Hikaru was still in a partial state of shock when he turned up for duty the next morning. He'd never really thought Pavel as the type to start a blazing row over a compliment! Over a Russian invention, sure, it was almost as if it was his nature, but over a silly thing like that?

'Although,' The Helmsman soliloquised freely in his head as he sat at his station, ignoring Uhura's glance, 'it's not really stupid, is it? It's…strange. Really strange. He didn't tell me it had to be his likes/dislikes, did he? He just said, 'tell me what you like about me' and I did. It was the first thing that leapt into my stupid brain.'

He felt a slight pang in his chest and tried to blank it out by checking some reports Ensign Chenna had left on his station the previous night, but, instead of going away, the pain just got stronger, forcing his eyes to water. He wiped his hand across his face as discreetly as he could, but the Comm Officer was watching even the slightest of movements he made.

She remembered last night, after the dance, she'd gone back to her quarters to find Pavel sitting on her bed, looking like he'd just…killed someone?

"What's wrong?" Had been the first words out of her mouth. He'd looked up, his brown eyes brimming, then ducked his head, given a shuddering sigh and shaking it subtly. But Uhura wasn't stupid. She knew what a head-shake like that meant.

"Who upset you?" She demanded, sitting beside him, "was it Landon? Liam?"

"No," The answer was thickly choked, "it vas…"

"It was?"Mbr<
"It vas Hikaru," The young man relented eventually, allowing tears to fall down his cheeks, "and I think Iff made a terrible mistake…" He explained the exchange he and his friend had had in the Mess only a few hours previously, then ended with, "I made a big deal about nothing, didn't I?"

"Well…sort of. I suppose. I mean, he was complimenting you in a way, wasn't he?"

"I guess…but not in the vay I vanted to be complimented…" He let out a soft sob, "oh, vhat am I goink to do?"

"Pretend your still upset with him whilst I word something out?" Uhura guessed, "but don't be nasty. Just ignore him, I'll figure something, don't worry."

"Vhat if he tries to make up vith me though?"

"Say you'll think about it."

"Alright. Thanks, Uhura."

She frowned and shook her head, blinking down at Sulu, wondering what she could do. Once again she'd made a promise she felt she couldn't keep.

'Trust me,' She thought, 'now I've gone and screwed something up.'

The Lift doors swished open and deposited a very tired-looking Pavel onto the Bridge. It wasn't the first time that week that his eyes were shadowed by bruise-like blackness.

He smiled weakly at Uhura, who gave him a reassuring look, then went and sat at his station like usual, logging in his arrival on the Bridge and service number.

Once again the morning was unusually dull, the ship surrounded by uninhabited space, a vast stretch of boredom.

Just before lunch it was announced that there was tonnes of 'party food' left over from the previous night, and if anyone wanted that instead of boring Replicated food they could go to Rec. Room One and 'pig out', to which Spock almost immediately corrected the messenger that no-one on board was a pig and that he didn't see how this was remotely possible.

Of course, almost everyone went to Rec. Room One, thinking that junk food was better than… non-junk food, the result being that the room was crammed with people, packed together like sardines.

Riley and Bailey, former Navigators of the Enterprise, met Sulu at the door, Riley carrying an extra plate laden with food, which he gave to the Pilot without saying anything, mostly because it was too loud, and the three made their way over to a table occupied only by DeSalle at one end. They sat at another.

"Oi!" Someone yelled out from somewhere in the throng, "Uhura, don't we get no music!"

"Yeah, come on," Yelled a female voice, "we can't have party food without party music."

Hikaru shuddered: it was Liam and Landon. He looked around quickly to see if he could catch sight of Pavel, and did. The young man was talking with Uhura at the other end of the hall.

"Alright," Uhura shouted, "there's a minidisk in the player. Just hit play."

Someone did, and the hall was instantly filled with a techno base line. Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief: now there was no need to make conversation with anyone. It was a physical impossibility.

The music raged on for another half an hour, and, when it ran out, the noise level did nothing to decrease. It was like an animal house.

Things seemed to be going well for a while, then a high taunting voice sang over the crowd, "aww, look, Chekov's upset that Abba wasn't on the disk!"

As if hundreds of invisible hand had clamped themselves over everyone's mouths, the room fell deathly silent.

Pavel shifted a little on his feet but ignored the voice, counting to ten in his head and squeezing his cup a little harder.

"S'matter, a broken heart causes broken hearing?" The mocking tone continued, "or are you just trying to ignore me 'cause you're gonna cry?"

The crowd of people parted slightly to reveal Liam, hands on hips, next to Landon, who was smirking evilly.

Pavel looked up at the pair, then shrugged and tried to look somewhere else. His searching gaze fell on Sulu, who was scowling at Liam in almost a murderous way. The young Russian felt a slight ache in his chest. He blinked it back, his eyes firmly fixed on the side of the Helmsman's face, willing him not to start any trouble.

