Taking Tea

Posted on Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 @ 1:08am by Captain Elsie Halliwell

1,560 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: In The Dark
Location: Observation Lounge
Timeline: Current

Mrs. Gray slid open the scented drawer on its wooden runners and the fragrant perfume of lavender and rose-oil permeated the room instantly. She peered inside and took hold of a pair of worn and weathered gloves. The woollen material they were made from seemed to fall apart in her frail hands, a sentiment of age if ever the good woman had noticed one. She placed them back down on the patterned paper lining the base of the drawer and closed it shut, tightly. The brisk walk with Lorelai up the hills of the Cotswolds could be forgiven today, she thought. Her studies would see her through the most of the morning for which Mrs. Gray would have to occupy herself.

She patted out the front of her dress to straighten out the creases with the palm of her hand and ran her withered hands around the thin piece of material synching in her waist. Tightening up her hair into its round bun, she produced another pin from the inside of her sleeve and clipped it into place. Admiring herself in the looking glass before her on the dresser, she was reconciled that she was presentable enough and vacated her quarters. Making the short walk to Catherine's, she whistled, as she usually did, to a tune she once heard her own mother sing way back when she was young herself.

Chiming on the door in front of her, she waited as she heard the patter of feet on the other side making their way to her.

Dr. Halsey looked up from the book she had been reading as she heard the door chime. She hadn't been venturing very far these days --since the encounter with Master Chief Vrel and Arkham's departure from the Arch to Citadel Prime, she'd spent quite a bit of time in quarters or at the holodeck.

Shedding the black jacket she'd been wearing -- Rowena's; she would take it from her closet whenever the old officer was supposed to be away for any length of time -- she padded over toward the door.

"Can I--" she paused, as she saw the woman before her. "Oh, Yvie. What can I do for you?"

"Oh," she said, as she saw the Doctor before her. "I hope I am not disturbing you, Catherine, but I was wondering if you fancied taking in some tea with me this morning in the Observation Lounge. Or perhaps the Arboretum?"

A look of surprise crossed Catherine's features. Pushing her half-moon spectacles farther up on the bridge of her nose, she said. "Certainly. Of course, Yvie. No Rory this afternoon?"

"Oh, no," she said with a chuckle. "I love the little dear, I do, but if I didn't have the occasion morning to myself, I think I would just burst." A wicked smile crossed the old woman's face as she twitched her nose and accompanied it with a wink to convey her jest. "She has study this morning with her tutor and so I am free to do as I please. Shall we head up to the Observation Lounge? I've heard that this planet is a beauty and I haven't had the chance to have a peek at it myself. We can catch up with each other, too."

Yvaine produced and old fashioned biscuit from around her back and nodded to it. "My mother's marmalade cake, if you'd like."

"Thank you," Catherine said, accepting the biscuit and exiting her quarters. "And certainly, the observation lounge sounds lovely. An excellent chance to get away from all this Citadel Prime mission related banter. It was all I'd ever hear about while Rowena was still aboard -- Lord knows what sort of trouble she's getting herself into now..."

"Oh, I wouldn’t worry about her, just yet, Catherine," Yvaine replied, taking her arm and coaxing her down the corridor. "You know more than anyone that the old battle-axe can take care of herself."

Catherine smirked a little. "Oh, I know. But I also know that she tends to...act before her brain has time to catch up. And those are the instances I have to spend an entire day in surgery cleaning up the mess..."

As the two walked the short distance to the Observation Lounge, they nattered to each other about the past few days and their thoughts.

They arrived to a small round, wooden table, placed near to the windowed bulkhead and spread with a crisp, white table cloth. They both took their chairs and sat down, ordering tea as they did so. Mrs. Gray had asked a crewman to accompany them both and act as an attendant to them, serving and waiting on them as they filled their morning. Mr. Penry was more than happy to do this as it excused him from his usual Engineering maintenance for the time being. Mrs. Gray did not like to take advantage of the privilege, but she had, in the past, learnt not to argue with the good Commander Lane when he insisted, and so decided to enjoy what being a close acquaintance of his offered her.

"Mr. Penry, if you wouldn't mind heading to the side-board and taking out the frosted cup cakes I have made for us, I would greatly appreciate it. And, for your trouble, young man, you may take one for yourself."

The young crewman smiled and did as requested, returning with a silver tiered cake stand laden with baked goods. "Catherine, I offer you first choice," she said with a chuckle, squaring her white china plate in front of her."

Catherine smiled, selecting a cupcake from the tray and taking a bite. "Absolutely phenomenal Yvie."

"Why, thank you. Old recipes never fail, I say." Taking one for herself, she placed it on the plate before her and tore a piece out of the top, her favourite part, and pushed it into her mouth, dragging her fingers across her teeth as she did so. "So," she continued, with a bit of a mouthful, "how has it been for you with the Commander away?"

Catherine smiled a little taking a sip of her tea, "I suppose the appropriate answer would be that I'm glad I have time to myself, considering I'm always in such close quarters with the Commander. It's not like she's a pleasure to live with. She keeps terrible hours, and she snores something terrible. I made her have the surgery a couple of years ago, but it only made matters worse."

"Ha," the old woman laughed at the irony.

Catherine sighed a little, saying finally, "But I tell you, when she leaves...I can't sleep. I miss that late night door slam or that snoring. It's ridiculous, and I probably sound crazy--but I guess the thing you thing irritates you is the very thing you miss when it's gone."

"Indeed," Yvaine said, tearing off another piece of her cake. "As you know, Catherine, I never married, myself. But, I did, in my time, tie a few bows to my string." She giggled a little like a school-girl as the memories of her youth washed over her. "And I remember exactly what you mean. I think it might have something to do with the fact that the line between disgust and adoration is so unmistakably blurred that you sometimes can’t distinguish either. You only know that it is no longer there." Her wisdom hinted at a healed broken heart that still splintered from time to time in the darkness of the night.

"I...don't know why I'm thinking about this anymore, really," Catherine sighed, sipping her tea. "I suppose it gets tough bouncing around from ship to ship for ten years. I want to settle somewhere. I want a family. I long to work in a real hospital again. But I...Rowena won't...Rowena has always said she'd retire when the Fleet didn't need her -- that the day was coming soon. But I don't think the day will ever come when the Commander doesn't need the Fleet."

"I suppose the problem is that you can't ask the Commander to be less than she is," Yvaine replied, solemnly.

Catherine toyed with her tea cup, saying finally. "It's been difficult. I've had to omit a lot of things from friends and family these past few years. And Rowena...I was advised to quit years ago, that since Dr. Ellard died, Arkham was more into flings then anything long term. But I stayed, because I cared about her. Because underneath it all, she's...so different. It's such a contradiction. She's taken lives, but...at the same time, she's the most amazing concert violinist...there's such mesmerizing duplicity. So I would overlook the flings with the equally well-bred lawyer, the ship's doctor, the dinners. I stayed silent, letting the notches in Arkham's bed post accumulate, taking out the ah..."trash" in the morning. She's given up on that as she's gotten older, but she shows no signs of...ever committing to a relationship again, I suppose."

"Then, Catherine, why stay? You're still young."

"I stay because..." Catherine paused, looking away. "That's the problem Yvie. I don't know how to finish that sentence anymore."


Doctor Catherine Halsey, (PNPC)
Personal Attendant to Commander Rowena Arkham,
Executive Officer

AND

Governess Yvaine Gray, (PNPC)
Personal Governess to Lorelai de Winter,
Daughter of the Captain

 

RSS Feed