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 Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side sim - Status Quo
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
“All this paperwork,” he said, gesturing to his desk. His to-do pile was rather large, but not unbelievably so. He just didn’t want her to go, he wasn’t sure why. If she had been talking about him just now… no, that was ridiculous. But his attention lingered on the paper she had haphazardly discarded.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand was busy on the computer making sure that little Freudian slip hadn’t appeared in her typed notes…and there was a soft sigh of relief when she saw it had not been. She looked over at his to-do pile and a very slight smile crossed her face. She walked over to his desk and picked up the pile and flipped through it. He really hated paperwork. She sat back down at the spare console and started sorting and transcribing the notes. There was silence in the room except for the movement of the animals and the scritch of notes being written, papers shuffled, the clack of a keyboard, and quiet breaths. Rand was surprised how relaxed she was. She supposed it was because she knew exactly what was expected in the lab, there were never any unexpected surprises, unless she counted Scott’s gossip. In very short order, and some impressive wpm, Rand had it all sorted, transferred to a PaDD, and setting on his desk. “Only four signatures.”

Yeoman Rand

While Rand was turned, typing everything up, Roman bent down from his seat, picking up Rand’s crumpled paper. Quietly unfurling the edges, he saw that it appeared to simply be a draft of her notes. But then, in the middle of the notes, it said I miss Roman in her handwriting. Recrumpling the note, he threw it in the waste bin. His suspicions were confirmed: She had compared him to Mr. Darcy! And she liked him! The realization swirled about in his head. He was sure not to show it on his face as she brought the PaDD and set it on his desk. “Thank you, Rand,” he said, signing each of the four. “Impressively fast as well.”

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Later that evening, Rand walked into her quarters. Randy was off socializing or something. She was glad; she didn’t want him stuck with her all the time. She set her access key rods down on the desk, undid her belt and unpinned her tartan sash from her shoulder tossing both on the dresser top. She reached into her pocket for the crumpled piece of paper so she could safely throw it away…and it wasn’t there. She spun around looking at the floor and then the desk to see if it was caught with the keys…it wasn’t there.

She spent a good portion of the next hour retracing every place she’d been looking for that crumpled piece of lab notes. Finally making her way back to the lab, the lights were off, no one was working in there now…she hesitated, there were no signs out saying it was off limits. Just no one working there. She went in turning on the lights and was soon on the floor looking under tables and consoles for that incriminating piece of paper. She had to have dropped it, but where was it? Finally desperate she checked the trash....HA! There it was. She grabbed it and turning off the lights she left the lab and went back to her quarters. She prayed no one looked at it before throwing it away.

Yeoman Rand

That night Roman skipped coming to her for tea, thinking hard about what he’d heard earlier that day. So Rand liked him. A lot of girls liked him, Roman knew that. So why did it matter so much that Rand did? He’d never put much importance into dating. He was always focused too hard on school, or work. And lots of women had asked him out, he always turned them down. He’d do the same to Rand… wouldn’t he?

The next morning he was awake early, and, checking the time, he realized he was in time for Rand’s run. So, in a few minutes, he was ready, and he waited in the corridor in between their quarters for her.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand and Randy had stayed up late, Randy regaling her with tales of the antics in the rec room the night before. Some how or another they’d started talking about Arvin. Randy’s best friend and Rand’s first date ever and the disaster it had become. Arvin was still really good friends with Randy and there were no hard feelings, though Rand still felt embarrassed about the whole thing. Her attempts at dating hadn’t been much better. She spent so much time trying to figure out what she was supposed to do or what her date expected of her and what she expected she either got so nervous she backed out or ended up leaving the date early. So she focused on school, work, her acting career, before she ruined that, and then Star Fleet. So with new resolve the next morning, Rand had decided she would just focus on her work, Alden (Not Roman) was the XO and a command officer. She could like him all she wanted, but that didn’t mean she had to do anything about it. It didn’t matter that she liked him, she still had her job to do and she would simply continue as she was.

Until she walked out of her door to go for her run and he was waiting for her…She paused, he was dressed to go for a run…with her. No not with her, that was absurd…but he had been running with her. “Good morning, Cmdr. Is your knee feeling better?”

Yeoman Rand

He’d tried to put the idea out of his head. It was easier to avoid when he didn’t know for a fact that she liked him. He just didn’t know what to think at all. But he wanted to keep things like normal, that much he knew. The lab, the runs, the tea. Roman liked spending time with her.

And so he was indeed waiting for her, and he smiled slightly when he saw her. “Well enough for a jog,” he replied, “if you don’t mind.”

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

He was smiling, but it was different, and he was smiling at her. She glanced down wondering if she’d dropped food on herself when getting ready, but nothing. Rand nodded with a smile, she couldn’t help it, d@%n. “Not at all, I meant it when I said you could come any time.” She started walking toward the lift and entered it when it arrived. “Deck 6.” It was just a run, she did this every day. He’d joined her multiple times. He just needed the exercise, Oh yeah? He’s not a runner, he’s told you that, he does martial arts. So why is he running with you? Rand mentally rolled her eyes at herself, because he couldn’t sleep that was the only reason.

Yeoman Rand

Roman followed her into the lift, and as always, started up a jog as they exited on deck 6. He was getting used to her running routine. He’d never particularly enjoyed running but with Rand, it always seemed like fun. He hadn’t put much thought into that. He seemed slightly tired, but their nightly tea/coffee sessions were quite helpful and they hadn’t had any catastrophic problems with it. “Good. It’s a good way to wake up in the morning,” he said.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO