Chapter Four: Romulan and Juliet
Gwen sat with S'lara and S'ring at the silent breakfast table. She was kind of worried about Viki now; she didn't realize that she may have still been in the dark. Oh well.
When she finished, S'lara practically jumped up to take her dishes from her, probably because S'lara and S'ring had finished eating long ago. She would have to contact her parents soon. Gwen tried not to look at S'ring, every time she looked at him she was reminded of the previous night's conversation; also, he noticed her gaze and met it every time. She instead gave pleasant expressions to S'lara who, she had caught staring at her frequently since they had been introduced before breakfast. After S'lara came back from the kitchen, she sat next to Gwen although it was not her usual spot.
"My brother thinks that you and I should spend the day together. Get to know each other better. I could show you the city. Do you think so?" S'lara wanted to show Gwen around. She loved learning about other cultures and she was eager to understand Gwen's. She thought that if Gwen seemed trustworthy she would tell her about Meerda and Ergorak. Or maybe just Meerda; it would not be necessary to mention both of them. She would have to find Gwen quite agreeable to tell her about Ergorak.
Gwen liked that idea; no offense to S'ring but, she felt like getting away from his knowing gaze for a while would be refreshing. "Yeah, that sounds fun. Just let me go get ready." This would also be an excellent opportunity to learn more about S'ring from S'lara. Gwen excused herself to her room to get her backpack and freshen up.
"Are you sure that you do not wish to spend the day with her S'ring?" S'lara had noticed the awkward non-verbal exchanges between the two of them and wondered what they had discussed last night.
"Yes." S'ring thought she needed some space and S'lara obviously wanted to have her to herself for a while. He would discuss their bonding some other time, she needed to settle in and start her classes first. There was still time before his pon farr and she needed to be able to look at him without blood rushing to her cheeks. He illogically found her embarrassment rather gratifying, it made him wonder how deep she would blush if he was actually to touch her intimately. Naafril had never blushed, his attentions did little but repulse her and the feeling was mutual.
S'lara nodded and started for the exit but S'ring stood up and held up his hand. "What brother?" She had been hoping to check for messages from Meerda or Ergorak before she left.
"I overheard your conversation last night." He restrained a feeling of anger and disappointment with S'lara; she had been keeping this Romulan friend of hers secret from him and he was not pleased.
S'lara looked at him, reading anger in his eyes. "I only wish to expand my research."
"I do not wish to hear your reasons. You will not speak with him again. I researched this program that you are involved in and I wish for you to cease participation. It is not proper, safe, healthy or logical behavior on your part."
"You do not understand; I learn so much from my interplanetary communications. It does not impair my judgment to speak with the Romulan; I simply understand how a Romulan would think about things." She almost felt embarrassed that S'ring had heard her talking to Ergorak but more than that, a growing feeling of pure anger with S'ring was threatening to surface. He was attempting to control her actions; as if he was her parent and she was still a child.
"I do not see how discussion of pon farr would be of use to your research." He was very ashamed of his sister for telling an outsider, a Romulan, about one the biggest secrets of the Vulcans.
"Ergorak has a tendency to stray from the subject of our discussions. Romulan customs are different; he probably did not understand that his actions were inappropriate. I am the one who has studied culture; you study rocks. It does not surprise me that you would not understand the need for tolerance."
"You are obviously only speaking to him to satisfy your emotional need for flattery."
"How dare y…" S'lara was about to snarl at him but composed herself. "That is not true. My reasons are wholly logical."
"You will not speak to him again." S'ring's eyes flashed dangerously and he left the room, confident that she understood his sentiments.
S'lara tried to breathe levelly and erase the vision in her mind of running S'ring through with a rapier. He was accusing her of wanting flattery when he was the one that so obviously delighted in Gwen's every blush. He was being completely illogical and unreasonable. It was important to her research and speaking with Ergorak was her decision to make, not his. She walked briskly to her room not caring if she kept Gwen waiting. She would speak with Ergorak right now; just to show S'ring that he had no say in her decisions any longer. She dialed Ergorak on her console, wondering briefly what part of the day it was on Romulus; he might be asleep. The face that appeared on screen however was quite alert although it would appear that he was shirtless. Her gaze wandered downward briefly, but not briefly enough because he smirked at her, his eyes shining with amusement.
"Trying to catch me in a state of undress are we?"
"Hardly, I did not wake you did I?"
"No, it is actually approaching dinner time. The time difference is kind of unpredictable when you're dealing with interplanetary communications. I was just training with my brother. Is something wrong?" S'lara had a highly predictable pattern when it came to how frequently she contacted him. This was an interesting development. He was beginning to wonder if there had been truth in his teasing; had their last encounter left her anxious for more? He leered internally at the thought.
"There is nothing wrong; are you too busy to speak at this time?" S'lara had not thought this out; she turned up the volume so that S'ring would be able to hear them from his 'lab'.
"Hardly" He said to mock her. "It is my day off. I cannot talk any longer than three hours; I have a date tonight…" He was purposely baiting her; he actually didn't have any plans today. It was his relaxing day.
Three hours? Why would she wish to converse with him for as long as three hours? He had mentioned these 'dates' before and explained their purpose to her; he didn't seem to be very successful however, it was always a different girl. "I cannot imagine for what reason I would wish to speak with you for three hours; what a waste of time."
Ergorak glared at her. That was not the response he had been looking for. "You obviously have a poor imagination. Was there something in particular you wanted?" His pride was wounded and wasn't sure he wanted to talk to her right now.
