Snippet 7b

~*~

Sybok could remember the first time his mother came home after speaking with his father for the first time in six years.
She came back to their flat, and she paced around the room two, three times before she stopped to talk to him. Obediently, he put down his book, and waited for her to speak.

She spoke after another minute or so, coming to sit down across from him, and give him one of her hardest stares. The one she always used whenever she wanted him to really, really listen to what she had to say.

“Sybok,” she said. “I’ve just come back from visiting your father. He says that he would like to see you soon. He also said that he has another son now – a boy named Spock.”

Sybok nodded, listening closely.

“He has another son, Sybok.” T’Lira continued slowly. “Do you know what this means?”

Sybok could guess. He knew that meant that something must have happened to that big thing that T’Lira always talked about – that position, that leadership that she had been telling him about since he was old enough to pay attention. He could tell it had to do with that, because her eyes became very, very dark. Only talking about that position could make her eyes become so dark.

“It means,” T’Lira continued in that slow voice. “That there is something I must ask you to do. It won’t be hard – it will just be something that you must do.”

Sybok nodded. “Yes, Mother.”

“I will ask you to do it, soon. And when I tell you to do it – you must carry about my orders without questioning me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“You must remember, Sybok, that your father married a human after I left. You remember what I told you about humans, don’t you? That means that Spock, your father’s other son, will be half-human. That makes him different from you, doesn’t it? It means that he is not important to this society, doesn’t it?”

Sybok nodded, easily remembering the many lectures his mother had given him about humans. “Yes, Mother.”

“So when I ask you to help me make sure that society stays as successful as it is, you won’t question me, will you?”

“No, Mother.”

“Good,” T’Lira said, nodding slowly to him. “You’re a good boy, Sybok. A very good boy.”

Sybok could hear the dark tone behind her words, but he’d learned over the past six years to ignore that tone whenever his mother used it. So, simply, he nodded. “Yes, Mother.”

*

After that, there was a long period of time that nothing happened. T’Lira only mentioned Sarek and his other son a few times, and Sybok soon became used to the notion that soon he was going to do as his mother asked, and help society by making Spock go away.

Making Spock go away. She had always put it that way, when he was that young.

He was able to tell when the day came – the day that he was supposed to do this favor for his mother. She came back into the flat, and walked up to him, a look of cold triumph on her face. Sybok stood immediately, knowing what it meant.

“Your father’s human wife has invited you to play with Spock,” she told him, her voice mirroring the look on her face. Her long robes flowed around her as she walked up to him, dropping to her knees in front of him to look him in the eye. “You know what this means, don’t you, my son? You know what you must do.”

Sybok nodded without thinking. “Yes, Mother,” he said, looking into her eyes. “But I won’t play with him?”

“Oh, yes, you will,” T’Lira said, lightening her voice as she nodded to him. “Play with him all you wish, my dear. Just make sure that before Amanda returns, you do what I told you to do. Remember where I said the staircase was? By the back porch?”

Sybok nodded. He knew where she’d said the staircase was. She said it was a long, winding staircase – made of stone. Spock would go away if Sybok made him fall down those stairs. Sybok didn’t know, then, how it would make him go away – but his mother’s voice made him sure that it would work.

It sounded easy.

“You are a good boy, Sybok,” T’Lira told him, taking him by the shoulders and looking into his eyes. “You will make me proud, and you will make this society strong. Just do what I say. Do you understand?”

Sybok nodded, knowing he had no other reason than to agree whole-heartedly with what his mother was saying. “Yes, Mother.”

*

T’Lira did not come with Sybok to the door of Sarek’s house. She said that she had things to do, but Sybok wondered briefly if she just did not want to see Amanda. She had never spoken kindly of Amanda, and Sybok thought that maybe she just wanted to avoid coming in contact with her.

But, whatever the reason, he’d said goodbye to his mother, and then approached the front door of Sarek’s house, and knocked hard on the door.

