Nyota
'Well?' Nyota inquired, gesturing towards her uniform.
Spock looked up from his position perched atop his bed. His dark eyes flicked over her from head to toe. 'Your appearance is satisfactory.' he replied shortly.
She pouted and rolled her eyes. 'Satisfactory.' she muttered. 'What about my hair? It look doesn't too…' She twisted her mouth to one side. '… girly?' she concluded patting at the twisted braid.
'I am uncertain what would constitute a 'girly' hair style.' Spock drawled. At her huff he quirked an eyebrow and elaborated. 'You are groomed in an appropriately professional manner to serve as a representative of Starfleet in an official capacity.'
She supposed she'd have to be content with that. He wasn't about to start waxing poetic about how beautiful she was, well, not unless she slipped him a chocolate bar. 'Well, I suppose that's the look I'm aiming for.' she said. 'Thanks.'
Spock gave her a look she didn't really understand and then returned his attention to the PADD he was reading. Although she was certain if she asked him he would deny it, she suspected he was sulking.
'I wish I didn't have to go to this stupid dinner.' she remarked as she dug through her bag for her earrings. The statement wasn't entirely true - whilst the dinner would undoubtedly be dry and boring, she didn't particularly mind - but she wanted to remind her jealous, emotionally repressed Vulcan that she wasn't ditching him of her own choosing.
'It is standard procedure for fourth year xenolinguistic students to serve as translators when the Federation Diplomatic Corps. has need of them in San Franciso.' Spock reminded her tonelessly without looking up from his PADD. What was he reading that was so interesting anyway?
Nyota eyed him as she threaded a pair of polished kolari fire gems through her ears. A gift from Gaila. They matched the red of her uniform. She stepped back into Spock's ensuite and checked her reflection one last time. There was a good half hour before she needed to leave to get to the function hall where the dinner she would be attending was to be held. It was only a short hoverbus ride from Spock's building. She wasn't sure she wanted to hang around his apartment until then however. He was in one of moods. She frowned at her reflection and glanced out the bedroom door.
Her closeness to Spock had proven something of a revelation. For a race who claimed not to feel emotions, he certainly behaved like a moody teenager at times. She wondered, not for the first time, if this was true of all Vulcans and that icy cool demeanour they displayed was just show, or if Spock's personality was an aberration caused by his human DNA.
'Well,' she started as she re-entered his bedroom. He glanced up to regard her with a blank Vulcan stare that seemed contrived. 'I might head out early. Stop and have a coffee or something.' she continued airily and brushed at non-existent lint on her jacket. 'I think a few cadets from my Xenoling. III class were given this assignment as well.' she added.
'Cadets Ling, Gallman and Zu'mos.' he informed her.
'Oh? Cadet Zu'mos?' she inquired perking up. The Rigelian Cadet was one of her more pleasant classmates. She had wicked sense of humour. At least Nyota would have someone to commiserate with and help the evening pass less tediously.
'Indeed.' Spock confirmed his eyes back on his PADD.
Nyota huffed out a breath at his chilly tone but refused to acknowledge it. 'I might just head straight back to the Academy after the dinner.' she informed him evenly, gauging his reaction.
His dark head snapped up and his eyes bored into hers. 'We agreed you would return here.' he replied tersely.
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. 'Do you want me here? Because at the moment that's not the vibe I'm getting.'
He pursed his lips minutely. 'If I found the arrangement unsatisfactory I would have informed you.'
'Because Vulcans don't lie?' she asked sceptically.
'Correct.'
She restrained the urge to roll her eyes. 'Then tell me what's got you so upset.'
'I am not upset.' he replied shortly.
'Fine.' she searched for a synonym he'd accept. 'What is causing your… concern?'
He remained stubbornly silent.
'Agitation?' she tried.
He was looked at his PADD again, ignoring her.
Irritated, Nyota crossed the room to stand beside him and held out her hand to him.
He glanced up and regarded her warily and then looked down at her hand as if it was a blue tentacle or something.
'Show me then.' she said. 'Or reassure yourself that I have no intentions of running off with some old diplomat or whatever crazy thing it is you are stressing about.'
Spock exhaled through his nose. 'I am aware of the irrational nature of some of my thoughts with regards to you Nyota. There is no need. I will meditate on the matter until my control is re-established.'
