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)
Rand brought him tea throughout the day. The first time she brought citrus he wasn’t expecting the flavour. After his usual shift was over, she came back down and sat at her station. He hadn’t spoken to her most of the day except “thanks” for the tea. He felt like his eyes were going crosseyed from looking through reports, scientific graphs and charts, and tables of data. He’d taken the bandage off his right hand after his shower that morning, but the scratches were healing and he wasn’t working with any samples he might contaminate anyway. He was still stepping away every once in a while, trying to hide his emotions. She squeezed his hand when no one was in the lab. She wanted him to take a break. He shook his head. “I need to finish this.” His voice shook and he spoke softly. He was nearly done with the first project but Rand could probably guess he wasn’t going to stop when he finished that one. He’d work all night if she let him.

~ Roman

“Then a break.” She understood wanting a solid stopping place. She also knew if he worked with out space to let his body, if not his mind, clear, he would only end up having to redo the work. He also knew she was as stubborn as he was and at times even more so. Of course she wasn’t sure he would remember that right now. Before letting go of his hand, she placed it on the cup. The ice cold water would help clear his head a bit. She continued to work on the rewrites until he finished that first project. Then she was by his side. She gently took the papers and the disks. It seemed natural, she was collecting the reports, but there was nothing for him to look at. Her silent message ‘Take a break.’ He had been bent over the computer so long his shoulders were noticably stiff and he was squinting. The pages would start being blurry soon if he didn’t pause.

She placed his hand on the cold water. She really wanted him to take a break. He wasn’t going to. He wasn’t sure he could make himself come back to it. He finished the last project and set it aside - in the ‘continue research’ pile. Almost as soon as he set it down, Rand was by his side, gathering his notes. It was a swift and natural movement, and the disks were gone, too, before he could pull another one. His upper back and his neck hurt from leaning over the computer. His eyes felt dry and sore and strained. He still didn’t want to quit. But she’d taken all his work away and she pulled him gently, leading him towards his CSO office. It was a short walk.

Rand had learned that sometimes being more stubborn meant being faster and picking when to fight a battle, instead of which fight. So she simply waited and took the work away. For the moment.

She walked with him down to his office where she made him sit after the door closed. There was hot tea and a light snack. She placed a cloth over his eyes to ease the strain and she quietly began to work the k it’s out of his shoulders. Which she knew had more to do with his mental state than physical strain.

Rand

When the door closed, she sat him in his chair. He tried - and failed - to stop himself from yawning. The darkness after she put a cloth over his eyes only made him feel more tired. It did help though. It made his eyes rest, something he needed after staring at screens all day. He let out a soft sigh as she started working his shoulders, loosening the knots he formed. He wouldn’t admit it had to do with his mental state. He’d cling to the idea it was because of using the computer all day.

~ Roman

Part of it was using the computer all day, it certainly didn’t help. What she really thought he should do was go to bed. Even a few hours, let the physical tension drain, or try at least. Honestly if he fell asleep at the desk she would run and grab a pillow and let him stay there. She continued to work the knots and tension out, she was no expert though and someone else probably could have done better. That wasn’t the point, right now Roman needed someone to take care of him, to know someone loved him and wanted to take care of him. And there was no way Rand was going to give someone else the opportunity.

She replaced the cloth over his eyes with a new one. The tea would stay hot in the mug for some time. He had gone through 14 of the projects in one day. Granted Rand had done a bit to help, but he still had. She felt like that was enough for one day. Her fear was he would slip back into the bad habits that had first concerned her and then he would have to redo the work, forcing him to spend more time on them. She didn’t talk though because she knew she would shamelessly fall back on the habit of helping him sleep. Though she felt that was best, she wasn’t sure it was. She’d made too many wrong guesses lately.

Rand

Roman wanted to get them done and wanted them done ASAP. He knew how sleeping was going to go, and it wasn’t going to go well. He’d rather keep working. But he was getting really tired. He took a sip of the tea while she was switched the cloth over his eyes for a new one. “There’s seven large projects left. It’s going to take me a few days to finish all of it.” He said. He didn’t want that to be true but if each took as long as the first, there was no way he could finish them all in one or two days.

~ Roman

Rand felt the last of the knots release but she kept going. She knew that if he went back to the computer now the muscles would just get tight again. “You got through 14 of them today. You need a break so you can give each the same clear attention.” She thought about it. Some of the enlisted crew in his department had been serving for a long time, and some knew what it was like to lose people they served with. They also tended to gossip less and were understanding. Asking someone in the specific labs might be useful, as they were more current on the current topics in their field. Roman was well versed in multiple subjects but not an expert. She knew, however, Roman would want to do this himself, not allow anyone else to see it. Her hands slipped off his shoulders and around him, hugging him from where she stood behind him. “How can I help?”

Rand

The only large project in Roman’s actual area of expertise was his own. The other eight had all been in other fields of which Roman was varying levels of knowledgeable in. That was part of why he expected them to take him so long. He took the cloth off his eyes and took another drink of the tea. “I am giving them all clear attention,” he said stubbornly. Like with his reports all those months ago, he didn’t seem to like accepting that his work might not be his best when he let himself get too tired.

“I know you are.” She just wanted it to stay that way, but she didn’t say that. Roman probably knew what she meant even if he wouldn’t admit it. Stubborn man.

She let her hands drop from his shoulders and hugged him from behind, and he placed a hand on hers. “Get some sleep. You don’t need to stay up all night just because I intend to.” He replied. He wanted her with him, but she had duty too, and she needed her sleep.

~ Roman

He was sending her away. Maybe that’s what he needed? To deal with it on his own for a bit. Or maybe just to get her out of his hair for awhile. Since she was of no help with these last projects maybe it would be better for her to go. She didn’t like it when people seemed to hover over her when she worked. She didn’t know how he thought she would be able to sleep though, knowing he was down here dealing with all this. She sighed, tightening her arms around him. The food she brought wasn’t heavy and shouldn’t sour an already churning stomach, and he’d barely eaten in 3 days. “Okay, but not until you eat. Even your stubbornness can’t stop your blood sugar from dropping. And the sweetener in your tea isn’t enough.” She sounded a lot more normal, confident, like nothing was wrong than she actually felt.

Rand

He didn’t want her to go because she wasn’t helpful or he felt she was hovering but because he didn’t want her to lose sleep just because he would. He hoped she would sleep. Roman managed a smile. “Then there must not be enough sugar in it.” He was kidding, of course, he liked it exactly how she made it. He tightened his grip on her hand for a moment, then let go and pulled the snack over to himself. He wasn’t hungry, but she was right - he couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten normally. Days ago, it had to be.

~ Roman

Some of her own tension left as he joked with her. If she could remember in the morning, she would make two cups of tea for him, one with extra sugar, just because. She laid her head on his shoulder when he tripped her hand. Rand felt like she had won a massive victory when he began to eat without argument. She came around and sat, taking a second plate and eating as well.

Returning to the lab she looked at the disks and reports. “Why don’t you text Mushu’s reflexes while I sort this?” She sat down and started going through the disks. She put one away, Roman’s personal logs. Then she moved all the projects around on the disks. Only leaving him with those files for the projects he still had to go over. She took the other disks and reports to file away later. She left, doing as she promised.

Two hours later, Rand was sick of tossing and turning and if she didn’t settle she would end up with an angry brother. She slipped on her robe and down the corridor to her office and tried to work. She was tired, but careful that she didn’t make mistakes. She wanted to go down to the labs, but she had told Roman she would sleep. She couldn’t, but didn’t want to worry him.

Rand