There wasn't anything else on the ambassador's to-do list for the day- he had made sure to finish everything promptly, so that he could meet Amanda before she had to make the inevitable trip home for the day. Now he was simply looking over some of the things that he had done earlier, to double and triple check that he had done a satisfactory job for the day.
"Sarek?" he heard from the door, then looked up. Amanda had stuck her head into the doorway and was watching what he was doing, then continued to speak, "oh, it looks like you're still working, I'm sorry to bother you." Her voice held evident disappointment, one of many emotions that humans were particularly terrible at hiding; it was one emotion he could say he didn't quite like hearing from her.
"Not at all, Amanda, I am simply double checking the things I did earlier," Sarek said, rising from his seat and approaching where she still stood, half of her body outside of the door frame. He tucked his arms behind his back, then said, "I suppose you had something in mind, then?"
"You suppose?" she asked, straightening up and smiling widely at the vulcan.
"Otherwise you wouldn't have 'bothered' me at all," Sarek answered, "So, what is it you wish to show me today?"
"You don't mind a walk, do you? I'd been wanting to walk through the park while the weather is still warm enough," Amanda asked him, standing a respectful distance away from him. Sarek might have disputed her idea of "warm enough" as, by vulcan standards, it was currently quite chilly, but if she wanted to walk through the park, he would surely not do anything to curb her happiness.
"That sounds agreeable," Sarek responded, nodding his head ever so slightly. Amanda smiled again at him and held her arm out, motioning down the hallway.
"Then away we go, my fair Vulcan," she responded, beginning to walk down the hallway. Sarek quickly matched her pace and fell into a comfortable conversation as she began to go on about what her sister had told her in their latest conversation, about herself and their family and how life is back where Amanda's family still resided. Sarek had no reason to dislike this train of conversation, as her stories of home fascinated him and the telling of them seemed to make her happy. He mostly let her talk, himself only interrupting her to ask for clarifications on something she said.
Once they got outside of the embassy he felt himself shiver slightly, pulling his robe closer around him. Amanda noticed and started to offer something, but Sarek stopped her by saying, "Do not trouble yourself," and she merely raised an eyebrow, reminiscent of the vulcans she spent so much time around. The park was close to the embassy, and Sarek had already walked through it many times before, and as such was familiar with the sights, but Amanda seemed to enjoy it even though she herself had certainly been there more times than him.
"It'll be really nice to walk through this park once there's snow on the ground," Amanda said, and Sarek lifted an eyebrow at her.
"If you say so," he responded, and she laughed, a soft and light sound that reminded Sarek strongly of his affection for this particular human. The affection itself never truly left; it always hung about him, warming him on occasions that he needed it.
"Snow doesn't bother you as much as it used to, does it?" Amanda asked him.
"'As much' is hardly a definite unit of measurement, and as such I do not think I can really say," Sarek responded, but Amanda seemed to take his response as an affirmative.
"Well I certainly enjoy it. It reminds me of home," Amanda said thoughtfully. She looked up at Sarek. "There are things that remind you of Vulcan, here on Earth, right? So you can probably understand."
"Yes, of course," Sarek responded simply, allowing her to continue to talk as he watched her. The two of them kept walking through the park at a slow pace before coming to a stop in front of a bench. Amanda grabbed a light hold on Sarek's sleeve and pulled him over to sit on the bench.
"Tired already?" Sarek asked, to her delight.
"Hardly," she responded, lights in her eyes, "I just wanted to talk."
"We were talking," Sarek responded. Amanda rolled her eyes.
"Anyway. Here, Sarek, give me your hand," Amanda continued with hardly a beat. Sarek's eyebrows nearly came off his face in what some would call an expression of emotion but he would have called a reasonable response to the situation, even for a vulcan.
"Amanda-"
"Don't worry, Sarek, I know what touching hands means, I'm not actually gonna touch you," she responded good-naturedly, one hand digging through her jacket pocket for something. Finally she seemed to come upon what she was looking for: a length of red thread.
"Can I see your hand?"
Sarek lifted the hand on her side closer to her, and she took the piece of thread and wound it lightly around his pinky finger before tying it there, loose enough that one could easily pull it off if necessary. She did all of this with a deftness of her hands, not even brushing against his hand.
"And may I ask what the point of this is?" Sarek asked, genuinely interested. Amanda usually had some point to the things that she did, even if they were roundabout and, for most vulcans, hard to follow.
"I'm teaching you, Sarek," Amanda responded, holding the end of the string in the hand next to his, "On Earth we have this...legend, myth, whatever you wish to call it, that two people who are meant to be together regardless of time or place- soulmates- are connected to each other by a red thread tied to their pinkies. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break."
