(Untitled)

[nawigator]

Who: Pavel Chekov & Hikaru Sulu [Kinda closed? Not really though/INCOMPLETE]
When: Post-shift
Where: Science Lab A5
Warnings: Awkwardness, fake first dates, potential PG-13 situations

Comments

[lt_swashbuckle]

Unlike Pavel, Hikaru had been in a good, healthy amount of relationships in his life. Real relationships, with affection, infatuation and monogamy. He knew the steps well enough, and yet this made him nervous. It was, really, illogical that he would get nervous at all. He was Hikaru Sulu with nerves of steel. He worked well under pressure, but now he was afraid he would do something stupid. He had been thinking about it, though, convinced himself he had made the right decision. The nerves would just have to take a backseat.

When Pavel entered, Hikaru turned his head away from the Bolian strangler playing with his fingers with a smile. His first thought was how adorable Pavel looked, flushed with his hands full of books. It was strange to not have to restrict the thought anymore, and he kind of liked it.

"It's fine, it happens." Turning his attention back to the plant at his fingers, he waved Pavel over to him. "This is Figaro. He's a Bolian strangler. I'm trying to get him to respond positively to me," As if on cue, one of the vines wrapped around Hikaru's finger, squeezing. With a small frown, he pried it off of his finger. "Well....it takes time," He said sheepishly, returning his attention back to Pavel.

[nawigator]

Pavel watched Hikaru interact with the somewhat dangerous looking plant as if it were a kind of baby animal and raised an eyebrow.

"You are befriending a plant called a 'Strangler'?" He questioned, obviously not quite sure it that was a good idea or not.

He set his books and PADD down on the nearest table and came closer, peering at the dangerously named plant from a safe distance.

"Botany was the only class in the academy I almost failed," he confessed, turning his attention from the writhing vines of Figaro back to Hikaru and smiling sheepishly. "I think I am much better with numbers than I am with living things,"

[lt_swashbuckle]

"It strangles to kill its prey. We're too big for it, so it's not really a threat." Hikaru commented with a chuckle on his tongue as he fingers continued to absently fiddle with Figaro's vines.

Beckoning Pavel to come closer, he smiled at him and held out hid hand. "Everyone can learn to be good with living things. Besides, I can't imagine you hurting anything, accidentally or not." It was a silly statement, given that their job occasionally required firing all weapons, so he corrected his statement. "Well, nothing that could be a pet. Come on, he's pretty lucid right now. You could probably touch him and just get a little squeeze."

Hikaru really loved his plants. They were the best pets he could imagine, even if not typically considered such. Somehow, the idea of Pavel and his plants in the same sentence made him feel warm inside.

[nawigator]

"I could hurt things!" The navigator defended himself almost automatically, the habit of dealing with so many insecurities day in and day out, "I would just...Is not something I ever want to do," he finished, wrinkling his nose.

To be completely honest, the idea of having to take a life made him a little woozy. He could not imagine being on an away mission where he had to do so and the idea of Hikaru being in that position again made his heart leap into his throat.

There were times when he just didn't want to deal with how dangerous the reality of this job was, and now was one of them.

Pavel looked as though he wasn't quite sure what to make of the writhing plant as he stepped closer, standing nearly shoulder to shoulder with Hikaru as he reached out his hand. Figaro's vines coiled around his first finger tryingly and snaked up to his palm, making his hand tingle. The vine tightened for a second, almost painful before Pavel pulled back, laughing under his breath.

"I do not think he likes me very much,"

[lt_swashbuckle]

Hikaru couldn't help but laugh with him, stroking the plant absently as his attention was focused on Pavel.

"Actually, I think that means he likes you a lot. Enough to try and eat,"

There was something about the Russian that never failed to put him in a good mood. The way he smiled, the way he laughed, the way he reacted to things, both known and surprising. Before, he would have just imagined kissing him and brushed it off, imagined holding that face in his hands, that face that always seemed to make him smile. It took a moment to realize he didn't quite have to imagine, and in an instant he had his lips pressed softly against his boyfriends.

Boyfriend. Pavel was his boyfriend. This was going to take some getting used to.

Pulling away, he smiled again and tugged his hands away from Figaro, moving on to the next plant that he had given himself the job of taking care of. "What did you bring to work on?"

[nawigator]

Pave blushed bright pink the second he was caught in the surprise kiss. It was nothing but sweet and chaste, but it didn't fail to make heart kick into double time as his brain tried to supply ever scenario of what to do. Kissing was a new thing for him, and, despite his instinctual like of it, he was all to unsure of himself.

Relationships didn't come with text books to study. Pavel couldn't help but think that they'd be much easier if they did.

As Hikaru pulled back, Pavel couldn't keep his smile in check. A smile that got even brighter as he gestured to the books he'd placed on the table.

