A Run of Luck [Star Trek Reboot, M, Sulu (Chulu pre-slash)]

[fufufufu]

Title: A Run of Luck

Characters: Sulu, Chekov

Summary: Sulu attempts to get some botanical work done at the end of a long week.

Notes: My Russian is copied and pasted straight from Wikipedia. I make zero claim to have any linguistic skill or knowledge and I’m sure it will show.

*****

Deep in botany lab four, past several rows of plants arranged carefully by planetary system and then by taxonomic classification, sat the Enterprise’s helsman Hikaru Sulu.

Sulu hunched over a Rigellian spine-weed, his dark eyes intently fixed on its thorny underside as he sliced into it. On its home planet, the species was considered a nuisance by disgruntled farmers. But here in the laboratory, isolated from the farms and crops, it was a resilient little specimen. Its tough, oil-black skin gave way to a spongey interior when cut, the cellular composition of which Sulu had to cross-reference against a similar nuisance plant he could swear he’d studied back at the Academy…

Sulu knew his amateur botany hobby was considered eccentric by other crewmembers. But at the moment, he didn’t particularly care. Plants were alive. They were (mostly) quiet. They followed orderly scientific principles. They were peaceful, and relaxing.

All of which Sulu rather desperately needed after the past week, which had been an unusually long, brutal grind. At the beginning of the week, the gamma shift helmsman had been injured when the helm console blew in his face, meaning Sulu had been called in early to work a double shift and had to carefully monitor the console’s power levels on top of that (Chekov constantly looking over at him in worry, as if convinced the console was going to explode again in Sulu’s face at any moment, had not made the experience less stressful).

A day after that, he’d accompanied Captain Kirk on yet another hare-brained away mission and spent his time dodging Orion disruptor fire, not all successfully, as the burns across his torso had attested. No sooner had Sulu left sickbay than Scotty had waylaid him with a request for “the ship’s best pilot” to take a test run on the new shuttlecraft he’d designed. Sulu supposed he had only his own ego to blame for letting himself get talked into that one, and for the subsequent emergency beam-out he’d needed when the test flight failed.

So, yes. Eccentric though his hobby may have been, right now, the plants were a welcome relief after a week of calling out casualty reports and watching console readings go critical.

As his fingers eagerly flew over the computer console beside his workstation, Sulu scrunched up his face, sniffing a bit to himself. Exhaustion must be catching up to him, he thought. His eyes felt raw, and rubbing at them made it worse. But Sulu was determined to at least finish this one cross-comparison. It had been nagging at him since he’d first obtained the spine-weed specimen.

The computer finally called up the species he wanted to cross reference: an Andorian spiralblossom. Sulu grinned to himself. He knew he remembered that one from the Academy. Pressing a sniffle against the back of his hand, he called up the database of known samples.

He had to sniffle several more times as he read through the notes on the Andorian species, but Sulu resolutely ignored that, right up until the paragraph he was reading blurred. He drew back in mild surprise, realizing that his eyes were actually watering. He wiped at them with his fingertips, then pressed the palm of his hand flat against his nose and sniffled more insistently. That did not entirely alleviate the irritation creeping up the bridge of his nose, but it would do for now. At least enough that he could keep reading.

After he’d read enough to flesh out a working hypothesis, he turned back to the spine-weed for further study. He found himself needing to sniffle again, more vigorously – and then abruptly, Sulu’s breath caught.

“Oh,” he murmured to himself, and turned aside. He planted his face firmly in the crook of his elbow. It took a moment or two of hitched breaths, but finally he expelled a noisy: “Hhhhf-CHEW!”

Sulu lifted his head from his elbow, snuffling, and a little heavy-lidded. How annoying. During his xenobotany studies at Starfleet Academy, the occasional sniffle or sneeze was a common thing to hear – or experience oneself – in the campus greenhouse. Plants gave off all kinds of dust and scents; usually it amounted to nothing, and so Sulu sniffled heavily and kept at his work.

He turned over his spine-weed sample and began to run a tricorder over it, diligently feeding the data into the computer. Mid-way through the scan, however, Sulu had to pause and put down the instrument. His eyes had unexpectedly begun to flutter.

“IIIIIIISH!”

Sulu barely had time to turn aside and catch that one against his arm, and barely avoided sneezing all over the spine-weed sample. He rubbed his palm roughly against the top of his nose, snuffling more aggressively. His nose was beginning to run.

Whatever. It still wasn’t any worse than disruptor burns or console explosion injuries, which he knew McCoy’d had his hands full with during the past week. With an aggravated sniff, Sulu settled back to his work. Once he had completed the tricorder scan, he looked up.

“Computer, begin log entry.” Sulu cleared his throat. “Cross-sectioning Rigellian specimen #292. A third degree scalpel was used, a longitudinal section taken. ihtt-TSCHOO! Skin is tough and waxy, black in color. Interior shows a pith layer similar in color and texture to Andorian specimen #5395. If the evolutionary path of the Andorian blossom is any guide, the Rih… hihh… the Rigellian specimen m-may have faced a similar event – Huhuhhng-SHEIW!”

Sulu stopped, groaning sharply. That one had hurt his throat.

“As I was saying,” he said stuffily. He was starting to suspect this log entry was a lost cause, but the prospect of giving up irritated him. “There may be some scientific value in -- EeehIIISH! – in mapping the evolutionary past of the Rigellian specimen and comparing it against the more well-known Andorian natural selection factors. Eht-TTIISH’OO!”

Sulu sat back from his computer screen entirely, rubbing at his face in disbelief. The irritation in his eyes, which had been only minor a few minutes ago, now felt like it was enflaming most of his face. He ran a knuckle along one bottom eyelid and then the other, wiping away the tears that had begun to stream. Futilely, he took in a loud sniffle, but it did nothing to stop his running nose, nor to stop his breath from hitching.

Helplessly, Sulu sank forward and cupped his hands over his face. “HaaAAATSCH’OO! Hiii-ESHH!... aah-IIINGSHH!”

He groaned to himself, thankful there was no one else in the lab to hear him, or to see the frankly disgusting bit of spray that had escaped his hands.

“Cobputer,” Sulu said, one hand still cupped over his nose. “Stop log entry.”

“Log entry ended.”

Sulu glared around the botany laboratory. He hadn’t been sneezing his head off the last time he’d been in here – or since he’d set foot on the Enterprise, for that matter.

“Computer,” he said again. “Identify any new plants that have been introduced into the botany lab in the past week.”

“In the last week, four specimens have been introduced. Bolian specimen #5742, Halkan specimen #24, Tellerian specimen #532-alpha and Ler…”

“HeehhAASCH!” Sulu exploded into his cupped hand. “Computer – snfff – repeat the last species, please.”

“Leranian specimen #25.”

“Thanks,” Sulu said, then grumbled to himself: “And which one am I apparently allergic to?”

“Insufficient data to answer the query.”

“Yeah, yeah. Computer, record that list and append it to the log entry.”

Sulu sighed to himself. So much for his attempt to relax after a stressful week. With his free hand, he stood up and closed out his work on the console, and returned the spine-weed specimen to its bay. His other hand was still cupped firmly over his nose. He took in an abrupt breath, pinching down a little harder, and stifled a sharp “hnnnng-NGGHtu!”

After this, he traversed the botany lab, hurrying to the sink on the far side of the room. Sulu first washed his hands – needing to turn his head and press an urgent “Hnn-TCHIEW!” against his shoulder – then splashed some water on his face. Still sniffling endlessly, he next went to the storage cabinet and located a clean cloth.

Sulu wiped at his swollen nose with big, deep strokes, then burrowed into the handkerchief to blow. What a relief! It did nothing to lessen the irritation in his eyes, but simply not feeling like his nose was on fire was enough for now.

He lowered the handkerchief and sighed to himself, leaning back against the sink counter. Right now, retreating to his quarters for a shower and a long sleep sounded pretty good. An allergy attack just seemed like the nail in the coffin for this week.

As if triggered by his thoughts, a familiar bit of irritation flared in his sinuses.

“Dammit,” Sulu muttered to himself, nestling the handkerchief securely over his face. “AAEIISHOO!”

Barely did he have time to catch his breath before another volley hit. “AAT-SSHIEW! Ha-ICCHIEW! HNGSSH! EINNG’TCHU!” Sulu stumbled a little and leaned back against the sink counter for support. “III-EIISH! HHH-ESSSH! HRRRRSH’OO!”

“будь здоров, Hikaru!” came a shocked exclamation from the doorway.

Sulu looked up, sniffling sort of pathetically, the cloth still clamped over his nose. Through a blur of tears he made out Chekov’s curly head, before quickly blinking his eyes clear.

“Oh – Pavel,” he said in alarm. To his embarrassment, Sulu realized he’d completely forgotten that he’d made plans with Chekov later. “Am I late for our chess game?”

“No. I am early, because I was bored.” Chekov approached, frowning sharply as he surveyed Sulu. “What is the matter with you?”

“Nothing,” Sulu grumped, sniffling hard against his handkerchief. “Eh-eeehTSCHOO! ”

“Are you ill?” Chekov pressed, coming closer. “Yes, you really look terrible.”

“Thanks,” Sulu muttered. “…Ugh. Sorry, Pavel. I seem to be – slightly allergic to something in here.”

“Oh.” This seemed to mollify Chekov, who smiled at him wryly. “You have no need to apologize. I am not offended by the existence of allergies. Although I think you are having more than a ‘slight’ reaction.”

