Filling in the Blanks - 6/6 - Star Trek XI - Chulu
Last installment. Hope you've liked it. :)
Filling in the Blanks
Rating: PG (I think)
Warnings: Swearing. Impled slash. Drinking
Filling in the Blanks (6/6)
He remembered now when it had started. When the guy had saved Kirk and his life during the Vulcan rescue mission turned Romulan vengence attack that had taken the lives of so many Vulcans and a great deal of their fellow cadets. He had fallen off the Romulan drill and Kirk had jumped after him, fortunately catching him. When Kirk's chute had failed under their combined weight, he'd thought they were screwed. The transporter attendant was whining into his ear that we were falling too quickly. Then he'd heard the young kid's voice over the comm, "I ken do zat. I ken do zat!"
The air whipped them around, the ground quickly rising to meet them when he saw the tell-tale white/silver balls of energy begin to swirl around them and suddenly unyielding ground met them. They'd made it. The kid had saved them. He'd taken the time to thank Kirk and then looked toward the control board, where the Russian teenager now stood, jumping up and down like an excited puppy.
He couldn't help the admiration he felt for the kid. He made himself promise to try not to underestimate the guy again.
It had just spiralled from there. Their common interests. Their usual bridge shift together. The coinciding off shift time. They started spending a lot of time in each others company.
His eighteenth birthday had been when he realized how deep his affection was for the younger man. Scotty had insisted on serving the kid the nasty swill from his still and Chekov had seemed eager enough, but he was worried about him, so he had stayed sober, deciding to look out for his young friend. He thought maybe Chekov would resent him for it, but Chekov had, as he had told him, grabbed him and proceeded to drag the pilot around the party, introducing him to everyone, sometimes twice. He'd left out the party that after his fifth glass of the liquor, he'd started refering to Hikaru as 'my-ee Hee-karu Sal-oo' and he'd felt lightheaded at the prospect. Which turned into a nosebleed, making Hikaru feel twelve again.
Now. Well, he realized now what the 'memories' were and wanted to die of embarrassment. The second he'd realized he'd told Doctor McCoy some of his fantasies about the navigator, he'd located him and swore him to doctor patient privacy, which McCoy had seemed a little offended he thought he even had to ask.
He walked past Pavel and grabbed his last bottle of vodka, that he'd acquired last shore leave. If he had to have this conversation, he sure as hell wouldn't be sober.
He wilted into the chair he'd occupied before the interruption.
"He-karu?"
"Oh," he deadpanned, "Where are my manners. You want a glass?"
Pavel moved in front of him, sitting on the sturdy coffee table.
"Vhy are you drinking? Vhut is ze matter?"
He poured himself a good portion, put the bottle next to the chair, and took a large chug before meeting his friends eyes.
"I remember."
The younger man's face evened out to an unreadable mask. "Oh."
"Yeah. 'Oh.' Sorry for kissing you in front of so many people. I'll- I'll leave you alone now. I understand."
"No, I'm sorry. How did you find out?"
He took another big gulp before answering, "Remember my brain scan today?" the younger man nodded, "One of the nurses accidentally activated the speaker unit and they were talking about me. The one explaining to the other what had happened to me and how I now had false memories of dating my best friend. I'm glad I made it to the bathroom before losing my lunch."
Pavel's eyebrows drew together, "You could've just said you didn't have feelings for me. I didn't need to know I make you physically ill." The navigator started to stand but a hand up from the pilot stopped him. "What? No. It wasn't you. It was me. I-I kissed you. In front of all those people. I'm-I'm so sorry. I know how private you are about your personal business. I was just- so happy to be 'better'... I couldn't help myself." Hikaru took another drink. "Ugh. And guilting you into letting me stay with you that first night." He took another gulp from his glass, "I'm a terrible friend. You're lucky to be rid of me."
Pavel took the glass from Hikaru and took a healthy shot before handing it back to him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth sooner. Doctor McCoy thought it would have an adverse reaction on your brain. And I was just scared... Also, it was nice hearing our memories from your eyes. I took advantage of your false feelings. I am the terrible friend. Not you. How were you to know?"
Hikaru laughed, a hollow sound to his own ears, "You don't know, do you?"
"What?"
"They weren't false memories, Pavel. Some of my 'memories'," by now he had finished off the large glass, which was the only excuse he had for miming the finger quotes at this point, "were of fantasies I'd had of us. Sharing quarters. Our first date. Our first kiss. Fantasies. Ridiculous fantasies. Ugh." He groaned again and rubbed at his eyes. "How. Humiliating."
There was silence for a moment before Pavel cleared his throat, "I thought zey were nice."
Hikaru looked at him through his fingers, "Really?" he didn't dare hope that Pavel wanted to explore something between them, but if there was a chance they could still be friends, he'd take it. Swallow his desire and humiliation and lock them away.
Slowly, Pavel reached out his hands and pried Hikaru's away from his eyes, not letting go as they lay comfortably in the space between them.
"Fantasies, dah?"
Pavel drew one of the hands to his mouth and placed a chaste kiss on Hikaru's knuckles, not breaking eye contact.
"Dah."
~ ~ ~
As Hikaru lay in bed that night, his right arm wrapped around his boyfriends torso, he admired the flannel material that made up Pavel's pajamas. Things were now perfect. And he could tell you another time that the young Russian slipped back into his native accent.
~ ~ ~ FIN! ~ ~ ~
Thank you everyone who has and will read this. It was lovely to write. Thanks again to the OP for prompting. Many thanks to John Cho and Anton Yelchin for being beautiful, fantasy material, and a part of this awesome movie. :D
As always comments appreciated. :)
I'd also like to thank the person who posted the YouTube video for Kirk/Bones using Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance' (fanFREAKingTASTic editing) that also featured Chulu, that is (at least in part) the reason I got into Chulu in the first place. #fact
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