Chapter Eleven:

When Scotty returned to his little apartment that night after dropping Pavel off at his house (finally, he figured out where the kid lived…), he suddenly had an epiphany as he dropped his keys into a bowl and sat down on his couch after putting away his hat, coat, gloves and scarf in the hall closet.

The reason why he had taken such an interest in the kid wasn't because the kid was talented… well, that wasn't the main reason, at least. "Do I have a crush on a seventeen-year-old Russian whizkid?" he asked himself.

He knew no one would answer. But he knew the answer to the question even upon uttering the question. He flushed deeply and picked up his cell phone, calling the first person who appeared in his mind.

Kirk and Scotty had met in high school a little later than Kirk had met Len. Hikaru had come along even later, with Spock coming up last as their manager. But in high school, Scotty, Kirk and Len were tight. Since Len was terrible at advice, and Kirk had gotten Scotty through a couple of bad break-ups, Scotty went with the suave lead-singer of the Brothers Grimm.

"'Lo," Kirk said.

"Hey, Jim," Scotty replied.

"What's up? My date's about to get here any minute now," Kirk stated.

"Oh, you mean the elf-eared man?" Scotty teased.

He could feel Kirk heating up on the other end, "Shut up, you. How was your date with Cutie McCutiePants?" He meant Pavel Chekov.

"It wasn't a date, Jim," Scotty replied calmly, not giving Kirk what he wanted. "We went out for coffee, and I think he does that with most of his friends," Scotty replied. "Anyway, even though I may as well have a crush on him, he wouldn't have a crush on me when he's got some very pretty girl friends…"

"Okay. One, you just admitted you had a crush on the kid," Kirk replied, the smirk apparent even through his words, "and two, he's more than bisexual. I know you only have a not-straight-dar, but you've got to understand that the reason the kid attracts more girls than even I do is because he is totally and completely taken to the male sex as oppose to them. Girls dig guys who date other guys."

Scotty flushed, "How do you know all this?" he asked.

"When I came out of the closet to my ex-girlfriend last year, she told me it would have broken her heart less if I had told her I was fully gay. Then we would have stayed friends," Kirk replied. "Not important. So you like the adorable Russian whizkid? Is it the accent, or his adorable naïveté?"

"Shut up, Kirk," Scotty hissed.

"Ooh, breaking out the last name. Pissy Scotsman! Watch out world!"

"Shut up," Scotty hissed again, "You're not helping. I called hoping you would help."

"Jesus H. Christ on a stick, Scotty," Kirk said, chuckling, "I'm just messing with you. So you have a crush on the kid! Bones just called and told me he was thinking about going out with Sulu, and that is a pretty big age gap."

"Jim," Scotty said, filing that fact into his memory database, "That's seven years. Pavel is eight years younger than I am."

"Oh, I see. I think the rule is when the kid is eighteen and older, you can be ten years older and it's not creepy…" Kirk replied, thinking about it out loud. "But it doesn't matter! The kid is adorably naïve, adorably Russian, and I don't think he gives a flying fuck what the world thinks. I say go for it."

Scotty blanched. "You really are no fucking help, James Tiberius Kirk…" And with that, the Scotsman snapped his cell phone shut.

Scotty would have to think about this for a while. In the mean time… maybe talking to Pavel wasn't such a good idea.