=/\= T'Shen monastery, Shi'Al province =/\=
17th Day in the month of et'Khior, YS 9022
"Ah. As much as wrestling with something for my food sounds oddly satisfying in the end. I think a small break from fighting for my meals and life would be greatly appreciated," he said with a ting of dry humor. He heard her disrobe and looked up briefly to see if she was indeed doing it. Ah how odd. It wasn't just that she was pregnant though was it, it was because he was bonded with Sakarra. They were such good friends that it seemed as though there was no stigma attached with being open and caring like this. How utterly different from the first quite cranky one here. Brent assumed that he was going to like this one, a lot.
"Perhaps some actually do. It would not be as infrequent as you might think," he replied in that same dry tone. "Ah yes. You are quite cool now, if my experience has taught me anything... Would you like me to tend to the fire to heat the room to a more pleasant temperature?" If Brent betrayed any emotion at all it was a bit of indifference to her comment about knowing what a female looks like. He still felt that it was his place to not speak on such matters. Sakarra could confirm or deny them when she was conscious and speaking to her friends. Did Vulcan women do gossip and girl talk? The thought was pushed aside as she mentioned stepping outside for a shower. That made him chuckle.
"We used to do that on the farm that I lived on. I stopped being a proper well behaved son around the age of twelve. I took to daydreaming and hiking around the wooded land that we had nearby too much when my chores were done. When I would come home caked with mud in the pouring rain my mother on a few occasions gave me a bar of soap and told me to do it out there so I wouldn't ruin her clean floors," he said with a smirk on his face. "Ah but then I'd have to take a bath once I got inside or else I would catch a cold."
He looked over at her as she cocked her head at him and brought up the matter of how he had killed the Vaek'Riov. "I had to brow beat my captain into considering taking me with her to retrieve her, but I did. In the end, yes I was the one who ended the life of the Vaek'Riov."
Attentive, was he? Though the Marine's suggestion to tend the fire earned him a long look – the sort that frequently caused T'Para's beloved bond-mate to give that quiet sigh of his and stop fussing like a flock of Sha'amii had just been set upon by the Le-Matya – she detected none of that silly male attitude to treat a woman like frail porcelain simply because she was pushing a magnificent belly in front of her. If anything, it was the type of thoughtful gesture that … well, that she should have expected from one who was so obviously in her near-sister's favor.
Padding barefooted to the bed, T'Para slowly inclined her head to signal agreement and gratitude – and took due note of the wry look on Sovar's face. Oh, to the rest of the world the tall, dark one might as well have been carved from marble, but he wasn't fooling her.
"Ah, t'dahsu." Grimacing at the pressure it sent rippling through her ribs the towel-clad Vulcan settled on the pillow that had been hastily vacated by the young healer and ran a strand of Sakarra's silken, curly hair through her fingers "Wlho'ann, ha. Heh keòn."
If there were still mildly … disturbed looks directed her way, the small V'Ket chose not to notice.
Having stoked the fire to the point where the blazing heat was creating a most soothing effect even on the irritable Vulcan, the Marine had returned and studied the way T'Para was letting her fingertips graze over a steadily beating pulse on her cousin's neck. "Shocking, yes? Such affection in public." Her huff was almost a snort, and came so unexpected the poor little healer almost jumped. A bit nervous, that one. If T'Para had not other things to worry about she might wonder if the pretty little thing had what was commonly referred to as a 'crush' on the human.
"Not infrequent, you say." Looking up at the male with those astonishing ocean blue eyes, T'Para wrinkled her nose but did not protest to V'Ley loosening the drenched braids to dry the mass of glossy black hair. "I suspect not, and you may have to contend with worse than the insufferable one over there. Pride they may take in their mastery of passions, but when it comes to love and desire they are fools, the lot of them."
Sovar's eyes would have scorched plains and melted icebergs, but T'Para merely repaid him with a raised brow "You say I am wrong? Speak it, then, cousin. No? Thought so."
