A few days later, he got one of those opportunities. As they were doing regular maintenance work in sick bay, suddenly the lights went flickering and so did the Doctor's program for a second.
"Irina, what's wrong?" he asked nervously.
"I don't know, I will run a diagnosis. However, you should transfer your program to the mobile emitter, just to be sure." She answered and the Doctor did as she told.
"I think I've found the issue" she said after a few minutes. "One of the plasma relays is malfunctioning."
"Thank you, I will contact B'Elanna-"
"No, wait. I think I can fix this myself."
"You think?"
"I can fix this myself, I am sure. I've done similar work in Engineering like a thousand times. I just need someone to assist me. Would you mind?"
"No, of course not. Just tell me what I need to do and I'll try my best to help you ."
"Thank you, Doc. Computer, please replicate a plasma relay and an engineer's toolbox." She took both out of the replicator and made her way to one of the maintenance coverings next to the Doctors office. "We need to get into Jeffries tube 126. It's right here."
With a screwdriver she opened the covering so they could both get inside.
"The broken relay should be about 200 meters from here." She said as they both went crawling through the tube.
A few moments later they arrived at another covering, which Irina again took off so the defective relay was visible. Instead of glowing with blue plasma it was completely black.
"I will now stop the plasma flow and then unscrew and remove this old relay. Then you have to help me with the new one." Irina explained and the Doctor nodded.
She removed the broken relay and gave him the new one.
"Please hold this one in place while I fix it. Try to hold it still to avoid agitating the plasma."
"Whatever you say, Chief Engineer." The Doctor answered and held the relay between the plasma tubes.
Fixing the new relay was a bit of a tricky task because as soon as it was locked in place it could leak plasma and thereby contaminate the surroundings with irritant gas. The other factor that made it difficult was that Irina had to reach below the Doctor's arms which not only meant working at a weird angle but also being very close to him. Especially the last aspect made her heart race and her hands sweaty. She was so near to him that she could smell his scent and it drove her crazy. At that moment she cursed herself that she helped him program it. When she tried to screw in the first lock of the relay her hands were shaking. Of course the Doctor noticed it immediately.
"Irina, what's wrong? Didn't you just say you've done this procedure a thousand times already?"
"Yes I have" she panted "And if you let me do my work in peace I promise we will be done in no time."
Just seconds afterwards, the first half of the relay was fixed in place. For the second half however, Irina basically need to crawl below the Doctor's torso to be able to reach the screws. She laid down on her back and pushed herself forward. Now she was so close to him that her breasts touched his chest. She felt as if her heart would jump out of her body at any moment. Hopefully he didn't notice. But at least now she could reach the relay easily. For a second she looked up to him, her gaze meeting his. And for a second her mind wandered off to when she had watched him at the Luau, lying naked on top of his holographic lover, his moans echoing in her ears, when he was about to reach climax. She gulped and she was certain her face must have become bright red by now but he didn't say anything and just returned her gaze until she looked away, turning her attention back to repairing the relay.
This was because the Doctor was equally lost in thought at that moment. Feeling Irina's breasts pressing against his chest and her hot breath on his face recalled the vivid images of him dancing with Seven of Nine back at Sandrine's. She had felt so warm and alive in his hands. It was just so very different from any figure on the holodeck. Genuine human interaction was something that could not be replaced by a holodeck figure that was programmed to please him. It needed a real person... He needed a real person... to relate to, to talk to, to touch and to have sex with. And in this very moment it became clear to him that this was what Irina wanted very obviously. He was still deeply in love with Seven of Nine, of course. But probably a little distraction would do him good. He had noticed some kind of tension building up between Irina and him during the last days. Tension that made working together awkward, just like in the current situation. Since he was now completely certain of what she wanted, he could as well make the first move. It couldn't become any more awkward than that, could it?
"There, that's it" Irina sighed with relief "I'm done. You can let go now."
The Doctor let go of the relay and offered her his hand to pull her up from the floor. She was now kneeling right next to him, out of breath and with her face reddened.
"Is everything alright?" the Doctor asked her "you look exhausted."
"Yes. Yes, I think I've just forgotten how hot it can be inside these jeffries tubes." She said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Let's get out of here."
Irina was much relieved that the Doctor didn't question her further about her physiological reactions during the repair of the broken relay. It had been very hot in that jeffries tube and the ambient temperature had nothing to do with it. She closed her eyes and recalled the feeling of lying so closely below him in her mind. This would be tonight's daydream, she thought. Before she went to sleep she would imagine how it had been if she just had pulled him closer and kissed him, right there in the jeffries tube. She opened her eyes and glanced at the clock in the lower right of the console. It was already 1812, her shift had been over since 12 minutes. Hastily she got up and turned to leave, glad that the Doctor hadn't caught her daydreaming while at work.
"See you tomorrow, Doc!" She called out to him as she walked past his office where he was sitting and staring at the computer screen.
"Irina, wait a second", he intercepted and got up.
"Is there some more work to do?" she asked and looked at him with her eyebrows raised.
"No. No, that's not it." He began, suddenly less confident as he thought he would be. "I wanted to ask you if you would like to join me at Sandrine's this evening."
"Oh, another one of Tom's parties? I didn't know he-"
"No, not one of those. Just the two of us."
Irina just stood there and stared at him as if he had suddenly turned into a bright pink tribble or something. Did he just ask her for a date? Was he serious? And was this even real or was she still daydreaming?
"Wha-what?" was all she managed to stammer.
"Would you like to join me at Sandrine's this evening? Just the two of us?" he repeated softly.
"Are- are you just asking me for a date?" she asked, looking at him in confusion.
"I guess I am" he answered and smiled. "So what do you say? Will you join me?"
"I- well... Yes, of course!" she blurted out, not being able to hold back a broad smile.
"I'm delighted. Shall we meet at 2000 on holodeck two?"
She nodded, unable to say a word.
"Very well. See you then."
And with these words he turned around and got back to his office as if nothing had happened. On the inside, however, he was nervous, too.
Irina on the other hand was the happiest woman in the whole Delta Quadrant at that very moment. When she went back to her quarters she could not help but grin the whole way through so that many crewmen she ran into gave her confused looks. But she didn't care one bit. She had a date with the Doctor. An actual romantic date, not one of those they had as friends before. And with the Doctor. As she reached her quarters she closed the door behind her and sighed. She closed her eyes and imagined them sitting at a table at Sandrine's, holding hands, then kissing, then embracing each other tightly, then... She took a deep breath to calm herself down. It was only two hours until their date and she hadn't had a shower or decided on an outfit yet. She should better get going.