Archive of Our Own ^beta

Amanda hated when political types came to her school for the photo opportunity and it happened far too often for her liking since the school had the largest non-human population in all of San Francisco and so was a ‘perfect show of diversity’ for the various Federation types who liked to show up from time to time. Having to play nice and act obsequiously just for the benefit of her boss who she didn’t even like wasn’t her idea of a good time.This time it was a delegation from Vulcan and the entire school had been in an uproar for the past week and Amanda couldn’t wait for it to be over. They had been told to do their research about Vulcan culture and Amanda had wanted to do it, she really had, but her work had made her busy and her parents were pressuring her to come over to them for Christmas with at least two phone calls a day and given that studying up on Vulcan culture wasn’t exactly high on her priority list. Besides, she was confident that she wouldn’t make a total fool of herself, basic politeness had to be universal, right?

Amanda had gotten to work half an hour early but apparently she had missed some sort of memo as everyone was already there. The entire staff were rushing around tidying up and putting up decorations, even the headmaster was dusting the windowsills and she would have laughed if the whole thing wasn’t so ridiculous. No other visitors had ever gotten this sort of treatment.
“Amanda!” Her favourite work friend Jason called over to her, “Come and help me put up this welcome banner.”
She stared at him in incredulous wonder, “They get a banner? The others never have.”
He shrugged, “Apparently, yeah. I don’t get it either but apparently it’s got to go up.”
“What does it say?”
Instead of replying he simply held up one side of the banner and let the other side fall to the ground and she tilted her head to the side so she could read it.
“‘Belleview Mount welcomes the Vulan delegation, life long and prosper’?” She read aloud, favouring her colleague with a raised eyebrow. “What a load of shit.”
Jason snorted, “You said it, not me. Anyway, the sooner we get everything sorted the better. Ian looks like he’s going to blow a gasket.”
They both looked over to the headmaster who had stopped dusting window sills in favour ordering everyone else around, his cheeks turning a telltale puce.
“I think Mr Black should be fine,” she giggled, “I hope,” she added, sniggering again.
She wasn’t usually a fan of schadenfreude but he wasn’t exactly the perfect boss with his ego the size of a small planet and his condescending attitude so she didn’t feel bad.

People were still rushing around giving the school the last finishing touches when the Vulcan delegation arrived at 07:30 on the dot. They processed into the school in an order that seemed a lot more rigid than anything she had seen coming from Terran culture in the past few centuries. All of the men had that exact same bowl cut that she had seen in all of the holovids of Vulcans, it was rather sweet and it certainly precluded them from seeming self-obsessed or overly indulgent in any way. The women, and it pleased Amanda to note that there seemed to be a relatively equal number of men and women, had a much wider range of hairstyles. Some of them had a slightly longer version of the standard male bowl cut while some of them had shoulder length hair with that same severe fringe but a few of them had very long hair indeed; hair that was coiffed and braided up into intricate styles. She wished she had read the cultural briefing she had been sent, maybe it would have given a clue to their meanings, if there were any meanings, that was.

“Greetings, Mr Black. It is an honour to be invited to your educational institution,” said the Vulcan at the front. An older looking man with an even more severe expression than the utterly blank looking faces behind him and intricate looking robes. He creeped Amanda out.
“It’s an honour to have you here, Ambassador Soval,” Ian replied, looking slightly nonplussed at the identical expressionless faces in front of him. “Please, follow me. School starts in half an hour, it would be good for you to have a tour of the school before things get busy.”
“Indeed,” the Vulan replied and Amanda could swear that she could sense a slight note of disgust in his voice. Was it her imagination? “And we also need to ascertain which of my aides will be going into which classroom.”
Amanda balked at that and looked over to Jason as if to say ‘did you know about this?’ and he just shrugged, as confused as she was. For a moment she hoped that Ian would put his foot down and not allow it to happen but he capitulated like he always did in front of those in authority and Amanda felt her respect for the man dwindle just that bit more.

There wasn’t much to do to prepare the class for the day as she tended to do it the day before to save herself time in the morning, especially as she was prone to arriving late, sometimes rushing in even as the children were being dropped off. She had been told that one of the Ambassador’s aides would observe her throughout the day in order to make comparisons with schools on Earth as opposed to Vulcan and that this one had been chosen due to it’s high percentage of non-humans, at 24% it was the highest of any school in North America, most likely due to the fact that Federation headquarters were in the city. All of this had been news to Amanda but she was happy to work for such a cosmopolitan school. Still, she would have preferred that inspectors come in to assess the school rather than this, it would have been less pressure. She felt like she had to represent Terran education as a whole which was entirely impossible. And it wasn’t as if the pressure was all in her head, she knew full well that Ian expected everyone to put their best foot forward and keep it there, no slip-ups. The last time someone had slipped up on a day like this they’d been conveniently let go the next month and everyone knew full well what the real reason was.
“God, I can’t wait until today is over,” she growled to herself as she went around the desks, placing a PADD on each one.
“It is illogical to wish one’s time away when it is limited,” a deep voice drawled from behind her, emotionless, apparently respectful and yet Amanda felt her hackles rise.
She whipped around, “Christ! You scared me!” Holding her hand to her thudding heart she took a few deep breaths to calm herself.
“I apologise for scaring you, Ms Grayson. I am Sarek, I have been assigned to observe your class. The children should arrive in 8.5 minutes if they are not late, which as they are not Vulcan is a distinct possibility,” he said and Amanda took a moment to look him over.

She didn’t know much about Vulcans and he could have almost passed for human if it wasn’t for the upsweep of his eyebrows, the green tinge to his skin and those pointed ears. He also commanded himself in a way that was so composed it was inhuman with his back perfectly straight and his hands tucked behind him. He was also imposingly tall, 6 foot 4 at least. His facial features were completely regular from the long, straight nose to the perfectly plump lips, high cheekbones and those dark eyes that were so captivating, it was unfair she couldn’t help but think; it had been a long time since she had been so taken in by someone’s appearance. The whole effect was intimidating and breathtaking at the same time and she had to push aside those thoughts quickly, getting back to setting out the PADDS.

Once she had finished and the bell rang for classes to begin she saw the Vulcan, Sarek, standing awkwardly next to the door and she took pity on him.
“I have a spare chair for parent-teacher meetings, how about you put it in the corner and watch from there? It’ll save you standing for hours.”
He regarded her for a moment with those inky black eyes, “Logical.”
Before she had time to reply the children started to pour in, babbling to each other about their weekends. Amanda smiled, the energy of these children with their bright minds just waiting to be shown new things, all of it made her job worth it.

Once the formalities of attendance and quieting the class down had been done she looked over to Sarek who had a PADD and seemed to be taking notes. Amanda sighed, hoping that his impression of her wasn’t going to bite her in the ass during her next appraisal. He didn’t seem like the type to give anyone a glowing review.
“Alright, everyone! So, do you remember what we were talking about last week?” She said, putting on her brightest, happiest voice.
A series of hands shot up and she picked Sezaa, an Andorian girl who had arrived recently and was still settling in, she was happy that the girl was feeling more confident to speak up in class.
“Sezaa?”
“Different types of poetry?” She had phrased it as a question but Amanda smiled and nodded for her to continue, “Um, mostly we were looking at Earth poets cause, you know, we’re on Earth but also we were looking at some Andorian poets and even some Tellerite poetry. You told us to find a poem we liked and write something like that.”
“Wonderful! So, I think everyone knows what my next question is going to be...” the entire class groaned and she laughed, “You did have the whole weekend to get it done.”

She looked over to Sarek to see him frowning slightly and she bristled, she was a damn good teacher and she wasn’t going to let some political wannabe make her feel like she wasn’t. It wasn’t like he knew anything about being a teacher anyway, or most likely he didn’t.

Amanda then picked a few students to read out the poetry they had written, she didn’t like doing it but class participation was mandatory. She remembered being a shy kid in school and dreading getting called on but then again it hadn’t left any lasting damage, it hurt her ego more than anything. After a while the class seemed to relax and they even willingly analysed some poems which was more than Amanda had been hoping for. She taught mostly gifted children but getting them to focus was an impossible task most days.
“Ms Grayson!” one of the children, a human boy with curly black hair and a rotating supply of incredibly put together outfits called out without putting up his hand but she had long since given up trying to tell him off for it.
“Yes, Toby?”
“I know that the fancy Vulcan people are watching us today but it’s a bit weird that he isn’t talking.”
Amanda turned to look at Sarek who glanced up from his PADD and looked placidly at her, “That is a very good point, Toby,” She turned to Sarek. “Why don’t you introduce yourself and tell the class a little bit about what you do? It’s only fair.”
“Only fair?” He repeated, looking confused and she got the distinct feeling that if he had been a dog he would have cocked his head to the side. She suppressed a giggle.
“Yes, you know a lot more about us than we do about you.”
She wondered for a moment if he was going to refuse to speak before he stood and moved to the front of the classroom where she was stood, still a respectable two feet away from her.
“My name is S’chn T’gai Sarek and I am a member of the Vulcan embassy, more specifically I am the cultural attaché to the Vulcan ambassador for Earth,” he looked over to her, “I am unsure as to what else I should say.”
“Well, does anyone have any questions?”
Sophie, one of Amanda’s more precocious students, put her hand up, “Do we have to call you Shh-chin Taggy Sarek? Cause that's long.”
“You may call me Sarek, S’chn T’gai is my family name.”
“Oh so you’re like my friend Park Mi Yeon, her last name comes first. She’s Korean.”
“Correct,” Sarek said and while it sounded abrasive to Amanda she couldn’t deny that it made Sophie flush with pride.
“Anyone else have any questions?” Amanda asked and nearly the entire class shot their hands up eagerly.

Suffice it to say that the class had quickly degraded from being about various forms of poetry to being an interview with Sarek. Whether he was annoyed by this she couldn’t tell. It had been fascinating to learn more about Vulcan culture and it made her wish again that she’d read the handout she’d been given, maybe then she would have been able to ask some insightful questions of her own. The way that he had answered their questions in the same way he would have if an adult had asked them endeared him to the children and whether or not he knew it, he was soon becoming a favourite of the class.

When the lunch bell rang Sarek followed behind her to the staff room and Amanda was wondering if his observations of Terran education even extended to her break when he took out of his briefcase a thermos and a piece of what looked like bread but was entirely red.
“I was going to show you where the replicators were but you have your own lunch.”
“Indeed,” he said, seemingly bemused by her statement.
“Bon appétit," Amanda said, lifting her glass of water in a mock toast. She wasn’t sure if teasing him would offend him or if it would just go over his head but she didn’t really know what else to do.