He knew Amanda would open the door. Briefly, he felt a bit nervous. T’Lira had described humans in such a way that he thought they must be ugly, stupid creatures, bumbling when they walked with distorted faces. He straightened up, steeling himself for the encounter – before he heard the door handle turn, and saw the door open.

And there, before him, was a woman that immediately surprised him in her appearance. She looked just like a Vulcan, except for her ears, which were rounded, and her eyebrows, which were not slanted at a natural incline. She also had long, wavy brown hair that spilled down over her shoulders, a lighter color than Sybok was used to seeing on the head of other Vulcan.

She was also smiling – a sight that was a very unusual to Sybok’s young mind...but strangely pleasant, somehow, at the same time.

“Hello there!” she greeted him in a warm tone, her eyes sparkling as she stepped back to allow him in through the door. “Come in, Sybok! I’m so glad you could come!”

She did not sound like she was lying. Sybok glanced at her warily as he walked in, but nodded respectfully to her nonetheless as he walked inside the house. Looking around, he could see the house was spacious and well-kept, just like the other homes he’d seen on Vulcan. It somehow felt a bit different, though, too...like something warm lived there. Something warm, like Amanda’s smile.

It was strange.

“I’ve heard so much about you,” Amanda went on, guiding Sybok inside and down the hallway. “You look so much like your father! And I’m so glad you could come to play with Spock – he’ll be delighted to have a playmate. He’s just in the living room, if you’d like to see him.”

“I would,” Sybok said, his mind immediately zeroing back in on why he’d come in the first place. He nodded up at Amanda. “I would like to play with him.”

“That’s wonderful, dear,” Amanda said with another big smile, showing him toward a room just off the hallway, which Sybok deemed to be the living room that she’d spoken of. She peered in through the door, her smile becoming more playful as she did. “Spock? Spock, my little one, guess who’s come to see you?”

Sybok felt the feeling of wariness come up inside of him again. He was about to see Spock for the first time. After what T’Lira had said, he had no idea what he’d see. Amanda had already surprised him. But perhaps a human-Vulcan hybrid would be excessively strange…

He looked into the room, and blinked yet again in surprise at what he saw.

There, on the floor (and attempting to stand up) was the form of the tiniest boy he’d ever seen. And the stranger thing was that this tiny boy looked just like a little Vulcan boy! He had pointed ears, slanted eyebrows, and black hair. The only thing different about him was his eyes, somehow…even though they were dark brown, just as Sybok’s were. And also, he was smiling.

“Come here, my little darling,” Amanda crooned to the tiny boy, walking toward him, half bent-over, and gave him a delighted smile as Spock finally managed to get to his feet and began to toddle happily toward her. “You have a visitor, sweetie! Guess who’s here to see you?”

Sybok took that as his cue. He stepped forward, trying to keep his expression still as he surveyed the smaller boy who was coming toward them across the carpet. “Spock,” he said, nodding to the wobbly little child. “It is good to meet you.”

The little boy giggled happily as he stumbled even faster toward them, a look of absolutely delight on his face as he came forward. “Mamamamama!” he laughed, walking toward her before he slowed, his wide, curious brown eyes peering up at Sybok. He sucked in his lower lip as he reached up to grab a hold of his mother’s skirt and survey the new stranger. “Mm.”

“This is your brother, Spock,” Amanda said, a beaming smile on her face as she bent down toward her small son, gesturing to Sybok. “This is Sybok. Can you say hello?”

Spock stared at him for another moment before breaking out in another smile, turning from his mother to toddle excitedly toward his half-brother. “Bababa!” he squealed, practically running into Sybok as he plastered himself against his leg. “He’wo!”

Sybok was very startled. He had no idea what to make of the happy little boy that was now hugging him as though they were real brothers – brothers who had known each other a long time. Spock wasn’t a bit like he’d imagined. And what made matters worse – he just knew somehow that Spock was deliberately channeling happiness into him or something, because, right now, he felt like smiling.

Carefully keeping himself from doing so, Sybok instead reached out a tentative hand and patted Spock’s small head. “Hello, Spock."

