Angels (Pavel Chekov)

44 - An Offer

Pavel is awake by the time Vienna gets up and she wonders if he slept at all. He's already in the kitchen eating porridge and he asks if she wants any. She shakes her head and sits beside him. He's wearing a buttoned shirt and some black jeans. She kisses his cheek and goes into the bathroom, turning the shower on. He seems quiet already and they haven't even gotten there yet.

For the rest of the morning, Pavel remains quiet. Even at the venue there are plenty of people he doesn't recognise. He stays close to Vienna and doesn't try and interact with anyone. Erik finds them and asks if he's ready to go inside. Pavel just nods and Vienna places her hand on his shoulder.

"Oh shit," Erik mutters, "that's my ex-girlfriend."

"Why is she here?" Pavel asks, leaning around Erik to see if she can recognise her.

"Her father worked with ours. It's fine, let's just go in."

The three of them go in and Vienna feels strange being the only non-Russian speaker there. She holds Pavel's hand as they start. He just sits there and listens, expressionless. Erik gets up to speak and seems a little shaky. He manages to speak without crying, his voice is a little uneven but otherwise he stays strong. Pavel squeezes Vienna's hand a little tighter.

After the service a few people come to talk to Pavel and Erik and Vienna just hangs around awkwardly. She notices Pavel wiping his eyes and some point and she sighs. He comes over to find her and just buries his head into her shoulder.

"This is so hard," he whispers, keeping his eyes closed. She runs her hand gently along his back. "I have a few more people I want to talk to but I want to go soon. I don't want to hang around any longer than necessary.

Vienna kisses his cheek before he goes and decides to go for a walk instead of milling awkwardly. They're in a church and she goes outside, walking around the side looking for somewhere she can sit. She walks around the back of the church and stops, noticing a figure leaning against the building.

"Erik?" She says softly.

He looks up, startled that someone else is there. He quickly wipes his eyes and looks away. Vienna comes over to him and he smiles weakly.

"I think it's sinking in now," he says with a weak laugh, wiping his eyes again.

"Come here," she smiles, wrapping her arms around him. He starts crying, she feels her heart ache for him. "No one expects you to just 'roll with the punches', Erik. Take some time to process everything."

He lets go of her to wipe his eyes again. She pulls some tissues from his pocket and he thanks her, pressing it against his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"I know Pavel didn't get along well with your father but did you?"

Erik nods, lowering the tissue and leaning back against the wall. "He really had it in for Pavel but we got along okay. He was never a really warm person. He was always the sense and logic, mum is the emotional one. Sometimes I wonder how their marriage even worked. He would always give reason to everything. It was comforting in one weird way or another. I feel like I never really... Like I never really connected with him though. God," he scoffs. "I sound so corny."

"You don't sound corny. That makes a lot of sense."

"I don't know," he says softly. "I just feel like I never properly talked with him all that much. Before he died he asked me to tell Pavel something but I don't know how Pavel's going to take it. I might tell him in a day or two. Not today. Today has been a lot already. Pavel's a lot stronger than I thought. A lot more than I am. The fact that he could stay in the room while people were talking about how much they admired him. He was awful to Pavel. Really awful."

"You know, he'd probably appreciate hearing that from you. If you told him that you thought he was strong like that. It'd mean a lot to him."

"Maybe," Erik muses. "Might inflate his ego too much. I can't have him thinking I admire him or anything."

Vienna rolls her eyes and he smiles at her.

"You know, I said it before but Pavel's very lucky to have you. If things ever fall through with you and you need a cute Russian around..."

She rolls her eyes at his comment. "Pavel warned me about you being a flirt."

"That's not even flirting. That's a statement followed by and offer. Trust me, if I was flirting it'd be a lot more obvious."

"Regardless. I'm more than happy with your brother's company. I'm not giving up on him anytime soon."

Erik nods, starting to walk with her back to where everyone else it. "Well, whatever happens, the offer still stands," he says, winking at her before walking off. She rolls her eyes at him, looking around for Pavel. She finds him still inside, talking to a few people. She takes a seat towards the back as she waits for him. Her mind is thinking about what Erik said, how he was expressing an interest in dating her if things didn't work out with Pavel.

Pavel comes and sits down beside her. He takes a deep breath and tells her he wants to leave now. She nods, standing up and taking his hand. They walk out together, quiet and thinking.