quiet hours (open)

[Juliet Carson]

Juliet was off-duty, and it was well-deserved and well-needed for the young blonde lieutenant. She was somewhat out of patience today, for many reasons that pretty much led to her short patience and her high expectations. Even Kirk was frustrating her today. Maybe it was just the confines of the ship and her own anxiety, but it was only her first five-year voyage. She'd been feeling slightly irritable lately, but was trying to brush it off and act normally. Normal for Juliet was a flawless, unbreakable facade, neat hair and make-up and a crisp manner. She was looking forward to relaxing for a few hours with her laptop.

She made a quick stop to her quarters to pick up her laptop from where it always sat on her desk when not in use. Tucking it under her arm, Juliet straightened up and began to walk down to the officer's lounge. Her gait was her usual graceful walk with a ramrod straight back and alert eyes making contact with everyone. She was wearing a white tank top with a turquoise 3/4 sleeved cardigan over it and straight-leg jeans tucked into her uniform boots. They were comfortable, and Juliet wore them all the time. Her hair was up in its usual ponytail, just to keep the shorter strands from getting into her face.

Once she was settled on one end of the couch with a glass of water on the table next to her, Juliet opened her laptop and booted it up, smiling as its comforting whirring started. The screen brightened and in less than a minute her fingers were flying over the keyboard, making subtle clicking sounds. She hit the backspace button repeatedly, trying to think up an email for her dad that had a warm tone to it.

"Dear Father,
How are you? I'm currently aboard the USS Enterprise as a Lt. It's the hardest ship to get onto, so you should be proud. We're at warp speed and everything seems normal for now. Anyways, I'm very excited about the prospects of this trip, and I'll see you in five years.

Love,
Juliet," she wrote, eyes narrowing as she scanned the screen. It sounded...off, somehow, but she ignored it and hit send anyway. Her gaze drifted to the inky blackness of space and the pinpricks of distant stars.

[CMDR. Spock]

Spock sighed as the doors to his quarters closed, letting the hot air drift over him peacefully. it had been a long day to say in the least, and he was looking forward to being able to 'crash', as the humans put it, in his quarters and do some of the paperwork, as to get ahead on it.

he sat down at his desk, letting his fingers gracefully sift through the pile of paper. there was a lot to do as he hadn't gotten much work done the previous night. he needed to meditate so he had left the paperwork for now. but the couple next door seemed to be fighting again. Spock sighed, annoyed that they fought so loudly. it was rude and something only a human would do. he could never remember a time when vulcan fought so, excusing the ponu faru. otherwise, the vulcans were superior in this way too. human bickering was most distasteful.

swiftly, the commander gathered the papers he needed and headed for the observation deck. this was always calm and quiet, and most usually empty of other people. however, as the door slid open and he entered, he noticed a communications officer looking out the large window, thinking to herself. he squared his shoulders, saying quietly, "My apologies. I was merely looking for a place to work." Spock debated leaving and finding another place to go.

[Juliet Carson]

Juliet's temper didn't often get the better of her, but she bit her lip now. If the email had been a letter on paper, her fingers would have crumpled it into a tight ball in no time and hurled it furiously across the room. Why was she bothering? Why did she care? He obviously didn't. Angrily, Juliet kicked her foot against the floor, probably scuffing the shiny leather. She was getting too worked up to care. Tears of fury filled her eyes and she blinked rapidly to keep them back, a surge of unwanted emotions crashing over her like a tidal wave.

Her cheeks crimsoned when she whipped around to see another person, and heard the voice. Spock was exactly who she didn't want to see. He wouldn't get it. She bit her lip and then tried to smile feebly. "Don't worry about it. You can work here if you want to," she offered, "besides, it's a good thing somebody showed up. I was getting seriously tempted to throw something." A small smile curved her lips. "But it's no matter." Shaking her head, the lieutenant stood to pull out the chair next to her and gesture to it.

The flush was fading from her cheekbones, and Juliet rubbed a hand across her face, tears almost all gone. She sat down again and cross her ankles under the table as if she was wearing a skirt. It was a habit, and as soon as she realized she crossed her legs instead. She then turned to Spock and smiled fully. "What brings you here?"

