Doctor McCoy, or Bones, ran a couple of tests on you, mainly to see if you were healthy, and escorted you personally to the room you would be staying in.
Bones, although intimidating, was a very kind hearted man, just a bit rough around the edges.
You were still quite flustered by what young Chekov had said; you were deeply flattered that he had told you he thought you were cute.
You made your way to the bed in the corner of the room and gently plopped yourself down onto it. You smiled in spite of your confusion and hummed to yourself, the tremor of your voice in your body calming you; you hummed when you were excited.
You were on a ship, the Enterprise! You were surrounded by professionals. Then there was Chekov; oh, just thinking about him made you hum harder and caused your heart to skip a beat.
You slipped your shoes off and laid down, exhausted. You slowly began to drift off, lulled by the thrum and trembling of the engines below and the silence within you.
It had been two weeks since your mysterious appearance on the Enterprise and you now had another job: assistant to the head of engineering, Montgomery Scott, "Scotty" as everyone called him, and you were happy. The work was hard, and a bit stressful, especially when Scotty got angry at Keenser for always climbing things (and that happened a lot.)
But, you enjoyed your work; you also appreciated how Scotty never treated you like you were different from anyone else because of your disability; he was quite good at reading your fingers too.
All this work left you hardly any time to make any attempts to interact with a certain ensign on the bridge…sure, you'd see him sometimes but you hadn't worked up the courage to actually sit by him and attempt conversation.
"Ey, Lassie," Scotty patted your shoulder to get your attention. You watched him intently.
"Go tell those bloody morons to shut off the cooling vents in the loading dock before they freeze the damn doors shut!" he spewed. You nodded and struggled to hold in a smile; you didn't quite know why but the Scotsman amused you and made you laugh.
"And wipe that smiled off your pretty little face while you're at it." Scotty added, turning you and sending you on your way with a smile in his eyes.
Another week passed, full of work and visits with Bones up in the Medical Bay; he'd told you that you could come by if you ever needed anything or even just wanted to talk. You took him up on his offer quite frequently, when Scotty wasn't available. You'd also talked with Captain Kirk a few times when you were on the bridge looking for McCoy or Mr. Scott; doctor McCoy always shooed him away from you, telling him to stop flirting.
"I swear, Jim, you take one look at a gal and go right in fer the kill! Give 'er some room ta breath for God's sake!" Bones had said once before, making you smile.
Today was one such day where you sat in doctor Bones' office, since Mr. Scott was too busy yelling at some poor "bloody halfwits" who had failed to do the engineer's bidding.
"Hey, kid." Bones walked into his office to greet you, his lips pursed and gaze hard.
You waved and signed: "Are you feeling okay?"
"Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry 'bout me. We're only floating around in a damn metal box in space." Bones worded.
"You don't like space?" you asked with your hands, a bit confused.
"Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence." Bones said, shaking his head.
"Then, why did you join Starfleet?" you signed, smiling in amusement.
"I got no other place to go. Dammit, someone's gotta look after Jim, before he kills himself…that pointy-eared bastard needs some watching too." He explained in his own gruff manner. You laughed out loud.
"Now, don't pay any mind to me. What's goin' on in that head of yours?" he changed the subject, waiting until you were paying attention.
You blushed and let your (E/C) eyes wander nervously. With images of the blue-eyed boy coursing through your ever thoughtful mind, you relayed to the good doctor what you thought and how you felt about Chekov, in the best way you could.
Bones watched your fingers closely, a thoughtful look on his face.
"I do not know if he would like a girl like me." You signed when you were finished.
"You don't got to be able to hear for someone to like ya," Bones began, getting stern.
"Chekov's a good kid, too. He already likes ya; hell, he's been starin' at you for weeks, whenever he's got the chance."
Your eyes widened and your cheeks flushed again. You hadn't noticed, all this time.
Just then the vibrations of the door opening caught yours and Bones' attentions and the both of you turned to see a very timid Chekov walking in. you almost couldn't breathe.
"Heello," he greeted you with a nervous and oddly determined grin.
"(Y/N), w-woold yoo like to go to deener weeth me tomorrow?" he asked, his face going red. Bones look at you, his lips pursed in a smile.
