A Pearl of Great Price

Chapter Twelve - Assistance

San Francisco, Earth

9-10 August 2263

Durra

She took a walk around the area near the hotel, looking at shops she had not been in yet, searching for restaurants they might want to try. She bought a few small things as gifts. She stopped at one shop window, admiring the lovely sweaters, and on a impulse went inside and bought two, with matching tanks to wear under them. She went into a fast-food place and came out with a bag of hot fried potatoes, which she munched on as she walked down the sidewalk.

When she got back to her room, the message light was blinking. She had missed his call! She hurried to turn the comlink on, to hear what he had to say. "Durra, I only have a moment. It will indeed be late when we are finished. These people!" His face betrayed his agitation. "I am sorry. I had hoped things would go better. It does not appear that I will be able to join you until quite late. Please do not wait your evening meal on me. I will be there as soon as I can." His eyes turned, swept the other side of the room, came back to the screen. He leaned forward slightly. "I miss you, Durra." And then the screen went blank.

She stood there, hands clasped in front of her chest. He missed her! And he had said so, right out loud! She whirled about, a wide grin on her face. She pressed the 'reply' button and grinned widely at the screen. She was not aware that her skin glowed from walking in the brisk morning air, or that her eyes sparkled with happiness. All she knew was that she must let him know that she had received his message. "Selek, I have your message. I am finding things to keep me busy. I am going to make a list of museums this afternoon, so that we can choose where to start. I will show it to you tonight." She leaned a little closer to the screen and lowered her voice, just a bit. "Please do not let them get you too upset. Remember to stop every now and then and breathe deeply and relax." Her eyes danced. "Think of the cheese. That should put you in a better frame of mind. I will see you tonight." And she pressed the button to end the call. That should lighten his mood!

Selek

He had to return to his office to retrieve something that he had not thought he would need, and he saw the message light blinking. Quickly he sat down in his chair and played the message. Just the sight of her there, so vivid and full of life, was enough to improve his mood. And then she made the comment about the cheese! He remembered quite well, removing that string of cheese from her face with his thumb, sucking it into his mouth, the tang of the cheese mixed with her sweet scent. And what he had done next, as well. His lips quirked up and his heart lightened. He returned to his meeting in a much better frame of mind.

Durra

She took another walk in the afternoon, going in a different direction. When she saw the doughnut shop, she cringed. These were her downfall! Quickly she walked right past, but that smell! No, she would not! She kept right on walking. Unfortunately, the best way back to the hotel turned out to go right past the same shop. She sighed and gave up, walking back out with a delicious chocolate doughnut, covered with chocolate frosting. By the time she got back to the hotel, it was all gone. Well, at least she had taken two walks today to make up for it.

Back in her room, she sorted out the souvenirs she had purchased, deciding who would get what. She still needed to buy a few more small things. She would keep her eyes open in the museum shops. Now she settled down, with a pot of tea beside her, and the PADD where she kept information about things to see, and pulled up the list of museums on the hotel's information site. She scrolled through the long list, making notes. Well, she certainly had a few museums on the list now! That might just be more than they would actually have time to see, even in the two and a half weeks left. She spent some time, ordering the list, putting the ones she was most interested in at the top.

When the warm colors of the setting sun streamed in the window, she stopped and ordered herself another different variety of soup, with small biscuits this time, and a small cheese platter. No desert tonight! She had already had that doughnut. And then she curled up on the couch with one of the new books to read until he got there.

Selek

Finally, the meetings were finished for the day. This particular delegation was almost impossible to deal with. He sat at his desk, calming himself down. He did not, under any circumstances, wish to carry this irritation over to Durra. With a quick check to see that the halls were empty, he pulled up his hidden file and replayed the saved messages, delighting himself with the sight of her smiling face and appealing body. In a much better mood after that, he once again hid the file, and opened a call to her, telling her he would be on his way very shortly. A quick trip to his room to change his clothing and he was off, striding quickly down the sidewalk, in a hurry to get there.

She opened the door and pulled on his arm, bringing him inside quickly. As soon as the door was shut behind him, she was in his arms, her face lifted to his. He bent his head and breathed her in, letting her lovely scent wash away all the irritation from the long day. He brushed his lips softly over her face, tasting her, listening to her soft sighs. With great reluctance, he straightened up and moved toward the couch, bringing her down beside him. Once again, she curled her legs up under her and leaned against him, pulling his arms close about her. He could get used to this - very used to it. In fact, he thought perhaps he already was.

