Angels (Pavel Chekov)

56 - Spiky Fruit

When they do get out of the shower, they lay together in towels and smile as they talk about a few of their upcoming assessment. It's nearing mid-semester exams and Vienna admits how worried she is for the practical dental exams. Pavel wonders if she's studying enough and offers to help her before her exams. She kisses his cheek in response.

Vienna starts eating lychees in the kitchen and she offers one to Pavel, who frowns at the fruit. He picks one up and holds it up to the light. Vienna tries not to roll her eyes at him and she takes one for herself, peeling it.

"What is this spiky fruit?"

"Spiky fruit," she laughs. "It's a lychee, Pavel. And I should note that you need to peel it before eating it. Have you really never seen one before? They're not alien. They're from Earth."

"Lychee? What does it taste like?"

"Just taste it. It's sweet. Peel it first though."

He peels it and bites into it, instantly squealing. Vienna looks up and sees him clutching his mouth. She gets up and comes around to the other side of kitchen bench, pulling his hand away from his mouth so she can have a better look. His front tooth is chipped and bleeding.

"You didn't take the seed out, did you? I should have been more specific when I said to peel the fruit. Here, come lie down, I need to fix this right now."

He nods, breathing heavily and shaking a little. She lays him down on the couch and grabs a clean tea towel for the blood. She grabs her bag and pulls a few tools from it, all of which make Pavel very uncomfortable. He starts squirming a little when she pulls out an oral hypo and she frowns a little.

"Listen, I need to fix this tooth of yours. You'll need to stay still. It won't hurt you."

He nods and she loads the hypo, pressing it gently into his gum. After a few sharp breaths, he slows down and realises that the pain has stopped. Vienna pulls some gloves on and uses an antiseptic spray and a small tool to reattach the rest of his tooth. It only takes a few minutes. She's done dozens of chipped teeth on many alien races, she's confident in what she's doing.

"Okay, bite down on this," she mutters, sticking something in his mouth. He does so reluctantly, surprised that his tooth feels completely normal. "Right, you're done now. The sedative will wear off in twenty minutes. I mean, I know you said you'd help me with studying for my dentistry exams, but I didn't mean so soon."

Pavel rolls his eyes. He sits up and gently touches the front of his face.

"Vienna?"

"Yes?"

"I don't like your spiky fruit."

They stay up a little longer and Vienna insists on kissing him better. He has no objections. It's a little strange kissing her with his lips feeling numb but Vienna helps him regain feeling there after a while. She inspects his tooth again once the sedative has completely worn off and he goes and checks it out in the mirror amazed at how well she's done.

Pavel ends up falling asleep in Vienna's lap and she doesn't have the heart to wake him straight away. She studies for a while, using her PADD and being careful not to wake him. Pavel's phone goes off and Vienna ignores it, figuring that she'll wake him soon enough anyway and he can ring back whoever then. Her phone starts going off and she frowns, trying to pull it from her pocket without waking him. She honestly believes her boyfriend could sleep through the end of the world if she let him.

"Hello?"

"Vienna? Hey, sorry for calling this late. It's Erik. I tried calling Pavel but he didn't respond, do you know where he is?"

"You could say that," she mutters, digging her fingers into his hair gently. "He's asleep on my lap."

"Do you mind waking him? It's important."

Vienna rolls her eyes, asking Erik to give her a minute. She shakes Pavel gently until he starts to stir. She coos his name and still gets no response. She stops being gentle then and just starts digging her fingers into his side. He wakes up quickly and asks what's going on, rubbing his eyes. Vienna passes him her phone and he doesn't ask who it is, just saying hello into the receiver and yawning.

"Erik? What are you..."

Vienna can hear Erik speaking Russian and Pavel just frowns and listens, trying not to fall asleep.

"You've got to be kidding," Pavel mutters, in English. He says something else in Russian and hangs up. He gives Vienna her phone back and gets up, putting his own phone in his pocket and pulling his shoes on. "Erik is in San Francisco. He wants me to go get him from the airtram stop. He has things to tell us."

"I'll join you," she says softly, "If you're walking around at night, I'd rather you be with someone. It's nice weather, anyway."

Pavel's too sleepy to argue. He just waits for her to put some proper clothes on and they head off hand in hand. They swing their hands back and forth and discuss what they think Erik has to say. Pavel's seems unsurprised that he's suddenly in America.

"Erik is the definition of spontaneous. He will suddenly appear in the country then disappear for a few weeks. You can never tell what he's going to do."

They wait at the tram station for a while and Pavel grumbles about Erik being such a hassle. Vienna kisses his cheek and his pout fades a little. He wraps an arm around her and tells her how much he enjoyed their day together, despite the emergency dental surgery. She grins and asks if he'd eat another lychee and he shrugs.

"Pavel! Oh and look at that, you've brought Vienna with you. How wonderful." Erik grins and takes Vienna's hand, kissing it softly before Pavel can stop her.

"Hands off," Pavel grumbles at him, finishing the sentence in Russian and Erik rolls his eyes.

"What? I didn't pick up any swearing?"

"He asked when I was leaving," Erik grins, starting to walk with them back towards Starfleet. "How are you, Miss Vienna? Study going well?"

Vienna looks to Pavel and realises that he mustn't have explained what happened. She looks back to Erik and apologises for spacing out. "Ah, yeah, study has improved. I was a little behind when we were in Russia. It's going smoother now. Especially when I have Pavel to practise on."

Pavel opens his mouth and shows Erik his tooth, telling him what happened in Russian. Erik seems impressed and asks how Pavel's never heard of lychees before. Vienna suggests they go back to her room for the time being.

(Author's Note)

Japan tomorrow hell yeah
I'll still be uploading though because this story has consumed my existence :)))
I wanted to keep the airtram scene from the original Angels because I guess I liked the dialogue
Enjoy ★