Spock observed that Jim did spend a good deal of time resting, but frequently asked if he could help Amanda.
"I'm feeling like I should be doing something. Sitting around is kind of foreign to me," he'd admitted.
"Perhaps in a couple days, Jim," Amanda told him, "when we've got you well rested and those ribs aren't so prominent anymore. Whoever had you worked you to the bone."
"It was a solid 14 hours a day, except for meal breaks, and they weren't exactly what you'd call a meal," Jim admitted.
"And you'd been doing that for ten years?" Amanda said in horror, "it's a wonder you're still alive!"
She made a mental note to make sure he got plenty of snacks.
"It's only been three years for that owner. My first master was better about physical care, but my duties were much more degrading." He looked away and turned back to the news PADDs Amanda had brought him. Clearly, he did not wish to talk of the subject anymore, but Spock wondered what he had been forced to do.
The way he'd said degrading probably meant had sexual connotations and she felt sad for him. Why did sentient beings treat other sentient beings like that? Jim should have been in college, maybe even Starfleet, filling his clever mind with knowledge and becoming the man he was meant to be.
She went about her day, hypothesizing, checking experiments, doing research and working on her article for the scientific journal. She could faintly hear Jim's voice talking to her mother sporadically or even a slight chuckle when he read something numerous.
"Spock, why is there a bear at your window?" Jim's voice was heard nervously asking later that day as she was preparing dinner. "It has fangs! It's growling at me!"
He sounded very alarmed now and hurriedly exited the sitting room where he'd been absorbed in an old Terran novel.
She set down the vegetable she was chopping and calmly went to investigate. Her childhood pet was nosing against the window, merely attempting to be friendly, but to Jim he probably looked rather menacing.
"I-Chaya! Down!" She ordered in Vulcan. I-Chaya looked disgruntled and reluctantly slid out of view and presently lumbered away. Kirk was staring, wide-eyed.
"What was that thing? It looks like a bear crossed with a saber-toothed tiger!"
"It is a Sehlat, neither bear nor tiger. The species is native to Vulcan and can be tamed for pets. I-Chaya has been in our possession since I was a child when his mother was unfortunately killed. I assure you, he means you no harm."
"He sure didn't look like it," said Jim warily, staying far away from the window. "Those are some huge chompers he's got."
Spock felt her lip twitch up in amusement. "He may appear ferocious, but he is no more dangerous than a canine, unless he feels threatened. Then he becomes like a guard dog. I believe he was mostly curious about you: a stranger he has not yet met. Perhaps I should acquaint you with him.
"Uh, maybe later" Jim hedged, settling himself back down with a cautious glance at the window.
Sarek returned in time for the evening meal with news for Jim. "I have informed the Terrans of your arrival here. They were eager to speak with you and wanted to have you immediately transferred to their base, but I explained that you are not ready for visitors yet and I could not grant their request without your permission."
"Thanks," Jim said, with a half-hearted smile. "I don't think they realize how much I distrust them-and most other humans I've met."
Another stab of sadness passed through Spock at his admission. As she ate, she calculated the probability of Jim trusting her-after all, she was only half human. It was not impossible, she reasoned at last, watching Jim's aesthetically pleasing profile out of the corner of her eye.