Unspoken

Chapter One: The Mistake

Unable to fall asleep because of nerves, Gwen would cast anxious glances in S'ring's direction occasionally, relieved that he did not find it necessary to make any kind of small talk. Of course she knew like anyone else that Vulcans weren't prone to making small talk. She really would have been happier if he wasn't so dang…gorgeous. She was constantly pushing aside unmoral thoughts as she observed that they had exited the city limits and were now flying swiftly over a vast desert. She kept pulling her skirt down and began to feel sweaty; this was ridiculous. She opened her comm to a message from Calypsa and a faint blush tinged her rich mocha skin. It was highly doubtful that Vulcans were very into anything, not like human boys which according to her parents were just smaller imitations of the devil. Her parents probably wouldn't like the impressive ears that Vulcans had; they were too similar to certain ancient depictions of demon ears. Gwen thought their ears were kind of..cool. It reminded her of when her friends had dressed up as elves for Halloween; she still had the pictures. If only her history and social studies books had explained to her that Vulcan men were beautiful, instead of how they were earth's allies and lived their lives according to the teachings of Surak; that would have prepared her for this moment much more efficiently. She had a message from her parents but decided not to look at it till later, the last thing she needed right now was to be embarrassed by her overprotective parents in front of S'ring.

S'ring felt concern for Gwen, she seemed to be perspiring and her heart-rate had still not slowed down to a healthy level. It was possible that the Terran medical physicians had not evaluated her state of health accurately; she did not seem at all well. He thought of saying something but had observed that speaking to her only proved to worsen her symptoms. He had never seen the necessity of excessive talking anyway and was content with speaking only when it was absolutely necessary. Verbal exchanges distracted one from deep thought and meditation essential to logical choices. If only more members of his species recognized this. Honestly, S'ring disliked talking, he always had. His eyebrows scrunched almost imperceptibly; he sensed that it was his very presence that caused her such discomfort. Her eyes gazed in his direction at regular intervals as if she was worried about what he would do. It made him wonder if young human women were naturally skittish or if his actions had in some way upset her. He had grasped her arm briefly to help her up but that had been the only logical course of action at the time, as her balance had been extremely faulty and her legs shaky. When they at last reached his dwelling; he knew he must find a way to put her at ease. He had heard from Klen that Terran often found certain displays of verbal and physical affection comforting. He doubted it could do anymore harm and he was at a loss for what else he could do apart from a nerve-pinch, which would not inspire much trust. He stepped in front of her as she fumbled with her luggage remote. He removed it gently from her hand.

"I sense from your body language that my presence causes you to be anxious. This is illogical as I will not harm you." He said in the most calming voice he had; remembering how he had once observed a human female comforting her offspring, he stroked her cheek lightly. He found it a challenge to block the onslaught of thoughts and emotions that she was harboring.

Gwen shuddered at his touch and her last thought as everything went black was: "He has the prettiest eyes."

Catching her before she collapsed, S'ring quickly handed her luggage remote to his younger sister S'lara, who had just come out to meet them. Gathering her limp body up in his arms, S'ring realized he had made an error. He had unfortunately picked up on some of her thoughts accidentally, when his skin made contact with hers and now knew that his touch was what she had feared most of all, as it caused her to feel arousal that she considered to be wrong. This puzzled him; from what he understood of human behavior, they found nothing wrong with harboring feelings of sexual attraction for almost any type of humanoid. Her thought process was fascinating.

"Naafril has requested that you contact her S'ring." S'ring nodded as he carried the Terran female into the dome-roofed house. "I will take the Terran's belongings to her bedchambers. What is wrong with her brother?"

"She surpassed the amount of stress that her body could handle and fainted. She was showing some symptoms of dehydration."

S'lara nodded as she opened the door to the Terran female's room; her eyes alight with curiosity. She let S'ring enter first and watched with interest as he gently placed the girl on the double bed.

S'ring could feel his sister's eyes on him as he checked Gwen's pulse and felt for a fever.

"I have already prepared the evening meal. Should I bring water to her room for when she awakens?"

"Yes." Gwen, apart from being in a deep sleep, seemed to be doing better than she had been before. Her heart rate was normal and a smile curved her lips as her chest rose and fell at regular intervals. He left her side and left a message for her on the console as he saw his sister place a bowl of water on the nightstand out of the corner of his eye.

S'lara had never seen a human up close before and couldn't resist examining her rounded ears and eyebrows; even her strange curly hair was a set in a somehow rounded style. She wondered at her brother's choice; this female was physically mature but S'lara could see from her nearly flawless skin that she was barely out of childhood.

"S'lara, we must give Gwen privacy now."

S'lara reluctantly did as her brother said and followed him out the door. "She is not too young to be bonded?"

"No, she is approximately nineteen years old."

S'lara's eyebrows shot up, she herself was considered very young and she was thirty-five years old. "Human's reach sexual maturity at a younger age?"

"Yes." S'ring's headache was coming back and he was growing weary of S'lara's questions. He walked away from his sister and headed towards his lab to run some experiments and contact Naafril before Gwen woke up. Perhaps he should ask his sister to explain pon farr. He was not sure which idea he liked less, discussing pon farr with his sister, or discussing pon farr with Gwen.

S'lara was used to her brother's antisocial behavior and went back to her quarters to finish her essay on Klingon warfare methods. S'lara was actually appreciative of Gwen's young age; she illogically felt lonely sometimes, she often had since their parents died. It would be pleasant to have someone to talk to besides S'ring when she was home. S'ring was kind to her but, altogether a most un-stimulating conversationalist.