Chekov x Reader: Shore Leave

You sighed happily as you walked into the book store. You were on shore leave for another four days and you didn’t know how long it would be until you were able to buy more reading material. Your friends always poked fun at you because physical books were almost obsolete. Besides textbooks almost all casual reading material could be downloaded to your PADD’s, but you just preferred the old-fashioned way of reading. You walked up to the counter with six books in your arms. The clerk smiled at you as she rang them up for you. Grabbing one of the books from the sack you dove deep into it as you walked out of the shop. You didn’t realize where you were headed until you crashed into something and tumbled to the ground. You shook your head and made a move to gather your books that were strewn across the sidewalk when a thick voice interrupted your thoughts.

“Are you okay? I am sorry, I vasn’t looking vhere I was going”

You looked up and saw a concerned curly haired boy who couldn’t have been much older than you. Your cheeks flushed pink and you cursed to yourself when you realized that it wasn’t a something that you had run into, but a someone.

“I’m fine. There’s no need to apologize, really. I should have been looking where I was going and not buried in my book,” you apologized and sighed, raking a hand through your (h/l) (h/c) hair.

He helped you pick up your books and he stopped when he saw one of the titles.

“You read quantum mechanics?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow and handing it back to you.

You nodded, “I’m and ensign in the science department of the ship I’m stationed on and my superior officer suggested I read up more on the subject even though I already know most of what there is to know about the subject”.

“You verk in Starfleet?” his blue eyes lit up.

You nodded, “Mhm, I’m stationed on the USS Excalibur. I take in you’re a part of Starfleet too?” you smiled.

“Da, but I em on the USS Enterprise. Youngest member of the crew as vell,” he mirrored your smile.

Something in the back of your mind stirred when he told you that he was the youngest of his crew.

“Hold on, are you Pavel Chekov?” you raised an eyebrow.

You had a friend who was also stationed on the Enterprise and she had told you stories about the crew, including a cute Russian boy who was one of the youngest people to ever graduate from the academy.

“Da, how did you know zat?” 

“One of my friends from the academy is also on the Enterprise and she’s told me about the people who work on the bridge and mentioned a cute, young, Russian genius and you fit the profile,” you giggled when he ducked his head when you told him how your friend had described him.

“I didn’t know people still called me cute behind my back. I’m a grown man, ve’re not supposed to be cute,” he pouted and you laughed.

He cracked another smile when you laughed and stood up after helping you gather the papers you had dropped as well.

“I just realized that I never caught your name."

“I’m (F/N) (L/N),” you said holding your hand out to shake his properly.

“That iz a beautiful name, it fits you,” he smiled and shook your hand.

You felt your cheeks heat up again as you retracted your hand and held your books close to your chest. You felt a spark of confidence begin to grow in your chest when he smiled down at you.

“You know, I was on my way to get ice cream by the Warf, would you like to join me?” you asked hoping that he would say yes.

You might have only met him a few minutes ago, but something about him drew you in. He was friendly, sweet, cute, and extremely intelligent. He had the kind of energy that drew people in and made them happy and at ease. He grinned and nodded. As the two of you walked down to the Warf you talked about each other. You learned that he was only a year older than you and had graduated the year before you. Like him you were one of the youngest people to graduate from the academy so you were able to find common ground on that. You talked about yourselves, your crew mates, and captains and he had you laughing loudly when he told you about some of the shenanigans that Captain Kirk got the crew into. The two of you got your ice cream and sat down by the edge of the water to eat and people watch.

“So how much longer is your shore leave?” you asked.

“Only four more days,” he frowned.

“Same, I wish I had more time down here. I love my job, really I do, but I miss fresh air and grass from time to time,” you sighed, flopping back into the soft grass and looking at the puffy white clouds.

“Me too, but it beats being back home for the vinter,” he chuckled and you laughed; you could only imagine how bad the winters in Russia must have been. Space was definitely a good way to get away from those.

The two of you lay there talking until the sun began to set. You looked at your watch and gasped.

“Iz something wrong?” he asked sitting up when you bolted up and scrambled to gather your things.

“I didn’t realize how late it had gotten and my friend was expecting me to be back at her house thirty minutes ago,” you rushed as you texted your friend and stumbled to put your shoes that you had slipped off back on.

He caught you as you fell when you lost your balance. You both froze in that position and after a few seconds he snapped out of his surprise, coughed, and righted you.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, I just need to slow down,” you blushed and pushed your hair behind your ear.

He grew silent for a moment before he spoke up again.

“Vould you like me to valk you home? It iz going to be dark soon and I’d feel better if I knew you got home safe,” he offered.

You looked up at him and nodded. You knew the streets well enough, but still it was better to have company, and you wouldn’t admit it, but you didn’t want to leave him just yet.

“I’d love nothing more. My friend wasn’t freaking out too much, so we don’t have to rush”

He nodded and carried half of your books as you made your way to your friend’s apartment where you had been staying during shore leave. You noticed that you were both walking slower than you had been earlier and realized that his pace was even slower than yours. Eventually you got to the apartment.

“I had a lot of fun today, Pavel,” you smiled as you unlocked the door.

“I guess I haff to thank you for running into me,” he chuckled.

You blushed and shook your head, your previous embarrassment coming back to you. You looked up when he laughed quietly.

“Something funny?”

“No, you just look cute when you blush,” he confessed and as soon as he realized what he had actually said he turned just as red as you. “I mean- gah who am I kidding,” he sighed, giving up trying to get out of the situation.

