Hermione Granger studies harder than you. (her_my_nee) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-07-18 23:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, elizabeth weir, hermione granger |
Who: Elizabeth Weir and Hermione Granger-Kirk
When: First Week in July
Where: Baxter Bakery
What: Random Encounter
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete when posted
So, Hermione didn’t often talk on the phone with Jim’s friends. It was a very rare occurrence. She was on the phone now, though, inside the coffee shop as she waited for her drink. Iced coffee. Today was a hot one, and she needed to cool down.
“Honestly, Leonard, it’s all right. You don’t have to...” Beat. “...yes, I know, it’s just that....” Beat. “Joanna is welcome to come and stay with us anytime, you know she is. And yes, I’ll be home the whole time to...” Beat. “I know. I know. Thank you, Doctor,” she added with a smirk.
The barista set her iced coffee on the counter, so she stepped forward and gave the girl a gentle “thank you” before turning back to her phone. “I need both hands now. No, I’m not driving. Text me later. I’ll--” Beat. “Yes, the little envelope on your phone. That’s how you send me messages--honestly, how did you get through medical school?? Okay. Okay, bye.”
Elizabeth couldn’t help but overhear the woman in front of her talking on the phone. Her attention particularly piqued when she heard Leonard’s name and that of his daughter. She gave her order over to the barista and started trying to get her change out of her purse with one hand, her left still being in a sling. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but earwig a little, but you wouldn’t happen to be talking to Leonard McCoy would you?” she asked with a smile.
Hermione turned to look at the woman, then smiled and nodded. “Doctor McCoy is a friend of my husband’s. Why, do you know him?” She asked, then sipped from her iced coffee. That really, really hit the spot.
Elizabeth handed over the exact change to the barista before zipping up her purse and putting it in her handbag. “Yeah,” she smiled bashfully, feeling a little heat colouring her cheeks. “Yeah, he’s my...” she thought about it, but there wasn’t really a more appropriate word for it. “Boyfriend,” she admitted with a grin, feeling a little too old to be using that term.
Hermione’s eyes went a little wide. “Really?” There was a bright grin spreading across her face, though. “That’s wonderful! I mean, I’ve always thought that Leonard should find a nice girl. Especially now I’ve got Jim nailed down,” she was teasing, though it was to cover insecurities. “Oh! I’m Hermione,” she said, holding out her hand for the other to shake.
Elizabeth smiled brightly at the woman. "Well, we've not been dating long, but I'm hoping it's got some legs on it," she joked. "I really like him, he's an amazing man," she smiled indulgently again. "Elizabeth Weir," she shook the offered hand, mentally cataloguing Hermione's 'Jim' to ask about later. "Nice to meet you."
“I hope it does, too.” Hermione said, giving Elizabeth a smile. Then she shook the other woman’s hand. “The pleasure’s all mine! Do you have a minute? We could sit and have a chat.” Hermione didn’t have anywhere else to go.
"Sure, suffice it to say I've got some time on my hands," Elizabeth joked, referring to her sling. She picked up her coffee and they moved to a nearby table to sit. "It's been suggested that I need to get out of the house after my injuries," she smiled. She had to admit that it felt good to be out and about but she was still anxious that something would go wrong.
Hermione moved with Elizabeth to the nearby table and sat down. “Well, getting up and moving around helps the healing, even if it makes you sore and tired.” She set down her purse and her drink on the table. “It’s good to see you up and about, though. Is Leonard taking good care of you?”
Elizabeth blushed a little again, she wasn't used to having someone to watch over her. "That's just what he says," she smiled, slipping her bag off her shoulder and placing it on the chair next to her. "He is, he's very patient and understanding," she gazed off into the distance as she thought about him with what could only be described as a sappy grin on her face. "I'm very lucky," she agreed. "Y'know he saved me on that ship, made sure I was stable before they evacuated us."
