Behold the Power of Tea

Posted on 08 Dec 2017 @ 3:57am by Lieutenant Commander Gemma Alexander

658 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Crossing Over
Location: Gemma's Quarters
Timeline: MD Day 6 1900

Gemma exited her bathroom, hair up in a towel as another wrapped around her humming the 'I'm henry the 8th I am...' ear worm she'd had stuck in her head, off and on all afternoon. Muttering a curse she caught herself and turned on some music from her 'chill out' sound track.

Her quarters was a study in contrasts. Overall it was well kept but it could include things like a black leather jacket over one chair even as a wet ocean, unlike the ocean of space around them currently, scene highlighted a ship at full sail as a painting on the wall. A violin sat it a holder next to a stand with sheet music that wasn't that far from a portable bar with bottles of alcohol in a case aka her 'party on the go' case.

Pictures of family and friends also highlighted this. For every peaceful scene of her smiling at a graduation or with her grandparents there was one with her almost blurred as she ran in a bathing suit and a 20th century traffic cone on her head at some party or somesuch. Some only saw the happy go lucky pilot, some saw the violinist and lover of classical music, and who knows what others saw.

Right now there was no one to see as she changed into PJ's not something she always wore but when working with plants one didn't want to go in la buff. She went to a small hydroponics set up she had in her room. It was a few different types of tea plants. A green tea, delicate and temperamental. A hardier black tea of the classic earl grey variety as well as a few others. They took up so little space she actually had a good variety in the space in her quarters. It was a kind of mediation for her as she clipped and worked.

Making tea from the plant to finished project as an odd hobby but one she enjoyed, besides if an Earth Britisher doesn't know tea they have to turn in their British card, it's true, no really. There were a lot of benefits to tea, good for your health with a variety from less caffeine (but just enough) to boosting the immune system it was a handy thing. And if you drank it sans add ins well it was good for any diet.

Gemma preferred it over coffee and didn't care it was stereotypical, tea was awesome and so was archery, all hail the longbow. And the best part was she actually made fairly good fresh tea and since she had more than she needed she'd become a sort of supplier to other purists on the ship.

One song blended into another as she worked, her movements experienced and precise. Her hands never stopped moving in a flowing dance as she worked around the plants, moving to the music. One had to act quickly when the plants were ready and process them properly or the whole lot could be lost. Her eyes, so used to tracking multiple threats flicked to one or or another as needed checking the health and status of the plants as she worked.

Finally tea plants trimmed and those needed to be processed were processed. Gemma sat in a large, comfy chair and breathed deep of the cup of tea quite satisfied with the nights work as her eyes lighted on the row of small jars put aside for other crew. She was thinking the only thing missing was a good massage, rather difficult to do on oneself or a cat. She wondered idly how one went about getting a cat and made a mental note to check. She leaned back in her chair as gentle music gave way to heavy metal and she relaxed further into her chair.

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