Chapter 13: Six Months on Romulus

A/N: Big thanks again to the Romulan name generator (for Asha's doctor). So why does Asha need a doctor? Please read on!


When Asha and Thorek said goodbye to Christine and Vekal, Asha felt like she was finally getting a better foothold on this planet that was still new to her. Vekal and Christine had provided her with such precious information, and Vekal had shown her that kindness was not a foreign concept to Romulans. Thorek, too, had shown several moments of kindness, but he was far more reserved about openly displaying his feelings and could come across as rather lofty and formal – probably like he did when he taught at the Department of Astrophysics. Whether it was simply his way or a habit he had acquired over time was anyone's guess.

Asha drove them home in the flitter without breaking any traffic rules, much to Thorek's relief.

"I'm glad we went after all," she told her husband. "It was like an exchange program."

"I agree. Although it is practically a given that you and I will not attain the level of intimacy our hosts share, I learnt a lot from them. I do believe you and I will function very well in a co-working capacity."

"Yes, exactly," Asha agreed. However, she also remembered what both Vekal and Christine had told her about pigeon-holing her marriage. She and Thorek had basically just "co-worker-zoned" their relationship. It felt like shutting the door on other possibilities and throwing the key away. Thorek's statement had such a tone of finality about it. It seemed to contradict his work as a scientist, where he took so many factors and possibilities into account and tested them as thoroughly as he could before excluding them if they did not satisfy his criteria. There was an undertone of rejection in his words, and somehow it…hurt.

As the days went past, Thorek remained dutiful, practising Rihan with her, braiding her hair on his free mornings, discussing a variety of topics from nature to politics with her and taking her out on excursions every now and then to show her the city, but always careful to maintain a certain distance towards her.

Asha's favourite part of the city was its surrounding woods and forests.

She had already visited that area once when she had stormed out on Thorek after their argument. Now she went there again, first with Kihika's accompaniment, then alone. The other Romulan hikers were a mixed lot. Some stared at her, others ignored her deliberately, and others wished back courteously. No one seemed particularly keen on speaking with her. Overall, she was left to her own devices, and she discovered a wealth of wildlife in the lush forests. Some of the animals reminded her of Terran ones, but not one of them could be found on Earth. A large variety of flowers grew about in rich tints. Some were edible, others highly poisonous. Then there was a wicked plant with long vines which liked to lash out when touched and smack the passers-by in the face. After a painful encounter, Asha gave it a wide berth, rubbing her forehead where it had hit her.

Once, she felt something on her neck tickle her. She searched in her bag and took out her PADD, holding it up like a mirror. It was a caterpillar of some sort. She patiently coaxed it onto her finger and studied it. It was a plain grey creature, unobtrusive and unremarkable, with a pair of green eyes. She carried it carefully to a flowering plant and continued her walk. Later, the caterpillar would turn into a chrysalis and the chrysalis would turn into one of the beautiful and beloved butterflies of Romulus, with green iridescent wings and large, fan-like feelers. Such insects had been around for ages before the Romulans had even arrived and settled on the planet.

Her lessons with Rhian t'Merek were far better since Asha had put her teacher in place. The two women even went together to the library once to collect fresh material for her lessons, taking a yall'ianen carriage to the place. During their outing, they spoke Rihan with each other, using simple phrases and sentences.

"Speak more with your chest and with less of a lilt. You want to use the latter for poetry recitals," Rhian reminded her.

Asha tried.

"Again," Rhian said, "until you get it right."

Asha gave it her best, and Rhian nodded, satisfied. "Good."

Finally, a day came when Asha realised that she had been on Romulus for six months. While she felt more familiar with Romulus, its language, culture and people, she realised that she still had tons to learn. She also felt a little sad that while her husband interacted with her, he continued to treat her formally as if she were a work colleague. They occasionally laughed together, especially when she unintentionally said something funny due to mispronouncing a Rihan word. But otherwise, cordial was too strong a word to describe their relationship. He was simply not very demonstrative.

She kept in touch with Christine and Vekal, but she carefully avoided mentioning the lack of progress in her marriage. She also tried to avoid making comparisons between Thorek and Vekal. That kind of thing simply wasn't fair to anyone. She also examined her behaviour and discovered that she was reacting to Thorek's distance by setting up a wall of her own.

