Disclaimer: Don't own Star Trek. Wish I did, but I don't.
A young Spock padded barefoot into the kitchen one morning, to find his mother seated at the table, doing something with several brightly colored pieces of string. Spock furrowed his brow, confused. Was this another Earth custom she loved so?
"Mother, what are you doing?" Spock asked politely. His mother looked up and smiled. "Spock!
She greeted him warmly, voice always holding so much emotion. "Come here! How have you been today, sweetie?"
"Very well, Mother." Spock answered respectfully, pulling himself up onto the chair next to her. "What is it you are doing?" he repeated.
"Oh, just another silly Earth custom." She saw his curious gaze, and laughed. "It's called a friendship bracelet. You make it for your friends."
"How… what is their purpose?" Spock asked, unable to look away from the strange strings. His mother laughed again. It was truly a pleasing sound, and one she did quite often.
"There's no purpose, Spock. It's a gift, to show your friends or loved ones how much you care about them. Oh, don't make that face at me, Spock. You'll have friends, too. Ones you care about. Here, let me show you how to make one. First, you tie the strings together, like this." She said, picking up two differently colored strings and demonstrating. "Then tie a knot like this, with one of them. This is called a half hitch knot. You try. No, sweetie, not quite like that. Try bringing the string through the loop." Spock, brow furrowed with concentration, found himself fascinated by the way the strings came together, forming patterns of colors.
His first attempt ended up as a row of neat, if slightly irregularly sized at times, knots forming alternating colors. She showed him how to tie it off, to form a bracelet that would slip around one's wrist. His mother smiled when he presented it to her, 'as a gift to show his affection for her'. She put it on her arm, and declared she would wear it for the rest of the day, a sentiment Spock found illogical but strangely satisfying.
He spent the better part of two hours perfecting the small knots in his room with strings his mother gave him, satisfied when they were all uniform. As he went down to dinner that night, he noted to himself he would have to look up other bracelet patterns on his PADD, or perhaps ask his mother… when his father wasn't around. He was uncertain if he would approve.
That Gift-Giving Day (His mother insisted on having a day once every Terran year where they gave gifts, in honor of various religious Earth holidays), Spock felt… satisfied, illogically so, on the inside when his mother's face lit up when she opened the red wrapping to find a daisy chain friendship bracelet inside. His father got one, too, with a zig-zagging striping pattern. Both had taken him some time to complete, as the steps were somewhat difficult to understand.
His father did not smile, but quietly put on the bracelet and wore it, like his mother, for the remainder of the day. Spock was intrigued by his new pH testing set, and ended up tested various materials in the household, recording their place on the scale.
I wrote this because an idea caught me… and wouldn't let me go. I am writing this, still trapped in the arms of the idea. I hope to appease the idea with this. I may write more, though, if you guys think it's worth continuing.
Reviews are appreciated! They appease the idea-beast greatly, more than my writing ever could!