S'lara hesitated. She had wanted to prove a point to S'ring. S'ring was obviously most irritated by the inappropriate topics they had discussed, and Ergorak's seemingly un-innocent interest in her; the 'flattery' as he called it. She would show him what she thought of his disapproval. "If I were a Romulan would you explore a carnal relationship with me?" Digest that S'ring.
Ergorak was completely taken aback. She showed no emotion and her tone was characteristically business-like but there was definitely nothing logical about that question. "Only if you could imagine why you would want to speak with me for three whole hours." What was this Vulcan's angle anyway?
S'ring appeared in her doorway, not visible to Ergorak but entirely visible to her. She took no heed of him. "I would also find that agreeable."
Ergorak's jaw dropped. He had never truly thought that she would acknowledge any type of attraction to him. "Agreeable? I would hope you would find it more than agreeable, thank you very much. I go on about two weeks leave in nine days. Perhaps we could meet to discuss…battle tactics." He winked at her, entirely unaware of the irate brother watching him.
S'lara saw S'ring's fists clench out of the corner of her eye. "Where would we meet?" Originally she had only been trying to show her independence to S'ring but now that she thought about it, she would learn much more if they were to meet face to face.
"Nowhere." S'ring said icily, coming into Ergorak's view. He did not trust the Romulans and he definitely did not trust a Romulan who was interested in robbing his sister of her virtue.
Ergorak narrowed his eyes at the sight of who was obviously the notorious S'ring, overprotective brother extraordinaire. "Oh it's you. I have heard so much about you. The information confuses me however; don't women have equal rights on Vulcan? I'm pretty sure that S'lara can do whatever she wants without your permission."
S'lara got a warm feeling at Ergorak's words; he understood.
Just then Gwen walked into the room smiling, her red backpack on and her camera charged. Her smile faltered however when she saw the observably awkward scene before her.
"Do not tell me how to deal with my family, Romulan. I would rather lock her away in a cave than see her dishonored by a one of your kind." S'ring barely registered Gwen's presence; he would not stand for this.
S'lara could not contain her anger at her brother any longer; she was so furious, she even felt angry at Gwen. How could Gwen feel attracted to such a man? "It is you who needs to be dealt with brother. I will not allow you to speak to Ergorak that way. He is my friend. You and Gwen will leave my room now or I will nerve pinch you both and get off this miserable rock of a planet once and for all." S'lara rose to her feet, no longer caring if she was being logical. She had never found any particular way in which Surak's teachings were helpful. Ergorak and Meerda were right; Vulcans only made themselves miserable.
Gwen quickly retreated from the room; no spending time with S'lara today then….
S'ring had never been so ashamed of, or worried for, his sister. He said nothing as he left, only partially registering that perhaps he had been too controlling.
S'lara glared at the closed door; her body shaking with rage, her fist clenched at her sides.
Ergorak was proud of her. He was barely able to stop himself from applauding her. Fucking S'ring. "Are you alright?"
"I…must…meditate…"
"Does that really make you feel any better?"
S'lara collapsed in her chair, feeling a strange wetness forming in the corners of her eyes. "No." She struggled to stop the tears; she did not know how to without meditating.
Ergorak wished that he was actually there so that he could comfort her. He thought he would be pleased to see her emotional but..not like this. "Just let yourself cry; it hurts now but you will feel better after, I promise."
S'lara did as he said and gave into the flurry of emotions. It almost physically hurt as her tears came in racking sobs. She was angry with herself, angry with S'ring, but she was unhappy that she had disappointed him, sad that she was such a failure as a Vulcan. As she allowed the emotions to fill her, she felt new emotions too; desire to see the galaxy, to fight in battle, to meet Ergorak, and Meerda too, to know the feel of Ergorak's skin on hers. She missed her parents. It was all too much. She buried her face in her hands. "I w-w-will…feel better?"
Ergorak felt guilty, this whole situation was his fault; he was selfish. "Yes. It is not your fault, you are…" He had to say it, though it was embarrassing, especially to be saying to a Vulcan. "I think you're wonderful S'lara. You are brave and beautiful and intelligent. I do not care if you choose to show emotion or not. I like you as you are." He felt like such a sap, he almost made himself sick. It was true though. He was very glad his brother wasn't there; he would tease him to no end for that speech.
S'lara found that although his words were obviously intended to ease her pain, they just made her cry harder. She had never experienced so many emotions at once; how could he stand it? She was only able to nod in response but she was grateful for his support. She cried for more innumerable minutes until finally she was unable to cry anymore. She felt drained and her face felt irritated. She found herself unable to look at Ergorak. She wiped the tears from her face. However…she did feel different somehow; free almost, like the world was full of endless possibilities that had never existed before. "I think I do feel better." She finally did look at Ergorak and saw a different emotion on his face than she had seen before, one of compassion and another emotion she did not recognize.
"Good." Great, just fucking great. He was in love with her. Marvelous, fucking marvelous.
"Perhaps we could meet on a planetoid that is an equal distance from both of us?" She wanted to spend more time with Ergorak, see him looking at her like he was now.
"That would work; I will look into possible choices." He felt exhilarated by the idea of being with her.
"I will contact you later; I suddenly feel very tired, how illogical. It is still early in the morning. Thank you, Ergorak." She lifted her hand in the Vulcan symbol; it was almost a reflex.
"Do not thank me; I will await your communication." He smiled at her before turning off his screen. He went back to continue dueling practice with Alorak, thinking about all the things he could teach S'lara, as a skilled soldier and lover…
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in updates. However, this particular story in the Here Come the Terran Universe is quite finished so I will post the next chapter next week and so on. :) Wish I could get through these faster and with more focused attention, just quite busy with writing for school and recovering from a relationship that was extremely emotionally trying. Hope my peeps are doing well.