Posted by Captain Rende Asam (Captain) in side sim - Plant Food

Posted by Lieutenant Markus Woods (Chief Science Officer) in side sim - Plant Food

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Medical) in side sim - Plant Food
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
“How about the lounge? I haven’t seen it yet.” [There were too many people all in one place and some times she preferred the illusion of isolation.] “After I can pick up the results and then…?” Sharah wasn’t really sure what after that; she just knew she wanted to spend more time with Markus. He didn’t give much away and she was getting to know him in a very genuine way.

“Well, we can look over what you’ve got so far. But it’s not something a simple working dinner date would cover. But at least the broad strokes maybe. Or.. whatever. I tend to go with the flow. Play it by ear.” He flashed her a bright smile, just happy to be there at the moment. The research was a cloudy subject, but ideally witha bright future. There was hope floating in those clouds.

His optimism was infectious. She didn’t expect him to help with her research. It was a personal thing, her own personal life long work. But it was a lovely fresh breeze to it all to have someone to share it with, even if it was only a passing curiosity. But any different point of view helped.

She led the way out of the lab and to a turbolift. “Deck 12,” she murmured the request and the lift took off. “How was the science department today?” It was a genuine question. Sharah wasn’t in the science department anymore, nor was she a department head, but she had found after her time on Ark Angel that she enjoyed hearing about the different projects and studies going on and she’d missed that casual collaboration of the science department.

Sharah

As the lift took off, heading for Deck Twelve, almost unconsciously Markus slipped one arm around her waist, his hand settling on her right hip, just steadying her and taking a moment to make contact once more. She felt good to the touch, but also seemed just as comfortable with him before. If he overstepped, he’d know it instantly. But, he was a betting man, and it was a good bet it was anything but an an over-step.

Sharah leaned gently into him, both physically and mentally, not really aware she was doing it. It was just comfortable and natural. It felt right. At the moment she didn’t think about it, but later, as she reflecting on her day, it would surprise her that after all this time of avoiding physical contact with anyone, that instead of making things worse, it was comfortable and calming. She laughed softly catching his thought. “Hmm…you make good bets. We should go to Risa, we’d really clean house.”

“That sounds like a good time,” he murmured into her hair after kissing the crown of her head. “Korczak actually wants me to start up a card game for whoever wants to show up. He thinks I might have a gambling addiction or something. Yeah, maybe. But it’s more about winning and being right, I guess. Or maybe I’ve got a little bit of adrenaline junky in me.”

She grinned and then closed her eyes when he kissed the top of her head. She wasn’t sure how she should feel about it, but it made her want to lean in closer to him and so she did. “I’m not sure Cmdr Korczak would approve me playing in a poker game. I cheat; I don’t mean to, but I do. I don’t really know how to play anyway. I’d have to learn.” A gambling problem? Sharah could see it more of a needing to master the outcome. But in her experience, she’d never known Korczak to be wrong about someone. At least not with anyone from her graduating class. Herself included. But she was intrigued and a little excited about ‘adrenaline junky.’ She thought it would be amazing to be able to do daring, dangerous, crazy things and to not worry about getting distracted and then seriously hurt.

“As for the labs… Good. Everybody’s putting in good work today, though … Uh… I uh electromagnetically reconfigured some data storage.” Euphemism for wiping computer or data storage… or breaking something with an electromagnet or electromagnetic field. As he said it, through his chagrin came the image/surface memory of a small, wearable device he turned on and it shot across the lab, slammed into the wall, and exploded into tiny pieces. Whoops. And it had been something for her. The memory of that was like a punch in the gut, just for a moment and he visibly deflated.

Markus, Science imposter

Sharah cocked her head to the side picking up the surface memory clearly…everything from Markus was always clear…and she was…not sure what he was doing but he was doing it for her. Instead of being curious what it was she was more curious why he was doing it. Why would he make something for her? She reached her left arm around his waist and hugged him gently. “I remember a professor telling us about Thomas Edison. He didn’t fail 1000 times, he succeeding in learning how not to make a lightbulb. He only needed one way to make it, but those 1000 times taught him just as much about electricity. I really liked that. There are no failures.” The lift stopped and Sharah stood up straight, her arm slipping away and walked down the corridor. But it was obvious, almost immediately, that the noise was crashing over her and she was distracted for a few moments while they walked.

Sharah

“That’s true enough. But in this case, it was a dumb mistake, rather than a bad build. I had a field generator on, which repulsed the device… And well, it broke. I’ll try again later, without the oops.” As she pulled ahead of him, and he could see her tense, he reached out and hooked a finger through hers, not quite fully taking her hand but enough to make contact but keep it loose enough she could easily pull away if she wished, while moving to walk side by side with her. “You alright,” he asked gently, stopping and bringing her up short. “Big waves?”

Mark

“No you learned that your device and a field generator can’t work together.” But her voice trailed off…She noticed that very small contact and instead of flinching away, her hand curled fully into his. She stopped when he did and just nodded. She felt embarrassed and ashamed. As a child she would have yelled trying to be heard above the noise. Now as an adult she’d learned to whisper to stop from yelling when it got to be too loud. “I’m..not used to it yet.” It being the rhythm of the ship, she accepted the noise but never got used to it. “I’ll be okay in a minute.” [Maybe.]

Sharah

“I knew that already though,” he murmured, stepping closer. For the moment he leaned against the bulkhead, still keeping in touch. She always seemed more at ease. Relieved like that. Like he was a buffer, so if he could so that now, and keep it manageable until she was back on top, he absolutely would. “Well, you’ve got a lifeline here if you need it,” he murmured quietly. At the same time he wished that he could truly turn the noise down more, but the best he could do was be there, and be a rock she could hold onto until she got her feet again. But that she even had to struggle like that made his heart ache.

Mark

Sharah leaned against the bulkhead facing him. A few people passed and gave them odd or conspiratorial looks. On Betazed people would assume they were just having a mental conversation. Of course they would also know what she was and make a hasty retreat from her. It was the conspiratorial looks that bothered her and the knowing thoughts that came with it. She moved away from those memories and feelings. She squeezed his hand, and let herself go into the noise. It was the only quick way to figure out how the waves were moving. It was guaranteed to give her a headache of epic proportions. The signs of which were on her face and the stiffness in her shoulders and stance. Unconsciously she moved closer to where he was standing, closer to that calm, until her forehead was resting against him. Several moments later she sighed heavily and a sense of apology and weariness came through, but she was surfing above it. “We can…go now. I’m okay now.”

Sharah

He slipped his arm around her as she rested her forehead against him, becoming small and quiet. And as much as he wanted to go find a hypo and set up a cocktail of anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxers to ease that tension, he knew from experience, it wouldn’t do much for the headache behind her eyes, a combination of physical and energy. Instead, he slipped one hand up into her hair, and went to massaging and working at the back of her neck with rather strong, steady, but gentle hands, or rather just the one. “Lets… Let’s not do the lounge thing today,” he murmured back. “Let’s just … go to your place and take it easy for now.” Concern and compassion rolled off of h im, and he certainly didn’t want to put her out more. And while she couldn’t get away from it all in her quarters, she at least could get away from prying eyes and any nastiness of dealing with people, on top of frayed nerves. “Give you a chance to rest and recoup.”

Mark