[Twenty years ago Chekov zipped in and out of Bean Crushers a handful of times each day, constantly refueling but too antsy to sit down. His life has since slowed down dramatically. (When it first became clear that MarinaNova wasn't going to be escaped, in fact, it slowed to a crawl. A generally positive disposition and excellent coping mechanisms couldn't hold up against the realization that his family, his crewmates, his sense of purpose, and the goals that twenty-two years of planning and studying were building towards were lost. That was ages ago, though--just a memory, and not one he looks back on.) Nowadays he lingers, reading or planning lessons or looking for someone to chat with as he drinks. It's more about company and a place to be than coffee.
He's a married man whose existence revolves around his wife (whom he still loves deeply and stupidly) and his friends (who are also loved, albeit less stupidly). It makes him feel like a man twice his age--eighty-four instead of forty-two.
There are worse feelings.]
[Education Center]
[That's not to say that Chekov is wholly without a life outside of Kitty and other companions. At the lowest point in his prison existence, he threw himself wholeheartedly into teaching math and physics in an attempt to fill the gaping void that the loss of home ripped open and never really stopped. No, there isn't a huge demand for classes on physics and mathematics. Yes, Chekov still teaches them. If no one comes, he makes lesson plans; if someone does come, they get a class that caters to their level and is tailored to their specific talents and interests.
If, twenty years ago, someone had told him that teaching would inspire the same kind of enthusiasm in him that visiting new planets and charting previously unknown sections of space used to, he would have laughed (politely). Now he does it just as much for his own benefit as anyone else's.]
[Freestyle]
[But of course Chekov exists outside of the coffee shop and the education center. He still hasn't acquired much of a taste for nature, but he meanders through the parts of the parks and gardens where his friends (his friends are everyone in the dome, just so there's no confusion) tend to be.
Where there are people, there is Chekov. His world is very small now and everyone in it is profoundly important.]