Angels (Pavel Chekov)

49 - Behind

After a ride on a shuttlecraft and a little walking, they finally get back to the academy. They're feeling a little messed up from jetlag. Pavel has a shower and Vienna just wants to go back to her room and sleep in her own bed for a night. When does get out of the shower she explains that she needs to go back and get clothes and just crash in her bed for a while. He doesn't question it, just asking that she lets him walk her over there after the warning Erik gave. She takes her bag in one hand and his hand in the other, yawning as they head across the campus.

Vienna falls asleep as soon as she's out of the shower. She sleeps for what seems like forever and wakes up feeling groggy. She gets dressed and eats something, not even sure what time of day it is. It turns out to be early afternoon and she wonders if Pavel's any less messed up by the time than she is.

A few hours later, Vienna forces herself to go dance. She needs to do something remotely active for the first time in a couple of days and she needs something that will wake her up a bit.

Selwyn seems surprised to see her back. He asks how she's been and she thinks her best option is to just reply with 'busy.' She doesn't want to go through explaining everything that has just happened. He doesn't get a chance to anymore questions about it before they start class. She's glad to get lost in dancing again.

By the time the class finishes, Vienna feels out of breath and ready to go home and sleep again. Selwyn seems a little puffed too. After the class they sit on the floor with their water bottles in hand. There's a dance showcase at the end of the year and Vienna thinks it could be fun. Selwyn doesn't seem opposed to the idea of performing.

"As long as I don't have to dance alone, I'd be open to doing the showcase."

"I haven't done a proper performance in nearly a year. I think I need a lot more practise before I'm ready to dance in front of people again."

"I need shoes without a hole in them," Selwyn mutters, pointing his foot and revealing a hole on the side of his shoe.

"There's a place in the city with good dance shoes."

"Well," Selwyn says softy, "My culture is very particular about throwing things away. I'm certain that I can repair them myself. I've had this pair for nearly four years. There's a few patches on them already. I'm sure I can get another few years out of them."

"Interesting," she says. "I don't imagine you're fond of replicators much then?"

He nods and they start packing up, talking a little more about the showcase. She tries not to yawn as they talk about it, her body still jetlagged and exhausted. She has another nap when she gets back to her room, wondering when her boy will start adjusting back to the time zone. She figures she should be fine by the time she wakes up but with how exhausted she has been, she isn't so sure.

Vienna wakes up to Pavel at her door and worries when she sees him. She asks if something's wrong and he shakes his head, just telling her he was a little worried after she hadn't been messaging. She yawns and brings him in, telling him about how exhausted she has been.

"I've been the same. Travelling takes a lot more energy than I thought. We have class this afternoon too. You know that, yes?"

"Ah, really? I'm so behind on the homework. What time is it? I better get started."

Pavel yawns and takes a seat at the kitchen bench as she shoves a piece of toast in her mouth. She's pulling out all sorts of notes and books and starting to stress.

"I can help you, if you need it."

"I know what I'm doing," she mutters, her words a little muffled by the toast. "I just need to concentrate and get it done before class. I'm really behind, I didn't do much study while we were in Russia."

Pavel nods, realising that he needs to let her concentrate. He takes his PADD and takes a seat on the couch, reading and taking a few notes. He finds concentrating substantially easier than Vienna does. He slips into focuses whether he wants to or not and has to set alarms to remind himself to eat and get to class on time.

Vienna gets progressively more stressed and Pavel gets too focuses to really notice. He finally looks up when she says his name and he realises she's getting teary. He puts his PADD down and comes over to her, wrapping his arms around her.

"What happened? Why are you crying, Enya?"

"I'm so behind," she says, her voice barely audible. "I'm so far behind. I don't know how I'm supposed to get all of this done. I... I don't want to fail my classes. I'm scared, Pasha."

"Hey," he says softly, taking her hands and bringing her to come sit down. "I won't let you fail. You got me through everything in Russia and that's probably the reason you're behind. If there's one thing I have a talent for, it's studying. Please, let me help you."

She nods, wiping her eyes on the corner of her sleeve and cuddling into his chest.

"I get so worked up about failing my classes. I feel like I was lucky enough to get into Starfleet in the first place. They kick you out if you fail too many classes. I'm scared that'll be me."

"It won't be you. You won't fail and you definitely won't get kicked out."

She lets out a soft laugh and he asks what she's smiling about.

"Just you," she says softly. "You're so adorable. Your accent makes my head spin."

"My accent, what do you mean?"

"Defeeneetely von't get keecked out," she laughs, brushing the hair from his eyes.

He rolls his eyes and stands up with her, wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up a little. She starts giggling and he puts her down, kissing her cheek. He brings her over to where her PADD is and pulls out his own, starting to read into her notes. She's amazed at how fast he seems to pick it up and finds her subconscious feeling a strong jealous that he can take it in so easily. Studying to him is as easy as breathing and she has to stop herself from getting frustrated for not being able to do the same thing.

(Author's Note)

So I hit 70k words on Angels and I'm very excited ♪ I still have a long way to go but I'm happy with how it's progressing so far
Enjoy ∆