The Vulcan Way

“Clipping Clue-Pons” POV CHALLENGE Fic

The Vulcan Way

By Distracted

Genre: POV Challenge, angst
Rating: G
Summary: A brief vignette which takes place right at the end of “Home”… Koss’s musings during his wedding ceremony. Koss is a GOOD guy in this one, so get ready to toss out your preconceptions.

A/N: Linda asked me to get inside Koss’ head a while back. I thought he’d make an interesting POV. Thanks for the idea, Linda.

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Koss straightened his shoulders and, deliberately refraining from glancing at his mother, who stood solemnly at his father’s side with the wedding guests and witnesses beneath the veranda, raised the striker in his right hand and struck the gong a resounding blow. He repeated it, the tone ringing loudly in the small courtyard, and then paused to wait for his bride. His face revealed none of the turmoil that seethed within him.

T’Les, his future mother-in-law, stepped into the courtyard and joined the wedding guests. She maintained a civil distance from his mother. The two of them had an understanding. Koss clenched his jaw and forcefully suppressed the fleeting sensations of resentment and humiliation which briefly broke past his rigid emotional control. His filial duty was clear. This betrothal had been his parents’ wish… an alliance with a politically advantageous house. The fact that his future bride wanted nothing to do with him and had had to be coerced into the union was irrelevant. The pairing was advantageous to both families, and eminently logical.

His eyes turned to the entrance to the courtyard. His bride stepped through the entrance, dressed in pale lilac. Her face was a blank mask, revealing nothing. Her body, revealed only partially by the drape of her flowing garment, was ripe and ready to bear his offspring. He exhaled, and stepped forward to greet her silently with two fingers outstretched, seeing before him the perfect representation of Vulcan womanhood. For a moment, his turmoil vanished… and then he touched her fingertips with his own.

He clenched his teeth to prevent himself from displaying an embarrassing show of emotion, and forced himself to maintain the contact as they turned in unison to kneel before the priest. As the ancient words of the marriage rite were spoken, her grief and loathing… a hatred of her situation, of her own weakness, and, lastly, of him, though he could sense her shame over the emotion and her desperate attempts to suppress it… were communicated as clearly as if she had voiced them through the intimate touch they were forced to share. His eyes searched her face. How was it possible for her to maintain such perfect outward control when there was so little control within? She met his eyes, and he sensed her apology, but the overwhelming emotions continued to bombard him. His eyes shied away from hers almost involuntarily. To look directly into her eyes while experiencing her uncontrolled emotions felt like an obscene invasion of her privacy. He’d known once he saw her again in her mother’s house after her return to Vulcan that she’d changed… that something was not right with her. He’d thought it was simply too much time spent with humans, but now he wasn’t so sure. There was something seriously wrong with her emotional control. She showed very little of the change outwardly, but a single touch by any Vulcan would reveal it. He’d have to discuss this with his parents. If the defect was inheritable, she would not be a suitable mother for his children. Surely even they could see the illogic of a union with a woman incapable of bearing normal offspring.

As the priest continued, Koss’s eyes roamed the veranda behind T’Pol, searching for him… the one she’d brought home to meet her family, ignoring with her impulsive actions the centuries-long tradition which forced a certain distance between Vulcans and offworlders for the preservation of secrets. He found the human standing in the shadows, away from the other guests. He was dressed in Vulcan formalwear, and stood with his eyes fixed on the back of T’Pol’s head. Unlike the Vulcans present, who stood watching the proceedings with bland and emotionless expressions, the human’s feelings were written all over his face. His teeth were clenched in obvious pain, and his eyes shone with unshed tears. His hands were in white-knuckled fists at his side. Koss’ eyes returned to the face of his bride in sudden realization. The undercurrent of grief that he sensed from her now made sense. In Kalifee, he would have killed the human. That was the reason she came willingly to him… that and her filial duty to her mother. They were both trapped in this union by circumstances beyond their control.

