"It's a date."
Q felt like rhythmically hitting his head against the wall.
"For the last time, Eve, 007 and I are not going on a date!"
"But you're both going out tonight."
"Is M ready to see me?"
"Together…"
"Is anyone ready to see me?"
"And you're having dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in London."
"We're just friends!"
"And then he's taking you to see a play at Albert Hall."
"It's not a date!"
"You know Q," Eve said as she stood up and walked to the printer. "For a genius, you're not very intelligent. It's a date."
"It's not a date."
"What time's he picking you up?"
"Seven."
"So you've got four hours until you're going on a date with James Bond."
"It's not a date!" Q practically shouted. The door from the corridor opened and M and Tanner walked in.
"Good afternoon Quartermaster, did you want to see me?" M asked, looking over Q's shoulder at Eve.
"Didn't you want to see me, sir?" Q said, confused.
"No…"
Q turned on Eve, raising an eyebrow.
"I just wanted to talk to you," she started, but Q held up a hand, cutting her off.
"If you'll excuse me then."
He began walking towards the door, and M and Tanner stepped out of the way.
"Oh, Q?" Eve said. Q turned around. "I'm glad it's not a date. I wanted to check, you see, because he and I are going out on Wednesday."
The look on Q's face was priceless, and Moneypenny felt bad. Almost.
Q opened his mouth, and then shut it again, his perfect mask of detachment quickly sliding across his shocked features.
"Well, then. That's… That's great. I'm sure you two will have a lovely time. I- I have to go." Without another word, Q strode off towards the lifts.
M and Tanner looked at Eve, who smiled brightly at them.
"Oh, don't worry, they just need a little push. It'll be fine!"
Both men shrugged it off, Moneypenny knew how to work these things better than both of them.
"Tanner, what was Holmes's reaction to the third invoice?"
"So," Eve said, as she sat down opposite Bond, who was working out in the gym.
"What do you want, Eve?"
She ignored him.
"I just the the most interesting conversation with the Quartermaster."
Bond immediately sat up and put the weights aside. Eve smiled internally. That sure got his attention.
"Did you?"
"Yes. He was under the impression that you're taking him out this evening to a dinner and a show."
"I am. What of it?"
"Is it a date?"
Bond froze, trying to figure out if the question came from Eve, or if Q had asked her to ask him. He shook himself, Q wasn't one to go through someone else, surely.
"Not officially."
"So when you asked him to go with you to The Dorchester for dinner, and then to see Romeo and Juliet, only the most famous love story ever, at the Albert Hall, how did you phrase it?"
"We were having a conversation about him spending too much time at work, and he said if I bought back equipment once in a while, he wouldn't need to work as hard, and so we made a deal that if I bought back the mini-rocket launcher he built for the trip to the US then I get to organise a night off for him."
"And you decided on the evening's entertainment, how?"
"Shakespeare's one of his favourite writers. On downtime in a mission a few months ago he all but quoted the whole of Midsummer Night's Dream to me, from memory."
"And the Dorchester?"
Bond finally grinned. But it wasn't his predatory grin he reserved for marks, it was a personal one, as if he'd achieved something he'd fought hard for.
"I've never seen him in a suit."
Eve stood up to leave. This was getting ridiculous.
"Well, maybe you should've made your intentions a little clearer, James."
The grin snapped off Bond's face, instantly replaced with concern.
"What do you mean?"
"Q and I are going out on a date next Wednesday. I just wanted to check that you were planning on leaving the suit on him after the play. I hope you have a nice evening, though. You're right, he needs to take more time off."
She all but strutted out of the gym. This was going to be fun.
… To Be Continued.
