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

(snip)
Roman followed her pace whenever she stopped to walk. His leg caused no problems until near the end of the run, and even then it did not really hurt, but he could tell it was tired. When she slowed he saw she was smiling and he smiled too. “So did I.” He was not hungry, but he wasn’t going to turn down a little more time with her, so he nodded. “Let me get a quick shower out of the way first, then we’ll go”

~ Roman

Rand nodded and disappeared I to her quarters. Rand appeared in the corridor in a fresh crisp gold uniform, polished black knee high boots, communicator on her belt, key rods in her pocket, and a perfectly twisted and pinned bun. Sharp quick steps carried her across to her office where she collected her PaDD. Today would not be easy, but now that she was more awake she was sure they would get through it, somehow.

Roman came out of his own quarters, still tugging one of his sleeves down a little. His damp hair was perfectly combed, his blue uniform spotless as always. His own uniformed boots, a practical men’s ankle boot, were shiny and spotless as well. He stood with perfect posture, and to most, whatever he was feeling would be impossible to tell from his face. Rand had learned how to read his expressions.

Roman in his uniform never failed to strike her. He was crisp and neatly put together no matter what was going on. Rand tried for the same; for her it was like donning armor against life. Breakfast offerings in the galley was a full selection. And as much as she hated being around people, the extra time with Roman made her smile.

Rand

Roman took her hand as they headed down to the galley, only letting go when it came time to take a tray and fill it with breakfast foods. He picked a few small things, and then chose a seat with her. They still had nearly an hour before Rand would have to go to start her shift, plenty of time for their breakfast.

~ Roman

Rand wasn’t cold, but Roman’s hand was pleasently warm wrapped around hers, and gave her butterflies in her stomach. She didn’t think too much about people noticing anymore. Roman never asked he just took her hand, not that she expected him to. She imagined it was his way of silently telling her not to worry about what others might see or think. In truth Roman probably didn’t think about it at all, and that was reassuring on its own.

She selected an omelet because eggs as a food choice were rare. Chef usually reserved fresh eggs for ingredients. She ate quietly, enjoying his company, and then asked, “Have you ever fished?”

Rand

Roman didn’t think about it much, he just liked to hold her hand. It was a small show of affection that wasn’t unprofessional and was comforting to both of them. And everyone already knew so there was no sense denying themselves that small comfort in the effort to hide things.

He did not pick the eggs, better to leave them for someone who’d enjoy them more if he wasn’t really hungry. He ate quietly for a while and then gave her a confused expression. “Fished?” It just seemed a bit of a random question. Then he nodded and then shrugged. “Once. I wasn’t a fan. It’s not good for the fish”

~ Roman

Rand saw the confusion, she tended to do that to him. She had ideas and kind of blurted them out of no where. Well she did put thought to it, but her ideas came from a totally different perspective. She grinned a little at him. “Yes it’s cruel and dreadful as a sport. I was thinking about the lures though. They are designed to trick the fish into thinking their are insects landing on the water. I was wondering if something similar might entertain Mushu. On a spring wire so it bobbed and weaved about the enclosure for him to chase. Minus the hook of course. He would have to be trained not to eat it though.”

Rand

Roman smiled. “I think he’d like it. We could make it out of something that won’t harm him if he does eat it, just in case.” He thought about it another minute and then added, “I’m sure it could be made with things we have in the lab. Scott wouldn’t mind doing it.” Scott, though she was not a biologist, did like the animals. She was almost always willing to do things like that for them.

~ Roman

Rand nodded. That was true. Scott adored the animals and often complained to Rand that Roman wouldn’t most her or the other scientists get attached. Or at least strongly encouraged them not to. “She’s very creative that way and she will likely enjoy coming up with a solution.” Rand was apparently in a mood to talk about ‘work’. She completely enjoyed discussing the animals with Roman and never thought of it as work. It was a shared interest and she imagined she would enjoy discussing it with him when she was old and grey. “Do you have, well of course you do, but could you get me the environmental information for Nibbles’ natural habitat? She is hording food, almost like a squirl or chipmunk would. I know the lab’s environment stays pretty consistent, but I was wondering if she was trying to ‘prep for winter’s as it were.”

