tampered | (open)

(open)

When: 19th
Rating: TBC
Characters: You!
Summary: A shindig at the beach for the best navigator in Starfleet.
Log:

[ OOC: Feel free to assume your character has received an invite to the party via their inbox or word of mouth for Chekov's birthday! Everyone is welcome ~~except you, Khan~~ and presents are mandatory for the Enterprise's young navigator. Please tag under either section to keep the party somewhat ordered, and have fun! ]

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Oh. Pavel. I'm sorry. [ She feels a little guilty for his fear, as if her melt down when he came back is responsible for his fear. ]

If it helps, I don't want to go anywhere.

[ She giggles a little when he nuzzles her neck, fingers reaching up to tangle in his hair not to stop him but to encourage him. She bites her bottom lip, considering his words as she tilts her chin up, giving him more access to her neck.]

Daddy was a fan of famous quotes. I was fourteen and thinking about trying out to be a cheerleader in school and I wanted to so bad, but I was scared of falling in front of everyone. He sat down with me and told me that there's nothing wrong with being afraid as long as we don't let it stop us from doing the things that are right or the things that we want to do. Bravery isn't the absence of fear. Bravery is going ahead and doing something despite the fear.

I think being afraid probably makes you better at being Starfleet. [ Not that she entirely understands what that means. ] You're scared and you're there anyway. That takes a stronger person than someone who's not scared and is there.

No, no need to be. [This fear has been growing. His ten-month return home really kicked it off.] And I know that you would not leave on purpose.

[He listens to Lucy's voice, as enthralled by the cadence of her speech as the words she's actually saying. She has a pretty voice, and a pretty accent. Musical, almost. With his own mouth unoccupied, he kisses along her exposed neck, more enthusiastic than careful and unconcerned about hickeys.

But he's listening. When Lucy's lilting voice drops off, Pavel curls close to her and tucks his head under her chin. It takes a bit of contorting and the end result doesn't look comfortable, but he's content.

This is a good quote--good advice. But there are people who aren't scared, and those people are heroes.

[ Her story is interrupted by occasional whimpers of pleasure along with little gasps and moans. Whatever he's doing, it's nice and she's not terribly concerned about hickeys. That's what a diverse wardrobe is for!

She threads her fingers through his hair when he curls up with his head beneath her chin. She never forgets that she's got a heartbeat because of him. ]

Yeah. They are, but that doesn't mean that the people who afraid aren't. A hero is more about action than about feelings.

[He forgets that she never had a heartbeat. Lucy doesn't seem anything but alive.]

Maybe, yes, but there is only one thing that I have ever really wanted--and you will be the first person I have ever told this to, Lucy, so please don't think it is strange--and that is to be a hero. [He's speaking very quietly now, but remarkably clearly all things considered.] Being brave is good. Having a chance to be a hero, do something heroic and not only brave... I want that.

[ That's sweet of him, but then her being dead never really seemed to bother him either.

She bites her bottom lip, carding her fingers through his hair lightly. ] I don't know if counts or not, but you're my hero. You gave me my heartbeat back. I get goosebumps because of you and really hungry instead of eating because it's what I'm supposed to do. I get warm and cold and when I kiss you, I get breathless. Definitely a hero as far as I'm concerned.

[Well, Lucy is Lucy. She isn't any less Lucy when she's City!dead, even if she is less happy and not-quite-alive.

He closes his eyes like a contented cat.] That--what you said--is very beautiful, and maybe I can be a hero for you. [teasing] It isn't the same as saving a ship alone or single-handedly keeping the Earth from being destroyed, of course, but it will do.

[ She's glad to hear that. ]

No. It isn't. Much smaller scale, but still heroic.

[ She stills for a moment, head bowing to press her lips against his head. ] Is that what you were doing when you came back here?

[At times, Pavel loves Lucy so much that there's nothing he can say or do to adequately express his feelings. This is one of those times.

The mention of home gets a barely-perceptible flinch and a sigh.] Ah, no, but my captain was--or had. He had just saved the ship.

[ It's probably for the best that Pavel can't express those feelings. She still gets scared by the idea of it, despite the fact that she's admitted she has the same feelings for him and she knows how he feels about her.

She sighs a little and nods. ] Pavel, if he hadn't been there to do that, I'm sure you would have. You're brave and kind, very capable. You just weren't in the right place.

[Someday, maybe, they'll both have words, and that words won't scare them.]

Thank you, Lucy, but you hold me in very high esteem. I wouldn't have been strong enough to realign the warp core, or good enough at fighting to do anything else he has done. [This sounds self-pitying, even to him. Even if he isn't exactly hero material in his world, he doesn't need to whine about it to Lucy.] But I am good at keeping us from flying into stars and preventing the captain from falling to his death, so that is something.

[ Someday. Lucy is making progress even if she has setbacks on occasion. ]

Pavel, that's it's own form of being a hero. If the ship went off course and started flying into the stars, you'd be the one that saved the ship. Just because this time requires a hero with different skills doesn't mean that you aren't one.

[He shifts, sits up, and puts both arms around Lucy, resting his head on top of hers in a tidy reversal of their former position. This isn't something that he can make her understand, but he appreciates her optimistic take on things--and maybe it's a take that would be true in other worlds and under other circumstances.]

I do my job, and I do it well. This is what everyone on a starship does, and because we all do well, we all prevent disasters. It is all of us saving the ship every day, and only because that is what we are supposed to do.

[Oh. Well she's perfectly content to be in that position as well, snuggling into him and resting her cheek against his chest, one arm sliding around his waist while the other hand rests on top of his heart.

Unfortunately, he's right. It probably isn't something Lucy can understand without experiencing it first hand. She ponders his words a moment, measuring her breathing with his. ]

I guess I just don't have that much ambition. I admire you for having it. I just can't understand it. I"m happy right now. That ambitious enough for me.

[He likes holding Lucy. It makes him feel like he can protect her.

For a moment, Pavel just listens to their synched breathing and the snap of the bonfire's tinder.]

I'm happy, too. I think, if both of us are happy, that will be enough for now.

[ Lucy considers that, absently drawing patterns that happen to be hearts over and over again on Chekov's shirt. ]

I can always play hard to get if you need something to conquer.

[ She says it teasingly. She thinks she's made things difficult enough for them. ]

[Don't think he can't tell what those shapes are.]

I am an explorer, not a conquerer. I would much rather explore you.

[ Busted. She's just going to keep it up though.

He can't see it, but his words bring a wicked sort of smile to her lips. ]

I'm fairly sure at this point, you've explored every, single inch of me, but you are more than welcome to re-explore.

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