Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sulu and McCoy haven't heard from Pavel in almost a fortnight and they argue about who should go check on him. McCoy knows Pavel's still going to hate him but Sulu thinks he's going to hate him even more. Sulu eventually gives in and finds the young Russian in his room. He's working on the generic three by three cube and Sulu watches him in awe for a moment before getting his attention.
Pavel's fairly surprised to see him there and doesn't really know how he feels. He's glad to see him for the first time in weeks but he's angry that a. he hasn't visited him earlier and b. he's ignoring how he really feels because of what McCoy is saying. There is an awkward tension between the two as Sulu sits on the end of his bed.
"How have you been?" Sulu asks, unsure of what else to say.
"Better," he replies honestly. He feels like he's starting to ground himself more with people but it still doesn't change how he feels about the man sitting nervously on the edge of his bed.
"I'm glad to hear that," Sulu half smiles. Pavel can feel the sincerity and it kinda hurts to think he does still care. "McCoy told me about the Rubik's cubes." He grins, looking at Pavel's dresser, neatly aligned with different levels of solved puzzle cubes.
Pavel reaches over and passes Sulu the two by two cube to try. It's simple enough and he solves it while talking to Pavel after a few minutes. It's nowhere near Pavel's impressive four seconds but not bad for a first try.
For a while, they just sit and talk and solve cubes together. Sulu gets stuck on the three by three a few times and Pavel helps him occasionally. He likes helping Sulu. Whenever he tried to help people in high school, even with the best intentions they always took it as a bratty sort of gesture and rejected his efforts. He expected the same from the students at Starfleet but they seemed to welcome his help instead. Pavel enjoys not feeling on edge as they talk and how carefree things start to become after a short while.
Sulu's PADD goes off with a few questionable comments from McCoy. Pavel suggests replying back 'he's busy' to piss the doctor off and he kind of expects Sulu to laugh off the comment but that's exactly what Sulu does reply and they watch laughing as a rapid stream of message come from the doctor. Pavel feels a little weird seeing this stream of messages come through about Sulu having illegal sex him but he tries to just ignore it as McCoy swears at the two of them. The messages stop after a few minutes and after another five minutes, there's knocking at the door. The two of them crack up laughing and Pavel tries to hide the fact he's super nervous about the thought of seeing McCoy.
McCoy spends a solid fifteen minutes lecturing the two and goes into way too much detail about why they shouldn't be having sex. Sulu is trying his best to fight off a boner and Pavel just stares at the floor the whole time. Pavel is still angry and there's a lot he wants to say.
"Now you two are going to keep it in your pants, you hear me?"
"Yes, we get it, okay?" Pavel said irately. "I'd appreciate it if you stopped treating me like a child."
"You are a child dammit. You can't even go buy a fucking goldfish in a pet store Pavel. You're not as grown up at you think you are. Intelligence doesn't equal maturity."
"Jesus McCoy, he's been through a lot, how can you not call him mature after that." Sulu makes a sharp eye contact with McCoy and there's a moment of solid tension where the doctor looks like he's going to hit Sulu.
"You listen to me Sulu if anything you're the one being immature he. If you do care about him you need to look after him and not try and fuck his brains out."
Pavel's face quickly reddens and Sulu stands up, matching the doctor's height. "No, you listen to me you grumpy bastard. For the last fucking time, I'm not trying to 'fuck his brains out' alright?! Don't you get it, I just want to be with him like I would any other person."
Everything else is a blur as the yelling just dissipates around Pavel. McCoy pushes Sulu and pushes back and Pavel jumps in between them before they can start a real fight. There's a lot of yelling and Scotty bursts through the door, followed by Spock. They break up McCoy and Sulu. Pavel sits back down and starts breathing heavily. Scotty's holding Sulu and Spock is keeping a close eye on McCoy.
"I would like to inquire as to what exactly is going on here, gentleman."
"Sulu's a paedophile," McCoy says sharply crossing his eyes.
"I'm not a paedophile!"
"He's seventeen, dammit!"
"Sulu did you engage in-"
"Spock, no, no I didn't do anything with him. I like him okay? Is that such a terrible thing?"
Pavel looks at Scotty and he feels like he's close to tears. He hates being in the middle of everything and he hates feeling like he's causing everyone problems. Scotty sends him a sympathetic look and loosens his grip on Sulu.
"Lieutenant Sulu, I believe it is unwise for you to pursue a romantic relationship with Mr Chekov. As he is still underage, it is against Starfleet regulations for you to do so. I suggest for the sake of your professional career you withhold from engaging with each other further until Ensign Chekov turns eighteen."
Sulu sighs and sits down beside Pavel. Scotty looks awkwardly at McCoy and Spock and the doctor shrugs in return.
"I'm going back to my office. You two need to figure things out." The doctor leaves and Spock watches as the door closes.
"I advise that you two remain colleagues and friends but nothing further. I wish you two all the best. If the doctor tries to initiate another argument please do not hesitate to contact me.
"Thank you, Spock," Pavel says quietly. The Vulcan leaves and Scotty goes to his room to give the two some time to talk. It's silent for a while and neither of them really know what to say or how to feel. Knowing Sulu likes him and gives Pavel confidence in them but he also doesn't want to cause any issues professionally.
"I don't know what to do Pavel," Sulu says quietly.
