Uhura idly glanced at the clock she kept on her bedside table. She sighed with a mixture of resignation and amusement. It wasn't the first dinner date Scotty had been late for, and she know it wouldn't be the last. She stood and headed to the mess. After grabbing several of the more portable choices, she took the turbolift to Engineering.
Uhura paused to asked a technician where Scotty was. He directed her to the auxiliary control room. As Uhura walked away, another, newer, technician said, "Mr. Scott said he wasn't to be disturbed."
The older technician shook his head. "Kowalski, there are the rules and there are the exceptions to the rules. For instance, if Mr. Spock came down here asking where Mr. Scott was, you wouldn't refuse to tell him, would you?"
Kowalski shook his head.
"When Mr. Scott says he's not to be disturbed, he means we shouldn't bother him. Lt. Uhura is an exception."
"I don't think she's here on ship's business, though-" Kowalski began.
"That doesn't matter. Now, get back to work."
Uhura finally spied Scotty at the far end of the room, lying on a scooter, focused intently on the wiring above his head. A female ensign hovered close by, anxiously awaiting and trying to anticipate his every request for tools. She was obviously one of the new crewmembers.
Uhura sauntered over and pointedly ignored the ensign and her glares. She leaned against the control panel and waited. As Scotty lowered his arms, Uhura whisked the scooter out.
Her playfully scolding look was all Scotty needed. "Och, lassie! It went clear out o' me head!"
Uhura extended her free hand and pulled Scotty to a sitting position. "I thought as much." As he got to his feet, Uhura said, "I don't want to separate you from your true love, so I brought dinner to you." She revealed the packages she'd grabbed from the mess.
Scotty's only reply was to hang his head with an abashed smile. Uhura kissed his cheek. She took Scotty's arm and they walked to Scotty's office. Uhura casually glanced back at the ensign and pressed a little closer to Scotty as she faced forward again. There would be no more 'misunderstandings' as to Scotty's relationship status.
The pair settled down on Scotty's beat-up couch and opened the less than appealing meal packs. "Sometimes I dinna know how ya put up with me," Scotty said.
"I don't care about the food, Scotty," Uhura replied. "I care about the time I get to spend with you." She grinned mischievously and added, "But you do owe me a nice dinner on our next shore leave."
"I probably owe ya a dozen," he said, seriously.
"True. You'll just have to make them all up to me after this mission is over. I know I can't get you away from the ship or your technical journals that much."
Scotty just smiled at that sad truth.
A/N: I know, it's short, but it does what I wanted it to. I adapted the scene from ST V: The Final Frontier and set it before the end of the five year mission. Also, two of my favorite things, Stargate SG-1 and Madagascar have characters named Kowalski, though the spelling isn't the same, so that's how I named one of the techs.