"It was a beautiful sunny day, and Hikaru Sulu was at the zoo. He didn't really want to be, but here he was. The reason he was at the zoo stood next to him, 5'5" and skinny and bouncing on his heels. Pavel was really excited.
''Hikaru, vhich animals do you vant to see first? Animals nearest to the entrace are ze...'' He studied the map of the zoo in his hands for a moment before continuing. ''Ze closest are ze bears!''
Hikaru sighed dramatically and waved his hand in the air vaguely. ''Lead the way, Pav, I'm just here for the cotton candy and the penguins.'' Pavel linked his arm with Hikaru's, and Hikaru rolled his eyes and grinned.
They had seen about 4 or 5 animals before they got to the snakes. Hikaru wasn't afraid of snakes, per say – he'd seen his fair share of garden-variety snakes when he'd had a little garden before he had enrolled in Starfleet Academy, but these snakes were... much bigger. He expected to skip them, as he couldn't really see Pavel being interested in snakes. Hell, the kid might be afraid of them, Hikaru didn't know. He was surprised, then, when Pavel let out a gasp of delight and pulled on Hikaru's arm, gesturing wildly to the snake exhibit.
''Karu, snakes! We have to see zem!''
... Okay, that was rather unexpected. Hikaru gave Pavel a look. ''Are you sure, Pasha? I thought you'd be, y'know, scared of snakes or something.''
Pavel snickered. ''Are you scared of snakes, Hikaru?'' He patted his arm, a mocking look of understanding on his face. ''It's okay, I understand. We don't have to see ze snakes togezer. You can stand outside!''
Hikaru scoffed. ''Hell no, kid. I let you in there alone, and a boa might try to eat you alive, knowing your luck.'' He made a show of giving Pavel an appraising look. ''Maybe not though – you're too skinny.''
Pavel swatted at his arm, but he was grinning. ''Vhatever, is untrue. Come on, snakes are waiting!'' He said the last part in a sing-song voice as he all but dragged Hikaru towards the exhibit, babbling on about the constrictors, corn snakes and rattlers.
30 minutes later, Hikaru managed to tear a cooing Pavel away from the snakes with bribes of cotton candy and funnel cake. He let Pavel talk about the snakes all the way to the food area, before purchasing two sticks of cotton candy and shoving one into Pavel's face, laughing at the younger's yelp and subsequent glares. Pavel took the hint though, and they sat in a comfortable silence and ate their cotton candy until Pavel's tapping legs bounced too high and hit the bottom of the table. They exchanged a look and Hikaru laughed. ''Fine, okay, let's get going. What's next?''