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Riding the Stars

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Summary: Xander gets dragged on the ride of his life. Het and Slash Warning

Categories Author Rating Chapters Words Recs Reviews Hits Published Updated Complete
Star Trek > Other/GeneralaewnaurFR18711,79485932,17326 Oct 054 Aug 08No

Chapter Two

Several hours later Xander was once again staring out the window at the Martian landscape. Make that Vulcan landscape! He had just eaten the strangest meal ever. The Vulcans were vegetarians. While that didn't really bother him; the foods that they had served looked like a cross between brussel sprouts and those little fancy soaps Buffy's mom always kept around. Stranger still they had tasted like a cross between chicken and fruit which was just... odd.

While he ate he watched the people around him. None of them exibited any emotion what so ever. He had finally broken down and asked Mestral about it. Feeling like the rudest person imaginable but needing to know how to fit in. What she had told him seemed like the weirdest thing ever. Total emotional control. He didn't know how he was going to survive. He knew there was no freaking way he would ever be able to gain that much control over himself. If he thought something was funny he wouldn't be able to help himself. And he just knew they would never let him forget about being a Barbaric Human.

The only thing that comforted him any at all was that he had already gradutated school. How hard would it be to go through it again. Surely he would be able to breeze through most of the classes. He'd be home in no time.

"What do you mean Years?" Xander yelled.

"Sandar, calm yourself please. You are making an impression on the children," Mestral's calm unemotional voice just fueled his anger.

He knew she was right but he had been here nearly a week, submitting to test after test. Both mental and physically exhaustive test that didn't do him any good other than make him feel like a science experiment. They had been trying to place him for classes. Classes that he wouldn't even be able to attend until he learned the laguage. Mestral was still the only person who he spoke to on a regular basis. He tried to calm down enough to think reasonably.

"You are telling me that it will take years to learn Vulcan enough for me to even go to school and then it will be years before I am at an intermediate level which means of course that since I am human I might not get off this god forsaken planet until after I'm dead!" Well, he had started off calmly but by the end was yelling again.

"Our God has not forsaken us."

"After everything I said that's what you pick up on," Xander groaned. Leave it to him to find the one planet that would drive him bat shit and be totally unaffected by it. "What the hell am I going to do Mestral? At the rate your talking about I won't ever get home."

"Work hard Sandar. Work hard and know that one day you will see your home world again."

Xander sighed and looked around them at the whispering Vulcans. He wondered vaguely why they were even bothering to whisper. First thing he needed to do was learn the language; he hated it when he knew people were talking about him and he didn't know what they were saying. For once he was glad for all the late night research parties with the Scooby Gang. He had a nack for picking up languages. He just needed to calm down a bit and think of this like any other research that needed doing.

"Okay Mestral, first thing I'm going to need is books. Primars on the language. Once I learn that I'll tackle everything else."

Mestral was pleased that the human had finally calmed down though she didn't show it. She nodded slightly, over the last week she had learned never to underestimate this human. If the rest of humanity was like this it wouldn't be long before they were no longer considered too barbaric for contact.


"Kanu! Kanu! Mestral," he cried. "I'm being shown up by little kids."

Mestral watched her orensu pace, before heading to the kitchen. As per usual, the young man followed her.

"I can't do this anymore," snapped Xander. His movements tight and furious. "It's fucking ridiculous."

"What is 'fucking'," asked Mestral gathering ingredients. These conversations with Sandar always expanded her Komihn-English vocabulary wonderfully. Sandar was really a fount of information.

Xander paused mid-rant, a blush rising on his face. He'd been here four months and as far as he could tell Vulcans didn't have sex. Okay, he knew that wasn't true. Especially as he was surrounded by little Vulcans daily. He snarled unconsciously at the thought of the smug little brats. But the Vulcans as a whole weren't exactly the most demonstrative of beings. He sighed, knowing Mestral would hound him until he'd given her a satisfactory explanation. "It is a vulgar term for reproduction."

Mestral gave a nod, stirring the contents of the pot on the stove. "How is it normally used? And what is the base verb form?"

Xander groaned. He should have known she wouldn't let him get away with that. It took him several minutes to explain it to his teacher's satisfaction. By then his ire had dimmed some.

