I can do zat! (3/?)
Author's note/disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Star Trek. This is my first fanfiction, so if there's any help anyone can give that would be appreciated. LOOKING FOR BETA! (If there are any mistakes, please alert me!)(link to story on ff.net http://www.fanfiction.net/s/949233…)
"I can do zat"
Chapter 3
Chekov opened his eyes the moment his alarm went off.
He reluctantly got up, got dressed and headed to his first and favorite class, physics. Advanced physics to be exact. Chekov was at the top of his class. It was the one class that he felt extremely confident in. It was a class where he could show his ability without second guessing himself or having others second guess him. It made him feel more at home than he had ever felt since he had joined the academy.
The class was quick. The teacher gave the students the usual equations to solve and then as a class they discussed physics-related theories. A favorite of the teacher's, that day, was the theory relating to achieving warp speed.
The bell rung. Chekov got up from his chair. He slowly walked out of the class room, wishing his teacher a good day. Once out of the door, he made his way down the hallway past several students coming out of their classroom as well. He continued out of the door at the end of the hallway and made his way over to the library.
Chekov walked through the library doors and immediately headed for the linguistics section. He waded in between many shelves until he saw the "Linguistics" sign on the end of one shelf.
He cautiously turned a corner.
There she was, just as Sulu said she would be. Her back was turned to him so all Chekov could see was a high ponytail, small shoulders and arms, the way her standard uniform molded into her curves, the backs of her legs, and how her standard boots shone in the light of the library. But it was enough to make him feel his legs turn to jelly.
He stared at her for a long while, watching as she grabbed a book from the shelf and quickly made her way over to a nearby table. Chekov mirrored this act by grabbing an arbitrary book off of the shelf closest to him and hurriedly sitting at a table adjacent to her own.
He propped his book up in a way that would cover his face. Chekov then craned his neck so he could observe her from behind the book discreetly.
Chekov silently watched as her lovely long fingers slowly turned the pages of a book whilst her eyes scanned each page. A lingering feeling of nervousness began to envelope him and he couldn't bring himself to think of anything but incoherent thoughts of her. And he definitely couldn't bring himself to move so he continued to sit there, watching her, taking a mental note of every action.
Uhura. Me. Please. Why. Cruel world. Gorgeous. PLEASE.
At one point she even looked up from her book and made eye contact with Chekov. Chekov was flushed in seconds as she smiled at him and then looked back at her book to continue reading. Chekov quickly pretended to do the same for a while until he sensed that she wouldn't notice if he looked at her again.
A few minutes later the bell ending passing period rung and Uhura got up to return the book to its original shelf. She then went back over to her table gathered her things and left the library, still unknowing of Chekov's undying gaze.
He had let her leave without even approaching her. Chekov was extremely disappointed in himself, but he decided against giving up.
He tried again the next day and then the day after that, and the day after that, but each time he couldn't bring himself to stop her from leaving the library. So unsure and unconfident in his abilities he could never even make himself move towards her general direction until after she left. It soon became an unending unbearable cycle that Chekov couldn't break.
…
It took Chekov three months to approach Uhura. During those three months, he showed up at the library after first period just as Sulu said to do. Each time he grabbed a book off of an arbitrary shelf and sat at a table adjacent to hers, watching her. Replaying what he would like to say to her over and over in his head, but never gathering enough courage to actually go over to her to say it. Numbers, words, insecurities, and obstacles were always all Chekov's mind could conjure up everytime he watched her.
In a way, Chekov became his own bully. The more time he spent in the library watching her, attempting to mentally prepare himself, it only caused him to become more insecure in his ability to attract her. He sat peering at her so much that he began to notice the smallest things about her. The way she held the books she read (at a 15 degree angle), the way she sighed in delight as she read, even the way that she sat down, legs crossed.
Chekov's mother, back home in Russia, always told him that 'nobody was perfect' in order to make him feel better whenever he had failed at anything (which wasn't often). However, watching Uhura made him feel like he was told a lie.
Uhura was the image of perfection, everything he could never even hope to come close to.
