A Pragmatic Theory of Truth - 6/25
Jun. 9th, 2010 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leandraholmesTitle: A Pragmatic Theory of Truth
Chapter: 6 of 25 (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5)
Word count: 1648 (~ 55,000 in total)
Authors:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
petbubble and leandralocke
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG - NC-17
Summary: One and a half years before the destruction of Vulcan, Spock meets an extraordinary young cadet during a lecture at Starfleet Academy. Their initial encounter is brief but intense, and affects both of them in ways they could never have imagined.
Authors' notes Thanks toblueeyed_secret for beta-reading.
This is our first multi-chapter Spock/Uhura fic, but it has been completed for a while. We are currently already working on follow-ups, so there's no need to worry that this might never be completed. We're just editing it chapter by chapter and having it beta-read now and should post a new chapter every few days.
The story is also online at Fanfiction.net
The phonology lab was filled with a variety of sound, from the usual noise of the computers, over soft chatter to the somewhat distracting suckling noise a particularly stubborn cadet made by drinking from a mug of lemonade, although Spock was sure he had clearly repeated the rule that no drinks were allowed anywhere near the computers. So far, staring at the young human with one eyebrow raised – a behavior he had observed in his own teachers as means for admonishment – had not helped the initial three times.
"Cadet Wesson, I believe I have addressed the course rules thoroughly in our introductory lesson," he said calmly but authoritative. "This leads me to the logical conclusion that you are either ignoring them or did not pay attention at the time I was reading them. Shall I repeat them for you?"
Cadet Wesson's face flushed in embarrassment as he mumbled his apologies and put the drink away. From the corner of his eye Spock saw cadet Uhura smile broadly before she dropped her gaze to the desk. Her lips were moving, and though he was unable to hear what she was saying he assumed it was humorous from the reaction of her nearest neighbors who burst out laughing. Cadet Uhura joined in the laughter, her rich peals distinctive and easily identifiable.
He had noticed that humans often found it amusing if they witnessed the misfortune or embarrassment of somebody else, and it was most fascinating to observe the different levels of mischievousness, to analyze the various indications such as facial expression in its complexity and the acoustic patterns of their laughter. What he could not yet explain with pure logic, however, was the fact that some kinds of laughter just seemed more pleasing to him than others.
He looked straight at cadet Uhura's face, one eyebrow raised in a very similar manner as he had looked at cadet Wesson, yet with an entirely different intention, curious how she'd react.
She continued to laugh for a few seconds until one of her classmates drew her attention by nodding slightly in Spock's direction. Noticing him watching her, she suddenly stopped laughing, putting her hand to her mouth to clear her throat. When she dropped her hand from her face she was still smiling, however. "Yes, Commander? How may I be of service?"
That question caught Spock by surprise and he was not certain how to answer in an appropriate manner. The honest and truthful answer, saying that he had merely regarded her as study object in his in-depth analysis of human behavior in humorous situations, was most likely to be answered with the typically human lack of comprehension for Vulcan logic. He had heard many variations of "you are weird" before in similar circumstances. Of course, with a logical point of view, these statements did not bother him. However, he was aware that his behavior sometimes caused irritation and even annoyance in humans if they could not understand his intentions. Just how was he supposed to avoid that effect without lying?
Help came from an unexpected source when the Orion cadet sitting one row behind Uhura giggled softly and muttered, despite the low volume loud enough for most of the people in her immediate proximity to hear: "Oh, I'd know how."
Immediately tensing, Uhura's face froze. Though she was still smiling, it looked more like a grimace than an expression of amusement and she was clearly uncomfortable with the comment made. As the rest of the class burst into raucous laughter, she remained motionless for a few seconds before replying "Yes, we all know what kind of service you like to offer, Gaila. Some of us are here to learn about translation algorithms though." While she was speaking she had maintained eye contact with Spock, a slight flush rising in her cheeks, before she turned round suddenly and winked at the Orion in an obvious effort to defuse any potential conflict. Her friend shrugged in return and giggled once more.
"I suggest you all get back to your programming," Spock said in what he knew appeared a completely calm and unimpressed manner. He had however, momentarily, been irritated with the students' reaction and what seemed to be the remarkable human talent to turn almost any factual and completely innocent statement or question into an innuendo. "You have thirty-two minutes left to finish today's assignment. If you have been working efficiently you should at least be finished with entering the sound samples for the key syllables to create the initial algorithm. Please let me know if you are encountering any problems."
