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 nodded as he finished putting things away. Then he went with her to the galley. It was empty, it must have been late. Once they had food he picked a table and sat down to eat with her.

When they were finished, he went back to the lab to finish what he’d been doing. He only meant to spend an extra hour or so, but like always, time got away from him and after several hours he found himself stretching, rubbing his eyes, and then peering back into the microscope.

~ Roman

Rand had gone back to his quarters. She had things to review and study. Plus Pipkin deserved to get out of her cage for awhile. Rand woke a few hours later when a small fuzzy whiskered nose tickled the back of her hand. Rand scooped Pipkin up and pet her. She looked at the time and shook her head. She put her PaDD away, put Pipkin in her cage and made her way down to the lab. She wasn’t keeping tabs on him, she was just curious if he was still working or had fallen asleep at the work bench. Stopping just inside the door she shook her head with a grin. The lab was quiet and mostly empty. She made her way over to Roman, who was busy scribbling notes. Despite being only loud enough for Roman to hear her, there was a hint of laughter and affection to her voice. “It’s going to be like this when we’re old and grey isn’t it?”

Rand

Roman looked up when she spoke. “What? How late is it?” He asked, and then checked the time and smiled at her. “I guess it is.” He said, and then once again, he stood and cleaned up the lab station. He looked and sounded tired, and it took a moment for him to realize exactly what she’d said. When we’re old and grey. She’d assumed they’d still be together by the time they were old. As long as he actually married her, and that meant asking and giving her the ring already. His smile widened a little as they headed up to deck 3 together.

~ Roman

After a minute in the lift Rand glanced up at him because she could feel him staring at her. He had that look, the Robinhood look. But not quite. The one like he had when he’d been staring at her in the lab or that night a couple weeks ago at dinner. She blushed but didn’t say anything. The look made her flustered enough.

By the time they got to deck 3 he was still staring at her like that and she glanced at him again. Finally the single word question tumbled off her tongue, “What?”

Rand

Roman blinked as if she’d startled him out of a daydream or something and then smiled and shrugged. “Nothing… I just love you.” Really, he had been daydreaming, lost in his own thoughts. Old and grey together… The lift stopped and the doors opened, so he stepped out. Tomorrow he could find a good day to empty the observation deck for them.

~ Roman

“Oh,” Rand turned that shade of pink he liked so much. “I love you too.” Rand gave herself a mental shake. It was so odd…but really if that’s what he was thinking she wouldn’t complain.

But the next morning came early and Rand went for a longer run than normal and an icy shower to wake up. She had too much to do to be groggy all day.

Rand

Roman got his mandatory work out of the way, reports, paperwork, daily tasks, all those sorts of things, and then, with any free time he could find, planned his proposal. They’d be passing a special sort of star in about a week, by lucky chance on their shared day off. He could plan for that day. He’d do something nice for her during the day, though what he hadn’t decided. Perhaps a dance? Then for dinner he’d have the observation deck cleared and he could work with Chef to get the pies made. And then after dinner… He’d actually ask the question.

~ Roman

At first Rand just thought it was an easy day, not a lot to review, but by the end of the second day, she was getting suspicious. Roman never, ever, ever got paperwork and reports done that fast. Not that he couldn’t but he hated it that much. She even talked to Randy about it over lunch one day. Randy laughed. “You are the only person I know who would complain when someone makes your job easier.”

Rand glanced around but they were at a far table near one of the windows. Her voice dropped really low. “But Randy…what if…if....he doesn’t want my help anymore?”

Randy stared at her a moment. “Well don’t you think if that was true you would be sharing a room with me again?” He waited for a moment for her to work that over. “I promise his feelings have not changed.” Then he got up, kissed her cheek and left before he lost it and started laughing.

Rand

By the day before he planned to ask, he had everything planned out. They’d go for breakfast together, and then they could do whatever she wanted to do, get lunch, dance, and then the observation deck would be empty and ready for dinner. They’d have Shepard’s pie while admiring the star the ship would be passing and then he’d ask. He’d slip the ring into his pocket after they danced.

Getting everything together without her knowing about it had been the hard part, especially finding time to talk to Chef about the pies. He’d had to emphasize to anyone he spoke to that Rand was not to know about it. It was a surprise.

~ Roman

Rand had the uncomfortable feeling that people were staring at her. When she stopped to talk to Chef about substitutions on his last requisition he had told her to leave it on a table, that he was far to busy and ushered her right out of the kitchen. She didn’t think much of it, Chef got busy too, but when she went back a couple hours later he already had the paperwork done.

People were both overly helpful and less chatty. The latter was usually a good thing in Rand’s book, but it was so out of character it made her worry. When Franks intercepted her and said the lab was closed, Rand didn’t know what to make of it. There must have been an accident because Roman hadn’t told her before hand, and to top it off there was no report explaining. By the end of the night Rand’s anxiety had gotten a good workout.

Rand

Roman headed up to their quarters right at the end of his shift. Ensuring that Rand wasn’t there, he got ready what he wanted to wear. Not something so formal that it was a full suit but certainly nicer than everyday, he was going to wear a nice button down shirt, a pair of nice slacks, and loafers. He left them in the closet like always, but made sure they were wrinkle free and ready to wear. He thought about slipping the ring into the pocket of the trousers but if they were to dance tomorrow, she might feel it in there. Better to grab it later.

Then he waited for her to arrive after her own duty shift so they could get dinner together like they always did.

~ Roman

At the end of her shift, Rand left her office after making sure everything was set for the next day. She had the next day off and she always tried to make things as easy as possible to make sure she didn’t have a lot of ‘fires’ to put out after. So it took her longer than normal to finish her shift. But the extra time working in her own had helped dismiss all the unease she’d built up over the day. She walked in and grinned at him, placing her key rods in the locked drawer, flopped back on the bed, draped one arm over her eyes, and sighed. “I refuse to look at a computer screen tomorrow. Unless it’s a movie.”

Rand

Roman grinned, leaned over, and gave her a kiss. None of his plans had anything to do with computer screens. “I think that can be arranged. Are you ready to get dinner?” He was nervous for the next day, but if she thought he was nervous, she’d wonder why, and it might ruin his surprise. So he’d just pretend today was any other day. Make tomorrow like a ‘date day’ and end it with the proposal. It sounded good to him.

~ Roman

Rand smiled when he kissed her. Randy was right, everything was fine and she was being anxiously rediculous. “Yes, you make all the arrangements, I am putting out my ‘out to space walk’ sign and refusing to answer any requests.” She sat up, and then stood. “Yes, dinner sounds like a great idea.” She stopped mid-step and rocked back. “Oh Pipkin, I almost stepped on you.” She scooped the bunny up, nuzzling her slightly before putting her in her cage. Pipkin looked slightly confused and it made Rand laugh.

Rand