Angels (Pavel Chekov)

95 - Bite Me

Vienna finds Pavel sitting with his knees tucked up to his chest.

"Is it just the two little ones or is Barkley there too?"

"Barkley is there too," she says, passing him the rest of his dinner. He thanks her softly and eats quietly.

Vienna asks what size dog he's comfortable with and he shrugs. She asks if they can try with one of the smaller dogs and he's hoping she doesn't mean try and pat it. He doesn't want the dogs near him and she tells him he should try facing his fear. He reluctantly agrees, waiting as Vienna disappears outside and comes back with the smallest of the three dogs.

She sits across from him and pats the dog, asking if he wants to try moving a little closer to her. He shuffles a little closer and watches them, trying to calm down a little.

"He's very fluffy," she smiles. "You know it's kinda funny to think," she starts, looking up at him. "You can put your fingers inside of me but you're hesitating putting them near a dog smaller than your average pillow."

Pavel blinks, unable to structure a reply. He goes and puts his hand on the dog's back, looking up uneasily at Vienna.

"See? Not that bad."

Pavel slowly pats the dog and it turns around to lick his hand and Pavel moves away quickly, breathing heavily and shaking his head.

"He was going to bite me!"

"He wasn't going to bite you. He was going to lick your hand. I'm probably more likely to bite you than this dog is, Pavel."

Pavel asks that she takes the dog back outside and she does, leaving Pavel to cool down for a few minutes. Barkley comes over and licks her hands and she grins, patting him and sitting next to Erik. She asks what breed Barkley is and Erik thinks for a second.

"He's a Caucasian Shepherd dog, I think. I mean, I'm not surprised Pavel's scared of him, they're known as a Russian bear dog for a reason, but the other two aren't so bad."

Selwyn has the dog on his lap now and he seems calm patting it. It's then that Vienna realises the way Saxon's looking at Selwyn. She wonders if it's the dog he's smiling at but something tells her it's more than that. Pavel doesn't come back out and Vienna goes back to him, asking if he'll come outside for a little. He shakes his head. He can't leave the tent if Barkley's outside.

Erik eventually puts the dogs in the trailer and takes them back to where they're supposed to be. Pavel's reluctant to leave the tent but Vienna coaxes him out with another glass of Scotch. It's getting dark now and Erik comes back and opens a packet with cookies in it.

"You want one Pavel?" He jokes, offering the bag to him. Pavel glares at him and he asks Vienna, who also declines. Saxon takes one, passing the bag to Hikaru, who hesitates. He takes half of one, passing it to Selwyn who also isn't sure.

"What did you say these had in them again?"

"Space weed."

"Isn't it grown on Sherman's Planet, you know, where they grow started growing quadrotriticale?" Selwyn asks, holding up a cookie and inspecting it. "I'd like to try one but I don't know how my system would handle it..."

Vienna goes to suggest against it but Selwyn just puts it in his mouth and passes the bag back to Erik. Pavel digs some normal biscuits out of their food supply and eats with Vienna, telling her that triticale actually came from Russia and not Canada as it was originally thought to.

About ten minutes later Erik mutters about feeling it kick in and grins.

"I wish Barkley was here," Selwyn says softly. "Vienna can we dance? Let's dance. There's so much space. We should dance."

She giggles and stands up, tying her hair back and asking Erik to find them some music. He does, putting something upbeat on and hooking it up to a small portable speaker. Selwyn bows before they start and Vienna rolls her eyes at him, taking his hands. His hair is an odd shade of yellow and he dances faster than usual. He dances particularly well considering what he's just ingested. He spins Vienna around and she almost trips over from going too fast.

"May I?" Erik asks, standing up. Selwyn stumbles a little as he moves away and tries to keep his balance and Vienna tries not to giggle. Erik takes her hands, dancing a little slower than Selwyn. He smiles at Vienna, trying his best not to drop her. Her hair falls out and she laughs, unable to see. Erik stops and brushes her hair from her eyes. Pavel switches to Russian and says something to him. Erik ignores him, giving Vienna a sad smile and sitting back down.

"I'm so glad you're happy, Pavel," Erik mutters, laying back on top of a hay bale and sighing. "But man, it sucks that we have the same taste in girls."

"Erik," Hikaru warns. "Probably not a good time."

"Sorry," he grumbles. "I'm gonna take a walk." Hikaru gets up and joins him, patting his back.

Pavel is tense and Vienna kisses his cheek, telling him not to worry about it. He nods in return and refills his glass. Selwyn and Saxon are laughing with each other and seem to be lost in their own little world. Vienna takes another cookie from their box and gives one to Pavel.

Hikaru and Erik come back later a little more clear-headed. Erik apologises to both Pavel and Vienna. They try and forget about it, wanting to enjoy the rest of their night.

(Author's Note)

Sitting here trying to figure out what piece I'm going to put up after I finish Angels. I should probably finish uploading one of my other works first but I'm too invested in the other pieces I have going at the moment.