As the students slowly turned their attention to their computers, Spock watched as cadet Uhura tapped her fingers on the desk. Biting her bottom lip in concentration she tapped rapidly on the keypad, her brow furrowed. She stopped typing and glanced in his direction, her eyes widening slightly as she saw him observing her. Smiling slightly to herself she looked away and continued to type, and a look of puzzled annoyance slowly crept over her features. "Commander Spock, I think there may be an error in one of these samples. Would you be able to clarify that I am using the correct sample group?"
Spock was at her desk within three seconds. His arms behind his back he looked over her shoulder at the screen, and after only a short observation he spotted the mistake. "Indeed the samples are correct. But you have misplaced this open syllable in the closed ones. Curious that you would make such a beginner's error, cadet, since you have so far shown nothing but an exceptional aural sensitivity and-" He did not get to finish his sentence since at that moment, once again, the whole class burst out laughing.
Cadet Uhura blinked and her fingers paused over the keypad before she too began to laugh. Shoulders shaking, she stared straight ahead at the screen for a few seconds before turning to her fellow students and saying loudly "Ears, you idiots. He meant I hear well. Get your minds out of the gutter."
As the class continued to laugh, though this time with her, she looked up at him and whispered: "Thank you for the compliment, Commander, though perhaps next time you could use a better choice of words?" Clearly embarrassed, though still smiling she looked back to the screen and corrected her earlier error.
This time it was Spock's turn to respond with surprise, one eyebrow raised again. The burden of being a Vulcan among humans was the fact that thinking of the obvious and logical option did not always cause the desired effect. In fact, while he would not waste a second thinking about possible metaphorical meanings or double entendres, he should have adapted to the ever ongoing human need to do so. As a cadet he had observed this effect often enough, but he had not gotten used to being on the receiving end of such jokes since he had been a diligent but mostly quiet student that would only talk if asked or addressing a necessary question. Being an instructor confronted him with a completely different position.
"I was not aware that my expression was in any way... poor," he answered then, nodding at her to indicate he had not taken offense. Looking around to address the whole class he continued: "Can anyone name the scientific term for the phenomena you all have just perceived?"
A young and mostly rather quiet young man in front of him lifted his hand.
"Yes, cadet Devereux."
"Two words that sound the same but have a different meaning and spelling are called homophones, sir," he replied with a simple yet flawless explanation.
"That is correct. And highly useful to keep in mind for your future studies, since you will often encounter this exact problem when you are analyzing audio samples without any written support. In these cases you will have to rely on logical analysis of the context surrounding the phrase and estimate which translation has the highest probability to be correct. As cadet Uhura has already correctly explained your interpretation was, of course, completely wrong."
As some of the male students continued to jeer, Spock watched as cadet Uhura turned and shook her head at them, a mock glare on her face. She was now obviously unconcerned about the teasing she had received though Spock had earlier observed moments of embarrassment in her manner. Plus, as he had stood next to her to review her work, he had noticed a slight flush creep up her neck, and she had played a little with a few strands of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. Now as she returned to work she ran her thumb over her bottom lip, before starting slightly, as if realizing where she was. Catching his gaze she flushed again and turned her attention to the screen.
While he knew that his brain, naturally, linked these images to previous similar ones, while he could explain with logic that he was experiencing a normal effect of his well-functioning memory, he could not explain logically why he... felt a vague sense of discomfort as well as something he was not able to grasp at all. And while he took no offense in his student's amused reactions, it was knowing that there was something more to the story, that he actually would have a reason to make insinuating jokes if joking lay in his nature, that made him experience a very subtle but still present sense of... shame he had not known until present. Back at his teacher's desk, he realized without prior warning that he was looking at cadet Uhura for longer than at any of the other students. And he noticed, with that alien, indistinguishable sensation in the pit of his stomach, that he could not quite draw his eyes from her.
~ TBC ~
Chapter 7
A/N: Thanks everybody for the reviews. It took a bit longer to get this chapter up for posting, mainly because we’ve been busy with other things. We will now post two chapters at once, since they are still pretty short. But be assured that they are getting longer at some point ;-)
We hope you will enjoy this rather humorous chapter. Yes, everyone’s being a little silly, but it’s spring and... well, it was fun.