Amanda has also taken her own lunch but that was because she was trying to get back into baking. It has been a favourite bonding activity between her and her mother. This time she had baked banana bread and while it was a bit burnt on the edges it was soft on the inside and tasty which was all she cared about. Function over aesthetics, Amanda was sure Sarek would approve. She snorted.
“May I inquire as to the nature of your amusement?” The Vulcan in question asked.
“Sorry?” She replied and he repeated himself, “Oh, it’s nothing. Or nothing that makes sense I mean. Just a joke I told myself.”
That, if anything, made Sarek look more hopelessly confused.
“When I researched Terran human humour I gathered that what made a joke ‘funny’ was the fact that it was a surprise. Therefore, it makes no sense for you to find your own joke funny as it is surely no surprise to you.”
Amanda laughed, “You’re missing out on a crucial element of our humour...absurdity.”
He gave her a look which screamed ‘humans are confusing and not worth bothering with’ and set about eating his perfectly packed lunch. She walked over to the replicator and got some orange juice to keep with the fruit theme of her lunch and sat back down, wishing that Jason would show up. He could brighten the atmosphere.

“Could I ask what you are drinking?” Sarek asked after she had drained the glass and went to get more.
“Orange juice, and I’m eating banana bread before you ask,” she laughed.
“I was not going to ask, though I thank you for the information.”
“Oh?” Amanda was surprised, “You knew what banana bread is?”
Surely if he knew banana bread then he would know orange juice, but then again she had no idea what his priorities were in terms of learning about Earth foods.
“I didn’t but I wasn’t interested in finding out.” He said and she stared at him, unsure whether to laugh or be offended. He spoke again before she could make up her mind. “Could you get some for me?”

Amanda looked at him for a second, it wasn’t as though she was any closer to the replicator than he was, but in the interest of being friendly she went and got it. Maybe he wasn’t sure how to code it in, though he could have just asked her. She set the cup in front of him and he took a sip and looked as though he was considering the flavour for a moment before he took a bigger drink.
“The flavour is adequate.”
“What shining praise,” she retorted sarcastically before feeling guilty. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it in a rude way.”
Sarek looked confused, not for the first time that day, “You didn’t? I thought that you were trying to make aspersions against my character.”
“Hardly that!” Amanda laughed despite herself, she really had no idea how to talk to this man and she wished that he hadn’t followed her. Or that someone else would show up. “No, teasing like that is how humans show that they are trying to be friendly in an informal way. It...it shows that we are willing to forgo the formality of being polite.”
Sarek considered this for a moment before nodding and taking another sip of his orange juice, “Forgoing formality is agreeable to me, Ms Grayson.”
“Well then you have to call me Amanda.”
“I will, Amanda.”
The way he said her name had been filled with…something. If he had been anyone else she would have assumed he was flirting but he seemed so serious and professional that the idea of him doing anything like that seemed ridiculous. Not that it would have been unwelcome per se, just very unexpected.

Just as she was about the reply she looked at the clock and realised she had to get back to the classroom to prepare it for her next lesson and she said as much to Sarek.
“You can stay here for a bit if you like, the next class doesn’t start for ten more minutes.”
“I will stay with you, Amanda,” the Vulcan said simply and she blushed, despite knowing that he couldn’t have meant his words in that way.
“Alright then, gosh you’re dedicated to observing me teaching!” She replied, heading out of the door quickly to hide her red cheeks.
“Indeed,” she heard him say quietly as she hurried back to her classroom.

The rest of the lessons for that day went well. Once the students had gotten used to Sarek’s presence they loosened up and acted normally which Amanda was grateful for as she didn’t want the Vulcan delegation to think that nervous children were the norm. Hearing about the Vulcan education system which she had insisted that Sarek tell the class about before they were dismissed for the day was fascinating and vaguely scary-it certainly went a long way to explaining his personality.
“Vulcan classes generally consist of 80 to 100 children,” he had begun and found herself unable to be quiet.
“Wow! I don’t envy those teachers.”
He regarded her blankly for a second, “You mean that it would be difficult for them?” She nodded, smiling at his confusion, it was cute. “Not unduly so. Vulcan children do not misbehave and so it is not more difficult to deliver a lecture to 100 than it is to 1.”
Amanda looked over to her students and winked, “You lot should take notes. Carry on, Sarek, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Vulcan lessons are split between lectures given by teachers and time in individual learning pods. They are semi-circular depressions in the ground which the child would stand in and they are tested on their recollection of what they have been taught as well as assessing their development.”
Amanda and the rest of the class looked at Sarek incredulously.
“That sounds like no fun, Mr Sarek,” Sophia said and Amanda wasn’t sure if she was going to start crying as she was a very empathetic girl, “You must have been sad.”
“I was not, it is the optimal way for Vulcan children to learn.”
Luckily the bell saved her from having to reply because Amanda had no idea what to say.

“Thank you so much for coming, Ambassador,” the headmaster said, looking vaguely sweaty and Amanda actually felt a bit sorry for him. The Vulcan ambassador looked scarier than Sarek did by a long shot and spending the entire day with him must have been exhausting.
“It has been educational to be here,” he held up his hand and split his fingers in half in a way that she had seen before in holovids, “Live long and prosper, Mr Black.”
Ian held up his hand in an approximation of the salute, “Peace and long life.”
Sarek was stood along with the rest of the delegation and she was pleasantly surprised when he split off from them to come over to her to personally say goodbye, no one was looking at them as the rest of the staff had filed back to the staff room to gossip about how today had gone. Amanda could catch up later. The rest of the Vulcans had already left and she pointed that out to Sarek.
“I have my own hover car, it does not matter to me if I leave with them or not...I wished to say goodbye. And to thank you for such an instructional day, I have learnt much of Terran customs.”
“You have?”
“Indeed, I learnt something just now, in fact. Humans are very fond of asking about the legitimacy of statements as a routine part of conversation.”
She laughed, “That’s true, I hadn’t thought of that until just now. Well, I’m glad to have helped you and I hope you have good things to say about me to the Ambassador.”
“I will,” he sounded very serious and she blushed again. Why was he so good at getting that effect from her?
“Anyway,” she said quickly, “it was lovely to meet you, Sarek. Good luck with all of your future endeavours. Maybe I’ll see you on the news as the next Ambassador to Earth, armed with your knowledge of human customs.”

She then put out her hand for him to shake and he looked down at it like she was reaching out to slap him and she was just about to lower her hand when Sarek slowly reached out and took it. His skin was warm, hot even, compared to hers and his skin was softer than she would have guessed but then again he doesn’t work with his hands-maybe he moisturised, she mused. His much larger hand covered hers and he just held it there, not moving. Did he know what a handshake was? Maybe not, Amanda realised, and she let her hand just sit there for a moment as she didn’t want to embarrass him by drawing attention to his faux pas. Besides, she was enjoying holding his hand though she would never admit it.

Then she noticed a strange feeling of pressure in her mind. Almost like the onset of a headache but not painful, just a feeling of being very aware of her brain. Amanda gasped but Sarek didn’t react, just gripping her hand slightly tighter. The pressure stopped as quickly as it had begun, leaving no trace of it behind except a slight heaviness, almost like there was a weight in her head. She couldn’t describe it. It wasn’t a bad feeling at least and she was brought back to the real world when Sarek let go of her hand. How long had they been standing there? She didn’t know.
“I will have to leave now, Amanda.”
“Yes,” she said, dazed. “Of course. Like I said, good luck for the future, Sarek. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet again? San Francisco can be a small place sometimes.”
“I am confident we will meet again.”
“Was my emotional nature too much for you?” She asked.
“Only mildly,” he replied and she swore she could see a hint of a smile.
Amanda snorted, “I shall have to do better than that next time, then.”
Sarek held up his hand in the same salute the Ambassador had, “Live long and prosper, Amanda.”
It took her a second to remember what Ian had replied with, “Peace and long life, Sarek.”

And with that, he was gone leaving no trace that he had been there. Amanda looked around at the decorations and had the urge to steal something so she wouldn’t forget that today had been real. She missed Sarek already and wished she had been brave enough to ask him out, even if he had said no that wasn’t the end of the world. And with the way he had held her hand for so long, maybe he would have said yes. Still, it was too late now and she bustled along to the staff room to catch up on all of the gossip about the day’s happenings.

Amanda caught up with Jason in the staff room and dragged him over to the side.
“How did it go?” She asked.
“Well, the womanl I had in my class called T’Hen. She didn’t talk much, the kids were a bit scared of her I think,” he gave her a look, “I can’t blame them, so was I!”
“Did you get her to open up at all?”
“I tried but no luck really, she spoke a bit about working at the embassy but it was a bit dry and the kids weren’t interested.”
Amanda felt glad that Sarek wasn’t that bad, he had been reserved but had been happy enough to talk when asked.
“That’s a tough break, Jason. But they’re gone now and hopefully we won’t have another ‘special visit’ for a while,” she said, patting him consolingly on the shoulder.
“Fingers crossed.”
The door opened and Ian walked in.
“Alright everyone, how did it go?” A round of vaguely positive muttering, “Good, good. Ambassador Sovel seemed happy enough with the visit and we got some good shots for the press so expect to see yours truly in the papers again soon!”
Amanda grimaced, he was so vain it was incongruous to his job. Surely he would want to be a politician or an actor, not a headmaster. Though something told her he hadn’t exactly chosen this profession but had fallen into it instead through daddy’s connections.
“And who knows, maybe we’ll have more intergalactic embassies coming to visit…”
Everyone smiled but it didn’t reach their eyes, having people constantly observing their teaching made it much more difficult and certainly for Amanda she hadn’t gotten into teaching to be well known. It also wasn’t good for the kids which was an even bigger concern.
“Come for a drink with me?” Jason asked, “I think we both have a lot to catch each other up on.”
“Yeah, sounds good. Usual place?” She replied.
“Sounds like a plan.”

