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 (11) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Roman nodded. The galley was empty, but Roman knew from his own usual late nights it almost always was at this time. She sat at one of the tables so he followed and sat as well. He didn’t feel hungry, so he picked at his food, occasionally taking small bites. He was trying to make himself, he knew it had been over a day since he’d last had anything, but the food looked less appetizing than Mr Wyvern’s food. It wasn’ that the food was bad, it was just Roman’s poor appetite making it look less good.

~ Roman

Rand made herself eat. She had no reason not to, except guilt soured the food. Their meal lacked conversation, and it sadly reminded her of a few very late meals they had shared before they had been dating when Roman had really been struggling. She hated seeing him like this again. She finished her meal and returned the tray. “What were you working on?” Roman always liked talking about work, and she liked hearing about it. It was always a safe topic.

Rand

Roman finished about half his food before he gave up and put his utensils down. The meal was quiet, there was none of the casual conversation that usually accompanied their meals together. Roman hardly noticed. As Rand returned her tray, he moved the remainder of the food around his own. He looked up at her question. “Mushu seems a bit better.” He said, and then he seemed to perk up a little, “I should have an antidote to Mr Wyvern’s poison within the month.”

~ Roman

“I’m glad Mushu was better today. I’ve been concerned.” More than concerned actually. She adored that tiny luzard. Rand looked almost a bit relieved at his next comment, and she grinned trying to joke. “Oh good. I will feel much safer being in the lab knowing you’ve bested that demon.” She watched him move the food around a bit more, “How about something sweeter?” Rand went into the kitchen and rummaged around and came back with two plates, on each slices of warm apple pie and a scoop of ice cream. “This is better than left overs.”

Rand

“Considering how swiftly the venom acts, even with the antidote it would have to be given within minutes,” Roman commented. He was about to say, No, thanks, I’m not in the mood, but she was up and headed for the kitchen before he could get the No out. Instead, when she came back with two slices of pie and ice cream, he said, “Thanks.” He already felt bad not having finished the dinner. He didn’t want to end up wasting the pie, too, so he took a bite. It was really good, but he still found it difficult to make himself swallow the bite.

~ Roman

Rand had made sure to cut small slices and a small scoop. She knew he wouldn’t want much, but he needed something. A full stomach from good food could make you content and sleepy, but Rand knew that wouldn’t happen here. It was good, they were lucky to have their chef, but it wasn’t filling. Rand waited until Roman said he was ready to go. She was in no hurry to push him, or try to find something to talk about. Though her mind ran through a dozen or more stories to tell him. Hoping the familiar routine would help rather than make it worse. She couldn’t make it worse than she already had, could she?

Rand

The table was quiet while they had their pie. Roman was trying to just let himself enjoy it. It was sweet and good, and nice treats like that were uncommon. There was no reason to hurry. When he finished, he smiled at Rand and picked up his tray. “Ready to go?” He was unaware of how guilty she felt about the whole thing. He just wanted her there with him. That would help make it better.

~ Roman

“I am.” He seemed to have at least enjoyed the desert and to have relaxed a bit. She picked up the desert plate and returned it. She did feel guilty but that didn’t mean she was going to not be there for him. She would have to find a way, on her own, to make up for what she had done. Simply saying she was sorry, just wasn’t enough. They took the turbo lift and got off, “Pipkin is not going to be happy with us. She may be awake all night.” Rand would have to find a way to make time to let her out for a bit in the middle of the day.

She went straight to the counter, when they entered his quarters, and started making tea - chamomile and lavender. No Scottish coffee tonight, she hoped he wouldn’t need it, but tea was always a good idea.

Rand

Roman smiled and shook his head. If his other problem didn’t keep him awake, a hyper pipkin certainly would. “I forgot to make sure to let her out.” He needed to make sure he remembered her. He didn’t want to forget to let her out again. While she made tea, he played with Pipkin, trying to tire her out a little. He sat on the bed with the bunny, leaving room for Rand.

~ Roman

“You were busy. It happens.” Pipkin was quite happy to be out and ran up onto the bed and hopped and spun and climbed all over Roman. Rand smiled slightly watching while she waited for the water to heat. “Could try leaving some of the extra toys out around the room to keep her busy.” Pipkin showed no sign of tiring quickly, but her antics did draw some laughter from them both. Once the water heated, Rand steeped the tea and poured two mugs. She carried them both over, settled next to him and held out the second mug. Pipkin wandered closer, nose twitching, stretching to sniff the tea. “I donnae think ya will like tea, Pipkin.”