Chapter: 6 of 25 (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5)
Word count: 1648 (~ 55,000 in total)
Authors:
petbubble and leandralockeGenre: Romance
Rating: PG - NC-17
Summary: One and a half years before the destruction of Vulcan, Spock meets an extraordinary young cadet during a lecture at Starfleet Academy. Their initial encounter is brief but intense, and affects both of them in ways they could never have imagined.
Authors' notes Thanks to
blueeyed_secret for beta-reading. This is our first multi-chapter Spock/Uhura fic, but it has been completed for a while. We are currently already working on follow-ups, so there's no need to worry that this might never be completed. We're just editing it chapter by chapter and having it beta-read now and should post a new chapter every few days.
The story is also online at Fanfiction.net
The phonology lab was filled with a variety of sound, from the usual noise of the computers, over soft chatter to the somewhat distracting suckling noise a particularly stubborn cadet made by drinking from a mug of lemonade, although Spock was sure he had clearly repeated the rule that no drinks were allowed anywhere near the computers. So far, staring at the young human with one eyebrow raised – a behavior he had observed in his own teachers as means for admonishment – had not helped the initial three times.
"Cadet Wesson, I believe I have addressed the course rules thoroughly in our introductory lesson," he said calmly but authoritative. "This leads me to the logical conclusion that you are either ignoring them or did not pay attention at the time I was reading them. Shall I repeat them for you?"
Cadet Wesson's face flushed in embarrassment as he mumbled his apologies and put the drink away. From the corner of his eye Spock saw cadet Uhura smile broadly before she dropped her gaze to the desk. Her lips were moving, and though he was unable to hear what she was saying he assumed it was humorous from the reaction of her nearest neighbors who burst out laughing. Cadet Uhura joined in the laughter, her rich peals distinctive and easily identifiable.
He had noticed that humans often found it amusing if they witnessed the misfortune or embarrassment of somebody else, and it was most fascinating to observe the different levels of mischievousness, to analyze the various indications such as facial expression in its complexity and the acoustic patterns of their laughter. What he could not yet explain with pure logic, however, was the fact that some kinds of laughter just seemed more pleasing to him than others.
He looked straight at cadet Uhura's face, one eyebrow raised in a very similar manner as he had looked at cadet Wesson, yet with an entirely different intention, curious how she'd react.
She continued to laugh for a few seconds until one of her classmates drew her attention by nodding slightly in Spock's direction. Noticing him watching her, she suddenly stopped laughing, putting her hand to her mouth to clear her throat. When she dropped her hand from her face she was still smiling, however. "Yes, Commander? How may I be of service?"
That question caught Spock by surprise and he was not certain how to answer in an appropriate manner. The honest and truthful answer, saying that he had merely regarded her as study object in his in-depth analysis of human behavior in humorous situations, was most likely to be answered with the typically human lack of comprehension for Vulcan logic. He had heard many variations of "you are weird" before in similar circumstances. Of course, with a logical point of view, these statements did not bother him. However, he was aware that his behavior sometimes caused irritation and even annoyance in humans if they could not understand his intentions. Just how was he supposed to avoid that effect without lying?
Help came from an unexpected source when the Orion cadet sitting one row behind Uhura giggled softly and muttered, despite the low volume loud enough for most of the people in her immediate proximity to hear: "Oh, I'd know how."
Immediately tensing, Uhura's face froze. Though she was still smiling, it looked more like a grimace than an expression of amusement and she was clearly uncomfortable with the comment made. As the rest of the class burst into raucous laughter, she remained motionless for a few seconds before replying "Yes, we all know what kind of service you like to offer, Gaila. Some of us are here to learn about translation algorithms though." While she was speaking she had maintained eye contact with Spock, a slight flush rising in her cheeks, before she turned round suddenly and winked at the Orion in an obvious effort to defuse any potential conflict. Her friend shrugged in return and giggled once more.
"I suggest you all get back to your programming," Spock said in what he knew appeared a completely calm and unimpressed manner. He had however, momentarily, been irritated with the students' reaction and what seemed to be the remarkable human talent to turn almost any factual and completely innocent statement or question into an innuendo. "You have thirty-two minutes left to finish today's assignment. If you have been working efficiently you should at least be finished with entering the sound samples for the key syllables to create the initial algorithm. Please let me know if you are encountering any problems."