The usual place was a cafe down the road that was close to Amanda’s shuttle stop and wasn’t too far away from the school so Jason could easily walk back and get to his car. It wasn’t too cold, even though it was December but there was a strong wind and the two of them were glad to get into the cafe a few minutes later. Once they both had a hot drink, coffee for Jason and a camomile tea for Amanda they looked at each other and sighed in tandem.
“Today was awful,” he said, scrubbing a hand over his face, “I swear I’ve aged five years. T’Hen being there made me feel like I was back in college or something. I expected her to just shout ‘You failed!’ and the kids didn’t relax the entire time. No one misbehaved but no one put their hand up either. For. The. Entire. Day. Getting them to answer questions was like pulling teeth.”
Amanda clucked her tongue in sympathy and laid a hand on his arm but quickly withdrew it when an uncomfortable feeling in the back of her mind started up, she didn’t want Jason to think she was flirting. But wait, he is happily married to a man. Why was she worried about that? It wasn’t like her at all.
“I had it a bit better, my one talked a bit and the kids seemed to like him but he was really...serious,” she said and Jason laughed in recognition, “The weirdest part was that he followed me to the staff room for my lunch break. Where was everyone?”
“You didn’t know? God, Amanda, did you read the memo Ian sent?”
Amanda looked down, embarrassed, “No and no, to both questions.”
“We were out showing them the sports facilities, it was in the memo. I’m not surprised but also it’s a wonder you didn’t cause a diplomatic incident. There were all these rules we had to follow. No touching for example, that was the biggest one but also no asking about or even referring to the fact that they might have feelings-it’s the height of rudeness apparently. Even some weird things like ‘don’t offer them food’ cause apparently you can’t give food to a Vulcan unless you’re married. Or a waiter, I suppose.”
Jason was sniggering into his coffee but Amanda’s tea was left to cool on the table, forgotten. She stared blankly at him, heart racing.
“Oh god, I’ve been an idiot. An idiot, Jason!”
He looked warily at her, “What did you do? And will Ian be mad at you? Because if so, I don’t know you.”
“Hardy ha. No, nothing like that. Well, I don’t think so at least. No, it’s just that I shook Sarek’s hand when they were all leaving,” she said.
“What?” Jason’s face looked like it was melting as it fell into an expression of true horror, “You shook his hand? Wait! He shook your hand?”
“Shhh!” Amanda hissed, “And what do you mean that it’s rude to touch Vulcans? I shook his hand, I didn’t grab his ass.”
“Ok so you definitely didn’t read the memo. Vulcans are touch telepaths, Amanda.”
She blanched, what had Sarek seen when he’d held her hand?
“Oh no, I really fucked up.”
“Yeah a little bit,” he grimaced at her and took a sip of his coffee, “Your tea will get cold by the way.”
She looked down quickly and picked up her cup and took a sip while she thought back to everything she’d done that day, hoping against hope that she hadn’t touched his hand or patted his shoulder or anything.
“Oh no,” she muttered and Jason’s eyes widened and he set down his coffee.
“What is it?”
“You said Vulcans don’t get food for each other, right?” Amanda asked and he nodded, looking as nervous as she felt, “He asked me to replicate some orange juice for him and I did. He asked so surely that means it wasn’t impolite, right?”
“I mean, I suppose so but do you mean he literally asked you to? You didn’t offer?”
“No, I didn’t. I wasn’t even next to the replicator or anything. I had to go across the room to get it. And why hadn’t he gone with the others outside, he must have known about it.”
Jason rolled his eyes, “He probably had a crush on you, Mandy. I’m no expert on Vulcan culture but they don’t do things like that normally. They have this thing where they touch their fingers and that’s a kiss, so...if finger touching is a kiss I don’t want to know what shaking hands is.”
“Oh god did I make out with the cultural attaché to the Vulcan ambassador?”
Jason looked at her sympathetically, “Maybe but I’m no expert. It’s ok though, it was just a social faux pas. I doubt you’ll ever see him again.”
“Yeah,” she replied, unable to summon much enthusiasm at the thought somehow.
“Alright, sorry to love you and leave you but I promised Tony I’d be back by five and you know how traffic gets. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Of course!” Amanda said with false cheer, the thought of never seeing Sarek still weighing inexplicably heavily on her mind.

The two friends said their goodbyes and Amanda found herself in a daze for the rest of the day, it was unlike her. She was clearly in some sort of funk and made sure that she got an early night, maybe some sleep would fix it. That didn’t work, however, and she was essentially on autopilot for the rest of the week. Only feeling close to normal when she was sat voraciously researching everything she could find about Vulcans. She tried to tell herself that it was so that she would never repeat that sort of social mistake with a Vulcan again but it was obvious what was really going on, even to Jason.
“Wow, you have it bad, Amanda. I’ve never seen you like this. I would tease you but I feel too bad. It’s like Romeo and Juliet, a doomed love story,” he said once their colleague Tamsin had left them alone in the staff room, he luckily had enough tact to keep his knowledge to himself at least.
“It’s hardly a love story. And I’m very aware that I’ll never see him again. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I never get like this, I just can’t stop thinking about him. I don’t even know him for fuck’s sake-I hate it.”
“That’s crushes for you,” he said, patting her comfortingly on the hand.
She surreptitiously tucked her hand away.
“I’m a bit old for crushes, you know.”
“Doesn’t stop it being true. Also, you’re five years younger than me and if I wasn’t married I’d definitely still be having crushes…”
Amanda snorted, “Well you know what they say, it’s all about how young you feel.”
“Sage words. And what are you doing for Christmas? If you don’t have anywhere to go you could come for Christmas dinner with me and Tony. The invitation is open.”
Amanda, not for the first time, felt incredibly grateful for her best work friend and indeed best general friend. He always looked out for her.
“Thank you so much but I’ll be going back to Ottawa to see my parents. They haven’t seen me all year and if I don’t see them for Christmas they’ll come down here and see that I don’t have matching plates in my apartment and I’ll never hear the end of it,” she said, only partially joking.
“Good luck with that then, it’s not too long till school ends anyway.”
She sighed, “Not long enough, you know how long it takes me to pack.”
“You’ll only be going, what? A week tops?” Jason said and she nodded. “You’re overthinking it like always. They’re your parents not the fashion police.”
“It’s not that…” she began before trailing off, “it’s just that my mum always set me up on blind dates and I can never get out of them so I have to bring nice clothes so she doesn’t give me a hard time or worse buy me clothes to wear, but not so nice that the date thinks I’m really trying to impress them.”
“I see what you mean, that is very specific. Not sure how to help you there, my parents actually respect my boundaries.”
Amanda rolled her eyes, “Stop rubbing it in my face!”
“Only when you stop rubbing your youth in my face.”
She snorted and resisted the urge to roll her eyes again, “You’re 28, that is by no stretch of the imagination old.”
“That’s just what someone who is trying to pacify an old man would say!”

Jason stood up to go to his next lesson and she followed him, it was good that he always kept an eye on the time because she never did. As soon as Jason left for his own class she felt that same fog of torpor fall over again, she should probably go see a doctor but she couldn’t describe her symptoms other than disengaged, uninterested and tired which didn’t strike her as very urgent regardless of how foreign the feelings felt in her mind. It was almost like she was suffering from seasonal depression except she didn’t feel sad so much as lonely and listless. She kept looking behind her eagerly expecting something or someone to be there and when nothing was there that familiar disappointment hit again. Her mind was rebelling against her. The dreams didn’t help either, every night she would have incredibly vivid dreams of being with Sarek. Somehow she remembered him in perfect detail, everything about how he looked, his voice and even the feeling of his touch. They would talk, walk through beautiful gardens with exotic flowers and red soil or just look at each other in silence. She hadn’t told Jason about the dreams, they felt far too precious.

The rest of that day went by in a blur, as did the rest of that week and before she knew it Amanda was stepping off of the shuttle in Ottawa. It was a short trip but it felt momentous being back after so much time. Her parents, Karen and John, were there to meet her at the docking bay and bustled her along into their car, peppering her with questions.
“Have you been eating enough, Mandy? You look thin,” her mother asked as John picked up her suitcase and put it in the back and she was ushered to sit next to it.
“I’m fine, I’ve just been working a lot. I’ve been eating fine.”
Her mum gave her a searching look, “If you’re sure.”
“Please tell me you’ve been doing more than just work, darling,” her dad added and Amanda felt very much like she was being questioned by the police.
“No! I see Jason and watch TV and...and I’ve been researching Vulcan culture. I’m finding it very interesting. See? I do things.”
“Jason?” Karen repeated, “Is Jason a...special someone?”
“He is my colleague and friend,” Amanda replied and seeing her expression brighten into a keen excitement she was quick to continue, “He is also married. And gay.”
She sighed, “I just think you’d be so much happier if you had someone, Mandy.”
She prepared to say the speech she had come up with in the days before her departure for Canada, “I don’t have the time or energy to go looking for anyone and I’m very happy with my work and my friends. If the right person came along I wouldn’t dismiss it but I’m not looking, mum.”
She was about to reply when her dad cut in, Amanda was grateful. The tense atmosphere in the car was exactly why she had been putting off going home for so long.
“I think that’s a good attitude to have, honey. Love will find you when the time is right. You’re still young.”
“I just want some cute grandbabies while I’m still young enough to play with them,” Karen cut in sadly. Giving her honest to god puppy dog eyes.
“Mum! Can we please change the subject?”
She gave Amanda a calculating look, “Only if you agree to go out with this nice man I have in mind for you. Something you said a few days ago made me think of him, no I won’t tell you it would be too big of a clue. All I ask is you give him a chance. I really think you two would get on.”
Amanda considered her options. She could refuse and have her week back with her parents be a living nightmare or just say yes, spend a potentially very awkward two hours with a stranger and get it over with. Neither seemed good but she knew what she had to say.
“Alright,” she replied and her mum smiled and reached back to pat her knee, “but only one date and you can’t keep hounding me when I decide not to see him again.”
“If you decide not to see him again,” she said significantly.
Amanda sighed, “If I decide not to see him again.”

Her room was exactly as she’d left it when she went to college and it was disconcerting, it made her feel like her 18 year old self was about to poke her head around the door any second; that or she was going to regress back into her 18 year old self. Being around her mum was hard for a lot of reasons. They loved each other dearly and had a lot of fun together sometimes but when she got it into her head that Amanda needed to live a certain life that was where they disagreed. If her mother had it her way Amanda would be living in a house down the road with a husband and a baby instead of being single in San Francisco. It was stifling to have those expectations shoved in her face all the time, she was fairly surely she wouldn’t be married before she was 30, not that she would ever tell her mum that. The way she saw it, even if she met the perfect man right now she would want to wait a fair few years before getting married. Her parents were high school sweethearts and were still just as in love 30 years later but that didn’t mean that she wanted to go down the same road. No, Amanda thought as she unpacked, marriage wouldn’t be on the horizon for a good long while yet.

She sent a quick message to Jason complaining about how she’d already been set up on a date and she just got a thumbs up in reply.
“Some friend you are,” she muttered to herself.

