Chapter 16 - The Rules of Diplomacy
Soltek found that his duties helped him to focus on logic. This worked well until afternoon when Irina entered the holo lab smiling at him in a way that made warm shivers ran up his spine. They had to go over some improvements on their astrometrics program. He wasn't sure if he appreciated the fact that Lt. Barclay was present and they weren't alone.
He noticed that Irina kept her tone completely professional while other crew mates were present, which gave him another logical reason why she was such a well-chosen prospective mate. She might sometimes succumb to the human habit of showing affection in public, but she only did that at social gatherings where it was traditional for humans to do. She seemed to have a good grasp of Starfleet protocol - mostly at least.
They worked an hour overtime, because there were a couple of glitches. When they finally walked out of the lab, Irina declared that she was starving and asked Soltek if he would like to go to the Green Leaf. Soltek still wasn't hungry and not sure he would be able to eat, but he might at least manage to drink a tea.
He appreciated the fact that the Betazoid waiter wasn't there and ordered a janai tea while Irina choose a plate of pasta and an orange juice.
'Is everything okay?' she asked.
'Can you please specify the question,' Soltek replied.
'You seemed a little on edge today,' Irina said looking in his eyes in a way that made it very difficult for him to withhold personal information.
'As a Vulcan I am not on edge...but I admit I have difficulties to concentrate at the moment,' Soltek said in a very low voice, not sure what he was going to reveal to her, but he wouldn't lie to her.
She looked concerned and then asked him in a low voice: 'what's wrong?'
He noticed that she had picked up on his need for privacy and answered in a mere whisper: 'I am slightly...distracted...by your presence.'
She looked surprised for a moment and then smiled, her hand moved towards him over the table, but she restrained herself and pulled it back. 'Maybe we should discuss that in private,' she answered smiling with a beautiful twinkle in her eyes.
'A wise decision,' he said and noticed the sound of blood rushing into his head and that his heart rate must just have doubled.
She looked at him like she wanted to catch his attention and then demonstratively moved her left hand under the table and gave him an expectant look. He raised his eyebrows and felt a warm glow settling on his cheeks.
'Oooookay...no skin contact in public,' she whispered, 'I get it.' She smiled in the way she used to when she was engaging in what humans call 'teasing'. Then she took another bite of her pasta, gulped it down and said: 'Isn't it just as inappropriate for a Vulcan to have skin contact with someone he isn't bonded to in private?'
'That's not correct,' he answered neutrally, 'it is more inappropriate in public, but it is also inappropriate in private. - However, you have to take into account that in inter-species-relations the rules of diplomacy apply, thus Vulcan protocol has to be modified to allow some range of reciprocity within defined parameters.'
She frowned for a few seconds while trying to figure out what he was saying, 'so if a human initiates physical contact with a Vulcan in private it's within defined parameters for you to respond in kind?'
'Exactly,' he replied.
'But I shouldn't do it in public, because your face might show that you're enjoying it,' she whispered smiling.
'No,' he replied keeping his face almost perfectly stoical, 'it would simply overstep Vulcan protocols to an extend which isn't covered by the defined parameters of diplomacy.'
'In that case you'll have to wait till I have finished eating dinner.' She smiled, but then looked thoughtful at him. 'Soltek, is something bothering you? Somehow you look concerned.'
'Bothering is a human term, but there is something we should discuss in private,' he said.
When they entered Irina's quarters she sat down on the middle of her couch and Soltek sat next to her. She looked at him waiting for what he wanted to talk to her about.
'I don't know if the length of our courting period has been according to human protocol...but I am sure that you are the most logical choice as a mate for me,' he said in a tone that seemed to be neutral on the surface, but it seemed a bit forceful as if he had to pull up all his courage to say this.
'Is this...some kind of proposal?' Irina asked confused.
'Yes, I am proposing to marry you,' he said waiting for her answer.
'Um...isn't this a bit early? I mean...I have feelings for you...but...how do we know if we'd really manage to live together?'
He seemed taken aback and drew a breath, 'I don't understand your question, we work at the same space station, I see no obstacle in living together.'
'That's not just a logical question, Soltek,' she said curtly.
'Please explain,' he said tonelessly.
'We are just starting to get to know each other,' she said, 'we don't know yet if we are able to get along with each other on the long term, emotionally I mean. We need more time to find that out.'
'I assure you, I will do everything in my power to care for your human needs,' he said in a tone that was almost pleading and started to caress her hand with his extended middle and index fingers.
She inhaled very quickly as his skin connected to hers and it send a warm shiver down her spine like a small explosion. She stopped his movements by taking his hand in both of hers and gave a nervous laugh, 'Since when are you this emotional?'
He blinked and quickly withdrew his hand, 'forgive me...I was out of line...if your answer is no, I will leave you alone now.' He stood up and walked towards the door.
