AN- Sorry for the delay with this! School and work are kicking my butt! Hope you like this chapter!

-Spock-

It had now been 2 weeks 4 days and 7 hours, 24 minutes and 13 seconds since cadet Uhura and I had begun our work together on the Kobayashi Maru project. Currently we were not together, but due to my increased exposure to her I could now strongly feel her presence no matter her location. I could also describe her emotions more accurately then I could before. At the moment cadet Uhura was feeling slightly hungry but excited. Based on these two facts I assumed that she must be at her pre-lunch subspace communications class. There was now no need for me to have her schedule memorized, although I had already done so. Small bursts of annoyance spread throughout the bond today as well. I often wondered who she was with that caused her such exasperation.

"Earth to Mr. Spock. I know that I haven't been able to sit down and have lunch with you in a while but that doesn't mean that you get to give me the cold shoulder." Captain Pike waved his right hand in front of my face.

"..I apologize Captain. I have been quite immersed in my project as of late."

I had been so immersed in the bond that I had completely disregarded my surroundings. Currently I was in the cafeteria eating lunch with Captain Pike in the staff section. The cafeteria was rather quiet since most of the cadets were still in class.

Captain Pike laughed at what I had said. "You Spock? You're so immersed in one thing that you can't even manage to talk to me! I thought you were the king of multitasking."

"I assure you that I am no monarch Captain. However my project has been occupying most of free time. I rarely think of anything else if given the chance." My eyes caught the glint of a metal object in the Captain's left hand. "Captain is that an alcoholic beverage you are drinking?"

The captain smiled and took a drink from his steel flask that smelled strongly of whiskey. The captain had told me that he would refrain from drinking on campus during his off hours as it was a regulation violation, but it appeared as if that resolve was short lived.

"Anyways Spock I'm glad that you found something that you are so interested in. I always thought that you felt generally neutral towards everything. It's good to know that you can be passionate about something!" Captain Pike smiled at me and raised his flask before taking another large drink.

"…I have always had the capacity to feel such emotions but I have never been so engrossed in something before. I hope the final product will be satisfactory."

Although I was quite interested in the Kobayashi Maru project, I would not say that I was necessarily passionate about it. However I doubt that Captain Pike would be as impressed with me if he knew what I was really focused on.

"I'm sure the project will turn out great. You have my utter confidence Spock!" He tipped his flask at me and then glanced around the cafeteria. "Shit, it's getting packed in here. Classes must be getting out. Quick, tell me what you're doing next so I can ask you about it next week. "

As Captain Pike finished consuming his meal I told him a condensed version of what I was doing. "This week I will be completing the scripting of the scenarios and I will be testing a number of mathematical formulas that are to be used in the project. However for the latter I will need my assistant's help."

Captain Pike stood up quickly and grabbed his tray to dispose of it. "Sounds good Spock, best of luck to you. I'll see you next week then." He hastily proceeded to put on his coat. "Also if you're looking for your assistant I believe she is over there." He pointed to the west side of the cafeteria.

I glanced over in the direction he was pointing. Sure enough cadet Uhura was seated amongst a large group of other first year cadets.

"I see. Thank you for pointing that out to me Captain. I shall see you next week."

Captain Pike nodded and was on his way. After he left I sat by myself at the table for 1.2 minutes contemplating about whether or not I should approach cadet Uhura when she was amongst her colleagues. I needed to clarify some of the mathematical methods she had used when we created the code to monitor life support systems. Logically it made sense to ask her about it now so that no time would be wasted after class today. However it felt intrusive asking her during her lunch hour. I compiled a mental list of pros and cons and found that the pros outweighed the cons. I stood up and made my way over to cadet Uhura's table.

-Uhura-

"Jim knock it off I think you've teased Christine enough!" McCoy shouted while fighting back the urge to laugh.

"Yeah Kirk why are you such an ass sometimes?" I joined McCoy in his berating of Kirk.

