Hamid woke up early the next morning. Spock was still asleep. The first thing he did after waking up was to scan Spock with his tricorder. He was relieved that the Vulcan was not suffering from a fever anymore. Though unfortunately, the bruise on his cheek had swelled up and darkened considerably. Hamid wanted to kill Damien for being such an asshole.

He went to the kitchen hoping and praying that he wouldn't meet anyone. It was only 6:00 am and there were no classes. With any luck, both Mike and Damien would still be in bed.

Hamid was met with disappointment when he saw that Mike was already up. And that he was using the replicator to get himself a plate of pancakes. He was about to turn around and go back to his room when Mike called out to him.

"Er..do you want pancakes? I'm getting some with bananas and hazelnut spread." He asked.

Hamid stopped in his tracks, wondering if Mike actually meant it or if he was just being polite. But pancakes did sound delicious. And he could bet anything that Spock had never had pancakes.

"Can you request vegan pancakes for Spock and myself?" he asked.

Mike looked at him with a pensive expression. But he said nothing and punched in an order for two portions of vegan pancakes with strawberry and mint jelly.

"I wanted to apologize for Damien's behavior last night," he began awkwardly. "He is not actually a bad guy. He just doesn't like Vulcans much."

Hamid wanted to laugh. As if dislike could ever be a viable excuse.

"You do realize that Hitler also simply didn't like Jews," he said. "Maybe he wasn't a bad person either. Makes sense?"

The younger boy looked thoroughly embarrassed by this analogy.

"I'll take my breakfast inside," he mumbled.

"No, you're welcome to sit here and eat," Hamid said to him. "I have nothing against you. In fact, I have nothing against Damien either. But it would do you a world of good to understand that not liking someone is not an excuse for being nasty to them. We are all Starfleet cadets. We can be mature about our personal feelings. If Damien cannot handle it then he should quit."

"I won't quit, asshole," Damien yelled from the doorway. Unknown to Mike and Hamid, he had woken up a few minutes ago and had heard most of their conversation. "That Vulcan bitch will quit."

Hamid sighed. It was too early in the morning to be having this argument. He simply picked up his and Spock's breakfast and left the living room.

Mike looked unsure of what to say. Even if he didn't really agree with Damien, it was evident that he wasn't about to get on the bad side of the guy. They were roommates after all. And even though he wasn't as hateful of the Vulcan as Damien, he didn't particularly like Spock.

He decided to stay out of it and focus on his pancakes. Unfortunately, they just weren't as tasty as they had been a few minutes ago.

XXXXX

Spock was in the bathroom when Hamid came inside with their food. He set the tray on one of their shared settees and sat down to wait. It had been ages since he had spoken to his son.

He took out an old-fashioned wallet from his pocket and studied the frayed, print photograph of Aimar, giggling away in Zain's strong arms. He wondered if the child would like Spock if they were to meet. Maybe someday. He wondered if Spock would make a good father if and when he had children.

Just at that moment, Spock came out of the bathroom. He looked much better than he had last night.

"Do you want children, someday?" Hamid asked him.

Spock looked at him curiously before answering.

"I do," he said. "It is what is expected of me as a Vulcan."

Hamid rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Spock," he said. "Do you guys do everything cause it's logical? Like you guys don't fall in love?" he asked dreamily.

"No, doctor," Spock answered. "We do not 'fall in love' but we bond for life and our spousal bonds are very strong."

Hamid remembered just then that Spock had mentioned that he already had a bondmate on Vulcan.

"You are married, aren't you?" he asked.

"I believe you could call it that," Spock replied. "Though a Vulcan bonding is more than a simple, human marriage."

Hamid ignored that bit of information.

"What's your wife like? Is she pretty?" he asked.

