The next few days get awkward as Sulu keeps finding himself staring or paying a lot of unnecessary attention to Pavel. Pavel gets a vibe that Sulu is watching him. He checks his face in the bathroom to see if he can find anything abnormal. All he sees is his confused reflection looking back at him.

"I've got a problem," Sulu says quickly, closing the door to McCoy's office.

"So do I, it's called people coming into my office unannounced while I having filing to do."

Sulu shoots McCoy a frustrated glance and sits down in one of the chairs opposite the doctor.

"Well?" McCoy says expectantly, glancing up from his PADD.

"I think I'm gay."

"How is that a problem?"

"Because he's seventeen."

There is a solid minute of silence as McCoy lowers his PADD and looks directly at Sulu's burning cheeks.

"Wait so you're saying-"

"Chekov."

"Does he know?"

"No of course not. And you're not going to tell him. I don't know what I'm going to do. This is going to get so awkward, why him? I didn't even think I liked guys but…. I've had sex with women doesn't that mean I'm straight?"

McCoy tries not to roll his as he goes back to looking at his PADD. "Why are you trying to label yourself? Sleeping with a girl doesn't make you straight. A lot of people don't figure out their sexuality until after experimenting a bit."

Sulu nods and takes a few deep breaths. His heart is racing and he feels a little uneasy.

"That being said," McCoy says quietly. "He is seventeen. You can't have sex with him until his eighteen or that's statutory rape. Don't go after Pavel until he's old enough. You're going to get yourself into a big mess if you pursue him."

Sulu nods again and swallows uncomfortably. He feels like a creep, hitting on someone so much younger, someone so fragile. McCoy sends him out of his office promising not to say anything as long as he doesn't do anything stupid.

As soon as Sulu has admitted how he feels to McCoy, he swears Pavel has gotten cuter. He asks Sulu what he wants for dinner and with those big blue eyes blinking back at him, the Asian finds himself lost for words. Pavel's too distracted to really notice and doesn't think much of it.

Pavel's hugging his pillow in bed and thinking about Sulu when he finally starts realising about how his roommate has been acting recently. Pavel's a smart guy, but attraction is not something he's too knowledgeable about. He swears Sulu has been acting differently but one part of him honestly feels that he just wants him to be acting differently. Pavel doesn't know how he really feels about Sulu. It's not something he has figured out, but he knows there is something there that he can't quite describe. He thinks about asking McCoy about it, but talking to him about sexuality just seems weird.

There's a reasonably short break of two weeks between semesters and the rumours about a five year mission are confirmed. Sulu talks to James Kirk about it and apparently he wants the same bridge crew as last time. Scotty, McCoy, Spock and Uhura have all signed up but Pavel is still reluctant, and as far as he knows so is Sulu. McCoy has to start physical exams and becomes constantly busy, which leaves Pavel without anyone to talk to while Sulu is away visiting his family.

Scotty seems slightly pissed about having to put the Enterprise through another five year mission, but more pissed about Pavel's lack of interesting joining. Pavel is rewiring a circuit board on the floor as Scotty rants at him loudly, telling him that the crew needs him on the mission. Pavel picks up a pair of pliers and doesn't say anything.

"You know as much as I do how much the crew needs you. You're a smart kid Pavel don't let your gift go to waste."

Pavel frowns at the circuit board. That word again. Kid. He's not a kid. It's that one word everyone uses that just gets to him. He remembers his old roommate seeing him as he walked in the door with the admiral and the look of disappointment and disgust on his face.

"What's this kid doing here?" The first words Pavel had ever heard his roommate say. They still stung sometimes. Pavel was only fourteen at the time but after being so hopeful and excited to be going to space and following his dream; it really crushed his spirit. Scotty passes him another circuit board and frowns at him.

"You seem out of it Chekov," he says quietly, sitting down beside him with his own circuit board.

"I don't know about going back into space. I don't think I could live myself if something like that happened again."

"I know you're sick of hearing this but it's nae your fault laddie…."

Pavel goes quiet and doesn't know what to say. Scotty feels like he has struck some kind of nerve and makes a note to not mention it again.

"Can I tell you something?" Pavel ask quietly, putting his circuit on the ground.

"Of course, Chekov." He says, pretty unsure of what Pavel has on his mind.

"Do you think that… Is it bad if…" Pavel's lost for words as Scotty looks at him expectantly. There's a loud crash not far from where the two men are sitting and they jump to their feet. Scotty runs to where the noise came from and Pavel follows him, sighing. A huge tub of oil is spilling out all over the floor and one of the ensigns is trying to push it back up into a standing position. Scotty helps the ensign push it back up and Pavel turns a nearby gas tap off. Scotty's first rule of engineering had always been safety first and he drilled that into anyone who worked with him. As the three men start cleaning the mess up, Scotty pulls Chekov aside for a second.

"Are you alright lad, is this a conversation we can have another time?"

"Yeah of course," Pavel insists, going straight back to cleaning up. Scotty lingers on the thought a little but quickly tries to shake it off. He can tell Pavel's avoiding talking to him.

Scotty remembers to ask Pavel was troubling him earlier that day and the young Russian insists it no long matters and he has forgotten anyway. Scotty knows he's lying but nods his head anyway and reminds himself to pester the ensign about it later.