Nobis ✴︎ Pavel Chekov

Chapter Thirteen - Break

Break comes around and Pavel's left alone for a few days while Emory goes back to see her family. He considers going to Russia to visit his family but he realises he probably won't enjoy his time there. He'll get inundated with question about Irina which is not something he can handle in the foreseeable future. His family really liked Irina, something which he figures will only make his life more difficult. He spends a lot of time with Emory when she's back and not working. He knows he should get a job but there's little point when he could be deployed at any given time. He has a lot of dreams about waking up in the middle of the night, only to find that he's being sent into space. Space still frightens him a lot after what happened last time.

Pavel has a break down in engineering after little sleep and Scotty pushing him too hard. He has to fix another panel but under a time pressure this time and as he's working his hands start shaking and he loses all faith in his ability in engineering concepts and he caves into the pressure two minutes before the timer is up. Scotty gives him a few minutes to cool down but Pavel knows he needs a few years instead. His hands are still shaking and he has no idea where his sudden fear is from. He realises not only his career but the lives of hundreds of crew members will be at stake if he can't perform under pressure. He asks Scotty if he can try again another time and Scotty agrees, telling him to get some rest.

Once Pavel is well rested he goes to Emory rather than engineering to start his simulation again. He tells her what happened as he's lying on the couch and she takes a seat beside him and starts playing with his hair. He finds it incredibly distracting and can hardly finish his story. He lets his mind wander as she's talking to him but he doesn't take in anything she says, even though he knows he should.

"You like it when I play with your hair, don't you?"

Pavel smirks and mutters 'maybe' under his breath. Emory keeps playing with his hair and he closes his eyes.

"Don't fall asleep on me Pavel," she laughs.

"But I'm so relaxed," he mumbles, feeling like nothing else really matters other than the two of them. He knows that what they're doing is pushing the border of friendly but he's too relaxed to care. His body feels loose and the gentle tugs at his hair are sending shivers down his spine.

Pavel wakes up on the couch and realises that although he didn't intend to, he did actually fall asleep on the couch. He sits up and realises Emory isn't in the kitchen. He calls out to her gently and she appears from her bedroom, grinning at him.

"I can't believe I actually fell asleep. I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologise," she smiles. "I'm just glad you're relaxed. Do you feel better?"

"A lot better," he says, honestly.

They take a seat back on the couch and Pavel makes sure to sit upright this time. He asks her if she'd be kind enough to repeat what she said before he fell asleep and she tells him she's not surprised he's stressed. She knows about the incident with Spock's mother and she's one of the few people who doesn't just say 'it wasn't your fault.' She knows that even if it wasn't his fault he's still going to take the blame for it. She spends a little time asking him questions and he feels a little like he's at a therapy session but he feels so inclined to share everything with her. He swears there's just something about her and the more he thinks about it, maybe there is,  and maybe there's something about everyone.

Pavel redoes the simulation in engineering and he still gets stressed but he manages to finish. His time isn't good and Scotty knows he can improve but he figures it's better than last time. Pavel says he'll do it until his time is decent and Scotty know he will. Pavel tends to stick to things once he has his mind set on it, starting what he finishes. He celebrates a little with Emory, finishing a small cake he found on sale in the supermarket. It's not a proper celebration, he just needs to find reasons to see Emory that he feels aren't weird. Pavel points out he thinks it's her that helped him get through the simulation but he shrugs that thought off too.

Later in the night and long after the cake is gone, Emory's telling Pavel a story about one of her classes the week before but gets interrupted by a knocking at the door. Emory comments on how late it is and how no one should be knocking at this hour. Pavel checks his phone in his bag but drops it when he hears screaming. He looks up quickly and sees Emory wrapping herself around someone. Pavel has no idea who it is but they're grinning and seem quite happy to be seeing Emory. She tells him to come in and he pulls a small wheeled suitcase alongside him.

"Pavel," she grins, looking up at the guy beside her. "This is my other half, Karsen."

Pavel smiles politely at him, a little confused as to who exactly Karsen is. He figures he's probably a friend but they seem super comfortable with each other and he doesn't rule out the possibility of him being a boyfriend or ex-boyfriend. He knows that even though he and Emory aren't dating, something bothers him about the idea of her dating someone else.

Karsen is pretty funny and a lot like Emory. He's been travelling a lot and even though he's not in Starfleet, he thought it'd be nice to come visit. Emory seems thrilled to have him there. She says she hasn't seen him in almost two years and Pavel feels like he could rule out the possibility of him being a current boyfriend. He doesn't say anything, though, not wanting to be weird. He wonders if they're related or something but tells himself he'll ask later.

(A/N)

Thank you for reading :)))