'Wait!' she said and charged after him grabbing him by his shoulders from behind. He stopped while she slipped her arms around his waist hugging him from behind. When their cheeks connected she felt the same warm tingling running down her spine as before, but much more intense. The way he started taking slow deep breaths told her that he must also feel it.
'I didn't mean to reject you,' she said, 'I just don't feel comfortable to marry you right away...please try to understand.'
He didn't respond and she just heard him breathing. She felt like their cheeks were linked to each other and a powerful flow of warm energy was throbbing through it down her spine and up again like a great cycle. She remembered their chat over the console about touching the face and telepathic connections. She pulled herself together and stepped backwards releasing him.
'I need to sit down,' she said feeling very light-headed and nearly stumbling back to the couch.
He turned to her, but walked over to the armchair in opposite of the couch and sat down. After centering himself for a short moment he said, 'I have researched human protocol and I understand that normally there is...an intimate relationship period before marriage...but you probably know from Dr. Lark's book...that an intimate relationship without marriage violates Vulcan protocol.' He said the last sentence very quickly like he wanted to be done with saying it.
She stared at him open-mouthed and then something finally made click in her head.
'That's what this is about?' she cried out in astonishment staring at him again for a few seconds and then suddenly had a fit of laughter till her eyes started to water. When she had calmed down she gave him an assessing glance looking very thoughtful. 'When have you eaten the last time?' she asked in a soft voice.
'55.3 hours ago,' he replied with a violent blush.
'Oh,' she said, 'that must have been on Saturday morning or so...is this because of the hand-face-thing that happened later? You told me we should be more careful with it...'
'I don't know,' he replied stuttering, 'but that is possible.'
'Actually...you're not that scary,' she said softly, 'I just didn't see it coming.'
'So, will you marry me?' he asked.
She took a deep breath, 'not right away, but...I wouldn't mind getting closer to you.'
They looked at each other, then she slowly stood up to walk over to him.
'Wait!' He said getting up like he wanted to run away from her, 'if you come too close I'll not be able to control myself.'
She sat down again looking at him. 'I won't tell anyone,' she said softly.
'You don't understand,' he said agitated, 'if you're not ready to...bond with me, you shouldn't touch me now.'
She looked at him frowning and then said, 'um, when Vulcans get intimate...do you put your hands under each other's chin or something like that?'
He blushed even more violently and whispered a small 'yes'.
'And that's this...telepathic link-thing which is between married couples?' she asked.
He nodded slightly.
'Oh...so your point is...it's not okay to do that before you're officially married?' she asked.
He nodded again.
'Boy,' she said, 'I think I get it now...I need to have a drink.' She stood up and walked over to the replicator, where she ordered a vodka. She returned to the couch and drank it with one gulp. After taking a breath she said, 'I liked what happened between us...at first this telepathic stuff was strange, but now I want to feel you again.'
He just looked at her, his face nearly glowing green.
'Soltek,' she said, 'I need to get much closer to you before I'll be able to honestly marry you officially...why not put that out of our minds for the time being and just concentrate on what we want now?'
He looked torn between giving in and being concerned.
She sighed, 'I know you're violating Vulcan protocol for my sake,' she said softly, 'but there's no one here to judge you for that, except yourself.'
'I'm actually disobeying my parents...they proposed to marry me to a woman from a neighbor clan on Vulcan yesterday,' he admitted, 'but as humans may put it...I'm already in trouble anyway.'
She stared in shock, 'I'm so sorry...I guess my parents and my sister might be shocked if I tell them about you, but they'd never marry me off to someone else...'
They remained silent for a few moments, pondering. Then she said, 'well, let's just think about ourselves now...how about the rule of reciprocity in diplomacy?' She looked at him smiling, 'Computer, dim lights.'
She slowly walked over to him and settled herself in his lap putting her arms around his neck. He first looked startled for a second, but when she kissed him he responded hungrily and grabbed one of her hands to passionately caress it with his fingers and she felt the powerful throbbing again. After a while he started to caress her cheek with the back of his other hand.
When he settled his finger-pads and palm on her face she felt a delicious warm stream throb through her cheek and down her spine and stopped kissing him because it made her gasp for air. She felt him, his desire for her and felt herself respond by sending a wave of pleasure back to him.
His other hand let go of her hand and he put his arm around her back. Then his lips moved down under her chin where he kissed her all over nibbling and sucking and massaging her skin with his tongue. She felt herself relaxing and leaning back into his arm surrendering to this wonderful treatment. After a while he stopped and pulled her forward, she instinctively shifted to a balanced sitting position and grabbed hold of him with one hand behind his neck. His hand slid from her cheek under her chin while she put her other hand under his chin.
What then happened was such a blissful jumble that she felt herself bathing in his presence and opening up to him like a flower and waiting for him to respond to her in drunken agony, but the agony lasted only a few moments until he responded to her wishes...