[CMDR. Spock]

S

pock frowned as he saw the communications officer was obviously in distress. he wondered whether or not it was polite to ask what was wrong. it was probably a human thing, something Spock might only be able to understand because of his mother, but otherwise he would lost and unhelpful. most illogical to enter a conversation if you were not helpful to the problem, so he allowed it to pass from his mind.

"The couple next to my quarters tend to bicker about this time every night and I find it harder and harder to concentrate." Spock replied, taking a seat next to her as he set this papers on the table. he spread them out a bit, to look over the work he had to do and was surprised when he found this would be done in no time. perhaps he should have stayed in his quarters and attempted to meditate.

"Perhaps," Spock nearly whispered, "You should explain what has you distressed." his suggestion came out more like an order, which he didn't mean it to be. the thought that something was annoying her annoyed him a bit, so he wanted to know why. curiosity was in his nature.[/blockquote][/size]

[Juliet Carson]

"That sounds pretty annoying," Juliet said. "Lucky for me my neighbours are pretty quiet." She smoothed a hand over her hair and shut her laptop. It could wait. After all, she doubted whether her father could find time to reply with anything other than a curt, awkward email inquiring about her ranks. It just seemed that he didn't care, but she didn't dare kick him out of her life for good.

She was intuitive enough to tell that he was curious about what was going on with her. Already it seemed trivial, but that nagging voice in the back of her head told her otherwise: it wasn't small at all. She needed to do something, but she felt pretty helpless. She knew his temper and didn't want to antagonize him. What was the point? He was suffering, sure, but he didn't seem to be able to just move on. Sure, her mother's death had shaken Juliet, and although she missed her mother, she had moved on and wasn't dwelling in the past. Her fingers itched to write him an angry email telling him exactly what she thought, but that would be playing with fire. She didn't need her fingers burned right now.

His words were soft, and Juliet couldn't help but feel her lips curve up slightly. Her eyes softened. "It's my father. He's being completely irrational and all he cares about is my status. He just wants me to be his trophy child. He didn't used to be like this. After my mother died he changed. All he ever writes to me about is 'do you have respect' and 'how close are you to the captain' and 'status matters, my dear'. As if he meant that!" Juliet scoffed at the last, her voice imitating her father's. "I don't want to use anyone to gain reputation; I want to gain rep by my talents and skills. He just doesn't get it." She shook her head, unsure of how to proceed.

"I mean, if I had the courage I'd tell him just what I think of his bullshit but unfortunately, I'm too much of a coward so instead I send off short, curt emails without revealing much." The lieutenant looked down at her laptop and then toyed with a button on her cardigan. She looked up then and gave a short laugh. "I talk too much."

[CMDR. Spock]

Spock nodded, looking away as he took in Juliet's story. it seemed many crewmen had lost one of their parents recently which had turned their lives into what the humans believed was 'hell'. it was unfortunate, Spock agreed, that humans tended to change so dramatically after someone had died. he was reminded of when his mother died and that had been enough to drive him to attack the captain. death was difficult thing to live with, so Spock wouldn't pursue the details.

"My apologies," he said, looking down at his lap before making eye contact again. "It is unforunate that your father has become so irritable, but surely he must understand raising in the ranks of Starfleet take more than just a couple of years..." for a normal person it would take several years of hard training and it wasn't as if someone, especially the captain, would promote someone just for being close to them. her father simply did not understand Starfleet. though this lieutenant was attractive enough to gain attention from the captain, she wanted to do this the right way, and Spock respected that. all high ranking officers aboard the Enterprise got there through hard work.

[Juliet Carson]

Juliet offered Spock a tentative smile once again. He did understand, and that was made her feel a bit better. But still, she needed to calm down. He wasn't a huge part of her life now. She wasn't going to see him for five years. That thought made her smile even more broadly, and she exhaled deeply, feeling her anger fade. She was getting herself under control, which was just how she liked it. She hated falling apart, especially in front of Spock, who barely showed emotion, but it didn't seem like such a bad thing, suddenly.

