Chapter Text
Earth’s beautiful blue and green colors came into view as the transportation vessel returned from warp speed and began its landing process. It was Spock’s first time on his mother’s home planet and she was clearly pleased to have the opportunity to show him around. His father sat in front of him, engrossed with paperwork on his PADD. Sarek had been called to the planet for a diplomatic visit with some of Starfleet’s members in Riverside, Iowa and had decided, after much persuasion from Spock’s mother, that his family would accompany him.
The ship hissed as it docked, security officers waiting on the landing pad for them. Sarek was quickly ushered away as his meeting was to start soon. Spock helped his mother gather their possessions and they stepped out of the ship. The first difference between Earth and Vulcan was that of temperature. Vulcan’s desert climate was one of heat and little to no humidity. This part of Earth was more humid and not nearly as hot.
“Welcome to Earth.” Amanda said, turning to her son.
Spock gave a polite nod, acknowledging the welcome, “Thank you mother, I look forward to learning more about your planet.”
“Our planet.” She said, nudging him on the shoulder.
Spock ignored her comment, opting to start in the direction of the hotel. Amanda chuckled for a moment, taking a deep breath, it was good to breathe Earth’s air again. They made their way to the hotel in a rental car, Spock’s mother claiming her driver’s license was not expired. Vulcan did not have need for such transportation and therefore it was Spock’s first time in such a vehicle. Plains and rolling hills passed by them as the car raced down the long, winding road.
Their hotel was a modest one, but based on the surrounding architecture seemed to be one of the nicer buildings. Amanda parked the car and the two made their way up to the room. Setting the luggage down, Spock took inventory of the room. There was a large bed in the center, a desk, two small end tables on either side of the bed, and a dresser with a television on top. There was also a bathroom and connecting door where, presumably, Spock’s quarters were.
“This is a nice room. I won’t be spending much time here though.” Amanda broke the silence between them. Spock nodded, his mother had mentioned that she was going to spend time with a few members of her family and friends that she had retained contact with. The silence between them stretched as Spock looked around the room curiously. He then placed his mother’s suitcase on the bed, knowing she would want to unpack as she always did on trips.
“Have you considered getting a summer job?” Amanda asked, taking the clothes from her suitcase and setting them into the hotel dresser.
Spock simply raised an eyebrow at his mother.
“It’s an Earth custom, a tradition even! Most boys your age get a job before they go off to college.”
“I am not going to college, I am in the process of applying to the Vulcan Science Academy.” Spock replied.
“I know honey, but we’re going to be here for about 4 months, you’ll need something to do.”
“4 months and 3 days, I am going to conduct research while we are here. Earth has a vast collection of scientific journals.”
“How do you plan on paying for those?”
“I was under the impression that you and father were going to supply the funds.” He said, watching as she continued to put things away.
“Well you thought wrong, you’ll have to find funds another way.” She handed him his PADD with a sickeningly sweet smile.
He accepted the PADD, walking through the connecting door between their rooms. His father always received more than adequate lodging, and this was no exception. His room was smaller in comparison to his parents, but had a bed, desk, and dresser. Suitable for his stay on Earth.
There were many job listings, mostly for that of food service, maintenance, and farm work. He scanned the maintenance jobs and was curious, but they required at least a few years of experience. As he continued his search something caught his eye, Dairy Queen? The job was for an assistant manager position but did not require any prior experience. Spock decided to fill out the application and got up to walk back into his mother’s quarters.
“Mother, do the cows of Earth observe monarchy?”
“What?” Amanda spluttered, turning to her son with a confused and slightly concerned expression.
“On my search for a ‘summer job,’ I discovered a listing for a position at a ‘Dairy Queen.’ I am familiar with the fact that the most consumed dairy products here are from cattle, thus my query.”
“No, honey, Dairy Queen is an ice cream shop. It is supposed to be a play on words.”
“I do not see the correlation.”
“It’s one of those human things, it doesn’t make too much sense but it’s a fun name that gets people to want to go there.” She laughed.
“Fascinating.”
