Many thanks to my awesome beta. She's helping me keep these characters in line, even when they don't want to cooperate.
Read and enjoy!
In the end, the game came to a draw within an hour. Nia wasn't sure how it happened; she'd never played a game of foot and mouth that quick.
Thinking about it, she decided that Wena and Kirk were to blame. Those two were the ones who started it. Wena had been showing of her skill with the game by playing quickly and Kirk decided to do the same thing.
Nia had assumed that Kirk was doing it to make fun of Wena, until she realized he'd made a really good play. She'd thrown Wena a surprised look, but didn't say anything. She kept quiet even after Spock played with the same speed Kirk had used. The pattern repeated until Nia finally rolled her eyes and joined the trio in laying out her cards as fast as possible.
Wena had tried to claim that the females had won, but Spock had argued that the rules stipulated that the winning team reached the designated number of points first per the count at the end of each round, not that the winning team must have the most number of points.
Instead of continuing the argument, Wena decided to just call it a draw. Then she promptly challenged Kirk to a game of gin.
Noting the time, Nia stood and asked Spock to escort her to her quarters. "I have something for you." She caught Kirk's look just in time. "A book." Nia clarified and the human male rolled his eyes.
"'Book'. Right." He muttered and Wena frowned at him as the odd couple left. "What?" He asked when he saw her frown.
She just scoffed at him and told him to play.
About halfway back to Nia's quarters, Spock broke the silence between the two.
"You mentioned a book? Would this be a collection of works by the poet you spoke of to me?" Spock asked, pace steady as the pair walked down the halls.
"Yes, actually. And it contains one of my favorites, 'The Lady of Shalott'." She said with a soft smile. "Though, I suppose some could consider it a bit morbid."
"Why is that?"
"Well," she said "You'll just have to read it to find out. You'll know by the time you read 'What is this? And what is here?'" Nia grinned as he simply nodded his head at her obscure answer.
"Am I to believe that you consider Tennyson to be your favorite poet?" Spock asked, genuinely interested.
Nia thought about it. "Maybe. I have a hard time picking favorites though, which is why 'The Lady of Shalott' is one of my favorites, not my only favorite. There are other poems by other poets that I enjoy just as much."
"I see." He said.
"What kind of literature does Vulcan have?"
"Vulcan literature is different than Human literature, and often does not translate well." He told her.
"Is it logical?" She asked with a teasing smile.
He caught the smile and noted the differences between it and her usual expressions of content. "Is all Human literature illogical?"
She opened her mouth to say the teasing retort "Why, yes it is," but closed her mouth as she thought about it. "No." Nia finally said. "Not all of it is illogical. Some of it was written for the express purpose of making the audience think, of leading them to a logical conclusion."
"The same could be said for Vulcan literature in terms of logic. Some is written in the style of our ancestors, a time when logic did not rule the minds of Vulcans."
As they continued walking, Nia idly lifted one hand to play with the half done braid falling onto her shoulder. After discovering it loosening, Nia lifted her other hand to undo then redo the braid.
Spock noticed her movements, but didn't comment. He'd noticed that human females had a tendency to play with their hair when attempting to solicit the attention of a male. He found the fact Nia felt to do so odd. She already had his attention, after all.
They arrived at her quarters and she ushered him inside, while leaving the door open. Nia led him to the case where she kept the hard copies of her books and pulled out the thin one she had been looking at the other day when Wena was sleeping.
"Here," She presented it to him with a surprisingly shy smile.
He delicate took it from her and saw the book marks she'd presumably used to previously mark her favorite works. Other than the pages being yellow, the book was in remarkably good condition.
"You have been careful to preserve this book." He noted.
She blushed. "I have. I'm usually careful with all my books, since they are not often printed anymore." Nia had been criticized in the past for spending too much money on such a trivial thing, but she'd always appreciated the feel on the pages between her fingers and the smell of the paper and the glue that held it all together. Books were made studier than in the past, and Nia had found that with proper care the books usually lasted longer than the current generation of technology.
"Then you do not often lend your books to others." He gathered.
The blush deepened. "No, I don't." is all she told him in response.
Lending him this book was significant, Spock realized. While insignificant from an overall perspective, the act of trusting him enough to handle something she had an emotional connection to was an indication of trust. Spock had often wondered why humans would read so much into simple acts and had always considered doing such to be illogical.
However, even while analyzing her actions from a logical perspective, Spock could see the impact of this act. Quietly, he told her "I will take care of this item as you yourself would."
Nia lifted her chin to gaze on his face instead of the very delicate way he handled her book. "Thank you." She told him. Nia, in the same delicate manner with which he held the poetry book, lifted her hand to just barely graze her fingers over his wrist.
Establishing another connection was a bold move, but Nia had desired to touch him again for the entirety of the night. With her fingers barely touching his skin, Nia was able to create a very fragile thread of empathy between them.
Across this thread, Spock could pick up on her trust in him, her respect for him and the differences between them, and… on her affection towards him.
Without breaking the gentle contact, Spock slowly turned and lightly laid the book in his hand on the table in the small sitting room.
Once again facing Nia, he broke the connection for the briefest of moments when he guided her hand to rest on his shoulder. Once there, Nia fingers slowly extended until the connection was once again established with the skin of his neck.