He only stayed a short while. After all, it was very late and he did have an early meeting in the morning. But they would have lunch together tomorrow, and go to a museum in the afternoon, and have supper together, and then possibly watch a movie. Things to look forward to. And he felt the warmth and softness of her lips on his all the way back to the Embassy.

Durra

She slept late the next morning and felt vaguely out of sorts, much too tired for the length of sleep she had had. But she kept herself busy until he arrived, and then led him off down the sidewalk to that Mexican cafe for lunch.

The museum she had chosen for today's outing was the Exploratorium - a hands-on museum, full of exhibits about science, and art, and the way humans perceived things. They went from one exhibit to the next, trying everything. Some of it was much fun, and some very interesting and thought provoking and he seemed to enjoy it as much as she did. It was very interesting, in particular, to discover that some of the exhibits appeared very different to him than they did to her. This led to much discussion. They were the last people ushered out of the museum.

He suggested the curry shop again for supper and that sounded very good. But by the time they were back in her room, her stomach was slightly upset and her lower back was aching. This was not good, at all. She excused herself and went into the bathroom. Just as she had expected. She sighed. Well, for a visit lasting a month, this had to happen.

Selek

She came back out of the bathroom looking...dejected. He cocked his head and observed more closely. There was definitely something wrong. She did not look entirely well. She seemed to slump, just a bit, and her vibrancy seemed muted. He hoped she was not overdoing it - they had been on a mad rush ever since she arrived, but she had seemed to be enjoying it tremendously.

She walked across the room and began to prepare a pot of tea. He crossed to stand beside her and caught a whiff of her scent as she moved. There was a difference, what was that? Something he had not noticed in many years. He searched his memory, then carefully inhaled again. Ah, yes. Well, that would explain things then. Apparently, all the women in her family suffered at this time. She would require assistance to sleep well tonight. Fortunately, he knew what to do.

He waited until she had poured out the hot water and then he laid his hands on her lower back and began to knead the muscles gently. She sighed and leaned into his hands, letting him relax her body. "Oh, Selek, that feels so good. Thank you so much. However did you know I needed that?"

"Something about your posture told me that you had spasms in your back. I will be glad to repeat this later."

She turned and smiled at him, laying one hand against his cheek for a moment and then seated herself at the table. He sat across from her and they drank their tea and talked. He watched her carefully, seeing how she became more strained as time passed. Eventually, he took matters into his own hands, literally. He walked around the table and lifted her from her chair, laying her down on the bed, and began to massage her body, back, thighs, rubbing out the knotted muscles. And then he laid down beside her, pulling her back against his body, letting his heat relax her even more. He laid his hands across her belly, warming up the muscles there. She sighed and he felt her relax, drifting quietly.

He started to rise from the bed, but she complained. He sat still, considering. "I will stay until you are asleep. Please rise and prepare for bed."

She looked at him for a moment, slightly confused, and then rose, going to the dresser and pulling something out, then going into the bathroom. Several minutes later, she came back out, and went to the closet to hang up her clothing, dropping some things into the laundry container there. She came back to the bed and found that he had turned back the covers and removed his sweater. He was laying there, waiting for her. She settled down beside him and he began to knead her back again, until she was soft and drowsy. Then he pulled her back against his heat once more and pulled the covers over them. The heat of his body and comfort from the massage lulled her toward sleep. He moved his warm hands over her belly, soothing, pressing lightly against the spots that hurt. How he knew to do this, she did not know nor care. All she knew was that it felt absolutely wonderful. She nestled back against him, completely enclosed in his warmth, and drifted off, the sound of his voice, soft, whispering in her ear the last thing that she heard.

He laid there for some time, treasuring the feel of her body against his. His hands soothed her, drawing her more deeply into sleep. He continued to whisper, so quietly that she barely heard. "Give me your pain, ashayam, let me help you. Sleep deeply, Durra, rest well."

When he felt that she would not waken if he moved, he slipped carefully from the bed and pulled his sweater and shoes back on. He missed the feel of her already. He gently tucked the covers around her and dimmed the lights down almost to nothing, leaving just enough that she would be able to see if she needed to rise during the night. And then he leaned down and ghosted a kiss against her temple before he turned to go. Unfortunately, tomorrow was another long day of meetings and he would not be able to return to her until evening. Hopefully she would sleep throughout the day and be better by then. But he would worry until he saw her again.