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 (10) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Roman could smell it as soon as Rand opened the bottle and even more so when she poured some into her hands. It was a muscle rub. Then she started working it into his shoulders and neck and the warm, cooling feeling helped to relax the muscles and ease his discomfort. That, and the feeling of her rubbing his shoulders to work in the oil, was so nice he was nearly falling asleep sitting in front of her.

~ Roman

The tension was not confined to his shoulders tonight. The knots spread down to the small of his back. As she got his shoulders to relax, his lower back seemed to arch painfully with the knots there. He looked like he was going to fall asleep. If that meant she had She reached around him and took the small container of scraps and set it at the far corner of the bed for Pipkin to investigate. Then she added more oil to her hands. “Lie down on your stomach.” Her hands gently urged him to do so. Then she focused on his lower back. She thought about saying something about his leg, but didn’t want to bring up anything else that might upset him.

Rand

She reached around him for the container and Pipkin’s eyes were on it. Then, Pipkin was already waiting for it when she put it on the corner of the bed. At Rand’s urging, Roman lay down stomach first, his head on his pillow. Then she started working on his lower back and he hadn’t realized how tight it was until she started working on it. He let out a few quiet, happy “ooohhhh”s as she worked.

~ Roman

Rand shook her head slightly at Pipkin. At least one of the three of them was eating well. Rand smiled as the quiet sounds he made. Even after the knots relaxed she kept working, to ensure they didn’t return right away. She was careful not the use too much oil so the heat or cold wouldn’t become uncomfortable. When she was done she pulled the extra blanket it up and draped it lightly over his back. She got up trying not to disturb him, closed the bottle, and went looking for a towel to wipe her hands on.

Rand

Roman fell asleep as she kept working after the knots had relaxed. He needed the sleep and he slept as she pulled the blanket over him and as she moved around the room. His towels and his hand towels were in the bathroom. Pipkin, having eaten the contents of the bin, was curious to what Rand had been doing and went over to Roman, sniffing him with her front paws on him.

~ Roman

No matter how much time she spent there, no matter how many times Roman told her he wanted her there, some times it still felt strange to freely make use of whatever she needed. She found a towel and washed the excess oil off her hands. She finished her food and cleaned up. She picked up the small container for Pipkin and shook her head and whispered at the bunny who was so curious about Roman at the moment, “Don’t get used to it, you won’t be eating out of the bowl again.” Pipkin twitched her nose and then sneezed from the scents of the oil. Rand stifled a laugh and scooped her up, turning the lights down and sat at the desk, Pipkin in her lap. “I know, I’m worried too.” Pipkin stayed on her lap as long as Rand was petting her, but when Rand turned on the computer to work, she hopped down and returned to the bed.

Rand was so tired she couldn’t sleep. She tried working for about an hour but when the words started moving around on the screen she decided it would be best to stop. She moved over to the bed and laid down, but ended up tossing and turning, so she sat up and just stared into the dark. Eventually, around 0300, she fell asleep, sitting up, head at and awkward angle, one hand resting on Roman’s arm, just incase he had a nightmare.

Rand

Roman slept soundly most of the night, just because of how exhausted he was. Even as Rand moved about the room, washed her hands, spoke to Pipkin, worked, and tossed and turned, he slept. It was after 0300 that the nightmare started, it seemed like lately he couldn’t sleep without at least one. It woke him with a start, sweating and clenching the sheets in his fist. He rolled over and sat up, trying not to wake Rand.

~ Roman

Rand hadn’t been asleep long, maybe a few minutes, and necessity made her a light sleeper. Rand was tired enough, she might have slept through his moving, except his arm moved out from under her hand. It woke her instantly. She started to move her head, with a stiff painful crick in it now. She saw Roman sitting up and bit back the painful moan and set a hand to her neck to support it while she sat up. She moved over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, pressed against his back and laid her head on his shoulder. She felt like she was trying to hold him together, and failing miserably. A quick glance told her it was just after 0300 and he fell asleep around 2100. Six hours. It was the most he’d gotten in one stretch all week. She didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t. She just hugged him.

Rand

Roman hadn’t seen Randy since Rand had shown him the disks initially. He hadn’t shown up since then. Pressed up against him like she was, Rand would be able to feel his shaking from his nightmare. He took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself and leaned back into her, putting his hands over hers on his waist. Six hours was way more sleep than he’d had in nearly a week and yet, he’d prefer the exhaustion to this, the way he felt after his dreams. She didn’t say anything, so he didn’t either, just let her hug him for a while in silence while he calmed down.

~ Roman

She laced her fingers through his an just let him hold on. Rand figured he hadn’t seen Randy in a while. He’d been working nonstop. Rand had no idea what Randy thought about it, but she tried to stay out of that. She was sure it was difficult enough for both of them and then add Roman and her’s relationship to it. However she also knew that Roman wouldn’t ask for Randy but if she suggested it, he would most likely agree.