For the past half hour Kirk had been teasing Christine about whether or not her hair had been dyed blonde because of this weird rumor that the commander preferred blonde girls to brunettes.

"I'm just saying that you look like you'd be way cuter with brown hair Christine. That's all I'm saying! I don't know why you guys are getting so upset about this." Kirk joked again and didn't seem like he was going to stop.

It was the usual crowd at the lunch table and we all let out a collective sigh.

"Let's just eat already, okay?" Christine said in a squeaky, flustered voice.

"Zat sounds good." Chekov replied in fed up agreement.

We all sat in silence as Kirk rattled of a bunch of blonde jokes. Some of them were actually pretty funny and I had to stifle a laugh. After a couple minutes I noticed that Kirk had finally shut his trap. I looked up at him and his eyes would dart back from me to the head of the table.

"You guys. Commander pointy ears is coming this way." Kirk told us in a mock-serious tone.

"You mean Commander Spock is? Oh geez how does my hair look Nyota?" Christine asked me discretely.

Sadly Kirk overheard. "It looks great Christine. Vulcans love the all nature blonde look." He replied sarcastically.

McCoy shook his head with his hand over his face. Chekov and Sulu were staring expectantly in the direction of the commander. When he finally reached us half of our table had averted their eyes. Only McCoy, Kirk and I were left staring.

"Good afternoon cadets." The commander greeted us just as every other professor would, yet Chekov, Sulu and Christine were still silent. His cold reputation had obviously had an impact on them.

"Top of the mornin' to you commander! Any luck at the end of the rainbow today?" Kirk replied and saluted the commander.

Oh my god. Everyone at our table froze. I stared up at the commander. His face was unreadable.

"Jim! What the hell! That's a senior officer you're talking to." McCoy grumbled under his breath.

Kirk didn't say anything and just looked up eagerly at the commander.

"I see that you are attempting humor cadet. However using some original material might have been more effective. I have been likened to a leprechaun far too often for it to be amusing anymore."

The table remained silent. McCoy was the first to break it.

"O-oh. He got you good Jim."

"Bones he didn't GET me. Please." Kirk waved his hand nonchalantly as if to dismiss his burn.

The commander let out a small sigh. "Although I would love to continue this banter with you cadet Kirk, I have actually come to discuss some matters with cadet Uhura."

The table all stared at me. It was too bad that their conversation had ended so soon. I would have loved to see the commander rip Kirk a new one.

"What did you need commander?" I asked curiously. The commander rarely spoke to me outside of class and project hours.

"Yeah what did you need commander?" Kirk mimicked me and batted his eyes at the commander.

Commander Spock looked past me and gazed vacantly at Kirk. "Cadet Uhura I would like to know what mathematical methods you used to determine the rate at which life support depleted after a direct hit from a photon torpedo."

I didn't really understand why he was speaking to me in Vulcan but I nodded and began rifling through my bag to find my work from that problem. "I apologize that you have to wait while I go through my things to find my work commander."

"Uh- Hold on. What are you guys saying?" Kirk asked in a mock whine while the rest of the table had continued to eat. "Hey Uhura are you guys talking about you project?"

I ignored Kirk's incessant questioning and continued flipping through my notebooks. Crap. The notes weren't anywhere to be found. I probably left them in the lab.

"Commander I left my notes in the lab. If you have the time we could go and retrieve them so you can review my process before the end of the day."

"That would be acceptable if it is not inconvenient."

"It is not at all commander. We can go right now actually." I stood up and shoved all of my materials into my bag. "I'll see you guys later."

As I turned to leave I felt a slight tug on my sleeve. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that it was Kirk. He was looking up at me with big puppy dog eyes. It was very disturbing.

"Uhura you're just gonna abandon us to go work? But you haven't even finished your lunch yet."

Now the commander was looking at us too. "Cadet Kirk. I appreciate you concern for your fellow cadet. I have a sufficient amount of food stored in the lab for cadet Uhura since there is no replicator in my lab. She can return to her normal eating habits tomorrow." He turned back around and continued towards the exit.

