Thank you all for your reviews! I'm so happy to see some people read my story! :) It's also quite inspiring to read how others percieve what's happening to Irina and Soltek and you guys also come up with good suggestions!

Bewildered: Yeah, you're right, he's making progress, I'm not sure yet though how far he will be willing to go...and Irina will also have to put in some work.

And I'm really glad the story has distracted you somewhat from the bad things real life has dealt you lately.

maba7x: You mean the 'How to be a Vulcan'-book? I'm having some plans about that... It will appear again in the story, I promise!

Jamille Shane: Thanks for reviewing nearly every chapter! I can't stress enough how helpful it is to see how other people percieve the different parts of the story. :)

Now to business...

When they entered the holodeck Irina called up the environment of Luntana, a Beta quadrant planet with a lot of water and lush plant life. The program immediately revealed a path along the stony banks of a river flowing through a woody region.

'We researched this planet for a week and had two days of shore leave, it was wonderful!' Irina said, 'at that time it had been a while since I actually had set foot on a planet with life and a breathable atmosphere.'

'The diversity of the plant life here is quite intriguing,' Soltek said, 'and I must say I haven't seen much plant life while I was stationed at the T'Kumbra either.'

'Have you been to earth yet? I mean since your transfer?' Irina asked.

'No, the facilities here are quite sufficient for daily exercise and if I want to study plant life I go to the arboretum,' he said.

'That's not the same as breathing fresh air on a real planet,' Irina said, 'I was to San Francisco with Lamira last weekend.'

'I don't understand how the air on earth is fresher than the air on the station, in fact the air on the station is much less polluted with allergens and minor doses of toxins than the air of a real planet,' Soltek said.

Irina raised both her eyebrow, 'what have you seen of earth while you were at the Academy?'

'The Academy facilities, I concentrated on my studies,' he replied.

'You never went outside the complex?!' Irina asked shocked, stopped abruptly to face him.

'No, I didn't,' he confirmed neutrally, ignoring her emotional reaction.

'Why? Didn't you ever wonder how the natives lived and what the planet looks like?' Irina asked.

'I researched the basics of human culture, but,' he paused and then said hesitantly, 'I didn't want to indulge in human life style.'

Irina unlinked her arm from him and stared open-mouthed at him, 'what? If you hate human life style why did you apply for Starfleet in the first place?! You must have known that more than half of the officers are human!'

'I did know that and I don't hate human life style,' he said slowly and then added: 'when I decided to join Starfleet I went against the wishes of my parents.'

She stared at him with wide eyes.

He continued, 'My parents are very orthodox and didn't wish for me to work with other species at all...but I was able to make a compromise with them, I asked for a Vulcan roommate and strictly stayed in the complex of the Academy and they arranged my posting at the T'Kumbra under Captain Solok.'

'Oh my!' Irina said shocked.

'Irina, I didn't mean to insult your culture and my behavioral patterns have changed since I decided to leave the T'Kumbra, I do interact with other species now.'

'I'm not accusing you...I'm just shocked! I never knew your parents restricted you like that. Mine weren't exactly happy when I left Luna for Starfleet, but they didn't micromanage my life - What happened? Did they threaten to disown you or something?'

He looked at her thinking hard how to reply, she realized she had asked something he was uncomfortable to reveal. 'It wasn't just my parents. You must know that my parents have connections to other families with similar beliefs about off-worlders... You probably know that Vulcan families arrange marriages between their children.'

Irina nodded, but frowned because she had no clue where this was going.

'The woman I was betrothed to and her family objected to my plans to join Starfleet and live off-world among other species, but the compromise allowed me to keep T'Punh as my future bond-mate.'

Irina stared open-mouthed in shock again.

'Two years, 1 month and 7 days after her death I realized that the circumstances had changed and I might as well live among other species and fully explore their perspectives on science and engineering as was my original prerogative when I joined Starfleet,' he concluded.

'Wow,' Irina said and put both her hands on his arms, 'sounds like you had quite some journey behind you...I can't say I really understand what you've been through, but it sounds like it hadn't always been easy.'

He seemed unsure of what to reply and then simply said, 'thanks'.

She linked her right arm again with his left one and they walked on.

'T'Punh,' she asked, 'she must have been important to you if you compromised for her?'

He was very obviously startled at her personal question, but then he seemed to give himself a push and said, 'the bonding between Vulcan mates doesn't have the emotional aspect human bonding has...but it is not...customary among Vulcans to live too long as 'a single' - I believe that is the human term for individuals who don't want to compromise for a mate or haven't found a compatible one yet.'

Irina was flabbergasted and stopped again to look at him, 'why? What's wrong with being a single? I thought you Vulcans were so detached anyway?'

He quickly turned into a shade of the deepest green Irina had ever seen him in.

'It would lead to chaos...' he stuttered, 'if marriages weren't arranged orderly...people would try to take mates wherever they are at the moment -' he suddenly stopped and fell silent.

At that Irina couldn't help but laugh out loud, 'you mean like humans do!'

He looked at her in what seemed to be desperation. 'You don't understand.'

