Angels (Pavel Chekov)

37 - Voice

Class starts back up. Pavel's feeling pretty restless without Vienna. He misses talking to her and waking up with someone he loves. She feels the same sting, checking her messages and hoping for him to ask her over. She feels a little emptier in class, noting that Pavel's probably watching the lectures online whilst he's still sorting things out. She draws stars in the margins and pays only minimal attention. She wonders how long it'll be before she can see him again. She wonders if she should message and ask how he's feeling.

Vienna manages to dance her worries away for a few hours and her partner from last time is there. He stays quiet still, keeping up with her speed and moving very naturally with her. As they take a break for a few minutes she notices him faintly humming a tune and she asks him about it before they start dancing again. He seems a little surprised she noticed him humming, he isn't entirely sure how to answer her.

"Well, it's a song from my home planet. It's played on a holiday of ours, a little like Carnival. Bright colours, dancing, parades, drinking. That whole kind of thing."

"We should dance to it after we finish with class."

He looks at her, a little confused. He just nods, not commenting any further. Vienna questions if he doesn't really want to but after class finishes, he shows her a video from his home planet. He's right about the colours and the dancing. She smiles as the tune he was humming plays softly.

"Did you ever dance at this festival?"

"Every year. I missed it once I came to Earth, hence why I joined here."

"Shall we?"

He gives her a faint smile, taking her hand and showing her the first few steps.

Vienna learns the dance reasonably quickly. They seem to fly across the floor for a few minutes and Vienna quickly feels out of breath. He grins when they're finished, muttering in a language she doesn't recognise. He reminds her of Pavel.

"I don't think I've ever gotten your name," she notes, pulling his attention back to her.

"Selwyn. Yours is Vienna, yes?"

She nods, picking her water bottle off the floor. The dance is fast and tires her quickly, even though she's particularly enjoying it. They dance after she's recovered a little and for the rest of the afternoon, she manages to forget how lonely she's been feeling. She manages to forget about missing Pavel for a little and remember how much she enjoyed dancing. Selwyn thanks her for staying and dancing with him. For a while now, he's felt a similar loneliness too.

Pavel has a message composed to Vienna that he's too worried to send. It's been almost two weeks and he thinks he's going a little crazy. He's been good so far, throwing himself into engineering and his classes. He can't bring himself to press send but calls her instead, feeling an anxiety pass over him as he waits for her to pick up.

"Pavel?"

"Vienna," he says softly. "Hey... it's nice to hear your voice."

"It's nice to hear yours. I've missed you."

"I've missed you," he returns, feeling himself getting filled with a warmth that's been missing. "Maybe... Maybe if you're not busy you could... You could come over?"

She laughs weakly and she nods from the other side of the campus, smiling to herself. "I was hoping you'd ask that. Give me a few minutes, I'll be there shortly."

He sighs in relief, glad that she'll with him again soon. He thanks her, hanging up and looking towards the door anxiously. He feels just like he did when he'd first sit next to her in class and try to talk to her without sounding super nervous. He gets a little lost in thought until there's a knock at the door.

"Hey," he greets, glad to see her for the first time in seemingly forever.

"Hey," she smiles, throwing her arms around him. He squeezes her tightly and smiles to himself. He holds her for a while, thinking of all the time he's missed her having in his arms.

"I missed you," he whispers, resting his head against hers. "I missed you so much. I'm so happy you're here. I'm so happy you waited for me."

"You're worth waiting for," she says softly.

He takes her inside, his hand gripping hers and his heart racing like it did when they first met. They sit down together, hand in hand still and Pavel wants to know everything that's been happening since they spoke last.

"I want to know how you've been," Vienna says, smiling at him. "Are you feeling better? Have you been looking after yourself?"

"I have," he says softly. "David took me into engineering and I've barely been able to stay out."

"Engineering? Are you planning on joining medical too? Jesus, Pavel, you're honestly something else."

He smiles at her, thinking about all the time he's spent there since he got out of medbay. He tells her about all the things he's been fixing and rewiring, all the progress he feels like he's made. She's unsurprised at this point. He's far beyond genius. She's felt that from the beginning.

"What have you been doing?" Pavel asks, changing the topic. "Have you been alright?"

"I've been well," she smiles. "I joined a club too actually..."

"You did?? Vienna that's wonderful, what club?"

"Ah, actually the academy's dance club... I used to dance with Sydel back in Delaware. Mainly ballroom. Swing, salsa, tango, you know? All those types. I haven't danced since coming here but it felt amazing getting back into it."

"You dance?" He asked, reasonably surprised. "Why... Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because I just didn't have a chance to. I was lost in my studies for ages, Pavel. I almost forgot about it."

"Can you show me?"

"I was worried you'd ask that," she says, rolling her eyes light-heartedly. "Do you really want me to show you? It's hard without a partner but I might have a video somewhere."

Pavel nods eagerly and Vienna takes her PADD from her bag. She finds a video from two months before she moved to San Francisco and hesitates before showing Pavel. She knows he wouldn't judge her because of it but something makes her think twice about it.

Pavel watches with a faint smile on his lips. Vienna moves so quickly and makes it look easy. He passes her PADD back to her when the video finishes and she asks what he's thinking.

"You just... You're very talented. You look so elegant and beautiful. I wish you'd told me earlier. Now that you're in a dance club though I might get to see you dance in person, da?"

She nods, cuddling up next to him. She tells him about finally talking more with her roommate and trying to focus in class without him there. He tells her he plans on joining back again within the next few days. He feels different. Good different. He has confidence that everything should finally get a little better.