By: Keleshnar
Disclaimer: Yes, yes, I don't own the show. But I'd always appreciate a present…
Rating: a strong PG-13 for this chapter, so you have been warned.
A/N: Okay, I'm sort of making up my own comma rules as I go; whatever seems right at the time. I never was very good with them. So if you see something that's incorrect, please tell me. Grammatically correct stories are good. I'm also going to drop off the face of the earth for a few weeks, so that's why I won't be updating for a while (you'll see how evil I am at the end of this chapter). Lastly, please review! Make an author happy!
Chapter 4: Surprises
They lay there on T'Pol's bed, facing each other and just holding one another, waiting for T'Pol's Pon Farr to fully kick in again. Jon glanced over T'Pol's shoulder to the chronometer on her desk – 0913. Dr. Phlox wouldn't be back to give them lunch for another three hours because he'd brought them their breakfast about an hour earlier. Jon hoped that T'Pol's hormones would either speed up or slow down a lot – he didn't want to be interrupted. As he turned his attention back to his gorgeous mate, he found her gazing at him, watching lovingly. This sight was so beautiful to his eyes that he sighed contentedly and smiled. His next words just popped out of his mouth, and though he wasn't surprised of them, he was surprised he said them, at least this early,
"I think I love you, T'Pol," he knew, and so did she, that he meant it. He'd felt that way, to a lesser degree though, for a while.
"Love is an emotion, Jonathan," her coy response was so precisely that – her – that it made him chuckle, and in response, she almost half-smiled. It was a start, and all that he expected of her at this time. She was even newer to this kind of thing than he was, and he gave her the benefit of the doubt – she had chosen and accepted him, after all. That counted for something.
He leaned forward and kissed her eyes in a loving, comforting way. He then turned to her ears and began to lightly nibble up their sides until he was at their distinctive point. She almost felt euphoric.
"Jonathan… Oh, that is nice!" he had totally changed her train of thought with his kisses and caresses, moving from her face down her neck, and below. Once she momentarily regained some thought processes, though the logical side of her was quickly being consumed by desire, she decided to take some lead, and she pressed her body into a few certain places quite expertly, eliciting a low groan from him, and began to work her lips on his skin too. The loving gestures soon turned much more heated, and T'Pol felt her heat rise significantly inside her – it wouldn't be long now. She gripped his shoulders and slid her hands down his chest and stomach, fingers splayed. Jon got the idea pretty quickly. As their last remnants of clothing, which had been impeding their pursuits a few minutes earlier, again littered the floor, they started their own little 'dance'. Lips claimed lips, tongues teased each other, while hands gripped and explored. One last breathless, hot kiss, and T'Pol found Jonathan's eyes, signaling it was time. Her eyes were ablaze with desire and her hands' pace turned frantic on his body. As he entered her, they both felt the first pangs of bliss. They were moving to a rhythm all their own. The beat of the 'dance' multiplied, and they came crashing down after their climaxes. Neither of them would notice this till later, but a bond had been formed – more than the already strong physical bond, it was a mental bond. Not incredibly strong, but definitely there.
* * * * *
T'Pol awoke first again, but this time the couple was tangled in a mess of limbs – theirs, of course. They had already gotten lunch, eaten it, and dozed off in each other's arms afterwards. Luckily Phlox hadn't commented on their state when he gave them their meal and picked up their breakfast trays; he'd just left very quickly. She was sure it saved quite a bit of embarrassment on all three sides. She began to feel Jonathan waken and turned towards him, reclaiming an arm and a leg from where he had been holding one and sleeping on the other.
"'Morning… No, 'afternoon," Jon yawned obviously, stretched, and sniffed the air, then under his armpits, "I think I definitely need a shower. So if you'll excuse me…" T'Pol was not about to get in his way – the nasal inhibitors only did so much. She was sure she could use a shower also, but since Jonathan was going first, she decided that she'd use the time to meditate, which hadn't been done for a half a week, and she felt it. So as Jonathan walked into her bathroom, still stretching, and shut the door, she got her meditation candle out, lit it, and sat down on the floor in the lotus position. She heard the water start to run as she began to relax her mind. Then, suddenly, she was snapped out of her reverie by a hot, almost burning sensation. At the same time, she heard Jon's "Yeow!!" and could almost feel his pain, annoyance, and anger, as well as hearing a few choice words of his.
As her mind registered what happened, she though, 'that was unusual,' but dismissed the thought and turned her mind once again to meditating. She still could not totally slip into her normal mindset, but her condition was definitely improving because she could focus much easier. T'Pol felt the candle's warmth, the mesmerizing glow, the peacefulness associated with meditating, and she became calm.
In the shower, Jon began to relax under the warm water. As he was soaping up his chest and arms, he stopped and closed his eyes, letting the water wash the bubbles off. He felt very awake and alert.
'I know warm showers are really good at waking you up, but this is ridiculous!' he thought. Something was a little off, and it was bugging him. He finished up in the shower and got out, contemplating the mystery while he was drying off.
When he was shaving, he felt oddly surprised, though there was nothing to be surprised about, and then got a jolt of it from somewhere, making him nick himself a little. He grimaced at the unexpected pain and went to clean the cut, again wondering what was happening.
