Title: Human's Kiss and Vulcan's Touch Author: Arachnethe2 Series: TOS Part: 1/1 Rating: [PG-13] Codes: K/S Disclaimer: The characters belong to Paramount Pictures. This is a piece of amateur fan fiction. I make no many of it. Sumary: Well, it is difficult to say... the idea for this piece was very spontaneous. All, what the story is about, is in the title, OK? English is not my native language, please forgive me my errors. Many thanks belong to greywolf - my editor. Human's Kiss and Vulcan's Touch (TOS, K/S, PG-13) Written by Arachnethe2... ...for S.R.Benjamin Vulcans don't kiss, Vulcans touch. Nobody knows how old the habit is, of stretching out two fingers and touching one's partner's fingertips with one's own. Perhaps it began in the dawn of our existence, when the ancestors of my ancestors discovered that the sensation of this simple gesture doesn't stop at the surface of our body, but continues farther into our mind. And sometimes it reaches the most hidden places of our soul. As far as I can remember, from the early days of my childhood, I can still see my parents sharing this touch. In those moments my mother would close her eyes. She was so strange at it, so beautiful, so human. Humans don't touch, humans kiss. That evening in the garden of our house is still so vivid in my mind, as if it happened just yesterday. I was sitting behind the wall of roses, meditating, when suddenly I heard soft steps along the path - the steps of my mother. "Amanda", the voice of my father came behind her. Through the small opening in the wall I could see her blue robe; she had stopped just in front of where I was hidden. She turned to the direction father's voice was coming from. In the next moment the dark fabric of his tunic appeared in the focus of my view. "I can't believe it, Sarek, why have you done this?" My mind ordered me to leave them to their privacy, but I couldn't do that without being heard, without embarrassing them. And then, there was an another sensation in me, a Vulcan one indeed: curiosity. Very carefully I knelt and lifted my head to an another opening between the plants: my parents stood there on the path as close to each other as I had ever seen them -- my mother was obviously distracted and my father not so calm as usual. "He is so young..." "He is seven, Amanda. Old enough for a bonding. Every Vulcan is bonded at this age, as I was, myself." "Tradition, Sarek? Or how should I understand it? Are you afraid, that without this ... act he will be not Vulcan enough in the eyes of others?" "This is the task our son will have to go through all his life. We can't do it for him, but I... we can prepare him for that as well as it is possible for us." "But we have found each other and agreed to live together from free will. Why do you want to take away his chance to do the same?" "To protect him. I have to admit, that I was fortunate. I was divorced, alone, my time so close. The probability of finding another partner was so small, that I never tried to calculate it." My mother didn't answer, she only looked at my father, desperately trying to understand him. My father moved even closer to her, but I heard his words anyway. "Yes, I will take away his chance to choose, but I have proved all possibilities. Amanda, my wife, you know the girl. Her parents are our friends, among the few we have made on Vulcan. I know her father, from when I studied at the Vulcan Science Academy. They both belong to the most respectable families. And although they, too, were bonded in our traditional way, their life is full of respect for each other. You have pointed at it too. It can't ever be compared with that first bonding of mine. Sometimes I have almost envied my friend for that. Don't you think, that the bond between our son and their daughter could be as strong and joyful as the bonds of their parents? Spock and T'Pring know each other, her parents have agreed to the bonding immediately. Our son will have a family, that will accept him. He is already alone in his existence. I don't want to have him being lonely." I had never heard my father speak in this way. So soft, so gentle, so full of understanding. My mother remained silent for some seconds. Then she lifted her head and looked at my father: "Your logic is as perfect as usual, husband. Perhaps you are right..." She stretched out her two fingers and my father touched them with his own, watching the eyes of his wife close, and then he leaned forward and touched her lips with his own. I had never seen a kiss until then, and never even heard of it. So, hidden behind the roses, I watched my parents kissing each other for some endless minutes, and seeing them like this just right in that moment, I believed, that the future could hold as much for me as it did for my parents. "Father, forgive me, my behaviour has shamed you." My father turned from his terminal and lifted his eyebrow at this ritual beginning of an apology. Yet he answered in accord with the tradition: "There is never shame in accord of logical decision." His face softened a little, "what have you done, my son?" "I have acted against the rules of privacy." I took a breath and continued as calmly as possible, "yesterday evening I accidentally heard the conversation between you and mother. I was meditating behind the roses wall and did not willingly witness your... argument." "Then I can spare myself telling you about