As the priest completed the ceremony, Koss met the eyes of his wife. Her wildly uncontrolled emotions still disturbed him, but he found himself moved by her situation to an unaccustomed emotion. He met her eyes as they widened in surprise. Koss nodded solemnly to his new bride, and looked upon her with pity and sympathy. They would have to learn to adapt. It was an unusual beginning for a marriage, but it would have to do. It was the Vulcan way.

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Distracted! Wow! This was great. I'm personally in the camp that Koss isn't all that bad of a guy and this story was exactly what I would imagine. I also liked the way you had Koss react to Trip, I always was curious what the other guests thought of Trip, the kiss and how he did look pained at the ceremony. After all, Vulcans aren't oblivious!

All in all I thought this was a great story. You said a lot with very few words.

Distracted, you've done it again! You have an uncommon gift for the written word, one I'm extremely glad to partake of! That was awesome, and very very very well written. Koss seemed almost decent for a minute there (...that's not entirely fair, the man did have some principles. He release T'Pol, after all)! Great stuff, and I eagerly await more of your genius in print! :)

Nice story. I too have been working on a Koss story for this challenge. Yours is far better than mine but we have rather different takes on things. If I could sent it to you to get permission prior to submiting it since it does deal with Koss?
framework4 at gmail dot com
Mine was simply background notes for my story in progress ["Assimilation" (where Trip is adopted into Koss's Vulcan family group)] till I saw the CHALLENGE the other day and started writing it as its own story.

I think Koss would have understood T'Pol could not invoke Kali-fi regardless of the outcome. He knew he blackmailed her into the marriage. If Trip won, then Koss' family wouldn't have helped T'Les and if Koss won, then nothing would be different other than Trip would be dead. Since T'Pol had nothing to gain by invoking Kali-fi, she wouldn't have considered invoking it.

I do like how you make Koss seem decent. I also like your explanation of why Koss would release T'Pol as soon as T'Les was dead. Thinking her an unfit mother would explain a lot.

Thanks for the comments, guys. I'm glad the idea of Koss as a basically decent guy was acceptable to everyone.

Patrick, feel free to submit your story. No one here has dibs on a character. We're all free to present our personal vision, even if it conflicts with someone else's. If you'd like me to have a look at your story and offer suggestions,though, feel free to pm me through the HoT Bulletin Board. Although my permission is definitely NOT required, I enjoy beta reading the work of aspiring fanfic writers. Good luck! : )

Very nicely done Distracted..... I have always hated Koss in the past, your story almost makes me feel sorry for him. A very well written piece. T.

An excellent story! I enjoyed the characterization of Koss very much. I also appreciate that you included the moment of realization of TnT, that "clipping the clue-pon" moment.

Thank you for writing this!

You're quite welcome, Binah. The "get a clue" moment is, after all, the whole point of the challenge. : )

Very well done! This is a great story! You've created a perfectly plausible reason for Koss to end his marriage to T'Pol. What we saw on the show just left me scratching my head. The guy blackmails her into marrying him and then it's just over? Strange.

I agree that Trip's presence wouldn't really bother Koss (although he might be a bit unsettled if he'd realized that T'Pol had been intimate with the him). I think Koss would be concerned about her bearing "normal" Vulcan children. I also think that he would be concerned with her becoming a dutiful Vulcan wife...but then again, maybe he didn't care. Maybe all that he required was for T'Pol to produce an heir. She could then head back out into space, he would raise the child on Vulcan and they would have a marriage in name only. Interesting. So why did he break off the marriage? It can't just be T'Les' death. Or can it? Good stories are always thought-provoking. And this one is definitely good. Lot's to ponder. Thank you.

You have such a gift for getting inside of characters' heads and giving us a better understanding of them. And that just makes the whole picture clearer. Wonderful and insightful as always.

Very well done! It's a trick to empathize with a "hated" character. But through it we learn something.

Well done. I wouldn't have thought to make the realization happen at the wedding itself, but you made me believe it. :)

Great Vulcan insights, a great story. I've always loved the idea of all the emotions bubbling underneath those Vulcan controls.