Kirk let go of my sleeve. "He made a food stash for you in your project lab?"

"Uh yeah. I guess so?" I turned and faced Commander Spock. "When did you do that commander?"

Without skipping a beat while walking he replied, "Today at 7:46 am."

Everyone at the table was gawking at me.

"Well hell I wasn't aware that Vulcan's were capable of kindness." McCoy interjected.

"Yeah, how nice of him" Christine sighed.

"Well who knows! Maybe Santa's elves really do have souls!" Kirk smiled up at me "Anyways we'll see you tomorrow Uhura." Kirk turned back towards Christine and laid on a few more blonde jokes for good measure. She looked like she was about to cry. He had such a short attention span.

"Well bye then!" I waved as I left.

I heard a small chorus of goodbye's and see ya's come from the table as I departed. As I rushed towards the commander I felt a broad smile spread across my face.

"Why are you smiling?" the commander asked me while we were walking towards the lab.

His question caught me by surprise. "Oh- I'm just happy that I get to do some more math today. So far all I've done today is write papers."

Commander Spock nodded and we walked on in silence. While I was indeed grateful to have a respite from all the tedious essay writing, that wasn't all I was smiling about. The commander filling a cupboard with snacks for me was as ridiculous as it was sweet. I often felt hungry during our extended periods of work but I had never once complained about it. I'd even managed to keep my stomach rumbling to a minimum. He must have Vulcan ESP or something. For the entire walk over I couldn't manage to wipe the grin off of my face. I kept imagining what kind of face he made when selecting the snacks for me. I could see him contemplating over which bag of chips were better based on their sodium levels and method of packaging.

"…The likelihood of it raining is at 58% today." The commander said quietly. I assumed this was an attempt at small talk.

"Judging on how the clouds look I think it's going to rain today as well. My mother was always good at predicting the weather. I never was though."

"Did she have powers of precognition?" he asked seriously.

I had to stifle a laugh. "No she was just good at guessing commander."

"I see."

We continued chatting until we reached the labs. With every conversation we had I could feel myself finding him less and less awkward. Keep up the good work commander.

-Spock-

If I was not capable of great amounts of restraint I would have broken cadet Kirk's arm. His teasing was a trivial matter but I could not help but feel an immense amount of rage when he had prevented her from coming with me. He had barely touched her but I still felt as if it was a challenge to my claim on her. I couldn't even restrain myself from speaking to her in Vulcan to assert my dominance. My primal impulse was to tear off his limbs to prevent him from ever touching her. However this idea was not logical. Instead I was forced to practice my utmost restraint and reveal my gift to her before I was ready to. She seemed to appreciate the gesture and was now smiling frequently. This pleased me a great deal. Human responses were vastly different from that of a Vulcan's. Vulcan women would find no sentimental value in what I had done for cadet Uhura. However I was feeling constant pulses of happiness from her over the bond. My deed had been successful.

"So do these equations appear right to you?" Cadet Uhura asked as she finished writing out her steps for the equation.

We were now in my lab on the deck of the Kobayashi Maru. On the walk over here I had been able to engage cadet Uhura in conversation, but now I could hardly focus on her.

"They appear to be sufficient cadet. Thank you."

She smiled again at me and I felt my pulse drop. "Well I'm glad that it looks good to you commander. I would be so embarrassed if I did anything wrong on this project."

Cadet Uhura never allowed any mistake she made to go unnoticed. She always brought the error to my attention and fixed it immediately. I found this trait to be increasingly endearing.

"Is there anything else you'd like to go over before I go to my next class?"

"No cadet that will be all. I apologize for cutting into your lunch hour. I hope you find the food I have accumulated for you to be sufficient." I pointed to top cupboard on the left in the lab.

She laughed. "I'm sure it's fine commander. Thank you."

She approached the cupboard and attempted to open it. She was too short to reach it. I had forgotten to take into account her small stature.

"Commander do you think you could reach up there and grab something for me? Next time I'll be sure to replicate a stool for myself."

