Day 11
Trip grabbed a blue-green fruit from the bowl in front of him. "What's this one called?"
"Kaasa," T'Pol said.
This had been going on for the entire meal. Trip wanted to learn as much about Vulcan as he possibly could before the shuttle landed in two weeks. He'd already decided that the language was his best bet, though it was difficult to grasp. While T'Pol had been holed up in her quarters reading The Lord of the Rings – which she had yet to comment on – he'd tried to read the original Vulcan of The Teachings of Surak. He hadn't gotten very far. But new opportunities were constantly presenting themselves, as lunch had demonstrated. T'Pol had brought over a bowl containing every fruit that the Vulcan shuttle had in its stores. He was trying to learn the difference between them.
He picked up an oblong fruit. "And this one?"
"Sash-savas. It has a taste similar to the lemon."
Trip reached for the yellow fruit on top of the pile in the bowl. "I thought this was a sash-savas."
T'Pol shook her head. "That is a yon-savas."
Trip twisted one eyebrow quizzically. Vulcan foods were so confusing. "What's the difference?"
She looked at him, her face impassive, but he could see the glint in her eye that usually preceded her teasing. "Besides the obvious?" He opened his mouth to continue the verbal sparring, but she cut him off before he could say anything. "Savas is a generic term meaning simply 'fruit'. The term that precedes it is a descriptive term specifying which particular type of fruit."
"Oh. So what's the actual translation of sash-savas?"
"'Acid fruit'. Because of its citrus flavor."
He took a bite out of the sash-savas and was immediately sorry he had done so. She hadn't been kidding when she said it tasted like a lemon. It was so sour that his eyes began to water almost instantly. He grabbed his glass of water and drank it in three gulps. When he looked up, T'Pol's eyes were smiling.
"Satisfied, Commander?" T'Pol asked.
He glared at her, but he knew that it wasn't her fault. He just didn't see what was so damned amusing. "Now that you mention it…" He reached for her glass of water and stopped himself just in time. There were other passengers present, and he knew they would react badly upon seeing the human commander unabashedly drinking after the Vulcan in his company. He coughed nervously. "What did you think of The Lord of the Rings?"
T'Pol didn't answer right away, and Trip smiled. "C'mon, T'Pol. I know you liked it. You practically threw me out of your room every time I stopped by to bring you food. Don't tell me you didn't like it."
She raised an eyebrow. "I suspect you had ulterior motives when you recommended that I read that book."
He couldn't resist the urge to grin. She was a sharp one, all right. "What makes you think that?" The second eyebrow joined the first. "Okay, so I might've had somethin' in mind, but it shouldn't affect what you thought about the book. What'd you think?"
"I liked it."
He waited for more, but when it became apparent that T'Pol wasn't going to elaborate he shook his head. "Is that it?"
She took a sip from her glass of water. "You asked me what I thought."
"When I asked what you thought of Frankenstein, you launched into a lecture on the misrepresentation of Frankenstein's monster, and your only comment about The Lord of the Rings is that you liked it?"
"I found it reassuring that such a diverse group of individuals could work together to achieve a common goal. I respected the way in which Frodo was unwilling to put others at risk, despite his growing corruption, and the loyalty and dedication each character showed to the others. And I admired the sacrifices that Arwen and Aragorn were willing to make to be together." She lowered her voice to a whisper as she finished speaking, but Trip heard every word.
"Really?" Trip asked. T'Pol simply stared at him. "Remind you of anyone?"
She stiffened visibly, and Trip almost regretted brining it up. She took another drink of water before responding. "I am aware, Commander, of how their situation parallels our own. Hand me the kahm-savas."
Trip sighed and stretched his hand toward the bowl of fruit. He lowered it abruptly and glanced apologetically up at her. "Which one is that again?"
A/N: Again, many thanks to the Vulcan Language Dictionary, which is where I got all the terms for the different fruit.