I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long... I explain further at the end. Until then Enjoy!
T'Pure and Ari entered the gathering room to the sight of Salek riding around on Snips, while Sparik, Syrik and Spark played kal-toh. Jane was sitting apart from the Vulcan males, with Ari's PADD in hand.
Ari suddenly remembered the marked novel and felt a slight flush creep into her face.
"Ari," T'Pure said suddenly, "are you well?"
The green tint to Ari's skin darkened as she realized her flush had been noticed by the older woman. "I am fine, T'Pure. Snips," she said crisply, "Peto libri."
Snips trotted over to Jane and snatched the PADD from her hands. PADD grasped carefully between his drooping fangs, he walked directly to Ari and waited patiently for her to take it from him.
Ari held out her hand. "Salvo1," Snips dropped the PADD. "Eu2, Snips."
Syrik watched the ease in which Ari commanded Snips and "sighed" softly. "There are many more commands I do not know yet," he noted.
"Let'theiri3, Syrik," Ari said, wiping slobber off her PADD. "I am not going to leave you high and dry this time around. Before my leave is complete I will give you a list of Snips' commands and their uses."
"I would appreciate the list," Syrik said, looking at Ari with a quizzical look, "though I do not understand why you would leave me at a higher altitude though being dry would be preferable."
"It is not meant to be taken literally, Syrik," Spark told him, removing a t'an. "It is one of her Human sayings."
"You make sound like a bad thing, Spark," Ari said mildly looking at the PADD. A deep flush came across Ari's face as she read a few lines of the page. This was not the novel she had been reading but another. This novel seemed to be of a... mature nature. She had been unaware that such genres were even on her PADD.
"Ari," T'Pure said, pausing in the act of picking up Salek.
"I am fine, T'Pure. I do not require another to mother me, Snik, Shuhan and Bones do quite well on their own." Ari hit a few places on the PADD and the novel closed out without revealing the title of it.
T'Pure raised an eyebrow but did not comment.
"Ko-kai," Salek said causing Ari to glance sideways at him. He was studying her face with such a serious look on his small round face that Ari chuckled softly. Despite the ears and eyebrows such a look did not fit his baby face.
At the sound of her chuckle, Salek's face brightened. "Ko-kai!"
Ari smiled slightly at him and sat down next to Syrik, facing her father.
"Excuse me, Ari," Jane said in a strand voice, "I was reading that."
"So you were," Ari said, setting the PADD on the cushion next to her. "However I have a thing about people messing with my things. I don't like it." She did not look at Jane as she spoke and though her voice was even there was an underlining threat to her words that did not escape the Human female... nor her father.
"Ari," Sparik said.
Ari's lips pressed together as Syrik moved his t'an. "Syrik has completed the kal-toh," she said slipping into Vulcan and drawing all attention back to the game.
"So he has," Spark said also slipping into his native tongue.
Salek slipped out of his mother's arms and walked over to Ari, climbing onto the divan. "Ko-kai?"
Ari's eyes flicked to him and she saw he had picked up her PADD.
"Read?"
Ari shook her head at him. "Not right now, Salek. Ask your mother, I'm sure she will read to you."
Salek looked down at the PADD and back up to her. "Take?"
Ari nodded again.
Salek smiled happily and hopped off the divan, walking over to were T'Pure had sat down on the far end of the divan. "Mother, read?"
"Of course, sa-fu," she said taking the PADD from her small son with a small glance in Jane's direction and flipped through the titles as Salek climbed up next to her, snuggling against her side.
Jane stared at the scene as Syrik scrambled the kal-toh again. "Ari," she started with a small edge to her voice.
"He asked me," Ari said simply, cutting off her question. "I believe that asking for permission to take something that is not yours is taught in the first year of schooling on Earth, is it not?" Ari did not look at Jane or Sparik as she spoke.
Syrik and Spark looked from Jane to Sparik to Ari and then at each other.
Jane stood and left the room, tension seeping behind her.
Sparik watched Jane leave. He glanced at his daughter, who's eyes were trained on her cane, before rising to his feet.
Ari sensed her father rise and leave the room after his wife. Only after he left did she lift her eyes from her cane.
The other Vulcans in the room tactfully ignored what happened.
"Ari," Syrik said. "Are you going to play?" he nodded to the now scrambled kal-toh.
"Sure. Let's play." She reached out for a t'an.
Release (Latin)
Well done (Latin)
Peace (Vulcan)
I'm going to apologize if I remain dormant for a while... I've been having troubles filling in the gaps between were the story is now and where I want it to go. Please bare with me and if you have any suggestions don't hesitating to message me or something with them! Thanks ^_^
Also if y'all don't hear from me for a while you can try and check my profile. I'll be putting notes up for y'all about what's going on.