your bonding ceremony." My father was about to turn to his terminal again. What, no meditation as a punishment this time? "Father?" "Anything else?" "May I ...may I T'Pring..." to my horror I felt myself blush. So much for the discipline today. My father stared at me for some seconds, till he got the clue. I was sure, that a smile flickered in his eyes, but his voice changed from the soft one to the usual tone: "Spock," he said sternly. Ok, it will be the meditation this time, as always. "This is a human custom and when I have used it, it is because I'm married to a human. So much for farther explanation. The things between me and your mother are not your concern." I bowed in traditional respect and headed for my meditation mat. "My son," his voice getting soft again stopped me at the threshold, "to use the customs of the other people, will not only help you to understand them, but yourself too. This knowledge is valid not only for the kiss you witnessed yesterday, but for the other things too. And if you are going to meditate now, then think about this last sentence." Soon, very soon, it should turn out to be the credo of my whole life. She was beautiful. Every time I visited the house of her parents, she had surprised me with her beauty anew. I always sat in a chair, spoke almost nothing, but I could look at her for hours. "Why do you never say something?" She had asked me once. "Can't you do anything else except look around? What do you see?" "You." "Me?" She shook her head and the trinkets in her hair glittered in the sun, "of course, it is only logical, that you can see me, if I'm standing in front of you and your eyes are healthy." "Yes." She gave up this conversation and left, to turn to an another more suitable partner. And I let her, so I would have the chance to watch her without embarrassing her with my staring. And then, four weeks after my dialogue with my father, I stood in front of her, wearing a traditional bonding robe, surrounded by members of both our families, and the smoke of ceremonial candles. The priestess spoke out the ritual bonding words and then I touched the meld points on T'Pring's face. Our thoughts met, our minds entwined each other, the bond took its form. At end I stretched the two fingers of my hand and touched hers. A small mental signal reached deep into my soul. The priestess hit the gong - the bonding ceremony was successful. Later we were siting in the garden and I tried to speak in sentences which contained more than only one word. She listened to me, all polite patience of a girl with good manners. I wanted to do something, something special, to surprise her. "There is a traditional custom among humans," I told her. She lifted her eyebrow. "Show me." And I leaned forward and touched her lips with my own. She pulled immediately away. "This is disgusting." I was stunned. I did something I didn't want to... "I apologise, T'Pring." "Never come to me with this ...thing. The others might tolerate the lack of control of a half human, but not me." And with those words she left me. I sat alone on the bench for a long time. Despite the events which happened years later, I could perhaps say that it had already started here, but that would be nonsense. We were both children, we were seven years old. I was sure, the whole time, that there was a future for us and I believed it even in the moment when I stood in front of the gong at the place of Koon-ut-Kalifee, to start the marriage ceremony. The events thereafter and the painful emptiness of the place in my mind, which had been filled with the sensation of another presence for years, shattered my belief in myself for a very long time. Touches and kisses. When I remember those moments I still see them, like a kaleidoscope of pictures, which, appearing suddenly in my mind, couldn't give any sense at the first sight. Yet they have always marked the moments of the strongest sensations in my life: There was an early morning on Vulcan, the stars still shone in the sky, but the sun had already painted the horizon. I stood with my mother at the gate. Father was somewhere in the house. We didn't take leave from each other. This was the beginning of an eighteen year long silence between us both. "Live long and prosper, my mother," I said to her. "Live long and prosper, my son." And then she shifted herself a little and kissed me slightly. I looked behind her the whole time, when she went back to the house without turning back. And only then I headed for the transporter station. Untouchable. I didn't understand, why the human cadets at the academy smiled, when they said that word. Later I found out the second meaning of that word and simultaneously the irony, with which they reacted to the distance I have always required from them. My first holiday, which I spent in the mountains in Colorado. I was too far from the next camp, when I was surprised by a storm. From one moment to the next the blue sky was covered with black clouds and the first thunder echoed between the rocks. But another sound reached my ears too. The bottom under my feet shuddered; hundreds of hammers were beating the stones. Wild horses. A large herd of beautiful animals leaded by a black stallion surrounded me. They were many, but without slowing their speed they passed me by, forming a circle around me. But I was quick, too. I ran some meters beside one horse until I could grasp