Vulcan Lavender

{FIVE}

Gossip travels fast aboard the Starship Enterprise. In just a few days it seemed the whole crew knew that there was drama going on between Spock and a medical personnel. A few people stopped by the medical bay to try to pick out which nurse was supposedly infatuated with Spock. This caused Dr. McCoy to become very irritated and he confined Jupite to the back office.

Jupite herself was extremely embarrassed and did not complain when Dr. McCoy assigned her to paperwork duty. She sat behind the CMO's desk and worked quietly, sending reminders to crewmembers for physicals, filling out details of patients, and checking the ship's stock of hypos and vaccines. She was thankful to be out of the way of prying eyes and awkward questions.

Jupite, while appreciating the alone time, felt pretty useless in the small back office. Time slugged past slowly until she gave up wallowing in the fact that she couldn't help the injured (Engineering always provided a steady flow of minor injuries) and asked the CMO for the rest of the day off. Dr. McCoy let her go with strict instructions to not overexert herself. Promising the southern doctor she wouldn't, Jupite made her way to the Recreation Room. She immediately regretted her decision as, upon entering, she was swamped by at least seven girls.

"Is it true that you got rejected by Spock?" A woman with spiky bleach blonde hair dressed in an Engineering uniform asked rudely. Jupite couldn't even open her mouth to reply.

"Of course she did, making such a sudden and huge confession. I heard she basically threw herself at him." A redhead in blue snickered.

Jupite felt an embarrassed blush bloom on her cheeks. "I did not," she protested, "I blacked out. I didn't mean to... I didn't want... It was forced out of me, I-"

The other five persons continued swapping rumors. All Jupite could do was stutter incoherent words. "Please," the redhead snorted, flipping her long hair, "Pretending to faint is such a cliche troupe. Couldn't you come up with something better than that? So tacky." Jupite was pushing back tears, she wished a hole would open up in the floor and swallow her.

"May I inquire why all of you at blocking the doorway?" Jupite froze as the neutral voice of Spock sounded from behind her. The group hushed and looked at Spock, who seemed to be attempting to enter through the crowded doorway. After an uncomfortable silence, the group shuffled away, many of them throwing dirty looks at Jupite as the left. 

"Nurse Münro," Spock said. Jupite stood ramrod straight at attention, the heels of her shoes clicking together. "The Captain sends you his regards," Spock stated, before maneuvering around her and heading to a 3D Chess set. 

Jupite managed a very intelligent, "oh" as he passed. She cursed her stupid luck. There were rumors already flying and people were casting glances at her from all directions. So much for her 'background character' status now. She was now thrust into the spotlight for the entire ship to see. Jupite coughed out a handful of blue-violet flowers, then pocketed them with a mind of trying to get them to grow. She might as well do something useful with the abundant supply of the rare flowers she was making.

A soft voice brought Jupite from her thoughts. Jupite looked up, expecting to see another gossiper vying for info. Instead, she found herself facing a kind looking black female with warm eyes and a sympathetic smile. "You're the one who's stirring up the rumor mill, right? Jupiter?" She said, her voice light instead of accusatory. "Jupite." Jupite corrected her. The woman nodded her smile growing, "Nice to meet you, Jupite. I'm Nyota Uhura, Pleasure to meet you." 

"Pleasure." Jupite murmured, suddenly feeling shy.

"Why don't you come sit with me? You look like you could use a pick-me-up." Uhura invited.

Jupite nodded, might as well, as she didn't want to just leave after having come in. She followed Uhura to a table in the far corner of the Rec Room. Jupite found herself peppered with questions by Uhura, surprisingly none of them concerning the rumors. She was asked about her childhood, birthday, favorite food, hobbies, how she came to Starfleet, and all sort of random things. Uhura seemed to be completely oblivious to the glances and stares.

"Spock and I dated a while ago." Uhura said so naturally that Jupite thought she had heard wrong at first. Spock didn't give off the vibe that he had any sort of interest in romance. Uhura smiled at Jupites dumbfounded face, "It was two years ago, old news, and before you even transferred to the Enterprise. We dated for a bit and then broke up, didn't fit as well as we thought we would. Too many miscomunications and such. I have no hard feelings, we've stayed friends."

"Why are you telling me this? " Jupite asked, still confused on the sudden switch of topic.

"I don't think I was a good match for him, I was asking too much and for things he wasn't comfortable with. You though, you seem perfect. Mild mannered, sweet, softspoken, independent, and understanding. You take things in stride, well, except attention. You don't like all eyes in you." Uhura said, surprising Jupite with how well she knew her after only one conversation. "Jupite, as crazy as it sounds, I'm rooting for you." Uhura put a hand over Jupite's, "Spock needs someone like you. And hey, I dated him, so if you ever need help, you can always ask me."

Jupite was red in the face. It was odd having someone tell her they were wishing her good luck with Spock, even weirder it was his ex-girlfriend. Jupite nodded, not sure if Uhura knew Spock had basically rejected her already. But... if he had loved once (or come close to it), couldn't he love again? Maybe this was only getting her hopes up. Honestly, how did someone get a Vulcan to fall in love themself?