SIM:Saveron&T'AvenEndaasi

I like the way your sparkling earrings lay
Against your skin so brown
And I want to sleep with you in the desert night
With a billion stars all around ~ Peaceful, Easy Feeling, The Eagles

"I cannot fix on the hour,
or the spot,
or the look or the words,
which laid the foundation.
It is too long ago.
I was in the middle
before I knew that I had begun."
~ Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

(( Endaasi - Tehra Desert ))

The day had proven eminently agreeable. Saveron had, through the generosity of Captain Rajel and no small amount of wrangling, managed to get all three of his children, and his son’s family, in one place at the same time. It had been years since that had been achieved, and there had been a distinct satisfaction in the experience of all being in one another’s company again.

Of course, there had been one distinct absence; his children’s mother. She walked a different path now, and would never leave Vulcan of her own accord. Certainly not for him. Hers was an absence that, fourteen standard years later, he still felt. Particularly during such a gathering. But it was fact and would not change. He had accepted that, and would not permit it to detract from the day.

But there had been an added bonus to the day, a presence entirely unexpected. T’Aven had joined them out of the desert sands. She was a friend and a reliable, sure presence, and he had observed with interest how she had interacted with the rest of his family. That observation had resolved any last doubt he’d held about what he wanted to ask her.

As promised T'Aven accompanied Saveron on his walk in the evening. The sun was not as high in the sky any more and it had cooled slightly, but it was still warm enough to be pleasant. The sky had begun to change colours above them. The pair moved swiftly over the sand, accustomed to it as they were, both beings native to the desert. A faint breeze stirred the air and insects made their calls to each other now that it was cool enough to move. Of course, Vulcans liked the heat.

The silence between them was not uncomfortable to her, contrary to when she walked with many other crew members who seemed to feel more at ease with talking instead of resting in silence. But despite that a hint of curiosity bubbled under the surface, wondering what he wanted to talk with her about. She didn't ask though. After all it had been his invitation so he would begin the conversation when he saw fit.

They walked in comfortable silence, having no need to fill the space between them with insignificant words. ‘Small talk’ was a skill their kind had to learn, and it was agreeable not to need it. It was T’Aven’s company that had first made him realise how much of his behaviour he adapted, now unthinkingly, for aliens, and how restful it was not to require those adaptions.

When he’d first joined Starfleet, he’d been fascinated, nearly obsessed, by aliens; perhaps in over-reaction to the sundering of his own relationship and his disgust over their native customs. Aliens still fascinated him, but he had acknowledged that there was much in his own culture that was preferable. And his own people.

They came to the peak of a particularly large dune, and there Saveron paused, regarding the seemingly endless rolling sands, as the sky shaded to pinks and purples, and the sun touched the horizon. After several long moments regarding the aesthetic scene, Saveron turned to regard his companion. Who was also agreeably aesthetic.

Saveron: I am appreciative of your company this evening, T’Aven. ::He said simply.::

They were simple words, but if she were a more emotionally inclined being she would smile at them. Instead though she placed her hands in her back, slipping into the sleeves of her robes.

T’Aven: I welcomed your invitation.

The Counsellor inclined his head slightly, regarding his fellow Vulcan’s dark, sculpted features.

In the corner of her eye she saw the gentle movement of his head. She did feel his eyes on her and in light of her conclusion of a night of meditation and thought, knowing his gaze on her was not displeasing.

Saveron: I have generally found your company agreeable, and would express a preference for spending further time together.

That was a gentle way to ease into what he wanted to ask, to know. He could have been blunt, none of his own kind would have faulted him, but age and his time amongst aliens had changed him. That was not necessarily a bad thing. And unlike many of his kind, T’Aven understood that influence, had experienced similar.

And, honestly, it was difficult. Fourteen years. In that time, one failed relationship with an alien woman who’d also fascinated him, but had ultimately wanted someone familiar with her own culture. The fallout from that had been… difficult. The fallout from his own Unbinding far more so, but he still held to his assertion that such, however untraditional, was more logical than killing or being killed for the sake of a woman who no longer wanted him. That hadn’t meant that he hadn’t wanted her.

And I found out a long time ago
What a woman can do to your soul
Aw but she can't take you any way
You don't already know how to go

She didn't remember when it had happened that they spent more time together or even started to talk more. One day during a shared bridge shift they found each other in conversation, she had begun to seek him as a counselor and soon outside of duties they spent time to explore Starbase 104 and get to know each other as people, not only officers.