Apparently Amanda couldn’t make it halfway through the spaghetti before her mum couldn’t hold in her excitement anymore.
“I just have to tell you about your date,” she elongated the word ‘date’ to the point where she was almost singing it, “You’ll love him!”
“Isn’t the point of a blind date that I know nothing about the person?”
She shrugged, “I’m far too invested for that. I really want this to work and you have to be prepared. So, he works for the bank with me and he’s roughly your age. Well, he’s roughly your maturity-I don’t know how they age.”
Amanda was confused, “What do you mean?”
“Oh, silly me! He’s Vulcan.” Amanda stared at her, not knowing what to do with her face. No expression seemed correct. “His name is Satak.”
“You convinced him to do this?” She was sceptical, nothing about her research suggested any Vulcan would want to do something as illogical as blind date.
“He was very keen and you’ve been very interested in Vulcan culture recently so I thought it might be good for the both of you to meet,” she replied and Amanda sighed, she knew when she was beaten.
“I don’t think keen is the right word, honey.” Her father pointed out. “From what you told me he was curious about Earth dating rituals, nothing more.”
“Ok sure but I showed him a picture of Mandy and he said that she was ‘aesthetically pleasing’ which I think is quite the compliment coming from a Vulcan.”
“I already said I’d go on the date, you don’t have to tell me everything about him. I’d like to have some mystery thank you. Also, can we please eat our food and then watch some TV like we normally do?”
Both of her parent’s faces softened then.
“Of course, sweetie.” Karen said.
“We’ve missed you, you know.” John added, “We just show it in weird ways.”
Amanda laughed, “I know, that’s where I get it from. I just want to have some quality time with the both of you without romance or the future getting in the way.”
“I understand but one last thing, I scheduled the date for tomorrow night at this fancy new restaurant that opened up in town so you need to be dressed nicely,” she said, putting her hands up in surrender when she saw the annoyed look on her daughter’s face.
“I figured I’d get set up on a date like always so I did bring nice clothes, it’s fine.”
Karen sighed and Amanda couldn’t help but think ‘I should be the one sighing, not you’.
“We just want what’s best for you, Mandy.”
Amanda had to stop herself from growling in annoyance, this was a conversation they’d had too many times, “I’m an adult, I can decide what’s best for myself.”
John spoke then, “She just has a tough time with you growing up so fast. It seems like yesterday you were asking us for help with your homework and now you’re in another country and living this high powered life. We just don’t want you to forget what’s important.”
“I know the blind date thing is all mum but thank you. I will go on this date to make you happy but please, no more.”
John gave his wife a stern look and she looked guilty, “Ok, Mandy. I’m sorry I made you feel like I didn’t trust you to be an adult. Meeting John was the best thing that ever happened to me and the thought that you’re missing out kills me.”
“I understand but most people don’t marry their high school sweetheart, you know. I have a lot of time to settle down, there’s no pressure.”
“Ok,” she said and Amanda was almost inclined to believe that her mum had turned over a new leaf, though only time would tell, “But Satak could be the one so it’s a moot point until then anyway.”
Or not.

Luckily her dad made sure the topic of romance didn’t come up for the rest of the evening and they just watched a movie together like old times. It was a relief and Amanda had almost written the day off as a success when the doorbell rang. Her parents were already in bed and she had just been getting a cup of tea to take to her room when the bell had rung. She was in her pyjamas but luckily they were her full length pyjamas not her threadbare short shorts and ratty University of San Francisco T-shirt. As she opened the door she was struck dumb by what she saw.
“Sarek?!”
“Aduna,” he replied looking at her like him being there was the most ordinary thing in the world, “I am gratified to see you again. I hope that you are well?”
“I....I was.”
“You are not now?” The Vulcan asked, taking a step towards her with a slight frown on his face.
Amanda backed up quickly, “What are you doing here?”
“I could feel that you had left San Francisco and I found out that you had gone to see your parents so I followed you, it was logical.”
She considered calling out for her father but despite the absurdity of the situation she didn’t feel like she was in any danger.
“How did you know?” Her voice sounded far too calm.
“That you had left San Francisco or that you had gone to Ottawa?” He said and she noticed that he was shivering. Vulcan was a desert planet after all so being stood out in the snow probably wasn’t comfortable for him no matter how warmly he was dressed.
“Both!” She hissed, not wanting to wake her parents as she’d have no idea how she’d explain the situation, ‘oh yes, this is Sarek. I met him once and now he’s stalking me’ didn’t sound right.
“Our bond allows me to sense how far you are from me and I felt the change. I then asked your colleague Jason where you had gone and he gave me this address,” he said and Amanda’s jaw actually dropped, the whole thing was beyond ridiculous.
“Bond? What? I need to sit down,” she swayed slightly on her feet and Sarek grabbed her and held her steady as easily as if she had been a doll, “I can’t deal with this right now. I just can’t. You have to leave.”
He actually had the nerve to look sad and Amanda almost changed her mind but held firm.
“If that is what you wish, aduna.”
“I need time,” she said before she could stop herself. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she see him as a threat?
“May I come back tomorrow?” Sarek asked calmly, letting go of her once he had made sure that he was stable. He seemed reluctant to let go but she was glad to have some space.
“I will meet you at the bottom of the street at midday, don’t come to the house,” she replied coldly.
Sarek looked like he was about to question her logic but wisely didn’t, “Until tomorrow then, aduna.”

Amanda didn’t reply, just shut the door and waited with baited breath for his footsteps away. Once she was sure Sarek had left she ran up to her room and messaged Jason.
‘YOU TOLD SAREK WHERE I WAS??? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME HE ASKED??’
The reply came quickly.
‘It was so romantic, he really wanted to find you and I know you care about him’
‘He’s a stalker’
‘He’s harmless’
‘Sure but this is creepy’
‘I think this is a cultural difference, I’m sure he doesn’t realize he’s being creepy’
‘I’m not happy with you, you know’
Jason sent an emoji of a little sprite that looked like him if he went to the gym every day and never shopped for shirts rolling its eyes.
‘You’ll live. And invite me to the wedding!’
Amanda didn’t bother replying, instead trying to focus on getting any sleep at all. She’d need her wits about her for tomorrow and she knew that if she spent even a single second thinking about what had just happened that she would never settle down.

Amanda woke up feeling like she’d been run over by a truck. The travelling combined with the stress of having to deal with her mother as well as Sarek’s entirely unexpected and unsolicited arrival at her door had left her feeling drained and sleeping hadn’t helped. Her dad noticed her state and put a cup of coffee in front of her wordlessly, she only had coffee when she was really tired as she normally preferred tea.
“Are you alright, honey?” He asked.
“Yeah, the travelling just took it out of me.” Amanda replied, taking a big gulp of her coffee.
“Your mother didn’t help though. I’m sorry about that, I spoke to her before you arrived to give you a break about all of that but she won’t give it up. I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”
She shrugged, “She just cares too much, I suppose but I wish she’d give me a break.”
“Anyway, she’ll be along soon and I made her promise that she’d leave you alone if and when that date with her coworker doesn’t work out.”
“Have you met him?”
He considered for a moment, “Yes and no. I had to take Karen her lunch one day a few weeks ago and I saw him and was introduced but I wouldn’t say that gave me any intuition about him.”
Amanda laughed, “So he could be a murderer then?”
He shrugged, “Just don’t go anywhere with him.”
“You’re very calm about all this!”
Her parents were polar opposites in their parenting styles and Amanda found her dad’s relaxed nature a breath of fresh air. Amanda loved both of her parents equally but in some ways the fact that she was so similar to her mother meant that they rubbed each other the wrong way, they were both idealistic to a fault though their ideals were very different.
“I trust your mum to be a good judge of character, honey. If you’re really worried I will talk to her about it.”
“No,” Amanda cut in. “It’s fine. I’m not really that worried, I just don’t really want to go but I know it’ll be easier in the long run if I do.”
He sighed, “You’re probably right. Anyway, I’ll leave you to drink your coffee. Ah! Before I do, do you have any plans for today?”
“I do actually. I’m meeting a friend this afternoon,” Amanda certainly wasn’t going to tell her dad the truth about what she’d be doing.
“That’s good, anyone I know?”
“Um, no. I don’t think so.”
He laughed, “Alright, you go and meet your mysterious friend that I don’t know.”

Time went by far too quickly for her liking and soon it was time to leave to meet Sarek, she knew he would be there right on time and as odd as it was, she was excited to go. Or she wasn’t but something inside her was. Ever since she had met him there had been that odd feeling within her, one she ignored most of the time but sometimes, like now, it couldn’t be ignored. The fact that he had followed her here and she wasn’t scared and was excited to see him was proof enough of that. Clearly that was just the bond manipulating her, not her real feelings.

Sarek was waiting there like she knew he would be, looking incongruous against the surrounding snow. He was wrapped up warmly but still looked decidedly uncomfortable; Amanda was used to cold weather but Sarek, being from a desert planet, wouldn’t be. She felt sorry for him for a moment before she pushed the feeling down. He’d live.
“Sarek,” she said as she approached him. No one was around but she kept her voice low anyway.
“Aduna, I am gratified to see you. I trust that you are well?”
“As well as I can be considering the horrible shock I got last night. I need you to explain to me just what the hell is going on.”
He reached out to touch her and she took a quick step back, she knew now that Vulcans just didn’t touch people and the idea of him touching her filled her with all sorts of conflicting emotions. His face fell but he didn’t reach out to her again.
“When you offered yourself to me and I accepted we bonded, it is like the Earth concept of marriage but we won’t be married in the Vulcan way until...later. But this bond is equivalent to an Earth marriage.”
“I never offered myself to you!” Amanda hissed, not wanting to draw attention to them.
“You did in the Vulcan way,” he retorted hotly before continuing in a softer voice, “I see now that you did it without realising but you did offer yourself to me for consideration when you gave me your hand.”
“I was shaking your hand not offering mine in marriage,” Amanda was staring at him, her jaw slack with shock. Her cultural ignorance had gotten her married? Or Vulcan pre-married. Betrothed? Engaged? Did it matter?
“I mistook your gesture for nufau el’ru panahik tel which means ‘offering the hand to consider a bond’, unbonded women would offer their hand to an unbonded male and if he was interested in forming a bond he would take the hand and perform a meld to see if their minds were compatible and if they were a bond would be formed then and there. It is one of the few times a bond is formed without the presence of a priest,” he explained and Amanda would have found it fascinating in different circumstances.
“You went into my mind without my permission?” Amanda asked and Sarek looked horrified as the thought clearly hadn’t occurred to him before that moment.
“I thought I had permission but I should have known that as a human you would not have been invoking nufau el’ru panahik tel. It was wishful thinking on my part.”
“Ok things just keep getting weirder, please explain what you mean. I’m tired of not knowing about things and clearly this is my business now if we’re married.”
“Bonded,” Sarek corrected.
“It’s the same thing, isn’t it?” She huffed.
“A bond is more than a simple marriage.”

