[Spock. Nam-tor du alright? Du seem tor nam-tor maf. Ra's riyeht?] Jim asked in Vulcan mentally or at least his best attempt. He asks the same question out loud in Standard "Are you alright? You seem to be sad. What's wrong?" Jim sits down beside his husband on the couch inside their San Francisco home. "I apologize if my Vulcan is inadequate."
Spock's dark brown eyes meet the hazel ones of his husband. "Your Vulcan is improving, Jim. It is illogical to feel this way. Remember I told you I had a pet sehlat, when I was a child?"
Jim remembers his husband's description of a sehlat - a giant teddy bear with six-inch fangs. "Yes, what about it?" He finally notices an old-fashioned photograph Spock is holding.
Spock mentally replies, [Nash-gad would ma vesh' l-chaya's gad t'keshtan. Au belonged tor t'nash-veh sa-mekh, tonk'peh protected me na' tevun.] At Jim's puzzled look, he repeated, Today would have been l-Chaya's birthday. He belonged to my father, but protected me for years.
Jim kisses Spock's forehead gently. "Feeling sad about a beloved pet is not illogical, Spock. You told me l-Chaya was poisoned after battling a le-matya because its claws struck him. Since the poisoning was incurable, you chose to have him euthanized to end his suffering."
"I was a child, Jim. It should not have fallen upon me to decide his fate. If only I-Chaya stayed home instead of following me into the desert." Spock responds with a bit of bitterness. "He always was stubborn."
The photograph of I-Chaya, was dropped by Spock. It lands in front of his feet. Jim picks it up and holds it. "We should get this framed." He places the photograph on a table nearby. "How about the next time we're on Vulcan, we get a pet sehlat. It'll be nice to have a giant teddy bear with six-inch fangs."
Spock's eyes became brighter, and a hint of a smile was on his face. There are feelings of love and gratitude by Spock through their bond. "I would like that, Jim."