its mane and settle myself atop of its back. The storm came over us, the rain whipped my back, but I held my horse tightly and giving my trust to its instinct, I let myself be driven through the darkness, which was penetrated through blinding bliss. "Lieutenant-commander, welcome aboard the Enterprise." Before I could react I felt the hand of captain Pike squeezing my own. I looked into his eyes and saw there what I had already felt through the touch: Power, trust, care of a man, who is responsible for the Safety of every being on board of his ship. "Spock, I'm sorry, but I have to touch you." The Enterprise had survived a serious attack by the Orion pirates. The outer hull was damaged, the ship almost ran out of energy, three quarters of the crew were injured, and some had died. "The diagnostic devices are damaged, I can't trust their data. So I have to examine you in the old fashioned way." The folded face of doctor Piper was all sorrow. But he didn't wait for my permission, his care for the patient took over his usually good manners. His fingers touched my body, to discover three damaged ribs, an injured wrist and a broken leg. "Nothing serious, son," he smiled and patted me at my arm as he had always done to the others crew members. The Orions left a whole quadrant and the Federation made it to the new territory. There was a planet, which on a former slave camp had been discovered. We beamed down with food and medical supplies. At first it seemed that the barracks were empty, but then the people came to us, moving slowly as if in disbelief, that their tragic destiny was over. I was there as they came closer to me and touched me in an illogical wonder, that I was real. Through my thoughts I signalled to them, that they were safe, that no one would cause any harm to them. "Time to go. You are a fine officer, Spock. I believe the new captain will appreciate that." "As for you commodore, it was a honour for me to serve under your command." We shook hands. "Permission to come aboard, Commander." "Permission granted, Captain." He was young, frighteningly young, so young that I was afraid he might lack competence. Out of my reflection I tried to greet him in the usual human custom. But then I felt the distance, which was far wider than the half meter between us. He looked at me, his hazel eyes measuring my competence, but that was all that I could read in his so-closed face. I straightened my back: "Welcome to the Enterprise, Captain Kirk." She trembled under my fingers and through every nerve I felt the pain, the rage at the loss of her children. I had loaned her my mind, my voice: "Murderer." I was no longer myself. I was her, the mother, who, getting angry at the humans who had destroyed the future of her race, attacked them mercilessly, to defend her still not born siblings. Leila Kalomi... I held her face in my hands. It was cold around us, so cold that it was dangerous for me. I appreciated McCoy's concern for my health and for the situation we were in. But I still couldn't loose myself from her. We were together for so short a time and now I had to go back, and she couldn't follow me. I looked back at her, while she disappeared in the snow storm. Oh Zarabeth... And I had thought that I was lonely. Only I know her name, because she had told me. For the others she was a commandant. A beautiful, powerful commandant of a Romulan star ship. But it was not her, that I had wanted. It was the cloaking device - a new and dangerous system, discovered by her people. The safety of the whole Enterprise hung upon the success of my task. Trust. Belief in her instinct and the feeling of the attraction toward me, all this I felt as my palm touched hers. And this all I betrayed, because my loyalty belonged to someone else. She slapped me and I deserved it, yet I never regretted my decisions. Narcissus, she called me so, when I visited her in her cell aboard the Enterprise. Untouchable Narcissus. I didn't know what she meant by that, until I found this old terran legend. And refused to believe what I found out. "Nyota, it is illogical from you to spend the whole night in the sickbay. Your services are needed on the bridge." "The captain wanted to be sure that you are not alone here." "I'm not alone. There are enough medical personnel around me." "You know exactly what I mean." "Should I?" At this question I lifted my eyebrow, knowing this gesture of mine would amuse her. She smiled indeed, but instead of continuing the verbal teasing, she leaned forward and kissed me gently on my cheek. It was a strange sensation, yet not an unpleasant one. It was a simple sign of sympathy from a female friend. "What should I play for you?" She asked, and reached for my harp. The ship was without its captain. I sat in the command chair, giving my orders to the crew, who were running around, the bridge drowned in the semidarkness of the red alert. We were attacked by the Orions. My captain was lying injured in sickbay and I was responsible not only for the ship and four hundred crew members, but for one hundred federation diplomats, who were to take part in the Babel Conference. And for the life of my father, who was dying at that moment, because I couldn't give him my blood, which McCoy needed for the surgery. I had to defend the ship. My mother couldn't understand it. But she didn't have to. She was never of Starfleet, and in this moment her thoughts were focused on the fading bond between her and her husband. 