where no something something has ever been before

[masc4masc]

[ dirk graduates early and with honors because of course he does. half-vulcan students are rare, about as rare as fully vulcan ones, and he finds himself working harder to compensate for all of the eyes on him scrutinizing everything he does and he knows the desire for approval is illogical so he keeps the reasoning to himself, stamping it down until it's dust.

that isn't to say he doesn't get the approval, though. one of the brightest students in his track for generations, there's a lot of chatter about him overall and he gets picked up for service very quickly after graduation. it's a shockingly illustrious ship with a well-liked captain, and a part of dirk wants to question it but he's also satisfied to simply let it happen and just do his best under his new command.

so he shows up at his new assignment directly on time with everything he could possibly need to get to work immediately and gets ushered to his new living quarters. as a new graduating recruit he's set to room with someone but he is vaguely surprised that it's someone from science and not engineering. it isn't that he's against the different branches fraternizing, more so he's never personally had the experience of much overlap between them. he very rarely saw anyone from science in his courses, for example, but that doesn't matter. he'll be cordial and he's sure things will be fine.

he's still unpacking his bag into the space allotted for him to put his belongings in when the door to the room slides open behind him with a soft hiss to signify the arrival of his new roommate.

as he organizes a drawer to accommodate the spare pair of his light-sensitivity glasses, he speaks over his shoulder. ]

We've been assigned specific spaces, which I hadn't expected upon arrival. I do believe your side has the more traditionally 'desirable' view, so I won't bother you with a reminder that I'm not the one that picked which side of the room we're each on. [ a beat. ] I will, however, apologize if I'm not what you expected from a roommate. I won't change who I am, but if you find me unpalatable I won't be offended.

[ finally he turns to assess the new person, not sure what to expect. his expression doesn't flicker or anything when he sees what appears to be like looking into a mirror, but his eyebrows do raise sharply. ]

I see.

[ it would, perhaps, have been astute for someone to have told him in advance that he'd be rooming with another half-vulcan, but it would have been far more astute to tell him that they would be identical as well. he wants to ask if it's some kind of joke, but appearing to be clueless to social interactions isn't the direction to go right now.

so he just leaves it at i see for now. ]