“He’s happy to see you,” Amanda said, smiling from ear to ear as she watched the two boys. “He can tell you’re his brother. You two can play for as long as you’d like.”

Sybok gave her a little nod, but he was still having trouble looking away from Spock. “Thank you,” he said, before carefully trying to pry himself from Spock’s grasp. “Do you want to play now, little brother?”

Spock wobbled a little bit as Sybok pried himself away, looking up at him with big brown eyes that were still full of excitement and wonder. He smiled brightly up at him when he regained his balance and immediately toddled forward again, plastering himself with a squeal against Sybok’s leg.

Amanda laughed, watching Spock’s happy antics and the look of pure bewilderment on Sybok’s small face. “I think he’s quite ready to play,” she said, motioning to the living room afterward. “There are toys and books on the floor, and you can go out to the porch as well, as long as you’re careful of the stairs. I’ll just be in the kitchen making dinner.”

“Very – well…” Sybok said uncertainly, attempting to keep himself dignified while the tiny Vulcan in front of him continued to cling to his legs. “I shall...attempt to entertain him...”

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with that,” Amanda chuckled, before turning toward the kitchen. “I’m just a room away if you need me.”

Sybok glanced at her as she left, and then turned his gaze back down to Spock once she was gone. Clearly, this predicament had turned out to be nothing like what his mother had prepared him for. Amanda was even aware of the danger of the stairs that his mother had mentioned.

Oh well. The first matter at hand was to establish “comfort and security” where Spock was concerned. He had to play with him and get Spock to trust him...though the little toddler was clearly well on his way to that already.

“All right, Spock,” Sybok said, his small voice becoming dutiful as he reached down, picking Spock up clumsily but securely in his arms and waddling over to the center of the floor, settling him down on the ground amidst the toys and books. “Time to play. Do you want me to read you a book?”

Spock looked up at him, his eyes suddenly lighting up at the word. “Dadadada!” he squealed excitedly, crawling quickly to a small stack of books. He plopped himself down and reached out with two hands to pick out what looked like a book full of colors. He giggled again happily before holding up it for Sybok. “Buh! Buh! Cuwo!”

Sybok had no idea what those words meant, but he found he could deduce from Spock’s behavior that he wanted Sybok to read him the book he was holding. Satisfied with this, Sybok accepted the book and sat down on the floor beside Spock, carefully opening the book to the first page.

He was rather surprised at the inside of the book. It was very full of color, with many simply-drawn pictures and only a few words. He had never seen a book like it before. But Spock seemed happy enough with it, so he laid the book in his lap, taking care to let Spock see the pictures, and began to read.

“This is the color blue,” he read. “Blue is the color of water, and blueberries, and some pretty sparkly stones called ‘sappires’. Blue is a nice color. What other things are blue?” Realizing it was a question meant for the reader, he glanced around briefly, before spotting a blue toy block on the floor. He picked it up and held it out to Spock. “What color is this?”

“Bwue.” Spock responded promply, staring decively at the toy.

“Good,” Sybok said, putting the block down before turning the page in the book. “Now, this is the color green...”

-

Sybok found that two hours went by very quickly when he was in charge of eterntaining Spock. They read all the books, built several towers with the toy blocks, and played with the small animal figurines for the rest of the time. Every now and then Amanda came in to check on them, but Sybok barely noticed. He found that it was oddly satisfying to play with Spock. The little boy found delight in absolutely everything, even if Sybok didn’t know the right way that he was supposed to play with all the toys.

Finally, they ended wandering out onto the porch, where Spock had left another one of his animal toys. Sybok followed him out there, easily keeping up with Spock’s happy crawl, until they were outside in the evening air, and Spock had found the toy animal he was looking for.

But no sooner had Spock found that, than Sybok noticed something on the left side of the porch.

The stairs.

There were ten of them, stone, and leading downward to the pavement below. His mother had instructed him that he need only give Spock a small push at the edge, and then he wouldn’t have to do anything else. He didn’t know entirely what that meant…but he could logically deduce that a boy of Spock’s size falling down the stairs like that would not end well for Spock.
Was that really what his mother wanted him to do?

