Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Why are There Never any GOOD Side-effects?

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Why are There Never any GOOD Side-effects?

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Why are There Never any GOOD Side-effects?
Posted by… suppressed (17) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Rand spent the morning in her usual routine. Running from deck to deck, office to office in order to gather reports and then compile them for Captain Asam. Rand was with the captain for quite awhile in the conference room. The captain was meticulous for details and they went over every standing ship protocol and who was in charge of what. Then she wanted those personnel files. Then she had questions and changes to procedures she wanted answers and feedback for. It was nearly lunch when they were finally done. Rand was fond of tea, but she went to the galley for strong black coffee instead.

Rand

Roman was in the lab. He’d take a lunch if Rand came for him, but otherwise he’d simply work through it. He was doing lab work. He’d done everything else that needed doing and he had no meetings scheduled. But he needed to focus on something so he worked on any lab work he could find to do.

~ Roman

Rand knew he would work through lunch, and there were times when the work piled up or experiments ran long, but he couldn’t skip them regularly. She was sure Hart and Kreed would be checking his habits. She stopped in the lab and spotted Roman working at one of the lab tables. She hesitated, he was working maybe she should leave him be? She couldn’t tell if he was at a point he could be interrupted, and she wasn’t there on ship’s business. She would just go.

“Hello Rand, how are you today?” Franks asked as he came back in from checking some results in the chemistry lab.

“Fine, thank you,” she said quietly trying to be unnoticed.

Rand

Roman heard her voice and looked up. “Miranda? Is it lunch time?” He asked, looking at her. “Hold on just a moment, I’ll get cleaned up.”

~ Roman

Franks grinned to himself. He was familiar with Tand’s shyness and had noticed her trying to sneak out as he returned.

Rand paused by his desk, “It is.” She didn’t say it had been a long morning. She didn’t want anyone to think she didn’t like her job.

Rand

It didn’t take long for Roman to put everything away and then join her. He put and arm around her and pulled her into him as they headed out of the lab. “Are you okay?” He said, voice low so no one would overhear.

~ Roman

Why was he asking her that? Was her uniform messed up? Had she said something wrong to Franks? Oh! Did the captain say something about her to him? Maybe they shouldn’t be so openly affectionate? They were on their lunch break, and not breaking any regulations, but still…?

Rand realized she was gripping her hands and made herself relax. “Just a very busy morning,” she said just as softly.

Rand

“Okay.” Roman said as they headed into the galley. “Where do you want to sit?”

~ Roman

Their usual table was open. Rand liked it. It was out of the way and no one bothered them. Maybe Roman didn’t? He always asked her what she wanted, but what if he would rather be more sociable? Even if only professionally. “Where ever is fine. You pick.” She moved through the small line at the counter and collected her food.

Rand

He picked up his own food and moved to their usual table. Rand was acting odd. She hadn’t been this anxious in months. He took a seat and started eating. “Miranda, are you sure you’re okay?”

~ Roman

Her name in his English accent always gave her butterflies and it was obvious by the look in her eye. She fumbled her fork as he asked her again if she was okay, and the fork clattered to the table. She muttered something about being clumsy and glanced around to make sure no one had noticed. Actually she wasn’t sure she was okay, but she couldn’t think of any reason why she was so nervous. The meeting with the captain had been long but gone well. She really liked working with Cpt. Asam. “Yeah,” she said very quietly.

Rand

“Remember what you were saying to me? I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what’s wrong.” Roman said, looking at her with concern. He could tell she was nervous, he just didn’t know why. It wasn’t because of him or something he did, was it?

~ Roman

Rand looked up at him and down at her plate and shrugged. “I don’t know… I’ve been jumpy and anxious all morning, but I don’t know why.”

Rand

Roman hugged her tightly to him, right there in the galley. “Might it be the effects of your new meds? Doctor Kreed said you might have an increase in anxiety, right?” He asked.

~ Roman

Rand was stiff as he held her, then she pressed her face into his shoulder, hoping no one saw them. What if they did? What if they said something? She thought about what he said. “Oh… yes he did.” She sighed heavily, “That must be it. I’ll be okay. I just have to wait it out.”

Rand

Roman nodded. “And if it gets to be too much you come find me, I don’t care what I’m doing unless it’s a conference with the Captain or something.” He said, looking down at her.

~ Roman

Rand nodded. “Okay. I… I’ll be okay. Now that I know.” She had forgotten that Kreed had said that. She was worried about Roman and his emotional state, but he was making progress. Little but still progress. She was worried, but not anxious, or at least she hadn’t thought so. She sat up and turned back to her food.

Rand

Roman turned back to his own food and picked at it, eating as much as he could manage. He was… Making some progress. Or at least, he was doing the things Liuetenant Hart had asked of him. When he decided he couldn’t eat anymore he pushed his tray aside and waited for Rand.

~ Roman

Rand ate, but her stomach was queasy so she didn’t eat much. She knew that was a habit when she was anxious, so she forced herself to eat a little more. It didn’t make her feel better. She finished the same time he did. She stood and collected the dishes and returned them. She returned to the table and grabbed her PaDD. There were a lot of people in the Galley and she wanted to leave.

Rand

Roman stood and left with her, an arm around her shoulders. “Do you have work to do or do you want to come to the lab for a while?”

~ Roman

Rand looked down at her PaDD to see what she had to do. Should she? She lived the lab and it would be quiet and she could spend time with Nibbles. Maybe she shouldn’t though? Roman would be worried about her instead of his work and that was wrong, but she had promised to work with the mouse and she hadn’t had a lot of time that morning. “I can come for a little while.”

Rand