Chapter 36: Debates

A/N: Hi Alaya Karangalan, while not connected plot-wise to "Holosuite Number 3" by WikkityTweak (it's listed under my favourite stories, though), Letant is definitely inspired by WikkityTweak's characterisation of him. I'm also hoping that he ended up with Stephanie Michaels (the feisty little engineer). By the way, I recommend "Romancing the Romulan" by LornaWinters, also listed under my favourites. It reminds me of the witty cloak-and-dagger tales penned by Georgette Heyer (she was an English writer who lived from 1902 till 1974).

Yes, set'leths are the Romulan equivalent of Vulcan sehlats. Proconsul/Praetor Neral had a pet set'leth by the name of Pensho in canon (Deep Space Nine).

Romulanlover: Writing Vreenak taking the public transport incognito was quite amusing. He comes across as so snooty in Deep Space Nine that it's hard to imagine him mingling with people who are completely unrelated to his work and workplace.

Romulans tattooing their skin after the death of a loved one is half canon, half non-canon. I decided on an arm tattoo with ink fading after three years. Once that time period is over, it is acceptable in Romulan society to look for a new mate.

Senator Merken tr'Vreenak pulled off his robes, removed his shoes and socks and sighed with relief as he stood barefoot on the cool tiles of his main residence. It had been a gruelling number of hours, and although he loved his work with a fierce and committed passion, there was the occasional day when a lot was said and nothing was done. He stretched lightly, enjoying the faint murmuring of the sea in the distance. Asha loved the view and sound. In his memory, he could see her admiring the glitter of water, her eyes shining with enthusiasm and her lips parted.

It had been some time since he had shared his home and life with someone else. After the ink of his tattoo marking the mourning period had faded, he had had two relationships. His last partner had left him when he had accepted the role of Tal Shiar Vice-Chairman. She had claimed that he was working for a pack of murderers. He couldn't blame her and in the end, he had been forced to acknowledge the truth of what she had said. He had been present during some brutal interrogations of prisoners, and finally, his conscience had rebelled so much that dangerous ideas had crossed his mind. Ideas of smuggling innocent victims out of prison, claiming they had been executed, but arranging for their secret transport under another identity to distant planets with small Romulan colonies. He knew he would be tortured and executed if he acted on his ideas, and so he had quashed those thoughts. At the same time, he had resented his lack of courage for listening to his conscience. Then he had been offered a promotion in politics, and it had been the golden opportunity to leave the Tal Shiar with his mask intact.

Since then, he had been alone. He enjoyed his solitude, for he was not lonely and relished the time he had to himself outside his political tasks. His family clan occasionally tried to nudge him into remarrying, but he would have none of it, and because he was a high-standing politician, he could get away with it. If he wanted sex, he had the best brothels to cater to his desires.

And so life had been quiet until that impossible Human woman had shown up.

He changed into more casual clothes and shoes, and waited for Letant to arrive. His best friend, all roguish smiles, was punctual. The Senators sat down in the hall. Letant began to chatter about a swarm of annoying insects which was trying to nest in his curtains and the problems of finding an exterminator who knew what they were doing. When Vreenak didn't respond, Letant rolled his eyes.

"It is painfully obvious to my insulted self," he huffed, "that my company is not benefitting you. Why, I am becoming quite jealous of that little Human lady. She hardly reaches till your chin, but she holds your heart in her little Human hand. Now, let me hear you deny it and tell me to cease my, ah, vulgar speculations, as you call them."

Vreenak laughed and sipped at his glass of spiced tea. "Jealousy doesn't become you, my friend."

"Tell me honestly. Do you not long to be…intimate…with her?"

"I believe copulating with a Human would be extremely substandard. And yet, when we meet, it is tempting for me to forget the differences between us."

"She is not only Human, she is from Earth, and from a place where people can be more trusting around each other. Over here on Romulus, my friend, trust is like a rare gem," Letant reminded him.

"Asha is a peculiar Terrhaha," he remarked, using the Romulan word for "Terran". "She can be so direct it might do her more harm than good. However, she uses this oddity of hers quite strategically, and it is a quality I appreciate highly in her. Her tongue is like a raptor's talon. She can be very Romulan."

"Ah! That is indeed high praise coming from you," Letant murmured, helping himself to some fruit wrapped in thin slices of meat.

"Day after day, you and I have people fluttering around us, simpering and wrapping their requests in words of silk and satin. And she is not like that although she knows the ways of Romulus well. So when you ask me if I would like to be intimate with her, I feel I already am when she and I converse. To the extent that I would not be averse to spending a night with her. But knowing her, she would refuse to entertain the idea."

"Do you love her, my friend?"

"Love…" Vreenak said harshly. "What is love? I know her, but do I know her well enough to love her? To be in love with her? Romulans have a vast terminology to describe the different nuances of love and Humans apparently have a small one, which is hardly surprising." At this point, he curled his lip scornfully before continuing: "And neither of our people can do the concept of love justice."