Nyota was impressed. That was almost an apology. She did not lower her hand however. 'I would feel better if you shared my thoughts.' she said. She didn't want him sitting here brooding when simply holding her hand for a few moments was usually enough to snap him out of whatever moody funk he was in.
His shoulders slumped slightly in defeat. 'Very well.'
Nyota smiled and lifted her hand to twist her fingers against his. First she felt that pleasant, tingly, electric sensation, and then the vague shape of his mind. His thoughts were like clouds. Vapour. Smoke. Insubstantial but very much real. She was surprised at what she sensed. She'd been expecting vague jealously, instead she felt bright hot, impotent, anger.
'Spock?' she asked in concern. 'What is it?' He tried to pull his hand from hers but she tightened her grip. 'Please.' she insisted. There was a chill pause as he pulled himself from her, separated their thoughts, and then he gripped her other hand as well, strengthening the connection and she felt his thoughts once more.
She saw herself with a strained smile standing (too-close) to Admiral Komack (disrespectful-one) with his hands on her body, rubbing against her obscenely in a caricature of a waltz as furious burning anger simmered deep inside her. And then she was looking down at her own happily smiling face and there was a pleasant warm feeling deep in her chest (ashal-veh?) that turned to stone when she smelt him (Komack), the scent of his lust painted all over her. A burning jealous rage flared up inside -
Nyota blinked. The vivid memories faded and the connection muted back to its usual level.
Spock stilled and met her gaze. She felt… shame? He was embarrassed by his anger and jealously since he knew both to be illogical. He felt betrayed by his biological functions that had left him vulnerable to such emotion. None of this he could explain to her in words, but he tried to make her understand without them. His earnest attempt made her heart ache in sympathy. She had not really considered it before, the fact that for a Vulcan, what he felt for her, these jealous emotions, were like a sickness, a wound. They felt unnatural to him. They hurt him.
Nyota stepped closer still, dropping one of his hands so she could cradle his head against her belly. Soothing, comforting. 'It is just a dinner Spock.' she reassured him in his native tongue. 'I'll only be there a few hours.'
He sighed into the cloth of her uniform. 'I am aware. I will meditate.' He was silent for a moment and when he spoke again it was in standard and his thoughts were not so tense. 'You were correct. Sharing this… feeling…. illogical as I know it to be, was helpful.'
She smiled and looked down at him, ruffling his black hair fondly. 'Well, as a human I do have more experience dealing with illogical feelings than you ashal-veh.' A little warm burst of his muted Vulcan affection, (appreciation?), seeped through his fingers as she called him by the Vulcan term of endearment. Her smile widened and she dipped her head and pressed a kiss to his face.
After she straightened he tilted his head and looked up at her, his dark eyes intent. That little warm feeling suddenly became much bigger and much warmer. His fingers slowly twisted against hers, those hot tingly sparks zapping across her skin. Nyota swallowed around a suddenly dry mouth. 'You do not need to depart for the Diplomatic Dinner for another 28.3 minutes by my estimation.' he informed her.
'Oh? Is that so?' she asked innocently. One of his hands slid up the back of her thigh to settle in a warm band just beneath the curve of her butt. He tugged her closer. She narrowed her eyes at his intentions but complied. The hand smoothed up over her ass and pulled at the zip on her skirt.
Nyota let the material slide down her legs but gave Spock a look. 'Presumptuous much?'
He leant forward and mouthed the soft skin above her hip bone with just the barest suggestion of teeth before pulling back to meet her gaze. 'You would deny me?' he inquired in a voice that was very low and very sexy and very close to being smug. 'Are you not mine?'
She sighed but her mouth curled into a little smile.
She did arrive in time for the pre-dinner mixer. No thanks to her weird Vulcan… boyfriend? Lover? She didn't know what to call him, her strange Vulcan. Hmm. Her Vulcan? Well it was fitting since he constantly referred to her as his. If she was his human than logic dictated he was her Vulcan. Even he'd be unable to argue with that. Her brain approved of the justification and the matter was settled.
She had arrived in time for the mixer no thanks to her Vulcan. He'd let her remove her neat, crease-free uniform and lay it out so it would remain that way, and then spent almost the entirety of those 28-point-whatever minutes at their disposal making her loudly and repeatedly, tell him that she was his.
