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It was another movie night on Voyager. Tom Paris had picked out a ridiculous early twenty-first century movie called a “romantic comedy”. The Doctor had planned not to go– there were more important things he could be doing like practicing his opera, or finishing his genome report. He liked the first few movie nights– the horror movie and then the one about the murder. But this one was called Love Actually, and the name itself made him feel dizzy.
“Come one, Doc,” Tom begged him at the end of his shift. “Everyone is going but you, you know. I thought you loved these things.”
“Mr. Paris,” the Doctor sighed. “The last movie night you dragged me was filled with pointless romance and sexual situations. I could have been reading over the crew reports instead.” The Doctor picked through some of his hypo-sprays. Truthfully, he couldn't bare to watch two people kiss and cuddle with each other for two hours after what happened only weeks before. He realized that he was romantically attracted to Seven of Nine, and the probability of her feeling the same was low. He hated watching Tom and B'Elanna giggle and kiss, and then hoping that he could giggle and kiss with Seven. He hated going about his day at work, knowing that they would have a new social lesson to go over when he ended his shift, but he wouldn't be able to pull her into his arms and kiss her passionately. He hated most things romantic at this point. Especially romantic media.
“Suit yourself,” Tom said. He finished his shift in a hurry and went to “pick up B'Elanna”.
The Doctor went and sat at his desk to finish his reports. He hummed a tuned as he typed and streamed data through the computer. Only a few minutes after Tom left, Neelix came stomping in. His finger was pointed at the Doctor, his face stern.
“Tom Paris told me you aren't coming to see the movie,” he said.
“He would be correct,” the Doctor sighed, still eyeing his computer screen.
“Now, Doctor–“
“Mr. Neelix,” the Doctor said roughly. “I am honestly not interested. I have too much work. Thank you for your concern, however.”
Neelix leaned against the doorway to his office cooly. “I'm not leaving until you come to the movie.”
“Then you will miss it.”
“Seven was asking where you were.”
The Doctor looked up. “What did she ask?”
Neelix shrugged. “She wanted to know what time you were coming to the movie.”
The Doctor sighed. “I suppose I'll come...” Neelix smiled. “But that doesn't mean I'll stay for the entire film.”
“Fine, fine,” Neelix said happily. “I'll see you in there.”
When the Doctor got the holodeck, he noticed that Tom had changed the theatre. The screen was wider, and the seats elevated, like an Opera House. Neelix was seated with Tom and B'Ellana, who waved at him as he walked up the stairs to the back of the theatre. The Doctor sat in the very back row. He was the only one there, and he enjoyed the privacy.
He saw that the captain and Commander Chakotay were seated together in one of the lower rows, with Tuvok and Seven near them. More and more of the crew were shuffling in to the theatre. Tom and Neelix were right...most of the crew was here.
The Doctor tried to scoot down in his seat as he saw Seven look behind her. She spotted him, turned back to say something to Tuvok, and walked up the aisle to the Doctor.
“Hello, Doctor,” she said as she stood over him.
“Seven,” he slightly smiled.
“Social Lesson 17: Always sit with the lonely,” she said.
The Doctor chuckled slightly. “You're a good student. Have a seat,” he motioned to the chair to his left.
“What do you know of this movie?” Seven asked as she sat down.
“It's called Love Actually,” he said.
“Of romantic genre, I presume.”
The Doctor nodded. He looked at her: to most people, she probably looked the same as she was always did. She wore the same handful of outfits, and her hair was always put up in the same way. But the Doctor had been programmed with the visual acuity greater than any Federation species. He saw that her sonic shower had left her right hand dry, and she compensated by putting a small amount of non-scented lotion on, which gave her hand a soft glow. He noticed that her weight lifting earlier in the day had left her biceps still strained slightly, and they pushed again the fabric of her tunic. He watched as she moistened her lips as the lights dimmed and the movie began. He sighed and leaned heavily against the head rest. He was in far too deep.
The movie was unremarkable for the most part. Some parts made the Doctor chuckle and Seven would look at him, wanting to know what exact point was humorous. He would lean over and whisper in her ear why he thought it was funny. She would nod slightly, and he would pull away. But before he did, his olfactory sensors alerted slightly at the aroma of her hair, and he would look at her eyes, and a holographic knot would swell painfully where his holographic throat was, and he promised himself he would delete that aspect of his emotional subroutines immediately.
At some point, Seven's leg began moving close to his at about one centimeter per second. Most people wouldn't notice it, but the Doctor did, and he couldn't figure out if his leg was magnetized to hers, or her muscles were relaxing normally. Finally, their knees touched, and the Doctor stared as straight into the screen as he could to ignore it. But he couldn't ignore when Seven pushed her entire leg against his, nudging it slightly, as if to alert the Doctor that she was doing it intentionally. The knot returned in his throat. He could have easily been reading into it. People's legs touch a lot, so what? But her leg touching his made him feel nervous and calm and sick and ecstatic at the same time. So he put his hand on the armrest in between them. It was bold for him, and if she was touching his leg on purpose, why not touch his hand as well?
She did.
She didn't just touch his hand, but she slowly reached towards it, turned it over, and interlaced her fingers with his.
He was dying. His matrix was falling apart from the inside out. He thought about running down the aisle to B'Ellana to beg her to save him– to shut him down and restart his program in order to save the important data. They could be some alien attack right now and over half the ship would never know, as they were all watching nine different people try and find some sort of love in this ridiculous movie. Did he feel the floor shake? Was it a Hirogen attack force? Had their time come?
After half a second of panic, he was able to calm himself. He looked down at his hand now interlocked with Seven's. His romantic subroutines were telling him to not only pull her hand closer, but to pull her closer as well, and to kiss her neck softly until their lips meet and her tongue is running dangerously along his lower–
He stopped his thoughts before he fell into a day dream. He had enough surge of confidence to lift the armrest and pull her hand onto his lap. In reaction, she scooted closer to him, which made him lift his left arm to keep from an awkward position, in which she leaned under is arm and rested her head on his shoulder, and he held her against him. If there was a holographic heaven, it was sitting in a movie theatre with your arm around Seven of Nine.
They stayed like that for the rest of the movie. He noticed that her breathing was off. As the lights came back on Seven shot up and back into her own seat. The Doctor felt hurt for a second before he realized the logic in her reaction...if Tom saw them, he knew he would never hear the end of it.
Finally, when everyone left, Seven looked over at the Doctor.
“Was this considered...a date?” she asked.
“I hope so,” he said.
She smiled only slightly. “I believe it was. And I would enjoy another in the near future.”
The Doctor beamed. “Tomorrow?”
“Very well,” Seven said and leaned in towards his lips.
He turned his cheek to stop her and smiled. “Lesson 30, remember? Never kiss on the first date.”
She squinted her eyes at him and kissed him anyway. It was fast– too fast. Her lips pressed against his with precision that made him shiver. He wanted more but she leaned away.
“I don't always follow the rules, Doctor,” she said and got up to walk towards the exit.
“Noted,” he coughed before going after her.