[I] Saavok & Lt. Cmdr. Deveau - “Are You Okay With This?” Part II (No Tags)

[Sarah Eccles]

((Saveron's Quarters, USS Invicta))

DeVeau: ‘T’aehtlu fheigh’?  Bond...well, I don’t know.  It’s a bit early for that, don’t you think?

::Not that Alora opposed the idea, but she also didn’t want to move too fast.::

Saavok: It means ‘desired one’. It is the equivalent Nel Gathic term. I do not know, I am unfamiliar with Terran courting rituals. Since Surak, Vulcans have traditionally been preliminarily bonded as children, to become bonded mates as adults. The practice is becoming less prevalent however.

DeVeau: Are you bonded?

Saavok: I am not bonded. Neither were my siblings. My parents were and they… were not fully compatible.

::Which perhaps explained why their children weren’t.::

DeVeau: I see.

::Alora leaned back into the embrace of the couch and pondered the question a little further before she expanded on her previous answer.::

DeVeau: At this point, I would like to, but not necessarily right now.  It’s something I can see for the future.  Maybe sooner, maybe later.  I think...I think we’ve both been hurt and we need to make sure we’re both sure before we take a step like that.  Does that make sense?

::The little Vulcan gave this some thought.::

Saavok: Affirmative. ::He decided.:: It is preferable to determine that one’s relationship is agreeable to both and will remain so.

::The boy was acutely aware of the effects of the breakdown of their relationship on both his parents.::

::Alora was pretty darn sure it would remain so for her, but there was no sense in rushing things.  Saveron also needed to be certain - and she would not lock him into something where he had doubts.::

DeVeau: You’re right.  It’s better in the long run that way.  Well, I’m glad you’re okay with it.  You’re his son, I didn’t think it would be right to leave you out of things.

Saavok: I appreciate your consideration. ::He said gravely.:: You… said that you had also been hurt. ::He observed after a moment.::

::He had wondered how Alora viewed his own presence but she had just told him. Admittedly in a very alien way, but never-the-less making it clear that she found his own presence agreeable.::

::How much should she tell him?  While Saavok was a child, he was a Vulcan child and more mature than most children his age would be.  However, that didn’t mean he had to be privy to the details of what had happened.  For a moment, she pondered what to say and finally simply stated,::

DeVeau: There was...a boy before.  Our relationship did not end well.  I think that’s probably all I should say about it for now.

::Even if he had been an adult, she still wasn’t comfortable divulging too much information.::

::Saavok considered this for a moment, then nodded. He was not familiar with how Terrans conducted their interpersonal relationships, but he understood that a relationship could end badly. His parents were a prime and personal example. Clearly such was not something restricted to his own species.::

::But how did Terrans do such things?::

Saavok: What are the Terran conventions? Will you ask S’Rel and Teron also?

DeVeau: Has your father said anything to them?

Saavok: I do not believe that father has spoken with them yet on the subject. Perhaps, like yourself, he wishes to see how the relationship will progress.

::Alora nodded slowly.  It was so easy to fall into the idea of plunging forward and it felt good to be with Saveron.  Obviously he cared for her as much as she did for him.  However, diving headfirst haphazardly into something so serious could lead to a detrimental outcome, and that was the last thing Alora wanted.::

DeVeau: I’ll admit, I didn’t think to ask them.  Mainly because they are grown, they have their own families, and thus are no longer a part of their father’s household.  That is not the case for you and so our relationship has a direct impact on you.

Saavok: That is true. It has not been a detrimental impact.

::Far from it, from the little Vulcan’s point of view. Having spent the first six years of his life with his mother, he had still felt an immediate connection with the man who was his father, a man to whom he was so very similar. Born after the breakdown of their relationship, he had never known his parents when they were together, but he had seen his mother’s contentment with Serok. He wanted something similar for his father.::

::Alora was intriguing in herself. Saavok’s exposure to aliens had only begun three years ago, and he didn’t get to know many adult aliens closely. She was one of the exceptions and an insight into Terran nature and culture. He was aware that there were marked differences in both psychology and physiology. Some of them his father had tried to explain.::

Saavok: Alora, how old are you? ::He asked suddenly.::

DeVeau: Twenty five.

::Alora had no qualms about sharing her real age, unlike some women.  Still, the question was not one she had expected from the child.::

DeVeau: Why do you ask?

Saavok: I am aware that many other species mature at a faster rate than Vulcans; it is still an unusual concept. You are younger than my siblings.

::And from a Vulcan point of view, almost too young to mate.::

DeVeau: How old are your siblings?

Saavok: Teron is thirty Terran years, S’Rel is twenty-eight.  Naarin would have been twenty-three. I am eight.

DeVeau: And your father is….

Saavok: Father is sixty-six.

DeVeau: Ah that’s right.  

::It was quite the age difference and for some it might have been a concern.  Not so for Alora.  A smile tickled her lips.::

DeVeau: Well, I always did have a thing for older men.

::That earned her a blank look of the same type that the boy’s father gave her when he was trying to work through something that she’d said that didn’t quite make sense to him.::

Saavok: What is, ‘a thing’? ::He asked eventually.::

::She couldn’t help but giggle although Alora did her best to stifle it as much as possible.::

DeVeau: I’ve always found older men to be more attractive.

::Although the one guy she’d been with prior had been far closer to her age, but Alora wasn’t going to return to that topic.::

::Saavok’s first impulse was to ask what the logic was behind that statement, but if there was something that he was learning about aliens it was that, when it came to personal preferences, there often wasn’t any. Misha hadn’t been able to provide him with a logical reason for his preference for sugary foods, but was quite adamant about it. He’d also become cross with Saavok when the young Vulcan persisted in asking. So although the child opened his mouth to frame the question he quickly shut it again. So be it.::

::Instead he considered the whole situation thoughtfully.::

Saavok: So what happens now?

::It was hardly the most logical or well structured question; at the end of the day he was still just a child and, although he liked Alora, he was aware that such things fell well outside many conventions.::

DeVeau: What happens now is we keep spending time together with the purpose of finding out whether or not we want to spend the rest of our lives together.  

::Honestly, she had a hard time imagining a future without Saveron, but there she was trying to rush things again.  Time would tell, and there wasn’t a hurry.  She was young and while Saveron wasn’t exactly a teenager, he wasn’t old for a Vulcan either.::

DeVeau: Sound okay to you?

::The little Vulcan considered this statement.::

Saavok: I have no objection.

----------------

PNPC Saavok

Vulcan Child

USS Invicta

R238802S10

&

Lt. Alora DeVeau

Science Officer

USS Invicta

M239008AD0