Angels (Pavel Chekov)

14 - Ё Моё

They eat ice cream together, looking up at the heavy clouds and laughing. Vienna finishes hers and thinks about how space will one day be her home.

"Why did you bring me here Pavel? Surely not just the ice cream."

"Not just the ice cream," he laughs. "It was when I was here with you last that I realised just how much I enjoyed your company, how much I wanted to kiss you..."

He's not looking at her with he finishes the thought. He smiles to himself, thinking about just how happy he felt thinking about it.

"There aren't any dogs around," Vienna prompts, watching him grin.

"No dogs," he confirms, putting a hand on her cheek. She smiles, her forehead touches his and Pavel finally gets himself together, bringing his lips to hers. He pulls away softly, a breath leaving his lungs and a smile quickly spreading across his face. She's grinning too but only for few seconds before kissing him back again. He's so gentle, like he's scared pushing their lips too hard together will make them pop.

"Pavel," she whispers, bringing her arms around his neck.

"Ё моё," he says to himself, wondering why he put off kissing her for so damn long. It's still raining and they don't want to return, despite how late it is. "Stay over tonight," he asks. "Stay over and let me keep kissing you."

"I'd love to," she laughs, taking his hand.

They stand up and he pulls her close, kissing her again. She laughs and pulls away, telling him they should head back before the rain gets worse and he kisses her cheek, starting to walk with her. He swings her hand and she watches how he smiles like a complete fool. The rain picks up a little and Pavel removes his jacket, draping it around his shoulders.

"You're a gentleman, aren't you?" she grins, pulling it around her a little closer.

"Something like that," he muses, taking her hand again. He swings it and lets the rain fall over him. The weather won't dampen his mood. It's the best he's felt since Starfleet and he has every intention of enjoying it while he can. They get back to his room and he peels his shirt off him, chucking it in the drier. She likes seeing him in just jeans without a shirt but doesn't voice the thought, just watching from his bed.

"Do you mind lending me some of your clothes? Just a hoodie and some shorts or something maybe."

"I don't own shorts," he admits. "They make me look ten years old and I don't need to draw any more attention to myself. I can give you a hoodie and replicate anything else..."

"Thank you," she says softly, liking the idea of getting a hoodie of his. He pulls one from his drawers and throws it to her, digging out a shirt for himself in the process. Vienna holds the hoodie over herself and removes her own shirt, tossing it to the floor. He looks over to her to ask about what size to replicate and notices her shirtless, quickly looking away and feeling like he's doing something wrong. She's covered but his cheeks still glow as he goes into the kitchen to distract himself.

"I'm clothed now," she jokes.

"I'm really sorry," he says quickly, "I didn't realise you were getting changed... I didn't mean to."

"Pavel," she says, rolling her eyes. "I was covered, I know you didn't realise. I'm just playing around, don't worry about it."

He gives her a shy smile. She looks adorable in his hoodie and he mutters about it in Russian. He sits up in bed next to her and writes in his journal, smiling like an idiot as he writes. She watches over his shoulder, looking for her name.

"Lucky I can't read Russian hey," she mutters, leaning against him.

"It's just a recap of today. That's something I want to remember in better detail than my memory will let me."

"Look, I know we never mentioned it, but that last comment Damien read... Are we ever going to address that or...?"

He goes quiet, his pen suddenly not writing anymore. He taps the back of the pen on the edge of the book and mutters in Russian. He brushes his hair back and sighs, wondering what to say. "I... I never thought that would be shared, especially with you. I... I mean, I can't deny that it's true, but I really don't want to talk about it."

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but can I share a quick thought...?" He nods, his cheeks burning a little. "I was never remotely bothered by the comment, Pavel. I don't want you to be embarrassed or anything. It's nice to know you think of me like that..."

If his cheeks weren't glowing before then they're glowing now. He looks a few shades off a tomato and he just nods, too shy to tell her how comforted he is by the words. Deep down, Vienna knows anyway.

(Author's Note)

My second draft has hit 35k words. I've written so far ahead and uploading it feels so slow.

Enjoy~~~