Disclaimer: This story and the characters I created belong to me. "Star Trek" belongs to The Powers That Be at Paramount…more's the pity.

Notes: This story was originally written August-October 2004…etc…etc.

The words that inspired this chapter? EASE WARM THUD JIGS ROOT

Feedback welcome!

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Spock's sitting room in the Chief Minister's residence...

Spock had decided to heed his father's quoted wisdom and sample at least some of the refreshments that the Chief Minister had had sent to him. He knelt down next to the table and picked up one of the small loaves of bread. It was warm and obviously fresh from the oven. He tore a small piece from the loaf and dipped it into the pot of 'dill' cheese. He popped the morsel into his mouth and chewed, sitting back on his heels as he analyzed the taste.

It wasn't bad at all, he concluded. It wouldn't have made any of his Irish great-great-great ancestors do any jigs, but they would have happily added it to their basic potatoes-and-cabbage diet - if only for the variety it provided.

As Spock continued to nibble on the bread and cheese, he started to go over the facts of the whole Jheniffurian incident in his mind. Something about the situation had him ill at ease; no doubt some niggling little detail that he had overlooked was trying to make itself known to him, and was preventing him from fully relaxing. Perhaps by reviewing the details of the day's events, he would discover the root of his discomfort.

Several minutes of introspection later, Spock was no closer to any of the answers he sought. Giving up for the moment, he rose back up on his knees and looked down at the scattered crumbs on the tray, the half-empty pot of cheese and the untouched bottle of wine. Perhaps he would summon someone from the kitchen to remove the tray - and perhaps that person would be able to tell him whether any of the other dinner guests had yet arrived.

Spock stood up and walked over to the door, prepared to pull on the rope that the male servant had shown to him, until his acute Vulcan hearing picked up a noise from the corridor. He opened his door and scanned the hall with his eyes. Finding nothing, Spock prepared to withdraw into his sitting room when a soft thud from the other side of Kirk's door caused his head to whip around.

When no further sound came, Spock wondered whether he should check on the Captain - then considered that since the Captain was in his room alone with the First Greeter, and had obviously been so hot for her, he would probably not appreciate the interruption. The noise he'd heard was most likely part of some highly emotional mating ritual that Spock would just as soon avoid.

Spock shook his head slightly at that thought and began to slowly step back into his room...

TBC…