Angels (Pavel Chekov)

41 - The Lucky One

Pavel is in his old bedroom and Vienna finds him staring at the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. She smiles at him and he sighs. He seems tired and she wonders if he's slept all much since they got there. He seems so lost and she doesn't know what more she can do for him other than stay by his side.

"I'm sorry for leaving. I know this is probably hard for you being the only non-Russian speaker. My mother does this when she's trying to distract herself. Talk about anything except what we're all thinking about."

"You seem really closed off to your family."

"They don't understand me," he mutters bitterly. "Erik teases me constantly and mum doesn't respect my privacy. I told her I'm not in any place to be answering all these questions about our relationship, especially ones that are so intimate. I want our private lives to stay private. Plus, I don't want any input from Erik. Maybe coming here was a bad idea, we should go back to the hotel."

"It might be a good idea to be around people who understand what you're going through."

Pavel has a sudden flicker of anger across his eyes. He bites his lip and sit up, breathing heavily. "They don't understand," he bites, not looking at her. "He loved Erik. He loved my mum. They are in a completely different circumstance. Don't tell me that they understand."

She doesn't appreciate him getting angry, even though she gets where it's coming from. He tells her he wants to be alone and she leaves without saying anything. She finds the bathroom and washes her hands in the basin, trying to calm herself down. She composes a message to Doctor McCoy and gives a run down on the situation. She wants any help the doctor can offer at this point.

Erik's there alone when Vienna comes back. She sits down and sighs, glad that Erik also speaks English.

"He's not taking it well, I imagine?"

"He's just lost a parent. You've just lost a parent. Is there really any good way to take it?"

"I guess it's a little different for me. It's not the first time something like this has happened to me. You just start rolling with the punches. I just think if he's in grief, it's no reason to push you away. You're trying to help him, he needs to pull his head out and understand that."

"Are you really just rolling with the punches? It could very well be too soon to ask this but are you alright too?"

Erik looks to her, a curious look in his eyes. He thinks a little before answering. "I'm managing. I feel that it hasn't exactly sunk in yet."

Vienna nods, wondering if it's the case for Pavel. Erik asks if Pavel asked to be alone and Vienna nods. He makes a comment as Pavel being the same since childhood.

"You two were cute kids," Vienna smiles. "Did you get along when you were little?"

"Barely. I wanted to play trucks and he wanted to do advanced calculus. We never really had any similar interests. We were into card games when we were older. He's freakishly good though. He has a crazy mathematics brain, he would always remember where cards would be or predict the outcomes. I was just lucky. Though really, seems like he's the lucky one now. Did he meet you in class?"

"We met in class," she confirms. "We were sitting in the same row and had to do partner work."

"Hmm. I doubted he would have approached a girl like you on his own accord. I'm pretty unsurprised."

"Sorry, but what do you mean a girl like me?"

"Pretty, intelligent. Very kind hearted. Normally sweet girls like you turn him into a nervous mess. I'm surprised he could even talk to you." Vienna rolls her eyes and Erik shrugs. "You know what I'm saying is true. He's shy. There's nothing wrong with that. May I ask you something?"

"Go on."

"Are you in love with him?"

"You know," Vienna laughs, my sister asked Pavel the same thing. Yes, I am. I care a lot for your brother."

Erik smiles a little. "Pavel and I mightn't get along all that well but it's about time Pavel had someone so good and pure in his life with him."

Vienna thanks him softly and Erik looks up, Pavel's coming back into the room and Vienna's surprised to see him back so quickly. Vienna notices that his eyes are looking a little puffy and she wonders if he's been crying. He comes and sits down beside her, not saying anything.

"Maybe we can play cards, Pavel?" Vienna says softly. He looks up and meets her eyes. She's certain he's been crying. His eyes are red and he just nods wearily. Erik gets up and finds a pack of cards, taking them out and starting to shuffle them. Pavel mutters something and takes the deck off Erik, sitting up a little and shuffling them professionally. He makes it look super easy and Vienna watches in awe.

"How... How did you?? What are you?"

He gives her the faintest hint of a smirk, putting the cards on the coffee table for Erik to hand out. Erik deals the cards out and starts explaining the rules to Vienna. It's a simple enough game, she gets the hang of it after a few goes. Pavel wins almost every round. Erik was right. Pavel seems to calm down when he's focused with the game. Vienna's glad Erik mentioned it.

Dariya tries to feed them but none of them are particularly hungry. She seems to linger around the kitchen, not interested in playing card games. They stay for a few hours before Pavel requests that they go back to the hotel so they can sleep. Vienna has no objects, her body feels funny from the time zones.

"It was lovely meeting you," Erik smiles, extending his hand to Vienna. Pavel shoots his brother a warning glare and Vienna just shakes his hand. Dariya hugs Pavel and tells him to look after himself. He promises to come back over the next day and she kisses his cheek. Just before Vienna goes, Dariya takes her hands, squeezing them.

"Thank you for take care my Pasha. He need nice girl like you."

"Thank you," Vienna smiles, squeezing her hands gently. "I'll look after him."

Pavel turns around and wonders what they're saying when Vienna finally catches up to him. Pavel asks what they were saying to one another and she tells him that his mother was glad she was taking care of him. Pavel nods, taking her hand and walking with her back to the nearest station. He's so quiet and she wonders when he'll start going back to normal. She squeezes his hand as she gets lost in thought and he looks to her, noting the worried expression.