For the first time in his life, Sybok found himself questioning what his mother had said. He bit his lip, turning to look at Spock, who was sitting happily on the ground beside him.

He had to trust his mother. That was the right thing to do, after all. And...and Spock really was a bad boy, wasn’t he? Shouldn’t he just listen to his mother and make Spock...go away?

Swallowing, Sybok looked once more at the stairs, and then back at Spock. Straightening himself slightly, he decided he would do it. He would simply get it over-with. He would ask Spock to come toward him, and then he would do what his mother had asked. “Spock, come here.”

Spock looked up from where he was playing with his stuffed animal, a bright smile coming over his face when he saw Sybok beckon. Putting both hands on the floor he pushed himself up before carefully beginning to toddle toward him. “Bababa!” he babbled, laughing at himself as he launched himself forward again and plastered himself against Sybok’s leg with a squeal.

Sybok wavered, and not just from having Spock once again throw himself so abruptly at him. The complete innocent happiness on the little Vulcan’s face made him feel cold inside. Spock didn’t know what Sybok was thinking – he didn’t know that Sybok was thinking about making him go away right now. He was just happy... happy to be playing, and happy to be with Sybok.
Why had his mother said that Spock was so bad?

Feeling completely torn and uncomfortable, Sybok looked at Spock, and then at the stairs. Could he do it? Could he actually push Spock toward the stairs and let him fall? Yes, of course he could…he could because his mother wanted him to. He could...

...he couldn’t.

He looked down at Spock, deciding he simply couldn’t remember why his mother had said he should make Spock go away. He decided he would tell her that, and say he forgot. Who knew? Maybe his mother was mistaken. Maybe she’d just forgotten that Spock wasn’t a bad, wicked little boy. Sybok decided to forget about it. For now, he just wanted to play with Spock some more.

“Look at the bear, Spock,” he said, leaning down to pick up the stuffed animal that Spock had dropped and making it walk on the ground by the toddler’s feet. “Look at him! You’d better catch him, or he’ll get away!”

Spock squealed with a happy laugh as he immediately toddled forward and tried to grab the bear in a big hug. With an ‘oof’ he landed on his bottom with a miss before laughing and starting to crawl quickly toward the bear.

“Here he is! Come and get him!” Sybok said, completely unaware that he was starting to smile, too, as he made the bear bounce toward the other side of the balcony. “He will get away! You must catch – “

He stopped when he nearly made the stuffed bear bounce right off the edge of the stairs. He hadn’t realized they’d drawn so close to it. And out of the corner of his eye, he saw Spock continuing on quite happily forward, his eyes on the bear, not noticing the stairs in front of him.

He was going to fall.

“No, Spock!” Without thinking, Sybok reached out and quickly scooped Spock away from the stairs – just inches before the little Vulcan would have toppled right down them. “Be…careful.”

“Mamamamama…” Spock babbled as he kicked his legs and wriggled his arms playfully toward the stairs.

Sybok was now thoroughly unsettled with himself. He carefully carried Spock away from the stairs and set him down, watching the little boy as Spock crawled quickly to claim the bear that Sybok had dropped and hugged onto it happily.

His mother was not going to be pleased.

“All right, who’s ready for some supper?” Amanda’s voice broke Sybok from his thoughts as she walked onto the porch, smiling fondly at the two small boys before her. “Are you hungry, little ones?”

Spock’s eyes lit up when he saw her, immediately pushing himself up to toddle excitedly toward her. “Mamamama!”

“Hello, my sweet darling,” Amanda said, utter adoration so evident in her voice that Sybok did not know what to make of it. She picked Spock up in her arms and kissed him all over his little face to make him laugh before she turned to smile at Sybok. “Come in, sweetheart! I made vegetable stew. Are you hungry?”

In truth, Sybok was hungry. His mother hadn’t told him whether it was a good idea to stay for dinner or not – but she also said she wouldn’t be back to get him for at least another hour.

