Posted by Lieutenant Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side sim - Status Quo

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side sim - Status Quo

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side sim - Status Quo
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
What was she thinking? Of course she liked Alden. How could anyone not like him? But he couldn’t even be her friend; oh she understood, finally, now after all those late night coffee deliveries. There was no way he would ever like her like that anyway. She was just an awkward, shy, clumsy, anxiety ridden yeoman. He was so out of her league. There were not any regulations against it, but she always had to be mindful of appearances and gossip and the part she played in supporting the captain. That didn’t bother her nearly as much as what Randy would do when he found out. He’d never let her live it down.

Her days continued normal, mostly. It wasn’t hard for Rand to continue to focus just on the work and simply be a yeoman while she was on duty. There was protocol and procedure and regulations that had to be followed. Rand thrived in such an environment. And it was those duties that gave her reprieve from having to deal with this new revelation. She had meetings and endless errands for Rogers for the next few days. So Rand didn’t make it for her usual afternoon work with Nibbles. Instead she stopped by during lunch, it was quiet and no one was there. After a couple days of that she realized that was probably best. Better not to spend her off duty time around him.

She still went running, she still spent the extra time helping with Nibbles in the morning, doing reports, and even brining coffee or tea at night. But an empty lab at lunch was probably best.

Yeoman Rand

Roman noticed her absence from the lab. She was still there in the morning for report time, and she still brought tea or coffee at night, so it wasn’t like she was avoiding him. So why did he mind so much that she no longer spent the afternoons in the lab?

His fall in the gym had caused a mild sprain, nothing that wouldn’t be healed in a week or two, but he was trying to rest it and so he spent the majority of his duty shifts sitting at his desk, only leaving for lunch, and at the end of the day.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

The days continued. Rand missed that time in the lab with Roman…Alden (she really needed to get over that). She usually had a never ending stream of questions about the animals, the tests they were running, what if they did this or that, and no one, Alden or the techs, in the lab seemed to mind the questions. Always providing answers, insights or suggestions. Of course Rand thought Alden provided the most in depth answers, but that was probably because he had more experience than the rest of the lab crew. However, since she was the only one in the lab during lunch she jotted them down on the notes. Some times the lab techs would leave answers if they saw them. She would add the information to the files and always left the updated files on Alden’s desk.

She had rigged up long stick with a piece of her uniform sleeve rolled around the end. She was allowed to open the lid to feed Nibbles and so she was able to slip the makeshift ‘toy’ through the mesh and able to interact with Nibbles that way. The mouse seemed to like it.

Yeoman Rand

Roman was usually gone for half an hour to forty five minutes for lunch, usually closer to the half an hour. He’d missed her questions, he liked explaining things to her. Nibbles, without Rand petting her, seemed less than happy with the new arrangement, but not completely depressed, because Rand still played with her. After a week or so of such, Roman skipped lunch one day. He was still out of the lab at the normal time, but he wouldn’t be gone as long.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand entered the lab, and looked around. It was empty, and that was disappointing. She grabbed a packet of food from the cabinet and made her way over to Nibbles who was awake and waiting for her. Rand carefully opened the lid and gently scattered the food around. Nibbles reached out on hind legs and tried to reach her hand but Rand shook her head. “Oh no, you’d get me in trouble. I know, I miss it too. She closed the lid carefully and knelt down to be eye to eye with the small mouse. She looked around, making sure she was alone and she whispered to the mouse, “I miss him more.” She sighed, “And what am I supposed to do Nibbles? Hmmm? I like him. He’s confident and smart and first officer.” She stood up and picked up the ‘toy’ and opened the lid to slid it into place. She used it to ‘pet’ the small mouse. “Besides he’d never notice me like that. It’s my job to not be noticed.” She was quiet for a few moments, and then her voice shifted, deeper, a play at a man’s voice: (Mr. Darcy:) “So what do you recommend to encourage affection?” and then a more noticeable change, her carriage, voice, demeanor, taking on a distinct Yorkshire accent, in the one brief moment she was someone else, (Elizabeth Bennet:) “Dancing. Even if one’s partner is barely tolerable.” (‘Pride And Prejudice’)

Rand grinned at Nibbles, “Ah but I am nothing like Elizabeth Bennet, and we’re not having any dances onboard. Not that I’d work up the nerve to go.” She jotted down a few notes on Nibbles behavior. “How about a story while I work?” Rand launched into a short tale, The Lion and The Mouse while she went around collecting notes and adding them into the computer. Her voice changing distinctively for each character and even acting out a scene or two while she walked around the lab. When she was done she replaced the notes and walked back over to Nibbles. “What do you think?”

Yeoman Rand