Title: After the Rescue

Part: NEW 55/73

Author: Karmen Ghia, karmen_ghia@yahoo.com

Series: TOS

Romance Code: S/Mc and then some.

Rating: NC-17

Appendices: http://members.tripod.com/karmen_ghia/atrappendices.html

See part one for disclaimers, etc.

Tien rapped on the half open door and called for Master Ghet. From inside, Maja called for him to come in and be quick, what had kept him and hurry up.

T'Paga was dressed to receive an emperor and Maja was painting her portrait. She stood in her best clothes in front of the open doors leading out to her garden, of which she was justifiably proud. In the future, she would draw more attention to the garden behind her in the portrait than to herself.

"Spock!" T'Paga's eyes widened in as much pleasure as nouveau Vulcans ever show.

"Don't move, T'Paga!" Maja did not turn. "Tien, bring those things here and look sharp."

"Yes, Master." Tien made a face at Spock and did as he was told.

"T'Paga! Hold still!" Maja snapped.

"It's inhospitable not to give my guests a cup of tea, Maja," the Vulcaness informed him but did not break her pose.

"SpockDeVulCheq is First Mate on a starship," Maja returned. "I think he can figure out how to pour himself a cup of tea."

T'Paga arched an eyebrow at Spock. "Help yourself, Spock. I am at Maja's mercy."

"A fascinating place to be, T'Paga." Spock sat and poured himself some tea.

Maja did a bad job suppressing a smile and rolled his eyes at T'Paga. "All right, Vulcan girl, go rest for a moment. I've got to teach my little savage communist a thing or two about Vulcan painting."

Spock rose as T'Paga approached, her hand in the traditional Vulcan greeting. "Live long and prosper, Spock."

"Peace and long life, T'Paga." They sat and T'Paga poured a cup of tea.

"The pigment goes on first," Maja explained to Tien. "Then you carefully mix the crystal into the acrylic gel, one part gel to two parts crystal."

"T'Pring's actions toward you were unfortunate, Spock." T'Paga lunged into the subject. "Unfortunate and unnecessary."

"Keep the crystal powder off of you or you'll get sick when it works into your skin." Maja stepped back to watch Tien work.

"Oh, everyone knows that," Tien drawled.

"Is zat so?" Maja asked. "Then work on these drapes, Master KnowsAll." Maja stood watching him until Tien gave him such a scathing look he went to go sit with T'Paga and Spock. "You'll call me if you need me."

"I always need you, Master." Tien drawled distractedly. "But I'll call you if I need your help."

Maja scowled at his eldest child and turned to take a cup of tea from T'Paga. He looked at the cup for a moment before he stood and set it near Tien. "You look thirsty, child." He turned to Spock. "Did you make him walk here?"

"It's a short distance, Maja," Spock informed him.

"Hochofedra." Maja shrugged and looked closely at Tien, who gave him the 'go away' look again. "I guess you survived." He sat again and accepted another cup of Relan tea. "Thanks, T'Paga. When did you get here, Spock?"

"About two hours ago. Did you know I am not allowed in the Sa Mansion?"

"No. I didn't know. Did they say why?"

"They feel I was responsible for your leaving so abruptly."

Maja stared at him for a moment. "You were."

"It is illogical to hold me responsible for your irrational and impulsive actions," Spock said simply.

Maja flung his cup of tea into the first officer's face and switched into vernacular Standard. "You broke my fucking heart and cared less. It is neither illogical nor irrational that I wanted out of here and never to see this fucking place again."

T'Paga handed Spock a towel. She looked up at Tien, who was very interested in the proceedings.

"May I have some more tea, T'Paga?" Maja asked politely, switching back in Vulcan.

"Of course, Maja." His hostess poured more tea in perfect faith that Maja would not throw it on Spock unless severely provoked. She'd known Maja and Spock since they were all ten years old and actually understood them quite well. Tea throwing was neither shocking or unusual for those two. It was, in fact, a good sign, a sign that Maja had gotten whatever out of his system and could move on to something else.

Sensing the show was over, Tien turned back to his work. The Vulcan paint medium was proving more challenging than he'd anticipated.

"Seen T'Pring, Spock?" Maja asked acidly.

"No and I have no intention of seeking her out."

"I was just telling Spock how disappointed I was in T'Pring's actions at the wedding." T'Paga interjected.

"Disappointed that she tried to kill him or that she failed?" Maja asked pleasantly.

"Maja." T'Paga sighed and gave him a long look.

"Oh, all right," Maja moaned at her. "I'll be nice to Spock even though he does not deserve it."