“The dragons?” Hermione asked. She hadn’t been there, but she’d heard all about it. After the last two, she wasn’t going to be attending any Stark weddings anytime soon. “I’m so glad that he was there to help you. And others--there were a lot of people who he helped on that boat.” McCoy was a hero, in Hermione’s book.
“Yeah,” Elizabeth answered, zoning out briefly as she remembered how shattered he had looked when she came round in the hospital. “He worked so hard that day. I don’t think I can ever repay him,” she admitted quietly, feeling guilty about how she’d pretty much fallen apart afterwards. She couldn’t have helped him in the aftermath, especially with Joanna arriving and his crazy work schedule.
Hermione paused for a moment. “You don’t have to repay him, Elizabeth.” She said, gently. She reached forward to touch the woman’s arm. They were going to be friends, right? They should be, considering how close Jim and Leonard were. “That’s what he does. Just thank him and love him. That’s all he wants in return.”
"I do," Elizabeth admitted to the girl with a shy smile, they seemed to have a good rapport. "He's amazing and its ridiculous how much I just want to be with him," she shook her head in disbelief at the honesty pouring from her lips to this new acquaintance. She sighed, feeling a little like a heroine from a romantic novel. "Sorry, this's probably the last thing you want to hear about from a stranger," she joked, picking up her coffee for a sip. "So how long have you known Leonard?"
“Oh, about as long as I’ve known my husband. Jim.” Hermione said, giving Elizabeth a warm smile. She loved to see such love. It warmed her heart. “Since they’re such good friends, it was hard not to think highly of Leonard.” Even though he always seemed to walk in when adult things were happening between Jim and Hermione.
“I’ll have to meet this mysterious ‘Jim’,” Elizabeth sat back in her seat with a grin. “Leonard’s mentioned him more times than I can count, recommending various restaurants for our dates and the like,” she told Hermione.
“Oh, really?” Hermione gave a laugh. “That sounds like Jim Kirk. He’s probably taken girls to every restaurant in Orange County.”
“Kirk, eh? I had a student called Kirk last year, wondered if they’re related,” Elizabeth mused, idly thinking about her dalliance with said student. It didn’t matter now, there was only one man she wanted, she was just frustrated by her current injuries making her unable to show him. “How long have you been married?”
“We were married on New Year’s Eve,” Hermione said after giving a shrug. Kirk wasn’t all that uncommon of a name. She was fairly confident that there were hundreds of them in Southern California. “Or wait, New Year’s Day. It’s a bit of a blur, we just ran off to Vegas and got married.”
"You eloped?" Elizabeth grinned. "That's amazing! I've never met anyone who's eloped before," she commented. "What did your friends and families say?" Elizabeth knew that Sam and her mother would never forgive her if she did anything similar and would probably hold a lifelong grudge against her husband for letting her go through with it.
Hermione blushed deeply. “I don’t think they’re ever going to forgive us. But we’re going to have a party. Maybe for our first anniversary. My parents found out first, and my friends are still holding a grudge.” She shrugged a little. “But it wasn’t about them. You know? It was about us.”
Elizabeth smiled at her as she explained. "Sounds wonderful," she took a quick sip of her drink. "And I reckon you're right, you've gotta do what's right for you. I'm not sure my mother would ever speak to me again," she laughed.
“My parents didn’t mind. They’re retired now, they’re just glad they got to see me without having to fly half-way around the world.” Hermione said, thinking about the awkward dinner she and Jim had had with the in-laws up on the Enterprise.
“As long as you’re happy, they should be happy,” Elizabeth smiled. “At least that’s what I’ve always thought,” she shrugged. “Your family here then?”
“No, Mum and Dad moved to Australia when I finished high school.” Hermione explained. “I stayed on here to attend university, but they moved really far. No brothers or sisters, but I’ve got some really good friends here.”
“Must have been hard,” Elizabeth sympathised. “What did you study at university?”
