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"You're a terrible cook," Sulu said, making a face as he took a bite of the quote unquote stew that his roommate had made. He looked over at the young blonde kid who was staring at him with the puppy dog expression, which now looked like a kicked puppy dog. Now he felt bad, but it was true. Pavel Chekov really couldn’t cook. And if he wanted to impress this girl he had a date with, cooking was not going to be the way to do it.
“What am I going to do?” Chekov said with a sigh, hanging his head as he picked up a spoonful of the stew and took a bite. It took him a moment to register just how awful it was, and then he spit it out. “Zaebis’,” he muttered.
Sulu raised an eyebrow at that. He wasn’t as fluent with languages as some of his fellow classmates at the Academy, but he did know his fair share of the expletives, and he’d never expected to hear any of them come out of Chekov’s mouth. “Do you ever actually eat the food you make, Chekov?” Sulu asked, pushing his bowl away from him.
Chekov shook his head. “To be honest, Sulu, that is the first time I have attempted to make a meal for myself or anyone else.”
Well, that explained a lot. “You don’t have to cook to impress someone, you know. I mean, you have other admirable qualities,” Sulu said, giving his roommate a grin. “She wouldn’t have said yes otherwise. She probably thinks you’re adorable.”
“Adorable, yes. I do not want to be found adorable. I want to be found...desirable,” Chekov said, crossing his arms and frowning.
Sulu raised an eyebrow. “Is this one of those nights where you’re wanting me to find some other place to stay for the night?” he asked.
Chekov got a slightly sheepish look and nodded. “I am a child here still, surrounded by adults. Even you are older than me! She is close to my age and understands. It is...strange, to be so young and not yet a man.”
“I don’t think I should be having this kind of talk with you,” Sulu said. He probably shouldn’t; it wasn’t like he was a virgin himself, but this was probably something he should have talked about with his parents or other friends. But then he saw the defeated look on Chekov’s face and he wondered if he had any other friends. After a moment he leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table and looking over at Chekov. “You know, there’s more to being a man than sexual intercourse, despite what you hear about guys like James Kirk.”
“But he has all the women on campus fawning over him,” Chekov said.
“Not all of them,” Sulu said. “One of them is certainly focused on you.” Sulu tilted his head slightly. “It’s nice to have the attention of women. Or guys, I guess, if that’s your thing. But it’s not everything. Being a good person is just as important to being a man as sex is. Being a good friend, too. Do you have a lot of friends?”
“Not many,” Chekov said, shaking his head. “I am still teased a bit, for being so young, and for the accent.”
“Yeah, people can be jerks. Most people outgrow it, but some don’t.” He thought about things for a bit. “When’s this big date with…?”
“Maria,” Chekov said with a wide smile. “Maria Galavante.”
Sulu couldn’t help grinning at the look on Chekov’s face. He really was smitten with the girl. “Well, when is the date with Maria?”
“Friday, at 1800,” Chekov said.
“It’s Tuesday today,” Sulu said. "That gives us the rest of today and two more days to plan something, and then time on Friday too. We’ll make sure it goes well, get you a second date to see if things progress to the point where maybe a couple dates down the line I have to find someplace else to stay for the night.”
Chekov gave hm a wide-eyed look. “You’re willing to help?” he asked.
“You seem like you could use a guiding hand, and maybe a good friend too,” Sulu said. “I should have been better at being a friend than just a roommate so...now seems a good time to start. And we’ll start by finding something you can make that will impress her that shouldn’t be too hard to mess up. I think between us, we can manage something.” He stood up and took his bowl and Chekov’s to the sink. “The first step is to take this disaster and bury it somewhere.”
Chekov laughed. “I will dispose of it,” he said moving towards the pot of stew. “Thank you, Sulu.”
“You might as well call me Hikaru,” Sulu said, giving Chekov a warm grin. “My friends do.”
“Then you may call me Pavel,” Chekov said with a nod. He went to go pick up the pot of stew. “I assume we are taking this outside our dormitory?”
“Yes,” he said, dumping the contents of the two bowls inside. “Far, far away. And then we’ll come back in and start assessing what you’re capable of and figure out what you can do from there, and if it’s hopeless, then we start looking at restaurant reservations.” When the bowls were empty he took them to the sink and placed them inside. “Don’t worry, Pavel. We’ll make sure everything goes as well as it can.”
Chekov’s grin grew wider and with that the two of them made their way to their dormitory door. Sulu hadn’t planned on doing this, but maybe it was going to be one of the better decisions he had made upon arriving at Starfleet Academy. He knew that the focus should be on his studies, but having a life outside of his studies wouldn’t be too bad, and it would be nice to have friends, and Pavel didn’t seem to be a bad choice to start with. Only time would tell, he supposed.