Chapter Nine

It had been a long two and a half weeks since what Zuria had began calling the "Cardassian Sunrise Incident" had passed. Each second that she spent with Spock was both wonderful and torturous; she loved being with him (in fact, she had been hard pressed of late to admit to liking something more), but each subtle touch filled her with excitement and despair. It was highly unlikely, she'd told herself, that Spock would ever act on his interest in her; if, indeed, he was interested. After all, he was her professor and her superior. And he was Vulcan.

Presently, she sat with the selfsame Vulcan at his desk. He had assigned the class an essay to write, as they had just finished reading a famous piece of Vulcan literature. The two of them had already been grading for several hours and had barely gotten half of the papers done.

Glancing up from an essay that she had been reading, Zuria turned to check the time. 6:32 o'clock.

"Is there something that is bothering you, Zuria?" Spock questioned, sensing her change in focus.

"No, not really; I'm just a little bit hungry." She responded, waving a hand dismissively. He sat very still for a moment before setting down his pen, transferring his grip to the arms of his chair.

"Very well, then." He acknowledged, standing. "Let us make a visit to the mess hall, shall we?"

Looking briefly down at the essay before her, she nodded. "Ok. Just for a little while; we still have a lot of essays." She consented, adding in a brief reminder.

"I am aware; however, a brief period of respite could be of some good to us both.

Accepting his words, Zuria stood as well, taking her place next to Spock as they exited his office and ventured to the mess hall.

Surprisingly, it was relatively empty when they arrived. Only several small groups of cadets were seated at the tables. Spock and Zuria retreated to their usual secluded spot, him sitting down.

"Are you going to get food?" She asked, gripping onto the back of her chair.

"I do not feel the pressing urge to consume anything at present." He informed her. "If, however, you wish for me to join you-"

"No, it's ok." She cut in, raising a hand. "I'll be right back."

And she was true to her word. As she was in his presence, she chose her meal very carefully. In the end, it turned out to be composed of only strawberries and yogurt.

"Are you positive that the foods you have selected will be filling enough?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." She answered, opening the yogurt and taking a spoonful. "Like I said, I'm only a little hungry."

The discussion about food ended there. Zuria thusly changed the subject.

"How do the essays that you've been grading look?" She questioned, reaching for a strawberry.

"They are fine," He began, clasping his hands together and resting his chin on them. "I feel that some of them are missing the proverbial point."

"Which is…?" She prompted.

"Zuria, I am sure that I do not need to inform you which "point" I am speaking of." He told her. His words called for an answer.

"No, you don't." She agreed. After all, she was his aide. "The point is that Vulcans really do have emotions that run very deeply within them, emotions that they control with logic."

There was silence between them for a short period of time. Zuria could hear his changed breathing, and she was certain that he could hear hers.

"You are correct." He replied at last, speaking no more on the subject. The conversations that followed were about trivial things; the weather, the states of their other classes, and how their evenings had been spent. A debate about flavors of yogurt also occurred; vanilla, they had decided, was the best bet in all situations, due to its universal appeal as a flavor in general.

Their time spent in the mess hall drew to a close shortly after Zuria had finished eating. Discarding her garbage, she rejoined Spock, returning to his office with him. He placed his hand on the scanner, causing the door to slide open. He gestured for her to enter the room first. She did, sitting back down in her seat, him mirroring her actions.

"Are you ready to continue?" He asked, reaching for his pen.

"I am." She informed him, picking up her pen as well.

Several more hours passed, and the stack of papers had thinned considerably. Spock and Zuria's arms had brushed several times as they reached for the next essay, sending a jolt through her body. The air around them had grown both tense and, at the same time, strangely relaxed. These two opposites together made her hypersensitive, a chill setting in over her body.

At last, the two of them had reached their final essays. Glancing sideways, Zuria saw that it was her own essay that Spock held. She read carefully through the paper that she had just picked up. Unfortunately for her, it was a relatively short one, and she was subjected to what was almost tangible silence as he read her essay.

After finishing, he set it down. She noted that he had not made a single marking on the paper.

"You appear to be cold, Zuria." Spock acknowledged, shifting his gaze to her. She glanced down, noticing for the first time that goose bumps covered her arms.

"A little." She said. Biting the inside of her cheek, she reached for his hand, her own shaking slightly as she did so. However, she almost drew back when their skin met.

"You realize that you're just as cold, Spock." She informed him, turning his hand over and running her thumb across his palm. Even she was surprised at the boldness of her actions; after all, this time she was sober.

Spock, however, did not pull his hand away.

"As I am sure you are well aware, Vulcan is a hotter planet than Earth. We must, as such, have cooler skin than humans." He explained, though his eyebrows drew slightly together. "The temperature difference between humans and Vulcans is not generally noticeable. I am surprised that you were able to detect it."

Zuria blamed her current hypersensitivity.

"So… was my essay satisfactory?" She questioned, changing the subject.

"Very much so, yes." He informed her, his eyebrows returning to their usual place.

"Did I get the point?"

"Yes. I could not have stated it better myself." He replied, a small grin drawing at the corners of his lips at her tone of voice. She chuckled once before the silence returned.

This time, however, the silence was expectant. Their eyes met; both of them were waiting for the other to say or do something.

Zuria's heart began to palpitate in what felt like an entirely irregular manner to her. It sped up, skipping several beats as well. Inhaling deeply, she inclined her head towards Spock's slightly, shortening the distance between them. His face drew closer as well, and she felt his breath as it delicately touched her skin.

For what seemed like both decades and seconds, they sat unmoving. Zuria had half the mind to pull away, brushing off the moment, gathering her things and leaving.

To her surprise, however, Spock took his free hand and placed it under her chin, closing his eyes before drawing her in to meet his lips.

For the briefest moment, Zuria was almost frozen, but her eyes shut and she responded to his gentle kiss.

He pulled away first, turning his glance to the pile of essays that they had completed.

"Forgive me, Zuria. That was entirely inappropriate. Should you desire to report my actions to-"

He was interrupted by Zuria's finger as it pressed against his lips, quieting him.

"You'll have to report my actions too, then." She said. "Because I kissed you back, and I certainly didn't want you to stop."

She lifted both of her hands, holding his face still as she brought her mouth to his. He hesitated for several moments before placing a hand on her back, trailing his fingers slowly up and down. He traced his tongue carefully along her lips, tempting them to part. When they did, she found herself pleasantly surprised; he tasted like cinnamon.

When they broke away, Zuria found herself grinning. That was the best kiss she'd ever had; maybe it was a Vulcan thing.

Either way, neither of them was finished, and they were content to let the clock tick away as they continued to kiss.

Hey guys!

Well, another quick update. I'll try and have one up tomorrow, too. Wednesday is less likely, however; I have to travel. Fortunately, though, I always bring my laptop with me when I go anywhere, which means that updates will still happen.

So... I told you that this would be an exciting chapter. I'm pretty sure I kept my word. Hehe.

If you'd be so kind, I'd love it if you'd leave a review. It truly means a lot to me.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

-Harley