Oh great, so they weren’t betrothed or engaged, they were full on ‘super-married’. Amanda felt like she should sit down but there was nowhere so she just shifted from foot to foot, hoping to feel more steady. The snow crunched under her feet and it drew her attention just enough to settle her nerves so she wouldn’t faint. Sarek had looked like he had wanted to grab her to steady her like he had done the night before but he didn’t and she was grateful for it.
“Ok,” she said after a long silence, “so we are married because you misunderstood my gesture. My question now is why did you assume that? You said it was wishful thinking on your part. Also, is there a way to end this bond? I want all of my options.”
Amanda felt a twinge of pain in the back of her mind and she realised suddenly that it was Sarek, that he was the presence in the back of her mind. She also realised that her reference to ending the bond had hurt him.
“I was intrigued by you the moment I saw you I felt shan’ha’lak or love at first sight. My katra recognised you and I asked the Ambassador to put me in your classroom which he did. I tried to speak to you and to gain your favour. When I asked you to procure sustenance for me it was improper of me but I desperately wanted to see if you were receptive to me and when you accepted I thought you felt the same. I realise now that of course you would not have known the significance of such a thing. Ambassador Soval gave the headmaster of your school a document describing Vulcan culture so that everyone in the staff would know how to behave so as not to cause undue distress for us.”
“Yeah,” she said bashfully, “I didn’t read it. If I had I wouldn’t have shook your hand.”
“I see. I regret putting you in such a position. I do not know if full marriage bonds can be dissolved if not during kal’if’fee but that will not be for some time. Bonds are not often broken.”
“So there isn’t divorce on Vulcan?”
He looked confused, “There isn’t. I was betrothed as a child but she unfortunately died when I was 12. We were well suited but I did not feel for her as I do for you.”
Amanda frowned, “You feel for me?”
“I did say I felt shan’ha’lak when I saw you, that should make my feelings obvious.”
“Oh...well yes. Taking all this in is tough, it’s a lot for me. I know this was a misunderstanding but you have to understand that this isn’t something I chose,” she said.
“But you are attracted to me, I saw it in your mind,” he said intently.
“Yes but that is not a reason to get married. At least not for humans.”
The Vulcan looked confused, “We are mentally compatible and both find the other attractive. I do not see what more is needed.”
“Perhaps that is true for you but not for me.”
He didn’t reply and a treacherous guilt filled her chest.

Sarek looked cold, his face was flushed green and though he wasn’t shivering she knew he was uncomfortable. She had been angry at him before and hadn’t cared if he felt uncomfortable but she had softened up.
“You’re cold. There’s a cafe down the street, let’s go there and sit in the warm.”
“That is agreeable,” he said quickly and she sensed gratefulness from him as they began to walk.

Amanda had often gone to Redberry’s Tea Emporium as a teenager back when she’d fancied herself as very sophisticated and important. She had seen that it was still open on the drive to the house and had wanted to go, though not with her Vulcan husband (bondmate?). They settle down in the back and luckily there aren’t many people around even though it’s lunchtime. Probably because it’s a Wednesday and everyone is at work, she thought.
“I will buy a cup of ch’aal. It is exceedingly rare to find it outside of Vulcan and I have found that I have missed partaking in it.”
“Oh, I’ll have some as well, then.”
“Are you sure? It is a Vulcan delicacy but humans tend to find the taste unappealing.”
She rolled her eyes slightly, “I’ll be the judge of whether or not I enjoy it if it’s all the same to you.”
Sarek looked suitably chastised, “I apologise. Allow me to purchase a cup for you, aduna.”
Amanda was going to argue but she gave up once she noticed the determined set of his expression. It was odd to think that when they had first met that she had thought him to be completely expressionless and unreadable, now she could see that was not the case at all. It was probably the bond but she was secretly grateful for it, it made it much easier to talk to him.

“You’ll have to tell me what that word means,” she said once he had returned with two steaming cups. “It’s generally seen as rude to call someone by something that they don’t understand.”
“Logical...it is the Vulcan word for wife. Though that is not a direct translation. It is both wife and bondmate in one. If you were to refer to me you would call me adun.”
Amanda began to feel flustered and hid her blush behind her cup, “I think I’ll stick to calling you Sarek for now, in fact you’re lucky I’m not calling the damn cops.”
“I see. Your reaction upon seeing me makes sense with the revelation that you did not know that we were bonded. I truly did not realise or I would not have come.”
She frowned, “So what exactly did you think was going on?”
“I thought you were showing me to your clan, that would be the Vulcan way. Or ‘taking me to meet the parents’ in a more Terran way of putting it,” he said bashfully, not looking her in the eye.
“Considering we hadn’t spoken I find that just a bit hard to believe…”
“Vulcans do not lie,” he replied.
Amanda waved the comment away, “Yeah, yeah. We’ve all heard that one, I don’t believe it for a second.”
“How are you finding the ch’aal?” Sarek asked in an obvious attempt to change the topic.
She chuckled and allowed the change momentarily, they had time to get back to the subject in hand, “I don’t mind it. It could do with a spoonful of sugar or two but it’s good, I imagine it would be very refreshing on a hot day.”
“As Vulcan is a desert planet that is its main purpose.”
“I’ve read that the average temperature of Vulcan is 50 degrees celsius so I bet a thirst quenching drink is very important.”
“You are correct, that is approximately the usual temperature in most areas of Vulcan. Though the poles have an average temperature of around 30 degrees celsius.”
“Now I feel really bad about having you stand out there in the cold, I didn’t think about how uncomfortable that must’ve been for you.”
Sarek looked at her wryly , “You did want me to be uncomfortable, I could sense that but I know that you didn’t realise it would cause me physical pain. And I am wearing arctic gear which helps a great deal...still, this weather is less than pleasant.”
“To defend myself I did think you were stalking me...I’m not entirely sure you aren’t if I’m honest.”
“I understand that now, aduna and I can only apologise. Please tell me how I can prove myself to you as a trustworthy and suitable mate.”

Amanda was going to tell him to get fucked but he seemed so heartbreakingly earnest and she saw the scared child behind the calm exterior and she melted.
“In human romances there is generally a couple of years of dating before marriage and we skipped all of that so I’d like to make up for it now. Get to know each other, go on a few dates.”
“I have been shielding the bond from you to maintain your privacy but if I was to allow the bond to flow you would find that we would know each other much better,” he replied nonchalantly.
She sighed, “I would like to do things the human way. You know, without all the telepathic stuff,” Sarek looked crestfallen and she amended. “At least for now.”
“And dates,” he said the word like it was new vocabulary to him. “From what I know they are times when a courting couple partake in an activity together to assess the compatibility of a relationship.”
“Uh, well yes. Basically that’s it, there’s a bit more to it but those are the basics,” she replied awkwardly, feeling like she was speaking to an xenoanthropologist who specialised in humans.
“So our meeting today is a date?”
“I wouldn’t say so since it wasn’t planned as a date but since I’m in a good mood I’ll say that it is. You did pay for my drink after all,” she said, smiling. It wasn’t a lie, she had perked up significantly since she had met with Sarek, she hadn’t felt this good since before they had bonded.
“What does the buying of liquids have to do with the Terran concept of dating?”
“It’s an old fashioned cultural thing. I’ll explain if you answer one question of mine,” she said and Sarek nodded for her to ask. “Does the bond affect my emotional state? I want to know if...if my feelings towards you are caused by the bond.”

Sarek looked around them and seemed relieved when he saw that no one was within earshot or indeed paying any attention to them at all. He opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, took a sip of his ch’aal and then finally spoke.
“The evolutionary purpose of a telepathic bond is for two main reasons. Firstly, to be able to find your mate over long distances and know their emotional and physical state to keep them safe and secondly, to make sure that the couple stay together for the benefit of any children they have as Vulcan children are more labour intensive to raise than even human children.”
“Ok, that makes sense. It does explain how you sensed that I had left San Francisco. But the bond isn’t specific enough for you to be able to track me down? You had to ask Jason where I was,” she was trying to poke holes into his story, unwilling to let her guard down completely even if she did believe what he was saying. “I still don’t know how you convinced him to tell you where I was by the way.”
“I told him that I wanted to find you and that I care for you a great deal, that seemed to satisfy him. But I thought he had asked your permission to tell me your location. There is a Vulcan tradition of tracking down one's bondmate over a long distance to prove the legitimacy of the connection and to show what you will do to find them. I could have found you by using the bond but I didn’t want to betray your trust as you hadn’t given me permission. I see now that I have been foolish to apply Vulcan logic onto humans, you all look so similar to Vulcans that it is easy to forget sometimes.”
“It’s over now, we can only try to fix it. I will say, however, that we need to research ways to break the bond because of the very real possibility of us not working out. I know Vulcans do things differently but humans date around before settling down,” she grimaced to herself. “Though if you ask my mum I should’ve been married by now. She’s set me up on a date for tonight.”
“A date? With who?” His voice sounded strained and she realised that it hadn’t been a good idea to tell him about that. As much as the whole situation seemed like a farce to her Sarek thought they were really married.
“I don’t know him, he’s a coworker of my mum’s. It’s a blind date, basically where two people are set up on a date to see if they’d be compatible or not,” she said and he was still looking at her with that inscrutable expression and there was a sudden pressure to tell him her date’s name. “His name is Satak, not that the name would mean anything to you.”
“He’s Vulcan?” Sarek seemed genuinely shocked.
“My mum may be overbearing but she isn’t a xenophobe. And she, um, knew that I was interested in Vulcan culture and she thought that we would have lots to talk about. After my faux pas in shaking your hand that day I promised myself that I would learn all I can about Vulcan culture but clearly I have a lot to learn since everything you’ve mentioned has been news to me.”
“You’re still going to go on this date?” His face was serene but his tone was clipped and she sensed that he was shielding as the back of her mind where the bond was felt empty.
“I promised my mum I would and I don’t go back on a promise.”
“You’re bonded,” he countered.
“And I told you that we were going to take it slow and go on a few dates before seeing if we were suitable. Humans often go on dates with multiple people at once before committing to one.”
Sarek looked like he was going to argue but thought better of it, “It is logical to adhere to human customs at this time. However I will point out that Vulcan men are very territorial of their mates and I would find it exceedingly...difficult to remain calm if I sensed you were touching another,” the last part of his words were ground out through gritted teeth, even the thought of it seemingly too much.

