Vulcan Lavender

{SIXTEEN}

Shore leave had been nice, but Jupite had missed being aboard the Enterprise. The deep thrum of the engines that was heard through the entire ship, the maze of hallways, and the buzz on people in constant motion.

It was nice to be back to a place that felt like home. Shore leave did put the figurative wind back into her sails, and she was double determined to make the flowers grow. Hours spent pouring over every single flower and she had finally found the correct mix that the stubborn plant thrived in. Stalks of lavender stood tall all around her in the science lab, like she'd been beamed into a feild of them.

"Finally!" She said triumphantly, she hoped Spock would be appreciative.

Sulu, who had been helping her, nodded, "You did it. Vulcan lavender had many natural medicinal uses, similar to Earth lavender. But Vulcans tended to stay clear of it because of it's aphrodisiac qualities."

Jupite blanched, "Lavender isn't an aphrodisiac, Sulu. We use it for calming teas and such."

Sulu shook his head, "Humans and Vulcans react differently to the same things. Remember Uhara telling you about the time Spock got drunk? It's not the alcohol that makes him tipsy, it's the chocolate. Lavender, for Vulcans, is an aphrodisiac just like chocolate makes them drunk."

Jupite turned red. Oh my days. That meant every time he was around her... That's probably why he was so concerned when he smelled it on her. This was just too much. How would she even look him in the eye? Here he was, just now calling her a friend, and she was walking around smelling like bedroom eyes!

Sulu seemed to notice her inner freak out as he quickly supplied, "But hey, he hasn't seemed to be bothered by it. He's only half Vulcan so it could be that he didn't get the gene for it..."

Jupite was starting to cry again. She seemed to be crying a lot lately. "Noooo," she explained, her voice wobbly, "I just... I wanted to show him that I got them to grow. I know they were kinda rare, e-even before Vulcan was... was destroyed. But it's gonna be like me surprising him by shoving him into a room full of love drug. Thats not fair, and it's creepy." She felt Sulu hug her, rubbing her back comfortingly, "I'm trying my hardest not to... to mention why I cough up flowers. I don't want to be like some stupid lovestruck puppy f-following him around. I don't want to seem like I'm pressuring him to love me back, I don't!"

She was certain most of her words were incomprehensible.

"Love can be hard, I know that." Sulu said, squishing Jupite's cheeks and giving her an encouraging smile, "There are a lot of expectations for how it should go and who you should love." Jupite got the impression that Sulu was speaking from experience.

Sulu gave her a tissue and she blew her nose. He poked a flower, making the plant sway gently like it was caught in a gentle breeze. "Jupite, you are so strong for fighting to keep your love, even when it hurts you. Stronger yet by not being bitter or pressuring Spock to return your feelings. I know that, everyone knows that, and I am sure as hell that he knows that."

Jupite gave a small nod, joining him in making the flowers dance. It was something to focus on and keep herself from crying.

"Your intention for growing these flowers and showing them wasn't something malicious or underhanded. You wanted to help preserve something that was lost in a tragedy. Spock knows that, and he won't think of any other implications other than that when you show him. You're his friend, he trusts you." Sulu said, he sincerely meant it.

Jupite nodded, sniffing. She would wait to show him though. Her mind was still full of "It's an aphrodisiac!" and she'd just be an embarrassed mess if she showed all the flowers to him now.

Idk if Lavender has any affect on Vulcans in canon Star Trek, but you know what, it does here. Vulcan most definately doesn't have a Lavender variant canonly but the plant does like sandy, well draining soil and Vulcan has always been shown as a rocky, desert-like planet so I thought it would go... also I like Lavender so shush.