Sarek looked down to the thread, one end tied to his finger and the other end being held by Amanda. He couldn't help but wonder what her point was in this demonstration, other than to tell him another interesting bit of Earth culture.
"That is quite illogical," Sarek said, looking over to where Amanda was grinning next to him.
"Indeed it is, but that's what makes us human! Plus, you gotta think that it's poetic, at least," she responded, looking him back in the eyes, a guarded emotion apparent on her face, but not one Sarek could place.
"Poetic, yes," Sarek responded, then continued, "Is there any point for your demonstration though?" He held up his hand to her.
"Does everything have to have a point?" Amanda asked, then quickly said, "Yes, of course it does, I know that Sarek. Well, other than being a fun way to illustrate the story, I dunno"
"Eloquently put," Sarek responded.
"Don't laugh at me!" Amanda responded, petulant.
"I am not-"
"You laugh with your eyes, Sarek, not your mouth. You and I both know that," she responded.
Sarek decided not to respond to that remark, and instead continued speaking, "Vulcans also have an idea of 'soulmates', so I cannot say your idea is completely unfounded- not in that way, at least."
Amanda looked thoughtful for a moment, and Sarek allowed her a moment. It wasn't often that she slowed down and gave him time to think- much needed though such time was around her.
"Sarek, do you believe in the idea of soulmates?"
"From a technical standpoint, I find it bordering too much on superstition to find credence in it," Sarek responded.
"Well I think there's something to it. Sometimes people meet and they just suddenly realize 'yes, this is who I want to spend the rest of my life with'," she said, leaning against the back of the bench and looking away from him.
"You speak as though this has happened to you," Sarek responded, studying her. A red color marked her face, but otherwise she didn't react physically to his comment.
"It has, for that matter," she responded, still not looking at him.
Sarek raised an eyebrow. "Don't you raise your eyebrow at me, either. I'm not completely off base with it, even if he is completely...completely outside of my reach," she commented.
"I do not know what would make you think that this man is out of your reach," Sarek responded, not quite sure how he suddenly had begun counseling the woman he loved on her own love life.
Amanda laughed, loudly, and looked up at Sarek for the first time in a while. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her fiddling around with her hands; she had taken the other end of the red thread and had tied it around her own finger. She looked down at her lap and the red on her face became more apparent.
It dawned on the vulcan, then, what she had been implying. She hadn't come out and told him, but she had done everything but say it. He must have made her feel like he was disinterested in her in that way, but likely most humans would have thought the same thing. Assuming that his hypothesis was correct, he decided to test it. He held up the pointer and index fingers of the hand that had the thread attached to it, holding it out just where she could see it.
Amanda looked up and her eyes widened. She looked up at his face, as if trying to make sure he was doing what she thought he was doing. After some time had passed and he had not put down his hand, she tentatively held up her own hand, mirroring his own gesture. Once she had pressed her fingers against his she looked up to meet his eyes.
"I hope I did not misread the situation," Sarek started, only to be stopped by Amanda.
"N-not at all!" she said, an embarrassed smile gracing her face.
"Good," Sarek said, simply, not giving her more time to cut him off. Her smile became less abashed, and she leaned forward to press a kiss to his cheek before stopping close to his face.
"I'm sorry- I have no idea how vulcan relationships go- is this out of line?" Amanda said, not having moved away but not moving any closer. Her breath misted against Sarek's cheek, leaving a tinge of green on his face.
"I have already done the vulcan equivalent of what you wish to do, so I do not see why it should give you pause," Sarek responded calmly.
Once he'd said that, she shifted a bit and pressed a quick kiss against his lips, before moving back to her spot and a little farther back, also removing her fingers from his. This action of embarrassment tugged on the string and Amanda looked down at it before starting to giggle.
"This...isn't what I expected to happen," Amanda commented.
"Neither was it what I expected, but then again, I have learned not to try to guess what you will do next anyway," Sarek responded, prompting a quick grin in his direction.
"I...uh..."
Sarek stayed silent, allowing for her to gather her thoughts.
"We should probably get inside before you freeze, huh?"
Sarek might have laughed at the sudden change of topic.
"That does sound like a good idea," he said, standing up. He pulled off the thread still wrapped around his finger, which Amanda took and tucked back into her pocket. Sarek then held out his arm for her to hold.
"If you so wish," Sarek said, and she silently took his arm with a smile. They then walked out of the park in comfortable silence.
A/N: Surprisingly enough this is my first Star Trek fanfiction.