After several moments she grabbed the blanket where it had fallen and then got him to lean back with her, she adjusted her arms around him, and then pulled the blanket over them. She started squeezing his hand with her breathing, hoping it helped with the breathing. “With all the extra done, maybe…maybe you should talk to Randy? It won’t interfere with the extra work now.” She hesitated a moment, “You know you can always talk to me, you don’t have to,” she hurried to add, “but I’m here no matter what.”

Rand

Roman held on to her, his head rested against hers for several moments. Then she pulled him gently back and he leaned back with her. He readjusted the blanket a little bit and then put his hands back over hers. His breathing started to follow the pattern she set squeezing his hand. He lay quietly with her for a little while before she spoke up and he squeezed her hand. He wanted to talk to her, but it felt impossible to start. He squeezed her hand a little tighter and nodded.

~ Roman

Rand understood not wanting to talk about it. She was the same way. If she’d thought about it though she would realize Randy had a way of getting her to talk and it helped. To air it out, as it were. She took the nod to mean agreement about Randy. He said he wanted to get over it, that it was his problem, but it wasn’t. Rand was determined on that point. Again she had no proof, but she was good at looking between, into the grey areas, Roman had been left far too long alone to deal with things. Maybe he didn’t know how to ask for help, maybe he simply couldn’t because he had been taught to be that way. Maybe he had simply been left alone with the grief too long, There is no grief like the grief that does not speak. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) Surely Jay’s parents would have reached out? Roman and Jay had been like brothers and the only parents Roman ever spoke of were Jay’s. Did they abandon him? Rand shook her head, it couldn’t be that, not from what Roman had told her.

They hadn’t meant to abandon him, Roman knew. They’d just been too busy with their own grief and that had caused them to distance themselves. Roman didn’t blame them for that. Jay had been their real kid after all, not him. And somehow he was the one that made it off that ship, not Jay. Roman had always questioned why. Bu there was no point. He was a scientist, there was no answer to that question besides random chance. Jay had simply had the misfortune to be standing slightly closer to the blast than Roman.

That was a memory he didn’t want to remember, and a frequent scene for his nightmares, as it had been tonight. Roman remembered that there suddenly weren’t any red alert alarms anymore, because the blast cut power to that section of the ship. And then, looking up, not quite aware of what had happened yet, not fully aware of his own injuries yet, and seeing Jay several feet away from him unconscious and badly injured. And there hadn’t been anything he could do because when he tried to move… He physically winced at the memory. The injury to his leg was bad, and his chest had been hurt too, and trying to move had been immensely painful.

When Roman squeezed her hand tighter, she meant to kiss his cheek, but got his temple instead. She wanted to badly to help him, to be useful in this situation. To have the answers or the help he needed. She should get Randy, but she couldn’t leave him, not even for that short of a time. She wouldn’t leave him alone. So she did the only thing she knew to do, that seemed to help. She started telling him a story about her as a child and her misadventures with animals. It was quite possible she had told him this before, she was too tired to remember. But he always seemed to enjoy enjoy these. She would have to be up soon, so there was no reason to try and go back to sleep.

Rand

Rand kissed his temple and the feeling brought his mind away from his memories. Then she started telling him one of her stories. He’d heard it before, he was fairly sure, but he didn’t really care. There wasn’t much reason to go to sleep, even if he wouldn’t need to be up until a little after she would. He listened until he started to relax, his muscles which had been tense now loosening. He still had a hand over hers and he squeezed it gently, leaning back into her again. “I’ve always loved your stories.”

~ Roman

She felt some of the tension leave him as he relaxed. Rand grinned in the dark and rotated her wrist so her palm touched his and she could hold his hand in return. “Ach, tis a good thing I was a wild fae child then.” Roman always got this look when her accent got more noticeable. She couldn’t really describe it, but she thought it meant he liked it. Usually, it happened when she was relaxed and comfortable (which she was around him), or really exhausted. The later applied but right now it was deliberate, making fun of herself, trying to make him smile. “A poor one I was too. In fact I dinnae ever manage ta truly enchant a furry animal much less a man. I was a sore disappointment ta Queen Titania.” Rand was simply being silly, for his benefit, and had no idea it came out flirtatiously. If she had, she would have been far too self conscious to have actually said such a thing.

Rand

Roman was giving her that look again, both because he loved her accent and because what she’d said was fairly flirtatious. He turned in her arms so he was facing her and smiled. “Well, you enchanted me, did you not?” He said, slipping his arms around her. He did not need to play up his accent, it was naturally quite strong and very obviously English. It was nearly pitch dark in his room, and he could only just barely make out her face, so he hoped she could see his expression - a playful smile.

~ Roman

If Rand hadn’t been so tired, she would have realized what she’d started a bit quicker. But when Roman turned to face her, there was that hint of low laughter in his voice that told her he was both teasing and flirting with her. She loved his accent, a fact that if she admitted to Randy would cause her to be subject to some overly dramatic shock and disbelief. “I did?” That was a heady thought. He slipped his arms around her and she settled in close to him. The ambient light from the chronometer allowed her to see his face more clearly than he could see hers. The smile on his face made her blush, but a teasing smile appeared on her face. “Really? I thought Elizabeth bewitched Darcy, not enchanted him?”

Rand