A few hours passed and Earth’s sun was halfway through the blue sky. Spock had spent the time researching Dairy Queen’s policies and business practices. His communicator began to ring, an unknown on the other end. He answered, for it could be something important.
“Hello, I am Spock, son of Serak.”
“Holy shit, you’re real.”
“I do not see how excrement can be holy.”
“No, I’m sorry, where are my manners? I’m the district manager over at Dairy Queen. I saw your application and had to see if you were real.”
“I can guarantee I am real, sir.”
“Yes, well, I wanted to conduct a phone interview with you for the assistant manager position, when are you available for one?”
“My time is otherwise unoccupied.”
“Perfect!”
The man proceeded to ask him questions about his experience or lack thereof. Spock had informed the man of his memorization of the corporate policies and grades from school. He seemed impressed by these things, joy clear in his tone.
“The job is yours if you want it, I have a manager over at that branch who could use someone like you as their second.”
“I accept the position of assistant manager.”
“Good, you can start tomorrow. Jimbo will give you your uniform and start you on your paperwork.”
Spock informed his mother of his job and she excitedly asked him many follow up questions. Amanda explained how his first day should go, from her experience from when she was a young woman in a similar position. He nodded along, paying close attention so he would be adequately prepared for tomorrow.
The sun rose from over the rolling green hills of Iowa, the light warming the world below it. Spock looked himself over once more, ensuring he looked presentable before leaving the hotel. Per his calculations, it would take 1.35 hours, or 81 minutes, to walk to the Dairy Queen. He followed the road and finally approached the building, its striking blue color different from the surrounding stores. Taking a deep breath, Spock walked in.
-------------------------------
"Look Jimbo, I know it ain't ideal, but corporate thought that, with you just being promoted, it might be a good idea to bring in someone with a little more experience to help you with your new responsibilities." The district manager drawled, his voice sounding like something straight out of a corporate training video.
"You said he had no prior experience." Jim reminded the man, unimpressed.
"Well yeah but he's a Vulcan for Christ's sake. You know how they are, all uptight perfectionists. That's the exact kind of assistant manager you need, someone to compliment your personality."
"Fine. When does he come in?"
"He should be in in about an hour. I've already emailed you all the paperwork you'll need." Before Jim could protest, his communicator clicked off as his district manager hung up the call.
"Asshole." Jim huffed. He fell dramatically into his office chair and turned to the computer, logging in and pulling up his work email. He transferred the necessary paperwork from his email to the work PADD, and then brought up the resume of his new assistant manager.
“S..Chun...Ti..Gai…Spock.” What a mouthful.
Opening one of the desk drawers, Jim pulled out one of the plastic name tags and tried to write the name as neatly as possible on it with a sharpie. What the hell a vulcan was doing in Riverside, Iowa, Jim wasn’t sure, but he could admit that he was at least a little excited to meet someone born off-planet. Satisfied, Jim set the things he would need for his new hire off to the side, and got started on his opening duties.
Soon enough, his cashier clocked in and Jim wandered off away from his work to go greet the man.
"Morning, Peter!" Jim smiled warmly at the other man as he signed into his drawer. "How you holding up?"
Jim found it easy to get along with his coworkers, and was thankful that the promotion hadn't seemed to have affected the way they interacted with him. Peter and he talked for a while about Peter’s studies at the nearby College of Engineering as well as Jim’s plans now that he was out of highschool. Mornings here were pretty slow, so they were able to talk mostly uninterrupted, until he heard a voice behind him.
“It is highly inappropriate to ignore a new member of staff in favor of conversing with the cashier, who, need I remind you, is on the clock.” The vulcan interrupted, his hands folded behind his back.
“You must be S..Chun..Ti..Gai..Spock.” Jim smiled at him, cringing slightly as he likely butchered the other man’s name, and offered out his hand. “Sorry about that, I didn’t hear you come in. Name’s James Kirk, but most people call me Jim. I’m the general manager.”
“You may call me Spock, Mr. Kirk, my first name is only pronounceable by those who speak the Vulcan language. I will be performing the duties of assistant manager.” Spock said, pointedly ignoring the outstretched hand before him.
