Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of its characters.
"I'm so glad to be back!" shouted Kirk, running up to the Captain's seat and placing his derrière on the plush upholstery. "Oh, yes." he groaned, closing his eyes in pleasure. "Just how I remembered it being."
Ellara chuckled at her Captain's antics, pleased to hear he was enjoying himself. "Captain's log, stardate 2265.167, we have…" His voice faded out as Ellara took in the date.
2265.167. Ten years ago tomorrow would be the anniversary. Ellara's face turned grim, but she swallowed down her sadness. This was not the time for that…
"Hey." Ellara heard the caring voice of Uhura, simultaneously feeling her shoulder be nudged. "Are you alright?" she asked.
Ellara smiled and nodded, not entirely untruthful. Nyota, however, looked unconvinced. "I swear, I'm fine. I just don't want to go back to work yet. But I'll see you later, ok?" She nodded as she walked off, avoiding more questioning.
That was close, she thought. No need to tell others what she was thinking. It was extremely unhealthy, but there was no need. They all had their own problems to worry about.
Getting to her office, Ellara sighed deeply as she sat down. Paperwork. Yay. She got to work, albeit reluctantly, but only after beginning to play some music. There was no reason she couldn't bob her head along while sh- gosh darn it she wrote down the words on her paper. And she was using a pen. "Oh my god." moaned Ellara, placing her head in her hands. Could she not get anything right?
Opening her drawer, Ellara groaned in frustration. No more white out. She'd have to go get some from someone else. Who was close by…?
Pondering her situation for a while, Ellara realized that Commander Spock's office was nearby. Gathering her bag(making sure to place her paperwork inside), Ellara headed out.
It was a short walk to the Commander's office, and was ended by Ellara knocking briskly on his door. "Come in." came Spock's muffled voice.
Ellara opened the door and stepped into the doorway, glancing around the room. There was a desk, various filing cabinets and a chair. All in all, the room was extremely under-decorated, which was to be expected. Vulcan's, she assumed, did not see the need for decoration. There was a small plant on the corner of his desk, but that was the only burst of colour.
"Yes, Counsellor?" asked Spock, beginning to rise from his desk.
Ellara caught herself in her thoughts and quickly burst into action. "Oh no, please, stay seated. I just wanted to ask if you had any white-out." she exclaimed.
The Commander sat back down, opening a drawer and pulling out a small white container. "Please make sure to return it."
Ellara raised an eyebrow before grabbing the bottle. "If you'd like," she began while moving closer, "I could just fix up my paper here."
The Commander thought for a moment before giving a curt nod. He watched as Counsellor Lat'toy opened the bag across her chest and pulled out a few sheets of stapled paper. On the third page were words that clearly had nothing to do with paperwork about an anxious crewmember. "Counsellor." he started, gaining Ellara's attention as she furiously ran the white out along her paper.
"Mhmm." she mumbled, barely looking up.
Spock took a moment, swallowing slowly, before inquiring something puzzling. "The words on your page, are they from a song?" he asked.
Ellara froze up, glancing up at him before nodding. "Ye-yes." she stuttered, rushing to get back to her covering up of the page.
Nodding, Spock thought for a while longer. Finally, he asked what he had really intended. "Why is the way that the woman is wrapping around the man a problem?"
It took a second for the words to sink in, but once they did, Ellara choked on her breath and stumbled back a bit. She hadn't realized that he'd read the words on her page. Oh dear god. "Well…" she started, sinking down into the chair in front of his disk. "The…. the singer is saying that it's a problem because… it, uhm, feels really good." Ellara mumbled the last part, feeling her entire face flush a deep purple.
"Why would a good feeling be a problem?" he asked, his eyebrow beginning to raise quizzically.
Ellara felt her face impossibly become an even darker colour. She was sure that if she saw it, it could be compared to an eggplant. "Because he's not the type to call girls back the next day." was her whispered reply.
Two beats later, and Spock had some green tinge on his cheeks and ears. "Fascinating…" he mumbled, looking back down at his paperwork.
Ellara clenched her lips together tight, feeling the awkward tension in her skin. Closing the white out and placing it back on Spock's desk, she said a simple "Thanks" before putting her papers back in her bag and practically bolting out of the room.
Taking a breather, Ellara put her back to the wall beside his office and leaned her head back. "Oh my god that was embarrassing."
Shaking her head, she continued down the hall back to her own room, trying to avoid thinking about that awkward moment.
"Spock!" called the Captain, spotting his First Officer walk onto the bridge. "Just the man I wanted to see."
"Greetings, Captain." said the Vulcan.
"C'mon, Spock." groaned Kirk. "No need to be so stiff."
