"Silly, why do you think I'm wearing my hair like this?"

"I do not know."

"It's so other men don't take a second look at me. There's only one man whose attention I want to grab and he doesn't seem to care one bit about how I style my hair."

"I see," he said, uncomfortably, almost jealously. Sarek hesitated a moment. "Do you see this man often?"

Amanda smiled. "In fact, I am seeing him today."

"Do you wish for me to leave?"

"No, not at all." Amanda plopped down on the couch.

"I thought perhaps you would like some privacy to get ready."

"Oh, there's no need for me to change. He's seen me in my sweats plenty of times before."

"It is unusual for a human female to give so little attention to her appearance before a date."

"I wouldn't call it a date. I doubt we'll be going anywhere." Amanda rifled through a pile of junk on the coffee table, pulling out a magazine.

"I thought 'seeing someone' was equivalent to going out on a date."

"Usually, but in this case, we see each other quite a bit but never go out on a date."

"At what time will he arrive?"

"I would venture to say he is already on the premises."

"Then I should leave." Sarek took a step toward the door.

"No, if you left I wouldn't be seeing him anymore."

"I do not understand."

"Take a moment and analyze everything I've said so far, and impress me with your deductive reasoning." Amanda leaned back against the sofa and idly flipped through her magazine, but she was really focusing on Sarek. She could almost see the gears in his brain working.

After a long wait, she threw her magazine down. "Alright, I'll help you. I said he was already here but that if you left, I wouldn't be seeing him. What does that tell you?"

His brow furrowed for a moment, then slowly one eyebrow raised as he tilted his head slightly. "Those statements would seem to indicate that…I…am the man whose attention you desire to 'grab,' as you say."

"Hit the nail on the head." She smiled at him.

His chest tightened as he suppressed the surge of emotion her smile had created. Her behavior could be described as 'flirtatious' and it was possible he might be misunderstanding her meaning. "What sort of attention do you seek?"

She rolled her eyes. Vulcans could be so dense. "Well, Sarek, I was hoping to draw your attention to my work on the universal translator so that you would recommend me for special commendation on my dedication. It would look great on my résumé." Her voice was honey sweet and she smiled innocently at him.

His inner struggle to crush the disappointment he felt at her explanation was only hinted at by a slight clenching of one fist and a firmer set of his lips. "I see."

She burst out laughing. "Of course, I wasn't serious about that. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it. You're just so…thick…sometimes!"

"I fail to see what my bodily proportions have to do with the topic at hand."

"It means that at times you don't understand what I'm saying. For instance, this whole conversation has been me saying that I am attracted to you, that I have feelings for you, possibly romantic feelings. I was hoping with all your logic you'd be able to work that out."

Sarek visibly relaxed as relief and joy flooded his mind. He took a breath to compose himself. "I apologize if my intellect has not met your expectations. It seemed to me that my own wishes on this subject may have been unduly influencing my interpretation of your words."

She smiled while shaking her head at him. "Well, now that we've got that sorted, I think I am going on a date, after all."

"Your plans for the evening have changed?"

She would have started in on him again for being stupid, but she caught a glint in his eye and a slight upturn of his lips. He was teasing her now.

"Indeed. That man whose attention I've been trying to catch is taking me out somewhere nice, but I'm afraid he'll have to wait a few moments while I make myself presentable."

"That contradicts what you said earlier."

"The circumstances have changed. 'Seeing him' has gone from meaning 'looking at him while he is in my presence' to 'going out on a date' and therefore my appearance has to change accordingly. I know Vulcans are not overly concerned with appearance, but everyone else is." She sighed as she disappeared into her bedroom. "Getting dressed is purely for other people's benefit," she grumbled.

"Indeed." As Sarek waited, he couldn't help but wish that he could spend time with Amanda without the need to get dressed for anyone…

Author's Note: I have updated this a bit from the originally posted version, mainly by clearly identifying that it is Sarek and Amanda interacting.