K'hat'n'dlawa

Healing

Amanda sat cross-legged on her bed, brow furrowed as she chewed on her stylus and stared at the PADD screen before her. When Sarek entered the room quietly and set the tray that held her dinner on the nightstand, she didn't even look up.

"Are there any types of metal restraints strong enough to hold a Vulcan?" she asked. When she was met by silence, she glanced up at him. He was staring at her.

"Why would you ask such a question?" he asked uneasily.

"I'm making a list of things we'll need next time," Amanda explained, dropping her eyes to the PADD again.

"Is it not too soon to be thinking of an event that will take place seven years from now?" Sarek asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"No, it's not too soon. And how do you know it will be seven years? It was six this time. Who's to say it won't come prematurely again?" she asked.

"That was different. My body was unaccustomed to the hormonal fluctuations," Sarek replied. Amanda glanced up again- he wasn't looking at her. She bit her lip. They had not discussed what occurred two days before. Not the meld, nor the fact that he had cried. They seemed to have come to an unspoken agreement to never discuss it- ever. But it had happened, and he seemed to act differently after sharing such a private, emotional moment with her. He'd hardly left her side, silently tending to her, even when she protested that she did not need it.

There was still tension. A lot of it. They had not touched since that embrace, which had lasted nearly an hour before either of them had the courage or willpower to pull away.

Afterward, their eyes rarely met. Their conversations were short and stilted. Instead, they spent their time quietly- content that neither of them was alone, but unsure of what to say. They'd both avoided the topic of Pon Farr- until now.

"And you're sure your body will be accustomed to it seven years from now? Or are you suggesting that we're not going to so much as touch until then?" Amanda asked, one eyebrow raised. He finally looked at her, eyes sweeping her face, before he looked away again. She was forcing the issue, she knew. But she couldn't take walking on eggshells much longer. They had to move on. So she was forcing them to.

"If we do continue relations- yes, my body would become accustomed to it, and my cycle would be back to how it should be," he replied.

She was dissatisfied with that answer.

"I am going to expect sex again sometime in the future," she pointed out. "Not right now, but I will, eventually. So I don't know what's with the- if- we continue relations."

"I suggest a titanium alloy for the restraints," he replied, ignoring her previous statement. She sighed in frustration, but made a note on her PADD. She would work on the subject of sex in the future- they would worry about it when she actually got the urge again, which she didn't see happening any time soon. Until then, she'd let him think she'd relented. She had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy to convince him.

"I'm thinking that a low dose of sedative would be enough to slow you down, to allow you to do what you need to while not being as rough. A full dosage would be enough to let me rest for awhile," she continued. Sarek shifted uncomfortably.

"Is it necessary to discuss this now?" he asked.

"Yes, it is necessary," she replied, with a pointed look at him. "It would be best to plan the next one while this last one is still fresh in our minds." She leaned back against the headboard, stretching out her legs and draping them over his lap. "So you're not going anywhere," she added.

He now seemed even more uncomfortable than before, but did not remove her legs. She settled the PADD on her lap and looked at the next item on the list.