Too late.

"Shut up Liam," Hikaru's voice carried across the hall, "how many girls have you got pregnant this month, eh?"

"Shut up gay-boy," Liam snapped back, "at least I do get girls-" He stopped, suddenly realising what Hikaru had just tricked him into saying, "shut up, Sulu! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"I'm talking to hormonally charged stupid boy who can't keep his libido to himself," Hikaru replied casually, taking a swig from his mug and blinking at Liam docilely, "no, wait, that would be me under-exaggerating again, wouldn't it?"

Liam gave an angry grunt and stalked over to where the Asian sat. He grabbed Sulu's collar and hoisted him to his feet, "you don't know what you're talking about, do you, Sulu?" His voice was filtered with mock-kindness, like a mother talking to an infant that had just spilt Ribena in their lap, "do you?"

"Yes." Hikaru said simply.

Liam let him go, then swung his fist back, at the same time Pavel shouted, "duck!" and Sulu kicked his between the legs. The 'petulant teenager'-like man sank to his knees, clutching himself and hissing cussing under his breath.

He got back to his feet, and went to take another half-hearted blow at the Japanese man, who wasn't the only one who'd seen Kirk walk into the Rec. Room with Spock and McCoy.

"Liam Gallagher, what do you think you are doing?" Kirk asked. Even though his voice was soft and quiet, it seemed to dominate the small room, echoing off the metal walls.

Liam had frozen in time, his fist in mid-air, staring at the Captain.

Uhura, upon sensing what was going to inevitably happen, had contacted the Bridge and urged the Captain to the Rec. Room - before Sulu could be carted to Sick Bay in a coffin.

"I…He…We…" Liam stuttered, shuffling his feet on the floor, "well, you see, I…"

"No," The Captain said with a falsely bright smile on his face, "I do not see. You know about the regulations on fighting."

"What regulations?" Liam unfroze himself, then glared at Kirk menacingly.

"The ones set in place after the incident at Space Station K-7," The Captain reminded him coolly, "after that bar brawl broke out? Remember?"

Pavel shifted his feet a little guilty; he'd assisted in starting that fight, and it seemed to him that he was the cause for this one.

"Yes," Liam spat between clenched teeth, "I remember."

"Good!" Kirk exclaimed, "then you can go to your quarters and stay there for the next week. And after that you can consider yourself on cleaning duty in Engineering."

"Cleaning duty?" Liam echoed blankly.

"Yes," Ensign Chenna spoke up from the back, "you have to clear out the tubes around the Warp Core. Gets a little hot after a while…"

There were a few giggles from around the hall. Landon looked like she wanted to kill someone. She looked around the room until her eyes landed on Chekov, who was standing next to the Captain as though for protection.

"Y'know what?" She said, aware that she was digging herself into trouble, "I think I know why Chekov joined Star Fleet now. Because his parents didn't want to be on the same planet as him. And I can understand why. I can barely stand being in the same room as him, correction, same galaxy." She turned to Chekov again, "you're ugly, stupid, a patriot of a lost cause, and homosexual!" At the last word, a gasp ran around the hall. Everyone's eyes were on the young navigator now, who had turned magenta and had tears behind his eyes - tears that were quite visible due to the brightness of the lights.

Kirk looked round at him too, one eyebrow slightly raised. Upon catching the Ensign's _expression, he turned back to Landon and said, "Well, well, Miss. Landon. If he is a homosexual, then why did you date him? Because, surely, to a woman of such intellect of yours should have been able to spot that a mile away."

Landon flushed and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Spock, "Captain. I think that Mr. Gallagher would like some company in the pipes, and I also think we have find ourselves a suitable volunteer. What is your opinion, Doctor?"

"Oh, yes," McCoy's southern drawl the debate, "yes, I think Miss. Landon would love to go into the pipes."

"I can't; I'm pregnant." Landon whipped back with a triumphant smile.

"Yes, but you'll be okay to work in there for another three months or so. Doctor's opinion anyway. Jim?"

"Yes." The Captain nodded, "alright. Miss. Landon and Mr. Gallagher, you will each be confined to quarters for a week, then will work in the pipes in Engineering for three months."

"You can't," Landon pointed at him, "that's got to be illegal!"

"Afraid not." Kirk pointed at the door, "out. To. Your. Quarters. Now."

The two left in a huff, muttering under their breaths and cursing the day they ever joined the Enterprise.

"Well," Kirk looked back at everyone else, "because of that minor interruption, I think I should extend the lunchtime a little to get a few matters sorted out."

As the conversation level rose back up to normal, Kirk turned to talk to Chekov. But the young Russian had already gone.