Angels (Pavel Chekov)

23 - Towel

Pavel is still rambling about the museum when they back at his apartment. As much as she loves the stupid smile he has as he babbles on, she's getting a little tired of hearing about it after a whole day. She still listens, telling herself to be patient and let him express his interest in something. He eventually stops talking about it and Vienna kisses his head, telling him that she needs a shower.

Ten minutes later, Pavel hears his name being called out and he lowers his PADD, knocking on the bathroom door and asking if she's alright.

"I'm fine," she says. "I just forgot my towel; do you mind getting me one? There aren't any in here."

He finds her one and knocks on the door again.

"Pavel... Just... Don't look, okay?"

"I won't," he confirms, and he doesn't, facing the opposite way and closing his eyes as she opens the door and takes it from his hand.

She thanks him, knowing that even if she hadn't asked, he still would have been looking the opposite direction. He's a both a gentleman and incredibly shy. She smiles as she wraps the towel around herself. He goes back to his PADD and tries to go back to a physics theory he was reading earlier. His mind is running much wilder than he'd like it to be. He lays down and stares up at the ceiling, trying to calm his crazy mind. Occasionally he just gets way too over-cluttered with thoughts and he needs a little time to just think them through.

Vienna comes back out drying her hair and she smiles at Pavel. He's not looking at her, his eyes up at the ceiling and his head up in the clouds.

"You alright there, Pavel?"

"Yeah, sorry," he mutters, sitting up. "Are we doing anything tomorrow? Are you seeing your family again?"

"Perhaps. I'll check what they're doing in the morning but I'm too tired to worry about it now."

She sits on the edge of the bed and yawns, wondering why she's so tired. Pavel sits up and comes to wrap his arms around her from behind and rest his head on her shoulder. He feels his brain flood with affection and his chest fills with warmth.

"Come kiss me," she mutters, taking the towel from her hair and lying down with him. He does kiss her, his hands around her waist and his chest expanding again. He swears her lips have never been so soft and he prays that she's enjoying it just as much as he is.

They wake up to the sound of Vienna's phone and Pavel just groans incoherently. He buries his head in the pillow and says something in incoherent Russian. Vienna picks up her phone and heads into the kitchen so he can keep sleeping. He drifts back off and she wakes him up a little later.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Sydel and I are going to have a girls' day, okay? I'll message you later tonight. You'll be alright here, yeah?"

He grunts into his pillow. He doesn't want her to leave him for the whole day, but he knew it was coming at some point this week. She kisses his head before she leaves, and he smiles sleepily. He goes back to sleep and wakes an hour later. He yawns and stretches himself out. He'll have a chance to finish all the mundane tasks that he doesn't normally do with Vienna around. He knows he needs to tidy up, to wash his clothes and source some real food for them to eat. He wakes up properly and eats porridge, trying to think of the ingredients he might need.

Pavel's daydreaming as he walks to into the city. He has music playing in his ears and doesn't notice that he's being called out to. He keeps walking, blissfully unaware that unwanted company is following behind him. He hums to himself when he's pushed off the track and into a small alleyway in between two buildings.

"Damien," Pavel says weakly, pulling his headphones out.

"I'm going to make this very simple," Damien mutters, two of his friends standing on either side of Pavel and cornering him. The air in Pavel's lungs has gone cold and he feels his hands shaking a little. "Stay away from Vienna. We both know she just takes pity on you. She will never love you, she would just feel bad if you killed yourself."

"Don't say that," Pavel says shakily.

Damien rolls his eyes. "You're even more pathetic than Erik. You haven't got a shot with her. She doesn't care about you. A friend of mine is in her dentistry class and she admitted she just feels sorry for you."

Pavel doesn't say anything, dark thoughts flooding his mind. It doesn't take much for him to believe every word Damien says. Pavel's head drops a little bit and Damien looks at his friends.

"Stay away. This is your warning."