'Cause Every Time We Touch

T'Pol

Scientific Log, Subcommander T'Pol, October 22nd 2152

'Cause every time we touch
I get this feeling
And every time we kiss
I swear I could fly
Can't you feel my heart beat fast?
I want this to last
Need you by my side

'Cause every time we touch
I feel ecstatic
And every time we kiss
I reach for the sky
Can't you hear my heart beat so?
I can't let you go
Want you in my life.

Computer, stop playback.

This fragment of auditory disorder is an example of human music from more than one hundred fifty years ago. Ignoring the acoustic bedlam, instead concentrating on the meaning of the lyrics, it is easy to see that touch for humans is by no means the inconsequential and trivial matter that Vulcans have always assumed.

While casual touch, like human hand shakes, a custom born from their savage past, are customary, many humans do not wish to be touched by strangers any more than a Vulcan would. My perception of human touch has been somewhat influenced by the fact that Commander Tucker was always quick to initiate physical contact, mainly small gestures, like putting his hand on my back or shoulder when required to look at a readout while being positioned behind me.

With the help of Ensign Sato I have established that these frequent light contacts are signs of the Commander's desire to maintain a non-blood-related relationship called 'friendship'. It is, in some ways comparable to what Vulcans refer to as close acquaintances, but the human concept extends significantly. In fact for many humans friends may often be closer to them than family members, which is epitomized by a human saying that our communications officer explained to me.

You can can choose your friends, but not your family.

The next experiment will hopefully give me more insight into the importance of touch in intimate matters and human interaction in general.

-=/\=-

I called up the latest communication from my mother and for reasons beyond my understanding I felt a completely unseemly curiousness about whether or not my mother had accepted the challenge I had issued in my last transmission.

My revered, but also fairly unruly daughter,

Due to the intimate topic of this communication, I suggest you transfer it to your secure storage as soon as you have read it.

Your latest communication was unsettling to say the least. I still remember (more vividly than I desire) how I had to rush you to the medical ward in the aftermath of a heat-stroke because you were too obstinate to 'ditch the frock'. I believe that is the somewhat amusing sounding way the human exchange students at the academy refer to the act of removing one's own clothing. I hope I have applied the idiom correctly.

However, learning that you now spend your time in a state of undress, not out of necessity, but for frivolous reasons like invigoration, has unsettled me to a degree. And then there is the little matter of your claim that the invigoration is amplified by being observed by someone who is attracted to you. Unless I have been misinformed, you are still the only Vulcan aboard the human vessel. Do I take that as an indication that one of the humans has become infatuated with you? I most impatiently expect your answer. (Even if allowing impatience to distract me might be somewhat unseemly of course)

For lack of appropriate vernacular in our own language, I find myself again in need of lending a phrase from our human allies. You are 'wicked'. For reasons I cannot yet explain, I accepted your illogical challenge and our revered neighbor V'Dor was 'accidentally' exposed to my unclothed physique. It was the first time that I have seen someone salivating at the height of summer, when water preservation is what our bodies are evolutionary programmed for. While I admit that his attention (and obvious arousal) was a not at all disagreeable experience, was it necessary to risk a cardiovascular episode to befall our revered neighbor?

You might be interested in the fact that we have spent quite a significant amount of time in each other's company lately and it appears that he might finally abandon his reluctance to seek out another mate. According to my preliminary theory his preferred candidate strikes a surprisingly close resemblance to me.

In this regard, your unseemly challenge might be forgiven, but I would wish to ask you to warn me in the future of those 'unexpected results' you spoke of. It appears that I may have triggered his pon-farr, or at least a so far unknown variant of it. The recent nights have been somewhat… spirited.

Your slightly exhausted, but quite content mother.

I regretted the fact that I could not allow myself to laugh. I had never known my mother as someone who possessed a sense of humor, but evidently I had been in error in that regard, or perhaps my maternal ancestor had simply been more open to learning from the human exchange students at the academy. After all, she had even started to borrow some of their vernacular, something she had never done before, despite the fact that she had been working with human exchange students for many years.

Of course the substantial shift in the so far distanced relations between my mother and neighbor V'Dor were not surprising. Both had lost their mates to skirmishes with the Andorians at a fairly young age and both had been interested in each other for many years. For reasons unknown to me, however, they had never started to negotiate a betrothal. Well, my mother's 'oversight' during her garden duties seemed to have resolved that illogical impasse quite effectively.

It was fortunate that Vulcans do not continually decline in appearance and strength at the same rate as other species so. At one hundred and twenty-nine years of age my mother was still an aesthetically fairly pleasing woman, if perhaps slightly portly, but I had no doubt that the newly-found male interest in her would motivate her to increase her efforts at personal fitness.

I sat down and assembled my reply. Even though the slight improvement in our relationship had been a fairly recent development, I realized how much I had missed contact with my own family.

My revered and hopefully still content mother,

It gives me an entirely unseemly sensation of triumph to see that my theory worked exactly the way I had predicted. I attach two recordings from my personal supplement to the studies that I allow you to watch and evaluate. However, it is my hope that I do not need to remind you that these recordings are to be treated with utmost confidentiality. They will help you understand my motivation for issuing the challenge and which findings led to my prediction about the consequences of your actions.

I must admit that I cannot understand your misgivings about the fact that one of the humans has become attracted to me. I never thought of myself as aesthetically displeasing, so what exactly surprises you in regard to this matter? And as a fellow researcher in the matter of sexual relations, you must of course be aware that my research will eventually lead to practicing intercourse with a human partner. It might not be met with your approval, but I actually look forward to intimate contact with Commander Tucker for the simple reason that he does not only willingly assist with my studies. He also appears most interested in making the experience most agreeable for me, while other human males would most likely just seek their own satiety in disregard of my specific needs.

Regarding matters of your 'spirited' encounters with our neighbor, I can assure you that you have not triggered anything worse than his interest in you. The male pon-farr might have once been an evolutionary necessity, but I have discovered fairly early in my research that the desire to mate, for both genders, is easily triggered by simple stimuli like the sight of an unclothed body as long as it is sufficiently pleasing to look at, so you might wish to avoid testing this theory on some of your more seasoned acquaintances. I would therefore advise that you do not expect V'Dor's intimate interest in you to subside as long as he occasionally gets exposed to the sight of your unclothed physique, which he most likely will, because you have no doubt discovered how unseemly, but agreeable a sensation it is to expose yourself for his benefit.

I shall now end my communication as I need to undress. Commander Tucker will arrive in a matter of minutes. In contrast to the captain's dinner, he is never late when I ask him to assist in my research.

Your 'wicked' daughter

-=/\=-

Trip

I grinned when she asked me to come in. Being met by a naked Vulcan female, who would put most human pinup models to shame, was something I could definitely get used to. She was standing with her back to me and I took a minute to enjoy the sight of her insanely shapely bottom. The fact that the temperatures of her quarters wouldn't have been out of place in the Gobi desert was a clear enough hint that she did not expect my clothing to stay on my frame for any length of time either. To preserve our little intimate secret, I pressed the lock button when the door had closed.

"Please stay were you are and disrobe," she instructed me calmly, still not turning around.

"Done," I reported, curious what this 'shy' spiel was all about. At that moment T'Pol turned around and I didn't even try to hide that I was checking her out. It was a good thing I hadn't yet started on the customary beer that went along with our experiments. I would have ejected it through my nose.

"I'll be damned!"