Chekov
x
"Mind if I sit?"
Jaylah looked up from her plate full of mashed potatoes to see Chekov standing over her with a lunch tray in his hand. She shrugged and motioned to the seat directly across from her, dismissively. In truth, she had come to the cafeteria hoping that someone she knew would be there. She'd been disappointed when she'd seen no one recognizable, and had accepted she would be eating alone. Again.
Chekov's arrival was a relief, to say the least.
"Is that all you're eating?" He asked as he sat down, his own plate containing a variety of foods.
Jaylah shrugged. "They are my favourite."
Chekov smiled. "When I was little, there was a whole month where I would only eat steak and cucumber sandwiches."
"Those are good?" She asked.
He shrugged. "They were my favourite at the time. I haven't eaten one since."
"Why not?"
"I got tired of them." Chekov answered simply.
Jaylah frowned and shook her head. "I will never be tired of potatoes. They are the best human food."
"They are very good, yes. Have you tried baked potatoes?" Chekov asked, taking a bite of his own lunch.
"There are other kinds of potatoes?" Jaylah's eyes went wide.
"There are lots of kinds." Chekov answered.
"I will have to try them baked." Jaylah smiled happily as she took a bite, the idea of another food that she might actually enjoy was an exciting one.
"They also come in fry and chip form, for snacks." Chekov smiled back at her.
"What is your favourite kind of potato?" Jaylah asked.
"Scallop."
"Scallop." Jaylah repeated back to him, slowly. "I will eat scallop potatoes for dinner, then."
Chekov laughed quietly. "What brings you down to the mess for lunch today? I don't usually see you here."
"I was bored waiting alone in my room." Jaylah answered. "I can only make so much pies, and I am bored of the hop scotch."
"Pies?" Chekov asked.
"I am making a pie for Doctor Bones. It never comes out right." Jaylah explained.
"You spend all day making pie?" Chekov frowned.
Jaylah shrugged. "I also play the hop scotch that Demora painted outside, and I have read six books."
"Six? Already?"
Jaylah frowned deeply at him. "Five and a half. The one I am trying to read right now is very boring."
"Well, would you like to come with me?" Chekov offered.
Jaylah looked at him curiously. Obviously, she would like to do anything that involved not being alone in her room. What a strange question to ask.
"I am working on some navigation coding for the new Enterprise." Chekov explained. "It's not very exciting, but Scotty could probably convince the higher ups to let you help out."
Jaylah frowned. "I do not know anything about navigation."
"What?" Chekov asked, surprised.
"Not space navigation. On the ground, I am very good, but I never went into space until you all came." Jaylah explained. Not that it mattered.
"You spent so long fixing the Franklin, but you never looked into the navigation systems?"
Jaylah shrugged. "I looked at them, but getting off Altamid was more important than where I would go."
Chekov nodded. "Well, I could teach you a few things. Then you could probably do some simple proofreading."
"Montgomery Scotty already tried to get me a job like that." Jaylah stated. "I am not Starfleet, so they will not let me." She wasn't going to tell him that she broke the table when Montgomery Scotty told her she couldn't go to work with him.
"Oh." Chekov's face fell, before visibly brightening again. "Then we will have to find you a different job!"
Jaylah smiled back at him in response. "And what job will you get for me?"
"I'm sure there are people here that need things fixed. Smaller systems and personal items aren't being looked after right now. Starfleet is prioritizing the larger and more important systems."
Jaylah felt small seeds of excitement bubble inside of her. She hadn't felt truly excited about something in days. "You think they will let me repair smaller systems?"
Chekov shrugged. "If nothing else, I'm sure we can find a few people with personal items that they can't fix, and can't get fixed through the proper channels. I'll ask around, and let you know what I find out, yeah?"
"Yes!" Jaylah agreed eagerly, sitting straighter. She still had time left on Yorktown, and the time would pass much more enjoyably with something productive to do.
"Okay then. I will talk to some people, and I will get back to you after my shift is done." Chekov states, finishing his own lunch.
"When will that be?" Jaylah asked, standing up with him.
"I am done work at six, so I will come by your quarters shortly after that, okay?"
"I will be seeing you then, Chekov." Jaylah agreed, dropping off her tray at the station with him. He nodded, smiled, and waved goodbye to her before continuing back in the direction of his work.
Jaylah wandered around the city for a little while, before returning to her quarters. She read a little, watched a movie, and took apart her sonic shower in the time that it took for Chekov to ring her doorbell. She left the pieces of her shower on her bathroom floor to answer it.
Chekov stood in her doorway as it slid open with a proud smile on his face, and a bag in his hands.
"You have found work for me, Chekov?" Jaylah asked.
