A missing Spock POV scene from TPB Chapter 38
"So," Puri says as he pulls the chair out next to Spock's.
"Yes?" Spock decides that he looks entirely too pleased with himself, especially considering how the Doctor had spent the entirety of Friday lamenting the scheduling of a meeting for a Sunday afternoon.
"It was a good game," Puri says in a manner all together too calm and with a smile all together too large.
"Was it."
"We won."
"Did we."
"You had Uhura up here."
Spock calls up the document with the meeting agenda that Pike had sent around that morning. He has reviewed it, but not with the thoroughness needed.
"I did," he acknowledges only due to the fact that Puri has yet to turn his attention elsewhere.
"Nice."
There is no response Spock can land upon that is logical and as such, he elects to remain silent.
It is, as ever, the wrong choice.
"What did you two do?"
"She wished to see the ship," he says which is succinct and accurate and unfortunately therefore unlikely to assuage the Doctor's curiosity.
"Come on," Puri says predictably, in a tone that Spock interprets as cajoling. "I need something more than that."
"You do not," he says, resolved to share none of the myriad of details that he has been mulling over since she left.
"What did you show her?" Pike asks and Spock shuts the screen of his padd off. If he did not notice the Captain's arrival it is the fault of attempting to review pertinent documents while also attempting to maintain a conversation with Puri and as the Doctor is not easily dissuaded, it will not be the first instance in which it has affected Spock's attempts to complete necessary tasks.
"Sir," Spock says.
Puri chooses to not greet the Captain but instead exchanges a smile with him that Spock would prefer to at least not witness, even if he cannot prevent its occurrence in the first place.
"Well I hope it was fun," Pike says when Spock continues to not speak. The consequence of such silence is a look from Puri that Spock has seen before, one that is often accompanied by the Doctor informing him that he knows well what it is that Spock is doing and that employing such diversionary tactics is not welcome nor appreciated. For the sake of efficiency as they are, in fact, at the beginning of a staff meeting, Spock chooses to not meet Puri's eyes lest the unspoken become spoken and Spock is once more forced to ensure the Doctor that that is not necessarily what is occurring.
"What was fun?" Hawkins asks as he too arrives and Spock very nearly turns his padd on again when Puri answers entirely too quickly.
"Spock had Uhura up here for the weekend." Puri smiles at him after saying it and then adds in a way that is considerably less than convincing, "Sorry."
"That is fun," Hawkins says and Spock's assumption that the topic would ebb due to the need to begin their meeting is proven false as Pike leans back in his chair, looking right at him.
"Quite the weekend, then, wasn't it, Mr. Spock," Pike says. "Between that and Friday."
Spock is unsure how to answer and while he is not often relieved to find McKenna walking towards him, the other man's presence and Olson's behind him does serve to divert the Captain's attention, an occurrence he finds fortunate. Or would have, were it not apparent that the two men heard enough, if not the entirety, of the conversation to that point.
McKenna gives him the same look that he has on every occurrence in which Nyota's name has arisen, one that Spock is at a loss to parse and one which he is not entirely certain that he wishes to, were he able.
"Had the ship to yourself, didn't you," Olson says in a tone that Spock does recognize and as such chooses to not spend an undue amount of time focused on.
"I'm just glad the calibration actually got done," Pike says causing Puri to laugh in a manner that Spock can only term a snort. The Captain's statement has the unfortunate secondary consequence of provoking Spock to open his mouth to inform him that he would not have overlooked such a duty, only to close it again, unwilling to actually engage in the discussion.
"Spacedock's engineering department was able to complete repairs on the starboard electromagnetic degeneration coil over the weekend," he says instead and furnishes Pike and Olson both with a filmplast detailing the update. He would give Puri one as well but he is resigned to the fact that it would not be nearly sufficient to dissuade him from his preferred topic.
"What's worse," Puri says later, as they file back out of the conference room. He trails Spock down the corridor to his quarters. Spock stops in front of the door without triggering it to open, sure that the state of the interior will only provoke Puri to further unwanted commentary. "Or best, maybe, is that now you've left it all up to our imaginations. I'm going to spend the whole day thinking about this. Thank you for that, Spock, truly. Generous of you."
"I would suggest you apply such enthusiasm to your work, Doctor."
"If by work you mean wife, then you and I are on the same page, my friend," Puri says, aims another smile towards Spock's closed door, and leaves him there in the hall, lamenting the fact that due to the machinations of the Academy housing lottery Puri was introduced to his life in the first place.
He enters his quarters only when the Doctor has exited the corridor, taking in the sight of his bed, imperfectly straightened, and the used dishes left on the corner of his desk. Later, he will change his sheets, return the plate and mugs to the mess hall, and procure a dinner for himself that is likely to be entirely lacking of the flavor combinations of what Nyota brought. The hours will pass filled with his work and eventually sleep and tomorrow he will return to Earth, to sunshine and fog and the bustle of the city and his life there that he has created for himself, fuller now than he would have ever anticipated could be possible. Now, he sits at his desk in the perfect silence of his quarters, the quiet only broken by the clink of the dishes as he sets them further aside, and his focus only interrupted by thoughts of the night before and what waits for him in the future, time stretching out unduly and illogically long, and his work inexplicably tedious as he pulls his padd towards him to begin.
