Angels (Pavel Chekov)

46 - Cryptic

Erik and Pavel are awake when Vienna gets up. They're eating porridge together, speaking Russian softly. She yawns and hugs Pavel from behind resting her head on his back.

"Good morning," Pavel says softly. "Still sleepy?"

"Mhmm," she mutters, letting him go and disappearing into the bathroom. She washes her face and tries to fix her hair, noticing just how messy it looks tied up in a bun. She redoes it to look slightly neater and comes back out, hearing Pavel and Erik arguing in Russian.

"Is this about your gypsy story?" she asks, replicating an apple and watching as they glare at each other.

"It is," Erik confirms, putting his spoon down. "Pavel thinks the whole 'gypsy' thing is nonsense but I think it's too much of a coincidence to not be real. She talked about a girl in our lives with a moon on her side, that's way too specific. She said a few other things too... We both have mixed emotions about those."

"And are you going to keep being cryptic or are you going to tell me what she said?"

"What does cryptic mean?" Pavel interjects, looking to Erik who thinks for a second and gives him a translation.

"Well," Erik continues. "She said to me that we'd meet you in a time of turbulence. I always thought that'd be on a shuttlecraft or something, but I get what she means now. She said..."

"Erik," Pavel mutters. He finishes his sentence in Russian and Vienna finds herself reasonably frustrated that they're using their language against her. She frowns at Pavel and he apologises, realising that what they're doing is pretty inconsiderate.

"I'm sorry, Vienna," Pavel says quickly. "I just don't want this to cause problems when it doesn't have to. Just because one part of what the gypsy said was true doesn't mean the rest of it is. I can promise you it's nothing scary, she didn't predict death or anything, but I believe we should just forget about the rest."

She nods, hungry for answers but realising it's best not to keep asking about it.

Pavel goes to have a shower and Erik cleans up a little, apologising for crashing there the night. She isn't bothered by it, not nearly as much as Pavel is anyway. He seems a little better than he was when he came in the night before and she's glad that he's not too hungover.

"You know how Pavel's name changes to Pasha in Russian. I remember him telling me that your name has another form like that too but I can't remember what it was."

"Diminutive?" He guesses, to which she nods. "It's Erya. Pavel doesn't seem to use it all that much anymore. My mother uses it a lot. She gets Dasha from Dariya."

"Erya," she repeats. "I like it. Do you mind me using it?"

"Not at all," he smiles softly. "Be my guest."

Vienna finishes eating and Erik doesn't say much else. He seems to be a little out of it since yesterday and she's not surprised. Pavel comes back out and kisses Vienna's head before finding himself some clean clothes. Erik's still wearing Pavel's shirt from last night and Vienna can see just how alike they really look. Erik's hair is the same colour as Pavel's, wavy rather than curly. His eyebrows are thicker as well and he's reasonably taller.

Erik leaves and Pavel seems glad that he's gone. Pavel sits down with Vienna and wraps his arms around her, glad to have her company.

"Has Erik been... Has he said anything that's out of place for him to be saying?"

"Well, I found him at the service yesterday, behind the church. I was going for a walk and I found him crying. I was talking to him for a little bit, about your father. He then said you were lucky to have me and..."

"And?" Pavel encourages, waiting anxiously for an answer.

"He made a comment about like, if things ever didn't work out with you that he'd..."

"Oh my God," Pavel scoffs. "Of course he did. That bastard. Trying to make a move on you when we're together. I knew he'd say something like that."

"I made it very clear I'm not interested."

"I don't want Erik trying to be competition. I... He's so much, so much cooler than I am... He doesn't have a stupid accent, he's not a nervous mess about everything like I am, he's taller, he knows how to talk to girls, he's not a huge nerd..."

"I love your accent," Vienna smiles, putting her hand on his cheek. "I don't want someone taller or cooler. I want you. Erik isn't competition. Don't let yourself think that. I'm in love with you, not him."

He smiles at her and places a soft kiss on her lips. Vienna tells him not to worry and he feels himself relaxing the slightest bit. They don't plan to stay in Russia much longer and Pavel asks if she wants to go sight-seeing before they head back home. She nods, liking the idea of spending a little time exploring Pavel's hometown.

They spend time walking around the city streets and Pavel seems to be content for the first time since they arrived. He can relax without his brother around and something about the way she smiles at all the sights that are already so familiar to him warms him up a little. He swings her hand and tells her about any memories that come up. She loves hearing snippets of his life and smiles listening to him.

For a few hours, Pavel's smiling like normal again. Vienna kisses him when she gets the chance and hopes that his mood stays the way it does. They get lost In what they're doing for what feels like a lifetime until Pavel's phone rings and brings them back to reality.

"It's Erik," Pavel mutters, rolling his eyes and going to put his phone back in his pocket.

"Answer it," she encourages. "It may be important."

Pavel nods and takes the call, speaking with Erik in Russian and taking a seat on a bench near them. Vienna listens and only picks up three words; yes, no and very. He sighs and puts his phone down, rubbing his face.

"Everything alright?"

"Yes," he says softly. "It's fine. Erik just thinks we should spend our last night at mum's house. He rang her earlier and she sounded pretty down. She's not used to being in the house by herself."

"I think that's a good idea," Vienna says. "I know you wanted to spend the night together but it we'll have time together in America."

He nods, messaging Erik and taking her hand. They head off to Pavel's family home and he seems to quieten a little. She kisses his cheek on the way and he gives her a faint smile.