"And why not?" Spock asked.

"You would not understand." Maja said flatly.

"You might give me a chance, Maja," Spock insisted.

"... I..." Maja floundered.

"Master, will you help me?" Tien turned and stared at Spock.

Maja rose and went to Tien. Spock's fingers tightened around his cup in irritation. He met T'Paga's bland eye and relaxed a little.

Standing next to Tien, Maja stared at the canvas until he felt his inner poise return. He was surprised that seeing Spock enraged him. 'The half breed is so smug. I'd like to take him down a peg,' Maja thought. 'But I guess T'Pring's beaten me to it.' He looked up and found Tien examining him. "What's the problem, little one?" he asked crisply.

"I can't get this tube opened," Tien supplied neatly and handed Maja a tube of paint.

"Here." Maja handed it back, opened, and went to sit with the Vulcans again. 'Round two,' he thought calmly.

"Have you seen T'Pring?" T'Paga asked Maja.

"No, nor has she left a message on the Sas for me. Have you seen her lately?" Maja sipped his lukewarm tea.

"She's mostly withdrawn from Shirkar and lives on her father's estate."

"With Stonn."

"Yes, with Stonn. I've nothing really to say to her after what she did."

"What she did was perfectly Vulcan, T'Paga," Maja said calmly.

"It was perfectly barbaric," the Vulcaness said firmly.

"I find it odd that you would snub T'Pring for this," Maja mused. "After all, you did end up in the same boat at that tea party."

T'Paga's fingers tightened in irritation around her teacup.

"What tea party, Maja?" Spock asked to break up the silence.

"Oh, let's see." Maja collected and sharpened his memories. "You were off world with your parents as usual and Princess T'Pirind was having this huge tea party and dance. Girls with bondmates were invited but T'Pring and T'Paga could not go because Spoda had to work for his father that day and you weren't here. We Talljets talked to SaGolia about it and the issue wasn't really that the girls had to go with their bondmates, but more that they had to be escorted. So Hobie escorted T'Paga and Jir escorted T'Pring and everybody had a good time."

"That does not alter my opinion of T'Pring and her actions, Maja." T'Paga said.

"No? Well, you don't seem to remember how unpleasant it was to be alone when an important event was at hand and Spoda has turned out to be a good husband, at least he's present. Can't you imagine how uncomfortable T'Pring's life would be with Spock in space ninety-nine percent of his time because he prefers it to her? Why should she be married to someone who is only fulfilling an abstract Vulcan duty he is not really fit to fulfill and never wanted to in the first place?"

"That's an interesting but futile speculation, Maja." Spoda had come in half way through Maja's speech and now sat drinking tea. "And it's all over and done with and there are more important things at hand."

"The past is never past, Spoda," Maja said vaguely. "It's not even in the past. Have you rested enough, T'Paga? I want to finish this section before the light goes." He rose and walked over to the canvas. T'Paga took up her pose again. Maja took up a brush and began to paint T'Paga. He had Tien work on the garden section and they worked quickly and efficiently together.

Spock and Spoda talked about recent events in Shirkar, their careers and their families.

The afternoon passed peacefully until Spoda and T'Paga's children came home and the painting session was terminated for the day. Maja and Tien packed up, Maja taking his sketch book, crayons and watercolors under his arm and giving the paint box to Tien. They were joined by Spock in their good-byes.

On the street, they saw Farro coming to meet them and walk them home.

"Maja," Spock said. "I wish to speak to you."

"Then speak." Maja looked at him.

"Privately," Spock told him.

Maja looked thoughtfully at his children and then sent them off to the Sa mansion on their own.

"Look, Spock," Maja said. "I need some things from Svik's, let's take the number 14 bus and then we can sit by the big tree and talk, okay?"

"Very well." Spock ran his credit chip over the bus token machine twice and handed the disc to Maja. They boarded the bus, which was as prompt as all Shirkar buses.

"Hullo, Sbort!" Maja hailed the driver, an old playmate. "How long have you been driving this bus?"

"Four hours and sixteen minutes today," Sbort informed him. "Thirteen years and eighteen weeks otherwise. How are you, Maja? Hullo, Spock."

"Very well, thanks. You?"

"Well." Sbort nodded to a passenger entering behind them. It was T’Prizi.

"Spock," she said, seating herself across from him. "I was just talking about you to my cousin the other day ...."

Many, many, many stops later, T’Prizi cut herself off in midsentence and exited the bus. Spock and Maja rode the empty bus one more stop and were surprised when Sbort turned off the engine.

"End of the line, travelers."

