Nobis ✴︎ Pavel Chekov

Chapter Fifty Six - En light ened

Emory asks him to come back to her room for a while and he agrees reluctantly. He's still thinking about what she may have said to Sulu. Sawyer isn't there and they lie down in her room for a while. Pavel strokes her hair until she falls asleep and then leaves quietly, not wanting to wake up in her bed if Sawyer comes back.

Sulu isn't there. Pavel just falls asleep. He doesn't have the capacity to stay awake or do anything else. He wakes up and just lies in bed, still tired and remembering everything that happened in the mess. He falls in and out of sleep for a while until he can finally bring himself to get up and go to the toilet. There's a few messages on his PADD from Scotty, all of which he ignores. He needs a shower to wake himself up a little more, maybe just to feel something at all.

Their room is still half empty. Pavel wonders where Sulu is and when he'll be back. He hasn't met any of Sulu's friends, no one he could be staying with comes to mind. He gets dressed and leaves their room, needing some time away from thinking about Sulu.

Pavel runs into someone as he's walking, that person being Irina. She's a little flustered, neither of them even having been looking where they were going. He asks how she is, she just nods.

"Work has been really busy. McCoy is constantly in a mood. I swear he's on his man period or something. I'm so tired, I just want to sleep for the next decade."

"Can you take a day off or something?"

"It's too busy to. All medical staff are in the same position. It might clear up soon but for now I need to get back to work..."

"Don't push yourself too hard," he says softly, giving her a gentle smile. She just nods, the same faint smile. He knows she's probably not in the best headspace to be working to her full potential and for that, he feels reasonably guilty. He wonders if they'll ever return to a friendly stage or if there'll always be an underlying awkwardness between them.

Emory is in the mess. He takes a seat beside her and asks if she's felling alright. She nods but whether she is or not is another question. She thanks him for staying until she fell asleep. He smiles and places his chin on the table, still tired despite sleeping so much. When she finishes they stand up together and head out of the mess, Pavel suddenly grabbing her and pulling her to the side.

Before she can even think a light panel falls from the ceiling exactly where she was standing. She stares at it on the ground and looks to Pavel.

"How did you-?"

"I've no idea," he says softly, staring at the shattered light panel and wondering why he even pulled her in the first place. He had no vision, no thought about it, no premonition or anything. He didn't see the future, something in his body just made him grab her and pull her out of danger.

"Do you have a sixth sense or something you're not telling me about?"

"Not at all... I'm more confused than you are..."

Pavel asks if they can leave, a little unnerved by all the looks the people in the mess are giving him. They find a rec room and Pavel is quiet, trying not to freak himself out too much. He wants to know why he moved her, why the light panel fell at that very moment. He tells her he thinks he should just go back to sleep and she laughs, running a hand through his hair.

"This is the first time I've been in an empty rec room... There's always normally at least a few people in here."

"I've never been in one alone either," he mutters, closing his eyes and leaning back against the chair. She runs her hands through his hair again. He smiles appreciatively, feeling a little more sleepier than before. Her hand moves off him and he opens his eyes, feeling his entire weight drop.

Pavel's suspended in space. His arms and legs flail but he can't move. His lungs aren't taking in air and his whole body is starting to shake. He goes to scream and nothing happens, he grasps at the stars, he tries to steady himself and nothing works. He feels like he's falling and drowning at the same time, he can't breathe and his eyes shut and everything goes black.

(Author's Note)

Ahahaha man, I loved writing this chapter, such a fun part of the story
Enjoy
<3