Roman nodded. “I can get you my notes on the environment.” He asked a few questions about how, when, and where, the little mouse was storing food. Then he asked a few other questions about what she’d noticed with Nibbles lately.

They talked for awhile and then Rand had to leave for her rounds. She hoped that Roman would be able to concentrate on his work. Maybe the prospect of helping Mushy would keep him busy. At 0700 she appeared, with tea and sat down to work. His usual reports. It wasn’t until those were finished that she produced the data disks like he had told her to do. But on top of them were the reports, recommendations, and accompanying research she had worked on all night. She was used to speaking softly as they worked, out of politeness to not disturb the others. “I took the liberty to do some preliminary suplimental research.” She wanted to tell him not to read it, just sign, but she wasn’t sure she understood the topics enough to leave it all up to her.

Projects that had been assigned to stellar-cartography, astrophysics and astronavigation had all been completed by other ships now, that had flown through those sectors. Recommendations to give credit for initial findings were drafted. Other projects from mechanical sciences, chemistry, and a few others had had their theories proved wrong or superceeded by newer proofs. But it seemed the initial work done on the Ardent had influenced the newer work. Recommendations for publishing, under the original research, post mortem, were written. That still left 8 projects, including Roman’s own, that Rand didn’t have the background or experience to do anything with.

Rand

Once Rand had to go Roman went to his lab. He wasn’t focusing on much before she came in with his reports but he did try. He started on his paperwork, trying to forget about the disks. Finally, at 0700 she brought his usual reports and tea and it took them some time to finish those reports. Then, it was time. She brought out the data disks. There were numerous reports on top of them. The product of hours of work. “When did you have time to do all this?”

Rand was not going to tell him she stayed up all night to get it done or that was what she was doing when he found her last evening. “I made the time.”

Then he took the disks and reports and started going through them one by one. Each one he had to go through and double check her work. He made stacks for “continue researching”, “outdated/discontinue” and “research taken over by another ship/officer”. He tried not to look too much at the names on the research projects. Tried to ignore the ones accompanied by pictures taken aboard the Ardent. He recognized which lab they were from the pictures. And when that didn’t work, he tried to push the unpleasant images out of his mind. It was after lunch by the time he made it to the last eight projects that Rand had noted she lacked the expertise to pass judgement on them. These projects were bigger or more specialized and it would take him time to go through it all and decide what to do. He saw his own project - “The Chearian Outpost Environmental Safety Project” - at the back of the list. That one he did not need to go through. He remembered it. But he was going to save it for last. He was going to pretend he hadn’t seen it. He started with the first one and spent the rest of the day going through it. There were several times he’d get up and leave or work on something else until he’d calmed enough to keep working. He wouldn’t let his officers see his emotions. If anyone asked what he was doing, he’d casually reply that Command had asked him to evaluate some old research projects. He didn’t leave at 1700 when his shift ended. He kept working, just wanting to finish all of them as quickly as he could.

~ Roman

Rand popped back over the course of the day. When she would usually take some time to do personal errands and tasks she went back to the lab to collect what Roman had already reviewed. She also brought tea. Sometimes his black tea and sometimes the citrus tea, just to provide him something different. After the evening reports she knew he was still working because she had worked on them in his quarters so she could let Pipkin out for a bit. So she went down to the labs where she found him still working. She installed herself at what was deemed ‘her station’ and started revising the reports and letters he had finished. After a couple of hours she left and returned with two bottles of ice cold water and gave him one. No one was in the lab at the moment, just luck, and she squeezed his hand. “You need a break, a short one. Food. You’ll work better.”

Rand