T'Lar and Jacob Rosen Shore leave Redux

Posted on Sat May 23rd, 2026 @ 10:35am by Lieutenant JG T'Lar & Lieutenant JG Jacob Rosen

1,935 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Character Development
Location: Lake Tahoe/ Starfleet Retreat and Conference Center
Timeline: present

T'Lar and Jacob made good time, each stopping at their quarters to gather a bag of clothing and sundry items to last a few days, before rushing off to the transporter and beaming back to the site of their first romantic rendezvous. After dropping their bags off at their room they made their way to the beach adjacent to Conference Center.

A cold breeze was blowing across the lake making little white caps, as sand and pebbles crunched under the soles of their footwear. The sun was setting not over the water, for they were on the western shore of the lake, but rather behind the mountain to their backs. Nonetheless the sky was shot with a gorgeous display of purples and oranges reflected off the low clouds hanging over the Tahoe basin. The snow on the surrounding mountains still had not melted completely and the peaks glowed a deap pinkish red, while the shadows were a dark lavender. T'Lar, born to the heat of the desert nevertheless found the crispness in the air invigorating as she walked arm in arm with Jacob. They were alone on the beach, each lost in their own thoughts for a few moments before T'Lar spoke.

"Jacob..." she began, her voice low and a bit shy.

"I want you to know that whatever this is between us, I am open to exploring wherever it might lead... but... there are some things I should tell you about intimate relations with a Vulcan so that you will know what you are getting yourself into should you choose to pursue a romantic affiliation with me."

Jacob rubbed his hand across her back reassuringly, and for once did not make a joke. "Of course T'Lar." He looked into her eyes, not taking her vulnerability for granted.

She snuggled closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Well, the most notable one is something you may or may not have noticed already. I certainly have. The um... act of mating in Vulcans creates a strong psychic connection between both parties, in essence binding them together. It is not uncommon to have very vivid day dreams about one another. "

Jacob listened intently, squeezing her shoulder in support. "I've been a daydreamer all my life T'Lar. It's nice to have a reason." He smiled warmly.

"Vulcan males undergo a mating cycle only once every seven years, but as you have seen Vulcan females can engage in intimacy at any time. This male mating cycle is known as Pon Farr, and it is a time of great and turbulent passion and emotion. Females also can and do undergo Pon Farr, usually in response to their mate entering it, though sometimes it can be triggered by other things. I myself underwent Pon Farr brought on by a period of separation from my late fiance' Brian. The stress of the separation on our psychic bond is what triggered it. Fortunately he made it back in time to ..." she paused shyly "attend to my needs."

Jacob thought back to previous conversations mentioning Brian, hints of her deep feelings regarding him, and his fate. He respected T'Lar's trauma response and her strength in expressing those feelings. That wound, that hurt, resonated in a way to Jacob that he could not adequately put words to. Jacob had experienced such incredible loss in the war, and T'Lar got it . That immediate, and visceral understanding between each other through similar, almost rhyming life experience, not the same, but similar enough that they complimented.

"Pon Farr is one of the few times when a Vulcan has full access to their full range of emotions and they are able to express them without reservation. This is the reason for the psychic bond. It reinforces the affinity between the two." T'Lar continued.

"Remarkable." Jacob replied, fascinated. "I don't have the Biology prereq's to hypothesize on the evolutionary implications."

"Yes, Vulcans can and do experience love. Though the expression of it is quite subdued, suppressed even, by most. This is why my relationship with Brian caused such a stir at Starfleet Academy. I dared to express my affinity for him through displays of affection. I expressed my devotion to him through my commitment to a monogamous relationship with him. I reinforced our bond through intimacy. Although at the time I did not understand it fully, I learned that love is as much an action as it is an emotion."

She stopped walking and turned to him, the light of the golden hour illuminating his handsome features.

"It is true that we Vulcans appreciate beauty. And you are exceedingly aesthetically pleasing. But I don't want you thinking that my attraction to you is purely physical. It is not. Ever since I met you, something about you has captivated my thoughts. I find your absence conspicuous. You fascinate me with your twinkly eyes and your ready smile and your little quips. Plus we have many shared likes and hobbies. Also, the way you stood up for me at the Pip and a Half Club... I feel very safe around you."

A long moment passed between them as Jacob slowly and deliberately took her hand. "I came home from the Dominion War in pieces. Partially from a physical standpoint, partially a mental standpoint." He traced circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. "I came to after emergency surgery. But not really. I was a shell." Jacob looked up into her eyes. "I was dead inside. Refused to go to any counseling appointment, refused to medicate, refused to eat. Eventually Lauren couldn't take it anymore. She left, and I understood." Jacob's voice lowered, all pretense of joke absent. "I had burned her out, and she had nothing left to give."

