopped, and he realized that she had been taking a shower. He considered whether he should leave or not, but just then the bathroom door opened, disclosing Nyota, still damp, wrapped in a towel. She started slightly at seeing him standing there.

"Oh, Spock, you gave me a start. I wasn't expecting you." She crossed to where he stood, looking up at him. "Are you okay? You look a bit - odd."

He worked hard at suppressing his great desire to rip that towel off of her wet body and carry her to the bed that was so close by. They really needed to talk - first. And then there was the possibility that she would not want him any more after that. That possibility made his blood run cold. He steeled himself and began to talk, not quite meeting her eyes. "I needed to discuss something with you. When I tapped your touchplate, the door opened."

"Does that bother you? I thought - if you didn't have to stand in the hall - it would be better."

"It was extremely considerate of you. I do appreciate it." He finally met her eyes. "Nyota, I..we..please can we talk?" He didn't really know how to continue.

She looked up at him, her face soft. "I think I know what the problem is, Spock. Come sit on the couch and I will put on my robe." She walked to the closet while he seated himself, drawing out a short kimono, which she slid her arms into, discarding the damp towel as she tied the robe about her waist. He got glimpses of smooth brown skin as she did so. She did not try to hide herself from him at all. She came and sat down on the couch close to him, tucking her legs up so that she was sitting cross legged, almost facing him. She looked up at him. "Spock, I think things kind of got out-of-hand this week. People are talking. I have a feeling that's making you uncomfortable." She stopped, obviously waiting for him to speak.

He took a deep breath, let it out slowly. "Yes. I find that I have acted so out of character that other crew members do not understand. I do not wish for you to have your privacy compromised. I..I .. " He hesitated, then spoke again in a rush. "I do not wish to end what we have begun. Is there any way that you can think of that we can continue, but in a way that will not call attention to us? I am asking for help, Nyota. Please." He felt his ears flush and had great difficulty in keeping his eyes focused on hers. He felt raw. And afraid. She would surely not agree to this.

She reached across and laid her hands on top of his where they rested in his lap. "I think we can do that, Spock, if we try. If we do not walk the corridors together, but meet at designated places as if by accident. If we do not touch in public - unless, of course, there is a reason. If.." Here she hesitated. "If we do not look at each other for long periods of time. Things like that."

He considered the things she had said. Yes, that made sense. Those were the things they had been doing this week - the actions that had brought stares and questioning looks. "I agree. You have made very logical decisions. Yes, you have been very helpful, Nyota." He gently disengaged one of his hands from her grasp and lifted it to her cheek, stroking softly down her smooth skin. "I will not touch you unless you need assistance - like when you were thrown from your chair by the explosion in your console. But.." He swallowed. "If there is an occasion when you are unobserved, it would be acceptable for you to touch me with your fingertips...occasionally."

She smiled widely at him. "I think I can manage that, Spock. And I can't think of anyone I'd rather have help me up off the floor."

He heaved a great sigh of relief. She had not rejected him. There would be more touching, more talking over tea, more.

And then she slipped out of her robe and climbed into his lap. Oh, yes, definitely more.