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)
Roman stood when Randy did, showing him out the door. Then he took a quick shower and got ready, and headed down to the lab. He wanted to avoid the last project, and he could. Randy had a point, there was no rush on the files. So he would bury himself in his other work. He reached the lab and sat at his desk - nearly an hour and a half late. Then he looked for his paperwork.

~ Roman

Roman’s paperwork sat on his desk waiting. Rand had been in the lab at her normal time and worked on compiling the notes as much as possible. Franks had asked her if he should do the reports, but she just grinned and shrugged, “It’s Cmdr Alden, he’s always at work.” Which Franks had to agree with. Though if it had been himself pulling those hours he would have taken the day or two off. He supervised Rand while she worked with Nibbles and then because she didn’t have Alden’s reports yet, he let her do a little work with Mushu.

Rand left because she had her morning meeting with Rogers, but was unable to return until a few minutes before lunch.

Rand

Roman had his paperwork done in record time, sitting on the edge of his desk waiting for her. He moved on to other work. Anything he could find that he’d been putting off. Paperwork, samples he didn’t particularly enjoy (there weren’t as many biologists as one would think that actually liked the excrement samples), reviewing projects, that kind of thing. When Rand returned just before lunch, he was working with Mushu, a task he’d been saving since that he liked to do.

~ Roman

Rand bit the inside of her lip to keep from smiling when she saw Roman working with Mushu. He looked better. Tired, but not exhausted, like his body had let out a huge sigh. She turned back to the computer to finish the reports as everyone left for lunch. When she finished and looked back, Mushu was stubbornly making his way up Roman’s arm. A tiny laugh escaped her before she could stop it. Roman used to let Mushu do that all the time. They very first time Roman had shown her Mushu he was on Roman’s arm. Rand always thought Mushu like the view because his eyes never stopped moving. “Did Scott finish that lure for him?”

Rand

Roman turned quickly when Rand laughed as if she’d startled him a little bit. Mushu made his way up to Roman’s shoulder and perched there, his tail curled by Roman’s ear. He shook his head to her question. “She’s been busy lately.” He’d been in a mood all morning as he usually was after he talked to Randy. But Mushu usually cheered him up. “I’m trying to keep him busy in the meantime, keep that lethargic behaviour from coming back.”

~ Roman

She hadn’t meant to startle him. She thought he knew she was in the lab. Roman engrossed himself in his work, but he was never one to not be aware of what was going on around him. “He seems to be enjoying it. His eyes are moving all over the place.” Rand imagined if she was allowed to let Nibbles out from her four glass walls, she’d probably do the same to her. She didn’t say that because she didn’t want Roman to think she was asking or expecting him to bend the rules for her. Plus he was usually irritable after he’d spoken with Randy. She understood the feeling so she gave him space.

Roman nodded. “He’s always liked heights. Might live in trees naturally.” Rand was right, the strange little lizard had his eyestalks fully extended and was moving them about as if trying to take in the whole room at once.

“It’s too bad there isn’t room to make him a more vertical enclosure where he can climb up high.” Rand didn’t say so but she was pretty sure Mushu would prefer climbing and perching on Roman to a tree.

She turned and went into a drawer pulling out a smaller pair of tongs and then pulled a steam out of Mushu’s enclosure. He liked insects but he would eat plants and seeds too. She picked a leaf and held in the tongues moving it back and forth, closer and farther away, trying to entice the little lizard to snatch it from her. “Do you want me to grab a lunch tray and bring it over?”

Rand

Mushu watched her makeshift toy. Then the lizard stuck out his tongue and it stuck to the stem. Roman smiled. “Looks like your toy works.” He said. As he did, Mushu’s tongue dropped away from the stem and retracted into the lizard’s mouth. Both eyes were still set on the leaf and stem though. He glanced up at her words. He still wasn’t hungry. But Randy’s words made him pause. Avoiding spending time alone with yourself and food and exercise, withdrawing from those things that keep you alive and healthy.

“Ehm, no… But come by with yours, we’ll sit together,” he decided at last.

~ Roman

“Aww, Mushu, I’m sorry, I thought the leaf would come off when you grabbed it.” She fiddled with the stem a bit, loosening the stocks of the leaves. She’d actually never seen Mushu Gran a leaf like that, he usually just munched on them. Or that’s what she saw. She didn’t spend as much time watching him as she did Nibbles. “There, try that,” apparently her habit of talking to animals like they understood was not restricted to Nibbles.

She moved the branch about careful not to get too far away. Mushu had quite a distance he could cover, but she didn’t want him to fall from his perch. Of course Roman’s shoulders were broad enough that probably wasn’t an issue. Her thoughts ran along jumping about quickly landing on the fact she knew how broad they were because she had spent quite a bit of time rubbing knots out of them, and how it felt when he hugged her. It was a good thing no one else was there, she’d turned that particular shade of pink.

“Uh, you take this.” She passed Roman the tongs with the stem. Then she left, returning a few minutes later with one of the meal tins and two cups of tea.

Rand

Mushu moved forward a little on Roman’s shoulder and grabbed the leaf with his tongue, and this time the leaf came off. Mushu munched the leaf until it was gone, then looked expectantly at Rand. When Roman looked up, Rand was bright pink again. Roman had grown used to it and he grinned a playful half-smile. He wasn’t surprised when she thrust the makeshift toy at him and left to get herself lunch. While she was gone he settled Mushu back into his enclosure and sat down at his desk. Then she returned and he reached for one of the cups of tea.

~ Roman