Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Only the story and this little program that they were on. I can't even claim that the Academy Library had such a room... So sorry if I'm wrong.
- - -
Chekov squinted down at the library archive in thought. One of the best parts about summer vacation was that the library was to himself - but it was also one of the scarier ones. The Academy's library was huge. All of the volumes were recorded into the big computers, ready for download onto PADD, and the ones that could not be (The ones that were so old that they didn't dare scan them) could be found in the back.
That was where he had to go today, Pavel realized with a pang. To the dark storage room where the older books were held, the ones that could not be downloaded onto his PADD.
He looked down at the small electronic, considering for a moment what would happen if... No, he couldn't. He wasn't going to interrupt his family visit just because he was afraid of dark, scary room that was most likely crawling with large, black spiders...
Pavel shivered, trying not to think of it as he stood up, pocketing his PADD and swinging his open bag over his shoulder. Sunlight shone through the eastern wall, made almost entirely of glass panes. Sometimes Pavel would sit in the library and just watch the clouds move, sometimes counting the numerous panes of glass and running various equations through his head - the entire surface area of each pane, the entire wall, the bars holding the panes together. And when he could not concentrate on those equations, that were relatively easy for him, he would face away from the wall and watch the shadows it cast move and stretch like a giant moving thing, happy to be residing in the library.
Pavel made his way toward the back of the library where the light from the beautiful, glass wall did not reach.
It was soon easy to tell the difference between the old books and the new books. The spines were worn and leathery, smooth to the touch when Pavel ran his fingers along them. The door soon appeared at the end of row B98, locked to all but a select few.
"Name?" the automated voice requested when he typed in the code.
"Cadet Chekov, Pavel Andreivich," he said, watching as the doors silently slid open. Pavel took a large gulp before entering the room, listening fearfully as the door shut behind him.
Alexandre Dumas pere... Which name first? Dumas or Pere?
Pavel swore under his breath as he wove in and out of the rows of books, each row looking the same as the one beside it. For not the first time in his life, he was grateful for numbers - specifically, this time, the numbers on each shelf. His PADD suddenly started vibrated in his back pocket, causing him to jump fearfully. With a small sigh and a shake of his head, he pulled it out, not bothering to see who it was.
"Hello?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound as fearful as he wished to.
"Hey, Pav! Uh, are you okay?"
The teenager felt his heart begin to float when he heard the voice, causing him to clumsily knock into a bookshelf and shriek.
"EEP! Ahhh, da, am good, Heekaru," he said, his voice a few octaves higher than he would have liked.
There was a cough from the other end and Pavel clung to the PADD, as if it would protect him from whatever was in there.
"Wait, are you laughing at me?"
"No, God no! Uhm... What are you doing? No offense, but you sound scared shitless."
Chekov's face grew warm when he said that, not liking that Sulu could tell from his voice how fearful he was of the room - not that he had anything to worry about...
"Ah, I am just een the library - "
He heard another chuckle on the other end. "The classical section?"
Pavel laughed in relief. "How deed you know?"
He continued to look for the book, having no luck so far with it.
"What book are you looking for?" Sulu asked him after a few moments of silence as Chekov searched, just happy to have Hikaru's company.
"Ze... Ze one you always speak of - Ze - musketeers? You said I should read, da?" he felt his face grow warm as he babbled on, leaning against a shelf and giving up on the fruitless search. The books all stared down at him in their towering homes, as if judging him from their high seats. They were so old that their names were worn off the leather spines over time, making the book that much more difficult to find.
"Oh!" he heard from the other line, and a bit of a shuffle. "You know, you can just borrow that from me, right?"
Chekov sighed in relief, hoping that meant he could get out of there. "Da, zat sounds like a good idea, Heekaru," he said with a nervous chuckle, started to head toward the door. "Would you mind terreebly?"
"Not at all! You can, uhm, head to my place, if you want. To - to pick it up. I can give you the dorm building and number and everything. My roommate should be away, so it'll be f-fine."
A wide smile began to grow on Pavel's face, his face still a little red. "You won't mind?"
"Nah," Sulu cleared his throat, "It'd be my p-pleasure."
"Heekaru, get a coat on, it sounds like you are sheewering," Pavel reprimanded gently, the concern evident in his voice. He listened as Sulu gave him his dorm information, carefully taking note.
"Borrow it for as long as you want."
"Zank you. Oh, and why deed you call? You must hawe wanted somezing, I am sorry for going on about fear of leetle, dark places," he said with a chuckle. There was a soft laugh on the other end too, one that made Chekov's heart melt a little.
"It's fine, Pav. You can share your fear of dark, little places with me anytime," he said softly, "Uh, I don't remember why I called. But I'll talk to you later."
"Yez, talk to you soon," he said, hanging up the PADD with a sigh. Carefully making sure first to close the old archive properly, he began to head out of the library. Not to Hikaru's dorm yet, though. That trip he would like to take later.