"Theoretical warp physics as they relate to loop-quantum gravity!" He announced, busybody student mode coming into full effect. "It will ideally help in our destination accuracy when traveling greater distances. In the future, maybe make both of our jobs easier," He laughed again, shaking his head as if that were some kind of science joke, "But is only theories right now,"

Pavel Andreievich Chekov had always been, at heart, a bit of a geek.

[lt_swashbuckle]

One of the great things about being a Starfleet officer was that Hikaru understood what Pavel was talking about perfectly. Before enlisting he would have stared at him like he had grown three heads and then laughed it off, but that was another life. He had never been great at math, but he had always been a hard worker, and it made up for it tenfold.

In the end, under the soldier, under the jock, Hikaru Sulu was somewhat of a geek himself.

"Theories are what get things done. I'd be glad to help you look over those calculations with a pilots eye, but I can't say I'll be much help. Did you think of talking to Mr.Scott about it?" The whole idea of transwarp beaming blew his mind when he heard that the engineer had successfully obtained it.

"Oh," Turning to lean against the counter and look at Pavel, he continued, "And keep in mind thruster capacity and the control to spacial mass ratio." Of course Pavel had thought about it, he didn't doubt it, but it was his job to remind him. The two things people forgot about so often were the two things that made his job difficult.

[nawigator]

Pavel beamed brightly to see that his techno babble had not gone over Hikaru's head. He nodded early, grabbing one of his books to quickly flip through as if he'd suddenly been reminded of something.

"Of course, da, yes, I will keep it mind,"

He set the book down, tapping a page for a moment as if he'd found what he was looking for. He turned back to Hikaru, smile still as bold on his face as it had been. "You are good at many things, Hikaru, you are lucky." He laughed softly, "I would have been very jealous of you in the academy,"

That was a bit of a lie, actually. Pavel had been aware of Hikaru at the academy, but years of awkward school interactions had taught Pavel to keep a low profile as far as social scenes went. It had kept him relatively un-bullied, yes, but it wasn't exactly the best way to make friends.

[lt_swashbuckle]

"And I'm really bad at many things," Hikaru responded, shrugging. If he was anything, it was down to earth and honest about his abilities. He wasn't the best in most things, and he knew it. "It's all about a lot of hard work. If I had slacked off I'd probably be back in San Francisco, working in a grocery store." He had worked so hard to get where he was, and that was one of the reasons he had been so hesitant to make a move before. Now, he just was going to have to take that chance, now wasn't he?

Putting down the trimmer that was in his hand, Hikaru stepped over to where Pavel was and rested his hand on the others back. He looked down at the book and then back at Pavel with a sheepish smile.

"I'll be honest, I barely understand what any of this means."

[nawigator]

It was silly and he knew it, but Pavel found himself blushing just a little every time Hikaru rested a hand on him.

He wrinkled his nose, "Do not be so quick to sell yourself short," He was a little proud to display his obvious mastery of the English cliche. "Most of it is not very important anyway,"

He looked back over his shoulder, smiling softly to the pilot as he waved his hand dismissively at the text, "Most physicists and engineers just like to hear themselves talk, da?" He laughed then shook his head, "But do not tell Mr. Scott I said that,"

[lt_swashbuckle]

The blush was cute, Hikaru would remind himself that every time he was sure of it, but only helped to remind him that he had to go slow with this. He could do it, sure, but it was coming surprisingly easy to him with Pavel. It always came easily with the people he actually liked. He was setting himself up to be heartbroken and he knew it. Oh well.

That was part of the adventure, wasn't it?

"From what I can tell, but don't tell Mr.Scott that I agreed with you," Hikaru laughed, his hand still resting on Pavel's back.

[nawigator]

Hikaru's laughter made Pavel's smile wider. He liked it, it was that sort of infectious sound that just seemed to brighten the room a little bit.

The pilot's confidence was contagious and before Pavel really registered what he was doing, he had turned himself around against the table and was proceeding to kiss - albeit chastely - the other man squarely on the lips.

He pulled back, leaning against the edge of the table, looking a bit embarrassed but not at all regretful.

"Your secret is safe with me,"

[lt_swashbuckle]

Hikaru smiled into the quick kiss. It had been surprising, but not entirely unexpected. They were in a relationship after all, open or not. Moving his hand off of Pavel's back and onto his cheek, he stroked his thumb against the skin for a moment, meeting his eyes before responding.

"That's reassuring," He said before pressing his lips back against Pavel's, just as chastely, but for a longer period of time. It was only a second or two, but that was long enough for Hikaru to not want to move from where he was. Pulling away, he turned around to lean against the counter.

"Now that we're no longer in Federation Space, the information in that book is going to be pretty useful. I'm sure you know most of it though."