Amanda found this Sarek to be completely different from the man that she had been all that time ago at work. He had a hidden depth of feeling that surprised her and she found herself feeling a lot like the heroines of those tacky romance novels she read when she was bored on the weekends. Who would’ve guessed that Vulcans could be so romantic? Not her before today, that was for certain.
Amanda snorted slightly, “I’m not the type to put out on the first date, if that’s what you’re suggesting so don’t get any ideas.”
“Put out?” He asked, clearly idiomatic speech wasn’t his strong suit.
“Have sex,” she replied easily and possibly a bit too loudly. A woman at a nearby table looked at her, shocked but Amanda couldn’t bring herself to care after the day she’d had so far today.
“Vulcans do not engage in sexual intercourse before being bonded, so I am unfamiliar with the relationship between dates and ‘putting out’ as you call it.”
“And you weren’t bonded, only betrothed?” Amanda asked, eyes wide. Sarek nodded. “So you’ve never…?”
He looked down, his ears flushing green, “I have not.”
“That is…” her heart pounded, “sweet. Though in the interest of transparency I have.”
“I expected that,” he said though the news did still seem to be unwelcome. Though he had said Vulcans were territorial.

They spoke a bit more about the differences between Vulcan and Human romantic practices and Amanda left the cafe with her head bursting with information. There was very little information available about such things and she knew if she wrote it all down she could make a killing.
“Goodbye, Sarek. Have a safe trip back to your hotel. I have to get back in time to help with dinner, my mum said she’s going to be making mince meat ready for Christmas so it’ll be all hands on deck,” she considered her next words for a moment before deciding to throw caution to the wind. “I also have a date to get ready for.”
“Indeed,” Sarek said blankly, “I wish you a pleasant rest of your day.”
“You too, I’ll comm you to set up our next date. You’ve earnt a second one, I think. You’re quite a good conversationalist.”
“I look forward to your missive, then, aduna.”
“Goodbye, Sarek.”
“Until we meet again,” he held up his hand in what she now knew to be the ta’al. “Live long and prosper.”
“Peace and long life,” she returned the gesture, though her fingers didn’t like being arranged in such a way.

Her parents were happy that she was socialising and her mum didn’t bombard her with questions about who she had been with which meant she was really making an effort. After a quick late lunch and the making of far too much mince meat for three people she went to her room and called Jason to update him about the situation.
“Oh my god, Amanda. That is the sort of thing that could only happen to you,” he laughed but then looked at her seriously. “Can the bond be broken?”
“Sarek said that he didn’t know, it doesn’t usually happen. Either betrothals are never formalised or one of them dies. Neither of those two applies to us. I need to do some research into it.”
“You won’t find much, Vulcans keep stuff to do with them under wraps.”
She snorted, “I know that, probably better than you. I learnt a lot today.”
“But seriously you’re what? Married now?”
“God I guess so, this whole day is insane. I haven’t processed it at all.”
“Well I think you’re handling it really well.”
She shrugged, “For now.”
“So....you’ve got a love triangle going on with two Vulcans? That’s impressive, some kind of intergalactic record,” Jason teased. “Hey Tony! Amanda has finally grown up and become the femme fatale I always dreamed that she would be!”
A faint ‘Good for her’ could be heard from further away in the house.
“I haven’t even met Satak yet, so it's not really a love triangle.”
“You’re right, no one can compare to Sarek anyway. He is seriously handsome.”
“Hey, that’s my husband you’re talking about,” Amanda joked, hiding the fact that his words really had bothered her. She had been jealous? That must be the bond. She realised that Sarek had never answered her question about how much bonds affected emotions. Was he hiding unpleasant information?

Her dinner with Satak was booked for 6pm in one of the nicer restaurants in town, it had been set up in the time since she’d last been to Ottawa. Apparently it was run by a married Betazoid couple and the atmosphere was what made it better than the rest, though the food was good too. She just hoped it wasn’t too expensive because her teacher’s salary usually precluded her from going to places like that.

Satak was decent looking, well presented and well groomed as she looked him over as he stood outside of the restaurant. Still, he didn’t inspire anything other than apathy. He was all wrong, he wasn’t Sarek. She shook her head to clear her head of thoughts of her apparent bondmate and focused on the situation at hand. She had been on her fair share of blind dates, all of them set up by her mum. She knew the drill.
“Hello, I’m Amanda. Nice to meet you.”
“I knew your name as I’m sure you know mine,” he replied, face blank and without a bond to help her she had no idea if he was annoyed, teasing or simply stating facts.
“Yes, but it’s human custom to introduce myself anyway. So, um, do you have a reservation or…?”
“I do. Come with me.”

They were taken to a table to the back of the restaurant, the ceiling was strewn with lights and hanging plants and the atmosphere put her at ease. Though the mortification of the situation stopped her from fully relaxing. Amanda wracked her brain for something to talk to Satak about, she had only the vaguest idea of what would be polite to talk to a Vulcan about on a first date.
“So you work with my mother in the bank, what do you do exactly?” Amanda asked, feeling far more formal than she was comfortable with.
“I am the manager of the branch, meaning that I assure the smooth running of the bank in the day to day. My duties are many and varied.”
“Oh! So you’re my mum’s boss?” So much for formality.
“I am. She said that might make you feel ‘awkward’ though I find myself unable to understand why. I am not your superior,” he replied as they looked through their menus.
“I think the worry would be that if things didn’t go well between us you could make life harder for her at work, or even fire her,” Amanda explained.
“That is illogical. I would not allow any dealings that I had with you to affect my work,” he said.
“Humans are not quite so logical as Vulcans.”
“I have to agree with your assessment. However, I find humans most fascinating and that is why I decided to come to Earth.”
“But Canada?” Amanda asked, “I can’t imagine that the weather is comfortable for you.”
Satak looked vaguely amused, “No it is not, however I lived on Andor for a short period of time and so this is not the coldest weather that I have had to contend with.”
“Oh wow! I find it tough to imagine a Vulcan on Andor, you must have had to dress very warmly.”
“Indeed, I also spent a lot of time indoors.”
Amanda laughed.

She was pleasantly surprised by Satak, he was polite and gracious and was a wonderful conversationalist. He was very interesting to speak to and seemed genuinely interested in her in turn. Amanda felt a tiny buzz of potential attraction bloom in her chest but something reacted badly to it, she felt awful for feeling that way about someone who wasn’t Sarek.
‘Damn bond,’ she grumbled to herself mentally as they waited for the first course. Satak had noticed she nervous glances at the prices of the items on the menu and offered to pay for her meal.
“It is a Terran dating custom and also I earn more money than you so it is only logical,” he had said.
Amanda had wanted to allow him but she couldn’t, clearly the bond wouldn’t let her do something that was seen as flirtatious. Or Sarek wouldn’t allow it. Amanda preferred to think of the bond as its own entity purely because the idea of Sarek being able to control her actions made her feel sick. But if part of the role of the bond was to ensure fidelity then it would make sense that it would make acting flirtatious with others feel uncomfortable.
She declined his offer in the end, regardless of why she felt so uncomfortable with his offer she decided that she would much rather be broke than feel that way.

The food was amazing and Amanda couldn’t help but think that if she was going to be broke for any reason it wouldn’t be so bad if it was for food this good. She had ordered a vegetarian dish in respect for her date and the butternut squash was brazed in a sauce that she didn’t recognise and so assumed was from Betazed. Satak had ordered a glass of wine and Amanda had done the same, though he had explained that alcohol didn’t make Vulcans intoxicated.
“So nothing can get you drunk? That must be boring,” she commiserated.
Satak’s ears flushed slightly like Sarek’s did when he was embarrassed and Amanda knew she had struck gold, “Vulcans can become inebriated on the chemical called theobromine also known as chocolate. It is the same chemical that makes chocolate poisonous to dogs but our liver is slightly better at metabolising it and so it intoxicated us, though it is possible to overdose.”
“That is very interesting. Have you ever tried chocolate?”
“I have, however I was not aware of it’s intoxicating qualities at the time. It was a most...eventful evening.”
“You have had a very eventful life it seems, Satak,” Amanda said, taking a sip of the very good wine.
“Indeed, I am the ‘black sheep’ of the family as the Terran saying goes.”
“Ah, a bad boy, huh?”

Satak ended up surreptitiously paying for both of their meals and Amanda blushed but saw no point in fighting it. And as they stepped out into the cool evening air and Satak pulled his scarf tighter around his neck Amanda couldn’t help but wonder what would happen next. She looked around in the already dark streets and wasn’t nearly as surprised as she should be when she saw a figure standing under a tree across the street. She knew instinctively that it was Sarek.
“I had a wonderful evening with you tonight, Satak. Thank you for buying me dinner, even when I didn’t want you to,” she said, smiling slightly.
“You are welcome. I had a most engaging evening also, Amanda. I...I would like to partake in an Earth custom if you don’t mind.”

Amanda started to feel an intense desire to run away, she had a good idea just what custom he was referring to. Her throat felt far too dry all of a sudden for her to speak and she saw him leaning towards her slowly, he looked nervous himself and clearly he’d taken her silence for consent. She had a terrible feeling that things were going to go badly, she felt the corner of her mind that housed Sarek was in turmoil. As Satak was just about to kiss her he was pushed away from her and slammed into the wall of the restaurant.
“Sarek!” Amanda cried out, rushing over to the two Vulcans.
“Ri du kal’i?” Sarek snarled at the utterly flabbergasted Satak.

Amanda somehow knew those words were used during the kal’if’fee before the two men would fight, she didn’t know how she knew but ‘do you challenge?’ seemed to ring in her mind. She had to stop this before it went too far.
“Stop this! Get off of him, Sarek!”
He snapped round to look at her with eyes so dark they were black, “You defend him?”
“Oh my god it’s not like that I just don’t want you to fight him for no reason. You cannot apply Vulcan logic to this,” she argued desperately, gripping his arm in an attempt to pull it from where it was choking Satak.
“He is Vulcan,” Sarek ground out.
“He also had no idea that I was bonded. Also, may I point out that I also had no idea I was bonded until last night, it wasn’t my choice. You should feel lucky that I gave you a chance to prove yourself to me but if you’re going to act like this I don’t see how we have anything in common.”
Those words seemed to bring Sarek back to the present and he let Satak go.
“I do not know what is going on between the two of you but I want no part in it,” Satak said, breathing heavily.
“I’m sorry, Satak. I had no idea he would react this way,” she said.
He shook his head slightly, already starting to walk away, “Then you have no idea about Vulcan males.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated glumly.
“Indeed, as am I,” he held up the ta’al. “Live long and prosper.”
“Peace and long life,” she returned, glaring at Sarek when he growled.

