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)

It wasn’t that the reasoning or synthesis of the data wasn’t there, but the examples and proof of the where the data came from. Rand just needed to find the specific section and link it in the report. Just to make sure it was thorough and Science command didn’t send it back. Rand went over to the counter and set the kettle to keep the water hot. She had a feeling there would be a lot of tea consumed that day. She waited to see if he wanted to sit at the computer or on the bed and work from his PaDD. Then she joined him and then put the disk in and let it load. She held is hand in her left, the stylus in her right, and made sure she wasn’t holding any tension in her shoulders.

Rand

They first thing Rand it was set the kettle back on. That was appreciated. Roman drank way more tea when he was upset. In typical British fashion, of course. He picked the computer desk, mostly because technically, he was on duty and it was more professional. She put the disk in and let it load and then took his right hand with her left. Roman leaned back, squeezing her hand, as the first video saved on the disk began to play. It was from the earlier projects, by the date, just after their second landing party to the planet surface.

Rand didn’t know exactly what would be on the disk, what animals or plants or samples, but she flipped back through the report she was creating to the appropriate date. She knew this was going to be hard and she didn’t want to have to make Roman rewatch it if she missed something.

The video was taken in the Ardent’s lab, at a desk in the lab, just like Roman’s current one, and to start with, it was a slightly younger looking Roman in the middle of the scene, his hair and his uniform as neat as ever, except when he raised his arms, it only had one gold ring on the sleeve. A Lieutenant’s uniform. He was only four years younger (this was nearly a full year before the attack), but he looked different, more relaxed. Almost like he had that first day he’d teased Rand by taking his shirt off. Carefree and playful. There were a few other science officer milling about in the background, going about their jobs. A few enclosures for small animals were visible in the background. The lab was, though only partly visible was obviously much bigger than his lab aboard the Sentinel. Roman was grinning slightly as he started to to speak in the video, holding up a small bright blue frog, with his bare hands. The frog was shorter than his pinky finger, maybe two or three inches long, and cobalt blue. “We found this little guy on the planet surface, under a Hikagua berry bush.” From the reports, they’d know that a Hikagua berry bush was a small bush with spiky, jade green leaves, and bright yellow, like dandelion yellow, berries. Jay had noted in that report that he’d sneakily tried one when Roman wasn’t looking, and it was really sweet, like candy. ”We’re calling him a Cobalt Hopping Frog. Little guy jumped what must’ve been six feet.” said Roman on the video tape.

Rand couldn’t help the small smile that crossed her face, but it was tinged with sorrow. Roman rarely looked that relaxed, and certainly not during a research video. She noted the time stamp to link the Cobalt Hopping Frog with the Hikagua berry bush. It was tiny and adorable and like most of the animals in the lab now it seemed perfectly content with Roman.

Then the camera shook and from behind it came another officer, wearing the blue science uniform. The golden band on his sleeve was dotted, a junior Lieutenant. He had messy red hair and freckles across his cheeks. He was very good looking, like Roman, but in quite a different way than Roman. He was only an inch or so shorter, but lankier, with sharper features. His eyes were a greenish hazel, always seeming to carry a bit of a mischievous quality. He looked athletic, but more like a track runner. Roman, by contrast, was larger in build, not like a wrestler or anything, but not as small as Jay. “Nearly jumped away from us, little bugger. He was my catch though, don’t let Roman here, fool you.” His voice was a bit higher pitched than Roman’s and he was smiling as as he elbowed Roman playfully. It was notable that every time Jay referred to Roman, throughout the video, it was always by first name. Anyone else, as Rand would know, called Roman by his last name or his rank. Never, ever his first name, except for Rand. “Jay, this is supposed to be an official report video. I’m going to submit it along with the written reports to Starfleet command. They don’t care who caught the frog,” said Roman in the video, but he scooted over in the shot to make space for Jay. Jay shrugged and grinned. “It’s important information!” Roman gave a noticeable eye roll and continued on as Jay sat next to him. They were sitting so close, they might’ve been sharing a chair.

When Jay came into the video Rand was fascinated, not only by her first glimpse of Jay but the interaction between them. No doubt that Jay was good looking, but she didn’t think he held a candle to Roman. She would happily hold onto that bias too. The easy way Jay was joking with him, and in his own way Roman was too. She would never call Roman, ‘Roman’ on duty, even though he probably wouldn’t mind. She fought the grin that tried to sneak out at the mischievous way Jay kept prodding Roman. It reminded her of the way Randy teased her. Jay would have given her massive panic attacks, but she thought she would have liked him. Rand felt Roman squeeze her hand tighter and then lean into her. She laid her head on top of his, she knew he was crying but he hadn’t asked to stop.

