Kirk and Spock left the shuttle and walked towards the pre-arranged co-ordinates. Kirk was not quite himself, staring at the ground periodically and kicking it as he walked. Spock was walking more stiffly than usual, betraying his nervousness.
Finally, he saw Nyota in the distance. She was leaning on a tree and reading a PADD, her relaxed posture marking her as an alien. But she didn't seem as unusual as the tree. There had been no trees on the original Vulcan.
"I was starting to worry," she joked, mostly to Spock, as the pair had arrived only four minutes later than expected.
"Unloading always takes longer than expected," Spock remarked sternly and they continued walking.
As the tree passed out of sight, leaving the familiar desert, Spock felt more at home. But it seemed strange being with Nyota. Spock thought she looked too exotic, too provocative for the Vulcan soil. She had worn a long coat over her uniform, but flashes of leg were still visible as she walked and her face was made up and her hair styled. Her coat had a hood. Spock wished that she would put it up.
"Where's the crew?" she asked, making conversation more than anything.
"I booked a service project," Kirk replied, "Building a school or something."
She laughed,
"I thought that New Vulcan might not be quite the place for shore leave."
As they walked, Spock looked at their shadows reaching across the desert in the low sun. He saw two humans, perfect specimens and a Vulcan with a broken arm. They looked so similar, and he looked so different that he wondered if it would seem as if they were a couple. In a rare gesture, he reached out and held Nyota's hand.
*****
After combing the settlement, the three found Sarek's new home. Spock knocked on the door.
"Hello!," Sarek said, opening the door and motioning them in.
"This is Nyota Uhura and Captain Kirk," Spock introduced, hiding his nervousness.
"We have already met," Sarek replied, in a tone that bordered on cheerful, taking their coats.
"Yes, he was aboard the Enterprise for some time," Kirk chirped, with a bit of a smile.
Nyota approached Sarek and presented him with a gift. Art, especially with a familial theme was the traditional gift for a future father-in-law, but Nyota had thought that he might consider it frivolous given the circumstances, and had instead brought him a selection of warm winter clothes.
"You did not need to bring me a gift," Sarek stated, and Spock was not sure whether he meant that he was impressed that a human had thought of such a thing or that he had no intention of allowing her to become his daughter-in-law. Nyota caught the double meaning.
"Of course it was necessary," she challenged.
Sarek made a subtle expression, as if he had just realized the second meaning of his statement, but Spock thought it might be fake.
"Well, Spock always said you were ambitious," he quipped, taking her gift and putting it away to open later. Spock had said no such thing, but he was used to hearing his father tell such lies about his mother at diplomatic functions. Sarek had explained that attributing his sentiments to his wife made them more acceptable to Vulcans and lessened their impact on his reputation if they were found to be offensive, but Spock still found it dishonest.
"Would you like some wine?" Sarek asked Kirk and Nyota, leading them to the table.
"You have wine?" Kirk spat uncouthly.
"As ambassador to Earth, I have many human visitors, so I keep some on hand," Sarek responded, possibly accustomed to this question, "I have no moral objection to alcohol, it is just toxic."
Kirk smiled slightly.
"Now animal products are a different matter," Sarek continued, "There are no animal products within two light years, fifteen thousand kilometres and six meters of my home."
Nyota appeared to find this statement highly amusing and started laughing.
Sarek poured both humans some wine, and poured Spock some Romulan ale without asking if he wanted any. It seethed and frothed in its glass.
"I hear you were on Earth a few weeks back," Sarek stated, as he put down a few appetizers on the table.
Pitas and hummus. Breaded mushrooms. Veggies and dip. Human food.
"Oh, yes, we went to Kenya," Nyota replied smiling.
"What is the weather like this time of year?" Sarek asked.
"Good," she replied, "No monsoons."
"Spock dislikes getting wet," Sarek noted. This was true, although it was more the cold that bothered him. He would always have his towels ready and dry off as quickly as possible whenever he got out of the shower.
Nyota tittered.
"And where did you spend your shore leave?" he continued, turning to look at Kirk.
"San Francisco."
"I would ask you how the weather is this time of year, but it does not make a difference," Sarek said, to Kirk's amusement.
Spock had heard his father tell this joke to almost every Starfleet official that had come to his home. Of course, he had perfect memory of who he had told it to already.
They continued to banter as they ate the appetizers, the conversation not straying from what Spock knew to be familiar territory. As they talked, he could see his father inspecting Nyota. His eyes lingered on her earrings and nail polish. Uniform violations.
Spock knew she violated policy to show off. She would never do it when it was dangerous, when her earrings might get caught or her nail polish might chip off and damage machinery, only when it didn't matter. It was as if she was daring the academy to kick out their best student or the captain to punish his best officer, which they never did. Spock knew her behaviour showed an inherently bad quality, but he found it thrilling.
Sarek got up to serve dinner when Kirk's communicator went off. He went into the corner and Spock could hear him talking rapidly. He came back to the table.
"I'm sorry, I need to go," he said, "Someone's been hurt doing the service project. Thanks for the snacks, Ambassador," he added.
"No trouble. Spock tells me that in Starfleet, you are always on call," Sarek replied, waving him off.
Spock followed him into the hallway to help him with his coat, and asked,
"Who was it?"
"Bones, dead drunk as usual," he snapped bitterly, not turning to look back as he walked out the door.
When Spock returned to the table, Sarek was chatting with Nyota.
"I visited Vulcan three times before it was destroyed," she was telling him, "Twice with Starfleet, and once for a high school competition."
"A language competition?" he asked, "I am sure you must have won."
She smiled.
"No, science," she said, "And the Vulcan team won, of course. But it was a great chance to travel."
"Have you travelled much outside of Starfleet?" he asked.
"Yes, with my sister's horseback riding. It's the sport to pick if you want to travel."
"Horseback riding?" Sarek asked.
"It's a sport where you ride an animal called a horse, and you get rated on technique, how well you can control your horse and stuff like that. There are also races and jumping."
"And you travel for these contests?"
"Yes," Nyota said, "The biggest one's held on Jupiter station. My sister goes every year, although my dad says it's just so that he can go to the beach and mom can go to the spa."
Spock wished he could signal her to stop talking. Competition in useless pursuits. Lying in the sun half-naked. Self-indulgence. Spock didn't know how she had managed to put so many things that would offend his father into a single sentence. Spock saw a look of distaste spread over his father's face. But, of course, Sarek had a strategy for this. He shoved a big piece of food into his mouth, and when Nyota looked up, he was chewing.
"It sounds like you come from a talented family," Sarek said once he had composed himself, and Nyota beamed.
Spock made a fist beneath the table.
************************************************************************************
A/N: I know this chapter is a bit anti-climactic, but I think it's realistic. My original plan was to have Kirk behave inappropriately, distracting Sarek from criticizing Nyota, but I think he's more mature than that at this point in the story. Also, Sarek might actually be good at his job. Thoughts?