Chapter Six
Zuria adjusted quickly to being Spock's aide; this was slightly surprising to her, as she had never done anything of the sort before. The tasks which she was asked to assist in couldn't exactly be called difficult, nor could they be called easy. Thus far, she had helped Spock in grading several homework assignments. Tonight, however, was a different story.
Spock had asked Zuria to help him put together a lesson plan. This was something that she had known she would have to do at some point, but it was an intriguing idea to her. She had flipped through her Advanced Vulcan Studies textbook and looked through the Vulcan book that the class was currently reading in order to prepare herself for a discussion with Spock.
As Zuria tied her hair back in a ponytail, Pallania entered their bedroom, standing in the doorframe.
"So, you're Spock's assistant?" She questioned playfully.
"Yes, Pal. I'm just his assistant." Zuria responded.
Giggling, Pallania asked her next question: "And what do you assist him in? Getting off?"
"Pallania! Is that all you think about?"
"No," Pallania said, shaking her head and grinning. "But I'm just saying: he could use some, you could use some. The two of you together? It could be very… satisfying."
Swallowing hard, Zuria attempted not to think about Spock in such a manner; true, such thoughts had crossed her mind once or twice, but never in such a fashion, and she wouldn't let her roommate instill them in her mind. She made no response to Pallania's comment.
"I wonder what Vulcans are like in bed…" She pondered, at last walking into the room and sitting on her bed. "All those bottled up emotions must make for some pretty intense sex."
"Ok, stop it." Zuria demanded, gathering her things and shoving them into her bag, feeling her cheeks flush lightly.
"Fine; maybe you won't say it out loud, but you've imagined Spock tearing your clothes off, setting you on his desk, and ravishing you on top of all of the papers that you should be correcting." Pallania said, laughter in her voice. Zuria squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to eliminate from her brain the particularly graphic image that her roommate had conjured up.
"Pallania," She hissed, gazing pleadingly at the other girl. "Please."
"Alright, I'll stop for now. But you'll realize just how right I am later." She told her confidently. "Now go meet the logical one; we wouldn't want you to be late, would we?"
Zuria sighed, shaking her head at her friend. "I'll see you when I get back." She promised, slinging her bag over her shoulder, leaving before Pallania could get another word in.
When Zuria arrived at Spock's office, she was surprised to see him standing outside of it with his PADD in his hands.
"Good evening, Zuria." He greeted. Though she had realized it before, Zuria couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful her name sounded when spoken by Spock; after all, he did teach advanced phonology.
"Hello." She returned. "Might I ask why you're standing out here?"
"It is later in the evening than we usually meet; I have not yet eaten dinner. Surely you do not mind if we conduct our meeting in the mess hall?" He inquired, looking at her expectantly.
"No, I don't mind." She assured him. "To be honest, I forgot to eat before I came." She informed him.
"Then let us relocate for this evening, shall we?"
Zuria nodded briefly. Unfortunately, however, in the silence that filled the air as they transferred to the mess hall, her mind had seen fit to summon its earlier images of Spock and herself. Dammit, Pallania, she cursed inwardly.
"What have you brought with you tonight?" Spock's voice came, cutting through her imaginings.
"Uh… just a couple of books." She replied after momentary hesitation. "What exactly do you want this lesson to get across?"
Spock thought for a moment. "I would simply like for it to encourage deeper reading and thinking."
"Ah. Ok." She acknowledged, stepping with him through the mess hall doors. Spock led them through the hall until they found a relatively secluded table; perfect, she assumed, for focusing on the task at hand. They separated briefly as they searched for food, each of them returning to the table with something entirely different; Spock with a simple bowl of soup, and Zuria with a sandwich.
"Are you prepared to begin?" He asked, glancing to her bag.
"Yes." She responded, pulling her books out and setting them on the table. She picked one up, flipping it open to a page that she had bookmarked. "I thought that perhaps this lesson could specifically focus on the similarities and differences between human and Vulcan literature, and why said similarities and differences exist."
Spock sat silently for several seconds before answering: "I think that is a wise decision. Perhaps the class will-"
However, Spock was cut off by the sound of Zuria's PADD.
"Incoming transmission from Pallania Zenir." It alerted her.
"Ignore transmission." Zuria commanded, rolling her eyes. She made a promise to herself that she would give Pallania hell when she got back. "I'm sorry about that." She apologized.
"Your roommate, I presume?" Spock questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. She apparently feels that she needs to be constantly annoying me tonight." She said bitterly, shoving her PADD back into her bag.
"Do you mean to say that you are not friends with her?" Spock inquired, his eyebrows now drawing together.
"No, I'm friends with her, she just has some habits that bother me." Zuria replied, shaking her head. "You're lucky that you don't have a roommate anymore."
A slight smile played on Spock's lips. "Yes, I am. My roommate was hardly pleasant."
"Oh?" She prompted, curiosity easily showing.
"I will not name him, but he was constantly attending and throwing parties. I was often subjected to the sounds of loud music and drunken yelling whilst meditating." He told her.
"Ouch," She responded, sucking in a breath. "Ok, your roommate was way worse than mine. I would kick Pallania out if she pulled anything like that."
"Now that I look back on those events, I find them humorous." He informed her. "It did , however, improve my ability to mediate in… extreme conditions."
A grin began to spread across Zuria's face. "That must be very useful."
"At times, yes." Spock agreed, his gaze moving to the book that she still held in her hands, causing her to look down at it.
"But… we should continue our discussion about the lesson." She said, clearing her throat lightly. For some reason, his eyes showed a strange sort of reluctance, as though he wished to continue speaking casually to her.
However, his words were quick to mask, if not contradict, the reluctance she observed: "Yes, I believe we should." He concurred.
Zuria began to read the passage she had marked, ruminating over the content in it as opposed to the other ones that she had selected.
"May I?" She heard Spock's voice. Looking up from the book, she saw his hands extended slightly towards the book.
"Yes, of course." She invited, holding the book out in offering. She was surprised, however, when his fingers brushed gently against her hands as he took the book from her. She had no clue as to whether the contact had been made on purpose, though she assumed not. Regardless, though, she still felt the gesture, even seconds after it had ended.
The contact alerted her to a thought that been in her subconscious for at least a month now: dear God, I think I'm attracted to him.
Yes, she had been fond of Spock prior to that moment, but in another manner. She had only just begun to accept the fact herself. Inhaling deeply, she cast a quick glance to his ears. They reminded her just how Vulcan he truly was, his eyes being the only human thing about him; at least in terms of appearance. Pallania was right, she thought, slightly surprised at the revelation.
Clasping her hands together, Zuria pulled herself from her thoughts, focusing on Spock's words instead of his appearance as he began to speak.
"Let us continue."
Hey guys!
Well, this chapter was actually pretty easy to write for some reason. For that, I must admit that I am thankful to whatever/whoever is responsible. I hope you enjoyed the chapter
However, I have a feeling that you'll like the upcoming chapter even more. It's even better- I promise.
Anyways, thanks for reading! If you'd be so kind as to oblige me, I'd love it if you could just drop a little comment; it's not that diffiult, really.
Thank you!
-Harley