Pavel is sitting through the Lord of The Rings, another classic, must-watch movie in Sulu's opinion. He reckons it's the basis of all good fantasy literature, and after watching the first two, Pavel feels he may be right. Sulu relates Pavel to the hobbits a few times and they swear one of the characters looks exactly like Bones with long hair. Sulu gets a PADD message and reads it quietly while Pavel pauses the movie to send the photo to Bones.
Sulu's PADD clatters to the floor and Pavel looks up abruptly. Sulu's head is in his hands and Pavel places his hand gently on his shoulder.
"Hey, what happened? Are you alright?"
Sulu shakes his head and passes the PADD to the confused Russian. It's a message from one of Sulu's friends on the same training camp as Veesa. He said he saw her walking out of anther guys room, wearing someone else's uniform and carrying her own. Pavel lowers the PADD and looks sympathetically at Sulu.
"I'm so sorry Sulu…"
Sulu rolls his eyes. "That's the thing, you're not though, are you?"
Pavel bites his lip. "I'm trying to be…"
The Asian can feel tears pricking at his eyes. He didn't even think he liked her this much until now. "I'm sorry but I might ask you to leave. I think I need to be alone for a while."
Pavel nods and leaves, trying not to smile the slightest bit as he does. He hates seeing Sulu upset, but Veesa doesn't deserve or appreciate Sulu like he does. Veesa's just after whoever will make her happy in the short run, she was probably sick of all the fighting and just the next person who was willing to take her. Pavel frowns as he thinks about Veesa. He's glad things never went any further with her than they did.
Sulu doesn't talk much for the rest of the training camp. Pavel's a little disappointed that they didn't get to really enjoy the full length of their time together, but he keeps reminding himself that every day will be like this once he's graduated. He tries to help Sulu and talk to him but he seems to be annoyed but his attempts at sympathy, as genuine as they may be.
Pavel's still questioning Sulu's reaction to him indicating that a) he really doesn't like Veesa and b) that he's not bothered by Veesa breaking up with him, which has its own implications in itself. He wonders is Sulu suspects that Pavel likes him, and if he's okay with that if he does know. When Sulu's sleeping, Pavel goes to McCoy for answers.
McCoy seems almost glad to see Pavel. He waves him into his new office, which is slightly smaller but has a nicer vibe to it.
"I have something strange to ask. Do you know if Sulu knows that I like him?" Pavel feels so weird phrasing his sentence that way. The whole 'does he know I like him' thing seems so childish to him. It's a very middle school concept and Bones seems to think the same as he clears his throat.
"I don't think he does." McCoy is really quite desperate to tell him Sulu does have some kind of interest in him, it's just not his job to do so. They need to find out by themselves.
Pavel nods. "I don't know what to do anymore… I'm just getting so desperate."
McCoy frowns a little. He's been in love before, and he knows how much it hurts.
"You seem kinds distracted," Pavel points out. "Is everything okay with you?"
The doctor takes a deep breath and shrugs. "I'm in a custody battle over my daughter. My ex-wife wants her full time but I won't see her for five damn years when this mission gets underway. I want her at least half-time until then but I don't know what I'm going to do after that. My ex was saying something about sending her to school on Cerberus but…"
McCoy shrugs off his last comment and sighs again.
"How old is she?"
"Nine. She's a sweetheart. She wants to be a nurse."
Pavel smiles. He's always been unsure about children but something about them does appeal, even a little.
"You'll get custody. I'm sure you're a good father."
"Thanks, Chekov. You better head off, it's late."
Pavel doesn't argue, he can't be bothered at this stage. He thanks the doctor and wanders back through the quiet corridors of the starship. It's so peaceful knowing he's floating in the vast expanse of space, carried only by the metal below his feet. The more he thinks about it the crazier it is. He's really in space, and he's really just one with the vastness.