Posted by Lieutenant Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side sim - When Sleep is Evasive

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side sim - When Sleep is Evasive

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side sim - When Sleep is Evasive
Posted by… suppressed (15) by the Post Ghost! 👻
BEEP BEEP BEEP SMACK Rand pulled the blanket up over head after furiously silencing the alarm. She didn’t want to get up. 0415 was just too early, today. Her bed was warm, Randy was sleeping…she could hear the rhythmic in and out of his breath. Forget her run, not today, she was just going to sleep. And just as she was about to drop back off....VIBRATING SNORTS. Her eyes snapped open under the heavy blanket and she cringed. Randy was snoring…she’d never get back to sleep. Throwing the blanket off, she huffed as the cool air hit her and she got up, putting on her running clothes, set the kitchenette up to make Alden’s tea and Roger’s water later and then poured a large bottle of ice water for herself. She stepped into the corridor and down the hall to her closet of an office. She turned on the computer console and scanned all the updates/requests/messages for anything important. Seeing nothing needing her immediate attention she downed half the water and then stepped back into the corridor and walked back past the quarters and toward the turbolift.

Yeoman Rand

Tossing and turning. That had been Roman’s night so far. He’d only been able to get a few minutes to a half hour of rest at a time. Checking the clock, he saw that it was already 0400, and he resigned himself to the idea that it would be another long, tired day. It was frustrating. Each time he fell asleep, he’d quickly wake back up, and the process would start all over again. All night.

He was too frustrated to go right back to sleep. He wasn’t usually in the lab for another two hours, and yet, the idea of pacing back and forth around his quarters for what felt like the billionth night in a row did not seem appealing. Maybe a walk around the deck would be more beneficial, he decided, and so, rolling out of bed at approximately 0430, he pulled on his uniform pants and shirt, and a pair of shoes, and exited his quarters, hoping by the time he got back, he’d be tired enough to get a little sleep before 0700.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand had stopped to stretch. She had one hand on the wall for balance and the other was holding her ankle while she stretched her quads, then she switched. She finished the water, set the bottle right inside the door of her quarters. She stopped at the sound of a door. No one else was ever up at this hour, at least not on this deck. She turned to look, “Cmdr Alden? Is everything alright?”

Yeoman Rand

He seemed slightly startled by her voice, but quickly regained himself. He hadn’t expected to run into anybody else, certainly not at this hour. He would’ve known that Rand ran this early, but he supposed he would’ve expected her to be on one of the lower decks, he didn’t know why he thought that. “Everything’s fine,” he said, sounding about as tired as he felt. “This your morning run time?” He asked.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand nodded, “It is. I was on my down to deck 6.” He looked and sounded tired. “Can…can I get you some. I have a loose leaf tea with passionflower, chamomile flower, cinnamon, licorice, and cardamom.” Maybe she shouldn’t offer, but he worked hard and lack of sleep, if that was the issue made it hard to concentrate. She didn’t mind making it if it helped. “Or, umm, would you like to join me for a lap?”

Yeoman Rand

“No, no, I wouldn’t ask you to make anything,” Roman replied. He hated to ask her for anything when she wasn’t actually on duty. “I could join you, if that’s okay. I was just going to talk a walk around the deck, but a lap sounds better, actually,” he said. He probably wouldn’t get to sleep anyway, not before he normally got up. Trying would probably be asking to be late. He tried to wake himself up a little, sound less tired. He hoped he remembered to get all the “sleep” out of his eyes.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand laughed softly, “You didn’t ask, I offered.” She started walking again. “Of course, I’m happy for the company. Deck 6 is usually quiet and empty around this time.” Rand usually took the access ladder just for the extra movement, but she waited for the lift and got out on deck 6 with him. She started with a brisk walk just to get her heart rate going and then picked up the pace to a steady jog. She wasn’t sure how often Alden ran or if he was even used to running so she watched him trying to judge if she was going too slow or too fast, and adjusted her stride to match his.

Yeoman Rand

“Still, I wouldn’t want to take time away from your run,” He replied as they rode down in the lift. Once off the lift, she began to walk at a brisk pace, which he easily matched. Then she picked up to a steady jog, and again, he matched her speed. He wasn’t a runner by any means, but his other athletic pursuits kept him in shape, and after a short time at their current pace he picked up the speed slightly, settling at a fast jog. If he tried to run, he’d tire himself out before they finished a lap. He hoped he wasn’t too much slower than her usual pace.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

“You can’t take time away if you are joining in, Cmdr. You are simply sharing the time.” Rand didn’t mind at all. She’d worked with Alden long enough now that she was certain he wouldn’t try to fill the space with pointless chatter, which would make running harder. As he sped up she stretched into her stride and increased her speed to match his. After that embarrassing run with Fordham’s class Rand was careful not to out place him. This way it looked more like he was adjusting for her than the other way around. Besides a steady jog at a moderate pace would do more to tire the body than a flat out run. That would only temporarily tire you out and then kick in endorphins that would wake the body up.