I nodded and approached the storage area. I could easily reach the top shelf while her fingertips could barely reach it. Although it was a trivial task I enjoyed being able to assist her. She pointed to the bag that she wanted and I retrieved it for her. As I handed her the snack our hands brushed. I enjoyed the cool sensation.

"Thank you so much." she opened the bag of chips immediately and began to eat. "Well I'll see you in a couple hours commander. Bye!"

She ran out of the lab to get to her next class on time. I sat down in the captain's chair of the Kobayashi Maru and began contemplating my actions thus far. Was it really necessary to have that equation clarified? Cadet Uhura never submitted any calculations that weren't extensively reviewed by her first. The only conclusion I could create was that I am becoming greedy with her time. It seemed like I was making up excuses to see even a glimpse of her. Even today was most likely a subconscious effort to ease the slight jealousy that I feel during her lunch hour. I had always wanted to see the individual that sparked such strong emotions within her. Of course it was cadet Kirk. He had been a topic of interest among staff members and apparently the student body as well. Cadet Kirk sought out attention and he received it.

I allowed myself a small sigh and made my way over to my classroom to teach. While the students were working on their group project I finished scripting the remaining scenarios for the Kobayashi Maru. I wrote each scenario with cadet Kirk in mind. How could I make this difficult for him? What sort of situation would make an arrogant optimist squirm? Even though I was giving him exactly what he wanted by acknowledging him, I kept writing.

-Uhura-

"Are you alright commander?"

It was around 6 o'clock and the commander and I had finished up early with the Kobayashi Maru project. The commander had finished scripting during one of his classes so we had very little left to do today.

"I am…fine. I did not anticipate this amount of rain though."

We were standing at the entryway of the lab building. Just as we were about to exit the building the commander had frozen.

"I know! Even though we were talking about it earlier I couldn't hear it at all in the lab."

The commander folded his arms and furrowed his eyebrow ever so slightly. I felt kind of bad for him. It was a complete downpour and as far as I knew Vulcans did not enjoy the rain.

"Commander I could ask Professor Jenkins if he would allow us to use his replicator to make some umbrellas for us."

Ever since a replicator was used as a prank to create a gaggle of tribbles that were hidden in the lab building, all unnecessary replicators were removed.

"That would be the logical option. However Professor Jenkins has been out sick since yesterday. So there are no available replicators."

I stared out the glass door at the torrential downpour that was occurring outside. "I'm sorry commander. I guess we will have to make a run for it. But my dorm is closer than your living quarters... Why don't we use the replicator in the lobby so that you aren't force to endure the rain the ENTIRE way."

He nodded in agreement. "That would be acceptable." He grimaced slightly and walked through the doors ahead of me.

I followed a few seconds after him and was soaked almost immediately. My vision blurred due to all the water but I could clearly see the commander's form sprinting ahead of me. He was running so fast that it was almost comical. I started laughing so hard that I could barely feel the ice cold drops whip by me. I didn't think I'd ever see a Vulcan, especially the commander, run at full speed to avoid the rain. He was so fast that I reached my door room a good 15 seconds after him. Once inside I hunched over and desperately tried to catch my breathe.

"Cadet Uhura? Are you able to breathe?"

I felt a warm hand lightly touch my back. Startled I jumped up and collided with the owner of the hand. I felt a large bump forming where my head had connected.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to head butt you. Are you alright?" I finally saw who I had battered.

"Yes." It was the commander. A large stream of green blood was flowing from his nose onto his gray instructor's uniform.

"Oh my god Spock I am so sorry. Let me go get some bandaging and a towel. And an umbrella!"

I ran through the lobby to the replicator. Thankfully the lobby was empty (everyone was either still in class or eating) so no one was there to see such an embarrassing scene. I quickly procured the items I needed and ran back over to the commander. He was standing in the same place as I had left him.

"Here let me treat your nose. Sit down on that couch over there." I pointed towards the student seating area that every dorm lobby had.