As he thought this, the bell ending passing period rang and for the sixty-fifth time, Uhura walked out of the library killing yet another chance of approaching her.
Chekov slammed his face into his hands and sighed loudly. He bolted into a standing position and began to aggressively gather his things from his table. He then practically hammered the book he had been "reading" into the shelf he got it from and then stormed out of the library. The moment he was out of the room, he broke into an angry run towards his dorm room.
He slammed his passcode in and entered his dorm when the door opened. Chekov threw his bag onto the floor and began thrashing around, knocking things over, slamming onto the couch and floor shouting obscene things in Russian.
He then ran his hands through his hair, grabbing curls along the way, silently threatening to rip them off of his scalp in frustration. "Why can't I do this one zing! Vat is wrong vith me!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
In the next second a bedroom door was thrusted open and Chekov jumped back, startled. He quickly scanned the door and what was behind it only to find his roommate barging out of the room, eyes wide, with furrowed brows. Harry Mathews, Chekov's roommate ever since he started going to Starfleet. They hardly talked and didn't get along very well when they did. Harry often brought girls over to stay the night, which is why Chekov stayed at Sulu's dorm some nights, giving Sulu the excuse that he 'just wanted to study.'
"WHAT IS GOING ON!?," Harry shouted as he scanned the room noticing various items scattered across the carpet.
Chekov quickly turned a deep shade of red, only then remembering the possibility that his roommate would be at their dorm. "I'm sorry…I..I'll clean it up!," Chekov stammered.
"Yeah! You do that!"
Harry sighed loudly then stomped back into his room, slamming the door behind him.
Chekov stood there, head hanging in shame for a while before he started cleaning up the living room, restoring it to it's usual layout. Clean and bear carpet, couch with pillows neatly placed on top of it as it lay in front of a flat screen television set and so on.
After he finished, he gathered his things and quickly left his dorm only to find himself in front of Sulu's a few minutes later.
Chekov urgently put in the pass code that Sulu had given him months ago in case of emergency. The dorm door swung open, hissing at him. Chekov scurried in, quickly closing the door behind him. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the lighting, he searched Sulu's living room, eyes roaming over the kitchen, the sofa, coffee table. There was no sign of him. Chekov quickly walked over to Sulu's bedroom door. He pounded on it five times and then proceeded to let himself in.
…..
Sulu was on his bed, laying on his stomach, holding his PADD. But he was looking at Chekov who had just entered his room. Chekov looked like a wreck, a nervous wreck. After noticing this, Sulu gently asked "Hey, man...what's wrong?"
"The problem iz me,"Chekov said, wide eyed, pacing. "I can't...I can't do it. I am not 'boyfriend material.' I am Pawel, the nerd boy who's only good at Physics!"
Chekov then silently pouted.
"You can't do what?" Sulu questioned, eyebrows furrowing.
Chekov raised his eyes to Sulu's to glare at him. Sulu reflected for a few seconds then replied:
"Oh! Talk to Uhura!"
"YES! And it iz driving me crazy. I'm just not good enough. Maybe I should have newer had a crush on her. I should hawe just focused on my work as I alvays do," Chekov mumbled solemnly.
Sulu scrambled up into a sitting position putting a hand on Chekov's shoulders.
"Come on man, don't say that. Why do you put yourself down so much?"
Chekov sighed and answered, "I am only voicing what others think of me already."
"Who cares what people think?! You don't even know what they think anyway, you can't just assume."
"I can see it...in the way that eweryone looks at me, like I'm just a kid who can't do anything but Physics. Ever since I came to America..."
"Okay, stop it, stop it. Don't say you regret coming here now, I wouldn't have even known you if you hadn't."
Chekov's looked downwards, in shame once again.
"What you need is confidence. Stop putting yourself down and stop regretting your decisions. You are much more than…"
"Than what?" Chekov mumbled.
"Than just some Russian boy who's great at Physics. You are also a jerk," Sulu noted, a smile growing on his face.