It was in that shared time she had discovered more of his character, his past and passions, that for other non vulcans may have been hidden behind a facade of stone, but she could clearly see them before her. And yet she knew there was more to be discovered. She had merely seen a lake that was connected to an ocean.

T’Aven: It would be a gratifying experience.

Logic dictated that, should interest not be reciprocated, then that should have no further impact and previous relations should be maintained. But Saveron had learned the hard way that not all that was true was logical. He appreciated T’Aven’s friendship; that was not something that he would lose. But he would be a poor Counsellor if he wouldn’t take the same advice he’d given others, and exercise a calculated social risk. Regrettably, ‘no’ wasn’t the worst thing that she could say, whatever he might have claimed to others.

Grey eyes glanced out over the sands for a moment, as the sun dipped below the horizon, widening the shadows into a full twilight. He recognised that he was stalling, and looked back. The gaze was open, frank, and he could only trust that she would take his words at face value. The road not taken was the only one that could logically be regretted.

Saveron: I wish to express that I also find you personally agreeable. I appreciated your interactions with my family today, and find your views and mores, such of which I am aware, convergent with my own.

Personally agreeable. The calmness in her face was betrayed by the slight dilation of her pupil within dark brown eyes. Of course it had gone without saying, as she had not taken him as the type to spend time with her without finding her agreeablke as a person, but even though to hear the words was causing a brief slight increase of her heart beat. She had found that they aligned in certain views and perceptions. While differences were welcome to broaden experiences and horizons, the similarities in some areas had made it easy to form a friendship with him.

T’Aven: It was a pleasant experience to spend time with you and your family. They enabled me to see a side of you I had not yet known.

Saveron: I am interested in exploring a more personal relationship with you, a potentially intimate relationship, and would ask whether you reciprocate that interest?

He watched her face, her sculpted, carefully neutral features, harder to read in the dimming light, for any hint of response. One side effect of being habitually expressionless, was that Vulcans learned to read the faintest hint of expression. Saveron knew that here, now, was a chance that might not come again. This time he would take it.

Above them the skies shaded to deep pinks and violets.

I get this feelin' I may know you
As a lover and a friend
This voice keeps whisperin' in my other ear
Tells me I may never see you again

Could a Vulcan have a fluttering heart? It was not commonly talked about but here he was, feeling it beat even more rapidly than usual in her upper abdomen area. A long time ago she had felt it before and had not believed to feel it again in that time. The usually stoic gaze of her dark eyes wandered between his grays.

It wasn't that she didn't believe him, it wasn't that she didn't feel the same. But despite everything hearing the words and the emotions that came with it took her by surprise and threw her off balance.

Her past relationship was formed when she was a child, bonded through her parents. She did not have to think about how to progress, how to express herself or how to signal that she was interested. Everything had its place and simply was. This time was different. It was an unknown that she would stumble through, there was no reason to deny the truth. And still, it made her feel good, curious... excited. This time it was what she chose, not her family.

"If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it.
If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place."

To an outsider her face was as still as ever as if sculpted in stone. But to the Vulcan eye it was full of motion as she marvelled over his words, their meaning and the waves they made inside of her, mirrored in the slightest movement, the gentle's twitch on her dark features. Her eyes softened as she regarded his.

T’Aven: I do. After last night's meditation it was my intention to speak with you about the same matter.

Words were awkward things for conveying meaning, even though they were all most species had; whilst at the same time being a fascinating concept. But right here, right now, they felt awkward. There were words that were difficult to say, and some which, due to cultural mores, were impossible. But there were other ways.

Extending two fingers and curling the remaining two back, Saveron offered a pale, long-fingered hand to T’Aven, in that recognisable gesture sometimes referred to by aliens as the ‘Vulcan kiss’. Where words did not suffice, he offered to touch minds, to convey his thoughts - and emotions - without words. If she was willing.

A deeper indigo, and the first sparkling stars, appeared on the horizon.

'Cause I got a peaceful easy feelin'
And I know you won't let me down
'Cause I'm already standin'
On the ground'

She found it difficult to put into words what she wanted to express, and it seemed that Saveron understood, maybe even thought the same, because he raised his hand extending it towards, her with two fingers outstretched towards her.

Without taking her eyes of his she lift her hand to the same gesture and placed her fingers against his, not only feeling the warmth of his fingers but making the connections for their minds to share what words could not convey. The emotions that washed through her flowed from her mind to his and left no doubt as to how she felt towards him, as the first sparkling stars appeared above them bearing witness to a new beginning.

"There comes a time when the world gets quiet
and the only thing left is your own heart."