Afternoon Tea

Posted on Sun May 9th, 2010 @ 4:42am by Commander Dhindara Vrel & Captain Rodrigo Ramos

2,269 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: On Typhon Station
Location: Oriental Tea Room

Lieutenant Commander Aneris Ivin'Ishka stepped into the Tea Room.

She looked around, seeing few people around.

Having a seat, she was greeted by a small Japanese woman.

"Hello. You want tea?" Aeshia asked.

"Yes, madame. And some stir fry." Aneris said with a nod.

"Good. My name Aeshia Dew. I not long being called madame." The woman said.

"As you wish." Aneris said, again, merely nodding.

Captain Ramos smiled as he listened to his First Sergeant's recap of the Barracks Inspections earlier, and turned towards the entrance to the Tea Room. "Mac, have you ever been to Japan?"

"Well Sir, I have, but I never really got the chance to do much visiting, was busy taking care of a few things. Why do you ask?"

"There are few thing more relaxing than visiting a Tea Room. Shall we?" He motioned in with a wave of his hands. He watched as they seated themselves and he waited for the woman who worked here to arrive.

Aeshia Dew nodded at the two men. She placed them at a seat not far from Lieutenant Commander Ivin'Ishka.

She then gave Aneris a cup of Orion tea, which was syntheholic, and her food. Turning back to the Marines, she looked at them. Deciding to test out her new translator, she smiled. In perfect, unaccented English, the Translator put forth: "Welcome to the Oriental Tea Room. What can I get for you?"

Rodrigo bowed from the waist, "Arigato." As the woman stood there he continued in clear, unaccented Japanese, ordering sake and tea for the both of them.

With a small book in her hand Dhindara entered the tea room. She had heard of it only recently and wanted to check it out. Walking in she smiled and waited to be seated.

"I didn't want syntheholic tea, Aeshia." Aneris noted. "I was looking for Vulcan Spice tea."

"I am terribly sorry. I had assumed, because you are Orion..." Aeshia said.

Aneris shook her head. "Vulcan spice tea. And help the medical woman over there first."

"Thank you." Aeshia's translator said.

She greeted Dhindara. "Good afternoon, please, have a seat." She said, indicating a seat near the collection of officers already present.

Rodrigo, being in a very good mood, waved Aeshia over. In hushed Japanese, he quickly told her that he would pick up the tab for the two lovely ladies that she had just seated, as well as ordering sushi and rice. Returning his attention to his fellow Marine, he smiled. "Relax Michaela. When we are off duty, you can call me anything you like, just not Sir or Captain. You are my right hand woman, and you are going to be the perfect Marine for whipping our men into shape." With that he sipped his tea, and was taken back to his youth momentarily, reminiscing about the rock garden and the tea room at home.

Dhindara smiled at Aeshia. "I'd like to try the house special, please." She walked over to the other Starfleet personnel. "Mind if I join you?"

Rodrigo and Michaela both stood, and waited for Dhindara to be seated. "It's a pleasure to have such a lovely woman grace us with her presence. Have you ordered already?"

Dhindara smiled and nodded, holding out her hand in greeting. "I'm Dhindara."

1SG Allen quickly clasped her hand and bowed slightly. Rod smiled, took her hand in his left hand and bowed over her hand in traditional greeting. "This is 1SG Michaela Allen, and I'm Captain Rodrigo Ramos, both of the USS Blackhawk." With that said, he looked at her and examined her for a moment. "I'm either going to wager you are a doc or a counselor, am I right?"

"Yes, I'm the Counselor here on the starbase", Dhindara replied with a chuckle. "I should come here in civilian clothes next time. This is way too obvious."

"It's no problem at all. As you can plainly see, we didn't have time to really do much changing either. One busy day and all we could think about was getting some sushi and tea." Rodrigo winked slightly, "So I'll bet they keep you really busy here." With that he chuckled in turn.

Dhindara nodded. "Yes, there's a lot of visiting officers who don't want to be speaking to their shipboard counsellor because they're more comfortable with me, being they probably won't ever see me again after a few days, that and we get people for long-term rehab."

Rodrigo sipped at his sake, then swallowed it along with some of his sushi. "That seems kind of strange to me. Is there any particular reason for that?" He offered some butter cookies to go with the tea. "These are a few of the personal sweets I brought back with me from Earth, would you like to try one or two?"

Aeshia frowned, and glowered. "NO OUTSIDE FOOD HERE! YOU WANT COOKIE, HAVE A SUGAR COOKIE!" She yelled in her English, not in translated Japanese.

Dhindara raised her hand. "Relax, young lady", she said. "What's the problem?"

Aeshia pointed at the large sign near the front door. No outside food or drinks.

Dhindara stood and walked over to her. She spoke softly. "I'd like to try those specialties the Marines brought, they're self made, which makes them special. I'll try some of the sugar cookies later. Don't worry, you won't be losing any customers over a few cookies."

"I DO NOT CARE! NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINK IN RESTAURANT! IT IS COMMON ENOUGH POLICY, AND COMMON SENSE. EITHER GO PUT IT AWAY SOMEWHERE, OR SERVICE REFUSAL IMMINENT!" Aeshia yelled.

Dhindara looked at her, shaking her head. "Okay, you just earned yourself a visit to my office tomorrow morning", she said. "Losing emotional control over an issue this minor, makes me think you're a danger to other people on this station. You need anger management therapy."

"No! You disrespect me, and my place of business. If you do not follow the rules, NO TEA FOR YOU!" Aeshia growled back.

"I'm merely talking to you", Dhindara replied. "You're exploding, metaphorically speaking. That's not exactly normal, you know?"

Aneris stood, and frowned. "You are aware that she is legally permitted to bounce you from her establishment, and as a Starfleet Security Officer, I would be required to assist her in this regard, yes?"