"True," Letant agreed. "But if you were to take her in your arms one night, would it be with love?"

"Taking someone in one's arms at night" was the Romulan equivalent of the Human expression "making love".

"I do not know, but it would not surprise me if love were involved."

"It would not surprise me either. When are you meeting her again?"

"She is – hopefully, that is – reading the three books of poetry I lent her."

Letant chuckled. "The Human author William Shakespeare would have whipped up a play featuring you two."

"Who?"

Letant sighed. "Now, now, Humans have their merits, not only on the holodeck." And he proceeded to update his friend on Human literature.

"Insipid literature for an insipid species," Vreenak commented.

Letant went into a coughing fit. "What a scandalous comment! You are the embodiment of arrogance and you know it. Always you have preferred to judge the unknown before exploring it. It will hardly endear you to your new insipid Human friend. Seeing what pains she is taking to learn more about Romulan literature and even writing and reciting Romulan poetry, surely you will deign to learn more about the various Terran cultures?"

"I suppose I have little choice if I want to meet her regularly."

"Under the pretext of discussing poetry."

Vreenak's steely blue eyes glinted. "There is no pretext. It is a topic we enjoy discussing."

"Then I suggest you ask her about Shakespeare," Letant said.

A month later, Vreenak received an encrypted message which thrilled it him. It was from Asha and it said, very simply, that she had finished reading the books and enjoyed them. When could she return them to him?

A meeting was quickly arranged, and when he went downstairs in his summer villa to receive her, she smiled at him and carefully handed him the box in which she had placed the books. Lilou, who was sitting protectively next to her, watched their interaction closely. As she moved towards him, he heard the bells of her anklets tinkle. He looked down at her feet.

"I made sure about the catches this time," she said.

"That is a pity," he replied.

She blushed. "You do realise that you are welcome to visit without…well…an errand, don't you?"

"I realise that," he said. There were times when it became obvious that he was a Senator and she a Human with limited rights on Romulus, and this was one of them. Vreenak was not used to liking people for themselves, and even Letant would hardly have been his best friend if they hadn't grown up and worked together in the same circles.

It was uncharacteristic for Vreenak in his role as a politician to overlook such discrepancies, yet characteristic for the fierce passion Romulans were known for.

Vreenak inclined his head and bent over her hand, as was the custom offered to ladies of high standing. He also patted Lilou briefly.

One of his keenest pleasures was offering Asha his arm and her taking it, and he would think of Letant's words: about how she held his heart in her hand. When they walked together like this in his villa or the beautiful garden, he felt at peace. Rich and wealthy clans always had an Y'gora tree in their garden, and as they strolled underneath it, petals rained upon them from the tree – something he usually considered a nuisance. He frowned, but Asha laughed and held out her hands, caught a handful and threw them in the air. He watched her, arrested by her playfulness.

"I often tell my husband that these trees seem to have a mind of their own."

"Does your husband think so, too?"

"He thinks they develop a personality as they grow older. A tree cannot move, but at the same time, it is not static. It lives, it changes with the seasons and marks each year with a ring."

"True."

"On Earth, Druids worshipped trees, especially the oak. Are you familiar with Druidism?"

"If you would be so kind as to release me from my woeful ignorance concerning Terran worship of nature?"

He held out his hand. She took it, and they continued their stroll while she told him about Druidism. He listened and wondered at her trust in him. It was humbling, all the more so considering his past and the scorn with which he looked down on "commoners" and other species. A Senator with his political leanings hosting a Human and strolling around with her hand in his would raise many eyebrows if it were known. Rovuxo wouldn't dare open his mouth – especially since he owed Asha his continued employment and salary.

Her company sweetened his day and refreshed him from the burdens which were a compulsory part of his political work, and gradually, they began to meet twice a month.

Asha grew used to his manner and soon began to regard him as a good friend, but she did not forget that he was one of the most powerful Senators on Romulus. She would make her displeasure felt when he succumbed to the occasional arrogant comment, much as she had done when Thorek used to make derogatory remarks about Humans during the beginning of their marriage.

Seeing how spirited she was when they disagreed on Romulan-Human policies made Vreenak appreciate this new and unusual friendship with a Human.

He had discussed several aspects of Human history with Asha and disapproved mightily of their gender inequality during the earlier centuries. She agreed heartily with him on this matter, claiming that Humanity could have taken a page from the Romulans' book in that respect.

When the Senator had made it clear that he wanted to meet her regularly, Asha had wondered if this was all part of a big Tal Shiar hoax. But Vreenak flushing at the sight of her and his genuine manner around her contradicted her suspicions. She decided to simply take it for what it was – a warm friendship between her and Merken tr'Vreenak. She was formal but polite to Rovuxo when he drove her and Lilou to the Senator's.

Most of all, Thorek trusted her; and when she went to meet Vreenak, always carrying a box with poetry books, he would acknowledge it as if she were going into town to shop or borrow books from the library with Kihika or her tutor Rhian. However, there was no doubt that her husband and friends had mixed feelings about Vreenak. Vekal was the only person who expressed his doubts openly. And, ironically enough, Vreenak himself.

