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Tattoo
Leonard had a tattoo, three actually. Pavel discovered them when they had sex the first time. He wanted to ask the first time he saw them, but he had better things to do with his mouth at the time.
“You have tattoos.” Pavel blurted out when they were laying sweaty and sated, lazily caressing whatever skin they could reach.
“Yeah.” Len breathed without elaborating. Pavel rolled to sit so he could get a better look at the other man. He ran his fingers over the ones on his chest.
“You just don’t seem like the type to want tattoos.”
“Hey, I’m not always a tight ass.” He grumbled. Pavel hummed.
“I like your tight ass.” He grinned, leaning down to kiss the other man. “Do they mean anything?”
“This one is a matching one I have with my brother and dad.” He said, showing Pavel the circular design on his bicep. “It’s a fractal, my brother Ben was going to school to study math so we all got one to bond, I guess.” He chuckled, running his hand over it. “This is for Johanna.” He pointed to the flowers on his left pec, near his heart. “I call her sweet pea, and this one…” He groaned, running his fingers over the one under the flowers on his ribs, “I got when I was drunk in college.” Pavel laughed at the thought of Leonard drunkenly getting a tattoo, “Well, actually I had to go back to get it finished. It was a lot more simplified.” Pavel ran his fingers over the cute little sparrow in mid flight. “I was with some friends who thought the irony was hilarious.”
“You know you can get rid of tattoos if you don’t like them.”
“Yes, I know how tattoo removal works, thank you.” He replied dryly, pinching Pavel’s ass. “I don’t know, for a drunken tattoo it’s not that bad, I’m kinda attached to him.” He said, smoothing his hand down his chest.
“I’m surprised you don’t have a matching one with the Captain.”
“That baby? He’ll never get a tattoo.” Len snorted. Pavel settled back down, cuddling against his side.
“Maybe you’ll get one for me.” Pavel said without thinking, it was a lot to ask when their relationship was still so new.
“Maybe.” Len whispered.
“Property of Pavel right on your ass.” He replied cheekily. Len barked out a laugh.
“Why, so I can call you a real pain in my ass?” He chuckled, squeezing him tight and kissing the side of his head.
“You really do tell dad jokes.” Pavel chuckled.
Johanna
Perhaps it wasn’t really a secret, but Pavel had always assumed that Leonard’s marriage had been a happy one when his daughter was born. Apparently that wasn’t the case.
“JoJo , this is Pavel.” Leonard introduced them when he called back home.
“Is he your boyfriend daddy?” She asked in that teasing way kids had. Before Len could respond, Pavel answered ‘yes!’
Apparently he and Joslyn were already falling apart when she ended up pregnant. Len said he thought maybe it would bring them back together, but it only served to prove how wrong they were for each other.
“Just because she was an accident doesn’t mean she was a mistake.” Len loved his daughter, would send messages to her all the time, and get pictures in return. Now Pavel was getting those messages too.
“She thinks I’m too cool for you.” Pavel said laughing.
“Well yeah, what kid thinks their parents are cool?”
“Will I get to meet her in person when we go back to earth?”
“Of course.” Len said, kissing him sweetly. “She’s the most important person in my life.”
“Who’s the second?” Pavel whispered hopefully. They had been dating for a couple months now and Len just admitted that he assumed they would still be together in another year. Len just smiled.
“Didn’t know I was supposed to be rankin’ people.” Len quipped. Pavel rolled his eyes. “Of course, you’re important to me too.” He whispered against his ear.
Hearing loss
He learned about it when he lost his voice after getting sick. He was on Leonard’s left side and asked him something, after not getting an answer he finally got the man’s attention.
“What? Oh sorry darlin’. That’s the bad ear.” Pavel was shocked to learn that during the Narada incident Leonard had lost nearly 50% of the hearing in his left ear. More so he was stunned by the fact that Leonard was so nonplussed by it.
“It’s not a big deal, the other one works just fine.” He insisted.
“But you were injured, you don’t care?”
“Sure I care, I just…I don’t see the need to get bent out of shape by it. You know deaf people can be doctors too.” Pavel wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much. It wasn’t like he thought any less of him because of it, but all the same he couldn’t let it go.
One day it finally dawned on him that it wasn’t the injury that bothered him, but how Len got it. When the doctor was on the bridge during the incident he seemed just fine, but he wasn’t. He had been in great danger before that. He was injured in an explosion that killed his predecessor as CMO. Leonard was lucky he only lost a little of his hearing. That realization settled on him heavily.
“Hey, something the matter?” Leonard asked, putting his arm around the smaller man.
“No, I was just thinking,” Pavel said smiling and leaning up to kiss him. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Drawing
They were sitting waiting for a meeting to start. Len was scribbling on a piece of paper, not really paying mind to anyone else. Pavel was sitting too far away to see what it was but assumed he was making notes of some kind. However, when he slid the piece of paper over to the Captain, he saw the flash of a little drawing.
