Nobis ✴︎ Pavel Chekov

Chapter Five - Hair, There and Everywhere

Emory does like Italian food and Pavel feels kind of like they're on a date. They're just having dinner together but it just feels like there's something more behind it. Pavel feels like he's right in guessing she likes purple because she's wearing a purple shirt with the same sneakers he's seen her in before. Her hair is out for once and it suits her a lot better, he reckons. They get seated in a booth together and Pavel isn't entirely sure how close they should be sitting. He feels like he's overcomplicating things but that kind of only makes things a little worse. She seems completely calm but on all the occasions they've been together, she always has. They share a pizza which ends up being a little larger than they anticipate but they finish it eventually and feel too full too move. Pavel's impressed that she can almost out-eat him and they go back to Emory's dorm together, still full and a little sleepy.

They talk for a while whilst their food goes down and Emory tell him she improved her weekly quiz score by eighteen marks thanks to Pavel's tutoring. He brushes his help off as nothing but Emory doesn't let him. Pavel shows her the burn on his arm later and she thinks it's a little gross but kind of cool. He tells her about screwing up the panel and she listens, something he really appreciates. She tells him he can't expect to get everything perfect and normally he brushes off people's comments about his perfectionistic tendencies but he listens to hers and one part of him acknowledges that she's right. He kind of needs to accept his own failures but it's hard when his last failure cost a life. He decides not to mention this but feels that it might come up in conversation another time.

The night drags on a little and the two end up dozing off beside each other on the couch. Emory's head is resting on the edge of the couch and Pavel is sideways and curled up a little. They stay there for ages and eventually a door slamming in the corridor wakes them both up. Pavel is a little confused when he wakes up but remembers what's happening and sits up. Emory just yawns and stretches her legs across Pavel's lap.

"You can stay the night if you want," she says, closing her eyes and returning to her sleeping position. "This couch actually turns into a bed. I think it's kinda cool."

He grins at her sleepy ramblings and yawns too. "Won't your roommate be annoyed. If she's Vulcan wouldn't she be, well, particular?"

"She's on New Vulcan at the moment. I don't really think she would mind."

"I will then, thank you."

She fetches a blanket from a cupboard in her room and they pull out the couch bed together. It's ridiculously old fashioned but practical, Pavel figures. She says goodnight sleepily and disappears into the bathroom before finally disappearing into her bedroom. Pavel isn't sure whether to just sleep in jocks or keep his shirt on but he figures she's already seen him naked. He falls asleep quickly despite that the bed is a little lumpy and makes a noise every time he moves. He's warm and pretty happy, despite the sleeping conditions.

"Morning sleepy head. Sleep alright?"

Pavel's eyes flutter open and he rubs them before remembering where he is and sitting up.

"Hey," he greets sleepily. His voice is husky and it even surprises him about how he sounds. He rolls over onto to his stomach and stretches his arms sleepily. She grins at him and asks if he wants breakfast. He says a reasonably weary thank you and rubs his eyes, trying to get himself up. He doesn't really want her to see his morning wood and get the wrong idea so he lies back down on his stomach and waits a while, falling asleep again.

"Pavel," she laughs. "Wake up."

"Mmmmmm," he responds. He looks up at grins at her, burying his head back in a pillow as soon as she cracks a grin.

She pulls the blankets off him and he just groans loudly.

"Where are your clothes?" she laughs, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I never sleep with a shirt on and jeans are too uncomfortable to sleep in. It's too hot for shirts. And, you have already seen me naked so..."

"True," she shrugs, a smug grin spreading across her face. "I almost forgot."

"I haven't," Pavel says, innocently enough. He isn't really sure what's he's saying and his normal word filter seems to be out of order. He yawns and sits up, trying to fix his bed hair with his hand but only making it worse. His hair is always a total mess when he wakes up but he doesn't have a comb or a mirror.

"May I?" Emory asks, gesturing towards his hair. He nods and tilts his head towards her and she combs through his hair and kind of fixes it. He thanks her and goes and check it in the mirror, impressed that she managed to fix it with her bare hands. He comes back into the kitchen and helps her with breakfast, as much as he can. She leaves him in charge of toast because that's about all he can manage. He doesn't burn it thankfully and they eat quietly together in the bench.

"Do you have class today?" Pavel asks, finishing the last of his toast and placing his plate in the sink.

"No, only an online lecture. Have you?"

Pavel shakes his head. He only has very few classes compared to when he first started. He's one of the only members of the Enterprise crew who wanted to keep studying after graduation. Everyone else seems to be spending time with family or travelling. The best part of his life was at the academy, one part of him just wants to stay with that.

"Want to go exploring?" Pavel asks. There it is again. That lack of the tight filter he normally has. He's already spent all night with her and he normally wouldn't be so clingy. He blames a lack of caffeine.

"Sounds fun," she smiles. He breathes a silent sigh of relief. He promises he'll be back in half an hour after he's changed into some clean clothes and had a shower. She says 'see you soon,' and Pavel moves rather rapidly across the campus, feeling excited and a little more hyped up than usual. He showers reasonably fast and is glad Alec isn't there to question why he didn't come home. He pulls on some clean clothes and brushes his teeth, looking at his reasonably well fixed hair in the mirror. Emory took a substantially shorter time to adjust it than he normally does. He figures he'll ask her what her trick is later.

(A/N)

Good news - I've been writing a lot and managed to add another 1600 words to this last night. I'll add more to it today hopefully but yes this one is progressing nicely.
Anyway please comment/vote/etc
- Lucky