Unsure of what to do, he shyly folded his hands behind his back. “This isn’t my house.”

“Well, it’s partly your house,” Amanda chuckled, coming toward him and placing an encouraging hand on his back and beginning to lead him inside. “You’re Spock’s brother and your father’s son. That makes this your home, too.”

Sybok did not understand the logic of that statement, but the food from the kitchen smelled very good. Finally, he decided not to ask any more questions, and just let Amanda show him to the table, and to a chair that was right next to Spock’s.

“You two can sit together,” Amanda said, placing Spock down in his boosted chair before going to ladle out two bowls of stew. “Your father will be here any moment. He had another long meeting this afternoon.”

“Does he have many of those?” Sybok asked curiously, never having been told much about his father’s important job.

“Oh, every now and then,” Amanda said, coming back with the food and placing the bowls in front of the two boys. “Be careful now, it’s hot.”

The food smelled even better when it was right underneath Sybok’s nose. His mother never made food that looked or smelled like this. She believed in natural, wholesome food…not this mixed, soup-like substance that smelled like vegetables and delicious herbs. He picked up his spoon without thinking and spooned up a bite of it.

“Good?” Amanda said, smiling at him before putting a smaller spoon by Spock’s bowl.

Sybok nodded, his eyes still glued on the food he’d just eaten. It tasted very, very good. He turned and looked at Amanda, his eyes wide and betraying his delight in the food. “Um-hm!”

“I’m glad,” Amanda chuckled, finishing tying a small napkin around Spock’s neck. “Would you mind helping Spock with his food? I’m going to get your father’s place set. Just make sure he uses his spoon and that the food isn’t too hot.”

“All right,” Sybok said, wiping his mouth carefully on a napkin before reaching automatically for Spock’s spoon. He spooned up a bit of it, blowing on it carefully, and then hesitating. He looked up at Amanda. “Will he eat it if I give it to him?”

“Why don’t you try and find out?” Amanda said, giving him a small wink before turning to walk back to the pot on the stove.

Sybok glanced back down at the spoon, and then looked back at Spock. He blew on the food one more time, before holding it carefully to Spock’s mouth. “Want some, Spock?”

Spock kicked his feet and batted his arms with a burbling smile before leaning forward and opening his mouth.

Intrigued at Spock’s response, Sybok blinked at him, before putting the spoon forward into Spock’s waiting mouth.

Spock closed his mouth around the spoon, taking the food into his mouth before smacking it around and looking up at him with big, curious brown eyes.

Spock’s willingness to eat from the spoon that Sybok offered him quickly became Sybok’s new focus in life. Momentarily forgetting even his own food, he continued to spoon up portions of the stew for Spock to eat, watching the little Vulcan’s face as Spock ate up the delicious meal.

He didn’t even notice Amanda quietly chuckling at him when he started unconsciously making faces that matched the ones Spock made as he ate. He probably wouldn’t have noticed anything else, either, had Sarek not walked in through the door a minute later.

Spock turned as his father’s presence became known to him, an immediately bright smile lighting his face as he squealed and starting batting his hands on the table. “Thama!”

Sybok blinked at the word, quickly turning around to face Sarek as well, his eyes widening at the sight of the elder Vulcan even as Amanda came forward to greet him.

"Welcome home," she said with a fond smile, taking Sarek's outer robe from him and setting it aside before motioning toward the table. "Dinner is ready. I'll get your dish from the kitchen."

"Thank you, my wife." Sarek replied, walking into the room and watching the two children as Spock immediately started to flail his arms. "Hello, Spock." he said, reaching down to place a hand on his son's forehead as he passed. His eyes met Sybok's, and he nodded to him as he passed. "Greetings, Sybok. I trust your visit has been comfortable."

"It has, Father," Sybok said, quickly schooling himself into the best possible presentation of a Vulcan that he could manage. His mother had taught him much, but somehow being in front of Sarek's watchful gaze now was making a little flutter of unease tickle his stomach. He carefully returned the elder Vulcan's nod. "Thank you for allowing me to stay here."