Disclaimer: This is my first serial and semi-serious fic, so, yeah! I hope you like it! I don't own any of these characters. :3 Also, a super-special thank you to my favorite fandom friends, Alli, Cory, Jinna, Jules, and Mandy. (Especially to Mandy and Jules, because they are the resident Chekov and Sulu experts.)

There were several rumors going around the ship as to why everyone's quarters were reassigned. Some said that Kirk got into the programming of the assignments and happened to place himself on an area with strictly female residents. Others said that somehow he ended up sharing a room with McCoy, and there was no way that the CMO would allow for that to happen again. In actuality, there were a lot of requests for room changes, several crew members lost, and a few rooms needing renovation. However, that was exponentially less exciting than the other potential stories, so everyone seemed to ignore it.

Most were pretty happy with their room assignments. The requests submitted previously were all taken into consideration, so there were a lot of grins and hugs upon seeing those in adjacent rooms. For Hikaru Sulu, however, there was a mixture of both happiness and anxiety. He was pretty sure he recognized some of the items and furniture already in the adjacent room. Maybe it was his overactive imagination, but he could've sworn one of the rolled up posters was, in fact, a large map of Russia. His room, also scattered with boxes in a similar fashion, happened to share a bathroom, as well as a long wall, with someone else.

And this someone was currently walking down the hall, arms wrapped around a large box, his curls visible over the top of the cardboard, and his eyes scanning for room numbers. Seeing the correct number, Pavel Chekov set the box down in the middle of the room with a sigh. The room, without any personal effects set up, looked positively bland. He reached for one of the several rolled up posters when he heard a noise from the next room. In his excitement, he darted into the adjoining room almost gracelessly.

"Hikaru? We are roommates?"

"Yeah, I suppose in a way we are. I mean, we don't share a room, but we're neighbors now." He didn't even have to look at him; the bewildered smile was audible. He stood up and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck.

"Neighbors! Oh, Hikaru, this is wery exciting! We ken hang out so much easier now! Will be wery fun, don't you think?" He was grinning, practically bouncing on the heels of his feet.

He did, in fact, agree. He nodded and couldn't help but smile himself. He really couldn't help it; he had always found Pavel's moods infectious. The younger man was practically bursting with glee over the room assignment, which made him feel even worse about feeling bad. How could this end up bad? I mean, sure, living so close to someone so cute may have drawbacks, but he's got a point. Maybe we'll become even better friends this way. He lingered on that last thought, but was quickly brought back to the surface of reality by his companion's voice.

"Ah, I am sorry! I am interrupting your unpacking. I have some for myself, I suppose." Chekov looked around the room, too chipper to be anxious about the potential situations. Sulu smiled and shook his head a bit, running his hand through his hair quickly. Chekov's thoughts always seemed to stutter when he did that. The way he looked with his hair pushed back, head tilted a bit and grinning, was enough to make his own grin spread even further across his face.

"Well, I mean, I should get this stuff unpacked pretty soon, but it can wait a while."

"Ah, no! Is much better to unpack now. Is better to do things now, to have time for fun later." He nodded earnestly.

"Well, then, if we can both get settled before it is too late, do you want to play some video games with me later on tonight? I don't even remember the last time we had a game night." His smile was significantly smaller, much more sheepish in this request. On the other hand, Chekov's continued to grow, threatening a hostile takeover of his entire face.

"Zat would be a wery good idea! I will start on my room right now, so there is more time for fun!" He gave him a quick wave before scampering back into his room. Sulu took a seat on his unmade bed and rested his head on the wall, letting out a large sigh. This was going to be insane. How could he possibly be around him and keep his cool? He really couldn't pinpoint the beginning of his infatuation with his best friend and close co-worker. It seemed as though he had always found his eyes attached to him, his stomach always twisting at the sight of him. These close quarters were certainly not going to help the situation. He wasn't sure if cups of sugar were all he wanted to ask him for. After taking a moment to calm himself, Hikaru stood and began work of pushing furniture and arranging his personal items.

Several yards away, Pavel Chekov was happily shuffling around his new quarters, grinning. He slid headphones over his ears and excited dance music poured forth. He got to work busying his hands and body, freeing his mind to wander as it pleased. Hikaru seemed pretty excited about them living so close. Well, maybe not as excited as he was, but it wasn't as though he was displeased. After emptying one box, he yawned, rubbing his eyes. He had been up far too late the previous night, studying maps and skimming through yet another article about physics. With his eyes shut tight, the image that came to mind was of Sulu, hand pressed on and pushing his hair, with that same grin on his face. He blinked a few times and shook his head. He had to stop thinking like that. Sulu was his best friend on the ship; sure, he was also probably the most attractive person on the ship too, but that didn't mean that he should just go around messing with their friendship. That wouldn't be a very nice thing to do. And besides, it wasn't as though Hikaru was thinking of him in that way. No, he was sure that their friendship as of right now was exactly the way Hikaru wanted it; that's the way it should be.

Two hours of bouncy pop music and four empty boxes later, Pavel found himself ready to make his bed. He leaned across the width and tucked one edge of the fitted sheet into a corner, then did the same on the corner across from it. He stood upright again and nodded, glad to see the task going smoothly. He pulled the sheet over the edge closest to him, leaving only a triangle of bare mattress exposed. However, this proved to be much more difficult that he expected. As he tugged on the fabric to cover the last corner, it pulled the first two corners out of their places. The elastic snapped across the top of the bed and fluttered as it landed in the center of the bed. He mumbled a curse in Russian. He smoothed out the half now covered, and knelt on top of it. He tucked the top corner in once again, but as he reached to complete the job, another corner of the sheet lifted up, leaving him, yet again, with a halfway sheeted bed. This time, he stamped his foot as he cursed. The pattern continued for several minutes, as he got progressively more frustrated with the unruly cotton. He laid on top of one half as he tried to fasten the other, and even tried to stand on the bed and finish putting on the sheet, but no method seemed to work. He let out a large groan and slumped down, lying atop the still mostly bare bed.