"Where the hell are we, Sbort?" Maja asked him.

"In the Apa district. These are the new suburbs built after you left, Maja."

"Huh. Well, let's look around, Spock." Maja rose and said good-bye to Sbort. Spock said good-bye as well but also ascertained where and when they could catch the fourteen bus back to the center. They dropped out of the bus and strolled down the tidy suburban streets.

"Some of these houses are quite pretty," Maja observed, stopping to peer into gardens and examine windows.

Spock indulged him, remembering Maja's fascination with other people's houses and gardens.

They came to a particularly nice garden surrounding a house that was larger than the others. It was a small inn and Maja insisted they go and ask to see the back garden.

"After all, if the front is this fine," Maja reasoned, "the back must be truly magnificent."

Spock could not but follow and soon they were standing in a cozy foyer being greeted by a young Vulcan matron, who was pleased to show her inn to them.

It was a pleasant, tastefully appointed two storey structure with a small dining room, a parlor, and two bedrooms on the ground floor. There were two bedrooms facing the street and a suite of rooms that ran the length of the house and overlooked the back garden on the second floor. Maja's speculation about the back garden was correct: it was magnificent. They ordered tea and sandwiches and sat in companionable silence on the small patio, enjoying the garden. Maja pulled out his sketch book and began to draw.

"I'd like to paint this garden," he said.

"What impedes you, Maja?" Spock asked.

Maja glanced at the fading light. "No time, the light's going."

"We could stay here."

Maja looked up at him.

Spock continued: "I might then have your attention when you are not painting."

Maja looked back at the garden.

"And as I am not allowed at the Sas'," Spock continued, sensing victory at hand, "it will be difficult to converse with you if we do not make time now. And I wish to spend some time with you, Maja. I have thought of you often over the years."

Maja looked down at his sketch. "All right. Let's see if we can get the rooms overlooking this garden, shall we?"

Spock rose to go make the arrangements with the innkeeper.

Maja drew until it was dark and they had a simple but delicious dinner. The innkeeper could definitely cook.

"How long have you had this place?" Maja asked the Vulcaness as she cleared away their dishes.

"Three years."

"What's your name?" Maja asked.

"T'Pala."

"Do you and your husband run it?"

"We opened it together but my husband died fifteen months ago."

Maja nodded. 'Another perfectly good woman going to waste,' he thought, remembering his fling with the Imkian widow. 'What's wrong with these heterosexual men that they let such a fine woman and a good cook live alone like this. It's a sin, I tell you.'

"The garden is very beautiful." Spock observed to cover Maja's sudden abstraction.

"Thank you. I have a very good gardener and we work in it together." T'Pala bowed graciously and left them to drink their mineral water in private.

They drank in silence and eventually rose to go upstairs. Their bedrooms had a sitting room between them and after a quick look at the dark garden from the balcony, they settled into chairs, leaving the balcony door open on the mild night.

"Are you...." Maja considered the words available to him. "Are you content in Star Fleet?"

"Yes. My life is challenging and I am productive." Spock waited for Maja to comment. "Are you content?"

"Right now or in general?"

"In general."

"More or less."

"And right now?"

"Right now? Right now I'm wondering what we're doing here, Spock."

"I wanted to explain ..."

"You explained everything very clearly the night you left."

"I have had new insight since then."

"It's too fucking late."

"It is too late to alter any pain I caused you, Maja, but is it too late to apologize for causing it?"

"It is unnecessary. What's done is done."

"And yet you are angry."

"It's odd." Maja sighed. "I wasn't angry until I saw how sleek you are. How nothing has touched you, hurt you, scarred you, blessed you. Nothing, Spock, gets past your perfect Vulcanness to the core of you. To the part of you I thought I loved once. How foolish and deluded of me to think there was anything there that might love me back. What an idiot I was. Small wonder you tossed me aside when you were done with me."

"I never intended to cause you pain, Maja. I thought you were aware that my commitment to T'Pring was unshakable."

"Obviously less than your commitment to Star Fleet." Maja said. "T'Pring was not the obstacle. Something could have been arranged around her for us. She was willing, you know. I suppose it would have worked for her and Stonn as well. But only if you'd stayed on Vulcan. You see, I could have lived in T'Pring's shadow, but not in her and Star Fleet's shadow combined. Even a crix tree needs a little light now and then.

"But you told us all to go to hell, didn't you Spock? You cast your lot with your mother's people because they're weaker than we vulcanoids and you could feel what you never felt here: You could feel superior.