“Alright, Spock.” Jim tried not to frown, awkwardly lowering his hand and stepping around the counter. “Why don’t you follow me back to the office. Just got some paperwork for you to fill out and then we can get started.”
Jim walked back to his glorified broom closet of an office with the vulcan in tow. He flopped down into the seat, motioning for Spock to pull up one of the chairs just outside the door, and handed over the name tag, a small copy of the employee manual, and PADD to the other man.
“Alright so there's your name tag- you’ll get a nice metal one like mine soon once they ship it. I’ll get you the rest of the uniform as well if you can tell me your sizing. You don’t have to wear it all the time as long as you’re dressed appropriately, just when corporate comes down for their check ins.” Jim turned to a shelf near his desk, pulling out a visor from one of the boxes before rifling through another full of clothes. “Just read over the paperwork on the PADD there and fill out the indicated boxes. Shouldn’t take too long.”
“As per corporate policy, the members of the staff should be in uniform at all times.” Spock eyed Jim’s own outfit, a simple t-shirt and jeans, and Jim flushed slightly under the other man’s scrutiny. “I also feel compelled to inform you that my name has been misspelled. The policy on name tags states that one’s preferred name should be displayed, I request that I receive one with ‘Spock’ written on it, S-P-O-C-K.”
The vulcan then focused his attention to the PADD in his lap, as if everything he just said needed no further conversation. Jim stared at him in slight shock, clenching and releasing his hands as he forced himself to remain calm. Of course his assistant manager had to be a policy pusher. He pulled another plastic name tag out of the drawer and scribbled on the name before switching it out for the one currently in Spock’s lap.
“There you go, all better.” Jim forced a smile once again and then returned to rummaging through the boxes of clothes. He pulled out a few shirts that seemed like they would be the right size for the lanky man. “Do you fit a large?”
“I appreciate that you have rectified the situation swiftly. My size on Earth should be that of a medium, so a large would be suitable.”
Jim pulled out a few shirts in a medium as well and folded them up before setting them on the empty side of his desk.
“Well I’ll give you both. If the medium is too short let me know and I can order some of the tall sizes. You’ll have to wear the large until they ship though.”
Logging back into his computer, Jim focused on sorting through the barrage of unnecessary corporate emails and finishing his morning paperwork. Once Spock indicated he was finished, Jim looked over the paperwork quickly and then started showing Spock around the kitchen. It was a quick orientation before Jim pulled out one of the headsets for the drive-thru.
“The district manager took my drive thru girl off the schedule for you so unfortunately you’ll have to start sooner rather than later.” Jim sighed, putting the head set on. “You can watch me until you feel comfortable enough to take over. And don’t be afraid to ask me any questions.”
Jim continued to show him around the kitchen until someone finally pulled up to the drive thru. Spock remained silent until Jim flipped the person's order upside down in the window before handing it over to them.
“For what purpose do you upturn the container before relinquishing it to the customer?”
“It’s supposed to show them how cold the ice cream is or something.” Jim shrugged, leaning back against the window once the customer pulled away.
“Its existence as ice cream should be evidence enough of its temperature.” Spock looked at him skeptically, eyebrow raised. “Furthermore, it is the viscosity of the substance that allows it to remain in the container.”
“Maybe you should write corporate an email so they can fix their advertising.” Jim laughed. “You wanna watch me a few more times or do you wanna try the next one?”
“I believe I am adequately prepared to conduct the next order.”
“Awesome.” Jim handed him the headset. “I’ll hang around a bit in case you need any help.”
The rest of their shift went smoothly. Spock seemed to have no trouble with the work and Jim felt comfortable to leave him after watching his first order. He came back several times to try to strike up friendly conversation with the vulcan, but the other man gave him very little to work with in terms of response. Eventually the end of his new coworkers shift came and the two found themselves once again in Jim’s office, wrapping up the day.
“My boss has your availability completely open on our scheduling program. Is that correct?” Jim looked over the schedule he had made for this week. “Would you be able to come in tomorrow at 9:30 am? I can start showing you our opening procedures.”
“Your scheduling program is accurate, therefore I am able to be summoned whenever it is necessary.”
“Very good then, Mr. Spock. I’ll see you in the morning.”