You could hardly believe your eyes. You looked at Chekov and smiled and nodded.
His grin widened and he looked relieved. He exclaimed something that you couldn't understand but you didn't care; he had just made you one of the happiest people in the world.
"What'd I tell ya?" Bones mouthed silently to you.
The next day you worked nervously; excited as you were for your date with Chekov, it was your first date.
Chekov had also personally delivered a couple of messages to Mr. Scott; you caught a few glances your way each time.
"What do we have these bloody communicators for if that wee ensign keeps wasting time I don't have?!" Scotty burst at you; you could almost feel the tremor of his voice.
"And I know he's smitten with you, Lassie." He added, making you turn a light shade of red.
"Sorry." You signed, embarrassed. Scotty's expression changed and he looked gentler.
"Don't be, I was just let off a wee bit of steam. Now, ye should get back ta—you bloody gremlin! Git down from there!" Scotty ran off and you couldn't read him anymore.
You got back to work, beyond excited.
In Bones' office, the place agreed upon to meet with Chekov, you were beside yourself with nerves.
You were swinging your legs anxiously, sitting on Bones' desk; you were wearing a red jumper and black boots. You twirled a strand of your (H/C) hair.
You were so consumed in your thoughts that you didn't notice the vibrations of the door sliding open.
Unknown to you, Chekov walked in and timidly set a hand on your shoulder to get your attention.
You gasped and looked up to see a very nervous ensign.
"Eehhh…heello, (Y/N)." He smiled.
When the two of you were seated in the dining room of the ship's restaurant, conversation seemed easier than you both had thought it would be. Thought you missed a word here and the end of a sentence there, you were focused and could understand him.
"My name is Pavel Andreivich Chekov." He signed, surprising you.
"My name is (Your full name)." you replied with a smile.
"Uhura hez been teeching me!" Chekov said out loud, excited at your reaction.
"I don't know veery mooch, though." He admitted.
"I can teach you." You gestured, spelling each word out so that Chekov would understand.
The both of you worked at signing a bit until it calmed into just talking. You received your food but most of the time you were too busy talking to eat; it was so easy to talk to him; there wasn't a dull moment, although there were thoughtful pauses in the conversations. You were content, surrounded by the smells of the restaurant, staring at the young man who spoke enthusiastically about his family and his homeland, Russia. Little did you know, there was a group of curious eyes watching the two of you intently and the people that those eyes belonged to smiled and giggled, overjoyed that their young ensign had finally found someone.
"How deed yoo looz yoo're heering?" he asked cautiously after an hour of eating and conversing.
"An electrical fire. My parents died then." You motioned thoughtfully.
"I em sorry to heer thet." He said, looking sad for you; he did not, however, pity you and that made all the difference. You smiled and signed that it was okay.
You learned that he was "sewenteen" when he was assigned to the Enterprise and he was now eighteen, the same age as you. You watched and wondered, for the first time in a long while, what his voice sounded like.
But you were content to watch his lips speed away, forming words carefully for you; to watch his throat and chin and imagine the vibrations of his voice.
"Eet eez getting late," Chekov worded.
You noticed that every other person in the restaurant was gone and that only you and Pavel were left in the dining room. You nodded and blushed when he placed a hand on yours. He leaned close.
"Ken I…Mey I keess yoo?" he whispered; his breath smelled sweet and its vacillation on your skin made you feel tingly all over.
Slowly, you raised your free hand to his face and signed "yes" on his cheek in an attempt to, in your own way, whisper a reply.
You leaned towards him across the table and he did the same until your lips touched.
It was a very strange sensation, warm, soft, and gentle. You blushed deeper and closed your eyes. After a moment, the kiss ended, close breaths exchanged, and Chekov stared at you with a glow and a boyish grin. Without a word, the two of you stood, unaware that the group of curious gazes still watched and the people the belonged to were cheering quietly for the Russian boy, and Chekov escorted you to your room, where he placed a gentlemanly kiss on your hand before smiling, giving a little bow, and almost gliding towards his own room.
You were left in front of your room, a smile plastered on your face as your fingers traced the kiss on your lips; the blossoming scarlet on your cheeks glowed as it tickled the rosy eaves of your bewildered soul.