"And I hope your cruelty to me has given you whatever pleasure you could wring out of it. All I had the impudence to do was love you as you were. Apparently my love was so pathetic you could shake it off without much thought because that's exactly what you did."

"Why did you leave Vulcan?" Spock asked when it was apparent Maja was finished talking.

"Because I thought I was going to die. I thought my insides would be crushed by the agony I felt in my chest, in my throat, every time I saw something that reminded me of you. I ran, Spock, I ran as far as I could to where there was nothing to remind me that you didn't want me. And for a long time I still thought I would die and then time went on and I didn't die. My first thought in the morning and last thought at night were not about you. Eventually I found that entire days went by and I didn't think about you. And then weeks and months and even years.

"But you never entirely left me. One never loses the first love, no matter what. Too bad for me it was you, Spock."

"When I learned you were gone, Maja, I tried to find you, but there was not much I could do from Terra. And there really was no one I could ask on Vulcan. I wrote to you; did Ling and Jir give you my letters?"

"Yes. Later, when they left here themselves."

"Why did you not answer?"

"There was no point. You were in your life; I was in mine. Why dredge up more pain for myself?"

"I wanted to know if you were all right."

"I wasn't all right but what difference would that have made to you?"

Spock was silent.

"What could you have done about it?"

"Nothing."

"See. Nothing but sorrow and regret for me. At least I had my privacy to suffer in."

"I looked for you," Spock said softly and slowly to control his voice, "in places you could not possibly be. In crowds on Terra, I would find myself expecting to see you coming toward me, smiling and laughing.

"When I heard laughter I had to stop myself from staring because for so long you were the only one I associated with laughter.

"It was not until I had been among the Terrans for a while that I realized what I had thrown away. I saw them suffer mightily over love not even one one hundredth as strong as yours. I simply had nothing to compare it with, Maja. I am sorry for both of us.

"I could not find a trace of you anywhere. In cities on new planets I would scan the faces for you. Some part of me was always seeking you. It is illogical but there it is. Eventually it was all I had of you, this ... this seeking."

"And it is simply too late for us, Spock."

Spock nodded. "I have made certain commitments."

"And I love ... someone else. It's not the same as you, but it's as strong. And I have my work."

"As I have mine."

"Yes. Hochofedra." Maja shrugged. "Life goes on."

"Yes."

"And, now, I'm tired." Maja announced. "I do want to stay here for a few days, it's a good idea. The Sas are wearing me down - I need rest, art and normal adult conversation." He looked roguishly at Spock. "I suppose you'll have to do."

"Are you still angry with me?"

"No, not really. I've just said everything I've ever wanted to say to you. I guess you suffered as much as you could, which is probably as much as you deserve so what's to be angry about?"

"Logical."

"Ain't it?" Maja smiled his old smile. "So now I'm just tired. We'll have a few quiet days together to make peace and then we can get on with our lives." He stood and walked onto the balcony for one last look at the shadowy garden. He was neither surprised nor alarmed nor really even dismayed when Spock came up behind him and put his hands on the MageCheq's shoulders.

Spock tugged on Maja's thick braid. "Why do you still wear your hair like this?" He pulled the tie undone at the bottom of the ebony rope.

"Most of it got singed off casting bronze once. This hairdo is a habit now."

"There is nothing to singe it on here, my Maja." Spock slowly unplaited the matte jet coil.

"Oh, dunno, Spock." Maja leaned back into the VulCheq. "Seems to be plenty of sparks flying right now."

"A metaphor?" Spock wrapped his arms around Maja's waist and leaned down to nuzzle his long ivory neck.

"Yessss. Not a great one but the best I can do right now in my distracted state."

"Are you distracted?" Spock asked very close to Maja's upswept ear.

"Very." Maja turned in Spock's arms and leaned his forehead against Spock's lips, an old gesture from their youth.

Spock was nearly overcome by the juxtaposition of the memory of Maja in his arms long ago and Maja in his arms now. The intensity of the embrace was almost too much for the VulCheq. Spock tilted Maja's lips up to his and kissed him gently. He felt Maja relax against him and knew all would be well. The Vulcan nudged Maja's lips apart and ran his tongue over the closed teeth until they opened to him. Spock's tongue was half way into Maja's mouth when the MageCheq closed his teeth on it. This was from their youth as well; Spock froze, remembering being badly bitten once. Maja waited to see if Spock was going to struggle and when the Vulcan did not, Maja batted his own tongue against Spock's a few times before releasing him. Spock lingered a moment longer and then leaned back to look at Maja.

"Aren't you tired of standing up, Vulcan?" Maja asked seriously.

