Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side - sim: Lost in Thought

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: Lost in Thought

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side - sim: Lost in Thought
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Rand watched from the corner of her eye. She was having a hard time deciding if she was happy or nervous over him holding up his end of the deal. Then being nervous over it made her feel selfish and then she felt bad. She ate, picking at it, taking small bites. Much like she had that morning at breakfast. Taking long silent moments between. At least the food wasn’t heavily fried. It was good, it really was, but it didn’t taste so to her. She made herself take bigger bites, the food was good and Chef worked really hard. She knew it was just nerves and anxiety over Randy and her grandfather, and if she didn’t eat, Roman might go get Randy, again. And she couldn’t very well expect Roman to eat the whole meal if she didn’t. At one point she caught Roman watching her when she glanced over at him, and she grinned. She couldn’t help it, nor did she want to. “Is your head feeling any better yet?”

Rand

Roman smiled back when she grinned at him, swallowing another bite of the veggies. They were almost gone. “I wasn’t as dizzy getting up. The Sherlock reader’s theatre did give me a bit of a headache,” he told her and then he finished off the steamed veggies and took another drink of his tea. Half of a chicken fillet to go. He’d be done in no time.

~ Roman

“Oh well, it gave me one too. I thought being shorter it might be easier to follow, but apparently not. It felt even more complicated for being forced into an hour’s time span.” At this rate Roman was actually going to finish eating before her. Despite the food on her stomach the plain water was making her queasy. She hadn’t made any tea for herself so she got up and made citrus tea, and added something to it. Soon the aroma of lemon and lime was mixed with ginger. Her stomach really had nothing to do with their deal, and if Roman asked, she would tell him. It had to do with her nightmare. It always left her jittery and ‘off’ all day. That included her apatite.

Rand

Roman finished off the chicken and triumphantly set his plate aside. Then he drained his tea. When he looked up, she was at the counter making herself tea. Citrus and ginger, by the smell. “Making citrus tea?” He asked. Wasn’t ginger the one that helped with upset stomachs? Was she feeling that unwell over the gown?

~ Roman

“Mmmhmm. I thought the lighter flavor might go well with all the breading and starch.” She was teasing him, not realizing he’d already finished. Rand picked up the mug, holding it in two hands, the steam carrying the scent. She wasn’t cold but there was something soothing about holding a warm cup of tea. She turned around, saw the empty plate and her eyes widened slightly, but she also saw the concerned look on his face. She stared down into the tea a moment. “It’s the nightmares. They make me jittery, distracted, sick to my stomach. The tea helps.” She lifted the mug and took a cautious sip, it was still hot, but when it hit her stomach it didn’t bother her.

Roman nodded. He was relieved, he had been worried he’d pushed too far with the night gown thing. But it also made him sad, he wouldn’t wish his trouble with nightmares on anyone. He wasn’t usually unsettled all day, if he were then he would literally always feel that way, but the lingering fear was why he couldn’t go back to sleep after them.

In truth, that morning, Rand had expected to have a rougher day than she had. She had been really sad and not overly hungry, but the day had been better than usual. She sat down and picked up her fork. She gave Roman all the credit for how easy her day had been compared to previously. She felt very lucky for that, and she didn’t want to focus on sad things. Before she finished off her meal she stopped and looked at him, blushing that shade he liked so much. “We didn’t specify. Do I get to finish my meal first?”

Rand

It was the same way for Roman, typically (recent project excluded) his bad days were a lot better than they used to be because Rand was there. She looked up at him and turned bright red and he smiled. “Of course you do. Can’t have you skipping your dinner either.”

~ Roman

Rand wasn’t procrastinating at eating, but she was giving the tea time to settle her stomach so she could finish. Pipkin was sniffing around, raising up on her hind feet looking for her treat. It seemed to dissipate the lingering cloud over Rand, making her relax and laugh. “Poor girl whoever brought the food didn’t bring you anything. Maybe if you act cute enough, you can get him to give you a treat.” Pipkin sat there, between their chairs, looking from one to the other, her nose and whiskers twitching, front paws flopped over in front of her, her ears flopping back and forth listening to them. Finally she hopped over to Roman, stretched as far as she could on her back legs, placed one front paw against his leg, and her ears (usually straight up) flopped to the sides. Rand couldn’t stand it and broke out in giggles. Then she realized her meal was gone. A deal was a deal. She got up, grabbing the object of their arrangement, and slipped into the bathroom. She was in there a lot longer than necessary.

Rand

Roman picked up Pipkin, he was dying of cuteness really, and he gave her tons of pet while he waited for Rand. No treats. Spoiled bunny. He set her down and then waited quietly for Rand. Eventually he got up and knocked on the door. “Miranda? You alright in there?’

~ Roman

Rand held the gown and stared at it. She bought it on a dare from Randy. She had been bemoaning her latest horrid dating disaster. And he told her she needed to do something for herself. New clothes or something. She joked she should get some little satin nightgown just because. Randy had dragged her out the next day,picked it out, and dared her to buy it. Out of some perverse need to not lose a dare to her brother she bought it. She had never worn it, not even to try it on. She had no idea if it even fit.

There was no way that thing was too big, maybe it was too small? But no, it fit perfectly. The thing was form fitting so she couldn’t have worn something under it, even if Roman hadn’t caught that loophole. She wasn’t like she was doing her hair or primping in the mirror. She was staring at the door trying to work up the nerve. She wasn’t even sure why she was nervous, it was just annoying. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered to herself. Given the cut, style, and neckline of her Valentine’s dress, this was more modest - comparatively. She huffed and reached for the door control. She jumped when he knocked on the door. She little out a little yelp that she smothered with her hand. She must have been in there longer than she thought. “Ye…yeah I’m alright.” It was another minute before she actually came out.

Rand