Spock decided to not respond, seeing as nothing he could say would change the Captain's opinion. Instead, he chose to comment on Jim's first remark. "Why am I the man you wish to see, Captain?"
As Spock turned to his station, he heard Kirk stand and walk up behind him. He turned his head as he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, and saw the blond man leaning slightly over him.
Jim took a deep breath before turning and sitting on the console. "Because, Spock, I'm trying to get a hold of Ellara, but she's not answering. The ship says she's in her room, and she is technically off duty right now, but as the ship's counsellor, she's usually always available."
Spock frowned, wondering why exactly the Counsellor was not responsive. "I see. That is quite peculiar."
Kirk let out a small noise in agreement before clapping his First Officer on the shoulder and rushing out, "I want you to go check up on her."
By the time that Spock registered what exactly had been said, Kirk was halfway back to his chair. "I am afraid I do not understand, Captain."
Jim paused, heaving a deep sigh. Turning around and rolling his eyes, he walked back over. "I think that something might be wrong with her. And, since she's your friend, I think it makes sense that you be the one to see if she's okay."
Spock paused for a moment to consider the Captain's word, before agreeing. "Very well, Captain. I shall return momentarily."
Turning away from the console, Spock walked briskly to the elevator. It did not take long for him to arrive at Ellara's quarters, but when he did, he felt slight apprehension. This was her private space, and she could just be sleeping.
However, the Captain felt that there was something wrong, and he was correct in the assumption that they were… friends. Raising his hand, Spock delivered a stiff knock to the door.
From inside, he could not hear much, but he was able to make out a small 'thunk', followed by a mumbled exclamation of pain. "Who is it?" the slurred voice of Ellara called out from inside.
"Commander Spock." the man replied.
Ellara furrowed her brows. What could fun-o-fun Spocky be doing outside her door? Crawling on all fours, she made her way to the entrance. When she arrived, though, she felt quite dizzy, and instead decided to lean her head on the door while she spoke. "Wha-do-you-wan?" she asked, a small grin on her face at how she sounded.
Spock raised an eyebrows from outside. Her voice sounded much closer, and it was fairly obvious at that point that she was at least mildly intoxicated. "The Captain sent me to see if you were unwell." he said after clearing his throat.
Ellara giggled, finding Spock's formal language funny. "You can tell him that I…. I am a well." she said, before bursting out in laughter.
It didn't take long for it to turn into sobs, though, as she remembered why, exactly, she was in this state.
Upon hearing her crying, Spock decided to take action and asked her to open the door. From farther away this time, he heard Ellara yell, "Door, open."
Surprisingly enough, her slurring registered and the door opened for him. He tentatively took a step inside, looking around at the environment. On the desk was an empty bottle of Terran beer, a few more littered in the trash can. From under the desk, a bottle of vodka could be seen poking out, a tanned hand with purple stripes holding on to the neck.
"Ellara?" asked Spock, moving so he could see the Rendorian hiding under the desk.
Ellara was rocking back and forth, tears streaming down her face. "It's… hick… It's ok Spock. I do this every year." she muttered, looking absolutely miserable.
"You intoxicate yourself and hide under a desk?" he asked with the raising of an eyebrow.
A small smile spread across Ellara's face. "Are you sassing me, Spock?" she asked.
At the lack of reply, Ellara sighed before slowly crawling out, leaving the bottle behind. "Yes, yes I do. Today is the anniversary of my family's death, and this is how I cope." she groaned as she popped the bones in her back.
"But your father is still alive." stated Spock.
Ellara hung her head, not up to explaining everything. However, she pushed on. "He's alive in body, but emotionally, he died the day my mother did. He just puts up a pretense every once in awhile to make me feel better."
At this point, Ellara had made her way over to her bed. There was a beat of silence before she simply fell face first and groaned into her pillow.
Spock realized that she must not feel well, and took large strides to her bathroom. Inside the medicine cabinet, he found an aspirin, and quickly grabbed a glass of water from the replicator. Ellara had realized his plan and sat up to accept his blessed offerings. She nodded her thanks before swallowing the pill and downing the glass of water. "Thanks, Spock." she murmured as she slowly fell back down. "You're a-" she stopped to yawn, "a good friend."
Spock looked on as Ellara slowly fell asleep, and quietly made his way out of her room. He would have to discuss this with her when the Counsellor awoke. But for now… for now, he would go back to the bridge and let her sleep. Ellara was clearly having issues, and she needed help. However, right now was not the time.
Ellara woke up the next day to a pounding headache. "Ooooh wooow that was not a good idea." she groaned.