'The ship is essential for surviving in space. Without the ship we all will die.' This sentence is part of the mind of every Starfleet officer. Without the ship, nothing makes any sense. Not even the operation of my father's heart. "Mr. Spock," the captain's voice sounded suddenly on the bridge. He was pale, the drops of sweat on his forehead and his face, the visible effort to hold himself on his feet. For one moment he lost his balance, and I caught him. Calm, he was so calm inside, so sure of his own decision... ...I released him, let him take the responsibility from my shoulders. Later much later, I was sitting beside his bed. The sickbay was dark and we were alone. My father slept in the bed next to us, the terminals showed positive signs of his recovery. But Jim's state got worse. Commanding the ship with such a serious wound in his back caused him high fever. But I sat there, although I had always thought that such behaviour is illogical. I heard the nurse coming, it was time to go. I squeezed his hand slightly before I left. Red sand burned my palms as I knelt in the sun of my homeworld meditating, preparing myself for the final proof. Then I would be ready to become an adept of the Kholinar and Gol would be the place where I would spend all the years of my life. At first they had separated us from the ship, and then from each other. Jim was promoted to admiral and became the chief of Tactical Operations. The whole week I didn't see him, only in the company of admiral Nogura. Suddenly strange people surrounded him. People with unpleasant smiles and cold polite phrases. Jim seemed to be far away. He became suddenly unreachable for me and the other members of his former crew. I knew that I didn't belong there, so I did the only thing that seemed right to me: I left. But why was the loss so painful? Why the sensation of a bleeding wound in my mind? Why did a pair of green/hazel eyes follow me even in my dreams? Why was I dreaming, when Vulcans don't dream? And why about him? Three years. The whole three years I tried to burn those eyes out of my mind, to save myself. A wasted time, wasted efforts. T'Sai saw it, too, in my mind - sufficient reason to declare me unworthy to join the order. I have searched for answers to my questions. But why V'ger? There were unbelievable amounts of data stored in him, but at the end nothing more than this. "Jim, there are no answers," I told him later, in sickbay. I was weak, losing consciousness, but a pair of hazel eyes were so close. "It's asking questions." Surely we were not alone in sickbay, but he held my hand tightly, touching me in my most deep places of my mind. The mask of an unreachable admiral slid a little aside and for a moment I could see, what was hidden behind. A week later I sat in a taxi, which brought me to the quarter of San Francisco where he was living. Except for our dialogue in the sickbay, we hadn't spoken to each other, only in the line of duty. And even in those moments we were again the unreachable admiral and the untouchable Vulcan. The last 24 hours I hadn't even seen him. Leaving the Enterprise in orbit he gave me the command and then he disappeared behind the walls of HQ. Finally I could get free, and went to his office. A Secretary gave me his address. I had never been in this part of town before. To be honest, I knew only the Starfleet sector and the villa of the Vulcan Embassy. The high houses, all looking alike, the lots and lots of small windows awakened a strange feeling of loneliness in me. These were the famous anonymous living units, for people who needed only a place for their bed, for people who await no one at home and expect no one to visit. But I had to visit him, I had to tell him why my task on Vulcan was complete. I didn't even know if he would be there, but to spend the whole night sitting on the stairs was the last thing that concerned me. But he was there. He opened immediately as I chimed at his door, a cup of coffee in his hand, wearing a wide dark green robe, which was open and revealed, that his only other piece of clothing was a pair of white boxers. The sight of them on him caught my breath. He didn't say a word, he only stepped aside and let me in. His apartment was an almost empty room. In one corner stood a replicator, in the other a bed for one person and a wardrobe. I was sure it contained only uniforms. A door let probably into a bathroom. The only luxury of this place was a window without curtains but with a breathtaking view of the San Francisco skyline. Under it was a chair the third and last piece of furniture, proof of many hours spent sitting there and watching the dusk of the sun. I remained standing there hearing his steps from behind. We still didn't say a word. Jim came to me, placed his cup onto the window-ledge, and I slowly turned my head to look at him. His face was motionless, his whole body seemed to be calm in this moment. And then he grabbed my arm and pinned me to the wall beside the window. I could easily stop him, but I didn't. Was it from the surprise, from the silent command to be still, which I could read in his green/hazel eyes? I never came to answer the question, because in the next moment he kissed me. And I could do nothing but to surrender to the overwhelming sensation of the hot wetness of his tongue, which parted my