Jacob sighed, and smirked again. "I didn't know how to cope with it. But I learned, eventually. That is part of my past that you deserve to know. When that dickhead called you damaged goods in the club, I thought what the fuck does this two meter high pile of lake gunk know about damaged goods? " He took a breath and continued. "So we both come with some fine print. But if I haven't scared you off, you haven't scared me off T'Lar."

T'Lar deeply appreciated Jacob's tenderness and vulnerability in that moment. They were from different worlds and yet somehow cut from the same fabric almost. He was a welcome refuge from the storm of PTSD that circled like a wolf outside the door of her psyche. He knew what it was like to face those wolves. She could learn from him. Moreover she had much to offer him, not as a counselor, for it would never be wise to be both confidante and counselor, but as a companion.

T'Lar hugged him hard, laying her head on his chest.

"I find myself trying to find the right words to express what your friendship means to me, Jacob. All I know is that you are in my life now and I want very much for you to continue to be so. I can only hope that I have enriched your life half as much as you have enriched mine so far. Far from scaring me off, I find myself wanting to be around you more the more time I spend with you."

Jacob wrapped his arms around her, he was not that much taller than T'Lar but enough that he could easily touch her head with his own. He took a moment to contemplate the particular scent of her preferred hair product, how it mingled with the scent of the skin on her neck. Bringing forth the memories of peaches in the breeze of late spring, of morning petrichor beside a calm brook, of wafting chocolate from a s'more melting over a campfire.

"Rowan counseled me, in his way, before he left." Jacob said, continuing to hold her and lightly sway against the evening breeze off the lake. "That Vulcans appreciate formal declarations and questions so that there can be no misunderstanding." He gently lifted her chin to stare into her deep brown, familiar yet otherworldly eyes. "T'Lar, I would like to enter into a romantic association with you, if you would find this agreeable."

T'Lar's eyes went wide, realizing the depth of commitment to understand her and her culture that Jacob was demonstrating. He was correct, and it was for this very reason that she had been sharing her deepest thoughts about what he meant to her in as human a way possible. To have him counter it in such a Vulcan manner resonated deeply within her.

"Y-yes... Jacob, I would find that most agreeable." she answered, leaning in and kissing him fervently, once, twice and again before nuzzling nose to nose and forehead to forehead with him, her fingers combing gently through his hair and beard.

"I feel the pleasure of this moment. The taste of your kiss, the sensation of our lips touching, our bodies warm against each other while the cold wind surrounds us and the downy softness of your hair and beard. I may not be able to 'feel' the emotion of happiness the way humans do, but I feel this," she whispered in his ear as she held him tightly.
"I need this and I call this happiness, and contentedness."

Jacob returned her kiss with equal intensity, breaking contact to laugh and exult in the moment. "Call it whatever you like, I think I understand." He said, and for the first time in a long moment, Jacob allowed himself to be happy without guilt.

---

The sun was well down now and the sky was darkening quickly. Lights illuminated the path from the beach back to the conference center. The two of them walked hand in hand back to their room to change into their cocktail attire for dinner in the Tahoe Room.

This time T'Lar opted for a traditional Vulcan dress, maroon in color similar in style to the traditional Chinese cheongsam. Complimenting the gold brocade of the dress she opted for a gold IDIC broach and Vulcan gold teardrop style dangle earrings. For footwear she wore traditional Vulcan heels matching her dress, and her hair was done in a traditional Vulcan up do. For the first time since Brian had given it to her, T'Lar removed her Claddagh ring and zipped it up in her leather jacket pocket for safe keeping.

Jacob wore a neatly tailored navy suit with black shirt, buttoned down an extra button. He approached T'Lar with a smile, reached behind her ear and performing cheesy sleight of hand, produced a rose with a dramatic flourish. "You might think that I had that up my sleeve and it didn't appear behind you from magic. That would be quite logical, but not as entertaining." He said with a wink.

"You look very aesthetically pleasing..." T'Lar pronounced with a small smirk.

"And you, look breathtakingly beautiful." Jacob said, returning her smirk with a wide smile of his own.

"I was hoping you wouldn't mind if I went more traditional this time. I rarely get a chance to wear Vulcan attire..." she said, wrapping a maroon and gold shawl around her bare arms.

"By all means." Jacob said admiringly. "However I must say that I view it as not good for one's self preservation to criticize a woman's attire." He said offering his arm. "Not that you have anything to critique. It's a stunning dress."

Being thusly adorned, the two of them headed down to the Tahoe Room for dinner, drinks and dancing.

TBC

 

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