something to do (Pavel Chekov)

35

They stay close together when they get back to their room. They watch a movie curled up together and stop watching it to kiss periodically. Their kisses linger more now and Pavel takes a second to tell her how much he enjoys it.

"I'd like to think we left the worst parts of ourselves in the cell. It's all love now."

"I like that," Pavel says softly. "It's all love now."

The movie keeps playing and they go back to holding each other close. Pavel closes his eyes. This was all he wanted. He's warm, he's clean and his belly is full. He smiles at her and she's glad to see the deep contentment in his smile. She kisses the end of his nose and he brushes the hair from his eyes.

Eadie hums to herself as she's getting something to eat in the kitchen. Pavel watches her. He's smiling to himself. She asks if he'd like something to eat and he signs to her.

White chocolate, please.

She comes back and sits next to him, telling him to open his mouth. He does, and she sticks a piece in his mouth. She giggles at him and puts a cracker in her mouth. She offers him some crackers and hummus and he eats with her, letting her feed him occasionally. He doesn't know why she's doing it, but she giggles every time he does.

"I like eating with you."

"So do I, Pavel."

Eadie doesn't tell Spooks she's coming back to the lab. She appears there and watches him light up as he notices her there in the doorway. He comes and gives her a hug, asking if she's just visiting or back on shift. She goes over her schedule, that she's only there every second day but it's enough for now and they excited to have the time working together.

"If you're here to come back to work, I do expect you to be actually working," a voice grumbles from the corner.

Eadie grins. "I missed you, Oito. Believe it or not."

"I'm sure you felt the absence of my stunning personality," Oito says dryly.

Spooks and Eadie share a grin. The three of them have been working in the lab since they started on the Enterprise and it finally feels like they're back home. Eadie smiles as she works, thinking of everything she missed in those eight months locked away. A few hours pass in what feels like minutes and Spooks tells Eadie to come get something to eat. She checks the time, shaking her head a little in disbelief. Time passes strangely now. When she's busy doing anything, it feels like time moves right past her.

Eadie works a few more hours before going back to her room to find Pavel. He's on his PADD and speaking Russian. She wonders if he's in a video call and he looks up at her, giving her a quick wave and going back to his conversation. Eadie goes and gets changed, humming to herself a little. She comes back out and Pavel is getting a drink of water.

"I called my sister," he says quietly. "I missed her. She said she wants me to come back to Russia for a while when we get back to Earth."

"I want to stay on Earth for a while after we get back. I want to see more of our home planet. I want to teach you to ride a bike. I'd love to go riding somewhere."

"I almost forgot about that," Pavel says, coming over to wrap his arm around Eadie. "It was on my mind a lot in the cell. It was a survival tactic or something. I had to survive so you could teach me to ride a bike when we got out. It worked. I kept thinking of riding bikes and then everything after."

"Everything after?"

"Getting to know you in the real world. Spending my days with you and making a life that was more than learning Romanian and eating a bread roll once a day."

"I want you to always be my everything after. I want a crazy life with you. I want that so badly."

"I'll give you the crazy life you want," he whispers, kissing her cheek. "And everything after."

Eadie finally calls her dad. She breaks down crying and tells him everything that's been going on. She makes sure to call when Pavel's busy in engineering. She wants it to just be her and her dad talking. He tells her everything that's going on in his little part of the world and he tells her how much he misses her. He jokes around and she feels like she can breathe again. He tells her he's proud she made it through everything. He tells her to call him again soon and she promises she will. She wipes her eyes again when she's calling him. She's feeling better. She's felling a million times better than she did waiting for her PADD to connect her call. She has a nap until she hears the door open and Pavel comes in. He asks if she's alright and she nods.

"Come sit with me," she mutters. "Come here and kiss me for a while."

Pavel removes his shoes and comes to join her. She swings her legs over his lap and leans into his chest. He rests his head on hers and breathes out. He starts stroking her hair softly and singing to himself. He's singing in soft Russian and closing his eyes. She smiles as he sings.

"I'm getting put back on the bridge," Pavel finally says. "I got cleared this morning. I'm doing every two days like you are. I'm so glad to back at the helm. I can go back to full time after a month or so."

"Feel like things are getting better?"

"Something like that. I think it's more that I'm mentally ready enough to take the structure. How are you feeling being back at work?"

"I'm loving it," she says softly. "I'm happy to be back doing what I loved."

Pavel smiles and kisses her cheek. She puts her hand on his cheek and guides his lips to hers. He pulls her a little closer, kissing her slowly. He wonders if his heart is always going to race every time they kiss. He gets lost in how warm her lips are. He spent a lot of time in the cell thinking about how much he wanted to kiss her and exactly how it would happen. He can feel her smiling against his lips and he pulls away, looking at her confused expression.

"What's wrong, Pavel?"

He mutters something incoherently, taking her hands and pulling her up. She goes to ask what he's doing and he picks her up, sweeping her up in a fit of giggles and spinning her around. Her laughter fills the whole room and he throws her onto the bed. Her messy dark blonde hair is falling around her eyes and she brushes her hair away and her eyes focus in on Pavel.

Pavel smiles at her and starts signing.

I LOVE YOU. MY. EVERYTHING. AFTER.

She signs back to him, copying the same signs that he did and he sits down beside her, pressing another kiss to her lips. She lays back and he follows, keeping his lips against hers and letting his mind go quiet. Her lips are all that matters and everything they're doing seems to make perfect sense. He isn't stressing or overthinking or worrying about every little thing that's going on.