"Oh, this is not about legal issues", Dhindara responded. "This is about an overly emotional reaction. As the Counselor on this base, it has me worried a bit."

Rodrigo cleared his throat. "Ladies, I do apologize for the trouble. I didn't see the sign, and I do not want to cause any trouble. I will put them away, and I will also make up for the insult to your business, Aeshia-San." Rod switched to Japanese for a few minutes, bowing and apologizing to the woman. "Dhindara, if you would like to visit me tomorrow on-board the Blackhawk, I have these and a few other delicacies from earth if you would be so kind as to join me for lunch."

Aeshia nodded. "Arigato." She returned to her stove.

Dhindara sat back down. "That is, provided I can get her to attend counseling without having to involve security." She frowned. "While she has a point and is technically right, this sort of overreaction worries me, that sort of a temper is problematic at best."

Lieutenant Ivin'Ishka nodded as well, and sat back down at her table.

"Lieutenant, would you care to join the rest of us? Just having a friendly sit down, enjoying some well deserved peace and quiet, and I am getting to know the station and quadrant better." Rodrigo gestured to the one remaining empty seat at their table as he spoke.

Aneris shot a look at Dhindara. "Did you ever think that maybe the woman was annoyed, because the marines were attempting to fill you up with free food, when you are in a place of business involving not free food?"

"Well, obviously", Dhindara responded. "That doesn't explain the outburst, though."

She looked at the Marine next. "I prefer being alone when I eat. It stops unwelcome dinner conversation, which is bad for digestion."

Rodrigo chuckled. "Actually I have found that good conversation quite often has the opposite effect, enhancing the meal, and creating an enjoyable atmosphere in which to create and re-establish friendships and camaraderie."

"To each to their own." Aneris noted. "It's not my place to judge your meal habits, and neither is it your place to judge mine."

"Touche." Rodrigo then sat, and going back to the conversation at hand, shook his head ever so slightly and sighed. "I wish I knew why some people wish to be anti-social, seeing as how I was once that way. Now, looking back I realize that I missed out on a lot of fun, and socializing, as well as opportunities to make new friends."

"Some people just don't like other people", Dhindara replied. "There are lots of things about other people you can find irritating, and with other entertainment options available to you, and with the possibility to be successful without having to socialize, it's a rather normal way for people to just not deal with things they don't like."

"This is quite true, but you are unable to grow and develop as fully without the socially interactive aspect of both work and relaxation. It isn't something that is mandatory, but it is still needful in the development of a healthy work ethic as well as a healthy psyche." Rodrigo sipped his tea as he watched both Mac and Dhindara take this in.

Dhindara shook her head. "Not necessarily. You see, you can't have everything in life. There's a limited amount of time, and there's a limited amount of options available to you. You have to pick what you think is the most relevant. I, for one, can spend days in a library reading through things that interest me, and even there I have to make choices because I simply don't have enough time to read everything, and that's just covering the topics I actually care about, think about how much is out there that you and me both just don't think it's worth wasting time on."

"For another, I was raised by, and live my life by, Vulcan societies." Aneris said. "My life's devotion is my personal reason, but I prefer to simply enjoy what little break time I can take, and avoid most people, by and large."

Dhindara nodded. "Yes, very understandable. As a telepath, I like getting away from people from time to time, to allow my mind to relax rather than having to have mental shields up at all times."

"I can definitely relate there, being somewhat telepathic myself. I just feel that solitude is counter-productive to gaining a good perspective on a lot of things." He sighed and grabbing another bite of sushi, he chewed thoughtfully. Swallowing, he continued. "But I do agree to each their own, as it is the Vulcans who came up with IDIC, is it not?"

Dhindara nodded. "Indeed." She smirked. "Isolating oneself from most company is just usually frustrating for those who have taken an interest in you."

Aneris frowned. "There are certain jobs within Starfleet which prohibit persons from taking an interest in you." She said, and without another word, got up, grabbed her tea, paid the Japanese woman, and moved to the opposite side of the room.

Rodrigo sighed. "I do wish people could understand that there IS such a thing as professional interest as well as personal. I believe that to have a healthy professional relationship, you must balance it with a healthy personal relationship, both with yourself and others." Sipping at his tea, he thought for a moment. "I am fairly certain that in your job as a Counselor you have seen this in action on more than one occasion, am I right?"

"It works both ways", Dhindara replied. "Since everyone is different, there is no ideal way that will satisfy everybody. If people prefer to keep to themselves, the best thing one can do is leave them alone."

Aeshia frowned, as she served the three their dinner. "Especially when the person in question is reading PADDs that are marked 'Starfleet Intelligence'."

"Oh, one doesn't, or shouldn't, take truly sensitive information into a bar or a restaurant", Dhindara said. "And those intelligence officers who are clearly identifiable as such can be socialised with. Not everything is so secret people aren't even supposed to know that intelligence work is going on."

At this point in time Ramos' Comm badge chirped. "Captain Ramos, this is Orion Security. Your Marines are involved in a bar fight on board the Typhon, at the Semper Fi. We just received the intel and it might be a good idea if you can rein them in before they cause too much trouble or damage. Orion out."

Rodrigo groaned. "C'mon Mac. Let's get down there and chew some Marines out. I swear I can never catch a break." He turned around to face Dhindara as he stood. "I do apologize for the inconvenience. Maybe we can catch up for dinner sometime before we head out on mission?"

Dhindara smiled. "I do cook reasonably well", she said. "You know where to find me. Good luck if you run into Colonel Purr."

Rod smiled in return. "I will look you up tomorrow night then if that's alright?" Bowing slightly from the waist he turned and nodded to Mac. The Marines didn't know it yet, but all Hell was about to break loose on them, and they WEREN'T going to like it....

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