[I-H] JP by Lt DeVeau and LtCmdr Saveron - Cinderella Dressed in Yella - Part 2

[Sarah Eccles]

((Officer's Quarters, USS Invicta))

::Back in his own quarters Saveron pondered the experience of the holonovel. He did not see any particular logic to it, and even working on the premise that it was not intended to be logical it had been fairly plain that his own actions, drawn from logical conclusions as he saw them, had not been according to the intention of the story. Had Alora found his participation less agreeable than expected? He thought that was largely the case.::

::As he set about replicating a cup of theris-masu the rear bedroom door opened and a sleepy-looking Saavok shuffled out, snugged in his house robe.::

Saveron: Sochya Saavok.

Saavok: Sochya father. I have completed my meditation and require hydration before I sleep.

::Like any child caught up past their bedtime he felt it necessary to explain. Saveron nodded and moved aside so that Saavok could use the replicator. A moment later the two were sat side by side on sitting mats, drinking their drinks.::

Saavok: Did you complete the holonovel with Lieutenant DeVeau? ::He asked, obviously curious.::

Saveron: Affirmative.

::The elder Vulcan held up his hand, palm flat in invitation and his son pressed his own small hand against it, viewing the experience at the speed of thought. After several moments they broke contact.::

Saavok: I do not understand.

::Saveron shook his head gently.::

Saveron: Neither do I.

*******************

::Alora rolled from her stomach to her back and stared blankly at the ceiling above.  Eventually, she slid off and padded out into the other room.  Her fingers danced over the fuzzy leaf of a violet, the first of her new batch to bloom, lavender fringed with ruffled green.  As she moved about the room, she gathered up two of her standards.  They needed repotting and the familiar work was almost meditative.  She set up her work area, opened the tub of soil she had mixed, then sat down to change plants from one pot to another.

So why had he?  The thought wouldn’t leave her alone.  While she ministered to her plants, the thought continued to pick at her and it nipped with an incessant stubbornness.  Vulcans were very logical beings, and to continue in a pursuit where one was unsuited, unfamiliar, and unhappy was not particularly logical. So why had Saveron gone against his trained nature?  Because she’d asked him to?::

*******************

Saavok: Why do Terrans undertake such activities?

Saveron: Many species do. I understand they derive pleasure from it, it is a form of entertainment.

Saavok: Perhaps Lt. Alora thought you would derive pleasure from it. ::He observed.::

Saveron: That is not logical.

Saavok: Terrans often aren’t. ::He shrugged.::

::In some ways Saavok was more wise in the ways of aliens than his father, having begun his exposure at a young and adaptable age unlike Saveron who was very much a mature age student in that respect. The older Vulcan looked at his son.::

Saveron: Do Terrans do such things?

Saavok: Affirmative. They also do things for the opposite reason, but Alora likes us.

::That earned him a look from his father. Alora had made a point of spending time with Saavok, just as she had with him.::

Saveron: What is the logic behind your statement:

Saavok: She told me so, when we were making Origami. She said I was ‘cute’.

::The apostrophes clanged into place and Saavok looked like he wanted to wrinkle his nose.::

::The child’s statement gave his father something to think about. The thoughtful silence was interrupted only by Saavok getting up and reclaiming his water glass.::

Saavok: Dif-tor heh smusma. ::He said sleepily, heading for his room.::

Saveron: Sochya heh dif, Saavohkh.

**************

::She had asked him to.  And he had done so.  Had done so in the face of embarrassment, regardless of the lack of understanding.  He’d done so simply because of her request.

Fingers dug into the soil, then lifted to let the grains fall in clumps into the chosen pot.  She rubbed her fingers, noting the graininess of the soil and sighed.  Just because she had asked him to, he’d subjected himself to discomfort and embarrassment.  It hadn’t been all bad.  Parts of it had been particularly enjoyable.  Others quite amusing.  But for the Vulcan?  Surely everything had been at odds with the most logical course of action.::

::The plants remained silent in the wake of her thoughts, and she carefully placed the unpotted one into its new home. The second plant was also placed, the soil gently tucked around the roots and Alora returned them to their former perches. Truly, she hadn’t wanted to embarrass him.  She’d just wanted to spend more time with him.  At the same time, she wanted to spend time with him doing something she had a particular fondness for while allowing the opportunity to explore possibilities.  ::

After she cleaned up her mess, Alora plopped down upon her couch.  If she was to be completely honest with herself, it had been a disaster.  The Vulcan was unsuited for such pursuits and even the obvious storyline hadn’t elicited a single mention of interest in anything other than friendship.  On the one hand, she was disappointed.  On the other, she may have just saved herself from a different, deeper kind of embarrassment, and one from which it wasn’t as easy to recover.  Although he had persevered through even the most embarrassing moments, it hadn’t seemed from interest in her, but rather, because he was the sort who would always follow through.  Saveron wasn’t the type to leave something undone.  With a sigh, she leaned back into the couch and closed her eyes.  She supposed unrequited interest was also a theme in some fairy tales.::

***************

::The lights were dim in Saveron’s quarters as he lay on his sleeping mat in the comfortable heat, ebook in hand. In retrospect he should have read the related text prior to participating in the holonovel, but he had misunderstood the nature of the activity. Although it had been fairly clear that his participation had left something to be desired from Alora’s point of view, he considered reading the text in retrospect might at least shed some light on the reasons. It would be preferable to avoid similar mistakes in future.::

::So, a story centred on a young woman, ill-treated by her family, involving illogical variations of the laws of physics and resulting in her marriage to a member of royalty. It all seemed quite illogical, but something in that story had apparently appealed to Alora, and she had wanted to play it out with him.::

::Speed reading through the book he contemplated the storyline. It was not even historical, it was fantastical. Fantasy was not something that featured prominently in Vulcan culture, save for philosophical hypotheticals. It was quite common in Terran cultures, and one of those aspects which he studied at length without ever truly comprehending. Was reality not more satisfying?::

::Yet Humans seemed to find enjoyment in such. Perhaps it was similar to their enjoyment of other forms of entertainment, as Alora had tried to explain to him when they watched the old 2D movie. The act of watching the film permitted an experience one would not otherwise have. Had that been the point of the holonovel? I was plainly a romantic fantasy for the characters that she had assigned them.::

::The thought was almost absurd. Yet he thought again on Raissa’s not so subtle hints, on the way that Alora seemed to linger in his presence, on how she had come straight to him when he was injured on the Yamaguchi, to the disregard of all else. The only logical conclusion was that, as he had begun to suspect, she held a romantic interest in him.::

::The thought was… interesting.::

******************************

Lieutenant Alora DeVeau

Chief Science Officer

USS Invicta

M239008AD0

&

Lieutenant Commander Saveron

SO and CMO

USS Invicta

R238802S10

&

PNPC Saavok

Vulcan Child

USS Invicta