T'Pol had been deep in her meditating when she started to look inward, to reflect upon how she'd reacted to her Pon Farr so far. As she was over viewing her recent actions, she found that there was a part of her that she had never seen before. T'Pol was very surprised and doubtful that she had missed this part of herself all of her life, so she figured logically that it had to be new. She tried to explore it deeper, and what she found was startling – feelings that were similar to her own, but not hers. All at once, it clicked into place, and her eyes opened wide at the realization. Immediately afterwards, she felt a sliver of pain. This time, though, it easily fit in to place and supported her previous conclusion – she and Jonathan had bonded. She was surprised that the two different species were capable of it, but it was noticeably weaker than the Vulcan bonds described to her. Once she found it, however, she felt much more complete. She needed to discuss the bond and its ramifications with Jonathan when he got out of the shower. As if on cue, Jon stepped out of the bathroom, gingerly rubbing the cut spot on his face with his hand. He had an annoyed scowl on his face, and she realized what the last pain she felt was from. She thought that if she was a human, the situation might almost be humorous. As it was, she blew out and put away her candle and sat down on her bed again, disregarding her need for a shower for the time being.
As she sat down, Jon could see that she had something to tell him. Maybe it would explain all of the weird things he was feeling. He wryly noted to himself that her bunk was becoming their regular meeting place to discuss topics.
"Jonathan, something happened when we made love. I have just recently discovered it, and I know that you have felt it also. A mental bond was formed between us. It is why we have been sharing emotions."
"You mean, those things I felt were you?"
"Yes. Or rather, my feelings," And after that she sent him the equivalent of a humorous 'tsk tsk', predicting what his next response would be. He smiled – she'd guessed right. He was going to say 'I thought that Vulcans didn't have feelings', but instead responded,
"Are you sure you can't sense thoughts, too?" it was a joke, and she took it as such, not responding to that query.
"I will probably be able to sense more from you than you will be able to from me because I am more acquainted with mental bonds, and I can also put up mental shields."
"How much weaker is our bond than most Vulcan pairs'?"
"A reasonable amount, I think. It might grow with time though, since we'll get more used to each other. And the 'pairs' are called bondmates."
"Which is what we are now, isn't it?" T'pol just nodded in response.
"Being bondmates also means that we will mate for life. There is really no choice in the matter now."
Jon responded with lots of sincerity in his voice, "I wasn't planning on leaving anyway. God, T'Pol, you don't know how long I've wanted this!" He would find out the full, yet unexpected, meaning of his statement in the morning.
* * * * *
The door comm. beeped, disturbing Jon and T'Pol from their work, which they had resumed to pass the time. Jon had been working at T'Pol's computer, and she was on her couch with a PADD. T'Pol had been feeling better and hadn't needed any more releases since the last one, so they had decided to catch up on work.
Jon went to answer the door since he was closer, and was greeted cheerfully by the doctor. Jon suspected part of the cheerfulness was finding them in clothes and not without them. "Hello, Doctor."
"Ah, yes. Hello. Is everyone feeling fine?" Phlox asked while he exchanged dishes with T'Pol, who had walked to the door.
"Yes, Doctor. The hormones have been more under control recently."
"Good, good. Oh, and Sub-Commander – Hoshi Sato sends her greetings and hopes you get better soon."
"Hey, why didn't she say 'hi' to me, too?" Jon asked incredulously. He was especially surprised that it was Hoshi who didn't acknowledge him.
T'Pol was wondering the same thing also, until she realized the answer, which Dr. Phlox said.
"Ensign Sato would have no way of knowing you were here, Captain, or otherwise I'm sure she would have sent her wishes your way, too. I did specifically say I was bringing T'Pol her meal. I was rather glad she didn't ask why I had two dishes instead of one. That could have become a sticky predicament."
"Oh, yeah. I knew that. Still, that was nice of Hoshi." T'Pol agreed with Jon's last comment. She and the Ensign had grown closer over the past year, and T'Pol found it comforting to have a female friend onboard. She was quite a wealth of information, and it was always nice to talk to someone friendly in Vulcan. She would have to thank the woman for the kind sentiment.
Jon's next words were a bit surprising to T'Pol – "Hey Doc, something unexpected happened – T'Pol and I bonded minds. Surprising since we're different species, huh?" Phlox looked at T'Pol, knowing she wouldn't be fully comfortable with the sharing of such private information, but she just had a flicker of discomfort then seemed to accept it. T'Pol did accept it; it would probably be useful if the Doctor knew, but she still sent Jonathan her feelings of mild displeasure and uncertainty, showing how she felt. He made a mental note not to announce their bond anymore without asking her, but he had felt very excited about this newfound knowledge and wanted to share it, which she understood.
Phlox watched their short interaction with interest. They really were a well-suited couple – they accepted and adjusted to one another's mistakes. The Doctor could see that Jon was more held back now, and that T'Pol was fine. That mental bond of theirs seemed quite handy.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow morning. Goodnight," The Doctor left, leaving T'Pol and Jon holding their dinners. They were both hungry, but since they could sense the other's hunger and it added to their own, they were both starving. Without another word, they sat down to eat and enjoyed their dinner. Afterwards, they worked a little more, though they didn't get much done because they were experimenting with their bond. They decided to call it a night, as Jonathan explained to T'Pol, and go to bed early. Sleep reached them soon after one last visit from T'Pol's Pon Farr.
* * * * *
"Good morning, Doctor," The two of them greeted Phlox when they showed up in the deserted sickbay at 0532.
"Good morning to you, too," Phlox greeted back. "T'Pol, if you'll sit on this bio-bed here," She sat down, sniffed, and gave Phlox a questioning look, "I brought your breakfasts here so you could eat after I was done with the treatment."
The Doctor took out his scanner just to check up on T'Pol, but he stopped once he was halfway through and scanned her again. Jon noticed this peculiar behavior and came over to the bio-bed where they were from where he'd been sitting. Phlox took a step back, making sure that his interpretation of the readings was correct, and then turned to the couple and said with an almost doubtful look on his face, in a wary voice,
"T'Pol, there has been an unexpected change in your condition…"
Cont…