Nobis ✴︎ Pavel Chekov

Chapter Thirty Two - Un(twin)e

       

Pavel is walking down the corridor when he's suddenly pushed forcefully up against the wall. He squeals in a mixture of shock and discomfort and looks up at the person with their fist balled around his collar.

"Karsen?" He wheezes, feeling his feet dangling just above the ground.

"What the fuck did you do to my sister?" He hisses. Pavel tries to squeak out some sort of answer but Karsen drops him before he can say anything.

Sulu is on top of him and asking what the hell was going on. Pavel lets out a few heavy breaths and pulls his shirt off his neck.

"He's Emory's twin," Pavel elaborates, sitting against the corridor and looking over to them.

Sulu gets off Karsen with a shove and he stands to his full height, glaring at the two of them. "What the fuck did you do to my sister Pavel? What the hell happened?"

"She lied to me!" Pavel blurts, remembering how their downfall started. "She told me that she was going to be on the ship with me and that everything was fine. I messed up too but I'm not entirely at fault here."

"You messed her up badly Pavel," Karsen mutters, looking briefly at Sulu. "What kind of person would just leave like that without saying goodbye...?"

Pavel sighs and Sulu puts his hand on his back. He can't find any words to explain what was going through his head but Karsen turns to leave before he can come up with anything. As soon as he's gone Pavel leans back against the wall and sighs. He feels his bottom lip quiver a little and Sulu asks if he needs to go to medbay. He shakes his head and they walk slowly back to their quarters. Pavel places a hand around his tender neck and winces a little.

"He's not in Starfleet," Pavel mutters, "I have no idea why he's aboard the ship..."

"Is that really your concern?" Sulu asks with a weak laugh. "He would have beaten the shit out of you had I not appeared."

"Thank you for that," Pavel says gently.

"You need to report it to the captain," Sulu tells him, punching in the code to their room. Pavel shakes his head and disappears into the bathroom.

"You really do need to talk to the captain. Don't let anyone push you around Pavel, you're not entirely in the wrong."

He doesn't say anything in return. He was quite used to getting pushed around, especially before coming to Starfleet. He didn't spend a long time in the standard schooling system but the time he was there was quite a nightmare. He remembers just how happy he was to leave. Sulu decides not to press him any more about it, he just hopes Karsen doesn't push him around again.

Sulu knocks on Pavel's door just before he plans to go to sleep. He looks up from his PADD and Sulu leans awkwardly against the door.

"I got a message from Emory. She just wanted to apologise for Karsen being too rough with and she wanted to ask if you're alright."

"I'm alright but I didn't think she was talking to me..."

"She's not. Not directly anyway. She just wanted to check that you were okay..."

"I'm fine. I probably deserved it."

Sulu opens his mouth to protest but Pavel shuts him off, muttering that it's late and that they should probably get some sleep. Sulu nods and bids him goodnight, messaging Emory before he goes to bed. They have another shift in the morning and Sulu just hopes that Karsen won't be any trouble. Pavel stops caring by the time he wakes up anyway. He falls back into the 'I deserve this' mindset and Sulu feels a little uncomfortable being around it. Their shift is silent again and Kirk shoots Sulu another 'uh oh' look not long after they start. Nothing much happens through the shift and they try and navigate through a patchy area. Kirk leaves with Sulu and Kirk and they head silently to the mess. Kirk praises them for their teamwork and they both give him weak smile.

Bones comes into the mess hall and picks up on the mood, not saying anything. They eat in relative silence until Bones and Kirk start some idle chatter. Pavel eats to try and take his mind of everything but goes back to thinking about Emory. He's surprised she bothered to talk to him, even if (as Sulu pointed out) it was indirectly.  He wonders what will happen if he goes back to Earth and if he'd ever have a chance with her again. He starts thinking about the time they did spend together when Bones pulls him away from his thoughts.

"Irina's here. Should we go?"

(Author's Note)

My chapter names are progressively getting worse but at least I'm nearly at a thousand reads~~
Enjoy, please comment your thoughts <333