STF

Side sim: The Report Dilemma

Posted Oct. 21, 2021, 3:25 p.m. by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) (Lucas Foxley)

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Side sim: The Report Dilemma

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Side sim: The Report Dilemma

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Side sim: The Report Dilemma
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
“Dutch. Or a mini lop.” Roman had given that a lot of thought previously. “And a nice, big hutch with a good floor and space for toys and a den.” Rabbits could also be let out, free in the house, and he’d certainly want to let it have time free, too. After the dog, his parents didn’t want to deal with another pet, and after he was thrown out, he was glad he’d never gotten one he may not have been able to keep. But he’d still always wish he could have a rabbit. “Do you want to know what I wanted to name it?”

~ Roman

“They have very sweet dispositions. Lots of personality but don’t get too big. When I helped at the vet, there was a family that brought 2 in. They bred them. The vet let them out in a little fenced pen on the porch to play.” Rand thought about it she really had no idea but took a guess anyway. “Ummm…Peter?”

Rand

“Pippin. Or Alfie,” Roman replied longingly. He never expected to get to have one, after all he didn’t plan on leaving Starfleet unless he didn’t have a choice in the matter. But that didn’t mean he’d stop wishing he could have one. “That’s why I settled on that one, there are some fantastic giant breeds, but they get way too big.”

~ Roman

So a boy name…”One of the Holland lops that came in was white and black. The owner names it Oreo after the cookies. Why Pippin or Alfie?” She was sure he had a reason for the name if he had put that much thought into it. “A solid closed hutch or an open air hutch? I know they need enclosed space for a den, but I would want open air so I could interact more, even just visually. Like I do with Nibbles.”

Rand

“They just sound nice. Pippin is a girl’s name, Alfie is for a boy,” Roman explained with a small shrug. When he’d thought them up, as a kid, he’d actually looked online for good names, instead of just calling it “fluffy” or whatever else came to mind first. “I wanted open air, like you say, so I could interact with them. That’s why I was going to make sure they had a den.” His childish reasoning had been, his parents would have to say yes if he had every detail sorted out, every expense accounted for, every little thing figured out. But he’d realized when he was older, it was impossible, they’d have always said no, no matter what he did. Even if he’d found a bunny somewhere and brought it home they probably would have made him get rid of it.

~ Roman

Roman looked…not sad, well maybe a little, but bitter after he finished talking. It was hard to tell, he was always so composed but there was a flicker of…something. He didn’t seem nostalgic or wistful thinking about his childhood plans for a pet rabbit. There was a warm put painful ache in her chest as she watched him. He really had wanted that rabbit. Childhood disappointments could be horrible but usually by the time you were an adult you understood why parents said no or why things happened a certain way. Rand got the impression this wasn’t about a child not understanding but much more than that. “What was yer favorite color? Personality, for me anyway, is important in picking, but if ya could only choose by color what would you get?” He was talking, about himself, and she could see a younger Roman meticulously deciding on every detail and making sure he had it ‘just’ right before bringing Pippin or Alfie home. The image made her smile.

Rand

Roman’s parents were largely absent, too busy for the four kids they’d had. It was his assumption that they just didn’t want to deal with anything they didn’t deem necessary. Like pet rabbits. In fact, the nanny he’d impressed with his planning had nearly been fired for initially saying ‘yes’ without approval. “I liked the brown grey, or the chocolate, on the Dutch, and in the mini lops there was a pretty spotted orange colour I wasn’t sure of the official name for. But honestly, I was more concerned with how friendly it would be, I wanted one that would want attention.” Finally, he shrugged. “I suppose the whole thing was really sort of childish, but I was quite upset at the time.”

~ Roman

Those colors were stunning in solid colors. “I like those colors but especially when they have white tips, or I saw a grey once that had black tips.” She’d seen pictures of the orange color he was talking about. She wasn’t sure why, but knowing that bright playful color was one of his favorites, made her smile. She nodded though, “I would be really upset if my pet didn’t want attention.” That was probably obvious about her, especially after how disappointed she’d been that morning when Nibbles wouldn’t come near her. She knew she wasn’t supposed to get attached, be more scientific about it. She’d tried not to be obvious about her disappointment. Rand shook her head, “It’s not childish for a child to be a child. You obviously put a lot of thought into it all. The breed, name, personality, the type of hutch it would need. That shows a great deal of maturity.” She leaned forward and squeezed hand. “I’m sorry you didn’t get your rabbit.” Rand on the other hand, had been allowed to choose a pet once. She went back every day for two weeks to the adoption center…never got one, she couldn’t make up her mind and her parents wouldn’t let her have them all.

Rand

Roman had noticed her disappointment, of course, and he had known she might get closer than he preferred with the little mouse. After all, he’d essentially asked her to bond with it, for science. When he was looking at an animal to be a pet though, he did want an animal that actually wanted to interact with him. “If I were to have a pet again, of course I’d want it to want to spend time with me, that’s the point in having a pet,” Roman said. It was the difference to him between a pet and the lab animals. One was for companionship, the other for a specific purpose in the lab. Roman shrugged once again, smiling slightly at Rand. “Perhaps someday, eh?” He said, without real plans for it to ever be a possibility. He supposed he was mature for his age when he was younger, but all his family had ever seen was a foolish, idealistic child with frivelous pursuits.

~ Roman


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