Chekov produced a mock laugh, "oh ha ha ha…"
"No, but I'm serious. If there wasn't anything interesting about you, I wouldn't even be here. You're spontaneous, funny, smart, loyal and reliable. You have all the best qualities. Dude, I don't know how you can't see that. Uhura's going to love you, if you just give her the chance by introducing yourself."
"...I don't know..."
Sulu punched Chekov in the shoulder.
"AI! What was zat for!" Chekov screeched.
"Stop being a punk and just listen to me!" Sulu replied. "Just do it. She'd be crazy not to like you. Wasn't your old nickname jailbait or something? Use it to your advantage. She won't be able to resist. And don't think any more negative thoughts. Everytime you do just chant that you can do it…or pinch yourself."
Sulu paused.
"It's an order not a suggestion by the way," he laughed. "You can do this! Say it back. Say 'I can do this!'"
"I can do zis!"
"Louder!"
"I CAN do zis"
"Again!"
"I CAN DO ZIS!"
"That's it, that's the spirit!" Sulu shouted slapping Chekov on the shoulder once again.
Chekov winced and then glared. "Hikaru," he warned.
"Okay, okay I'm done" Sulu quickly replied, giggling as he removed his hands from Chekov's shoulder in order to hold both hands up in a surrender gesture.
"What are you going to do tomorrow morning?"
"Go to my physics class and then my…"
"Wrong!"
"...But I am going to Physics."
Sulu narrowed his eyes. "You know that's not what I meant. You're going to talk to Uhura tomorrow. You're going to make her fall madly in love with you."
Chekov furrowed his eyes brows and pursed his lips as if to say 'you really think it's that easy'.
"She'll be all like 'oh Pavel tell me you love me in Russian'," Sulu laughed heartily.
Chekov pushed Sulu.
Once again, Sulu laid in front of him, laughing at his expense.
Chekov playfully grimaced and then started laughing with him a second later.
After the laughter subsided, Sulu and Chekov talked for the rest of the evening, deciding that Chekov should keep it simple and just introduce himself and mention xenolinguistics.
.
.
.
After leaving Sulu's dorm, Chekov thought over what advice Sulu had given him.
Had he been foolish to get so worked up about one task? Was he just overreacting over built up insecurities? He must have been if the dream is what made him so afraid of talking to Uhura.
With Sulu's words ringing fresh in his head, he decided that he would stop being so insecure, go for it and see what happens. What's the worst that could happen? Hurt feelings? Chekov reassured himself that it was a minuscule problem. After all, he had survived Brutus. If he could do that, he could survive a few hurt feelings over a woman he didn't even know. A beautiful woman he didn't know, with big brown eyes that saw right through you…
Tomorrow's the day. For sure, Chekov thought.
That night, he had a similar dream to the last. However, Uhura's attire had no words on it and when the mob of students chased him, he made it to Uhura and she accepted his help. In front of them a door materialized and they exited the library. Safe and sound. No crushed face. No blood. And more importantly no pain.
.
.
.
Chekov awoke refreshed and well-rested.
After first period, he briskly walked over to the library, head held high.
He turned the corner, and saw her in the linguistics section for the sixty-sixth time. Just as the other times, her back was turned to him so all Chekov could see was the same high ponytail, the way her standard uniform molded into her curves, the backs of her legs, and how her standard boots shone in the light of the library.
He stared at her for a long while and thought the plan over in his head.
Talk to her about xenolinguistics and see what happens…
Despite Chekov's fear of rejection he finally got the courage to at least take a step forward. Then another, and another. He took his time walking slowly towards her.
Uhura must have been done looking at books for the day because she abruptly put the book she had been scanning back in the shelf and picked her book bag up from the floor and began to walk out of the library.
Chekov significantly quickened his pace.
Not this time.
After what seemed like forever, he finally made it up to her, almost out of breath due to the nervousness he felt paired with the urgency to catch up to her. Uhura, already looking down, noticed a pair of shoes and legs beside her and looked up to see Chekov beside her.
"Hello," Chekov, whose face was already red, began awkwardly.
"Hi" she replied sheepishly.