Rand

Roman took the mug and began sipping the tea. He smiled both at Pipkin trying to taste test tea, and Rand’s Scottish accent. He redirected the bunny’s attention to one of her toys instead. “That’s a good idea,” he said, about leaving toys around the room. He played with Pipkin a while longer before she got bored and went to take advantage of the extra space in the room, hopping around and sniffing things.

~ Roman

Rand slipped the tea quietly watching Roman entertain the fluff ball, or maybe it was the other way around. Putting her mug down she looked around for Pipkin’s crate and found it tucked in a corner, out of the way. She brought it over and cracked the lid to rummage inside. “Oh, what about this? Drop a few surprises inside? Might keep her occupied for the night.” She pulled out a box and handed it to Roman. It was a maze, lots of twist and turns, but plenty of exits so the rabbit wouldn’t get trapped. “Looks like you can put it together several different ways.”

Roman took the box, turning it in his hands a few times. It seemed like it would be entertaining and not too loud. Perfect. He nodded. “That should keep her busy for a while.” He set out the box and a few other small toys for Pipkin.

There was also the blanket they hadn’t used in awhile, with the felt grass to hide food in, and more small toys than Pipkin would ever need. She settled back down and picked up her tea, wanting to drink it while it was still hot. The warmth of the mug felt good on her cold hands.

Rand

With Pipkin taken care of, Roman settled back in next to her and started drinking his tea again. The familiar routine was helping make him sleepy. The soothing warmth and taste of the tea, the smell of the lavender in the tea, and having her there too. Before they were dating, Rand would’ve sat in his computer chair. He preferred it the way it was now, with her laying next to him.

~ Roman

Rand had been pondering all day what story to tell him. She finally settled on one and maybe he would find it amusing. “When I was in third grade we read the most fascinating story and I was absolutely enthralled by it. I think that was when I fell in love with historical pieces. We also studied plays that year. We read lots of them, watched some and even got to attend a real one. Then to my horror our teacher told us that we would be putting on our own play for the school and our parents.” The story went on, Rand had tried everything to get out of having to perform in the play. But still had a single line for a part. She was sick and miserable and didn’t want to do it. One day Randy, of course, caught her in the back yard pretending to be the main young lady of the play. He even recorded it and showed it to the teacher. The teacher was impressed but told Randy that as shy as Rand was it was too bad. Well it so happened that the little girl who had the part there a tantrum on the way to school that night acting a diva, as Randy put it, and refused to do the play. It took all of Randy’s talent and then some to convince Rand to do it. “The teacher even gave me this ear piece to wear and Randy had a tiny microphone and talked to me the whole time. But once I got past the first line it was so easy. It wasn’t me on stage it was the character. I didn’t have to wonder what to do, I just had to do what she would do.” She smiled a little, “it was great fun too when Randy came on stage. See he was playing the evil Sheriff of Nottingham, and I got to slap him, and didn’t get in trouble for it either.”

Rand

Roman smiled as she started the story. “So you got your starts as an actress at eight years old.” Then she went on to tell the rest of the story and as she talked he started to look more tired. At the end of the story he smiled, “Who wouldn’t like a free slap at your brother?” He sounded as tired as he looked. He was close to falling asleep. He smiled. If Randy was the Sheriff, and Rand was the main female role… “You played Marion?”

~ Roman

Rand grinned. Roman had a point; who wouldn’t want to slap Randy? He did tend to push people’s buttons with all that sass. But after he had talked her through the entire play, it had been really hard to slap him when all she wanted to do was hug him. And then Randy had whispered to her, ‘What would Marion do?’ Rand had smacked him so hard they heard it in the back of the auditorium. She’d left a hand print on Randy’s face. Randy thought it was wonderful. Rand had felt bad for days.

Then he finally put it all together. He sounded sleepy and relaxed and amused. She reached over to put her cup on the small side table and turned the lights off. She laid back against him, her voice quiet in the dark. “I guess I’ve always had a thing for Robin Hood.”

Rand

Roman smiled again, leaning into her. He wasn’t as relaxed as normal, but he was more relaxed than he’d been the last two days. “No surprise we ended up where we are, then,” he said sleepily. He fell asleep a few moments later. He slept much better than the previous night, sleeping well until about 0300. The nightmare was more like his second one the night before, but it still had him awake by 0330. When he’d calmed down a little, he settled back in to try and get back to sleep.

~ Roman