Eva Stratt & AuDHD scientist
Yayyy more Eva content- sorry if she’s really OOC- I wrote half of this sleep deprived and sick ~ enjoy!
You were employed because you were exceptional at your job. You were a biochemist that climbed the ranks quickly and Stratt needed your expertise.
Stratt notices how you're a little...odd. When you start talking you don't make eye contact, but just before you finish you will briefly make eye contact as if to demonstrate that you were, in fact talking to the person.
She notices that you fidget with your hands all the time, either tangling your fingers together or playing with a hair tie.
When you notice her staring at your hands you shove them into your pockets trying to look like everyone else.
She notices how you don't seem to react to her presence as much as everyone else. They straighten, get a little nervous, some men try to look taller than they are.
You, for the most part don't change much. You get a little bit nervous but you do that with most people anyway. She can see you respect her but there is something else. You look at her like she is just a human, not a god.
She sometimes sees you late at night, waiting for an experiment to finish so you can note the results. You spin in the spinny chair whilst you wait.
When she walks into the lab you spin until you face her, blinking a bit. She has a bit of a soft spot for you. You're younger than most on the ship, Ilyukhina spends the most time with you.
She asks you how long until the experiment is done. You get lost, answering a simple question with an essay, punctuated with hand gestures and you standing, then sitting, then standing then finally sitting. You explain to her that you're not quite sure because of the nature of the experiment so you're stuck sitting there indefinitely. Stratt tells you to go to bed as soon as possible and that you can call Dr Grace to take over if it gets to 2am and you're still waiting.
Your brain short-circuits at that, surprised your boss would care but agree nevertheless.
She notices how you wear glasses in the lab that reduce the brightness of the light and how you jump a foot in the air at loud sudden noises. Noise-cancelling headphones appear at your desk the morning after you jump then your eyes start to water.
She watches your face drop at the idea of going to a gala with her, the other heads of departments and global diplomats. You cover it well, but she doesn't miss the micro expression.
You're nervous. You have never been in this situation before you don't know what to say and you're sure the dress will be uncomfortable.
You stay with Stratt or Dr Grace the entire time. You're so nervous that you can't bare to face this new social setting with different rules and people, so you stay next to them.
Stratt gives you room to speak and helps continue conversations when she realises you're running out of ideas. You feel silly that you need someone but grateful that she doesn't mind you following her around.
You get tired and have seen others going outside, so you figure it should be ok if you leave for a bit to collect your thoughts and just breathe. You rock a bit and mumble 'it's ok' under your breath to self-soothe.
Stratt gives you the next day off, and it's only after you've returned to the lab the following day that you realise Dr Grace wasn't afforded the luxury.
You give your weekly reports in her office. She appreciates that you're almost always on time. You still don't make a lot of eye contact, choosing to stare at the files. You also lose your train of thought often and open and close your fingers in a grab motion to help jog your memory.
She notices that you eat a lot of the same foods for each meal and are put out one day when you happen to come in late and your preferred food isn't there. You stare to the other options for a while before settling for the next best option slowly eating it. She makes sure there's always some of your safe food stored away.
You move a lot in the lab, pacing, jumping, spinning as you wait for experiments to finish, which she privately finds amusing
She reminds you to eat fairly often. You’ll jump up from your seat when you think you’ve made a discovery and go a bit wobbly of your feet. Stratt instantly recognises this as low blood sugar, ask you when you last ate and realises the blank stare you give he in response is your answer. She’ll tell you to sit down and grab some granola bars and fruit from the the fridge.
If it’s a mealtime then she’ll get you to go to the cafeteria. If it’s too much of a sensory nightmare then she’ll get someone to bring you your usual meal and sit with you while you wait.
She notices that you’re a bit more restless than usual- you’d been working so hard and hadn’t had the time to exercise recently and had been fidgeting in any low-key way you could. Tapping you fingers, rolling your wrists, bouncing you leg, spinning in your spinny chair. She brings it up to you gently and you explain that you weren’t trying to be annoying, you just needed to move. She gently suggests that you cut back work for just an hour in the morning so that you can exercise to channel the engergy somewhere. She also tells you that it’s ok for you to move- if it makes you more effective then that’s that.
Will remind you to take your meds and teach you strategies to remember them- visual reminders, alarms, habit stacking. She never makes you feel stupid.
If you’re experiencing intense emotions she’ll guide you to her office so you can get them out however you need. Flapping your hands, pacing, heavy breathing, blasting music through headphones, whatever you do she doesn’t mind as long as you’re safe. She’ll just sit at her desk and do work while you regulate yourself.
She lets you sit on the floor in her office afterwards. She doesn’t quite understand why you prefer the floor but isn’t for her to judge you. Sometimes you’ll sit next to her chair and she’ll put her hand on your head.
She snaps at lab tech for making fun of your continuous movement, stating that everyone has their way of engaging with the world and processing information and that if they can’t cope with that then the tech shouldn’t be there.
Gives you grace whenever you zone out. She’ll notice you go quiet and stare into the abyss. She makes sure there’s nothing dangerous around you and will stay with you until you come to.
She gives you time to collect your thoughts if you forget what you’re saying mid sentence. She never rushes you or tries to finish the sentence for you, just patiently waits.
She knows you're a bit different, she doesn't have the right words for it, but she sees how hard you work, that you care about saving the world and doing your part. She knows you try so so hard to do your part. She doesn’t care that you’re a bit different. She sees the hardworking person you are and is happy to support you.