“Very professional, Bones.” Kirk drawled sarcastically. It wasn't an unusual comment for the two of them but it made Pavel curious. After they were finished he was able to snatch it up. Leonard had drawn a caricature of the Captain with little sparkles floating around his head.
“I didn’t know you could draw!”
“It's hardly the Mona Lisa.” He answered dismissively.
“It’s still good.” Pavel insisted. Now that he was paying attention he noticed that Len doodled quite often. Sometimes it would just be shapes and patterns, but he made the little caricatures a lot, you could even find some in his office. Pavel wondered if he drew during lectures at school too.
“It’s just a little doodle.” He complained when Pavel craned his neck to see something he had just drawn.
“But they’re cute!” Pavel insisted. "I love them!"
One day when they had opposite shifts, Pavel found a little cartoon on the kitchenette table in Leonard’s quarters. It was a caricature of the two of them. Len kissing Pavel’s cheek. He had signed this one with a little heart. Pavel smiled, even though they wouldn't spend time together today, Leonard was still thinking of him.
Gossip
You would think that people would be less likely to confide in the curmudgeonly doctor, but somehow Leonard knew all the best gossip on the starship Enterprise. Not that he was one to spread gossip, just that he already knew what people were about to tell him.
“Yeah, I know about the illegal contraband from Cepholon VI, don’t you go touchin’ it!”
“I can’t believe officer Behr is still trying to win that bet.”
It was remarkable that he seemed to know everyone’s business. He even knew the whispered theories about him.
“No, I don’t hate space because I was left alone in a deprivation chamber as a kid. How do you people even come up with this stuff?”
“No, I absolutely have never and will never have a thing with Jim! Ugh.”
“Yes, Spock is the most annoying man I have ever met.”
Pavel supposed that people told a lot of things to their doctor. That might be why sometimes his answer was a non-answer. Doctor patient confidentiality and all that.
“Why don’t you mind the monkeys in your own zoo?”
“I don’t get it.” Pavel asked one day at dinner.
“Don’t get what?”
“You know everyone’s…romantic entanglements, but you couldn’t see the crush I had on you?” It made the older man blush.
“I’m a doctor, not a mind reader.”
Jealousy
“Come, you said you would take me out!” Pavel pouted.
“I also remember telling you I’m not much of a dancer.” Len rebuffed. They were on shore leave and Pavel wanted to go to the near-by club.
“Please?” Pavel put on his best sad puppy face, and watched with triumph as he could see Len breaking down.
“Alright, but I’m not staying all night just to watch other people hitting on you.” Pavel rolled his eyes.
“No one will hit on me, they will only see how in love I am with you.” He said, trying to butter up his cranky boyfriend.
Pavel did manage to get Len out on the dance floor for a few songs, but he preferred to sit to chat with his friends and drink. So Pavel was left to find other amicable partners, and ended up dancing with a very tall green man. When he was looking out at the crowd he saw the crewmen Leonard had been drinking with leave. He scanned the bar, he wanted Leonard to have a good time and not feel abandoned. Instead he saw him talking to a pretty woman about his age with dark hair. She was close to him and speaking right next to his right ear, the loud music of the club giving an excuse to occupy someone else's personal space in order to be heard. She had a coy smile on her face and leaned into him with her whole body, hand resting on his shoulder. Leonard’s body language was less open and his face was scrunched in concentration. He was obviously not receptive to her flirting but it bothered Pavel anyway.
“Excuse me.” He said, or more like shouted to his dance partner. He weaved his way through the crowd to where the pair were still engrossed in conversation. Pavel sidled up to Len putting an arm around him. Pavel kissed him more deeply than he normally would in public, before the other man could say a word.
“Okay…” Leonard said when they finally parted, clearly confused, but Pavel was already talking over him.
“Hello, my love. Who is this?” He turned toward the woman who was just standing there with a surprised look on her face. She didn’t say her name, just mumbled something about having to go. When she was gone Pavel was practically sitting in Leonard’s lap at the bar arm still possessively around him.
“What the hell was that?” Leonard finally asked.
“What, I can’t kiss my boyfriend?” Pavel deflected, he knew he was acting a little childish. Leonard at first raised his eyebrows in surprise then his face settled into something much more smug.
“You were jealous.” He growled into Pavel’s ear. He pretended not to hear him. “She was asking me about the ship.” He said, sounding as if there was no way the woman could have been hitting on him.
“I ask Mr. Scott about the ship all the time and I’ve never looked at him like that.” Pavel insisted, realizing too late that he was admitting to being jealous.
“Don’t worry darlin’, I only have eyes for you.” Pulling his jealous boyfriend in for a kiss.