One day, as they were sitting in his library, Vreenak said abruptly:

"You are trusting, Asha. Too trusting for Romulus."

"Do you not trust Deihu tr'Letant, of whom you always speak so highly, with your life?"

"I do, but he is Romulan, born and raised on this planet."

"But there are other Romulans you do not trust. It has to be so in politics, yes?"

"Yes," he said. "But your trust is different. You were not born and raised on Romulus. And you are a Human."

"Maybe a time will come when Humans are born and raised on Romulus…Or Romulans on Earth," Asha said, smiling. Vreenak wrinkled his nose slightly.

"A pretty optimistic picture, but unlikely."

"You never know what time brings," Asha insisted. Vreenak laughed. "You simply won't give up, won't you?"

"Of course I won't," she responded, raising a rather snooty eyebrow.

He laughed again, charmed by her refusal to agree with him. Then he became serious. "Asha, I stand between my politics and our friendship. You are aware of Praetor Neral's stance on the Empire's relationship with the Federation and that the Proconsul is similarly inclined. You are also aware that I advise both of them. This is evident to you, is it not?"

Asha dropped her eyes for a moment, then looked firmly at him. "I am aware of it. And I am just as certain that the Federation did not destroy your outposts."

Vreenak smiled. "Maybe you are a Starfleet spy after all, since you sound so certain."

Asha sighed. "Merken, you know who I am. And although I have made a second home on Romulus, I miss my family back on Earth every day. And I keep hoping I will see them again, or will at least be able to send them a message. And maybe that is why I'm certain that your government has no reason to freeze communications with the Federation and ban travelling between our respective planets and colonies. However, I am venturing into your territory at this point, and I prefer not to say more."

Vreenak was silent for a few minutes. Finally, he sighed, too, and took her hand in his.

"As long as we have no proof about the destruction of our outposts, the Federation is considered the main culprit, possibly with help from the Klingons and Cardassians."

"Merken, must the universe always be against you? A few days ago, I read in the news that the weapon signatures of the outpost attackers are completely unknown. What if it is a new species Humans, Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians have never encountered before?"

"And what species would that be, besides the fact that news sources critical to the Empire should be treated with caution?" Vreenak retorted, arrogance creeping into his voice.

"That's what Romulus and the Federation are trying to find out, aren't they? Or is the Romulan government so eager to lay the blame at the Federation's door so they can save face and avoid saying they didn't know who did it? Merken, a Romulan's greatest fear is disgrace. It can be a Human's greatest fear, too, but your society is built upon that fear," Asha said directly, looking him straight in the eye with her chin raised.

Vreenak laughed softly. "You are very brave and smart enough to know that I won't have you arrested for what you just said."

"Do I really know that?" Asha rose and looked out of the window. "All I want, Merken, is frankness. No chessboard games." She turned around and looked at him again. "Not between friends. Not between you and me."

He rose as well and approached her, placing his hand on her head and his lips against her forehead, not unlike Vekal's gesture of affection.

"No," he said softly. "Not between you and me, Asha Sen t'Darak. Come, let's pay the birds a visit. Some of their eggs have hatched."

He offered her his arm, and she took it, both of them aware that their argument had strengthened rather than disturbed their friendship.

Later that same day, when she was back at home, Asha walked into the garden where her husband was planting new flowers.

"Thorek, there's a weird smell."

He looked puzzled. "I can't smell anything strange."

"No, there really is a smell!" She looked at him almost reproachfully. That Humans had their quirks was not new to him, but he had never heard of olfactory ones.

He obediently sniffed the air. "Asha, the air seems perfectly fine to me. "

"It's smelling of cows!"

Thorek's mouth twitched slightly as he put two and two together.

"Which day of your cycle are you on?"

She looked indignant. "It's too strong to have anything to do with that."

"Maybe, but last time, you insisted that the water tasted odd."

"Oh. Well, now that you mention it..."

Thorek laughed. "Maybe it is to enhance a woman's senses to encourage...acts of love." And he gazed into her eyes.

As he had hoped, her dimples emerged at his statement.

"You're probably right; but the smell of cows is everywhere."

"It certainly does not seem very discriminating. Do I smell of cows?"

Knowing what he was up to, she stepped into his arms and sniffed at his neck. "No."

"So it is discriminating. Oh, and Ashaya…"

"Yes, Thorek-ev?"

"There are no Terran bovines on Romulus."

She looked at him mischievously, then whispered into his ear: "Acts of love, yes?"

He stooped and placed a deep lingering kiss on her mouth.

"My ailhun, if you want to mate, then I suggest that we do so. But without the cows."

She burst into laughter. He washed his hands in one of the little fountains decorating the garden and slid his hand into the waistband of her trousers, feeling his way downwards. His eyes darkened with arousal as his fingers encountered heat and wetness.

"I have hardly touched you, and already your body hungers for me?"

"Yes, as yours does for me," she whispered, touching him in the same place.