Once Satak had turned the corner she rounded on him, blazing with anger.
“Where the fuck do you get off thinking that you get to act like that?”
“I do not understand your meaning,” his voice was far too calm for her liking and it only spurred her on more.
“You’re lucky the police weren’t called on you since you, you know, broke the law.”
“I have diplomatic immunity,” he pointed out.
“That hardly makes it any better!” She cried out before growling to herself when she realised how loud she had been, “I am going, I can’t deal with you right now.”
“You can’t leave,” he followed her as she strode down the empty street.
“I can and I am.”
“I am your bondmate,” he said darkly.
“You are nothing to me,” she picked up her pace hoping that she could leave him behind.

Amanda heard Sarek’s pace pick up behind her and his grip on her arm as she was spun around and pushed back against the brick behind her. He stared down at her, chest heaving and she stared back unable to think of what she should do next. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her but she was also very aware that he wasn’t in control of himself; the bond wasn’t shielded and the rage and fear that he felt at the thought of her rejecting him was almost total.
“You can’t leave me, you can’t,” he gripped her tighter.
“Sarek,” she began to speak but found herself not knowing what to say.
“I know it is not what you would have chosen but we are bonded and if you reject me...I will die.”
“You have to be joking,” Amanda spluttered.
“I cannot speak of it,” he began to say and she sighed, annoyed at being manhandled for reasons that he wouldn’t tell her about, “but I can show you through a mind meld.”
Amanda had looked into Vulcan telepathy and knew what they were and she was going to refuse when she realised that since they were bonded it hardly mattered.
“Alright, get on with it,” she said.
He raised his hands to her face and recited the words that she had only seen written, “My mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts…”

Amanda was swept up into Sarek’s mind and she was overwhelmed by the sensation of no longer being within her own body. Sarek began to project images to her of something that she knew to be Pon Farr; images of desert caves and marriages performed with the men held back to stop them pouncing on their mates, reduced to animals by their biology. Amanda knew, like she knew her own name, that Pon Farr was deadly if left alone and that it debilitated Vulcan men-left them at the mercy of their biology. It was the great shame of the Vulcan people and that’s why it wasn’t spoken of to outworlders.
‘If you reject me I will die, I protect you because you are mine and I am yours because only you can cool the flames when I burn only for you. It is the Vulcan way, aduna.’
‘It must hurt so much,’ she said simply, even the projections in her mind overwhelming her.
‘I have not experienced it yet but it is coming for me, I have been shown what it is like and I fear it. It is a fate worse than death.’
‘I can...see why you reacted like that to Satak. It is purely Vulcan but I still can’t understand fully what it means to be bonded, Sarek.’
‘Let me show you, then.’
‘Ok, show me. I have to know what you expect from me.’

A new sensation flooded through her, a host of completely alien emotions that vaguely correspond with emotions she could name but were different in their makeup. A love for everything that was Amanda, her mind, her body, her katra. A fierce need to protect and to keep safe, to cherish. She saw the scene of Satak leaning down to kiss her from his point of view and felt his body contract ready to fight, felt a lifetime of emotional control crack in less than a second and she knew that if Satak had touched her Sarek would have hurt him badly if not outright killed him. Their bond was still new and was unconsummated meaning that it was still weak with lack of telepathic contact and that left him in a precarious state. It had taken all of his strength to not rush into the restaurant and steal Amanda away while she had been having dinner with Satak, he had prowled around the outside like a desperate sehlat, unfeeling of the bitter cold.
‘Oh, Sarek. I am so sorry-I didn’t know it had been like that for you,’ Amanda said, trying to show him just how ignorant she had been to his plight.
‘I would suffer a hundred times that for you, aduna. I know that our bonding was a mistake, a misunderstanding. And yet I cannot regret it, Vulcans don’t believe in fate but I find myself believing in it now. I would not give you up if I can help it but...there is a way to break the bond. Though it would involve going to Vulcan to consult mind healers as it can kill both parties without proper supervision.’
Amanda could sense how much strength it took for Sarek to give her the option of leaving but she found that once the option had been starkly presented to her she didn’t find it to be all that appealing. She had a man in front of her who had offered himself completely to her, who loved her for every aspect of herself and cherished her enough to put her needs above his even if it could result in his death as he didn’t know when Pon Farr would strike and not having a bondmate meant nearly certain death.
‘I don’t want to do that, at least not before I know what we could be to each other. You clearly love me and though human emotions take longer to get there I want to see if I can get there. I want to do this with you.’

The bond between them was singing with both the telepathic contact and Sarek’s happiness at her acceptance of him. Amanda knew he had been nervous to show himself to her fully but she had accepted him, even his primitive biology. The awareness of his inner monologue was alien to her but it didn’t feel wrong. Now that the bond between them had been opened Amanda saw it for what it was, not a manipulation but a connection of the deepest type. Her sensing Sarek’s state had naturally made her want to behave in a way that didn’t hurt him but she wasn’t being forced.
‘My internal temperature is dropping,’ Sarek said through the bond as he began to pull away, ‘we must find shelter.’
‘Please don’t leave me,’ Amanda begged, the thought of only being left with that tiny awareness of him more than she could take.
‘I will keep the bond open, though I will shield both of our thoughts. It will feel better than before.’
‘Better for you too?’
She sensed amusement from him and she recognised it as his mental laugh, ‘Indeed. I have found shielding our bond completely to be almost intolerable. I am glad to be able to stop.’

This time when he pulled away she let him and she found herself aware of the physical world again. She was cold but she didn’t care. Amanda reached up to cup Sarek’s head and pulled him down to her.
“Amanda,” he protested, “we cannot stay out here.”
She ignored him and stood on her tiptoes to meet her lips to his in a fierce kiss, one that despite his arguments he returned eagerly. She found herself pushed back against the wall harder with one of his hands resting gently at the bottom of her throat in what she sensed to be a gesture for his own instinctive peace of mind, as if she’d want to run away she thought to herself, amused. Their mouths slotted together at a new angle and their kiss naturally deepened and Sarek growled lightly; both of his hands now moved to her hips to pull her even closer to him as their tongues gently touched.
“We can’t do this out here,” Amanda said, pulling away from the kiss that was quickly getting out of hand.
Sarek reverently kissed her cheek that she had turned to him and moved his way down to her throat, “You started this, aduna.”
“Yes, I did,” she laughed breathily. “Now I’m finishing it. You said you were cold.”
“You will keep me warm,” he countered as he began to nibble at her skin.
“We’re in public, do you want someone to see us?” No reaction from the Vulcan was forthcoming, clearly his brain had checked out for the foreseeable future. She tried another tactic. “Do you want someone seeing me like this?”
Sarek growled more deeply this time and bit down on her neck in reaction to her words. The pain didn’t put Amanda off in the slightest, well that was new for her, “Let’s go somewhere more private, adun.”

The pet name for him seemed to bring Sarek back to himself and he let her go. As he stood back she noticed that his lips were swollen, he was flushed from more than just the cold and his pupils were dilated so wide that they seemed to swallow the dark brown of his eyes.
“I have a hover car parked nearby, we can go to my hotel.”
Amanda wordlessly nodded, completely swept away the lust rolling through the bond-a feedback loop between the two of them. His lust wasn’t like her own tingling but more akin to anger in that it demanded action, a need to claim filled Sarek but it was tempered with love-he worried that he would hurt her. She realised that he was projecting his fear to her as they walked to his car.
“You won’t hurt me, Sarek,” she said confidently.
“Neither of us can know that. Vulcans are three times stronger than humans and if I lose control even for a second I could injure you and even the thought of that is anathema to me.”
“We were making out just then and you didn’t hurt me,” she argued as they got into the hover car. Sarek gave her a pointed look and gestured to her neck as he turned on the car. “Oh, come on! Humans do that too, that isn’t hurting me. It’s nothing a dermal regenerator can’t fix in a few seconds.”
“I don’t want you to get rid of my claim,” Sarek said as they pulled out of the carpark and drove down the almost deserted main road.
“Well then you can’t feel guilty that you ‘hurt me’ and not want me to fix it. Pick one.”
He sighed, “Alright, that was not a good example of my injuring you. However it is very possible that I would damage you.”
“I know you’re protective of me and I appreciate that but I trust you to stop if I tell you to so you need to trust me to tell you if you’re doing anything that I don’t want you to,” she paused, thinking. “That goes both ways, by the way. You have to tell me if I’m going too fast for you or if anything makes you uncomfortable. I know you aren’t experienced in these sorts of things...though you are a wonderful kisser so I’m sure you’ll pick it up quickly,” she said wickedly.

Once they had pulled up to the hotel they rushed in, glad to be out of the cold. Sarek had recovered his decorum enough to demure from her attempts at making out in the lift but not enough to refrain from gripping her hand in a display that would have been obscene on Vulcan.
“Which room is yours?” Amanda asked, feeling a thrill of excitement that she hadn’t felt in a long time. She hadn’t had sex in over a year and she felt giddy like a virgin at the prospect of ending her dry spell.
Sarek snorted, “203, also be aware that I can sense your thoughts, aduna. We are touching.”
“I thought you were shielding,” she wasn’t annoyed at him picking up on her thoughts, more so confused about how it all worked.
“I am but when we are physically touching it is difficult to ignore your thoughts, it’s like trying to ignore someone shouting at you.”
“Ok, fair enough...ah! Here’s 203. Come on, adun I have some things to show you,” she said coyly.
“You enjoy that I am inexperienced in such matters...how curious.”
Amanda blushed, “It sounds weird when you put it that way. I just have never been in the position of being the most experienced person. Also it will be fun to teach you, it is my job after all.”
“I don’t think I will take as much instruction as you think, aduna,” Sarek growled once they were in his hotel room and hanging up their coats.