The healer in his long red robes seemed to repress a chuckle but merely set the tea by the human's side before giving a courteous nod and retreating. V'Ley for her part looked on the road to utterly mortified Vulcan, hiding it behind the serene motions of her hands as the straight, black strands uncoiled to fall over T'Para's back.
The mention of the farm made the young V'Ket cant her head to the side, listening intently. There was a timbre to the human's voice she had not heard before when he spoke of it, nearly causing the smile that dawned on her face to emerge in full force. "A reasonable woman, your mother. But then, she must be, ruling a farm and sons who like to hike the woods."
Her features turned serious however when she pondered the … other one. The one whose name she refused to acknowledge even in thought. As much trouble as their estranged kin, that Rihannsu House. Fortunate for them, the times when the Clan would have considered the foolish man's actions sufficient cause to declare war were long over. Though the ancient laws had never been … rescinded.
"Brow beat? I assume that is a metaphor for being … most persuasive. And well done it was, Brent Warren. There are poets on Vulcan sharpening their quills as we speak, hiding from the Matriarch's all seeing eyes. I will admit, I did not credit much of what was spoken in hushed tones and must ask forgiveness if I gave offense by assuming a human could not … do what you did. No insult was intended. Just as I will admit…" the briefest flicker of a wink crossed her face before she impatiently waved away the still fussing V'Ley who had begun to loosely drape a fresh, dry towel over the uncomfortably shifting woman "… to righteous indignation when you intruded upon what at the time was the hardest decision I ever faced. I judged you wrong."
She could plead sorrow, hurt that tore at her heart with a Le-Matya's poisoned fangs to explain her anger. Just as she could plead for Sovar on similar grounds. But it was not merely pride that prevented her from doing so. It was … respect for this outworlder. An odd sensation at first, but T'Para felt she was growing quite comfortable with it.
Brent smirked a little bit. He almost heard a little bit of what Sakarra would say in such a situation. He chuckled slightly at her comment about how 'they' were fools, the lot of them. "And which they are we speaking about this time?" he said before he took up the cup of tea nearby, taking a drink. Ah this was one of the good types of Vulcan tea that he had given a try. There were a few that he had sampled that had made him want to scrape his tongue with a wire brush. "Is it those who feel that they know my beloved's heart better than her? Or simply all males in general," he winked at the pregnant Vulcan laying on the couch.
When she made comment about his mother he smiled slightly and nodded. "She would have to be. I was the fifth of her nine children. It would appear that I was the turning point as well. The first four she had, two boys and two girls, were all very well behaved and took to all of the lessons that my mother and father gave them. From my rebellion on, my younger brothers and sisters, were always questioning everything and getting into trouble," he said smiling at the thought of his family. He really needed to give them a call. Especially now that he could.
"Yes. I convinced her that despite the fact that I was too close personally to the situation, the horrors the Romulans had inflicted on us had made us all too close to the situation. By proper Starfleet regulations we should have asked for help. However I knew her well enough that she would never allow that to happen, especially since it was her cousin that started this entire mess," he said with a smirk. "She even told me that I had to retain my temper and that she would settle it with him. I didn't have the heart to tell her that would be a cold day in hell."
When she mentioned the fact that there were poets who were beginning to craft opus about him he looked at her with disbelief. "You're serious aren't you," he shook his head with a little bit more disbelief before he smiled. "Given what was happening and what you were contemplating, you responded with great dignity and poise. I dare say I could have responded in such a matter given what was at stake," he said before he then smirked again at her. "Which part was it that you were the most unsure of, if you don't mind me asking. The manner in which I killed the Vaek'Riov? Or the fact that I had unlocked my beloveds heart where others seemed to have failed?"
[To be continued …]
Lt Cmdr Sakarra Tyrax
Executive Officer
Brevet 1st Lieutenant Brent Warren
Marine Commander
USS Charon