"Thank you but that will be unnecessary cadet. I will take the umbrella and be on my way." He said calmly.

"No way. I'm not letting you walk around campus with a bloody nose. Just sit."

He locked eyes with me as if to stare me down. I met his gaze right back and made sure to not blink. After about a minute he looked away in defeat. He sat down on the couch and looked at me expectantly. I came over and sat down next to him.

"Now this will probably sting so just bear with me."

I applied a hyposray to his neck after he had cleaned up most of the blood with one of the towels I had brought. Sadly this revealed that his upper lip had split as well. I really had no idea why I had been so shocked that he had touched me, but this was the result.

"I'm going to have to bandage your upper lip. Is that okay commander?"

He nodded and leaned forward a bit towards me. I was a little hesitant to start because unlike most people he didn't close his eyes. Oh well, it gave me my daily dose of awkward with him. I wiped his lip with a disinfectant pad and applied a small bandage to hold the wound together. As I applied the bandage I noticed a small flush of green appear on the commander's cheeks and tips of his ears. Even Vulcans can get embarrassed! With all the uncomfortable moments we've had this is what made him uncomfortable?

"There you go commander. The hyposray should ease the pain and speed up the healing process! You'll be good as new tomorrow."

"…Thank you cadet." His face was getting greener by the second.

We sat there in silence until I couldn't handle it anymore. I threw the other towel I had brought onto his head. While he was stunned I ruffled it a few times to distract him a bit.

"There! Now you should be a bit drier commander!" I folded my arms triumphantly.

He removed the towel from his head. His face was back to its normal pale tone, however his hair was very out of place. "…Thank you cadet."

I grinned and was happy that he was himself again. Of course now that he was back to normal he was staring at me. Somehow I felt myself getting a little self-conscious. Having his hair look unkempt was slightly unnerving. As he stared at me I noticed just how long his eyelashes were. How unfair.

"Cadet I apologize but it appears that you have some of my…blood on your forehead. May I remove it?"

"Of course you can. We must look like a couple of big time brawlers."

"That would be a logical conclusion based on our current appearances." He leaned in closer to me with a disinfectant pad in hand. As soon as I felt his hand touch my forehead I could feel my face turn red. I drew back stunned by my reaction. Since when had I been averted to anyone's touch? The commander sat back when he noticed my response.

"…I apologize if my conduct just now was not professional cadet."

"No no it's fine! I just have a bump right there and uh… it hurt a lot when you touch it! I can take care of it when I get to my room! Your injuries were more severe than mine so yeah… Anyways I was unprofessional with you first! I called you by name without a title earlier! I'm sorry!"

I bowed my head to him, not in shame but to hide my confusion. What was with all that nonsense that spewed from my mouth?

"…My friends refer to me as Spock so I see no reason to reprimand you for it."

I looked up at him. Was he saying that he thought of me as a friend?

"W-well that's good then. I was worried there for a moment."

The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. He stood up and placed the towel around his neck on top of my head just as I had.

"Make sure you dry off properly. You do not want to become ill before midterms."

I peeked out from under the towel and nodded in agreement even though midterms weren't for another 3 weeks. My face was completely flushed again.

"Uh…Will do commander." I said sheepishly.

He nodded and took the umbrella that was sitting next to me. I continued to sit there dumbfounded on the coach as he was leaving the lobby. Just as he was about to leave the entryway he turned back around towards me.

"Cadet, do you usually participate in lunch hour with cadet Kirk?"

Well this was random. "Yes. I somehow found myself a part of his group since I have a class with him beforehand. He's a real ass sometimes but he's an alright guy. The complete opposite of you commander. I'd have to say that I prefer your kind of personality over his."

"I see. Well take care Cadet. I will see you tomorrow." He performed the Ta'al to me and I clumsily responded back.

After he left I laid face down on the couch. What had I just said to him? What was wrong with me? Why had he even asked that? I buried my face in my hands. What a weird way to end a weird day.