lips and invaded the inside of my mouth. Hot, passionate, incredible human kisses on me. I lost any sensation of the passage of time. The universe around me reduced itself to the waves of intoxicating pleasure, which crushed over me every time Jim's lips and sharp teeth ravished the skin of every part of my body. Getting faster, more intensive they drove me toward my agony, until finally I found release, and screaming, I came into his mouth. It took some moments for me, until I became aware of the trousers around my ankles, the cool sensation of air on my naked chest, a pair of hands holding my hips tightly, a warm breath on my groin - Jim still on his knees in front of me, his face buried in my body, the heavy garment of his robe spread over the floor. I slid down to him and took him in my arms. "Forgive me, but I wanted to do it," he whispered, "since our dialogue in the sickbay I promised myself, that I will not let you go, whatever the consequences would be." Gently I forced him to look at me. His eyes were so bright, so vulnerable. "Jim, since our dialogue in the sickbay, I have promised myself, that I will come to you and ask for it, even when I could be refused by you." "Never... Spock, never you..." And then he kissed me again. And again I felt the agonising wave spilling itself over me, but this time I withdrew as gently as possible, because I wanted to do something for him, something special. I pulled us both out of our clothes, then lifted my human and brought him to his bed. There I pushed the sheets aside and sat myself atop of the mattress. His vulnerability seemed to increase, as he was half lying/half sitting onto my lap, being supported by my left arm, his hands half open, trust in his eyes. I stretched two fingers of my right hand and touched him slightly. He shivered in response. I started to brush the warm skin of his body, traced the small circles all over his chest and stomach and every time he responded with a trembling, slight at first, then growing stronger. I never looked away from him. The sight of Jim, savouring the pleasure of my touch, had captured me fully. I almost wished this all could continue forever. But then he came into my hand, almost driven insane, incredibly beautiful in his rapture. When he looked then at me, his gaze was still dim, his lips parted as for a kiss. And I put my two fingers on them gently, touching/kissing him. They parted us again. But there were only twenty meters between us, a crowd of people around us and eighteen endless hours behind us, since I touched him for the last time. I watched his dialogue with an Andorian diplomat, drowning myself in my thoughts. In them, I was still in our taxi, which waited patiently for the main building of Starfleet HQ, while inside the admiral still kissed his first officer, obviously not concerned about being late. But it was the time immediately after V'ger and we were the heroes, we have had our privileges. Finally, regret in his eyes, he had released me and stepped out, adjusting his uniform and tousled hair in front of others outside, not to mention the flushed lips, which told clearly to everyone what he had done some seconds ago. Remaining alone in the taxi I headed for the central transporter, to beam myself back to the Enterprise. And the whole time I asked myself how visible is the last night on me? And although I had used all my control rules, even the ones I had learned at Gol, I still had the illogical impression, that almost all of it was. But however, already, the previous night, there were two who were aware of us. Jim had awakened me gently and before I could ask, the door chimed. "I have ordered some more furniture," Jim smiled at me and handed me his robe and clad only in his boxers he let two persons in. In no longer than a half hour the both ladies had manoeuvred - with the help of antigrav devices - Jim's old bed out and a new one for two in. Then they brought a second chair, a new table and more sheets. Wearing innocent faces they arranged the sheets on our new bed, although this task was not part of their duty. Jim handed them then a chip with a generous amount of credits and beaming at them both with his usual warm charm he said: "The rest is for your discretion." Both women looked at him, then at me and my uniform, still lying in the corner and then the first of them said: "But only if you are going to test the bed tonight." "That's an order", said the second one. "Aye, ma'am." Was it really my voice? The three humans looked at me and then they burst out in loud laughter. Then, finally alone, we did it. Long, slowly, intensive. And when I awoke the next morning, in our new bed, Jim in my arms, I was at peace. That was when I realised something else too: Mental rays in my mind, the feeling of an another presence in the place of my soul, which was so painfully empty for so long. Carefully I touched them. Jim stirred and opened his eyes. Before I could realise, that I was thinking his name instead of saying it aloud, it had already echoed in his mind. And he understood immediately what had happened. His eyes widened and then he covered my body with his own. We will be late, was my last thought, before I forgot all around me. The bond. Being initiated between two children it's nothing more than an innocent exchange of thoughts at first. Later it will develop itself into a sensitive string, intimate in