"Yeoman Yukimura's personal communicator is malfunctioning. And Ensign Downy's personal PADD is too." He answered, holding them out to her. "Lieutenant Santiago says if you do well with these, then he'll talk to his department to see if they have anything for you, too."
Jaylah took the bag, and looked inside to see the two devices Chekov had mentioned. "So if I fix these, I will have more work?"
"Yes. It usually only takes a couple of days to get personal equipment fixed, so people are going crazy having to wait this long."
Jaylah stepped back into her quarters. He hesitated outside as he watched her place the items on her counter.
"Are you afraid of my rooms, Chekov?" Jaylah laughed.
Chekov blushed and shook his head. "No, it's just polite to wait for an invitation."
"You have it." She said as she pulled her new tasks from the bag they were brought in. Chekov walked in to stand behind her.
"We should celebrate having work by doing something fun!" Jaylah turned to him and grinned.
"You don't want to start fixing those right now?" Chekov asked, confused.
Jaylah shook her head. "No, the work will be for when everyone is busy with their work. You are not busy now, are you?"
Chekov shook his head.
"What should we do for fun?" Jaylah asked. "I do not know of many things to be doing."
"Uh…" Chekov scratched the back of his neck and looked around. "I'm not sure. We could see a movie?"
Jaylah wrinkled her nose. "I only watch the movies when there is nothing else. I want to do something."
"Okay…" Chekov trailed off. "Well, we could go for a hike in the botanical gardens?"
"What is a hike?" Jaylah asked. She had been to the gardens during her explorations of Yorktown. They were pretty, but she had spent enough time wandering through trees and plants on Altamid. Unless there was a specific goal in mind, she didn't think she would ever appreciate being in a forest ever again.
"It's a… walk." Chekov answered.
"And walking, that is fun for you?" Jaylah pressed, pulling on her shoes. She apparently went hiking regularly in the last few weeks. It had never been particularly fun.
"Well, for some people. You will probably like it." Chekov stated, stepping back as she walked past him to the exit.
"You do not like it?" Jaylah asked, why would he think she'd like it? Did he think she was boring?
Chekov shrugged. "Depends on the company, I suppose."
"It is fun when you have good company? I hope I am good enough company?" Jaylah said as she walked out, assuming he was following.
"You are excellent company." Chekov answered, as he moved to walk next to her. "We need to stop at my quarters before we go for a hike."
Jaylah shook her head, shooting him an incredulous look. "We are not going for a hike. Think of something else."
Chekov laughed. "No? Okay, how about we play pool?
"I have heard of pool. It is a game of skill. Let's play pool."
"We will still need to stop at my quarters."
"Why?" Jaylah asked.
"I'd rather not go out in my uniform." Chekov answered.
Jaylah wrinkled her nose at his clothes. "I imagine you would rather not do anything in it."
"They're not so bad." Chekov shook his head, as they entered the transporter and he pressed his floor number.
"You are a liar." Jaylah stated plainly as the transporter doors slid open, and let him lead the way to his quarters. They were identical to her's. Well, almost exactly like her's. His quarters were considerably cleaner. They also smelled different. It surprised her every time she entered someone's quarters, and they looked just like her's, but smelled so different. She thought they must smell like the people that lived in them.
"I'll just be a minute." he stated, pulling some clothes from a wardrobe and disappearing into the bathroom.
Jaylah hovered by the door, not wanting to be rude by entering without an invitation. She called out, "Your rooms are very clean."
"Cleanliness is next to godliness." Came his muffled response.
"I do not know what is godliness." Jaylah answered back.
The bathroom door slid open, and Chekov stepped out in civilian clothes. "It is a saying."
"What does it mean?" She asked as he walked over and led her out into the hallway.
Chekov hesitated, thinking, as they made their way back into the transporter. "It means that being clean and tidy is a good trait to have."
"Why?" Jaylah asked as the doors slid open, and they walked out into the lobby.
Chekov hesitated again, finding distraction in waving at a woman walking past them before answering.
"I suppose it means you are more organized, which is a sign of being successful."
"I will be successful without being godly." Jaylah frowned. "Cleaning is boring."
"Yes it is." Chekov agreed as they made their way down the street toward where she assumed the pool game was.
"Does being godly help you with your work?" Jaylah asked, frowning at a man that narrowly avoided walking into her in his rush. She suppressed the urge to knock the man to the ground. That wasn't polite. That's what Lt. Uhura said, anyway. Jaylah took her word a little more seriously than many other people's. The thought of her being disappointed in her was… discomforting.
"I am not godly. It's just an expression." Chekov explained. "No one is actually godly."
"But I thought cleanliness is next to godliness?"
"It just means striving to be better makes you better."
"Oh." Jaylah frowned, wishing Lt. Uhura was present to explain what he was saying. She was good at that. At least he wasn't being as confusing as Doctor Bones.
