Angels (Pavel Chekov)

77 - Misunderstanding

Selwyn comes back and takes a seat. He apologises and tells the three of them that what's happening to him is normal for Kelzenone.

"My eyes do what looks like glazing over so my eyes don't dry out while I sleep. I collapsed when you woke me up because I was in deep sleep. Kelzenone aren't supposed to be woken up when we're in that deep type of sleep."

"How do we know how deeply you're sleeping though?" Erik asks, raising an eyebrow.

"If my body feels cold. It means I'm in a deep sleep."

"And your horns? You kinda freaked out when I touched one. I have never even noticed them before..." Vienna notes.

"Ahhh," Selwyn says. His hair turns a pale green and he's not making eye contact with Vienna. "I'd rather have that conversation with you alone, if you don't mind..."

Vienna is incredibly confused and Pavel and Erik look to one another. Vienna just nods and encourages Selwyn to follow her into the spare room. He looks uncomfortable and she asks why he wanted to talk alone.

"I want to start by saying that I understand this was really just a misunderstanding and you were trying to help me. The reason I fell asleep during the daytime and that I'm freaking out is because my body is going through... I don't think it has an English equivalent. It's kind of like a seasonal body change... I don't really know how to describe it."

Vienna thinks for a second and analyses what he says. "So you freaked out because your body is going through changes or...?"

"Not exactly," he mutters. "My body still works on Kelzenone seasons. It's, uh, mating season over there. That's why I freaked out... When we... When... I'm sorry, this is harder to talk about than I thought. Basically part of the ah, process is when we rub each others horns.... I'm so sorry, I'm making this a lot more awkward than I meant to."

"Wait so you're telling me I... I mated with you??"

"No, no! No, not quite. It's part of the process but it's not... Nevermind. I'm sorry. It's not like that. It'd just be like if I touched your chest or something. That's probably the easiest way to explain it."
Vienna swallows nervously and feels a pit in her stomach. "Oh, really? Wow, Selwyn, I'm so sorry. I just wanted to make sure your head was okay."

He nods, fully aware it's a cross cultural misunderstanding. He apologises again and they go back to the other room. Vienna cheeks blaze and Selwyn's hair is still a pale green. Erik asks if everything's okay and they just nod. Pavel and Vienna go back to baking the cake and Selwyn nurses a drink.

Later that night, Selwyn gets a knock at his door and he opens it, seeing Vienna on the other side. He opens it and lets her in, asking if she's alright.

"I'm sorry to barge in but I need to know what was on my hand. The dark blue stuff. What.... What was it?"

Selwyn looks uncomfortable again and Vienna shakes her head, a little scared of his answer.

"It's not... It's not what you're probably thinking it is... When we... Sorry, I'm making this awkward again. I'm just going to have to say this, aren't I? When Kelzenone mate, we rub each other's horns and it releases that stuff you had on your hands. It's a chemical cocktail that makes us want to mate more and increases our attachment to the person we're mating with. It's strong stuff, which is why I freaked out when you touched it. I didn't want you to want to... You know... It may not even affect Terrans like it does us but I still was scared you'd feel something from it."

"Oh," she says softly, her cheeks heated again. "I won't have to take a pregnancy test or anything though, right?"

"No, no it can't make you pregnant. I am pretty sure it can't anyway. I'm sorry I've made this really awkward though. I get that it was just a misunderstanding but the main thing is that by Kelzenone standards, you're a child..."

"Oh God," she says. "That must be really uncomfortable for you."

"No offence Vienna, but the whole thing makes me feel a little ill. I'm far older than you. I don't know if you knew this, but I'm close to forty in Terran years. On Kelzenone I've only just reached legal adulthood but still, you can see why I panicked earlier."

Vienna blinks as she realises Selwyn is technically old enough to be her father. She opens her mouth to say something and closes it.

"I'm really sorry," she says. "I know it was really just a misunderstanding but..."

"It's honestly fine. You need to get to sleep though. We have classes tomorrow. Let's just try and forget about it."

Vienna nods and returns to her room. She finds Pavel still asleep and he mumbles sleepily when she returns to the bed. He says her name followed by some Russian she can't seem to pick up. He puts his arm around her and goes back to sleep. Vienna kisses his head and falls asleep after a few more minutes.

Classes seem empty. There's so few students left and the new hybrid classes are odd mixes of the remaining students. Selwyn and Erik are in some of the same classes and Pavel and Vienna only have one class together. They were supposed to start physical training this semester and it seems Starfleet plan to keep that element. Pavel stresses how much he doesn't want a physical class bringing down his perfect GPA and Vienna tries hard not to roll hey eyes at him.

(Author's Note)

Can I please just say that the Wattpad ranking system is whack. I went from number 1 in three different tags to like 59, 37 and 17 in a few days. I had the top spot in the Pavel Chekov tag and then like two nights later I was like 75th or something ahahahahaha. I mean like I'm not complaining but I am seriously confused by their algorithm.
Enjoy ♪