Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: The Reckoning

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: The Reckoning

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: The Reckoning
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Her voice was really quiet and Roman barely heard what she said. She was changing the topic again, apparently hoping talking about work would work better than trying to make him talk about his leg. “Nope. It was a boring gas giant,” he said, giving a less specific though honest answer. He didn’t want to let her change the topic, but he didn’t know what else to ask or talk about regarding her anxiety. He just didn’t understand it well enough.

~ Roman

Rand just tried to breath, she tried to remember everything Randy had told her… Rand if you don’t tell me what you need, what you want me to do, I can’t do it. I know it’s scary but you have to speak up for yourself. At least with me. Which is what Roman said to her too, Next time you should tell me, so I can help. Helping you isn’t a bother. What did she need? And that was a horrible question to ask herself because it swirled crazily around her head, bouncing from point to point and took off to tangents that had nothing to do with helping her calm down. She was quiet for what felt like minutes, until finally. “Just…talk about anything.” She paused to take a breath. “Like…like that night I couldn’t sleep after I broke my foot. I want to listen to something that’s not my own head.” That probably sounded really pathetic, and she knew he was probably right, they had to talk about her anxiety, she just couldn’t right then. She could say they would talk later, after she was really calmed down, but she knew she’d avoid it unless he made her.

Rand

Roman tried to think of something to tell her about. He didn’t want to talk about work. He knew she liked it, but it felt too impersonal, with her laying against him trying to relax, to just talk about work or his career. But anything else he thought about either brought his mind to his leg or other things he didn’t want to think about. Martial arts? He can’t do them right now because of his leg. School? He really didn’t want to talk about Jay. The academy? Same problem as school. Finally, he settled on a story about a lab incident when he was an Ensign and Jay was assigned a different ship than him. His lab partner, testing the properties of a gel secreted by a specific alien plant, had spilled a sample all over himself. What made it funny was, the plant gel hadn’t turned out harmful but rather like poison ivy, and their CSO had done observations for the next two weeks on his lab partner’s reaction to the gel.

~ Roman

He was quiet while he thought about what to say. She realized how selfish her request had been. Roman hated talking about himself, his family, his childhood, anything to do with Jay. So much was connected to Jay. She should not have asked him to talk. He could have recited the Federation OSHA manual to her, it didn’t matter what. She should have gotten up, he needed ice and heat for his leg. She could have let Pipkin out of her cage to go play instead of…of this. The blood thinners would make it dangerous for Roman to get hurt accidently. She could have been talking to Chef about a pair of his gloves. The puncture, cut, and slice proof ones he used when he was chopping and cutting. She could be helping in a hundred different ways around the ship, rather than curled in a ball in her room. But she didn’t move. Roman might have relaxed his arm around her some, but if she tried to get up she was pretty sure he would stop her, not letting her run away from it.

Roman turned slightly, so that he was leaning back against the bed’s headboard and he lifted his leg onto the bed so he could rest it better. Leaving it straight out off the edge of the bed was starting to cause more discomfort. If she tried to get up, he was going to stop her. She still did not seem like she felt better. Now leaned back a little bit, she was almost laying on him, his arms still around her, holding her close.

There was an immediate difference in Rand when Roman leaned her back with him. Though she’d been breathing slower and leaned into him before, it was much more pronounced. It was simple anatomy. Scrunched and curled into a ball made her air way constricted, when Roman made her lay back with him, it opened and relaxed her air way and the air moved more freely. And she simply felt felt better the way he was holding her.

Almost immediately when he pulled her back against him, her breathing relaxed more. That was a trick he’d have to remember in the future. He rubbed her back lightly with the hand he had resting there.

Then he was talking, telling her about his early career. When he said the gel spilled over his lab partner she let out a small gasp, concern for a person she never met. Roman told it well and the ending was comical, but she didn’t laugh. The effort seemed too much, but she did smile and shake her head. “How did he feel about going from researcher to lab specimen? Was your CSO terribly upset with him?”

Rand

Roman smiled. “He wasn’t happy about it. Our CSO was more mad scientist than professional officer so he was happier for the chance to study it than he was upset about the accident in the first place. Medical had deemed it safe, it didn’t seem like it was doing anything more than make him very uncomfortable for a while.”

~ Roman

Rand actually chuckled that time, even though her voice was still soft. “You worked for Dr Frankenstien! Oh! You’re IGOR!” She giggled briefly, not as carefree and easy as normal, but she was obviously more relaxed now, if not completely.

Rand

Roman was glad to hear her giggle, but he looked mildly offended. “Igor? You think I’m Igor? Can’t you pick any cooler of a fictional scientist?” He asked, his voice going high pitched in a typical English way when he said ‘Igor’. He didn’t hate the book Frankenstein, and he certainly wasn’t a Doctor Frankenstein, but Igor? He was no assistant! He wasn’t really upset and she’d be able to tell that because he went back to smiling at her almost right away.

~ Roman

She tipped her head back to look up at him. His reaction made her giggle again. “Well you were at the time. Poor Ensign Igor forced to assist the mad scientist.” More giggles. “But you aren’t an assistant anymore.” She put her head back against his shoulder breathing a moment. “How about Dr. Aki Ross from Final Fantasy? He was a biologist and vowed to stop the aliens that plagued Earth. It’s him, or Dr. Henry Wu from Jurassic Park. The guy that brought back dinosaurs and made an amusement park well the patrons got eaten.”

Rand

Roman looked down at her and raised a brow when she giggled again. Then she lay her head back against his shoulder. He smiled. “We both know I wouldn’t get anyone eaten so that makes me the alien fighting biologist.” He was hiding it but he clearly liked that one. Though these days humans didn’t go around fighting aliens unless they had to. And Roman preferred it that way.

~ Roman

“No, you would never let anyone get hurt.” She absolutely believed that. There were circumstances beyond his control, bit he would never let that happen. “I think super hero biologist suits you. That’s what you’re doing now. Finding ways to keep people from being hurt by the alien animal toxins, right?” She was teasing. It wasn’t everything he was doing, she knew that, but it was part of it. They weren’t fighting against the aliens just fighting to make sure they could live with them…sort of. She was relaxing, a lot, and the steady rhythm of his hand rubbing her back helped a great deal. She had to be careful though, not to crash. She still had her evening rounds later.

Rand

Roman would have to get back to the lab soon. He wasn’t actually off duty yet. But at least Rand felt better, and he’d been able to rest his leg some. He smiled and shook his head. “I suppose that’s one way to put it. Is Mr Wyvern my nemesis, then?” He said, playing along. He knew his large snake was not Rand’s favourite of his animals.

~ Roman