Hikaru Sulu couldn't help the fact that he could hear the frustration coming from the other room. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he figured it wasn't rude to offer his help. He rang his neighbor's bell, but the headphones drowned out the noise easily. Hikaru, however, was very uneasy. He knew that the door would surely be open, but he didn't exactly want to barge in. After a moment of staring at the door, he finally stepped forward; it slid open.

He tried not to laugh at the sight before him, he really did. But the crumpled sheet, and exhausted, irritated male atop it, with the muffled, soft techno beats coming from his ears, was one of the cutest things he had seen all day. That cute thing heard the stifled chuckle, and sat up once he put the sight and sound together. He pulled the headphones to rest around his neck and smiled weakly.

"Hey, Hikaru. Wha- What's so funny?"

He wished he could capture the questioning look on Pavel's face, the way his brows pulled together and his head tilted in just the slightest. "Well, I thought I heard you grumbling, so I figured I'd come and see what the matter was. What's troubling you, Pav?"

The younger man sighed and gestured toward the bed. "The sheet. I do not think is too small, but the corners won't stay down. Is troublesome."

Sulu felt as though his heart would melt at the sight. Pavel was practically pouting, sitting on the edge of his very unmade bed, looking up at him, too shy to ask for help. "Well, then, let me see if I can help you out."

He jumped off the bed and crossed the room."Really? Oh, thank you Hikaru. I'm afraid I'm not very good at things like this." He took a seat at the small table on the opposite side of the room as Sulu got to work.

He moved like an expert, his hands and wrists quickly making a perfectly smooth surface of clothed bed. He stood back from it and smiled. Chekov beamed, and took over the job spreading out the rest of the bedding. Once it was complete, with pillows propped up at the head, Chekov took a seat on the edge once again.

"That is all for me. Are you finished unpacking?" Chekov looked up at him and bit the inside of his lip, not for any particular purpose, but for simple nervous habit. He didn't want to seem too eager to spend time with him, but in actuality, he was.

Hikaru's trains of thought derailed and crashed into each other. The sight of teeth grazing at the soft skin of his lower lip was the single most distracting thing he had ever seen in his life. He wasn't sure if this was a common occurrence that he had somehow ignored, or if it was something new. After what felt like an eternity, he was able to respond.

"Uh, I've still got to rearrange some of my furniture and make my own bed. I'll be free in about twenty minutes. Is- - Is that alright?"

He nodded enthusiastically."I'm going to take a shower while you do that. And then video games, da?"

Hikaru grinned back at him. "Absolutely. See you in a few." He went through their bathroom back into his own room, quickly busying himself with his own set of sheets.

It took him much less time than he thought it would to finish settling into his room. He could still hear water pouring from the shower, so he took the time to pull out his PADD and finish some reading he had done a few days earlier. There was a long moment as he waited for his friend idly. He was on the verge of boredom until he started hearing it. At first, he was sure he imagined the sound. It had come and gone quickly, and in the pause he convinced himself that it had never been at all. But then, it continued, and he knew that he was not imagining. From the bathroom, he could hear the unmistakable sound of Pavel singing. He wasn't particularly talented, nor was he singing in a language that Hikaru could decipher. He didn't have to guess at what language it was, but he couldn't help but put down his reading and listen. He knew that he was bias in thinking that he did a lot of endearing things, simply because he was dear to him, but Sulu was almost sure that this was quite possibly unbearable. He sighed and pulled out his communicator. At this moment in time, the shower stopped running, as did the slightly off-key singing, but he didn't notice. A female voice came through.

"Yes?"

"Uhura? It's Hikaru. How are your new quarters?"

"They're fine. Bigger than the other one, in fact. What's going on?"

"A lot. Can I meet up with you before shift? Let's say for breakfast?"

Sulu failed to notice the head poking into his room at this point. His mop of curls was still quite damp, but he now wore casual clothes. Pavel really didn't want to intrude, but his eagerness for gaming was now paired with a curiosity that he simply didn't want to suppress at the moment.

"Sure. How about at 0700?"

"Sounds great to me. See you then." As he flipped the device closed, he spotted Chekov. He motioned for him to come in, and Pavel did just that, taking a seat right next to him. Sulu grinned and handed him a controller.

"Ready to play? This is a new one I got last time I was on shore leave." He pulled out the cover of the game.

The series was familiar to him, Super Smash Bros. had been a staple in vintage gaming, but this particular version was foreign to him. "I've never heard of this one. Is the same as the old versions?"

Sulu gave him a smirk as the game booted up. "Nope. They decided to revive the series, finally."

Chekov grinned. "As long as I ken beat you as Pikachu still, I'll play it."

Sulu scoffed, still smiling. "Please. Star Fox always beats out Pikachu."

"No! Pikachu is best!"

The two of them began their gaming, which went on for quite a while, until Chekov was yawning and barely keeping his eyes open. Their skills were ,in fact, pretty evenly matched, but it was no accident that Chekov's character seemed to win a bit more than Sulu's did.