The next day passed without incident. Giotto taught her how to climb a Jefferies Tube ladder (facsimile, with safety harnesses or McCoy would've killed them both) with only one leg, and then with only one arm.

But still, at the end of the day, Elle couldn't fall asleep in her quarters. Maybe it was the whole fear of dying thing, maybe she was homesick. The steady ache in her chest was going away though, diminishing by bits and pieces.

She ended up in the Science Labs again, watching Spock code something into the computers. The keyboard was in Federation Standard but the code he was outputting was Vulcan, which meant he must be using the transliteration system and just didn't need the keyboard overlay that would tell you which button was for which letter. Neat.

Elle dozed off to the soft tap-tap-tap of keys, and went to bed once Spock had finished his programing.

The next morning, he approached her at breakfast. Which meant he was late for the bridge, because Elle's breakfast meant Alpha Shift was already a half-hour gone. "Elle."

"G'morning, Cmdr," she said, giving him a small smile.

He sat across from her. "If you are not averse to it, I would teach you to meditate in the Vulcan manner," he said. "It will be much more efficient for your developing circadian rhythm."

She blinked. "For real?" Then she realized. "Oh. I'm getting in the way, aren't I? Sorry. I can stop interrupting you."

Spock gave her what would be an exasperated eye-roll in anyone else. "Elle, that was not what I said. I am offering to guide you in meditation techniques that will aid you in falling asleep, as well as using the accompanying breathing exercises to calm yourself from any future anxiety attacks."

"Oh." Elle bit back a delighted shout. "That would be great, Commandr Spock, thank you."

"I have asked Lt. Uhura to join us, as she has also expressed interest in learning," he added.

Elle nodded. "Logical."

His eyebrow quirked. "Precisely. Until this evening, then." And he went off to the bridge.

Elle waited until he'd left to let out a fist-pump and give a quiet whoop of 'awesome!'. She steadied herself. Okay. Okay. Be cool. Don't go all fangirl on him. Not even full humans appreciated overt fangirling.

She made sure to clean her room after dinner.

-/\-

"Imagine the surface of a lake in the early-morning stillness. Inhale. Exhale slowly, making sure you do not disturb the surface of the lake."

The quiet instructions continued, allowing Elle to quiet her mind's busy thoughts flitting this way and that. Gradually, she relaxed.

"That is enough for today," Spock said, his tone calm.

Elle opened her eyes and looked over at him. She stifled a yawn. "How'd I do?" she asked.

"You did well," he said. "It might be useful to take an esper rating as we move forward."

"Esper rating?" she echoed.

"ESP," Uhura explained, stretching her arms above her head and stifling a yawn. "Your placement tests showed a high level of empathy and if you're really good at this you might actually not be psi-null like most humans."

"Present company excepted," Spock added, raising an eyebrow at the comm officer.

She just grinned at him.

Elle only got one thing out of that. If she wasn't psi-null, then- "Does that mean you can teach me the nerve pinch?" she asked, maybe a little too eagerly.

Spock raised an eyebrow at her.

"It'd only be logical to defend myself, since most of my opponents will be larger than me," Elle said, giving him her best puppy-eyes.

Uhura put a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter. "She's got you there, commander," she said.

Spock deliberately did-not-roll his eyes. "If you place high enough on the esper scale, I will teach you the nerve pinch," he agreed.

Elle didn't squee. She didn't. Instead she bowed her head and said, "Thank you."

Uhura laughed again and stood up. "Thank you for the lesson, Mr. Spock." She kissed Elle's cheek when the latter stood up. "See you tomorrow, sugar."

"Night, lieutenant," Elle replied.

"I shall see you tomorrow," Spock told Elle. "Rest well."

"Sweet dreams," she said.

"Vulcans do not dream," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"You do," she said.

He paused in the doorway. "How do you know this?"

"I just do." She couldn't remember if it was a novel, a fanfic, or an episode.

He raised an eyebrow but only said, "Good night, Elle."

She went to bed. This time, she did the breathing exercises, in, out, in... out... until she fell asleep.