Summary: Spock's first two years at Starfleet from his roommate's point of view.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, but I own all original characters and made up inventions of the future. The story is partly inspired by Chaim Potok's The Chosen (aka one of the best books in the world) and some of my experiences with college and my old high school friends.

Roommates

Chapter One: Vulcans

Starfleet Academy changed my life. But then again, I guess most people would say that. I'm not most people (not to say I'm really special) and neither is my roommate for that matter (he is special). He's the top of our class, graduating with the highest honors and such. He wants to be Commander and go on missions in never before seen worlds. I could see him doing that. He's a science officer for now (he's so good at everything, he's officer before he graduates), and he's content with that. I wouldn't say happy; I've never really seen him do happy. I've seen content and not content, but he tells me that's a big deal where he's from. I could see that, too. It's all cool though.

I'm not top of the class, but I'm not at the bottom, either. I'm not sure if I want to go on far away missions and stuff. I might stay and teach. I don't have to know; my roommate does. But that's okay. We're okay with that.

Four Years Ago

"Starfleet Academy! My boy, going to Starfleet Academy!"

"Dad…" I felt like a high school student whining to his parents.

"No one in our family ever-"

"I know, Dad," I said cutting him off, especially before the Southern accent really burst through. Standing in the dormitory hallway, I rummaged through my book bag, looking for the key. Don't ask me why I put my newly acquired key in my bag. I just did. My hand glossed over an unfamiliar card. Needless to say, I found it.

I opened the door. We all walked inside the empty room. The room was fairly large and roomy despite the furniture: two beds, two desks, two night stands, one dresser and two closets. I already knew we had our own private bath, because I looked it up. I also noticed the fresh coat of paint on the wall. My mother rested her hand on one of the beds, I guess checking the firmness of it. My little sister practically bounced in the room (which is ridiculous, she's thirteen for crying out loud), and my dad stood in the doorway with a stupid looking beaming smile on his face.

"Um, Dad? Can you come in now?" I said, trying to keep the whine out of my voice.

"This is incredible," he said…again, "Eric, son, you make me so proud."

I smiled. Despite my dad's goofiness, I never got tired of hearing how he is proud of me. I suppose every son wants that.

"Let's unpack," said Mom, "And then we can eat one more time as a family before it gets too dark out."

Everyone kind of muttered some sort of consent and we started unpacking. I felt kind of bad choosing a side of the room and a bed without my roommate, but it had to be done. I chose the side closer to the door for practical reasons. If, scratch that, when I oversleep, I'll need to get out the door as quickly as possible. We chatted quietly amongst ourselves; my father finally quieted down some and was making decent conversation.

Then the door opened and my roommate walked in our room.

Everyone froze. I saw from the ears and eyebrows that he was a Vulcan. We stared at him quite openly; we had never seen a Vulcan in person before. He stood still, at the doorway, staring at each of us in return.

"Who are you?" my dad asked and growled at the same time. I could've kicked him. Yeah, I wasn't expecting a nonhuman roommate (actually, I was hoping for Ben, my friend my parents don't like, but that didn't seem likely to begin with), but still, that was rude.

The Vulcan didn't seem affected by my father's harsh tone. He simply replied to my father, "I am Spock, Mr. Boudreaux." He looked straight at me with dead, brown eyes, "I assume you are Eric Boudreaux." I couldn't tell if it was a statement or a question, but he pronounced the name properly, so I gave him points for that.

"Yeah," I said. I held out my hand. He ignored it. "I hope you don't mind, but I need the side closer to the door."

He gazed around the room. His eyes seemed dead even when they moved. "It does not concern me," he said, "I 'do not mind'." He moved to his side of the room and put his two bags on the bare bed. As he unzipped one of his duffel bags, he glanced back at us. "Do not let me disturb your packing, Eric Boudreaux."

"Eric is fine," I said. He curtly nodded once and immediately started packing. I shrugged and resumed packing. The room was silent for a while. My little sister continued to stare at Spock, but he didn't seem to mind. My mom helped me, but I could see my dad was silently judging Spock, based on a grand total of like seven sentences.

"You are from Vulcan?" asked my mom.

"Yes."

"Your parents didn't come?"

"There is no logic in my parents journeying to Earth for this." I remembered Vulcans were all into logic.

"No logic in seeing their son off?" asked my dad, "Are you their first born?"

"Strictly speaking, yes," answered Spock, more engrossed in unpacking than conversing with us.

"That's strange," said my dad, his voice rising a little.

"Dad, can you help?" I said, trying to stop him from ranting.

My dad looked at incredulously, shrugged, and helped me unpack. Spock unpacked alone. Even when we were finished, he insisted that he was okay packing alone. He pulled out a strange smelling candle. It reminded me of a desert.