Jay was always teasing Roman, trying to make him ‘lighten up’, have more fun. Rand would see more of that in the rest of the videos when they got to them. But he also had the capability to be very serious when he needed to be. Roman would’ve told her, if he knew what she was thinking, and he could’ve, that Jay never pushed someone past good fun. If he could tell Rand was getting upset he would’ve stopped teasing her, been more serious around her.

Roman was letting the little frog crawl all over his hands, keeping one hand cupped over the other so it didn’t jump away. “He’s not poisonous, we’ve run the proper tests, of course.” Then video Roman went on to explain in technical detail the tests, pointing to the frog and showing different parts of it as he spoke. Occasionally, Jay would speak up and interject something, and Roman would just nod. “He seems quite fond of heights, definitely a tree frog,” Roman continued. It was just like hearing him talk about Mushu or Nibbles or the Chinzillas. He was very into it and looking at the little frog fondly, like a pet. So was Jay, of course. In a moment of silence, Jay blurted, “His name’s Blue. I just decided.” Roman scowled and looked at him. “He’s not supposed to have a name. He’s a lab frog, not your pet.” Jay pouted, “He’ll be Blue in my notes.” Rand would notice, that in the accompanying notes, any of the ones written by Jay, the frog was indeed referred to as Blue. Roman in the video got back on topic. “He’s a bit shy, but not like I’d expect of a prey animal like this.” He went on to describe the frog’s behavior. Like with the more technical topics, Jay would interject frequently and add detail to his statements. Several times throughout the video the two would look at each other while they were talking. The video ended when Roman grinned and said, “I’ll look forward to keeping an eye on this little guy.” And Jay, as Roman reached to turn off the camera said, “He’s cute! You’ve got to put him right over there, next to the-“ and then the video cut off as the Roman of the past turned the camera off.

Rand managed to jot a couple of time stamps down for the tests and and behaviors of the frog. But when Jay said the frog’s name was Blue she thought that was very unimaginative, and from the look on Jay’s face he’d done it on purpose. The look younger Roman gave him was the same one he’d gave her when she’d started calling the mouse ‘Nibbles.’ Indulgent but annoyed. Unlike Jay though, Rand never used ‘Nibbles’ in her notes. At the time she hadn’t wanted Roman to tell her she couldn’t come back to the lab because she was too unprofessional. Now she wondered if her having named the mouse bothered Roman, and she’d inadvertently been making him sad all this time.

Jay had done that on purpose. Researchers could tag an animal however they liked in their notes so long as that tag was defined at the beginning. Jay had followed procedures. He made it his job to tease Roman like that, always professional and within regulation, but to be less serious and have more fun with things.

There were a few more videos on the disk, but these were obviously going to take time. Roman of the present was having trouble with the first one. He hadn’t made them pause it, it was only a few minutes long, a four or so minute clip, but Roman was crying like in his office, when he’d broken down in front of Randy. He’d started as soon as Jay had come into frame, but he hadn’t started crying so hard until Jay in the video had said, “His name’s Blue!” Now, he was leaned onto Rand, trying in vain to get himself together, one arm around her, his other hand still in hers, squeezing tightly. He tried to take a deep breath, but instead, he sort of cry-hiccuped and entered a new cycle of sobbing.

~ Roman

Rand stopped the videos and set her PaDD away, wrapping her other arm around him and held onto him while he cried. She let him cry. He needed to, but she didn’t know what to say. The video kept playing in her head, and she now knew without a doubt that loosing Jay would be like her loosing Randy. She couldn’t make that better. Pipkin was pawing at her leg and she let go long enough to lift the rabbit onto her lap. Just like in the video of Jay and Roman squeezed into the chairs, almost in one seat in order to see the frog and record, she and Roman were sitting the same way. Except Roman was devastated.

Rand

Roman cried a good while, hugging Rand tightly. When he could finally get a full breath in, he asked for a cup of tea. Then he let go of her, slowly, and reached for a tissue to wipe his face with. He had to do better than this. There were a lot more videos and audio recordings, most done by both of them together, some would be one or the other. And they’d only get harder for him the later on the dates were.

~ Roman

Rand wasn’t sure if it would work the same way, but after her…illness she hadn’t been able to watch any of her recordings, look at pictures, or even read a script or book of something she’d done. She’d lost herself, not someone else. But eventually she had looked at them and it was hard, like this was hard for Roman. But the more she watched, the easier it got to remember the fun rather than the failure. She could only hope it would be the same for Roman.

While the tea steeped, she handed him a bottle of cold water and a cold cloth for his face. After she handed him the tea she sat down and moved through the video again. It wasn’t playing she was looking at the still frames, making sure she had to correct time stamp and then linking them into the report. She didn’t start the next one. Instead she got up making herself a cold citrus tea, just to drag the time out a bit before Roman had to face the next video. Then she returned and just hugged him, much like she had that very first time when he’d finally told her about Jay. She just wanted him to know he wasn’t alone.

Rand