Work Text:
Rubbing a hand over her face, Hermione looked at Len, who was finishing up with their most recent patient; ever since Scotty left the medical bay almost six hours ago, the two of them had patient after patient.
Usually, she wouldn’t mind being this busy, but the two of them had some things to discuss. They also had a kiss to share after they had been interrupted by the ship’s resident Scotsman.
Today, it seemed like every time they tried to talk or finally get their kiss, someone else came in with some kind of injury, or one of them was called away to attend to someone in another part of the ship. At one point, they even had Jim willingly coming in for his physical. The presence of the ship’s captain, who was notorious for not wanting to see them, told them all they needed to know.
As soon as Scotty left the medical bay, he opened his mouth. His first stop was probably the bridge, so naturally, the whole ship probably knew by now. What they thought they knew and reality were two different things, at least at the moment.
The sound of the doors opening pulled Hermione back to the present. She almost groaned at the sound, but when she saw who walked through the door, she smiled. It was their relief.
Nurse Chapel made a beeline for Hermione.
“Is what I’ve heard true?”
Hermione raised an eyebrow. “That depends. What have you heard?”
“That the two of you are together finally.”
“Sort of?”
Christine frowned. “Sort of? What do you mean “sort of”?”
“Well, we both admitted to wanting to kiss each other, but when we went to kiss, Scotty showed up, and everything went crazy. That was six hours ago. We’ve been so busy that we’ve not been able to talk. Or get that kiss in,” Hermione explained.
Eyes lighting up, Christine nudged Hermione to her office. “Get your stuff and go to one of the holodecks. Just let me know which one. Pick one of your favourite programs, set it so no one can disturb you, and I’ll send Len your way.”
“I don’t know,” Hermione hedged.
“I do. Now get out of here and get your guy.”
Hesitating for a few moments more, Hermione looked at her favourite nurse. She smiled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, now, go.”
Hermione gathered the last of her stuff and headed towards the exit. “Len, I’m heading out. Christine is here and will have something for you before you leave.”
She could hear him start to say something, but Hermione hurried out, knowing that if she stopped, she wouldn’t leave. And she really liked the idea of speaking in private, just the two of them.
Passing by her quarters to the nearest holodeck, she found it unoccupied when she arrived. Hermione let Nurse Chapel know which holodeck before she started scrolling through the options as she had many favourites for various reasons.
When Len arrived at the holodeck, Hermione had decided on nighttime in northern Scotland during the Aurora Borealis.
“What’s going on, Hermione?”
“Follow me, and we can speak in private.”
Once the door sealed behind them, Hermione turned to face Len with a whole speech prepared. What she wasn’t prepared for was for Len to bypass any forms of verbal communication and kiss her. She eagerly returned his kiss, as she had wanted to do for longer than she’d care to admit.
As they kissed, her brain slowed, allowing her to enjoy their kiss as she did; something else happened that she never expected: everything around them seemed to stop. Most couldn't feel the vibrations as the Enterprise moved through space, but Hermione usually did; however, as she kissed Len, those vibrations melted away.
When the need for air became too much, Len leaned back to smile down at her.
“The wait was worth it.”
Len’s lips were slightly chapped, but her tingling lips didn't seem to mind. Brushing her fingertips against her lips, Hermione nodded in agreement. “It really was worth the wait.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her head against his chest.
Len set his chin on the top of her head, and the two of them stood there watching the colours skate across the sky.