Nia kept the connection light and wondered if he could feel anything at all from her. She was certainly getting plenty from him, though she had a feeling that was unintentional. The control the Vulcans maintained was indeed extraordinary, but it didn't change the fact that the emotions still existed and were very tangible to the Paladian's empathic abilities.
Nia had expected to be content with just barely brushing his emotions, but his interest broiled against hers. The image of a mountain fit best. A mountain was very much alive and active despite the colder exterior. A mountain that could wreak havoc or stay bottled up forever.
An emotion other than interest also pushed through the connection. She wasn't sure she could name it; it was so different than anything she'd ever experienced. However, it was laced with something she could name: respect and admiration.
Nia was so focused on sorting through the medley of emotions that she didn't notice Spock's change of position until that scent was all she could smell and the interest pushing through changed ever so slightly. Just enough that her breath quickened.
Whether the speed of her breathing was nerves or not, she couldn't tell and she didn't take the time to sort it out.
Instead, she leaned towards him.
As she did so, Spock idly wondered what it would be like to kiss her. He wondered if her skin and lips would be soft. Would her skin be warm and damp in comparison to the dry coolness of his own?
Ever the scientist, Spock knew there was only one valid test for uncovering this information and when Nia hesitated close enough that he could feel her breath, Spock leaned forward to find out.
Nia had just started to feel the pressure of his lips against hers when an odd sound drew the couple's attention to the still open door.
After a couple games of gin with Wena, Kirk had decided it was time for him to get some rest before his next shift.
Being a doctor, Wena couldn't protest. Much. The opportunity to call him out on having a bed time was too good to waste. Even McCoy, who'd showed up during the first game, had chuckled.
Of course, the captain maturely responded by calling Wena an old maid, to her outrage. McCoy had laughed outright then and Wena had been sorely tempted to kick the CMO.
Clearly, that intention hadn't translated well in the look Wena sent him because the man only laughed harder when he saw it.
With a huff, Wena had gotten up and stormed out of the rec room. She'd stalked down the hall, grumbling about pain-in-the-butt Starfleet Medical Officers and their mocking expressions.
Ignoring the fact that she actually liked Nurse Chapel, Wena's rant turned full swing and began to target everyone who worked in or was affiliated with the Enterprise's medbay and its prestigious doctor.
So caught up in her ongoing rant, Wena didn't give much thought to the fact that the door the quarters she shared with Nia was open. After stepping past the doorway, Wena looked up and froze. Her best friend and the commander were standing very close to each other; at least one of his hands was settled on her waist while one of hers settled on his shoulder, just barely resting against his neck. Their faces, their faces were…
Wena's mouth dropped open in the millisecond it took for her to realize what exactly she was walking in on. A small, high pitched "uh" escaped her throat before she clapped a hand over her mouth.
When Nia's eyes turned to her, Wena knew she had to get out of there before she ruined the moment anymore. Whirling around, Wena intended to get out of there like a bat out of hell. Instead, she got up close and personal with the door jam.
"Ow!" She yelped. "Mother- Holy- ow!" Her moment pushed her forward and carried her out into the hallway, swearing. "Dang it, that hurt!"
Through the still open doorway, Nia's voice drifted out. "Wena? You ok?"
Wena answered with a muffled voice "No. I'm out of here." She head back down the hall, using the wall as a way to guide her when her vision blurring from her watering eyes.
Back in the quarters, the couple hadn't moved beyond turning their heads to stare at the now empty doorway.
"Did Doctor Verde-"
"Just hit the doorjamb with her face?" Nia finished. "Yes, yes she did."
Looking back at Spock, Nia saw his eyes were wide and disbelief filtered in through the still present connection. Unable to hold back, she rested her head against his chest and succumbed to the laughter that shook her body.
"I do not see what you find amusing about your friend's near injury." He told her as he stared down at the top of her head. His hands had not yet moved from her waist and her hands still rested on his shoulders. One hand was still lightly touching his neck and maintaining the connection.
She only laughed harder at his statement and Spock began to feel the effects of her humor on his own emotional state.
He could only describe it as a feeling of mild weightlessness as he raised a hand to touch her hair (another test to see how soft the small plaits really were).
When her laughter finally subsided, Nia lifted her head to look at Spock as he fingered the braids falling from the clip at the nape of her neck.
"Well," she said, tone dry. "That was a mood breaker."
"Indeed." He said. Spock's hand dropped to his side as she stepped away from him. "I should return to my quarters."
She nodded. "Ok."
He lifted the book of Tennyson poems from the table, but before he could leave Nia grabbed his wrist again.
"Wait," she said and leaned close.
Whatever he had expected her to do, leaning close to press her cheek flush with his was not it.
He inhaled sharply as she pulled away, dragging the edge of her lips along his jaw until the corner of her mouth brushed his. The entire time, her affection was the foremost of her emotions presented across the renewed connection.
Pulling back, she smiled up at him. "Goodnight, Spock." She said.
"Goodnight, Nia." He replied.
After he left, the door shut behind him, Nia settled down on the couch to wait for Wena to return. While she waited, the loose braid found its way into her hands once again.
It wasn't until after he'd left that Spock realized something. When she grabbed his wrist a second time, the empathic connection had not been re-established. When she had touched her face to his, that's when she had reconnected to him.
He glanced back briefly in the direction of her quarters. "Fascinating." Spock said quietly.
A/N: Who is looking forward to the next chapter?
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