"Are you even supposed to have a candle in here?" asked my dad, his nose wrinkling at the smell.

"I don't know," I said. I looked to Spock.

"I can," he said quietly, holding it carefully before placing it on the desk. "Meditation is an easier task with something to focus on."

"Meditation?" my mom asked.

"Yes, all Vulcans meditate. It is a deeply private and personal experience."

"Oh." We let the matter drop. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" my mom tried again.

"I am quite sure." He paused. "Thank you." It was awkward and forced.

"Well, we'd hate to leave you here by yourself," continued my mother.

"Yeah, dude, join us for dinner," I said. His eyebrow rose when I said dude, and rose even higher when I suggested that he join us for dinner. "I mean, we might as well get to know each other. And where I'm from, there's no place better to get to know someone than at the dinner table." His eyebrows furrowed together. I couldn't tell if he was confused or just thinking. Whatever was going on, I sensed some hesitancy, so ignoring my dad's look of annoyed astonishment, I said, "Come on. We'll all have a good time." I smiled at him, but he didn't return the smile. I didn't expect him to. "You can unpack later. And, wouldn't it be logical to get to know your roommate? And to eat?"

He stared at me. "A poor use of logic," he stated. I'm not sure what those dead eyes were looking for as they peered in at me. He finally looked away back to his bags. "I must unpack now," he said to the bags. He looked back at me. His eyes tried to say something, but they couldn't. They were dead.

&&&

"That is queer," said my dad as we ate at Alfred's Steakhouse. "I can't believe he didn't want to join us."

"Dad, you're the one who didn't want him to join us," I reminded him, eating my steak.

"Maybe he's shy," piped in my sister, "He didn't say much."

"I bet 'shy' is an emotion," grumbled my dad.

"Robert!" scolded my mom, "He's probably a bit nervous. This isn't his home planet, you know. Maybe he needs time to adjust."

I shrugged. My sister spoke up again. "He seemed dead." So I wasn't the only one.

"He could've at least shaken your hand," grumbled my dad.

"I don't know, dad."

&&&

I said my goodbyes to my parents and went in my room. Spock was there, sitting on the bed staring out the window. He glanced at me, and then went back to star gazing. It was dark, and I could see some stars, but the light pollution definitely hindered the quality.

I thought about what my mom said. "Are you looking for Vulcan?"

"It is impossible to see Vulcan."

"Oh. Did you eat?"

"Yes."

"Okay, this is random, but I have to ask. Are you the only Vulcan here?"

"Yes, I am the first Vulcan to attend Starfleet Academy."

"Cool."

He looked at me. "Cool?" he echoed.

"Cool as in not cold, but uh…" I tried to word this as carefully and clearly as possible. "Cool as in socially approved." He nodded. "We use both the cold meaning and the approved meaning." He nodded again.

"So, what are you going to be?"

"A Science Officer," he answered without hesitation, "Specializing in Computer Programs and Applications. And yourself?"

"I don't know," I said.

He looked at me with something close to a confused expression. "You do not know?"

"I don't need to know at point," I said. "It's only our first year. I don't want to rush into things."

"Knowing your future is not rushing anything," said Spock, obviously trying to use human expressions.

"I'm okay with it," I said, "Don't worry, by graduation, I'll definitely have something."

"I should hope so." I don't think it was a joke.

"Have you been to Earth before?"

He hesitated and looked at me. His dead eyes tried to speak again, but something held them back. "Yes."

"You don't want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly." He added, "Earth is not an unpleasant planet. It is not Vulcan."

"I can't imagine coming from another planet. Coming from Louisiana is hard enough for me."

"It is not intolerable."

"You don't like talking about yourself?"

His voice was quiet. "No, I do not." He wasn't going to say much else and I didn't want to force him. The situation was already awkward enough as it was. But still, this guy, this Vulcan was my roommate. Since we were going to be living together, I felt like I had to get to know him. And besides, I've never met a nonhuman before; it could be interesting. So, I pulled my chair toward the window and sat next to him. I gazed out. The window overlooked the bay.

"Mind if I watch the stars with you?"

"Do as you wish."

So, we just watched the stars. Occasionally, I looked at him and wondered if he really was trying to see Vulcan with those dead eyes.

&&&

Author's Note

This is kind of plotless; the focus is on the relationship between Spock and Eric. (No, not slash, just friendship) Don't worry there will be some very climatic moments, just be patient.

I don't know if Spock was an officer before he graduated, I just made that up. That's not important to the story, since it will only cover the first two years at Starfleet Academy. Actually, though the story may stray from the canon, it should end canon, if that's the way you interpret the ending.

I'm not sure if all of you know how to pronounce Boudreaux, because I've heard some people really screw it up. It's Boo-dro, long "o" in the last syllable.

Please review!