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

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: Head Case

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side - sim: Head Case
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Roman sighed a breath of relief when he saw she was still asleep. She clung to him, and then sleepily tried to wrap her arm around him, but there were no indications she was awake. Slowly and carefully he settled back in with her. He tried to go back to sleep but every time he closed his eyes the image of the nightmare returned, so he lay quietly awake a long while before finally falling back to sleep.

~ Roman

What finally woke Rand up was the twitching of a tiny nose and whiskers against her cheek and then tiny dull claws and paws scrambling as Pipkin slipped gracelessly off her shoulder as Rand moved. She opened her eyes and glanced down at the bunny who was now wedged between her and Roman’s arm that was around her. Very carefully Rand scooted back and put a hand under Pipkin to keep her from falling. “Shhhh…he’s sleeping,” she told the fluff ball.

Rand rolled to her back and let Pipkin settle on her chest. The rabbit sniffed and nuzzled at her hands while she pet her. It was still early, she thought. It was hard to tell in the dark. She glanced at the clock, early, but almost time to get up. She turned her head to see if her movement had woken Roman up. If not maybe she could reach the alarm without waking him, and let him sleep just a bit longer.

Rand

Roman woke with a bit of a jump when Rand rolled over. He let out a soft sigh and looked at Rand when she turned to see if he was awake. He looked tired but managed a little smile and a quiet, “Sleep well?”

~ Roman

Rand smiled at him. She looked, even in the dark, more rested than she had in far too long even though she still looked obviously tired and strained. While she gave his question consideration, Pipkin heard his quiet words and abandoned Rand for Roman. She hopped over onto him and determinedly made her way up to settle on his chest and nose his chin to make sure he knew she was there.

Rand didn’t remember dreaming at all during the night. She remembered waking up, afraid to go back to sleep, and Roman offering to stay up with her. Her eyebrows drew together for a second as she closed her eyes. Then she looked at him again. “Tha. I…I think so. I feel a lot better, but my head still hurts a little.”

Rand

Roman reached a hand up and pet Pipkin, she’d only keep nudging him with her cold, wet nose if he didn’t. “Do you want an ice pack?” He asked. He was relieved, she still looked a little tired but much better than before.

~ Roman

Pipkin hunkered down further, her head turning to the side as her ears went floppy, and Rand grinned. She felt around by her pillow and found the icepack Roman had used earlier. “It’s still cold.” She turned in her side and propped the back against her head and then pulled the blanket up over her shoulder. One hand folded back under her pillow the other slipped across to rest against his arm. She stared at him for a long quiet moment while he gave Pipkin the attention she wanted. “Roman,” her voice soft, her accent stronger, “I love you.”

Rand

Roman kept giving Pipkin attention, nuzzling her cute little face with his nose. He nodded when Rand said the old ice pack was still cold, and then his attention was on the bunny again. He hadn’t spent much time with Pipkin lately, between his injuries, Rand’s injuries, and trying to catch up on his work. He looked over at Rand when she rested her hand on his arm, and then gave her a questioning look when she just looked at him for a while. It was a cute look. Then she spoke up, her accent thicker than normal, and Roman melted. Carefully, so he didn’t hurt Pipkin, he reached over to Rand, pulled her closer, and kissed her.

~ Roman

She was laying there watching Roman with Pipkin. It was a quiet, private moment. Then his hand was splayed against her back, sending spirals of warmth through her, along with those wonderful butterflies he created. For a brief second she was filled with exhilaration and nervousness. It was like standing center stage, under the spot light, at the end of a performance. That moment of stillness waiting to hear the roar of applause or the stretching silence of audience disappointment. Except it was Roman and he meant more to her than any of that ever had. Then, he kissed her, Oh she liked his reaction. It was as simple as breathing, as easy as letting her heart beat. Easier - he was her heart beat. Her hands rested against his chest and then slid over his shoulders as she kissed him back.

Rand

Pipkin hopped away, as if to give them their moment. Or maybe because Roman started to turn towards her. The feeling of her hands against his chest was always nice, comforting, but the way she slid them over his shoulders was familiar and reminded him of other times they’d kissed. He pressed closer to her, nothing was better than the feeling of her body against his when he was kissing her. He felt relaxed, her kiss melting tension out of his body.

~ Roman

It seemed this moment had been waiting for forever. In the last 2 months or more there was so much strain, fear, worry, the need to hold on, take care of each other. To simply get through the worst together. This was different, this was gentle passion, affection, closeness. This was not a shared moment between individuals but a single moment created by them, together. Rand loved the way she fit, curled against his chest and the way his arms fit just right around her and held her close. The way he chased away the constant anxiety. Rand sighed, warm and relaxed with him, in the quiet before duty and the universe would intrude.

Rand

Roman wished he didn’t have to go on duty. It had been far too long since they’d had a relaxing day, just the two of them, doing… Well, this, all day. He was going to make this last as long as he could though. His nightmares used to shake him up for the rest of the day, leave him stressed and cranky. Moments like this with Rand took that away, made him happy and relaxed. She was nestled in perfectly against his chest, his arms easily fitting around her, holding her close, his grip firm but gentle.

~ Roman

The moment seemed to last forever. For Rand it was the same, these moments made things better. She has not realized how much until then. After the explosion and her concussion and memory loss and most of all the constant frightening confusion there has been no truly relaxed moments for either of them. But now things were right, relaxed, her nerves and worry soothed and the fuzziness didn’t matter so much. She wished he could stay, but it wouldn’t occur to her to ask. Besides he was taking her to see the animals after his shift. It was no substitute for spending the day with him, but it was another step back towards normalcy.

Rand

When the kiss ended, after a very long moment, Roman rested his head gently on her shoulder. “I have to get ready.” He said, voice soft, but made no move to get up. For once he really, really did not want to. He peeked at the clock and then rested his head on her. He could spare another few minutes. He looked like he might fall back to sleep. Relaxed and comfortable against her, his eyes were drifting shut, his arm hanging loosly around her.

~ Roman

“Okay.” Rand’s arms relaxed around him, sliding back and tucked between them, her head on the pillow next to his. She made no other offer to move though. She couldn’t see the clock and had no idea what time it really was and how much time he had before his shift. Despite restful sleep, Rand too was tired and intended to go back to sleep while she could.

About an hour later there was a soft knock on the door, Randy, who didn’t want to wake Rand if she was asleep. There was no answer so he went in just to peek and was so shocked by Alden still being asleep it took him a moment to process it. Well the man needed sleep. Randy backed out after scooping up a daring Pipkin who tried to sneak out the door and put her back in her cage so he could get out.

Reports were collected, complied, and filed. Franks new to expect Roman later as the Cmdr’s schedule was suddenly marked as having a long meeting that morning. If asked Roman was with acting Yeoman Randy. There was a stack of reports around the last few months that command demanded immediate response. It would take awhile.

Rand