its emotional and yes ... sexual context. But the mental connection initiated between two adults is exactly that, even increased of the fresh rawness, which has to be calmed a little down, to shield its intimacy from the other minds. Usually the new pair spends the first weeks of their bonding in the traditional isolation, to maintain their mental connections and to explore each other's minds. But for me and Jim it was impossible. We had no time for each other, except perhaps the night hours in Jim's tiny apartment. But this was too short. There were the meetings, the negotiations, the hundreds of moments which were not to be wasted, because every passed minute might increase the possibility for Jim to get command of the Enterprise back. And for me, there was the duty in orbit still. While Jim had to be in Headquarters, I took the responsibility for the ship, the crew and the repairs of the warp equipment, hoping at last, that the not telepathic humans will not figure out the truth about our relationship. Or not now, till we are together for short a time. But there wasn't any chance for my wish. The place Jim and I were in, now, was the garden of the Vulcan Embassy, and the party around us was nothing less than the famous Garden Soiree - the highlight of the San Francisco summer Saison. The first date for it was cancelled, because the whole Earth was in danger. And then, after all was over, the whole planet turned into a big spontaneous party. But the spontaneity coming from the Vulcan Embassy was right now more unpleasant for me as usual. But we both had to go through this. Or better only me, because Jim in his innocence of a not telepath had no idea, that to manifest our bond in this very early state to the whole Vulcan diplomatic staff of my father and to the sixty five present telepaths of other races, was as scandalising as a passionate kiss in the T'lingshar market place. I couldn't help but let it all go patiently over me, being stuck between Jim's joyful presence in my mind, and the embarrassing knowledge, that because of me he was irritating all the telepaths around him, whose confusion was spreading over to the not telepaths, and that there were already first knowing looks toward me and my bondmate. The highlight of it all was the early departure of the Deltan ambassador, who was just leaving the party together with his three wives and seven husbands. They couldn't obviously bear it any more. "You should enter the bonding isolation as soon as possible, my son." My father stood suddenly beside me. "I will do it as soon as we will leave the party, father." "That's not much time, despite other facts." I raised my eyebrow. "I don't understand." But my father gave such a knowing look, that I felt myself, for a short moment, like the seven year old boy, who had once discussed the kiss with him. "Spock, I'm bonded to a human too." He said. I had to use a certain mental function which I learned at Gol, not to blush in front of him. But his gaze rested on my mother, who was just then speaking with an admiral, obviously enjoying the evening immensely. "The humans are a race without telepathic abilities, so it is easy to underestimate their mental sensitivity. I became bonded to your mother on board a shuttle between Earth and Vulcan. One point two hours before we beamed down to the planet, where I should introduce her to the whole clan." I must have looked at him with a visible question in my eyes, because my father lifted an eyebrow and continued: "Of course no one could blame Amanda for her behaviour, it was as much my fault as hers. However, T'Pau, seeing this mess, made the marriage ceremony as short as possible. We didn't take part in the banquet thereafter, and our bonding isolation was twice as long as the usual one." "T'Pau is a wise woman." I had to admit. "Yes, she is and she appreciates too, that she doesn't have to search after a bondmate for you." At the fact that the news had already reached Vulcan I said nothing, because right then Jim joined us, his face radiating fierce joy. I felt father's shields increase their intensity. "Well," Jim beamed at me happily, "that's all for today, I think we can go." He turned to my father: "It was a long day Ambassador, if you will not object I will leave now. The party was a success." "As much as your bonding with my son, admiral," my father was all dignifity of a Vulcan diplomat. Jim blushed but didn't look away. Some seconds passed by, until there was an acceptance formed between my father and my new bondmate. Then they both looked at me. Kaidith, we should make it official. Knowing that the whole garden was watching us, I stretched the two fingers of my hand toward him and he touched them with his own... ...and simultaneously closed his eyes. We were about to leave as I looked at my father over my shoulder, but I saw only tolerance in his face. Vulcan's touch and human's kiss. Hidden behind the bushes of white roses in the corner of the garden wall was a small gate. We were alone there ,when Jim and I stopped there for a moment, as he stretched his fingers again and touched with them my own. And again he closed his eyes, savouring in the sensation of being touched in a place deep in his mind. It was so beautiful, so strange, so human. I leaned forward and there between the roses I kissed him. End ------------------------------------------------------------------