Despite her perfect uniform she'd felt decidedly rumpled by the time she rushed from his apartment. Spock for his part had seemed far too relaxed and irritatingly unconcerned. He'd bid her farewell looking rumpled and tempting with his hair in disarray, his cheeks faintly flushed and a pair of loose pants more or less falling off his hips. The kiss he'd given her at the door had been warm and lingering and very distracting. His attempts to delay her departure had been transparent and yet he'd still managed to detain her an extra five minutes.
She'd ended up taking a hovertaxi in place of the bus just to shave a few minutes of her trip and had still been the last cadet to arrive.
Nyota took a sip of champagne and glanced around the reception hall in an attempt to calm herself. She was vividly and uncomfortably aware that less than an hour previously she'd been pinned naked beneath Spock begging to be fucked. Her cheeks flamed at the memory. She quickly looked around, noting a bald Deltan and a dark-eyed Betazoid, both mercifully far from her. She would not be going anywhere near any telepaths this evening.
Despite her hurried attempts at freshening up before she redressed, her panties were still damp. She felt like there was a big sign flashing above her head advertising that fact. Something like: 'Nyota Uhura - Slutty human girl with Vulcan semen in her panties!' She gave the Orions present an even wider berth then the telepaths. If Gaila's nose was anything to go off, the flashing sign theory was probably pretty accurate in regards to them.
Spotting a group of diplomats free of telepaths or owners of over-developed noses, Nyota introduced herself and her services were politely accepted. Around her the three Andorians, a human and a Tellarite discussed a border dispute between the Cardassians and the Federation over a mineral rich asteroid field. The agreement that had been brokered with Cardassian Union over it was the cause of the celebratory dinner. It was a great achievement to come to any sort of peaceful terms with the xenophobic Cardassians. Their only worthwhile, peaceful, contribution to the Alpha Quadrant in the last few thousand years was the Cardassian Sunrise.
The diplomats around her were using standard, but every now and then one would query her in an aside for a translation of a particular word or phrase in their native tongue. The conversation turned to speak with grudging admiration for the Federation diplomats who had brokered the deal. The Tellarite gruffly requested the correct honorific form of reference for a Vulcan T'Sai, or in Tellarite - a 'Victorious Female'- and Nyota listened in interest as he revealed that the Vulcan diplomat who had led the talks was the son of the revered Lady T'Pau of Vulcan.
It was agreed that T'Pau's clan had produced some worthy individuals and then amused disparaging remarks were exchanged about Vulcans whom the group did not find as praiseworthy. Apparently the Vulcan Ambassador to Tellar had 'green milk in his veins'. Nyota struggled to keep her voice even as she provided translation for that comment into standard. The Andorians tittered.
Tellarites disliked pretty much everyone and the Andorian Empire and the Confederacy of Vulcan had spent almost three centuries in violent disagreement, so the gossiping of the diplomats was hardly surprising. She was asked to provide translation for several further unorthodox phrases. One of the Andorians winked and twitched her antennae at her when the Tellarite referred to a Vulcan Minister on the Federation Council as an 'honourless, soft-toothed, fruit-eating, desert lizard' and Nyota had to bite her lip to stop from snorting. She could imagine the precise way Spock's left eyebrow would raise in disapproval and confusion at the comment. Fruit-eating.
There was a vivid mix of species present so even when the conversation settled down to the less outrageous and more mundane, she did not find the evening as boring as she had feared. There were members of the major Federation powers - Andorians, Tellarites, Orions, and Vulcans, but also a few dozen assorted representatives from minor colonies and worlds that were located within 5 lightyears of the asteroid field under dispute. Most of them were humanoid variants with only small discernible differences to a Terran, but some were magnificently alien. There were three seven foot tall pale green individuals with four arms each, a group of diminutive figures in robes that had feathered crests in place of hair and a jelly-fish like species that seemed to float through the air glowing softly and humming.
Owing to her extensive study and unusually large repertoire of xenolanguages, Nyota found herself reassigned from the amusing Tellarite and Andorian diplomats to be passed around amidst the representatives of the more exotic, little known Federation planets and systems whilst the other translators worked with the more commonplace dialects.
She found conversing such diverse individuals quite enlightening and the rest of her evening passed enjoyably enough.
When she returned to Spock at 11:32 hours he pulled her into his arms and inhaled deeply. Nyota tensed slightly, wondering if the smells of a room full of aliens had somehow rubbed off on her.
'You smell of champagne.' he declared. 'And me.'
He sounded very pleased with himself.