russian whiz kid;

( ` 📎│polinachekov !! ) || ridiculous starter

████ ( ` ✶ —  ❜ )

                 ❝ SO WHAT if I broke my arm, I’m still DOING IT. ❞

“Six hours, yes.” He replied, liking the prospect of spending time outside of his own quarters. He didn’t hesitate to follow her, unable to hold back a genuine smile at the grin on her face. 

“Oh, there is no way you could beat me at chess, even when I’m this tired. No way.” he teased, although he knew that she probably would beat him. They drew more often than not, but he was proud of the few matches he had won. “But I’m willing to let you try.”

“Aha,” she nodded, plan coming together. Six hours would be a very sufficient nap time. A little tea and a new environment might be just what he needed...

“I’m sorry. I just-” Pavel cuts himself off, forcing himself to put his emotions aside. He looks over to the conduit, then back at Polina, his mouth set in a thin line.

“You have taken responsibility by telling me what happened, but you are hurt. I think Mr Scott would be more annoyed if you didn’t get help. Things get broken all the time, but they can be replaced. You can’t.” He pauses and looks at Polina again. He wasn’t going to let this go, but he knew that she wasn’t either.  

“…We can check that they do not need to be fixed right now, tell someone on duty about it, and then we will go to sickbay. Once you have been patched up, we can come here and fix the conduit. You are more important.”

“B-But I...” Polina bit her lip and blinked at Pavel as he spoke. She knew he wasn’t going to let this go until she agreed to his terms. He did have a point, it was much easier to replace a conduit than it was to replace an ensign, even one wearing a red shirt. “Alright,” she said quietly, nodding a little. “Okay, ve can do it that vay. But ve have to come back and fix it vhen ve’re done. Please?”

Polina reached to pick up her case of tools, but her bad hand protested and the items were tumbling to the floor a moment after they’d left it. She knelt down to collect them with her other hand. “Engineering is a lot harder than I thought it vould be.” she admitted, not going into the full extent of her struggles in the red shirt. She wondered if he had the same struggles, but didn’t ask aloud.

“You should talk to him.” she said quietly. “Talk through it. I’m sure he will help you understand that he doesn’t blame you. You were responsible for saving Kirk and Sulu’s life. They would be dead were you not a genius, Ensign Chekova.”

   It was unsurprising that the other hadn’t tried Vulcan dishes before – they were not popular with the humans. They were too bitter, too bland for the human’s regular enjoyment. ( This, she presumed, was also a reason why they ate meat. ) 

   “I suppose I do. I have never made an effort to try any other sort of dishes, thus, I must be satisfied with this. I believe I do not often think about such.” The food on the ensign’s dish, however… It seemed strange. A silent question drew a line across her lips. What is that?

“Oh really?” Polina stared at her new companion. She didn’t have pointed ears or eyebrows, but she talked like a Vulcan. “That’s interesting... I’ve heard Vulcan food is a little bland by comparison. You’ve never tried any food from other cultures?”

Bradley: hey vgoogle is cheating

Bradley: should've known ur a echeater

Polina: Name calling is very immature you know.

“I don’t know what brought it back either but trust me, I can understand far better then you think I can.” she said quietly.

Bradley: adnd you can quote dostoyrevsky too since gur a philosopher now rigwht

Polina: slurs are uncalled for.

“There’s always someone that can help, you just have to convince yourself to reach out to them first.” she pointed out carefully.

It was the middle of the night when Polina woke up and looked to her left to see that her roommate’s bed was empty again. She rubbed her eyes. Go back to sleep, a part of her whispered but no, she was far too caring and nosy for that. Instead she pulled back the blankets and made her feet swing to the carpet, padding across it and to the window. Yep, she knew exactly where to find Jay.

The night felt too warm to Polina. San Fransisco often did to the Russian whiz kid, as she’d been called countless times since arriving. She wondered if she’d ever get used to the change, but something told her that there would be more drastic changes coming. “What are you doing out here so late?” she asked the blonde head she found on the balcony. “Can’t sleep?”