Nearing the main cargo bay Rand heard noise, and mechanical gears and recognized the sound of the doors opening and the whir of a motorized pallet jack. She nudges Alden with her elbow and pointed down a side corridor so they could avoid getting in the way.

Yeoman Rand

Roman turned down the indicated side corridor. He would rather not be in the way either, and honestly, this early in the morning, he wouldn’t particularly want to interact with anyone besides Rand. The sounds from the cargo bay were just about the only signs of anyone at all, after all the only thing besides cargo bays on this deck were the JO quarters, and at this hour, any officers would either be asleep or on duty. He realized that was probably why Rand chose this deck, because there would be no one to disturb her while she did her daily run.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

The side corridor was empty, and shortened the lap. That was okay with Rand because she normally would be doing several. She liked to avoid people when she ran. Okay so she liked to avoid people most of the time. But like the other night on deck 4 she ended up stopping and getting dragged into conversations, and with her nerves she just ended up sounding awkward, but it lowered her heart rate and let muscles cramp. She sighed and shook her head hearing the doors of the secondary cargo bay open, they must be moving stuff this morning. “I think this was the wrong deck today,” she muttered and steered them down another side corridor, eventually coming back to where they had started. She slowed only slightly, “Another? Or a cool down?”

Yeoman Rand

Roman thought about the date and said, “Yes, I do believe I recall seeing I something about the cargo bays today. Might be inventory?” He couldn’t quite remember. Normally, he’d be up for another lap, but as tired as he was, he needed a quick rest. “Let’s have a short break,” he said. It hadn’t seemed like he was slowing her down too much but he figured she normally did more than one lap. “You should keep on if you don’t want to wait, I’d hate to slow you down.”

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand nodded and slowed to a quick walk through a few side corridors, allowing muscles to stay warm instead of cramp. “That’s right. We are half way to our next supply drop. They always do an inventory check then.” Rand shook her head, “I shouldn’t have forgotten that.” She shook her head. “You aren’t slowing me down.” She was tired, not from the run, just in general. She hadn’t wanted to get up that morning. “This deck is a bit busy anyway, and I don’t want to be in the way.”

Yeoman Rand

“Where do you normally run when this deck is busy?” He asked, keeping up with her quick walk. He failed to stop a yawn from making its way out and said, “Extra strong tea later this morning, Rand, or I’ll be sleeping at my desk. My crew would never let me hear the end of that.” Not only that, but it would be sloppy form. Still, on nights he couldn’t sleep, he was usually tired by mid-afternoon.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

“Deck 4 is usually quiet, people are asleep or working so not many people up there. Or deck 10. Plenty of people working there but not a lot of traffic.” She glanced at him with a grin, “We can not have that.” Rand stopped herself before she said they had enough to gossip about. She didn’t want to explain that. “May I offer a suggestion, Sir?” Rand was all to familiar with the difficulty in falling asleep.

Yeoman Rand

“Deck 4 would be the better of the two, deck 10 has the planetary lab, and there’s a night planetary team,” Roman said. He was more worried about comments like “Oh, so you can sleep on duty,” which would be dreadfully annoying, then again he was unaware of Scott’s little rumor. “Definitely not,” he said, and then nodded. “Your suggestions are always welcome.”

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

“When I have trouble sleeping, I stop caffeine at lunch and drink water that is so cold it’s just above freezing and add lemon and lime to it…like a lemon-limeade. Citrus and really cold water helps wake the body up without the caffeine. It also doesn’t linger in your system.” She slowed her walk to a more normal pace, and then stopped to stretch her legs out again, one hand against the wall for balance. “I’ve also been known to eat a protein bar for lunch so I can take an ice cold shower mid day to wake up,” she offered with a small conspiratorial grin.

Yeoman Rand

“Iced citrus decaf tea, then,” Roman said hopefully. He could give up caffeine - probably - but not the tea. “An icy shower doesn’t sound horrible.” Actually, it sounded like some kind of first world torture, but at least he wouldn’t be passing out on his desk, maybe. His sleep problems may have been partially caffeine but he knew it wasn’t the whole problem and Rand’s tips wouldn’t completely solve anything.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand looked at him curiously. Was he joking or serious. She’d never heard him joke, except the other night in the mess. “They’re horrible, but it will wake you up.” She didn’t know what was keeping him up, but she knew from experience that sometimes cutting caffeine didn’t fix it. “I have some decaf tea I can use to make that. Would you like peppermint citrus or lemon ginger tea?”. She stepped into the lift, and with his suggestion requested deck 4, and then off starting a brisk but easy pace just in case he didn’t want to run more.

Yeoman Rand