Chapter 52 - A 'chaismeachd mhòr - The Grand March
The rest of the day was mostly uneventful apart from having what was a very civilised dinner at Mimi's parents house; vegetable lasagne, rosemary and sea salt focaccia, and mixed salad. Followed by apple crumble and custard.
Afterwards Sordd, T'Shahel and Avarak returned to the cottage for the remainder of the evening.
*'*
Avarak, who had changed into his evening robe, was sitting in the living room reading a book which was on his padd.
"Avarak, sa-mekh would like to speak to you," T'Shahel said as she entered the living room.
Avarak put down his padd and went through to the kitchen where his father was busy working on a research paper.
"Sa-mekh, you wanted to see me?" Avarak spoke quietly.
Sordd looked up. "I would like you to get ready for bed. I will come up in ten minutes for your time of meditation," he replied.
"Affirmative, sa-mekh," he replied.
Avarak ran up the stairs and got his meditation mat, incense burner and candles ready. He knelt down in his meditative stance, and began to go over the day in his mind. He was more than aware that there were a number of occasions where he had lost emotional control. There was also the question of disobeying his father, which he knew would result in some kind of punishment. Kadith! Exactly ten minutes later Sordd entered the room. He looked around to make sure everything was tidy, it was, then he knelt down in front of his son, mirroring his stance.
"How was your day?" Sordd asked in a gentle tone.
"It was agreeable sa-mekh," Avarak replied. Sordd knelt in silence waiting for his son to finish. "Ni'droi'ik nar-tor sa-mekh for not staying with Peter and Adam," he said in a whisper.
Sordd raised an eyebrow, at least Avarak was aware of the misdemeanour. "I have made an observation," he replied. "Whenever you are overly excited you tend to forget the rules and boundaries that have been set. Those rules and boundaries are for your own safety and wellbeing."
"Sa-mekh, it is difficult," Avarak sighed.
"I understand that it can be difficult, particularly for a Vulcan and particularly when living among such an emotional species. Emotional control is simple, nobody said it was easy!" Sordd replied. "You are young, now is the perfect time for you to train yourself and discipline yourself, no one else can do that for you. You also need to understand that it is not as damaging to Peter or Adam to loose control of their emotions as it is for you."
Avarak frowned, "Why are they allowed to be emotional and I am not?"
"That is a fair question," Sordd replied. "Vulcan emotions are far more destructive than Human emotions because they run deeper. You must learn to control your feelings so they do not control you. It is one of the Vulcan disciplines. Do you understand that the rules and boundaries I set are for your own safety and wellbeing?" Sordd asked.
"Ha, sa-mekh," Avarak replied.
"When you show me that you are able to consistently obey those rules and boundaries, they will be relaxed and you will be afforded greater freedom." Sordd paused, letting the statement he had just made set in. "Do you understand?"
"Ha, sa-mekh," Avarak replied.
"Do you understand why you are going to be punished?"
"Ha, Sa-mekh. I have been disobedient," he replied, trying not to show that he was upset.
"Tomorrow you will not be allowed to explore further than the back garden of the cottage, unless Mimi or I are in attendance or if we decide to take a trip somewhere in the local area. Even then you are not allowed to go and explore on your own."
"Peter and Adam are going to the river tomorrow..." Avarak responded.
Sordd raised his eyebrow.
"Ni'droi'ik nar-tor, sa-mekh!" Avarak looked at the floor.
"What are the boundaries for tomorrow?" Sordd asked.
"I am only allowed to explore the back garden of the cottage, unless Mimi or you are with me," Avarak replied, secretly hoping that they would decide to go for a trip somewhere.
"Is there anything else you would like to discuss?" Sordd asked.
Avarak paused before speaking, "Sa-mekh, can I walk Madra and Dug with you?" he asked hopefully.
"That is acceptable," Sordd replied, knowing that the exercise would help his son maintain his emotional controls. "Now begin your meditations."
Avarak closed his eyes and began to build a structure, a stable structure, with different shaped and coloured blocks while outwardly he repeated one of his mantras...
*'*
The next afternoon, Sordd, Mimi, T'Shahel and Avarak walked to 'West Lodge' where Sarek, Amanda and Spock were staying, so they could have mid-meal together. This was much to Avarak's relief as he was confined to barracks so to speak. After lunch Mimi, Sordd, T'Shahel, Avarak, Sarek and Amanda all sat around the large oak table in the kitchen to discuss some arrangements for the wedding. Spock was also there, but he wasn't really paying any attention, instead he was more interested in playing with some toy farm animals.
"Ok, so we are going to do this instead of a first dance," Mimi said. "Here is a plan of the dance hall." She projected from her padd up onto a screen, which was suspended from the wall. The dance hall was rectangular shaped. "So the Ceilidh band will be here," she pointed to the top end of the hall, "we will come in here," she pointed to the door at the bottom left hand corner.
"It's fairly straight forward... When the music begins, Sordd and I will be the first to go onto the dance floor and we will make one circuit of the room." (normally it is two but Mimi thought the Vulcans would find one to be sufficient)
"I warn you that there will be a lot of cheering and clapping, people will be quite excited and emotional." She looked at all the Vulcans in the room, who all made mental notes to raise their emotional shields when the time arrived.
"After one circuit, the wedding party will then follow on behind for the second circuit. On the third circuit anyone else who wants to join in can. Is that ok so far?" she asked.
"Affirmative," said the Vulcans apart from Spock. "Yes," said Amanda.
"On the fourth circuit when we get to the band end we will walk down the centre of the room. At the bottom end the couples will be directed right and left in turn and we will walk up the side of the room again." Mimi showed this on the screen. "At the band end we will then be instructed to move up the centre of the room in fours." Again she showed this by using an animation. "Then the first group of fours go right the second group go left and so on. When we get to the band end we will come down in groups of eights and so on depending on the number of people. And that is 'The Grand March'."
"What do you think?" she asked.
"I think it is preferable to doing a first dance on our own Mimi," Sordd replied neutrally. Mimi smiled kindly at him.
"What is the purpose of the Grand March?" T'Shahel asked with a degree of fascination.
"It's tradition," Mimi replied. The Vulcans couldn't argue with that as they had their own traditions. "It is also a fun way for the different families to become acquainted with each other."
"Fun is an illogical emotion," Avarak said. After some extended meditation the previous evening Avarak was thinking more like an adult Vulcan.
"I know sweetie, but it is what humans do," Mimi replied with a smile.
"Would it not be more logical to just walk around the room and talk to people?" T'Shahel asked.
"You are probably right T'Shahel," Mimi conceded.
"Will we be required to Ceilidh dance?" Sarek asked with a slight edge to the tone of his voice.
"No you won't. And to be honest with you it would probably be best avoided. Some of the dances require a lot of physical contact with different people, who will all be a bit excited especially if they have a wee nip in them."
"What is a nip?" Avarak asked intrigued.
"It is a measure of whisky," Mimi replied. Suddenly remembering the horrific aftermath of the bachelorette party, "It's best to be avoided!" she added.
"Sorrd and I are planning on leaving shortly after the first dance. I'm still recovering from the accident and certainly can't manage any Ceilidh dancing; it can get a bit wild. Also it will be getting late for the children." She looked at T'Shahel and Avarak and smiled.
Mimi looked at Sarek and Amanda, "It will be ok for you to leave early, especially with Spock. No one will be offended."
"That is agreeable," Sarek said, with an inward sigh of relief.
*'*
Notes
Kadith - what is is
ha - yes
sa-mekh - father
ni'droi'ik nar-tor - I am sorry