Getting used to Romulus and realising that building a warmer rapport with her husband was hard began to take a toll on her body. The emotions, frustrations and homesickness she kept burying deep down into her mind seemed to make themselves noticed in other ways.

Her periods became even heavier, and she noticed funny dents in her nails. Her hair became dry, the corners of her mouth began to crack, and climbing up the stairs made her so breathless that she had to stop halfway to get enough air. Kihika looked on with worried eyes as her mistress panted and dragged herself from step to step and task to task. Even her hairbrush seemed too heavy, and she felt exhausted after her outings to the woods.

She suspected that her iron levels were low. Where was she going to get iron infusions on Romulus where people had copper in their blood and Romulan women (according to Kihika and Thorek, at least) didn't seem to have anything like copper deficiency? Besides, a Romulan doctor was the last thing she wanted. After all she had experienced on this planet, a Romulan doctor would probably poke fun at her Human physiognomy. And were there any Romulan doctors with expertise in Human medicine? She doubted it, and why would there be anything of the sort, with just a handful of Humans on Romulus? It would be a waste of resources.

In a fit of pride, stubbornness and foolishness, she forced herself to go out on her usual afternoon excursions over the weekend. It would have been funny, she thought, if she had suddenly decided to stay at home. She was, in Earth terms, unemployed, and forced to be because of her limited rights as a citizen, and sitting at home would have driven her mad in any case. She "armed" herself as well as she could to prevent embarrassing accidents on the way and placed a thick towel on the flitter seat when she drove towards the woods. Her head was swimming, and she was having trouble focusing on the air roads. She blinked furiously as she bullied her mind into cooperating with her will.

As soon as she arrived at her destination and started to walk, she knew that she had done something very silly. She broke out into a sweat, and for a moment she thought she was going to pass out.

"Shit," she cursed, dragging herself to a bench and sitting down to rest. When she got up and turned, she cursed again. The seat of the bench was red, and all her precautions were for nothing; and the fact that her blood was red and theirs green would make it easy to pinpoint a Human in the vicinity as the "culprit". And that, naturally, would be her.

She searched her bag for something to wipe up. There was only her spare towel. She hastily cleaned up the mess and froze when she heard voices of other hikers in the distance. Panicking, she grabbed her gear and half ran to the flitter, gasping for breath, forced to stop every now and then. To make things worse, there was a Romulan family getting out of their flitter in the park. Asha kept her head down and walked discreetly to her own flitter, pretending everything was fine and thankful that the patch of blood on her black pants could not be seen that easily – or so she hoped.

Kihika was outside when she faltered her way out of the flitter.

"My Lady!" she exclaimed, rushing forwards to support Asha, whose face was sweaty and ashen. Thorek raised his head when the two women got into the house. His wife looked as if she was going to faint, and her trousers were soaked with blood. He could catch a slightly metallic scent as he approached her. Iron. She was losing iron. Too much of it.

"Let me – I've got her," he said to Kihika in a low voice. He tried to make her sit. "I can't – I'll mess up the chair and floor," she said.

"Asha, this is your home. You can mess up anything you want."

She actually smiled, then clutched at him, breathing through her teeth. He spontaneously stroked her hair. It was the most tender gesture she had received from him so far, and it brought tears to her eyes. She hastily swallowed them down, feeling desperately vulnerable.

"Why did you go out?" he inquired softly.

"I, uh, didn't want to appear weak," she muttered. He took her hand.

"I understand that you are hearing many derogatory remarks about your being a Human, including from me. Try not to listen to us."

She actually chuckled at that. "You can laugh at yourself. I like that." Then: "You are not embarrassed being married to a Human?"

"No. You are one of the bravest people I know. You don't need me to tell you that."

He looked tenderly into her eyes and continued: "I did my research on the Human female cycle. It seems it can be most uncomfortable for many Humans. There was a lot on prostaglandins."

"Ah yes, they can cause a bit of grief. They're meant to. Wait, you read up on Human periods?"

"Well, you are a mystery in many ways. I realise there are times when I may have come over as...condescending. I apologise."

"Goodness knows with what kind of oddities I have been puzzling you with, so I owe you an apology back. Oh…Can you please help me to the bathroom?"

