[Survey] Roxi's Treat

Roxi’s Treat

The last few weeks at the Aberion Environmental and Agricultural Laboratory had been rough. Where it was once peaceful and serene, arguments about procedures, funding and wasted resources were commonplace by now. 

Roxi had always said the lab was an extension of the ones using it, and this was one time she wished she was wrong. As the discord grew, more experiments went wrong, or had to be completely restarted due to mistakes. The whole thing had become a feedback loop; something goes wrong, an argument ensues, the next experiment isn’t performed correctly due to the distraction, and the cycle starts anew. 

In her office, just a stone’s throw away from the drama, Roxi sat back in her reclining chair, her ear to a phone as she talked with a volunteer she’d become friends with. Since her team had requested materials from all corners of the planet, Roxi had set up volunteer programs to aid in the lab’s endeavors. 

In this case, she’d become close with one volunteer in particular named Nexus. He didn’t quite understand all the details behind food science, but he loved being helpful, and was always ready to listen. 

“This funk we’re in is going to tear this place apart, I highly doubt a ‘motivational speech about friendship’ or ‘the heart of the cards’ is going to do it.” She sighed out the last part, running her claws through her long hair. An awkward chuckle comes through the phone. 

“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood a bit, I was hoping it would suddenly inspire you for the perfect plan, guess it didn’t work this time…” Nexus trailed off. 

“I get what you were going for Nex, and, thank you. I just don’t know what to do anymore.” Roxi took a breath, letting a touch of mirth to her voice to (hopefully) show she wasn't irritated with the attempt. 

“Well, maybe start by treating this like… uh… yeah I was hoping you’d fill that last part in for me…” He trailed off again, hoping she'd fill in for his missing knowledge of her work. 

Treating…

You could practically hear the puzzle pieces click in Roxi’s mind as her eyes went wide. 

“Nexus, I absolutely love you.” 

“There ya go Rox! I knew you’d have something, now go do it, and call me after it works!” You could hear his smile through the phone. 

“Shall do, and Nex, thanks a million."

…

That night, from Roxi's open window in her treehouse apartment, drifted the most wonderful smells of chocolates, fruits, and berries, accompanied by the scent of pastry. In the meantime, Roxi was going through a mental list to make sure everyone could enjoy what she was planning.

"Venti doesn't like dazzle berries, Pala gets sick from walnuts. Right, and Heral can't eat eggs, so, I’ll buy his favorite chips and cookies, ah… Mallow! Him and tree nuts, right, maybe I should just skip them altogether, yeah, it'll be safest. Giiva has a sensitive palate, so I'll bring water and juice for her. Okay, I think I got it all." She let out a short, satisfactory sigh.

…

"ARC labs help me…" Pala muttered under their breath. The tension had been eating away at everyone, and there wasn't much more they could take. 

Walking up to the door, Pala went to open it, only to find it locked. They tugged it a few times, then tried pushing it, but it remained solidly impassable. Looking directly at eye level, Pala saw a note taped to the outside of the door. 

“I would miss something in front of my face…” They rolled their eyes before reading what was written. 

Lab closed for today until further notice

P.s. come around back!

"What the…" Pala blinked a few times. Aside from the small water spill the day prior, there hadn’t been any reason to close the lab. And the come around back thing was new, maybe it was a meeting of some kind? Results had been slipping, maybe Roxi was getting frustrated with everyone, maybe-

“Stop freaking out Pala, you don’t even know what’s going on yet.” They took a breath, pushed their glasses up their face and turned right to walk to the back of the building. 

Roxi was back there, sitting at one of the folding tables that the lab had. But she didn’t look angry, not even frustrated or tired. As a matter of fact, she greeted Pala with a smile like sunshine.

"Pala, good morning! Now, you’ve probably got questions about all this.” Roxi waved a paw, gesturing to what she’d set up. The other folding tables were being used by the other members who’d arrived earlier, and one table housed some large plates of food. Most of the snacks were either lab favorites, or baked pastries.

“Uh huh…” Pala gave a slight nod in agreement, still taking in the events before her. 

“Well, addressing the elephant in the room, there’s been some tension in the lab recently, and I've been trying to think of ways to manage it. Then, Nexus gave me a fantastic idea. Oh, Venti! Good morning, go grab a Star Tail and a drink, I'll be over in a second. Oh! And the leftmost plate has berries, but the others have chocolate and fruit." She quickly addressed the newly arrived Venti, who reacted similarly to Pala at first, but he snapped out of it and looked back at Roxi. 

"Oh wow, thanks Rox! Never could get used to the taste of dazzle berries, thanks again!" He smiled warmly, like he was relieved (most likely about not having to work that day.)

Once the rest of the confused scientists came around back, Roxi took the open seat at the table. Mallow was the first to ask what was on everyone’s mind. 

"So what's with the impromptu picnic?" 

"Well, like I mentioned when most of you got here, there's been a lot of anxiety in the lab. It's been winding everyone up like a spring, and I didn't want to wait until it just…" She paused, trying to find the right phrase. 

"Snapped back?" Pala suggested. 

“Yes! Exactly." Roxi 

"Yeah, the tension was pretty palpable, it was almost suffocating, I just didn't know how to bring it up, since everyone was already on edge."

“Same Mal!”

“I’m really sorry everyone, honestly, I was trying to think how to break the tension myself, I just, didn’t know how. But, thanks to Nex, I realized that this tension around the lab might just need some sunlight, seltzer and sweets to make things better. Speaking of, I brought juice, water, and even some MidNova seltzer for anyone who wants something bubbly! And I’m not reopening the lab until everyone is good and ready. So, I want everyone to just relax." And she took a bite from a chocolate StarTail to end her speech. 

…

Six days later, the lab was back up and running, the tension and stress had been driven out. Experiments were progressing well, results were coming back successful, and the arguments were relegated to where colleagues would eat lunch.

Just before her break, Roxi wrote something on a sticky note, pinning it inside her notebook. 

"Note to self, when tension is high, bake things. And, also, call Nexus."