something to do (Pavel Chekov)

51

Pavel goes to engineering and Eadie goes to finds Spooks. Pavel pulls Mr Scott aside and the Scotsman is curious to find out what his youngest engineer is asking.

"Do... Do you mind if I use the tools down here recreationally?"

"Chekov, I've seen the videos too. The desealing rods don't actually work how you'd think."

"The... The what? I want to make a ring, Mister Scott. An engagement ring."

Scotty looks at the young Russian blinking at him and clears his throat. "Ah, right. Forget I said anything. What are you thinking of doing? We don't exactly have diamonds on board with us."

Pavel shakes his head. "No, not exactly diamonds. I was thinking of polished dilithium maybe? I know we're not supposed to but I only need a tiny shard..."

"Ay, Chekov. That's probably not even safe to have on your hand all the time. I'd go ask the geology lab. They might have something. But you can get everything else here. You can use whatever tools you can find if it's for making rings."

Pavel thanks him and heads to the geology lab, wondering if they'll have something they can give him. He introduces himself to the people in there and explains his predicament. One of the girls seems particularly touched by his story. She takes him over to a small table and pulls a sample from a dish onto the table. It's a pale green and Pavel leans close to it, inspecting the colour.

"I love this one," she says softly, taking a shard of it and passing it to Pavel. "It grows in the darkness. It's almost white at night time. I'd definitely recommend this one. I have a few others but they don't do anything too special."

"I like that this one glows in the darkness... I think her and I resonate with that a little."

"Wait," she says softly, squinting at his face. "You... Oh my gosh, you're Pavel Chekov. You're the one who got captured. I... I'm so glad you're alive. You were in my prayers every night before I went to bed. I'm so glad to see you're safe. Everyone on the ship was so worried for you. How awful that must have been..."

"I'm glad her and I both made it out alive. It was awful. We were petrified but we made it here and we have each other. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I really love her. I want to make her something beautiful."

"I'd love our little collection here to be a part of that. Please, take what you need."

The geology lab has a laser cutter and Pavel plays around on their computer program trying to design a shape for it. The girl goes to explain the mathematics behind how to use it and he zones out, pressing a few buttons and achieving what he was after.

"Wow," she says softly. "You ah, you really know your way around mathematics and 3D shapes."

"I'm the navigator. Mathematics is all I think about."

He presses a few more buttons and gets it to a shape that he's happy with. They pass him the finished gem and he inspects it, smiling to himself. He thanks them for all their help and takes it back down to engineering, getting lost in a focus and letting hours pass working on the ring.

Scotty pulls Pavel from his trance and tells him to hide the ring. He pockets it before Eadie shows up and he wonders how many hours have passed. Eadie asks what they were doing and Scotty claps Pavel on the back.

"This kid here was helping me keep the place form falling apart again," Scotty laughs. "You can have him back now. I want back again in the next few days though. He's far too helpful down here to stay away too long."

"Thanks Mister Scott," Pavel says softly, taking Eadie's hand and heading out of engineering. He winks at Scotty for his help covering him and walks with her, apologising for getting lost in focus. He inspects his ring when he's alone again and thinks it still needs a lot of work. He's not even sure if it will fit her. He can't exactly subtly measure her finger. It occurs to him that McCoy might have some body dimensions recorded in his medbay records from full body scans and he composes a message while Eadie has a shower.

'Ever heard of doctor-patient confidentiality?' McCoy writes. Pavel rolls his eyes.

'Please. It's for a ring. I'm making it myself and I want it to be the right size.'

McCoy doesn't reply for a little while and half an hour later, Pavel gets a message with only a few numbers. He smiles to himself.