“I’m not…” Sulu protested, but his breath caught. “CHIEW!”

“Bless you. This is the right way to say it?”

“Yeah, it’s right.” Sulu snuffled again, openly miserable. His eyes were so itchy he felt like they were going to shrivel up and fall out of his skull, and he didn’t even want to know how red his nose had become.

“I have never quite understood your interest in the plants,” Chekov remarked, “and now I understand it even less, if it is the case that you have such allergies.”

“I don’t. At least not usually. Besides, it’s kind of an occupational hazard.” Sulu blinked rapidly as he felt another itch tickling the bridge of his nose. He really didn’t wish to subject Chekov to the sight of another sneezing fit, but one seemed to be threatening. He rubbed the handkerchief along the bottom of his nose, pressing upward and willing himself to have at least some self control.

“What do you mean?” Chekov asked.

“It’s just – eugh.” Sulu’s breath caught for a second, but managed to avoid the sneeze. Gods, but the itch was persistent. It made his eyes water terribly. “The Federation’s collected millions of plant samples from – ahhh. From thousands of worlds.” He sniffled brusquely. “When I was taking xenobotany courses at the Academy, ehhh…. everyone knew it was just a matter of time before you came across a species you reacted to.”

Chekov chuckled in disbelief. “That is certainly something I never needed to worry about in advanced transporter theory.”

Sulu rolled his eyes, itchy though they were. He’d had this debate too many times with Pavel, who seemed convinced that Sulu was wasting his intellect on plants. “It actually wasn’t something I worried too much about either, until now. I’ve…. hnnnh… been pretty lucky so far. IIIIYEESH’EW!”

Shrill and explosive, it made Chekov jump back slightly.

Sulu barely had time to register embarrassment at this fact when – “HATSCHHH’ EW! AA-EESSHH!” To his absolute chagrin he was soaking his handkerchief straight through, making a mess. “EeehhhSSSHOO!”

“Well, I suppose everyone’s luck must run out sometime.” Chekov looked him over, and there appeared to be some genuine sympathy in his expression. “You have not been having a good week, have you?”

“What?” Sulu said, looking up in surprise. “You’ve… noticed?”

“Hikaru,” Chekov chided, coming forward and placing a hand on Sulu’s shoulder. “Of course I have noticed. Come on. I am going to take you to Dr. McCoy. If he does not order you to take a day off, I will.”

“You can’t order that. I outrank you,” Sulu said, laughing for a moment, before he had to turn aside again. “Hhh-KSSSHEW!”

“I will order it anyway.” Chekov smiled devilishly. Despite his youth, he looked like he could find a way to enforce it. Or maybe Sulu was just a bit of a pushover where the navigator was concerned. Indeed, as Chekov took him by the shoulder and guided him toward the door, Sulu decided he had was best to simply capitulate to the younger man’s insistent care. Even if it meant yet another trip to the doctor.

“Are you sure you don’t have some superior Russian allergy remedy tucked away?” Sulu said. “I’m really not looking forward to seeing McCoy again.”

“What?” Chekov teased. “You can face Orion criminals so bravely, but not our good doctor?”

“EH-CHOO!” Sulu groaned. “Not when it’s my third trip to sickbay this week. He already thinks I’m, quote, ‘getting to be worse than Jim.’ I’ll really be in for it if I end up back there because of my plants, of all things.”

“He may have a point, you know. You were injured after the away mission and the shuttlecraft incident. You really must stop frightening m—us like that,” Chekov replied. Then he ran a hand over his hair in embarrassment, as if realizing he’d said too much, and laughed. “Nevertheless, this time, I will be sure to defend your honor as a scientist if McCoy complains too much.”

“You will?” Sulu said. “Even if it’s botany, and not advanced transporter theory? It must really be serious.”

“It is,” Chekov said. He looked up at Sulu, his smile having turned a little shy. “I did worry about you this week.”

“Pavel,” Sulu said, slightly flustered. For a moment, his face felt warm in a way that had nothing to do with allergies. Of course, that could not last for long; Sulu found himself needing to duck away again briskly. “… esssSSCHOO!”

Immediately, Chekov’s fingers tightened on Sulu’s arm. “Come on, Hikaru. Let’s go before you get any worse.”

As he allowed himself to be guided out of the botany laboratory, Sulu suppressed a smile, and thought to himself that his week actually seemed to be getting better at last.

-end-

[tarotgal]

Oh, I love how you wrote the interaction between these two. Awwwww, boys. Especially Chekov's shy smile. I'm not really much of an allergy person, but the way you described the sneezes and rubbing strokes and blows that brought such relief was absolutely delicious. Every word (every sneeze). Guh!

[fufufufu]

Thank you! The trailer for the new movie inspired me to revisit one of my favorite pairings. I'm so glad you enjoyed!