It was comfortably furnished and certainly more expensive than any room she could afford but it was also utilitarian. Luckily the bed looked comfortable. Amanda decided that she was going to find out for herself as she trotted over to the bed, confident that Sarek would follow her. She wasn’t wrong.
“Aduna,” he said desperately as he tilted her chin up to kiss her, “I need you.”
“You have me,” the words calmed him and they became so involved in the kiss that they forgot that bed was right behind them and Amanda fell back onto it accidentally.
Laughing, she looked up at him towering over her and looking nonplussed, “Get down here, I’m not getting back up.”
“Logical but I shall disrobe first in the name of expediency,” he replied, raking his eyes over her body and Amanda took the hint and started to undress herself too.
She was wearing a fairly form fitting skirt and she struggled to wiggle it down over her hips while lying down. She was just about to get up in order to take it off when Sarek descended upon her, completely naked. He had no hang ups about his body and for good reason, he was toned in a way that Amanda associated with Greek statues.
“I can’t imagine that working for the embassy requires that sort of physique,” she commented, running a hand over his chest and down to the firm stomach. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“Vulcan has a higher gravity than Earth and so in order to keep my body in a suitable condition to return to Vulcan everyone at the embassy has an exercise regime personally tailored to us by a personal trainer,” he replied as she helped her out of the last of her clothes.
“Remind me to send a thank you note to your personal trainer,” she said breathlessly, finding that she wanted her mouth to be engaged in something other than talking.
“In that case I must also send a thank you note to your parents for creating such a fine specimen,” Sarek replied.
“You can be quite slick sometimes, you know that?” She said and he looked confused so she didn’t push it. “Get over here and touch me before I explode.”
“I highly doubt you will combust if I do not-”
“Do you want to experiment with that?” She cut in, eyebrow raised.
“I do not.”

Having Sarek touch her like this was more than she could have imagined. The feedback loop of the bond was in full force and the pleasure of just having his hands on her skin was intense. He was tracing his hands up and down her sides in a repetitive motion, occasionally stopping to squeeze her hips while they kissed. Kissing Sarek was quickly becoming one of Amanda’s favourite things.
‘Hands being an erogenous zone for Vulcans seems to have its benefits,' Sarek said wryly through the bond.
‘Telepathic communication also has its benefits,’ Amanda added. ‘I can kiss you and talk to you at the same time.’
‘A most agreeable state of affairs…’
‘Sarek, if you don’t move your hands further south I will scream,’ she warned.
He was about to comment on the unsuitability of screaming in a hotel when he felt her amusement, ‘As you wish, aduna. Please tell me if I need to change anything I’m doing.’
‘Surely you can tell how I’m liking it through the bond but yes I will tell you. Don’t worry.’

His hand dipped down between her thighs and she opened her legs for him invitingly, he was nervous to do the wrong thing and she tried to send comforting thoughts to him but she was far too busy trying not to combust with sexual tension. Despite his nervousness his fingers were sure against her as he touched her with increasing surety. The fact that he could adjust what he was doing according to how she felt in real time without her having to say anything put him above any of her other sexual partners already.
Sarek growled and pulled away from their kiss to speak physically, “I would appreciate it if you didn’t think about other men at such a time.”
She laughed but it morphed into a gasp when he thrust his two fingers inside of her more forcefully, “It was all complimentary.”
“All the same, I won’t be satisfied until you can think of no one else but me.”
She shuddered, “A good goal.”
“I also won’t be satisfied until you are shaking.”
“Oh fuck, Sarek!” She whined. “Who taught you to talk like that?”
He looked at her with a fiendishly innocent expression given where his fingers currently were, “I am merely telling you the truth. Hardly cause for comment.”
“Well,” she gasped, moving her hands up to his shoulders to pull him back down for another kiss, “keep telling me the truth, adun.”
‘Vulcans do not lie. Also I am gratified to hear you call me by my proper title,’ he thought to her through the bond as he positively ravaged her with deep kisses, his fingers working her body to distraction.
‘I can tell,’ her thoughts were clouded with lust but she still found communication through the bond easy. ‘I have something I want to do. Lie back, adun.’

He was reluctant to stop what he was doing but obeyed her and Amanda found herself surveying her husband, the term still completely ridiculous to her.
“Is it alright if I suck you?” She asked, aware that this was all new for him regardless of how well he was taking to it.
“I am unfamiliar with the term,” he admitted, looking bashful.
“Oral sex,” she supplied.
“That was my guess but with human speech I can never be sure.”
“So?” She prompted.
“I would not be averse however I do not wish to do so at the expense of having intercourse.”
She smiled, looking down to where his cock stood thick and inviting, “Believe me we are in agreement there.”

With that, she crawled her way towards him and took his cock in her hand. It looked mostly like the human penises she had seen except it was tinted green with blood and had two ridges at the top.
‘The fact that Vulcans are built like this must be the best kept secret in the universe otherwise Vulcan would be full of women trying to snag a man for themselves,” she thought, giggling to herself at the thought of all those uptight Vulcans having to beat off the women with sticks.
‘You keep forgetting that I can sense your thoughts when you touch me, aduna. Though I have to admit that I find that imagine amusing also.’
Amanda focused them both on the task at hand when she began to stroke him, trying to figure out what he liked. Sarek put up with her experimentation for a while before shifting under her in desperation.
“Please, I...I wish to feel your mouth on me.”
Amanda found that Vulcan dirty talk got her going more than anything else she had heard and she was perfectly willing to get this show on the road.

The way that he reacted when she took him into her mouth was unexpected. He gasped and writhed, hands reaching for her head before falling back onto the sheets without touching her. She was grateful for him not grabbing her and forcing her down onto his cock without her permission but she found the idea of his hands guiding her to be sexy and luckily he picked up on that and he soon threaded his hands through her hair, pulling it tight at the root to guide her head in a rhythm that suited him better. She was perfectly happy to go along for the ride for a bit. She had missed the feeling of pleasing a partner and Sarek’s reactions spurred her on even more. She wouldn’t have guessed that he would be so open about his pleasure but it was a pleasant surprise and even if he hadn’t been she could have sensed it through the bond.
‘I must have you,’ he thought to her and she knew it was true. She could feel his desire for her singing through his blood, slowly burning him from the inside out. If this was how intense he was normally she would be in for a hell of a treat during Pon Farr she thought to herself dazedly and she lay back as he began to press burning kisses all over her body.

“My beautiful aduna,” he said to himself between kisses, squeezing her breasts in his hands.
She arched up to the touch, “All yours. Oh god, I need you, Sarek.”
He stopped his movements and she whined, his eyes smoldered her as he spoke, “Refer to me in the proper way.”
“Please fuck me, adun. I need you.”
“Much better,” he said. “I enjoyed oral sex greatly and I look forward to reciprocating but for now I have more pressing matters to attend to.”
Amanda nodded, “Couldn’t agree more.”
Sarek moved her leg over his hip and she gasped, the knowledge of what they were about to do hitting her, she knew it was a turning point for them.
“Are you ready, aduna?” He asked, looking positively wrecked with his hair mussed and his lips bruised with kissing.
“Oh yes, very very ready, adun.”

He entered her slowly, not wanting to hurt her but she had been well prepared and felt no pain when he sank into her just a satisfying fullness. As he filled her she felt their bond flare and deepen impossibly more and they both gasped at the ecstasy of it.
“Did you...did you know it could feel like this?” Amanda said between pressing kisses to his neck, wanting to give him a mark to match her own.
Sarek rumbled approvingly at the thought, ‘Claim me as your own, aduna. And no I did not.’
That was all the encouragement she needed and she sank her teeth into his neck. The reaction she got was not what she had expected, a bolt of arousal shot through to her through the bond and he thrust into her desperately.
‘I didn’t think you’d like it so much,’ she thought deviously as she moved onto a fresh area of his neck. ‘I can feel your pleasure and it is addicting, you may find that you will be covered in marks by tomorrow.’
‘I would not be averse,’ he replied as he set a slow rhythm, trying to calm himself.
‘I know you wouldn’t,’ Amanda thought as she bit with all her strength at where his neck met his shoulder. If Sarek had been human she would have drawn blood but instead he just rumbled contentedly and picked up his pace.
Soon Amanda’s jaw began to hurt and she gave up on marking Sarek, looked at his neck and saw that it was covered with green bruises and she knew that she would feel guilty about it in the morning. Instead she moved up to kiss him and they fell back into more deep kisses as their tongues reached out to each other.

Eventually even kissing became too much work and they just rested their foreheads together, breath mingling together as they panted against each other. Amanda gripped his shoulders in an attempt to ground herself but the pleasure was too strong, she could feel herself being pulled into orgasm but she didn’t want to come just yet. Not if Sarek wasn’t. Damn Vulcan control, he was a virgin, how did he have so much stamina? She raked her nails down his back mercilessly, knowing that it would just spur him on. She was right.
‘Aduna, I can’t last much longer...please,’ he begged and she knew what he was asking.
She reached a hand between them and began to touch herself as his thrusts became more and more erratic. The force of Sarek’s orgasm was overwhelming as if washed over the two of them, it was more than enough to send Amanda over the edge and she cried out as she came. Their orgasms mixed together and lengthened each other and when they eventually collapsed they were both panting heavily. Amanda’s legs were shaking slightly as she tried to regain her composure and Sarek didn’t look in a much better state. In fact, he looked positively sinful with his normally perfectly groomed hair sticking up in all sorts of directions and bruises and scratches covering his body. She would have felt guilty for hurting him if he couldn’t feel the pride at satisfaction at the marks rolling off of him in waves.
“Do you think anyone heard us?” She asked, grinning.
“I do not know but I find that I don’t care,” he replied. “Care to have a shower with me, aduna?”
She shook her head, “I would love to but we both know that we wouldn’t get any showering done in there. You go first and I’ll follow then we can both get to bed.”
“Logical.”

Sarek showered quickly and by the time she had come out from her own sonic shower he was fast asleep. As she cuddled up to him he woke up slightly, blinking down at her sleepily he smiled slightly and it made her heart skip.
“A good first time, I take it?” She asked, hoping that she was right.
“Very much so,” he said. “It will only get better from here.”
Amanda laughed, “If it gets much better I think I may fall into a coma.”
“It’s time for you to sleep now, aduna. Humans need more sleep than Vulcans,” he pulled her down to him and switched the lights off.
“You say that like you weren’t asleep just now.”
“I was merely resting my eyes,” he replied calmly.
“If you say so, adun,” she said and the wave of happiness that she felt from him made her smile and burrow her head into his chest.

A long pause and then Amanda spoke again.
“Are you purring, adun?” She smothered her laugh in his chest and flung a leg over both of his to stop him moving.
“Vulcans are known to purr when they are content.”
“Do you purr often?”
“Not since I was a child,” he admitted.
“Well,” she said, determined, “it’s now my job to make you purr as often as possible.”
The purr increased in volume and the rumble of it was sending her to sleep quickly.
“If we repeat tonight’s activities that will be no problem.”
Another silence and then Amanda mumbled sleepily, “I love you, Sarek.”
The wave of contentment that rolled over her sent her fully to sleep so she didn’t hear his reply.
“Ah, you’ve finally caught up to me, aduna.”