I read a couple of Linda's Koss stories and I liked him, so this sympathetic piece is just up my street! I always wondered if maybe he picked up on a bond already being there. Would you be able to create a bond where one already existed? Food for thought, indeed!

An interesting question, Julie. In my view of the Trekkiverse, though, Vulcans in T'Pol's time didn't usually meld during the marriage ceremony. Melding has gone out of favor, and will not become acceptable again until the discovery of the Kir'shara, so all Koss has to go on are the vague emotional impressions he gets from being a touch telepath, and the expression on Trip's face. In my story, he's met Trip only once... briefly when he anwered the door at T'Les' house, and until he saw the man's face at the wedding and felt T'Pol's emotions at the same time, he suspected but didn't fully BELIEVE that it was possible for the two of them to actually be a couple. He believes it now, but it's too late. Since the Vulcan marriage bond takes time and proximity to gradually develop in the absence of a meld, and T'Pol doesn't even realize she's bonded to Trip yet, poor Koss is in for a rude awakening down the road. And yes, it's my theory that the primary reason why he eventually releases her is that she can't be bonded to two men at the same time, and Koss finally understands that she's bonded to Trip.

Oh wow... one of your best. I too prefer the kind and gentle Koss. This seems so much more real and believable to me.

Great job, wonderful passionate story.

Great work Distracted, Koss deserves a little understanding and certainly gets it from you! I thought the actor protrayed him as really caring about T'Pol, if you look closely at his face in the Home episode and in the scenes from the Vulcan arc episodes. I think a lot of people didn't want to see that, LOL. But Koss does have the sympathy of a few of us, right? To me, he is not the 'architect' of this marraige anyway - it was laid on him by his parents and Vulcan society, as you show.

And he certainly was 'clued in' by Trip in the background of your story! I liked the part of T'Pol protecting Trip from a male rival confrontation with someone three times his strength, in addition to helping her mother. great insight!

And now I am wondering if your Trip of this story would have had more of a negative reaction to the pairing of the two architects in The Commission? Trip was so defensive of his sister, but if she hadn't died, do you think Trip and T'Pol would ever have found each other? Someone should write about that situation! I like to prod writers on with a little stick, poke, poke.

An interesting question. If Trip's sister HADN'T died in the Xindi attack, would TnT have been drawn together? Assuming that T'Pol would still be experimenting with Trellium-D, but had no readily available outlet for the expression of sexual feelings in a half-dressed Trip who so conveniently presented himself for neuropressure, who would she turn to? I still think she'd turn to someone of roughly equivalent rank if she was still thinking straight. A superior would make things entirely too complicated. It's probably just my shippy soul talking, but it still seems to me that Trip would remain the obvious choice for her "experimentation". I imagine she might have sought to relieve aggressive feelings first, though, before giving in to the sexual ones if a sexual outlet had not been so readily available. Who do YOU think she'd beat the stuffing out of? Amanda, Hayes, or Malcolm? : )

Is "The Commission" one of your fics? I remember reading something about Koss and Elizabeth together maybe? Why don't you give us that reference so we can go read that again.

Ok...I first wrote Koss and then Koss Again, but combined the two stories into The Commission for the SNW contest. Then Myst put the Commission on Soval's Annex when SNW did not accept it. I think you read Koss and Koss again because you left a comment, but The Commission is a better crafted story. Still, it needs more work to be a good story, but its one I just had to write to defend Koss!

Sounds like I need to take another look. Thanks for the update.

Thinking himself Distractedless, Rasputin Kossed a blue streak, but then settled down, played "Mysty Blue" in the background, found "The Vulcan Way," curiously read about a fellow priest in the story, became sleepy, Kossed and turned some more, then entered a dream about his own ex-wife. Holy icons, but you can write a powerful story!

*groan* Ummm... thank you Raz. (Argh! The puns! The puns! I'm meltingggggg.....)