Fluffy Fluffy Snow
By Spock Likes Cats
"A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon my dearest, Spock
Was seated by my side.
The horse was lean and lank,
Misfortune seemed his lot,
We fell into a drifted bank
And there we got upsot!"
Spock stepped through the snow, cautiously at first. When he set one of his feet down, he would pick the other up and shake it off. This was an instinctual reaction; logically, he knew he was wearing boots and the snow would not freeze his footpads, but all the same, instinct won out until Vulcan discipline intervened.
He was thoroughly wrapped in warm outer garments made from some of the best insulating fabrics available, and Uhura had bought them each some off-duty clothes that were elegant and comfortable.
That was the only way he was going down for shore leave at this facility, although he did not say so to Nyota. As a Vulcan, his normal instinct when faced with cold or inhospitable conditions was to get away from such (although, of course, duty prevailed), find a more welcoming place, such as a cave, or dig a "nest" that would insulate him from the cold.
She bounded now like a dancer, her smile beaming as brilliantly as the sunlight on the white, white snow. Beyond her were Chekov and Sulu, and suddenly all three dropped to the ground. Spock sprinted over: Were they all right? Had they encountered a hazard not immediately apparent?
All three, as they lay supine, were scraping their legs from central axis position outward, approximately 70 degrees. Uhura was able to manage nearly 80 degrees, but she was, Spock reflected contentedly, quite limber.
Their arms, extended from the shoulder, were describing much the same kind of arc. Nyota jumped up, leapt to Spock's side, took his arm and brought him to stand near where her feet had been.
"Snow angels. See?"
He blinked, and saw. How fanciful and childlike, and endearingly Human. The "angels," he recalled from storybooks his mother had read him. The enthusiasm in Nyota's face, the pure joy, warmed him inside, and he squeezed her hand. If they had been alone he would have kissed her.
Chekov and Sulu jumped up from their "snow angels" and began chasing each other across the gleaming white field, shouting good-natured imprecations at each other.
"Hey Slowski! I heff a snowball for you!"
"Your aim sucks, Russki!"
"Yes, but I ken calculate its trajectory with perfect mathematical precision …."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah – too bad that didn't help your aim!"
"It vhill next time …. HAH! Got heem!"
Uhura's communicator beeped and she answered, turning away from Spock as if that would prevent him hearing … she had not yet completely absorbed the full capabilities of his Vulcan ears.
"Shall we beam the sleigh to your present coordinates?"
"Yes, of course … what about the horse?"
"Elderly, but he's quite capable of pulling a sleigh. Readings indicate that the snow in your location is powdery, a good slippery surface, but not dangerous."
"Right; thanks."
"Snow Dream at your service!"
Uhura was shaking her head as she signed off. Humans, no matter where they were located, could not seem to resist puns. This facility, located as it was on a huge starbase, catered to vacationers of all races who sought cold climates for recreation or simply for romance.
Chekov and Sulu arrived back just as the sled and horse materialized. They were panting, red-cheeked, and snow-dusted, especially Chekov's reddish curls – Sulu had scored a snowball hit or two.
Spock examined the conveyance with interest. It consisted of an elegantly-styled "box" with a large bench seat in the front and a smaller, higher-set bench seat in the rear. Below the box, holding it above the snow, were stanchions, decorated with additional scrolled supports, ultimately supported by two runner blades.
Chekov offered to hitch up the horse, a rather thin-looking white creature with a grey nose, to the sleigh after Uhura had found this task one she was incapable of performing expertly, especially with cold-numbed, clumsy fingers.
"Dees reminds me uff my gret-grandfadder's farm een Russia! He loft horses! End people loft to come end ride een the sleighs!"
"If he loved horses so much, why'd he have them hauling sleighs around in the snow?" Sulu queried sardonically.
"Ees easy work for horse!" Chekov said, attaching the traces. "The snow makes easy work of pulling sleigh! You'll see! Get een!" The ensign hopped into the sleigh, at the back. Sulu joined him, and Uhura and Spock sat in the front.
Uhura took the reins and clucked. A long pause ensued. Then she clicked.
Then Spock guessed, "Giddyap."
The horse started pulling and very soon they were gliding over the snow - dashing, you might even say. The sky was light green and the pines were dark and the snow was a speeding gleam of sparkles. (Spock had a secret addiction to going fast, and planned, later during this shore leave, to learn downhill skiing. As a very young man on Vulcan he had taken his father's hoverbike out on an unauthorized excursion - or ten - and had never been discovered. At least, as far as he was aware, he had never been discovered.)
There were bells attached to the horse's harness and they jingled merrily, and Sulu began to sing, "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way …" Uhura joined him while Spock, in order to dampen the noise of this most unmusical song, pulled the thick edge of his cashmere watch cap around his ears.
Chekov said, "Vat ees dees song? You seeng dees een Japan?"
"I'm not from Japan, goofball, I'm from San Francisco. I never told you that?"
"We learned it in Choral Club at the Academy," Uhura answered about the same time.
Admittedly, she was distracted. She must have cast a glance back toward the young ensign and missed the thirty-centimeter-high lump in the snow, probably a tree branch, now covered. Maybe it was a drifted bank of snow.
She was an expert in most things, but at driving a horse …
WHHUMP!
And in s-l-o-w motion, Spock saw the snow-white world turning, the pines pointing to the side and then …
BA-FOOMM …!
Darkness …
"You BED horse! You come BEK here!" Chekov's voice was receding, as was Sulu's.
"What good is it going to do to yell at it, Pav? Can we even catch him?"
Spock felt his ashayam beside him. She was shaking. "Are you undamaged?" he asked her, concern open in his voice, since they were alone.
"I believe I am," she said, "except for my sense of pride." The sides of the sleigh did not reach the ground and thus admitted some light, and Spock saw the gleam of her smile as she shook her head. "Some sleigh ride!"
"It was rather … pleasurable," Spock admitted.
"Alas, all too short."
His now-ungloved fingers warmly traced her cheek. "As you are fond of saying, 'what is the best use of our time right now?'"
Uhura, the efficiency expert, hugged him close and kissed him. "I hope," she whispered right into his ear, which he always felt down to his toes, "that I'll have the opportunity to part my legs again real soon. And I don't mean to make a snow angel, either."
"Ashayam, you shock me."
Which, of course, was Spock's way of saying, "Nyota, I love it when you talk dirty."