I do not own Star Trek, or any of its characters or storylines.

Chapter 12: Cleaning

T'Nyra was talking with Spock's friend Jim Kirk when her mother called her away from the conversation. She and Jim had been talking about one of the many adventures he had gone with her brother. But when her mother called her, she had to take her leave from the couch that was opposite the one Kirk was sitting on.

"T'Nyra," Amanda called from a cleaning closet underneath the stairs to Spock's room. "Could you help me a moment?"

"Of course, mother," T'Nyra called over her shoulder, and turning back to face Jim before she left. "Please, excuse me, Mr. Kirk."

"How many times do I have to tell you," Jim said with annoyance, leaning back into the couch, "Call me Jim." She just nodded as she got up and left him. Christine was sitting a cushion away from Jim Kirk, and watched fondly as the young vulcan girl walked to help her mother.

"How may I assist you?" T'Nyra asked, coming up behind her mother. Jumping, Amanda turned to see her daughter.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," She breathed, putting a hand to her heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Do you need -"

"No, I don't need medical assistance," Amanda said in annoyance before her daughter to finish her sentence. Her voice softened with her next sentence. "But I do need you to help Spock with cleaning his room."

"I beg your pardon?" T'Nyra asked, raising both her eyebrows up and into her blonde bangs. "You wish for me to clean my brother's room?"

"Not in the sense that you're thinking," Amanda said, reaching inside the closet for a duster. "You are going to help Spock dust his room, and sweep, and all that."

"I -"

"Don't worry, honey, Spock's too much of a gentleman to let you do it all by yourself," Amanda said, handing her daughter various supplies. "He usually does things on his own, and I think he could use some help."

Looking at the various supplies in her arms, T'Nyra nodded, and slowly turned to the stairs. As she climbed them to her brother's room, she could feel the eyes of the other two humans other than her mother watching her. Feeling her ears blushing with embarrassment, she tried not to notice their eyes on her.

T'Nyra knocked on her brother's door, and felt strange doing so. She had never been to this room before, and knocking on the door of a room previously empty seemed a strange act. It was even stranger when, in a very cool and logical manner, Spock opened the door and allowed her in. He did so naturally, not as if he had been gone, but as if he had always lived here, in this room.

Wrinkling her nose, T'Nyra had to hold back the itch of a sneeze as it started in her nostrils. Spock saw she had a strange face on, and assumed it was because she did not like his room. Well, it was fairly dirty.

Taking the cleaning supplies from T'Nyra, he placed it on his bed and dresser, then turned to face his younger sister.

"If this room displeases you, you need to stay." Spock said, reaching for the door. T'Nyra raised a hand in protest, and then, without warning, sneezed. It sounded a lot like a kitten's sneeze.

"No," T'Nyra said, sniffing a bit. She straightened her clothing and looked at her brother. "I will stay. The room is not distasteful, but rather…" She struggled to figure out the right word to use.

"Dusty?" Spock guessed, moving to his dresser and pulling out a hanker-chef. "If you tie this around your lower face from the nose down, your sinuses will not be bothered by the particles."

"Thank you," T'Nyra said, taking the hanker-chef and doing as he suggested. When she was done, she glanced at her brother and raised an eyebrow. "How did you know I had an allergy to dust?"

"I made an educated guess, considering your sneeze, and the fact that you said you did not dislike my room," Spock replied, reaching over to his dresser and handing T'Nyra a duster. She took it and looked around the room in dismay.

"This will take a long time to clean…" T'Nyra muttered as she moved to dust the window seal. Her duster collected at least an inch of brown and gray stuff. She grimaced at its sight, though the only part of her that showed that dismay were her eyes.

"Indeed." Spock agreed, taking a small handheld vacuum and proceeding to clean his floor, which was covered in a rug. He had to bend down on the floor to do this, and his uniform was getting dustier by the moment. T'Nyra despised dust, not just because it made her sneeze, but because she thought it was disgusting - it was made of all sorts of particles, dust mite feces, dried skin cells, and who knew what else.

But she steeled herself and helped her brother clean his room, starting with the window sill; and ending with taking his bed sheets, blankets, and pillows down to the washroom. Spock followed her, with a laundry basket filled with unwashed laundry that hadn't been taken out since he was a teenager. Both of them, as they passed through the living room, could feel the eyes Jim, Christine, Amanda, and Sarek on them.

This made both of them a little uncomfortable - but it was exhilarating for Amanda. Because, now, after all this time her children were bonding with one another. And she could tell that they had similar interests and a mutual dislike of all things dirty.

Smiling, she reached out and touched two of Sarek's fingers with two of her own. Through their bond, he could already sense what she felt, and send his thoughts to her, and she to him. Through their touch, he could literally read her mind, and this was a semi-common practice among certain vulcans. Mind-melds were often used to determine the health of another person, or to find the answers one sought.

However, when Amanda touched her fingers to Sarek's, it was more of a intimate gesture. She was essentially holding his hand, as far as vuclan custom went. However, it could be used as a more intimate gesture, if one rubbed their fingers together, or onto the palm or wrist of the other person, it was like giving them kisses. For now Amanda and Sarek were only holding hands, but that gesture may turn into a more intimate one. With humans, one never knew what to expect.

Thanks for reading! Sorry for the late update, I've been working on homework and several other stories. But, thankfully, this week I've found inspiration for A Hard Place to Stay, and I will be updating new chapters like crazy for the next couple of weeks.