When he heard someone at his door he thought perhaps T'Leiarel had changed her mind about taking the morning away from each other, but it wasn't her. It was Nyota. He raised his eyebrow in concern and surprise, wondering if something was wrong.
"Spock." She looked him over briefly. "You seem like you are doing better?" She always had been observant and compassionate enough to turn that attention to the wellbeing of others. It was one of the things that had drawn him to her as a potential partner, and had been a large factor in their ability to transition from couple to work colleagues smoothly.
"Indeed." He confirmed. "Certain concerns have been resolved. Others have arisen, but I am sure they too can be settled satisfactorily." His voice was calm, which seemed to settle her somewhat, he had little doubt that she would have been concerned by his behaviour over the last few days. "Please, come in. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Thank you." Nyota entered with a small smile. "I wanted to see how you were doing, and if there was anything you wanted to talk about. Yesterday was somewhat... dramatic. I don't just mean the fighting, but you showed up to the wedding with quite a sense of urgency. It seemed like there was more to things than just protecting someone you barely know." She phrased it as a statement of supposition, rather than directly asking, and had managed to avoid specifically saying he had been emotional and he appreciated her efforts.
"You recall that when we were together I explained a small portion of Vulcan culture which is seldom discussed. As I told you, traditionally Vulcans have their marriages planned for them in childhood, and that I had not been afforded such an arrangement." He began, setting the context of the explanation, she nodded. "There is a telepathic bond involved, and it appears that children T'Leiarel and I accidentally triggered that bond, something I discovered yesterday. There are certain expectations involved that have caused some friction."
"I see." She was soothingly calm, a blessing on this ship where so many of their friends would be reacting with shock and jumping to emotional reactions based on assumptions of an outcome that had yet to be decided. Not that he did not care deeply for his friends, but he was glad that the first he was able to talk with on this matter was Nyota, not least because she deserved to know the situation, especially in light of their history together. "It seems like a difficult situation to find a path through." He nodded solemnly. "But, Spock, you have to know that she is very lucky to have someone like you caring about her. I don't doubt that it is a lot to adjust to, for both of you, but I am sure if there is..." There was a pause as she weighed the terms and realised emotion was the only way to express what she was saying. "If you love each other you will make things work. It's not always that simple, but there are a lot of people on board who care about you and will do what they can to help."
"Nyota..." He didn't want their memories to cause her pain, this must be difficult for her, but he wasn't sure quite what he could say to make things any easier. Her soft smile was a comfort though.
"It's okay Spock. We care about each other, that isn't going to change, but it was clear to me for a while that it was affection not love, and I deserve love." There was only very trace amounts of melancholy to her optimism. "This, however, seems like it could be deeper, which I suppose makes sense if you have this connection between the two of you. Do you know what you are going to do about exploring that?"
"I am not as certain as I would like to be." Spock responded, which was an understatement, of course if it wasn't an understatement he would have simply said nothing on the matter, he had control of himself again and could view his emotions with the distance of logic, but he was well aware that they were there, where usually they might be more easily overlooked. "It is... disconcerting that I do not know how much time I will have to get to know my bondmate, or to see what will develop, we have our mission to get to and she has a life of her own to return to. This afternoon and evening I will be visiting the planet, and I am not sure if she will join me in doing so. That leaves tomorrow before we leave orbit, and I do not know what will happen at that point."
"That must be difficult. Uncertainty is seldom comfortable, and it's hard to predict what people will do... but perhaps you could ask her if she would like to stay on board a little longer? I am sure Kirk will let her stay if you want her to, at least to our next stop, and she did say she would be looking for the next ship off the planet, which is technically us..." Nyota suggested gently, he could see her watching him for his reaction. It was tempting to take the opportunity to get to know her more, but the Enterprise was not a passenger ship, they went into dangerous situations and dealt with exploring new and unknown areas of space. They would be passing through a few of the populated and well known systems on their way to the outer edges of known space, or wherever else it was they would be needed. It was a sensible suggestion. He would need to go back to his work however, and that would mean a lot of time spent on her own with little to do, something that might be a problem for her condition.
"I am not sure of whether that would be helpful for her, unless we can find some activities for T'Leiarel to be engaged in. There is a great deal to do on board but much of it is aspects of our work." He frowned. "I know that I would not feel comfortable were I to be surrounded by so much purpose and excluded from all of it."
"I suppose that makes sense. I doubt the two of you would be nearly so good a match for one another if she was passive and idle though, so perhaps it's a good thing?" There was a reason Nyota was so good at communication, even more than her exceptional hearing, it was her ability to care about the meaning in things, both words and otherwise, and how everything connected to everything else. It was inspiring. "Well, I know that she might decide to simply leave and live elsewhere, but if she DID stay on board, if she joined us and became a part of the crew, what do you think she'd be good at? Perhaps if there doesn't seem like space for her here we can make it?" She suggested, and Spock realised how little he really knew about his potential bride.
That was something he should really address, to be a scientist was after all to explore and develop understanding of the aspects of life one came across, and there was nowhere he would be better served in utilising that skill and curiosity than with those he cared about. Though perhaps that lesson could also be applied to the rest of his crew when he had the time to do so.