Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side - sim: To Propose or Not to Propose?

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: To Propose or Not to Propose?

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side - sim: To Propose or Not to Propose?
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Roman tried to pull away from the hypo but the pain flared when he moved the arm swiftly and Randy gave it anyway. He was laughing, and Roman shook his head. “This is funny?” Then he came to the table, waving Rand to come with, and sat down, offering Randy his arm. It was a sign of trust, coming from Roman, that he just obeyed without much argument. He reached out his left hand for Rand to hold. “Miranda, honestly, don’t worry about it. These kinds of accidents happen.” He didn’t seem frustrated or anything, just trying to reassure her. She seemed upset and all she’d said to him since was ‘I’m sorry’.

~ Roman

Randy swallowed and bit the inside of his cheek. “No, well yes. Not that your hurt, but come on! It was Rand. Rand did this. The girl who can’t even have the good sense to stay away from a viper nest much lest hurt anyone. This is a story I can tell for years.” Rand followed and sat down after pulling her chair next to Roman’s so he could hold her hand. They all knew it was going to hurt.

Roman shrugged again, “I was teaching her. She just needs a little more work so she only breaks bones when she means to.” He reached over with his left and took Rand’s hand.

Rand wrapped her other hand around both of theirs. “You told me to twist faster. Besides some random person grab he like you were…I want to break their wrist. Right?”

Roman smiled and nodded. “I suppose you would. I did say twist faster, I didn’t expect you to put your whole weight into it.”

Rand shook her head. He’d also said add strength to it. “I had to do something to add strength to it, I can’t outright over power you.”

Roman smiled and chuckled a little. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

Rand nodded, remembering the sickening feeling as his wrist broke. On the positive side, Roman was a good teacher.

Randy chuckled on, it was meant as a distraction and really he didn’t get how these two hadn’t caught on to that yet. Randy set everything out that he needed and then took another scan to make sure. Then quickly, rather than letting the suspense build, he took hold of Alden’s arm and twisted it quickly back into place. Then supporting it on the table he splint it to keep the bone from moving and started the bone fuser.

Randy

Roman was prepared for it, but still he winced when Randy touched the arm near the injury site. It was a small movement of his face, as he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from making any other indications of pain. He gave a cry of pain, resisting the want to jerk his arm away as Randy twisted it back, squeezing Rand’s hand. It was a swift movement, intensely painful for a moment and then it felt a little better when he rested it on the table. His grip on Rand’s hand loosened a little. He winced again, as Randy touched it to splint it, and then once it was splinted, tried to pull it away. “Not the bone fuser,” he complained, shaking his head, squeezing Rand’s hand again.

~ Roman

Randy held Alden still be grace of the splint. “I know it’s horrible, but it needs to be done. The hypo I gave you will make it much easer to deal with. Besides, no fuser, that means a cast, that means and incident report, and light duty until it heals. I really don’t want to watch you two connive around light duty again. We also arrive at the nebula in two days, and if you’re injured you don’t get to participate.”

Roman gave a long sigh and nodded. It was his right, his dominant hand, so doing paperwork would be (literally) a pain. And he of course wanted to participate once they arrived at the nebula. He stopped trying to pull it away, keeping his grip on Rand’s hand tight.

He turned the machine on, “The break is fresh and clean. It shouldn’t take more than a single session and then you taking it easy for a day on that arm.” He looked at Rand, “Go grab dinner trays for the two of you, so I can stay here and adjust the machine as needed.” Rand didn’t move right away, “He’s going to need something after all this. Shoo.”

Roman was as reluctant as Rand was to let go, but Randy shooed her away and their hands slipped apart. Roman gave Randy a glare.

After she left Randy shrugged, “I know, but she was looking a little bit in shock and a whole lot pale. Gives her something to focus on other than the fact she broke your wrist.”

Randy

“I’ve told her before that I… we used to injure each other a lot. It was an accident, nothing she should worry herself about.” Roman said with a shrug. Randy would know by ‘we’ he meant himself and Jay, as kids. It was incredibly rare for him to bring Jay up so directly. “And she’s learning a lot. I’ll feel better knowing she can protect herself.”