"I'm sorry too, but there's nothing to be done. It's just him. I know it takes hard work, but..." One corner of her mouth quirked up and she shrugged. "Anyway, enough about me. It doesn't really matter." She looked quickly down to her laptop, and then rested one hand on top of it, lightly. She looked out to space briefly, and then realized that she didn't feel uncomfortable.

Some disliked the Vulcan, whereas some just didn't feel comfortable around him. Juliet knew that, but race didn't matter to her. She exercised a stony control over her emotions for the most part, trying to glue the cracks before they appeared. In that, they had something in common, although she cultivated her facade. His was natural.

[CMDR. Spock]

S

[/color]pock nodded as Juliet politely ended the topic. he still felt that either a confrontation with her father might be in her best interest, since it was possible he didn't know he was being irritating. humans tended to do that - ramble on about something or other, usually something Spock didn't understand, without knowing that no one around found it interesting.

but humans also didn't like to deal with things that were 'more trouble than they were worth'. Spock rather liked this phrase and thought it fit well with Juliet's problem at the moment. if her father was being so unreasonable, perhaps she should lose contact with him. ignore his responses and send him no indication of what is going on with her life. he couldn't bother her then. it was only logical. "Perhaps you should break contact with him." Spock said simply. he wondered if this might make emotional matters worse, since she had just lost her mother - it might be difficult to loose the other parental figure. his pestering might keep her from feeling alone. "Since he seems to be more trouble than he is worth," the vulcan finished, something in his head telling him that might have been a bit harsh.[/blockquote][/size]

[Juliet Carson]

Juliet plucked at the button on her cardigan. "I would break contact with him if I had the guts," she confessed with a short, mirthless laugh. Then her gaze hardened. "Maybe one day," she finished curtly, making it clear that this topic was closed as far as she was concerned.

The blonde lieutenant turned to the Vulcan, fingers drumming across the top of her laptop. "I think we've discussed me enough. Thanks for listening, though. So, anything interesting happen to you recently? Other than the whole Ripley thing, of course." Juliet raised an eyebrow, a trait she'd practiced for a while in front of the mirror when she was younger. However, she wouldn't admit that. Word traveled fast on board the ship. She wasn't sure if she'd said the right thing, in bringing up Ripley. She paused, looking at him to gauge his reaction.

[CMDR. Spock]

S

pock blinked as she finished off the topic with a rather brisk word. he would, of course, not continue it, but it annoyed him - or rather, fascinated him - that humans were so easily pestered.

when she mentioned the incident with Ripley, he tried to do his best to keep himself in check. she was probably merely curious, there was no reason that he should get angry. "Waru eru," he muttered under his breath. the term meant bad day in vulcan, which he thought was an understatement. he looked back up at Juliet and replied. "Nothing happened between the head security officer and myself," he said, for what felt like the hundredth time. he thought that if Nyota trusted him, that perhaps he would keep this from happening again, but it seemed to be an eternal fascination. he thought about leaving but he wondered if it would be too rude, even after she brought up the Ripley incident. instead, Spock pushed his shoulders down and straightened his back, determined to act like this conversation didn't bother him.[/blockquote][/size]

[Juliet Carson]

Juliet reached up, finding a few hairs loose from her smooth ponytail. They tickled her cheek, and she swatted them away, impatiently. She traced her cheekbone with one finger, tuning out for a second, only to be broken out of her thoughts by Spock's voice. She instantly translated the Vulcan words. Her blue eyes widened innocently at his next words, realizing that he couldn't take her rather feeble joke. Her face looked even more child-like than it usually did, with her wide eyes and thick lashes.

"I know nothing happened," she said quickly, "I was kidding, but I realize that that may have been lost on you." She didn't mean it in a mean way, but as soon as it was out she regretted it, eyes closing slightly, lids fluttering. What was he thinking? She knew she wasn't being very business-like now. As a matter of fact, Juliet felt like she was falling apart, and that wouldn't do. She straightened up, resting her hands on the table.