"Explaining colloquialisms isn't one of my strong points." Chekov said in apology.
Jaylah shook her head. "I am finding most of you are bad at it. Only Lieutenant Uhura is helpful."
"You will have to find a xenolinguistics major when you get to Earth, to help you out." Chekov joked.
Jaylah frowned. "I do not like thinking of that."
"You're not excited about the Academy?" He asked, concerned.
Jaylah shook her head. "I am very excited about the learning and eventually joining you all."
"What don't you like thinking about, then?" Chekov pressed.
Jaylah shook her head. "We are having fun, not being sad."
Chekov stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding. "When we get to the bar, do you want to share a pitcher?"
Jaylah shrugged. "What will be in it?"
"Usually it's beer."
"I do not like beer. I will have whiskey." Jaylah stated.
"Whiskey is better. It was invented by a Russian woman, you know."
"I am grateful to her." Jaylah answered. "It is very good."
Chekov nodded, clearly agreeing with her. They walked along the sidewalk until they came upon a building she had seen in passing, but never gone into. Chekov opened the door and waited for her to enter. Had he been someone else, Jaylah might have eyed him suspiciously and refused to enter first.
But he was Chekov, her friend, so she walked past him and through the door. He followed after her. The room was large and dark. There was a bar to the right, and many tables scattered throughout. He waved at her to follow him as he approached the bar. He ordered two whiskeys and bought a game, and then they made their way to an empty table in the corner.
"So how does this game work?" Jaylah asked, taking a large swallow of her drink.
Chekov explained the rules while he set the table up. Jaylah eyed the balls and the cue stick that he handed her.
"This game does not seem so hard." She said, stepping back while Chekov played first.
She ended up being right, defeating him three times in a row. She lost track of the whiskeys they drank, and she discovered the Chekov is very funny when he was multiple whiskeys in. His jokes didn't get better. It was how he moved and how slowly he reacted that made him funnier. Most humans seemed to get funnier as they got drunker.
It was why she liked going out for whiskeys with the crew better than anything else. She understood them less, the more they drank, but they all became ridiculous in their own ways. She knew those were the times she would think on the most when she was lonely after she left them.
"Alright, alright. I think it's time to call it quits." Chekov said as she sank the eight ball for the third time.
"Why? It is not late, yet." Jayla asked, glancing at the time to be certain. Her new friends seemed to be often preoccupied by the time of day. They always had somewhere to be, or needed to get something done by a certain time. She had never experienced these types of restraints before arriving on this station.
"My pride can only take so much losing." Chekov smiled wider at her than she thought he would have before his current whiskey.
Jayla shook her head. "Your pride needs to be stronger. It will get strong with this beating."
Chekov laughed loudly. "It has already taken its beating for the day."
Jaylah sighed loudly. "Fine. We will go back to our quarters and sleep like we are elderly."
"Well, you don't have to. But I've had quite a bit to drink, and I do work in the morning." Chekov stated.
Jaylah rolled her eyes, and finished her latest whiskey in one large swallow. "I will walk you home then."
"Have to make sure I get there safe, eh?" Chekov smirked, packing up their table.
"You are as frail as the Russian lady that invented whiskey." Jaylah smirked.
"That's not the insult you think it is. She wasn't frail. That was a powerful lady." Chekov grinned before walking off to pay at the bar.
Jaylah walked over to meet him by the door, before they left together. They walked quietly for a while. The silence wasn't like when she was alone. It wasn't deafening. She found she quite liked silence when she was with others. Then Chekov ruined it.
"Have you made any friends outside of the Enterprise crew?"
Jaylah paused, before meeting his contemplative stare. She shook her head, but said nothing. She didn't necessarily feel like she needed other friends. She wasn't sure she would be able to make them even if she did.
He nodded. "Why not?
"I have only been with humans for a few weeks. Is it normal to make many friends so quick?" Jaylah asked, a little nervously.
"I guess not." Chekov answered quietly. "You will make many more friends when you get to the Academy."
Jaylah nodded, not wanting to tell him that she wasn't so sure. That people were strange, and their ways still confused her even after weeks with them. She wasn't sure if even the Enterprise crew would have liked her if she hadn't helped get them off of Altamid. They were all so decidedly alien. She wasn't confident that she would find the comfort with anyone else that she had found with them.
She didn't have to say it out loud, though. Because even drunk, Chekov seemed to know her fears. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed tightly. "People will be desperate to be your friend at the Academy. Just you wait."
"If you say so." Jaylah conceded.
"If you find someone you want to be friends with, just do what the captain did when he met Doctor McCoy."
"What did he do?" Jaylah asked, meeting his gaze.
With a smirk, Chekov answered "He followed him around relentlessly until he gave in."
Jaylah laughed.