Mestral sat the cup of savas-masu in front of her now calm student. It was a familiar routine. Once a week Sandar would come to her home and 'vent' his frustration. Usually it was over some perceived failing, occasionally it would be his emotions getting the better of him. However, she rarely took him to task for this. He was slowly developing a better level of control. While he was still prone to over-emotionality, he had begun to keep his outbursts private. They'd originally thought to keep him from the younger students, to keep his emotional state from affecting them. But High Councilor T'San had dismissed the idea. She believed the human would benefit from being with children. He would less likely be offended by their simple curiosity.

While in theory it worked and in practice, her student still occasionally became frustrated by his slow progress. She however was amazed; it would not be long before he was ready for his tal t'li.

Xander sat down at the counter, pulling the cup into his palms. He let the heat seep into his fingers knowing what Mestral was doing. While he wasn't quite sure about the whole suppressing of emotions thing, he got it. He knew in her own way Mestral cared about the odd human she'd pretty much adopted. Because as much as they were all 'reason and logic' they felt as deeply as he did. His own developing telepathy let him know it.

As if sensing his calm, Mestral settled across from him. Knowing her she might have.

"Ne-lan, how were your tupas today," she asked, eyebrow quirking.

Xander sighed. "It's maddening, Mestral. The more I learn the less I seem to know. All of the things in K'nal's tumau, I can't do all of that." Xander scowled, remembering the children's giggling during today's lesson. Even K'nal's twitch of lip was the equivalent of a belly-laugh. He closed his eyes forcing himself to breath.

Mestral was pleased as Xander unconsciously began a tu-lan. Her orensu was learning faster than he thought. She decided encouragement was in order. "Yana ra Yakana ro futisha ta?" Do you speak, Vulcan?

"Ina, wani ra Yakana ro futishanai," growled Xander, unthinkingly. He really hated when Mestral got all wise and cryptic on him. She really wasn't that many years older. Hell, she was still a student as well. No, I do not speak Vulcan.

"Yana ra moi rena ro itisha ta," Mestral asked then sipped at her drink slowly. Letting the sweet drink rest on her tongue. Waiting for it to hit Xander. Are you in good health?

"Ha, wani ra moi rena ro itisha," snapped Xander. What that had to do with anything was beyond him. Just because he was in good health, did not mean he was in a good mood. Smug Vulcan... Xander sat up slowly eyeing the woman across from him. He knew inside she was smirking madly. "Nemaiyo."

She tipped her head.

translations(order of appearance): children, student, human, fruit juice, first meditation of adult training, cadet, lesson, program, breathing exercise, thank you


"Mestral!" Xander cried out. "Oh my God, get in here. Mestral!"

She wondered what could have upset the normally calm orensu. He had been having these outbursts less and less over the last six months though the first four had been spent in nearly constant panic. She walked quickly into the kitchen, perhaps he had injured himself.

Xander stared at the cut on his finger. The blood oozed out slowly. Not that the slow part was bad. No the bad was the color of the blood. It was a sickly looking dark green. He had to force himself not to panic. The breathing exercises that had been drilled into him the last few months giving him more control than he would have previously had. By the time Mestral finally reached him his breathing was deep and even.

"What is it Sandar?"

"Why is my blood green? Green, Mestral. Blood isn't supposed to be Green."

"What color is it supposed to be then?" Mestral asked. She knew human blood was red and supposed that this was the first time his half breed status was finally hitting him. The eldars had expected this to happen sooner.

"I'm human, Mestral. Regardless of being here on Vulcan I am still human. My blood should be Red. How can I be a Red-blooded Male American and all that entails if my blood is Green?" He took a deep breath and centered himself again.

"Sandar, you are no longer stricly speaking human. We discussed this before. The transfusion made changes that we did not excpect. You know this."

"But, but, no," Xander was at a loss for words. He forced numb feet to walk to the nearest chair and slowly lowered himself into it. "I can't be an alien. When I get home how am I supposed to explain having green blood? This isn't what I expected. I-I can not be a Vulcan," he stated firmly and unemotionally as he looked up to his mentor.
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