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 Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: The Reckoning
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Rand smiled, squeezing his hand. “That sounds good. I’ll get food and you pick the movie.” Now normally Rand wouldn’t care who got the food. In fact it was less stressful to let Roman get it because then she didn’t wonder if people were wondering who she was eating with. Not that anyone, other than Scott, would ask. The truth was though she wanted the opportunity to spy on her brother. It was Randy after all, and he was her brother so it was okay to spy just a little.

But bad luck for Rand or maybe good luck for Randy, Randy and Tracey were already gone from the mess hall when Rand got there. And Rand was not so curious that she wanted to miss out on time with Roman. So in short order Rand was back with a tray, two plates (mostly finger foods), two drinks and a small covered container. She set it down, kissed Roman briefly and disappeared back out the door. A few minutes later she was back, with hot popcorn. “What did you choose?”

Rand

Roman was about to offer to go down with her but instead she said to pick the movie, so he turned his attention to the list of new movies. Rand showed up just a few minutes later with their food, they kissed, and then she was gone again. He set up the movie he’d chosen, and then made himself comfortable on the bed and readjusted the heat pack he was using for his leg, switching the settings to make it cold. Then he put his food on the side table within his reach. When she came back with the popcorn and asked, he said, “A well known one from the early 21st century: The Matrix.“

~ Roman

Rand nodded. She didn’t know if Roman had seen that one yet, on the disk she gave him. Fortunately the little mishap with Anderson and Fordham at the self-defense class didn’t spread. The Matrix was one of the last performances Rand had given before she ‘retired.’ She didn’t say that she knew the movie simply because she wanted to just enjoy the evening. She didn’t want Roman to ask how she knew it and then wonder if it bothered her to watch something she’d performed. Instead she took her plate and sat down next to him on the bed, with the popcorn between them. Pipkin was on the stool, sitting up on her hind legs, nose twitching, looking for her own meal.

Roman put his arm around her when she sat down next to him. He hadn’t yet seen it on the disk, he’d seen several of the performances but not all of them. He started the movie and then started eating his food.

The movie was slow and strange to start. The choreography was decent, the special effects she figured were good for the time. Once Rand finished she set the plate and drink to the side and leaned up against Roman. Rand was enjoying the movie and resisted the urge to recite the lines along with the movie. At some point Pipkin decided it was safe to get on the bed and settle between them.

Rand

Roman finished his food and set the empty dishes on the bedside table. When Rand finished hers, she leaned up against him and he pulled her closer. Then Pipkin decided to settle between them, and Roman pet the little bunny with his free hand. About halfway through the movie, he readjusted his heat pack again. Then for the rest of it he just watched with her.

~ Roman

Rand glanced over as he adjusted the pad. She was glad she’d remembered it. The other heat pad was bigger and could get a lot warmer but this seemed to help more, being able to easily switch between heat and cold. She thought he was only supposed to do that if it was hurting. He seemed to be using it constantly. Was he hurting that much? Or was he wearing it so if he needed it he would already have it on? Rand didn’t ask, she didn’t want to bring it up right now. Better to just have an evening free of worry and problems and stress.

He wasn’t using it while working, save for the day she’d given it to him. But his leg was usually sore after working and it was really helpful. He liked having something nonmedical that was easy and relieved the pain. He was hoping that as time went on, it would stop getting so sore. He should probably use the chair more than he did, but he wasn’t never sitting down, he did try.

Once Roman was settled back, Rand leaned back into him, his arm around her. She scratched Pipkin behind the ears and slowly snuck her treats from the small container. If she was too slow Pipkin nudged her hand and tapped her with a paw. Rand did have to stop her from trying to sniff and steal a piece of popcorn. Other than that it was, for a Rand a very quiet and relaxing evening. For her it was a wonderful evening.

Rand

It was a really relaxing, nice evening. Roman couldn’t ask for more. It was a drastic change from how he used to spend his nights, before he and Rand got together. He’d keep to a strict schedule, two days at least of martial arts (Tuesday and Thursday, usually) two days of various other hobbies (his violin or reading for fun, or something else like that), and usually the rest of the week, he just ended up working late or doing personal projects until he finally fell asleep - late. And then there were his sleep problems to worry about. Now he was sleeping better usually, and he really liked spending time with Rand. He’d even had comments from his staff that his mood had improved lately (to which he always grumped, “My mood does not impact my work, nor is it your business”.).

~ Roman

Rand wasn’t sure what she did before she spent her evenings with Roman. She was up so early that she usually went to bed as soon as she could. She never knew when she’d be called. Her hours had been so strange she usually ended up taking naps when she could. When she had time Randy would listen to her recite lines, and they might have dinner together. Rand had stopped that awhile ago though. Randy was a very social person and she hated that he hid in their quarters with her. She ran in the mornings and if she had time she embroidered or knitted or read. Reminded her if long evenings with her mom and grandmother. Books were always a nice distraction. She lived watching movies and plays, but she tended to become immersed and lost track of time. But now she spent long quiet evenings with Roman. She was always very relaxed around him, usually unless something was bothering her, but being around him didn’t make her anxious.

When the movie ended, Rand was reluctant to get up. Before Kelmao she never stayed all night, she left once Roman was able to sleep and then she had stayed because he was in sickbay and recovering. She stayed next to him for awhile and then a small little sigh escaped, “I…I guess…I should probably go.”

Rand

Roman looked half asleep by the time the movie ended. He was relaxed and comfortable, and he felt really sleepy, but he was trying to keep his eyes open. When she spoke, he seemed to wake back up and he looked at her, surprised. “Go? What for?” Before Kelmao, she always stayed in the chair and by the time he woke up, she was gone. She never stayed. Afterwards she’d stayed in Sickbay with him, because he was recovering. But she’d stayed after that too, and well, Roman liked it that way. Before he forgot and fell asleep, he took the heating pad off and set aside, within reach of the bed.

~ Roman

Rand hadn’t realized Roman was so close to being asleep until after she’d spoken. If she had, she would have just stayed quiet. When he asked ‘what for’ she just stared at him like he should know. Things were back to normal now, or close to it. He didn’t need help moving around anymore, or making sure he took his meds, nor was he having nightmares. It had been a couple weeks since he’d had one or had trouble falling asleep. While she was thinking all this, she got up, fidgeting with stacking the dishes from their meal in order to stop herself from wringing her hands or hiding them behind her back. Roman was familiar with those. “I…I don’t know if I’m supposed to stay. You don’t really need my help and things are mostly back to normal. And… and I never stayed before. That was normal. I never stay after you fall asleep.” Did they have a different normal now? “There is a whole different set of social rules and things I’m supposed to do if we’re living together, or not…What are we doing? If not, then when am I supposed to stay and supposed to leave?”

Rand