They had played three games of chess, Spock had won twice, although it had been close all three times. They had done some reading, listening to music and quietly enjoying each other's presence. It had been pleasant but the inaction was wearing, and so she had enquired if there was an exercise space on the ship.
Spock was not entirely sure whether the exercise was helping. It was almost the opposite of the problem with the reading; there his mind had been busy and his body restless, now his body was active but his mind roiled. He pushed himself to lift a heavier weight than usual, not sure whether it might in part be motivated by a desire to impress, but for the most part simply wanting to vent his energy. His mind and his eyes were fixated on her however, as she slipped through the motions of a moving meditation, part yoga, part martial art, part dance, similar in some respects to the human practice of tai chi, but involving more bending. It was fluid and graceful, and he could not look away. He had occasionally seen this form of meditation practiced before on Vulcan but they were less popular than sitting meditations, considered a less pure way of focusing the mind, fit only for children and those teaching children. Her movements seemed far more practiced, he wondered how often she did this.
"Here you are." Kirk interrupted his thoughts. Carefully Spock put the weight down, resisting the urge to throw it. "Bones told me you were signed off duty, something about a medical requirement? He wasn't very specific." In fact he had said 'ask them if you want to find out so bad, some top secret Vulcan thing, both of them'. "I just wanted to check you were both doing okay?" Kirk watched as T'Leiarel finished her last few movements, head tilted with an appreciative look that made Spock glare. Slowly she turned to face them both, raising an eyebrow at the look on Spock's face, reminder enough to smooth it to calmness by the time Kirk looked in his direction in confusion.
"I am managing as well as can be expected in the circumstances Captain. I believe the same can be said for Commander Spock." The captain looked between the two of them, clearly trying to figure out what was going on and very aware that they were keeping information from him. For several long moments nobody spoke.
"Was there anything else Captain?" Spock asked eventually, moving to stand by T'Leiarel. He noticed the gravity shift as he stepped into the floor work space she had selected, it only made sense that she would need levels of gravity similar to Vulcan for bodyweight movements. T'Leiarel smiled to herself as she noticed he had placed himself slightly between herself and the Captain.
"Well… I wanted to let you know we should be arriving early tomorrow. I think Scotty might have boosted the warp drive again on the quiet. Anyway, shouldn't be too long." He shifted awkwardly, the pair of them watching him was disconcerting. He had started to get used to Spock just watching him when he was speaking without saying anything, but this was two of them, and one of them was definitely smirking.
"Thank you for the information." Her voice was calm, even amused but somehow, without turning, Spock could feel a faint thrum of anxiety. Perhaps it was just his own worry about her leaving. He had only spent a few hours with her, and yet it felt as if he had always known her and couldn't imagine being apart. He had to remind himself this connection was hormonal, and that she likely wanted to return to Earth once her business on New Vulcan was complete. "I am going to clean up." She rested her hand on his shoulder, bare in the work out vest, her fingers warm in the cool air. The touch was comforting, although he knew it was likely about gauging his current state of mind. He tried to think positive thoughts, which wasn't hard as he looked back at her. He filled his mind with contentment in the moment. "Dinner in the mess hall in one hour. I have a busy day tomorrow it would seem."
"So you two seem to be getting pretty close." Kirk commented once she had left, Spock responded with a raised eyebrow. "Making dinner plans, telling you what to do… it's almost like the pair of you are married." He knew it was an attempt at a joke but Spock couldn't help narrowing his eyes at a pang of envy. "What are Vulcan weddings like anyway?"
"Perhaps you should ask T'Leiarel for an invitation." In truth the knowledge that he would never be bonded to anyone was an old pain, familiar, for all that it was being brought to the foreground currently. He wanted to be there, but he had no reason to be. He had a feeling this would end in violence, if her brother pushed her would she demand Kal-if-fee? And, if so, who would be her champion? "Good day, Captain." He nodded, politely and made his way to get changed, pushing down the urge to go straight to her and make her promise not to leave the ship. To never leave the ship where he could keep her safe.
Kirk watched his first officer go. He had not expected the joke about marriage to have had that much of an effect. Something was clearly wrong, that much had been clear from the shuttle but was even more obvious now, as well as the obvious crush Spock seemed to have on their guest. He wondered whether she had noticed yet. Sighing he decided to wait and see what happened, this seemed more than a little out of his area of expertise, if it wasn't settled by the time they were due to leave Vulcan he would have to look into it more closely.