"If the alternative is laying down, then yes, I am tired of standing."

"Then, yes, let's go see about laying down."

The beds in both bedrooms were typical Vulcan: a thin pallet over a stone platform. Maja groaned inwardly but was cheered when Spock collected the other pallet and all the cushions and blankets to make a thicker mattress for him.

Maja kicked off his boots. He was wearing his painting togs: leggings and a baggy tunic, which he pulled off in short order. He slipped under the cover and looked up to find Spock studying him.

"What are you lookin' at, VulCheq?" Maja challenged.

"The three scars on your back."

"Are they different?"

"No. They are as I remember. Your right shoulder, however, is now larger than your left." Spock bent to remove his boots.

"From swinging a sculpture hammer all these years."

"Why did you change from painting to sculpture?" Spock neatly folded his tunic and laid on a chair.

"MajaKhat's mother taught me to sculpt, cast and throw pots. Technically she was quite proficient but had no inspiration or artistic vision. When we joined the Commune, they only needed one painter so I went in with the sculptors and have never regretted it."

"Why not?" Spock folded his pants and put them on top of his tunic.

"More power, more control over the project, get to work outside more. Painters work on what the sculptors leave them. Of course, the sculptors work on what the architects leave us so I should probably shut up."

Spock arched an eyebrow and lay down next to Maja. He pulled the MageCheq into his arms and traced the scars on his back. He heard Maja yawn and leaned back to look at him.

"Are you tired, Maja? We could simply sleep if you wish."

Maja reached down to stroke Spock's burgeoning erection. "I think not, Vulcan." He rolled Spock onto his back and straddled him, stroking their erections together. He leaned forward to tweak Spock's nipples and caress his chest.

Spock pulled his lover down into his arms and rolled on top of him. Equally matched, they wrestled like children for a while.

Maja, chuckling breathlessly, remembered the virtues of surrender and let the Vulcan pin him. He shivered with pleasure, feeling Spock's lips brush his nipple and move lower. Obligingly Maja spread his knees for Spock to nestle between.

Spock wrapped his arms around Maja's hips, elevating them and giving him better access to Maja's arching cock. The Vulcan nuzzled at the base of the pale alabaster shaft, drawing his tongue slowly from root to head, driving Maja wild. He swirled his tongue around the lilac colored head and plunged down on it.

Maja might have arched in ecstasy if Spock had not had him so firmly pinned. He contented himself with stifling his howl of pleasure with the back of his hand.

Spock removed his mouth and sat back. He pulled Maja down the bed and onto his lap, slipping a forearm under each of Maja's knees.

Maja put his arms around Spock's neck and, supported by Spock's arms, hoisted himself over the Vulcan's erection. He felt Spock lock his hands behind his back and maneuver him over his cockhead. Maja leaned forward and kissed Spock as the Vulcan lowered his lover slowly down onto his shaft.

Maja let his head fall back in pleasure as Spock hit bottom. They rested like that for a moment until Spock began to move. Supported on Spock's arms, Maja slid his body up and down on Spock's erection, while rubbing his own erection on Spock's belly. As Maja became more aroused, the more contact he sought with Spock's belly and his motions on the Vulcan's cock became more and more frantic.

Spock tightened his arms and held Maja still for a moment. He heard Maja suck in a fierce breath and felt him trembling with passion. Spock loosened his grip and set a gentler pace for them. He felt Maja relax and match his rhythm, pushing up the tempo a little, but slowing back down when Spock tightened his arms.

Maja leaned his forehead against Spock's collarbone and lengthened his strokes. He was relieved when Spock let him do this, they were both close, both ready. Maja tightened his grip on the Vulcan's shoulders but was surprised when Spock gathered him up and laid him down.

Spock adjusted his angle slightly and slid all the way in. He leaned down and gently kissed Maja. He drew back to look at Maja, whose eyes were shinning and his hair was spread out beneath him like a mantilla. It was the same, it was as if twenty years had not elapsed. Spock lengthened his thrusts, plunged all the way in and came when he felt Maja arch against him and heard his groan of pleasure. He lay on top of Maja, trying to catch his breath and stay conscious.

Flushed and panting, Maja ran his hands over Spock's warm back and kissed his cheek. He nuzzled at Spock's chin until the Vulcan turned his lips and kissed him back.

"Just like old times, no?" Maja whispered as Spock pulled out.

"Indeed." Spock rolled onto his back and settled Maja on his chest. "Indeed, my Maja."

* * *

end of part 55

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Appendices: http://members.tripod.com/karmen_ghia/atrappendices.html