Hearing Uhura’s voice was like a bolt of electricity. He felt the heat from the shock trickle throughout his body at the sound of it. It was so sultry but sweet, at the same time. The perfect sound. The sound which could incapacitate Chekov.
This wasn’t going to be easy, but he would get throught this.
"…My name is Chekov… I heard that you vere wery interested in xenolinguistics, yes?"
Uhura nodded and then her eyes grew wide as she took another look at Chekov. "Oh! I know who you are now."
Chekov stared into her eyes with eager disbelief.
She knows who I am?! This is unbelievable!
"You...do?" Chekov questioned slowly.
"Yeah, I’ve seen you in the library a lot and around school. You're Hikaru's friend, right?
…Great… She knows me as Hikaru's friend... I guess that's a start.
Chekov inwardly shrugged.
"Oh...uh yeah. Has he said anyzing about me?"
"Oh, no. He hasn't mentioned you. I've just seen you guys walking and talking together around campus from time to time. I thought you were a couple at first," Uhura replied with a chuckle.
"Oh...me and Hikaru..no..I…."
Chekov could feel the tiniest drop of sweat trickle through his curls as he found it harder and harder to look into her eyes.
Uhura lightly continued to giggle. "…You brought up xenolinguistics a minute ago right?"
"Oh, uh, yes,” Chekov cleared his throat. “You are interested in it? I vas hoping ve could…discuss it?"
Uhura smiled, "Only if you help me with something.”
Chekov’s eyes grew wide and furrowed his brow wondering what she could possibly need his help for.
“From your accent I can tell that you're Russian, correct?"
"…Da."
Chekov continued to furrow his brow in confusion as he contemplated what she had said. Then it dawned on him. He quickly became inwardly giddy with excitement.
"I need help with some of the pronunciation of certain words. I wasn't able to properly finish studying the language because I had to quickly learn Andronian and Vulcan for my xenolinguistics class. I'm familiar with the grammar and even how to spell most words, it's just the pronunciation and vocabulary I need to familiarize myself with. Will you help me?"
"Vith Russian?! Of course," Chekov shouted. Then, realizing how loud he was speaking, he rehashed, "If you need help with Russian, I am your guy," in a softer tone.
Uhura chuckled softly. "And is there anything that you need help with? Relating to linguistics I mean?"
"Uh…I’m just here to help,” he replied with a smile.
Uhura looked at Chekov with a pleased look. “Oh, well If you think of anything you need help with I can help, I feel bad not helping you in return.”
“No really, it iz completely ok.”
"oh ok, well when should we meet up?"
Doesn’t matter. I'd make time for you whenever. Anything you want.
Chekov cleared his throat, a second time, and gave what he thought to be a reasonable answer.
"Um, vhenever you are free."
"Hmm, well I'm busy until next week. We can do Thursday of next week if that’s alright?”
Chekov searched her face for several seconds before answering, a smile growing on his face. He finally did what he should have done when he first visited the library in search of her. He would finally have a chance. He hadn’t won the war, but the first battle was now over and victory tasted so sweet and was so beautiful.
“Sure.”
Uhura smiled back at him. “Great! I’ll see you then.”
She turned on her heel and began walking in the other direction only to stop mid-walk, and turn back toward Chekov with an expression that suggested she had forgotten something.
“Oh, My name is Uhura by the way!”
Chekov simply nodded and smiled.
I know. Trust me, I know.
So sorry it took forever to upload this, ugh. I was being extremely picky with this chapter and after I wrote it I was like “ugh I feel like it’s crap” but I thought about how I could change it, and nothing came to mind. Honestly, I wasn’t going to upload it today but I saw a very nice comment about chapter 2 and I was like what the hey. I hope it wasn’t too bad in the having depth department, I promise to do better in the future. Criticism is always welcome. I would love it actually. Anywho, I will start working on chapter 4 immediately and hopefully I can get to the good stuff ;). Stay tuned!
P.S. Sorry again if I always sound negative lol. I don’t mean to it just comes out that way XD.