You laughed and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. You opened the door and stepped inside before turning to say goodbye when he interrupted you.

“Vould you like to go to lunch with me tomorrow down by the Warf?” he blurted out.

His question caught you by surprise a bit, but a smile quickly formed on your face as you nodded. His nervous expression and you could see him relax when you agreed.

“Vell, I look forward to it,” he smiled stepping back from the door and shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Oh, Pavel wait!” you called out before he got too far away.

He turned back to you and raised an eyebrow when he saw you jotting something down quickly on a small piece of paper. You placed the paper in his hand and he looked down at it quizzically.

“It’s my number, so we can find each other tomorrow for our...” you trailed off.

“Date?” he suggested since even though he was the one who asked he didn’t really know what it classified as.

You smiled, “I like the sound of that”.

He beamed, but his expression quickly changed when you leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before walking back through the doorway.

“Night, Pavel,” you waved and held back a quiet laugh when he still had a shocked expression on his face.

He snapped out of his trance and waved at you as you shut the door. As soon as it was closed he jumped in the air and whooped happily. He walked back to where he was staying and was beaming the whole way. The next day couldn’t come fast enough.

~~~Time skip brought to you by a cute Russian Ensign~~~

The next three days flew by and before you knew it the two of you were holding your bags waiting to board your separate ships as your shore leave ended. You and Pavel had hung out every day since you met so parting was bittersweet. You had quickly formed a good friendship with him and you didn’t want to lose contact with him.

“So I guess this is it, for now at least,” you frowned as you walked with him to the dock where the Enterprise would be leaving.

He nodded sadly and shifted his bag to wrap one arm around you.

“We vill keep in touch, promise?” he asked as they called for boarding once again.

You nodded and pulled him in for a hug.

“I’m glad I ran into, Pavel,” you smiled.

You knew you would see him again someday so you weren’t going to make this departure a sad one.

“Me too,” he smiled.

He knew he had something important to tell you, but he couldn’t remember what it was for the life of him. The final boarding call resonated through the station for the Enterprise and he pulled away when his friend, Sulu tapped him on the shoulder and told him to get a move on. He knew who you were because every night when he came back from his day with you he talked about you and how wonderful, lovely, and spectacular he thought you were. He shook his head and turned around to tell his friend to get moving, but stopped when he saw what was happening. As your other friend tried to pull you away from Pavel, scolding you since you were going to miss the departure you quickly stood on your toes and pecked him on the lips just before your friend took your hand and dragged you away from the poor Ensign. You turned back and waved at him before you disappeared into the crowd, only then did Chekov begin moving. Sulu grinned and slapped his friend on the back as they boarded the ship. Chekov still couldn’t believe that you had actually kissed him. He couldn’t wipe the smile from his face until he remembered that the mission they were going on would be five years long. He mentally slapped himself when he realized that he had forgotten that. Five years, he wouldn’t see you for five years. As soon as that thought crossed his mind he felt the phone in his pocket vibrate. He pulled it out and smiled when he saw that it was your number.

‘Best wishes for your next mission! Stay safe and tell Kirk I say hi – (Your initials)’

~~~Four months later~~~

You and Pavel had been keeping in touch just like the two of you had promised. You video chatted when you could and texted when you couldn’t. Kirk kept poking fun at the Ensign saying that his ‘inter-galactic relationship’ wouldn’t work out, but he didn’t let it get to him. He still had you in some way or another in his life so he was happy with that.

One day, about four months since you had last seen him, your superior officer told you something that had you grinning from ear to ear. You were being transferred to the USS Enterprise within the next few days. When you were dismissed you ran to your room to tell him, but you held back realizing that you wanted to surprise him. On board the Enterprise Kirk made an announcement that immediately caught Chekov’s attention.

‘Attention, this is your captain speaking. I wanted to inform you all that within the next few days we will be acquiring some new crew members from the USS Excalibur. Senior officers will be receiving details as to who they will be receiving. That’s all, Kirk out’  

As soon as Pavel heard the words USS Excalibur he had perked up. That was your ship. What if one of the new recruits was you? He broke into a wide grin at the thought before he caught Mister Spock looking at him quizzically and immediately he returned to work. 

Aboard the USS Excalibur you were standing in the Transporter room. Giving your friends one last hug you got onto the platform and waited for the familiar tingle to come over you as you we transported to the Enterprise. When you opened your eyes again you saw that you were in the Transport room of the Enterprise and smiled. Looking around you saw your fellow recruits around you and the famous James Kirk in front of you. He knew exactly who you were, but he didn’t want to give anything away so he kept quiet.

“And this is the Bridge,” he smiled as the door opened to reveal the Bridge. You looked around in awe, everything was so different from the Excalibur you couldn’t help but admire it. He was about to lead you to the next area when a familiar head of curly hair caught your attention. You caught Kirk’s eye and he winked at you and nodded. You beamed and walked up to his chair and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey Pavel,” you grinned.

He spun around in his chair and his entire face lit up when he saw you standing in front of him. He leapt from his seat and wrapped his arms around you and spun you around in a circle before setting you on the ground again. Before he realized what he was doing he leaned forward and pressed a firm kiss to your lips. When he pulled back you laughed when you saw that he was still grinning.

“I knew it! I knew you vere one of the recruits,” he cheered happily. By now he had the entire Bridge’s attention and everyone around them was smiling, Kirk and Sulu especially.

“I wanted to surprise you. I’ve known for a few days, actually,” you admitted sheepishly.

He shook his head, still smiling, before pulling you in for another hug, “You’re here now, that iz all I care about”.