Spock sat down on his bed before responding. He wasn't sure how he felt about T'Pring. Like a coward, he had refrained from talking to her after coming to Earth. He was almost certain that she was with Stonn, even though they weren't formally bonded. And since he had not had his Pon Farr, he had not yet been able to form a deep mental link with her. But if Stonn had experienced his Pon Farr, then T'Pring would have been there for him. And he had no desire to pull her away from her chosen. He had sacrificed much for her happiness even as a child. It would be illogical to try and pull her away from Stonn after all this time. If anything, her devotion to his old tormentor came rather close to what humans called love.

This did not really bother Spock. And as strange as this was, he did have a deep degree of respect for T'Pring. At least she was doing what was dictated to her by her emotions in a most logical way. In her own way, she had mastered the balance between being human and being Vulcan even though she had no need to do so. Spock wondered if she was consciously aware of that fact.

"My wife is a remarkable woman," Spock said. "She is beautiful, intelligent, logical. She is a children's healer."

"So she is a doctor. Tell me more about her," Hamid pressed Spock. "Did you guys have a courtship? What was it like?"

"There isn't much to tell, Hamid," Spock said. "Vulcan bondings are different. I was betrothed to T'Pring when we were seven years of age. And we were formally bonded when we were fifteen years of age. We do not have courtships on Vulcan. But we were allowed to spend time in each other's company in order to know each other better. We spoke of the medicinal properties of the plants found in the forges of our planet's vast deserts. We debated upon the ethics of using animal products to enhance certain properties of topical salves. She is highly knowledgeable in her area of expertise."

Hamid pretended to snore loudly, before doing a dramatic impersonation of someone waking with a start.

"That was so interesting," He said sarcastically. "Spock, that is such a dry account of your wife, the woman you love."

Spock's eyes bored into Hamid's. "Vulcans do not love, doctor, as I have already informed you," he said. "For a man of science, you sometimes behave in a rather unintelligent manner. In any case, you seem to have much to say on the subject of love. It would be enlightening to know what your relationship with your partner entails."

"Aha Spock," Hamid said almost jumping with excitement. "How did you know I wanted to tell you all about Zain?"

"I did not," Spock deadpanned.

"And here I was getting excited, that you have somehow turned into a mind-reader," Hamid mock grumbled. "But I will tell you all about my sweetheart. Zain is awesome. He is hot and…"

"He is of a high temperature?" Spock interrupted, sounding genuinely confused.

"Lol, no Spock," Hamid explained. "Hot is a human way of saying that he is .. um.. sexually desirable. And he is so good with Aimar. He cooks super well, and he sings like an angel."

"What does he do for a profession?" Spock asked.

"He is an Imam at the local mosque in our neighborhood," Hamid answered. "He leads the prayers and offers classes in religion and theology to young people."

Spock was very intrigued by all this.

"But, did not tell me that your mother is highly religious, and does not approve of your relationship? And that it is so because according to the tenets of your faith, homosexuality is a sin?" he asked.

"She is very conservative, and she doesn't approve," Hamid agreed. "But she is old and does not understand that the religion itself is changing and undergoing a transformation of thought and ideology. And I am so proud of Zain for being a part of this movement in Damascus. We have already come a very, very long way from where we were about two centuries ago. Back then, our country was practically razed to the ground by this extremist group called the ISIS. And it took our ancestors decades to rebuild everything. And then you are aware of the third world war that happened, thanks to the rivalry between the United States and China that got out of hand eventually. Billions of lives lost, and for what? And we were again plunged into a strange sort of cold war. Of course, it is all ancient history as far as I'm concerned. But it didn't help that these political events forced a number of countries like Syria to assert their sovereignty. Unfortunately, many did so by the use of religion. And that included interpreting scriptures in a very, very strict manner. That meant crackdowns on free speech, personal liberties, and many other things that we take for granted today. It has taken us a very long time to undo all that damage. And we are still working. When great power causes terrible things to happen, the consequences are exponential, Spock. And it is those aftershocks that Zain is still fighting against. Someday, hopefully, humans will become smart enough to understand that even though we aren't alone in the galaxy, this Earth is pretty much all we really have."

