Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: Honoring the Ardent

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side - sim: Honoring the Ardent

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: Honoring the Ardent
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Franks nodded, “Aye, Sir,” and slipped the gloves on and passed a second set to the doctor. He lifted the lid and placed the first divider into the cage. This was easier than it had been when they all lived in the den with the mother. Now they each had their own space. But first was to isolate the mother. She could still be protective. The second divider trapped her in the den and the others out. Then Franks slowly and carefully got the other dividers in place, isolating the male in a larger section. “Alright Doc. I will hold him down but be quick. I can’t lift him out so you will have to work around me.” The doctor nodded. This wasn’t the first time he’d had to do this. His previous two ships had officers that weren’t so careful with their lab animals. He was appreciative of how few accidents there were from this lab. The fact one got Alden after all this time made him even more wary. The claws were easy to swab. It was the mouth that proved difficult, but they managed without anyone getting hurt. The whole family group was a bit agitated so Franks decided to leave the dividers until they calmed down so they didn’t attack each other.

The doctor and nurse left and Franks pulled out the paperwork and began filling it out. Now normally Rand would help Alden with the reports and with his dominate hand injured he expected her to already be at work at the desk, but she wasn’t. She did have her own duties he guessed, but it was odd. Franks knew Alden hated paperwork so better to get it all done. And since Alden was the one injured it was Franks job as next in line to review it. “Cmdr can you tell me exactly what happened. So we can get this paperwork out of the way. I really don’t want Rand tracking me down later.” It was true but a small attempt at humor. He glanced up several times to see how the other animals were reacting. The most notable was Mr. Wyvern flicking his tongue out and undulating back and forth following Alden and then the chinzilla and back. And Mushu who’s eyes were weaving back and forth but fixed on Alden, Left paw placed against the glass. A behavior he hadn’t shown in awhile.

Franks

“I let my attention wander,” Roman said with a shrug. “I didn’t notice how agitated he was until he leapt up and bit me.” He wasn’t really paying attention to the paperwork, either. He looked as distracted as he had been all morning. His gaze lingered on Mushu, looking at the little lizard’s paw pressed against the glass. He had been planning on spending the afternoon with the little lizard. He could still do that once Franks finished the report about his injury. He wasn’t too worried about Rand, he figured she had her own job to do. Though if he thought more closely about it he’d think it was odd she left so quickly when he was hurt. Maybe because she knew he wouldn’t like she got medical involved.

~ Roman

Franks scribbled on the report, asking questions, like how long it was attached, how he got loose, and etc. Then he signed it and set it aside figuring Rand would pick it up and file it later. It would be added to the animal notes and medical report and all combined together. Now that was done, he checked on the chinzillas and began to remove some of the barriers. Mushu enjoyed the attention but seemed to investigate Alden and the bandages, his eyes waving back and forth, seemingly curious.

Roman held his hand out to Mushu, letting him investigate. Then he pet the lizard. He spent the next few hours playing with Mushu. He’d call it that he was trying to prevent the lethargic behaviour that had been common with Mushu lately but really, playing with Mushu just made him feel better, like playing with Pipkin.

Mushu was more active than he had been in awhile. As if he enjoyed the focused attention. Almost like a child pouting for it’s parent’s attention.

Rand stayed busy running back and forth and never staying anywhere long. Otherwise who knew where she was to be found, unless someone remembered she always had her communicator on her. She picked up the evening reports and found that Franks had mentioned that she had been the one to alter him, which meant she had to add her own report to the mix. She really didn’t have a lot of work after her meeting with Rogers, but guilt kept her distracted and it took longer than it should.

Rand

Roman stayed in the lab all day. When he was done interacting with Mushu, he found something else to do. By the time Rand finished her meeting with Rogers, Roman was sitting at a lab station with a sample and he was doing some sort of test with it. He hadn’t realized how late it was getting, or how long it had been since he’d seen Rand. The bandages thankfully didn’t restrict the movement of his hand much but he found writing his notes a bit difficult.

~ Roman

By the time Rand finished with her work, it was late, past dinner. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Guilt was overwhelming and she was torn between finding out for herself if Roman was okay and avoiding him because she felt guilty. But she reminded herself, like she did in every situation, no matter the people involved, this was not about her and her anxiety, it was about the other people involved. In this case it was about Roman and the Ardent and more importantly Jay. She stepped down and across the corridor and knocked on his door to no answer. She seriously doubted he was asleep, not this early. She knocked again but there was no answer. Deciding it wasn’t worth walking in unannounced again she left and returned a few minutes later, after she’d changed. Still no answer. She went in just to make sure he was okay, but he wasn’t there. She checked on Pipkin and then “I’m going to go find him. Then you can get out for a bit.”

A few minutes later she found him where she figured he would be, still in the lab working. He was very focused on what he was doing, and his hand didn’t seem to be bothering him, which was some relief. She stood quietly by the door, not wanting to interrupt him. Should she go in or should she leave and he could find her later?

Rand

If she left, she probably wouldn’t see him all night. He’d stay in the lab till he fell asleep there. Or just work all night. Thankfully, he looked up and saw her. “Rand? What time is it?” He asked. He looked around the lab and realized the shift had changed. It was after he’d normally have left the lab at least. She must have come looking for him.

~ Roman

She walked over to where he was working, and was careful not to bump the table he was working at. “2200.” She’d forgotten that there was still a shift down here. She was glad she wasn’t wandering around her robe, but just casual clothes, and her hair was still up. It felt very strange having what was going to be a casual conversation, in the lab, with the other officers around watching. She almost wished she hadn’t come down there, or he hadn’t been in the lab.

Rand

“That late?” Roman asked. He didn’t seem too concerned with the presence of other officers, though he did start cleaning up what he was doing. “I must have lost track of time…” Once his work station was cleaned up, he stood to go with her. “Sorry to make you come looking.” There had been nothing else interesting going on in the labs that day, so Roman’s incident with the chinzilla was the talk of the lab. It had been irritating to listen to all day.

~ Roman