Title: On Fathers and Sons
Characters: baby!Spock, Sarek, Amanda
Word count: ~944
Genre: humour, cuteness :)
Summary: Response to this
prompt posted on
st_xi_kink.
Ambassador Sarek watched his first born son in silence. The child was most certainly not sleeping peacefully like Amanda has promised. Spock sat up almost immediately after his mother left the room, when she was invited to meet with wives of other ambassador's.
At first the boy enjoyed playing with the blanket in his crib and Sarek observed him, cataloging his son's squeals, babbling and jabbering. Spock wasn't much different from other Vulcan children, other than his appearance.
With time, Sarek thought, the boy will be taught to control his emotions and to follow the logic. But as for now, Spock was too young to comprehend the Vulcan way and he acted on his feelings and his responses were based on instinct.
A particularly loud squeak captured his attention.
The Ambassador walked closer to the crib to see what has caused such a reaction from his son.
It seemed that Spock managed somehow to tangle himself with the blanket, which covered him thoroughly. Sarek could see the outlines of his child, fumbling under the soft fabric.
Spock seemed to be at most intrigued by the sudden darkness and restriction of his moves.
Sarek thought it was only logical of his son to investigate the matter instead of being scared. The older Vulcan straightened his shoulders. Spock had nothing to be afraid of.
Sarek reached out after a moment of consideration and grabbed the edge of the blanket, throwing it aside and revealing Spock's green-flushed face and a mass of tousled dark hair.
Brown eyes met his and the boy lifted his small arms towards his father.
Sarek refused to admit he was confused by this gesture. This would indicate he had emotions.
Suddenly, Spock burst out laughing.
Sarek frowned. He looked around the room, scanning it for any possible reason for which his son would demonstrate this human emotion. He looked back at the child when he found no such thing. It was unheard of, to laugh without a reason. Even among humans, Sarek thought.
Spock squealed, flailed his arms a bit and the baby-laughter filled the room again.
The Ambassador decided to examine this human reaction further. Of course, Amanda was human, but the Vulcan didn't have much experience with human children.
Spock was wriggling and watching his father just as intently as he was being watched.
Sarek lifter his eyebrow when after a long moment Spock still wasn't laughing.
In the same moment Spock threw his head backwards and Sarek's ears were filled with his son's laughter.
It was so sudden that Sarek didn't manage to notice what was it exactly that amused his son. He frowned, thinking of any starting point for his investigation.
The boy babbled, and Sarek lifted his eyebrow again.
His son doubled over, laughing even more, hiding his face in his little hands. His arms twitched as he rode off the wave of laughter.
"Fascinating..." the Vulcan murmured and waited until the child calmed down.
He leaned over the crib's barrier and grasped the child under his arms gently, taking him out of the crib and lifting up into the air. Sarek held the boy at arm's length, watching him closely and waiting for another outburst of laughter.
He lifted his eyebrow.
Spock squealed, delighted. The Ambassador felt the little body quivering in his hands and a split second after that, Spock was laughing again.
Sarek found the logical pattern. He just needed to test it further to confirm the results.
He lifted his eyebrow.
Spock laughed.
The Vulcan drew his son closer, placing the child against his chest and supporting him with his arm.
He lifted his eyebrow again because it seemed only logical to confirm the previous results. Again.
As he previously calculated, Spock reacted the same way as before.
Only this time the boy was closer to the source of his amusement. Sarek did not expect Spock to try to grab the eyebrow which intrigued the boy so much.
The Vulcan leaned back and turned his head away from the child's investigating hands. Spock was not as strong as a full-blooded Vulcan baby would be, but he still had enough strength to pull at hair and make it painful.
Sarek decided it was only logical to save his eyebrow from being torn out. But it wasn't enough of a reason to suspend the examination.
Soon he had Spock laughing, rolling, flailing, squealing, wriggling and twitching almost at the same time when he resumed lifting the eyebrow. Moreover, he went further with his research, trying to determine if Spock responds only to one eyebrow or if the other one would trigger the same reaction.
***
Amanda never fully understood Spock's sudden outbursts of laughter. Her son would start laughing for no particular reason in various situations.
Whenever she turned to her husband, Sarek seemed to be engaged in conversation with another Vulcan scientist or an ambassador, or he simply was oblivious of his son's behavior.
She was relieved when Spock's outbursts stopped with time, as the boy started to learn to follow the Vulcan path of logic. Spock was fortunate not to laugh in front of the Vulcan council - that would be most inappropriate.
At the same time, she was disappointed. Spock turned to his Vulcan heritage too early for Amanda's liking.
She did however notice, that her son was more similar to his father with each day.
Sarek did not admit it openly, but she felt his pride flowing through their bond one day, when ten-year-old Spock lifted his eyebrow, imitating his father unconsciously.
And maybe she was imagining it, but she could swear she felt his husband's amusement for a split second.
(end)
A/N: I... uh... I noticed I started to lift my eyebrow a lot recently. I hate being new to a fandom! *facepalms and shakes her head*