He wrapped one arm around her waist and helped her up the stairs, then paced up and down while she had a quick shower. He hated seeing her in pain.

When she came out, he said: "There was an interesting chapter on female hormones and their effects on female behaviour."

"You really did your research thoroughly. Ever thought of becoming a medical doctor? I'm serious."

"No, but I really am thinking of calling one."

"No, no, there's really no need."

"My ailhun, sooner or later, you are going to require services of a Romulan doctor, as does just about everyone on this planet."

Asha laughed. He enjoyed seeing her laugh. "You're right. I do need to put my healthcare in the hands of a Romulan doctor. How about if I ask Christine? I don't see how she could have managed without medical treatment during her pregnancy and miscarriage."

"An excellent idea, my wife."


Thorek was sad to see his wife suffer. He was conflicted, not knowing how much distance she wished for and how much he should show. He didn't want to become too familiar with her in case she disliked it. Being a type of mentor, he reasoned, might work. And so they had become something like co-workers – not friends, but not acquaintances either.

It was confusing, it did not feel right and he actually felt a little hesitant around her and wished he could smile and laugh as easily as she did.

And now, as in such situations, he realised that spontaneity worked well. Without thinking, he had stroked her hair to soothe her, and she had liked it. And she had felt good in his arms, too. Despite her condition, she was anything but puny.

Together, they set up the encrypted communications channel, and Christine appeared on the screen wearing thick gloves and a hat. She greeted them and said she had been gardening. Thorek discreetly retired to his study to give them some alone time. Asha explained the situation to her and asked if she knew a good doctor.

Christine smiled. "I do, and she's wonderful. Her name is Doctor Ruvasa t'Metak, and she's very open-minded and competent. She helped me during my miscarriage." She gave Asha her contact data. Then:

"How's it going with you two?"

"I thought he was disinterested, but now I think he's just shy. I really can't make up my mind about him. Right now, he's being very solicitous about my menstrual adventures."

Christine smiled. "Yes, Romulans can be shy, just like Humans. When I spoke to him during our meeting, I got the impression he's very good-natured and reluctant to show it."

Asha bit her lip. "I think I've been judging him too fast," she confessed.

"And he you. It's part of the process. Now, let Doctor Metak get you back on your feet and if your husband wants to spoil you, let him."


While Asha was lying in bed with Kihika fussing about her, Thorek visited her with a cup of tea on a tray. Kihika left the room.

Thorek handed the tray to Asha. "Some tea for you, ailhun. It is supposed to be invigorating."

She thanked him warmly and stated: "You're being really sweet about this."

"It's my duty." He cleared his throat. "I do not think anyone has used the word 'sweet' in conjunction with my behaviour before."

Asha smiled, preferring to read in his eyes what was missing from his words.

"Then it's high time, isn't it? Besides, kindness is not the same as duty," she said wisely. Thorek's ears went a little green. His wife had dark circles underneath her eyes and she looked very tired, but still she could disrupt his composure.

"Was Christine able to help you?" he asked.

"Yes." She gave him the doctor's name and the data she had downloaded to her PADD.

"The name is unfamiliar to me, but her credentials are excellent. And I see she offers house visits," he remarked.

"Is that okay with you?" House visits were more expensive.

"I see no inconvenience at all, my wife. Go ahead." He inclined his head, stroked her hair briefly and went downstairs.

Kihika stepped inside the bedroom again, and Asha explained that she wanted to set up an appointment.

"Which time would suit you, my Lady?" Kihika asked, picking up her own PADD.

"Oh, that's kind of you, Kihika, but I'll do it myself."

"It is unusual for Ladies and Masters of high standing to make such arrangements themselves," Kihika observed. Asha winced inwardly. She was not fond of this kind of hierarchical system, but she was on Romulus, not on Earth.

"Oh, I forgot, Kihika," she said diplomatically. "Sure, go ahead. I'll just transmit the data to your PADD. Anytime over the next four days is fine, seeing that my gory visitor has placed me under house arrest."

Kihika suppressed a giggle. "Very well, my Lady."

Asha sipped her tea. "Sweet," she said.

"The tea, my Lady?" Kihika asked, puzzled. Romulans were not known for their sweet tooth.

"No, my husband," Asha clarified, smiling. Kihika smiled, too.