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"Mmm, so good," Uhura murmured.
She closed her eyes and let the smoke fill her lungs before exhaling.
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.
The repetition was calming. The utter control she had over the whole situation was something she secretly craved; something she needed to keep a semblance of sanity.
That's what she needed; to feel like she was in control.
She took a long drag of her cigarette and glanced outside the office window so she could see the engine room. She smiled to herself completely aware that the engine room was probably the worst place she could've picked to take her smoking breaks. She easily could've set off sparks and caught something on fire or worse blown up the ship…but she was safe about it. She needed this time to collect herself and think.
She had just needed a place where no one would bother to look for her. She hated to admit it, but she would be mortified if any other crew member found out about her vice. Her weakness.
Uhura was fortunate that Scotty had been the only one to discover her secret thus far. He was kind enough to let her hide in his office so she could indulge without the fear of being caught by another member of the crew or have the fear of blowing up the ship dwell on her conscience when she was trying to relax. He understood her need to have a smoke every once in a while; after all Scotty had his own vices.
So, three times a week Uhura snuck down to Scotty's office, telling anyone who asked she would be in her quarters trying to catch up on sleep, so please don't disturb.
Occasionally Scotty would keep her company while she smoked. He'd pour the two of them drinks and she'd share her cigarettes and they would talk. They often had silly conversations, but had had several intimate ones, Uhura sharing more than she ever would've thought on topics ranging from her upbringing to her relationship with Spock, and she was always surprised at Scotty's depth when he responded to her own queries.
Although she loved her bonding moments with Scotty, she cherished her alone time.
Uhura used the time to sort out whatever was bothering her. Whether it was Kirk's never-ending innuendo comments or the fact that she wished, even though she knew she shouldn't, that sometimes she could just hold Spock's hand as they walked down the hallway or kiss him even with the others in view without feeling uncomfortable; she came to terms with all of her worries and problems on her smoking break.
She let out a puff of smoke and watched as it swirled in front of her, catching on the lights in the office.
Uhura sighed realizing she had been gone longer than she had wanted to be; people would begin to wonder if she was seriously ill. The last thing she needed was to be poked and prodded by Dr. McCoy and hovered over by Kirk and Spock.
She stubbed out her cigarette and couldn't help but think that as each break went by they seemed to get shorter and shorter.
"Buck up Nyota. Time to go to work."
Before completely exiting the room, Uhura turned around to make sure the cigarette had been put out indefinitely.
The smoke had disappeared.