On the way back to his room Pavel gets and email from his PADD and it's from the board of student relations. They're in charge of which ship he'll be assigned to, and more importantly who he'll be assigned with. He opens the email and scans through it and grins to himself. He's assigned to the Enterprise again. He keeps reading and nearly drops his PADD. He's head navigator again. He'll be on the bridge. He doesn't want to be on the bridge anymore, especially not on the Alpha shift. He keeps scrolling down and looks at his room assignment.

H. Sulu

He smiles to himself. He'll finally be back with Sulu, just at is was before. He tells Scotty the news and is ecstatic to hear they assigned Scotty as chief engineer on the Enterprise. Neither of them are super surprised but due to their shifts being on at different times, they mightn't get much time to spend with one another. Scotty is put on the graveyard shift because they need him there with all the less experienced engineers. Scotty knows a lot of the people he'll be working with, and they're not that bad, but none of the love the Enterprise like he does. A few of his colleagues have made jokes about Scotty and the starship. One of them hid a ring in one of the circuit boards Scotty was fixing and when Scotty found it, proudly exclaimed, "Ah looks like she finally wants to settle down with you sir." Pavel was there at the time, it was pretty hilarious.

Sulu has a few fights with Veesa in the lead up to final exams. Pavel doesn't even care what half of them are about, he's just glad they're happening. Scotty tells him off a few times but decided to not intervene too much. It's just a good thing Pavel's happy, regardless of what it's about; or at least that's what he tells himself. Pavel's a good listener, he doesn't take in much of what Sulu says because his thoughts are elsewhere, but he gives Sulu advice (or tries to) and Sulu feels like he actually cares.

McCoy calls Pavel into another meeting and it's hardly a proper meeting, more so just a catch up on everything that's happened. It kills McCoy not to tell Pavel that Sulu did say he liked him. The doctor's unsure if that's still that case but he knows how much it'd lift Pavel spirits. He thinks about telling Sulu that Pavel likes him and frowns to himself. He can't really do that to Veesa, as much of a bitch as she seems to be. Pavel talks quietly about his confrontation with Veesa and how she knows. He's scared she'll use it against him somehow but he doesn't think she will anytime soon, not unless he gives her a reason to.

There's an in-space training camp for recruits who were involved in the Romulan incident. They've altered a few control panels and systems on the ship and Starfleet feels the need to better prepare the ensigns this time. Sulu and Pavel are sent to a slightly different camp as they're part of the bridge crew. Pavel's excited about the three whole uninterrupted days they'll have together, just the two of them. They're going to be put in their actual quarters and they'll have the same shift together. All Sulu's other friends are elsewhere and Sulu seems to be just as excited as him.

The training itself is tedious and boring with ridiculous amounts of mock scenarios and "what would you do if's." Sulu can keep calm for all of the questions but Pavel still gets nervous rushes of unwanted adrenaline and makes the occasional mistakes in his answers. Pavel scolds himself but from the other side of the control panel Sulu sends him reassuring smiles. Sulu still remembers the reassuring sympathetic smile he got from Pavel after 'leaving the parking brake on.' He still gets people who say 'external inertial dampener' under their breath now and again.

Sulu explains the cultural significance of 'Back to the Future' to Pavel as the TV plays quietly in the background. Pavel never saw it as a kid and Sulu argues it's one of those movies that you have to see. Pavel wants to show Sulu some of his favourite films but fears the English (somewhat inaccurate) subtitles will detract from the actual meaning. He didn't watch a lot of TV as a kid. He loved gaming when he wasn't studying, it was one of the few things he had in common with the people he went to school with. He liked all different kinds of games, strategy was probably his strongest suit. He could think, and he was fast.

Pavel enjoys all three instalments of the original Back to the Future. Sulu promises to watch the 2116 remake and the 2216 remake with him another time, but for now, he needs sleep and a lot of it. They're both a little sore from training and Pavel reckons he'll sleep soundly that night. He lies awake for a while just replaying everything that happened. It's nice knowing Sulu is only a room away again.

The room is warm when Pavel wakes up and he groans a little as he looks around in the darkness. It's only two hours after he first tried to get to sleep, but something's keeping him awake and he doesn't know what it is. He gets up and sits on the floor, stretching his sore neck a little. Maybe that's what's keeping him awake. He sits in the quiet and notices a light coming from under the bathroom door. He knocks on the door quietly and it opens. Sulu's there and his eyes are a little red and his face it etched with fatigue.

"You can't sleep?" Pavel says gently, leaning against the bathroom door. Sulu goes back to the basin and splashes his face with water.

"Something like that. Is it just a space thing or?"

Pavel shrugs. "Maybe. I didn't sleep much last time either but that was after…"

He doesn't bother finishing the sentence, Sulu knows what he's talking about. "I didn't sleep much then. What about the shuttle to Delta Vega? Did you sleep then?"

"A little," he admits. "I was still having nightmares and I was stressed about the being far away for so long."

"How will you go on the five-year mission then?" Sulu asks, half comically, half serious.

"I'll have you with me, yes? I should be fine then…" Pavel regrets saying it as soon as the words leave his mouth. He keeps like he keeps crossing the line between friends and lovers with his comments.

"Of course you will," Sulu grins. He's never had someone as close a friend to him as Pavel. As much as he dislikes the subtle romantic tension between them, he still really enjoys the Russian's company. He wonders what they're going to be like in five years' time. Part of him wonders if they'll even make it that far. Space is dangerous, something he feels he'll be constantly reminded of on board this Starship.