Nobis ✴︎ Pavel Chekov

Chapter Twenty Three - What Burns

Emory wakes up to the smell of bacon and she can see Pavel cooking in the kitchen. He's only in a shirt and jocks and he doesn't notice that she's awake. She coos his name and he turns around with a goofy grin.

"You're cooking me breakfast?"

"I'm probably burning you breakfast, does that count?"

She laughs and hops out of bed, holding him from behind. He grins and turns around to face her, gently kissing her head. She places a hand on his cheek and pulls his lips onto hers. He kisses her softly but she seems to speed up a little wanting more. He's still holding a spatula in one hand and places it blindly on the bench, trying to focus all his attention on her. She hooks her arms around his neck and he knows she wants more. He presses her up against the bench and heats things up. His hands rest on her hips and he lifts her onto the bench. One part of his brain vaguely recognises that he will definitely burn everything he's cooking but he can't bring himself to care. All that matters is Emory, nothing else.

In haste, they move back over to the bed, lips connected and tripping a little. Pavel only has to remove his shirt but Emory has quite a few layers on to battle the cold. Pavel's patient as she strips down to undies and a bra. He goes back to kissing her and she moves one of his hands right onto her chest. He grins against her lips and presses against her, feeling his heart rate quicken from inside his chest. She pushes Pavel up, just enough so that she can undo her bra. Pavel lets his eyes wonder and gives her a gentle smirk. She pulls him back down to kiss her and starts playing with the elastic band on his undies. Their skin is warm against one another and they start removing the last of their clothes.

"Emmy," he whispers. She moans against his neck into return. He trails kisses across her neck and she buries both of her hands into his hair and he shakes involuntarily with a laugh. He starts removing her undies and she lets go of his hair, flinching a little. He stops and looks up at her, seeing a nervous frown suddenly plastered on her face.

"Are you okay?" He asks quietly, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. She pulls the sheets up to cover herself and shrugs, swallowing and sitting up.

"I can't do this," she mutters quietly. "This is going to ruin you, I can't do that to you Pavel."

He sits down beside her and pulls his shirt on, nodding. "I'm really sorry," he says softly, passing her her shirt. "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable or anything..."

"No, no, it's not that. I just, I know you. And this will only make things harder when you go back into space."

"It's already going to be a mess when I go back to space. I know that. It's already messy now and it's only a matter of time before everything falls apart again but..." He stops for a moment, going completely silent and staring blankly.

Emory nudges his side, hoping for a response.

"I... This was a mistake. I'm sorry, this was just... I shouldn't have done this. I don't know what I was thinking."

Emory's a little lost for words and Pavel gets up, pulling his clothes on and leaving the bedroom. She isn't sure what he's doing but she figures she should leave him be for a few minutes to cool down. She emerges a little while later and can't see him in the kitchen. She checks that bathroom and starts getting concerned, not seeing his PADD connected to the charger as it was before. She starts getting a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and upon checking the rest of the rooms in the apartment, she realises that he's gone. She didn't exactly know what to expect but Pavel straight up leaving was not something she thought he'd do. It's irrational and very un-Pavel-like if anything. She rings him but gets no answer, not expecting one anyway. She knows she won't get a hold of him and just hopes she can get to him before he goes back in space.