Not a minute later, Ellara found her head in the toilet as she heaved up what remained of last night's drunken escapade into her memories. "Why do I do this every year?" she wondered as the water in the shower heated up.
Quickly stripping her clothes, Ellara tried to stand up to get in, but found that it only made her head dizzy. Instead, she took the more sensible route and practically dragged herself into the shower, only to curl up into a little ball. From her viewpoint, she could see the multiple bottles littering her room. Maybe… maybe it was time for a change.
A half hour afterward, the Rendorian was dressed and had downed a homemade concoction that helped with hangovers. She had thrown away all of the trash, made her bed, and cleaned her toilet from the mess she had left.
Silently, she walked across the room with a long, thin candle held in her hand. She was lighting much larger ones at all four points. Once that was done, Ellara sat in the middle of the room, her legs underneath her. She began muttering a small prayer to the gods, in hopes that they would help her. "Please." she murmured, shutting her eyes. "I know I have asked this before, but I need your help. I tried. I took the opportunity you gave me to get over them, but it's not working. Please." her voice broke. "I can't take this anymore."
No sooner had she finished did Ellara hear a formal knock at her door. She rose, turning to face the entrance, and opened the entryway. Standing on the other side was Commander Spock. It didn't take long for her to remember what had happened the previous night, and her face flushed purple. "Commander." she muttered, looking down at her feet.
"Counsellor Lat'toy." started Spock. "I believe we must have a discussion."
Ellara quietly nodded her head, letting Spock inside. As she motioned for him to take a seat on one of the various couches, she moved around him to extinguish the candles and raise the lights. Sighing, she herself sat down, back stiff. "What do you want to talk about?" asked Ellara, knowing exactly what he was there for.
After all, she had come to the conclusion herself only minutes prior, and she would be lying if she said that the Commander had not figured out what had to be done the moment he saw her intoxicated beyond belief.
"I believe that you require some counselling yourself, Counsellor." he said without reservation.
His candor slightly shocked Ellara, but she took it in stride. "I agree," she began. Spock's eyebrow raised a fraction in surprise. "I had, in fact, realized as much just before you arrived. I'm planning on contacting a friend who could help me."
If he were fully human, Spock was sure that his mouth would be flapping open and closed like a fish. He was expecting some insults, maybe even a warning, seeing as he was invading her privacy to a degree. Spock was glad to know, however, the Counsellor Lat'toy had common sense and knew when her actions could put others as risk, as well as recognize a solution. "That is acceptable, Counsellor." he finally got out, moving to rise. "I shall see you this afternoon for chess." The final statement was more of a confirmation that their rendezvous was still on.
Ellara nodded as she escorted the Commander to her door. "I look forward to it." she said with a smile. It turned into a grin as she teased him next, "Maybe this time, I'll even beat you."
Spock caught on to her tone, and replied, "Highly doubtful, Counsellor, seeing as you do not even attempt to plan your next moves. Farewell."
Closing her door, Ellara chuckled, enjoying the company of her friend. Maybe more, a snarky voice in her mind called out. Frowning, Ellara shook her head to rid herself of the thought as she went to the bathroom to tie up her hair. There was no reason that Commander Spock could or would be anything more than a friend. They didn't see each other like that. She could never see him like that. Right?
And there we have chapter eighteen! I'm sorry that it's five days later then the second posting date, however, I had some trouble getting back into the writing swing. I'm all good now, haha. Not going to lie, this chapter was extremely fun to write. Whoever manages to guess what song Ellara was listening to first gets a shoutout! I don't think it'll be too hard, but you never know. Anyway, I'm going to take a moment now to reflect on what exactly I'm going to write next, because... wow. Yeah. But yay! She's doubting her completely platonic feelings for our favourite stoic Vulcan! Which, to be honest, isn't much, but it's better then before... good thing I wrote slow burn in the summary, amiright? Haha... heh... Yeah. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I can't wait to write/post the next one! :) ALSO! This chapter, without the author's notes, was over 2,500 words long! I feel really happy about that.
booklover1898: That's good to know, thank you!
AwesomeFangirlOtaku01: Comment #1 - Yeah, Sapphire is the cute little niece character who you don't see often but you wanna just hug to death whenever you do. Thank you so much! And there wasn't as much drunkenness as I had hoped, but there's always more opportunity for a happier drunk Ellara in the future! :) Comment #2 - I get what you mean. :/
DemontaDark: Thank you, very very much.
NeoMulder: Thank you! I am definitely planning on writing this story to it's completion, although how long it'll take will depend on how long I want it to be... dear lord I could be writing this for a year.
TransformersGeek: Awwww yis.
- fangirl0012345
Updated November 23rd, 2016.