As the students slowly turned their attention to their computers, Spock watched as cadet Uhura tapped her fingers on the desk. Biting her bottom lip in concentration she tapped rapidly on the keypad, her brow furrowed. She stopped typing and glanced in his direction, her eyes widening slightly as she saw him observing her. Smiling slightly to herself she looked away and continued to type, and a look of puzzled annoyance slowly crept over her features. "Commander Spock, I think there may be an error in one of these samples. Would you be able to clarify that I am using the correct sample group?"
Spock was at her desk within three seconds. His arms behind his back he looked over her shoulder at the screen, and after only a short observation he spotted the mistake. "Indeed the samples are correct. But you have misplaced this open syllable in the closed ones. Curious that you would make such a beginner's error, cadet, since you have so far shown nothing but an exceptional aural sensitivity and-" He did not get to finish his sentence since at that moment, once again, the whole class burst out laughing.
Cadet Uhura blinked and her fingers paused over the keypad before she too began to laugh. Shoulders shaking, she stared straight ahead at the screen for a few seconds before turning to her fellow students and saying loudly "Ears, you idiots. He meant I hear well. Get your minds out of the gutter."
As the class continued to laugh, though this time with her, she looked up at him and whispered: "Thank you for the compliment, Commander, though perhaps next time you could use a better choice of words?" Clearly embarrassed, though still smiling she looked back to the screen and corrected her earlier error.
This time it was Spock's turn to respond with surprise, one eyebrow raised again. The burden of being a Vulcan among humans was the fact that thinking of the obvious and logical option did not always cause the desired effect. In fact, while he would not waste a second thinking about possible metaphorical meanings or double entendres, he should have adapted to the ever ongoing human need to do so. As a cadet he had observed this effect often enough, but he had not gotten used to being on the receiving end of such jokes since he had been a diligent but mostly quiet student that would only talk if asked or addressing a necessary question. Being an instructor confronted him with a completely different position.
"I was not aware that my expression was in any way... poor," he answered then, nodding at her to indicate he had not taken offense. Looking around to address the whole class he continued: "Can anyone name the scientific term for the phenomena you all have just perceived?"
A young and mostly rather quiet young man in front of him lifted his hand.
"Yes, cadet Devereux."
"Two words that sound the same but have a different meaning and spelling are called homophones, sir," he replied with a simple yet flawless explanation.
"That is correct. And highly useful to keep in mind for your future studies, since you will often encounter this exact problem when you are analyzing audio samples without any written support. In these cases you will have to rely on logical analysis of the context surrounding the phrase and estimate which translation has the highest probability to be correct. As cadet Uhura has already correctly explained your interpretation was, of course, completely wrong."
As some of the male students continued to jeer, Spock watched as cadet Uhura turned and shook her head at them, a mock glare on her face. She was now obviously unconcerned about the teasing she had received though Spock had earlier observed moments of embarrassment in her manner. Plus, as he had stood next to her to review her work, he had noticed a slight flush creep up her neck, and she had played a little with a few strands of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. Now as she returned to work she ran her thumb over her bottom lip, before starting slightly, as if realizing where she was. Catching his gaze she flushed again and turned her attention to the screen.
While he knew that his brain, naturally, linked these images to previous similar ones, while he could explain with logic that he was experiencing a normal effect of his well-functioning memory, he could not explain logically why he... felt a vague sense of discomfort as well as something he was not able to grasp at all. And while he took no offense in his student's amused reactions, it was knowing that there was something more to the story, that he actually would have a reason to make insinuating jokes if joking lay in his nature, that made him experience a very subtle but still present sense of... shame he had not known until present. Back at his teacher's desk, he realized without prior warning that he was looking at cadet Uhura for longer than at any of the other students. And he noticed, with that alien, indistinguishable sensation in the pit of his stomach, that he could not quite draw his eyes from her.
~ TBC ~
Chapter 7
A/N: Thanks everybody for the reviews. It took a bit longer to get this chapter up for posting, mainly because we’ve been busy with other things. We will now post two chapters at once, since they are still pretty short. But be assured that they are getting longer at some point ;-)
We hope you will enjoy this rather humorous chapter. Yes, everyone’s being a little silly, but it’s spring and... well, it was fun.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-06-09 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-09 12:21 pm (UTC)I was sometimes wondering if they're not being TOO silly, after all they're in their early 20s and no teenagers anymore. But it was so much fun, and remembering my own time at university it wasn't much different, depending on the course ;)