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

(snip)

Roman read on his PaDD while he waited for her. She was late, but as usual he assumed the captain kept her late. It did happen sometimes. When she knocked he called for her to come in and then he smiled at her, knowing it wouldn’t take long for her to see it.

~ Roman

Rand smiled back at him still looking nervous, which was ridiculous. She spent every evening with him. This shouldn’t be different, but it was. She didn’t know where to put the bag. She didn’t even know what was in it. She figured just a fresh uniform since Randy didn’t want her to wake him up....How did that get in there!? Her face turned pale and then embarrassingly red. She knew Roman wouldn’t have gone and gotten her things without telling her and asking. Randy! Randy knew! Pain in the arse! Why that? It was a stuffed animal! It was so childish. She had to get rid of it. What could Roman possibly be thinking having that thing sitting on his bed?

That also explained the bag. Randy’s silent approval, but there was still no telling what was in the bag. She sat down and plopped the bag right in front of the stuffie in an attempt to hide it.

Rand

Roman grinned and grabbed the stuffie, putting it pointedly in view on top of the pillow. He looked at the gym bag, and his assumption changed, she’d already packed some things. That was why she was late. He smiled. “Got your bags packed tonight?”

~ Roman

Rand watched in embarrassed horror as Roman moved the stuffed kelpie back on top of the pillow. He was grinning, he was teasing her about it, and she flushed pink. She just really wanted to hide it. She didn’t think Roman was going to let her, though. She would figure that out tomorrow. “Oh…um…I was going to, ju…just a couple things.” She’d made a bit of a mess trying to decide. Because it was keeping her hands busy while she explained to Randy, instead of any indecision on her part. “But Randy gave me the bag and asked me not to wake him in the morning.” She looked perplexed and like the bag might bite her. “I have no idea what he put in there.” It couldn’t be more embarrassing than Randy giving Roman her kelpie, right?

Rand

Roman decided to stop teasing her, he didn’t want to embarrass her too much. “You need it. Randy explained. I don’t mind it being there.” He gestured towards the closet then and said, “You can put any clothes you brought away. Make yourself comfortable.” He didn’t want her thinking she had to leave things in bags. She was moving in, she should put her things away.

~ Roman

“Oh.” Rand nodded slightly glancing at the kelpie. Of course Randy explained. He didn’t wait for her to explain or just handle it on her own, he had to say something. She couldn’t even be mad at him. Randy had always been there, he’d always taken care of everything. Even when she didn’t want him to. Things had fundamentally changed in just a moment. It was a little sad, but not enough to even make her think about changing her mind.

She pulled the bag over and walked over to the closet. It felt really really strange to be putting things in his closet. She set the bag on top of the box of Pipkin’s things on the floor of the closet and opened it. The first thing was what she expected, a clean uniform. She lifted it out wondering what to do with it, she hadn’t brought a hanger, but apparently Randy at thought of that because there was one underneath the uniform. Then there were socks, nylons, and other personal items meant for a drawer. She set those aside and then laughed at the next thing in the bag. Cheese Whiz! She felt a little less awkward about putting that away because she already had some in the small cabinet.

A toiletries bag she placed in the bathroom on a shelf next to the towels. She wasn’t sure what else to do with it, it didn’t take up much room, and unless Randy was in a mood, she didn’t do anything elaborate with her hair. That drew attention. Pipkin was hopping after her curious to see what she was up to. Rand grinned and reached down to pet her on her way back to the closet. The last thing in the bag was her shirt and lounge pants she wore to bed. She lifted it out of the bag and stopped. At the very bottom was a rich purple satin nightgown with a note, ‘I’m keeping the emerald it looks great with my skin, but you look stunning in the purple. -Love Randy’ Instead of putting anything else away, Rand shoved it all back in the bag zipped it closed and shut the door. She was bright red and speed talking. “Are you hungry? I’m hungry, do you want to eat? Or tea or anything?”

Rand