Orleans teas

Posted on Sat Apr 8th, 2023 @ 2:38pm by

Mission: Shoreleave
Location: Tale's quarters turned office

CJ Boucher swaggered into the room and nodded at Tale, "you wanted to see me Ma'am."

He spoke in his causal southern drawl, he wasn't sure what to make of the visiting counselor but he had nothing to hide. The room smelled fragranced like wheat fields, vaguely like home. The lights were reminiscent of 10 am, when he would have break. The Orion was sitting at a cushy pillowed in table with an earthenware pot at it's center. The tea let out it's own smell like bluebells and blueberries.

"Welcome Lieutenant Boucher," Doctor Gilohesh welcomed him. She poured him a cup of tea in a cup that reminded CJ of his grandmother, an old porcelain tea cup with a gold rim and pansies dancing along the rim. "Please sit. Come, tell me about your day."

"Not much to tell, what of tea is this?" CJ asked

"I saw that you grew up on Alpha II, I had some leaves from the last time I was on Alpha II, I had them dried with maple from Akaali. I mixed that with some fig and blueberry from Earth and actually, a small farm I found on Alpha II," Tale loved to discuss where she found ingredients, but she was aware that could be dreadfully boring. "I blend each cup for the drinker. Now, take a sip."

CJ smiled and smelled the tea before he sipped it. "Now that's a taste of home."

"Tell me about your day CJ, was it a lot of routine? I hear there's a lot of newbies on board."

"Routine is the name of the game around, with Ren... I mean Commander Wagnor gone I'm doing half of his paperwork. I honestly don't know how he gets it all done and still has time to be a hard ass."

Tale chuckled. She adjusted her pillows. "Sounds like you two are close."

"He graduated in the same class as one my older brothers, my niece calls him 'Uncy Renny." CJ smiled. "Don't tell him I told that, he wouldn't appreciate it."

"I won't," Tale gave a warm grin. "That's just between us. It sounds like a really great friendship. Familial even. Like working with an older brother. I bet it's as fun as it is frustrating. I can relate."

CJ shrugged, "he says he doesn't understand family stuff, but he knows how to brother… We have each other's backs and he drives me crazy."

Tale scribbled a note on her padd about the tea. "I think this tea is missing something. Don't you?"

"What do have in mind?"

"It needs Orlėan Juniper."

"I'd use ginger, that's what my aunts used to use for all sorts of things, never tea per se. More like lemonade with ginger." He smiled.

"That must've been delicious," Tale complimented and marked it down. It would compliment his tea nicely. "You must miss home, being cooped on this big starship."

"Sometimes.. The holodeck and shoreleaves help though." The shrugged. "I joined Starfleet to see the rest of the galaxy. I thought about joining the marines like my Uncle James, but he one said one screwed up jarhead in the family was enough."

Tale saw the dregs at the bottom of CJ's cup. "I want to know more about that, next time. Would that be okay?"

"I guess that wouldn't be the worst thing," he said. "Thanks for tea."

Tale tapped the table. "I'll see if I have some of that ginger. Thanks for the chat CJ."

"You're welcome," he smiled and walked out of the room.

Taking the time for herself, Tale quietly cleaned up and noted the changes for CJ's tea and made mad scribblings for notes to send to Mosey. She could barely decipher them herself. It was incredible the amount of useful information she was able to get in 15 minutes.