“I’m still at school, actually.” Hermione said, giving the older woman a smile. “I’ve just switched my major from Pre-Law to Space Physics.” Yes, that is a thing. Funny how she hadn’t even known it existed until her interest in The Enterprise made her seek it out.
"That's quite a change," Elizabeth smiled. "What brought that about? If you don't mind my asking," she asked.
"Jim did." Hermione said, quite honestly. Bluntly. "He's planning a trip to Mars, and I want to go. And not just as the captain's wife." She had to pull her own weight.
“A trip to Mars? I didn’t think the space program was doing that yet,” Elizabeth asked with a curious frown as she sipped at her coffee. “And a Captain’s wife, what does you husband do?”
“That’s a long story. Actually, he works taking groups of people out into the wild--wilderness survival? But he helped in a program that went to the moon last year. That’s how we met. He brought me a moon rock.” Hermione said, smiling brightly at talking about her amazing husband.
“That’s so romantic,” Elizabeth smiled, watching the other woman all but glow as she spoke about her husband. “So how did you two meet then?”
“That was it, actually.” Hermione said, bashfully. “He was offering up moon rocks on Valarnet. I wanted one, so I commented to him. We went out for coffee, then started dating.” She’d fallen for him right away, but she suspected that he saw her as more of a conquest at first.
Elizabeth laughed at that, feeling more at ease with being out and about than she had for a long while. She relaxed into the situation some more, encouraging Hermione to talk some more. "Selling moon rocks on ValarNet, hmm, that's definitely a new tactic in pick-up lines," she joked.
“No no, not selling,” Hermione was grinning, playing along with the joke. “Giving. That’s why I was interested. Because if you want to buy a moon rock, why not buy the whole thing? If you’re that gullible. But giving them away? It sure made me raise an eyebrow. And I’m so glad I did.” She added, softly.
"He does sound quite a character," Elizabeth joked. "It sounds like you guys are really happy together'" she smiled gently at the woman. "How long have you got left to study then?" she asked, sipping her coffee some more.
“Since I changed my major, I’ve got a few years left,” Hermione admitted. She liked to think they were very happy. She had some reservations still, worries that she was holding Jim back. But they were fading slowly, as things went on without a hitch. “But I’m hoping to get ahead by taking a double course load next semester.”
“Oh wow, double course load,” Elizabeth remarked, impressed the girl was capable of dealing with that sort of work load. “What I wouldn’t give to have more students like that!”
Hermione blushed. “Yeah? You teach? It doesn’t surprise me that Leonard would be attracted to a teacher. Someone who can challenge his intellect. What subject?” She asked.
Elizabeth blushed and smiled at her. “He’d actually had his hands inside my chest before he knew that,” she joked, referring to her surgery back when the Blu Flu had put her in hospital. “I teach languages and conflict resolution at Irvine University,” she told her, taking another sip of her coffee.
“Wait, so you were a patient of his?” Hermione asked, eyes going slightly wide. “Aren’t there ethics rules and things to prevent that sort of thing?” She asked, trying not to judge. Honestly, if McCoy had been her doctor before she’d met Jim... well, besides the fact that he was twice her age...
Elizabeth laughed as the girl pointed out that fact, it wasn't really anything she'd considered before. "Trust me, when I was in hospital was the first time we had met and since then he's never treated me himself," she smiled as she thought about it, gazing off into nowhere as she considered her tall, dark and handsome (if sometimes grumpy) doctor. "He's a consummate professional," she told her, and one she was rapidly becoming besotted with.
Hermione nodded. Hell, she didn’t care. She just found it a bit surprising. Because McCoy didn’t seem the type to break the rules. Not willingly, anyway. And it was reassuring that he hadn’t, actually, broken any rules. “Well, that’s a good thing. I’m sure that he was. Is.” She said, smirking. “He’s a good man. You’ve got a good one.”
"Thanks," Elizabeth grinned as she nodded. "I know, and I don't plan on letting him go," she told her happily. "Not for a long while."
Hermione beamed. “...we have to double date.”