Spock couldn't disagree with that. Even Vulcans, with their commitment to the IDIC, were unable to accept him simply because of his human heritage. He knew for sure that full-blooded humans would never truly be welcome anywhere else but on Earth. His mother was living proof of that unfortunate fact.

"We have spent too much time discussing these sad things, Spock," Hamid said, obviously trying to change the topic. "Let us go out. It is a beautiful day. I have sketch pads and pencils for both of us."

"That sounds good, doctor," Spock said if only to indulge his human friend, though he, himself wasn't sure if he wanted to draw and paint.

And Hamid knew this. But he wanted Spock to just relax and take part in a hobby with him. The Vulcan had had a couple of very stressful days. And this was therapy for all that stress, in Hamid's medical opinion.

XXXXX

The day really was beautiful. And Spock did not want to admit it, but he was definitely very pleased to have so much time to simply sit and admire the colors of the fall leaves. It was a pity that Hamid had only brought sketching pencils with himself. It would be so much more rewarding to be able to capture this beauty in color.

The two men sat on a bench on the sidewalk and sketched. Spock's style was markedly different from Hamid's. While Hamid liked to focus on broad shapes and big ideas, for Spock, the magic was in the tiny details. Be it a beetle walking precariously on the edge of a leaf, or a rare example of genetic co-dominance seen in a single half-pink, half-white flower hidden among hundreds of singularly white or pink flowers. Of course, Spock could not flesh out the phenomenon without colored pencils. But he could use shade and shadow to get the idea across and that is exactly what he did.

They drew in peace for a few hours, when Hamid's stomach growled loudly.

"Want lunch?" he asked Spock, putting his pad and pencil down.

"I shall purchase our lunch today, if it is acceptable to you," Spock said, getting up.

Hamid wondered if it was wise to let Spock go by himself to buy them a meal. But then he chastised himself for being an overprotective idiot. Technically, Spock was his superior officer now. And he was about to leave on a mission in one day. Of course, he could buy lunch.

"Sure Spock," Hamid accepted with a smile. "Get whatever you think is good. And I'll have something vegan as well."

"You do not have to change your dietary habits on my account," Spock said.

But Hamid was having none of it.

"Vegan food tastes awesome," he said. "Just get us something nice. And oh, I want a soda too. Coke, if you will please."

Spock nodded and walked to the nearby deli to buy them lunch.

At first, he was overwhelmed by all the choices available to him. But then he spotted an entrée that looked promising. Quinoa in sour mango sauce with almonds. It came with a slice of hot, toasted ciabatta bread drizzled with olive oil. Spock didn't know what ciabatta bread was. But he figured it couldn't be very different from regular bread.

Spock placed an order for two portions of the quinoa salad and for a can of coke for Hamid. For himself, he got a cup of hot herbal tea.

"Have a good one," the lady at the counter wished him as she handed him the bag of food.

He wondered if it would be appropriate to ask her what the 'one' referred to? But he ultimately decided against it. It sounded like a greeting. And one he was probably not obligated to respond to since she did not wait for him to return it. Almost as soon as he collected his bag, she moved on the next customer.

Spock walked back to their bench, musing about the strangeness of human customs, wondering for the hundredth time since he had landed on Earth, if he would ever understand them well enough to fit in even to a small degree.

He probably would, if he were surrounded by more people like Hamid and Captain Pike. But he was also aware that it took all kinds to make the world. There were any number of Damiens out there who detested him for simply being who he was.

But he did not dwell on that for too long.

It had been a rare, restful day so far for him. And he had enjoyed every minute of it. He was determined to not ruin it. And for that, he needed to keep these troubling matters aside for today.

A/N: I love writing little snippets from Spock's everyday life. In the next chapter, we embark upon the mission to Fardour. I hope you are enjoying this story. I love hearing from you, and your support and feedback means everything to me. If you have suggestions, ideas, or even questions about the story (or even other things) please don't hesitate to ask me in the comments section. I love the little reviews you leave for me.