~ Roman

Randy nodded, “She’ll be okay, just have to get her thinking again, rather than focusing on it. It won’t take her long. I’d go but staying lets me adjust this in focused locations rather than just in general.” As he spoke he took another scan and then moved the fuser.

Rand returned a little longer than either expected but not enough to be concerning. She had three meals and both her and Alden’s gym bags. She’d gone back and gotten them and put their equipment away before grabbing food. She set the trays on the bed, to stay out of the way for Randy and then put the bags away before slipping back into her seat and taking Roman’s hand.

Randy and Rand

Roman smiled when he saw Rand. “You got the bags too?” He had his arm against the table, trying not to move it while Randy worked. He squeezed her hand lightly when she took his. He turned to see what Rand had brought for dinner, trying to distract himself from what Randy was doing.

~ Roman

Rand followed his gaze, “Chef is feeling nostalgic. He’s from the region of Galicia in northwest Spain. He made savory empanadas filled with meat, cheese, and vegetables. For desert he made sweet empanadas filled plums and apples. To drink he sent up Mosto. Which is a non-alcoholic beverage made from grape juice. The aroma is mouth watering.”

Randy glanced at the plates as well. “Might as well bring them over. No need to let it get cold.” Rand set Roman and Randy’s food on the far side of the table out of the way. She kept her own in her lap.

Roman nodded. “I’ve always liked Spanish food.” When Rand brought over his tray he tried one of the empanadas, picking up the food with his good hand and trying to keep the other still for Randy.

Half an hour later, Randy declared he was done. “I want to check it again in the morning to take the splint off and at the end of the day.” He grabbed his empanadas and Mosto and left with his stuff.

Rand

Finally, Randy declared he was done. Roman wasn’t going to admit how much better it felt when he was done treating it. It wasn’t perfect but it was much better. Roman was still finishing dinner, so he stayed at the table. Then he turned and smiled at Rand. “From experience, we should wait a couple days before we start practicing again.”

~ Roman

Rand stopped mid chew and slowly looked up from her plate. Start practicing again? Oh no, nope nope nope. She didn’t say that though because Roman would just tell her it was fine, it happened, injuries healed. That was fine for him, she didn’t feel so fine about. She finished the bite before shaking her head, “Nope, not till Randy says it’s okay.” She picked up an apple empanada, it was sooo good, but it reminded her. She reached over and plucked a small covered container off the tray and looked around for Pipkin. It had been awhile since Rand had brought anything back for her. Rand pet her between the ears and then pulled a long strand of apple peel out of the container and set it down for her.

Rand

“Sounds like officially it’s going to be ‘okay’ by the day after tomorrow.” Roman replied. It was still sore, both because it wasn’t quite done healing, and because broken bones irritated the muscle. But from what Randy said it sounded like it would be done healing by morning and the soreness should go away tomorrow, maybe the next day. His plate was nearly empty. There were a few of the regular empanadas he hadn’t eaten and a few sweet ones but he was full. When Rand fed Pipkin the apple peel, Roman bent down to pet the little bunny.

~ Roman

---

It would be understandable that Rand was hesitant to continue to practice. She’d broken her boyfriend’s wrist after all. Rand knew things like that happened and couldn’t be avoided. It honestly wouldn’t have mattered if it was Roman, Randy, Morgan, or a complete stranger. Every time she thought about it, her hand felt like some slimy oozing acid covered thing was on her palm, feeling the way his arm moved wrong and snapped. It made her truly sick to the point her stomach rebelled once. She absolutely was not meant to be a security or tactical officer.

Rand

Roman wouldn’t force her if she absolutely didn’t want to, but he wanted her to know it, to heck with his bones if need be. She was the Captain’s yeoman and knowing the current Captain she’d not be getting out of landing parties anytime soon. If he had his way, no one would go to the surface without some training in fighting and defense. No need to be an expert, in fact he was sure most Chiefs of Security would know more than him, but it was terrifying for him for her to go without real means of defense of herself.

~ Roman

In the end, it was important to Roman, and he had legitimate reasons for her wanting to learn. It was both a personal and a professional reason. So she kept practicing with him, even though it made her queazy sometimes, and worked hard at it because it was important.

Rand