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Chekov sighed as he slipped into his bed.
Studying at the academy was difficult. Not because the classes were hard. No, Chekov loved nothing more than a good challenge- and he was able to overcome many of them- but he loved his home more. He still got misty-eyed when he thought about Russia for too long. The snowy mountains that surrounded his small town, his five younger siblings that made him smile, and the way his mother would call him “Pasha” when he spent too much time solving equations in his head- a small smile in her face and her eyes open and warm.
His entire family was there when he got the message from starfleet. Yuri and Igor were sitting in his lap, Borya and Dima were standing on a chair behind him, his mother and father holding hands on one side, and Yulia was on the other. When Chekov opened the message and read “Congratulations...” they all screamed and danced and began hugging him. The next morning, Papka regretted all of the vodka he drank the night before.
It is the happiest moment of his life.
He was the youngest person in the academy, and one of the smartest. However, his young age didn’t do him any favors. People weren’t mean to him, but no one took the time to befriend the tiny geeky Russian kid who was always scribbling away furiously on his PADD. They all scrunched their eyebrows and pursed their lips when he began babbling in a mixture of standard and Russian, and quickly made their excuses after a couple of minutes. They’d talk about girls or boys and the wild things they did during the weekend, and would quickly stop talking when they saw he was around. Usually, he was his own company.
Chekov couldn’t blame them. He was over-eager and over-excited and an overachiever, but it was these qualities that got him onto the Enterprise, so he didn’t hate them that much. He was working on the most wonderful ship in the Federation with the most wonderful crew. He was bound to make friends at some point during the mission. Sulu seemed very nice on the Bridge, and he was pretty sure that he and Mr. Scott could find something to talk about if they had a conversation.
He gently petted Alphie- the stuffed Alfa 177 canine that his siblings got him before he left- and tucked him in to his chest. His eyes drifted shut as he thought of initiating a random conversation with Sulu, or learning something new from Mr. Scott......
beepbeepbeepbeep Red Alert beepbeepbeepbeep Red Alert beepbeepbeepbeep Red Alert
Chekov startled awake at the sound of of the alarms and the cool female voice that came along with them. He blearily scrambled out of bed (Alphie still in hand) and half-ran half-stumbled to the Bridge. There, he saw the Senior Officers along with Sulu and Uhura.
“Vhat is ze problem?” He panted out.
....
....
....
They all said nothing. In fact.... they all seemed to be staring at him. Chekov tilted his head, furrowed his brow, and squeezed Alphie even tighter.
Wait.
He looked down, and sure enough, there was his greatest friend on the USS Enterprise, all snuggled up in his arms.
He looked even lower.....
“Ой блин!” Chekov moaned out.
He was in his pajamas
His space pajamas with the planets and stars and rocket ships on them. His Mamka had gotten them for him after he got accepted into Starfleet. She still thought of him as her little boy who needed warm footie pjs so he wouldn’t catch a cold in the harsh weather. But they were comfortable and warm and reminded him of home so he slept in them almost every night.
The captain was in his underwear, the commander in a tank-top and sleeping pants, Uhura in a purple cropped top and yoga pants, Dr. McCoy in pajama bottoms, Mr. Scott in red pajamas, and Sulu in a fluffy bathrobe.
Why couldn’t today have been laundry day?
He silently panicked and felt his face get hot.
All of a sudden, the Captain began to laugh. Loud, heaving laughs that bounced around the bridge. Dr. McCoy began chuckling, Uhura started to giggle, Spock cracked a tiny smile, and Sulu’s eyes crinkled as he snorted.
“Ay, lad. Nice jim jams ye got there!” Scotty said as he gave Chekov a fond smile.
“Uh...Aye...Mr. Scott.” Chekov murmured out.
The captain had finally composed himself and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye as he slug an arm around Chekov’s shoulders. “Nothing wrong, Mr. Chekov. Just a routine drill. Now, what I want to know is why you’re wearing those footie PJ’s?” The captain began to smirk.
Chekov's mouth began to tremble.
“.....Zey bring me closer to home, Keptain.” he replied, vision blurring and voice cracking on the “K”
The atmosphere suddenly became more serious, more kind. Everyone stared at the resident boy-genius with frowns on their faces and blankets and teddy-bears and fireplaces in their eyes.
The Captain squeezed his arm tighter around Chekov. Sulu tugged on his arm and said, “We can’t have our favorite sewenteen year old all sad now, can we? C’mon. Let’s go to the mess. I’m missing my mom’s ongiri.”
“I would not be averse to consuming a bowl of plomeek soup during this time.”
“I could go for some Bobotie”
“Usedta drink mint juleps while Jo played in th’ yard....”
“Man, I want some of the apple pie mom would make when she wasn’t off-planet.”
“I’d like me some haggis!”
And so the main crew of the Enterprise set off to the Mess (Chekov wedged tightly between all of his companions), where they spent the rest of the time before their shifts began telling stories about their homes and indulging Chekov when he told them, “Starships were inwented in Russia!”