something to do (Pavel Chekov)

2

Pavel wakes with a jolt. Eadie just grunts sleepily at him. His breathing is laboured and his breaths break into coughs. She pats his back gently until he stops coughing. She stands up to stretch her legs out and watches as he rubs his eyes.

She asks if he feels better and he finds himself trying to hold back tears. He's not the type to cry without reason and he just nods in response, standing up and limping over to the tap. He washes his hands and splashes some water on his face. The dull pain in his ankle is giving him a headache and he tells himself he should go back to sleep again.

Pavel massages his sore foot for a while and Eadie braids her hair. Her dark blonde hair is long enough to reach down to the bottom of her shoulder blades. She finds putting her hair in tight braids oddly therapeutic for a while.

An armed guard comes to their gate and Pavel and Eadie say nothing, just watching as he pushes two long objects into a box on the floor. He leaves and the two of them look to one another. Eadie gets up and carefully touches the object, picking it up and inspecting it. She brings the other over and passes it to Pavel.

"Food?" he suggests softly.

"Looks kinda like bread, don't you think?"

He takes a bite and Eadie watches as he starts chewing it and nods. She takes a bite of her own and eats it slowly. It tastes almost spicy and she inspects the odd yellow colour of the inside. They eat in silence and Eadie realises just how sore her body really is. It's like feeling is only starting to properly return now. Her neck and her abdomen both ache and she finishes her bread, getting up to wash her hands afterwards.

"Where is you accent from?"

"Russia. I was born there. I moved to America a few years ago."

"Ever heard of Twenty-One Questions?"

"I have," he says simply. "Are you suggesting we play it?"

"We have to pass the time somehow, don't we?"

He nods, just starting by asking her where she was born. She asks what his favourite food is and he feels his stomach rumble just at the thought. He likes sweets and he tells her he has a weak spot for white chocolate. She wouldn't have picked him to be one for dessert and he shrugs.

Next Pavel asks if she's ever held a rabbit and she smiles in amusement at the question. She has, and she follows her answer by asking him why he wanted to know if she's ever a rabbit before.

"It was the first thing that came to my head and does that count as one of your questions?" She nods and he frowns, realising he'll have to think of another. "Can you speak any languages other than Standard?"

"I speak Romanian," she says, attracting his curiosity. "Not perfectly but fluently at least. I'm half Romanian. What will be the first thing you do when we get out?"

Pavel spends a few seconds thinking about that. His ankle aches still, maybe he'd go to medbay to take something for it but one part of him wants nothing more than to lie in his own bed and fall asleep. He craves sugar as well, he mentions that too, thinking about how he's supposed to go without chocolate indefinitely.

"What's your favourite song?"

Eadie noticed his use of a singular noun and frowns, thinking through her library of most played songs. She can't pick just one, she lists a few, many of which he doesn't recognise. She misses music already and wishes they had a radio or something.

"Sing one for me?" he muses, the corner of his lips raising up just a little.

"I'm not much of a singer," she notes, which isn't entirely true. She sings, just not to others. "Maybe when I get really desperate."

Pavel nods, not having expected her to sing anyway. He inspects his foot again, which is far more bruised than yesterday. It feels a little better than it did earlier providing he keeps it still. He stretches it gently and winces when it starts to hurt. Eadie comes closer to look at it again, promising not to touch it this time.

He runs his hands through his hair and lets out a gentle sigh. They're thinking the same thing. They want to know how long they'll be in here for. They want answers, they want to know if Starfleet will come get them.

They surpass twenty one questions and just keep asking back and forth without acknowledging that their game finished long ago. They sit against the wall. Eadie gets up and moves around periodically. She stretches her legs a little and looks around their small space.

"What are you thinking?" he asks, noting her curious expression.

"That I could probably do a handstand against this wall here," she mutters, putting her hands on the ground and letting her legs fall against the wall. She stays there, upside down and looks to Pavel.

"Okay," he says softly, just an acknowledgement that she can, and is, doing a handstand against the wall of their small cell. He would probably try the same if his ankle would let him.

Eadie comes back down and dusts her hands off, sitting back down beside him. She's trying to think of another question to ask when they hear a faint grumbling from the end of the hallway. Eadie stands and two figures appear on the other side of the bars. They point to Eadie. Eadie takes a step back without even noticing. Within a few seconds they enter and have her in their grip. Pavel's trying to push them off but with a swipe of their hand he's on the ground. One of them presses a cloth to Eadie's face and everything goes dark. 

(Author's Note)

Thoughts so far?