"I know he does," he said quietly and gave her a reassuring smile. He knew it couldn't be easy for Mr. Uhura to keep up a business and bring up a brood of children, especially without their mother there to help. "I admire him for it too, I just... I can't see how anyone wouldn't want to hear what you have to say. They have to be blind not to see how smart you are, how passionate you are about the things you believe in."

He knew he was saying too much again, but when it came to this, he couldn't find it in himself to care. It was too important that she heard someone tell her these things. He reached out to give her hand a soft squeeze and met her eyes, trying to get his message across. "You're a diamond in the rough, Miss Gorgeous. All you need is the right fit, the right setting, and you'll outshine everything around you."

Letting go of her hand and the seriousness that had settled between them, he went back to his dinner, grinning at her idea of teaching him to do laundry. "Stain removal, not laundry. I doubt you'd want to get your hands on my unmentionables," he winked and smirked around another forkful of pasta.

The spark that lit up her eyes at the challenge would probably never fail to make his stomach do that little flip it did, and his own eyes lit up in response. "Funny, I have no intention of losing, though I do think I'm challenging exactly the right girl. I'm looking forward to a victory that isn't easily won."