'No, Soltek, I don't,' Irina said, 'I'm sorry. That's just a bit too strange!' He wasn't sure if her tone was indignant or humorous. 'But I guess letting people fall in love is just too much emotional indulgence for Vulcans. Maybe I understand your point of view, but I don't share it,' she concluded.

'You must understand that there are some differences between Vulcans and humans.' Soltek said.

'That much is obvious,' Irina replied.

Soltek took a quick breath in exasperation and Irina wondered if he had just gone a shade greener than before. She didn't understand why this agitated him so much, he seemed almost in pain.

'It's okay, Soltek,' she said finally, 'you don't have to defend your culture...I just have a habit of arguing my point.'

He seemed to calm somewhat, but still had a look of frustration on his face he concealed quickly. She softly nugded him to walk on. They were silent for a few moments and heard just the low murmur of the stream.

Then she said softly, 'you're doing some things for my sake Vulcans wouldn't do normally?'

'I believe some steps are necessary to bridge the gap between our cultures,' he said, 'it is a logical method and I am not the first Vulcan to do so...Ambassador Sarek, his son Spock, T'Mau, to name a few.'

She smiled at that, put her free hand on his arm and snuggled her head against it. After a few moments she slowly moved her free hand down his arm until she made contact with his bare hand and immediately felt the tingling of the telepathic connection. He tensed for a short moment, came to a halt and inhaled deeply. She looked at his face and smiled at his prompt reaction. He slowly turned to her and carefully started to run the pads of his index and middle finger up and down over her hand which produced a delicious warm tingling sensation, then he became bolder and let his fingers circle slowly over her hand. She felt more fully connected to him by a warm stream of energy pulsing between them.

Irina moved closer to him and her free hand hesitantly traveled to his shoulder and around his neck and she pulled him into a soft kiss. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again she saw him looking at her longingly. She slowly caressed his face to which he reacted instantly by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. She then gave him another kiss to which he responded with a passion that nearly knocked her off balance. He put his arm around her and his other hand moved quickly to her face where it initiated a strong warm current which ran from his hand through Irina's cheek all down her whole body like a warm shower. Irina felt nearly unable to move and thought she was being carried away by this big wave of energy any second, she was going to faint or melt away... She took hold of his arms to steady herself.

He carefully removed one hand and grabbed her hand, then he removed the other taking both her hands in his. Irina felt the 'energy stream' decrease from a torrential river to a comfortable creek. She exhaled and concentrated on her feet standing firmly on the ground.

'What was that?' she said still panting slightly.

'There are several levels of depth in a telepathic connection,' he said also still panting, 'when you touched my face...I thought you wanted...this,' he paused and looked like he was going to blush again, 'but then I sensed you weren't fully ready.'

'Whew -', she gave a nervous giggle, 'it felt good...I was just startled - this telepathic stuff is really strange for me...just give me a short warning next time.'

'I have never done this with a non-Vulcan,' he said hesitantly and he was definitively blushing now, 'I didn't anticipate the...proceedings would be unfamiliar to you.' He was immensely cute in his embarrassed helplessness.

'It's okay,' she said smiling assuringly and then gave him a kiss on the cheek, 'just tell me more about those proceedings.'

He took his time to think about how to respond and then he said slowly, 'we call it the bond...Vulcan mates usually become telepathically linked...they are able to share thoughts more easily, without the need for the touch required otherwise.'

Irina's eyes widened in revelation, 'so it's like you can constantly read the other person's mind?!'

'The depth of the bond varies as any other telepathic contact...it can lay dormant if the mates are far away for a longer time...and not everything is shared with the same intensity.'

Irina frowned slightly while she tried to wrap her mind around this information, 'was the thing that just happened this...bond?'

For a short moment Soltek had a look on his face like her question was quite preposterous, but he quickly regained his usual stoic look, 'no...I was merely initiating a light connection to...explore you and give you a first taste. The connection will cease after a short moment when we sever our hands. - It would have been highly inappropriate to spontaneously...initiate a mating bond like this on the holodeck.' He blushed so violently that Irina wondered if he could get any greener.

But she still looked quite perplexed.

'I believe...your culture has rules and ceremonies for what you call...'marriage'?' Soltek stuttered confused.

'Um, yes, we have,' Irina said, 'actually people usually...get intimate and bonded emotionally before, the wedding is a way to officially make the commitment to stay together for a long time.'

'Hmm...I don't see the logic in this, but your species seems to procreate in a healthy rate anyway.' Soltek answered with an unsure look of what else to say.

Irina laughed. 'The logic is to get to know each other and see if the relationship works out before making a longer commitment.' She paused while giving him a most peculiar smile, 'didn't you just do something similar when you explored me?'

For a short startled moment, he looked caught, then quickly replied: 'I researched human culture and it seemed the logical approach towards a human. If you were Vulcan I would have chosen different steps.'

She grinned, 'like what?'

'I would have informed you of the logical advantages of a bond between us,' he replied.

She stared at him in disbelief for a second, 'okay, the other approach was much better.'