[Garnet]

Ohhh my goodness, I've only seen the Reboot the once but I am a big old nerd for TOS, so this spikes my feels in a roundabout manner. You are a very talented writer! The characterizations all seemed spot-on, and the detailing of Sulu's hobbies was obviously well-researched (or you're just really good at faking it, either way!). I think I remember some of your Avengers fics, now that I think about it, and being similarly impressed. It's very good for world-immersion.

Anyway, I think I'm rambling? But your portrayal of Chekov and Sulu's relationship is so, so sweet. I love Chekov's concern and Sulu's embarrassed reluctance-cum-pleasure to receive it. This line, especially:

You really must stop frightening m—us like that,” Chekov replied. Then he ran a hand over his hair in embarrassment, as if realizing he’d said too much, and laughed.

Oh, my heart.

Oh and also, lest I forget: THOSE SPELLINGS. I'm kind of picky with them, but all of these hit all of my buttons. Just. Yes. Very good, all around, thank you so much for sharing!

[fufufufu]

Ohhh my goodness, I've only seen the Reboot the once but I am a big old nerd for TOS, so this spikes my feels in a roundabout manner. You are a very talented writer! The characterizations all seemed spot-on, and the detailing of Sulu's hobbies was obviously well-researched (or you're just really good at faking it, either way!). I think I remember some of your Avengers fics, now that I think about it, and being similarly impressed. It's very good for world-immersion.

Anyway, I think I'm rambling? But your portrayal of Chekov and Sulu's relationship is so, so sweet. I love Chekov's concern and Sulu's embarrassed reluctance-cum-pleasure to receive it. This line, especially:

You really must stop frightening m—us like that,” Chekov replied. Then he ran a hand over his hair in embarrassment, as if realizing he’d said too much, and laughed.

Oh, my heart.

Oh and also, lest I forget: THOSE SPELLINGS. I'm kind of picky with them, but all of these hit all of my buttons. Just. Yes. Very good, all around, thank you so much for sharing!

Oh my goodness, thank you for such a wonderful comment! I also love TOS going way back and Sulu's random hobbies are a detail I get a kick out of, especially botany because it's so in contrast with everything else. And of course provides an easy excuse for an allergy fic! I really hope Chekov and Sulu get a bit more interaction in the upcoming movie because they were a fun pair in TOS.

[Coffee Chicken Barista]

AWWWW!!!! SO CUTE!!!!!!

[fufufufu]

Thank you

[Bruyere]

I really loved this. I wanted to copy and paste some of my favourite sections and then realised I'd basically be quoting the entire thing. I love your descriptions of the allergic sensations from the running eyes to the sneezing. And your sneezes are just gorgeous.

“Of course I have noticed. Come on. I am going to take you to Dr. McCoy. If he does not order you to take a day off, I will.”
“You can’t order that. I outrank you,” Sulu said, laughing for a moment, before he had to turn aside again. “Hhh-KSSSHEW!”
“I will order it anyway.” Chekov smiled devilishly. Despite his youth, he looked like he could find a way to enforce it. Or maybe Sulu was just a bit of a pushover where the navigator was concerned.

Chekov and Sulu's relationship in this is adorable.

“Not when it’s my third trip to sickbay this week. He already thinks I’m, quote, ‘getting to be worse than Jim.’ I’ll really be in for it if I end up back there because of my plants, of all things.”

You capture Bones so well in this tiny little section!

“He may have a point, you know. You were injured after the away mission and the shuttlecraft incident. You really must stop frightening m—us like that,” Chekov replied. Then he ran a hand over his hair in embarrassment, as if realizing he’d said too much, and laughed. “Nevertheless, this time, I will be sure to defend your honor as a scientist if McCoy complains too much.”
“You will?” Sulu said. “Even if it’s botany, and not advanced transporter theory? It must really be serious.”
"It is,” Chekov said. He looked up at Sulu, his smile having turned a little shy. “I did worry about you this week.”
“Pavel,” Sulu said, slightly flustered. For a moment, his face felt warm in a way that had nothing to do with allergies. Of course, that could not last for long; Sulu found himself needing to duck away again briskly. “… esssSSCHOO!”
Immediately, Chekov’s fingers tightened on Sulu’s arm. “Come on, Hikaru. Let’s go before you get any worse.”
As he allowed himself to be guided out of the botany laboratory, Sulu suppressed a smile, and thought to himself that his week actually seemed to be getting better at last.

Chekov defending Sulu's honnour and his little slip of the tongue and Sulu being flustered and letting Chekov take charge? I can't. It is all too cute!

I really hope that the new film encourages you to write more of this because I absolutely loved it.

[fufufufu]

Thank you so much!! Yes, I am really hoping the boys can at least have a conversation in the next movie I adore writing for them regardless. I'm so glad you enjoyed!