It was a normal day in space. "I'm bored," Sulu said quietly, out of the corner of his mouth.

"Me too," Chekov muttered.

Silence descended again.

"Can I see the latest reports on the firing times?" Sulu asked, just to have something to read.

Chekov handed him the PADD.

Sulu raised an eyebrow and read it aloud. "The phasers are not up to 110% nyet, and the- Pavel, how could your accent transfer to your report?"

Chekov's ears turned red. "My PADD is acting up."

"Have you had Maintenance take a look at it?"

"Not yet."

Sulu put the PADD away and checked the autopilot status. Nothing to see. He sighed.

"Did you hear that Lt Williams and Lt Chi are in a relationship?" Chekov asked.

Sulu snorted. "They're just friends."

"Hunh," Chekov said skeptically.

"It's true," Sulu said. "Lt. Chi has a boyfriend on starbase 11."

"Ah. Has anyvun told Williams zat?"

"I don't know."

"You ought to."

Sulu's eyebrows went up. "Why me?"

"You are the gossip mill leader," Chekov replied. "And you have more tact than anyone else aboard this ship."

"Pssht." Sulu shook his head.

"No really," Chekov said.

Sulu nodded. "I'll talk to him after the end of the shift."

Chekov focused on his board. "Mr. Spock is staring at us."

They both looked busy for a few moments, and Sulu muttered, "Check your port drift calculations."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Silence reigned. Behind them, Kirk signed another PADD and yawned.

A message lit up on the corner of both Sulu and Chekov's consoles. "Hiya sugars."

Sulu replied. "Hi Nyota."

"I'm bored."

"Join the club," Chekov replied.

"I did."

Out of the corner of his eye, Sulu saw her grin, and smirked back. He discreetly kicked Chekov. "Don't snicker," he said.

"Are you going to to the party later?" Uhura asked.

"The one in Life Sciences?"

"Yep."

Sulu and Chekov both nodded.

Suddenly the PADD on the navigation console began to buzz and chirp wildly. Chekov jerked it towards him and silenced it with a quick stab at the buttons.

"What's wrong with your datapad?" Uhura asked, fighting a giggle.

"It's being stupid." Chekov's grumble was almost audible over the quickly-typed message.

"You should get it replaced."

"I'm getting there."

Over the quiet hum of the air filters, Sulu heard a distinct sound and grinned. "You hungry, Nyota? I can hear your stomach from all the way over here. Didn't you have lunch?"

"No. I was busy."

He shot her a disapproving glance and received an eyeroll for his concern.

Kirk spoke up. "Lt. Uhura, please take a break. I don't want you to starve to death. McCoy would kill me."

Uhura blushed slightly but nodded. "Aye sir."

Kirk returned his attention to the reports. A second later a message appeared on both the helm and nav consoles. "And you boys better sign off, Spock keeps glancing your way."

"Thank you sir," Sulu replied quietly.

Chekov's PADD went off again with a large rattle of chirps and chimes, and he smacked it firmly. "Stop it," he said, about ready to die of embarrassment.

"Ensign, what's wrong with your PADD?" Kirk asked, fighting his laughter down.

Spock spoke up. "He has neglected to turn it in for maintenance," he said, shooting both Sulu and Chekov a disapproving glance.

Sulu turned to face his console, and Chekov shrunk about six inches into his chair. "I'm working on it," he grumbled quietly. "Stupid PADD..."