The Tea Excursion
Posted on Sun Sep 21st, 2025 @ 5:03pm by Ensign Quen Lyra & Lieutenant Kate Cherbourg
3,250 words; about a 16 minute read
Mission:
Second Light
Location: Retail Section, Starbase 369
=/\= Promenade – Steep Space Tea House =/\=
The promenade buzzed with its usual tide of footsteps, voices, and the hum of commerce. Quen Lyra found herself walking a little too quickly, as if nervous energy might carry her through the crowd before she lost her nerve. At her side, Kate matched the pace with easy confidence, chatting about the twists and turns of navigating the station’s endless corridors.
When the tea house finally came into view, Lyra slowed. The storefront was modest, a long pane of glass etched with delicate star patterns that seemed to shimmer as the light shifted. Inside, the air was warm and fragrant, curling with the mingled scents of herbs, citrus, and spices. A holo-sign above the counter read Steep Space in flowing script, accompanied by a gentle chime as the door opened.
Lyra paused just inside, letting the sensory wash of the place ease the tightness in her chest. It felt worlds away from the sterile weight of the operations office. “Oh… this is lovely,” she murmured, almost to herself.
Behind the counter, a Denobulan proprietor offered a wide smile. Rows of glass jars lined the walls, each filled with leaves of different colors and textures, their labels hand-written in a looping script. A handful of off-duty officers lounged at small tables, cups steaming as they leaned in toward their conversations.
Lyra glanced at Kate, her expression softening into something closer to ease than she’d felt all week. “So… what’s your go-to? Something tells me you’re the kind of person who already has a favorite blend.”
"Oh wow. This is amazing. My go-to is green with citrus and a touch of cinnamon, but I'm gonna have to check this out." Kate returned the smile of the tea master. "Do you have a special of the day?" she asked. "And what your most unusual?" she added.
"My special is an Andorian Ice Brew. Very subtle like oolong, if you are familiar with that, but a little edgy. My comparison might be Lady Earl Grey. Nothing as rich as the Earl himself, mind you," he replied. "Most unusual? Mmmm, maybe the Bolian Rainforest mix. I can let you sniff a sample if you'd like. It's very earthy, but... blue, in the same sense you might say Green tea is green in its flavor." He reached behind the counter for a small jar, and tapped a little of the contents into a small paper cup and handed it to Kate.
She was skeptical and careful as her nose approached the rim of the cup, but nothing assaulted her immediately. It was definitely unusual, a bit like bergamot and curry, but with a heavy under-scent of .... dirt, blue dirt. She held it out to Lyra to take a sniff. "Let me look at the names on those behind you while she decides," Kate hedged having to make an immediate decision.
Lyra leaned in, cautious but curious, and inhaled the sample’s strange bouquet. Her nose wrinkled despite her best effort to stay neutral. “Oh, that’s… bold,” she said diplomatically, though her tone betrayed a flicker of doubt. “It smells like the promenade after a rainstorm—if the promenade were on a swamp moon.”
She laughed at herself and quickly shook her head. “Maybe I’m not brave enough for the blue dirt blend just yet.” Her eyes drifted toward the wall of jars, tracing the hand-written labels. Starfire Chai. Vulcan Serenity. Tellarite Hearth. Each name seemed to promise something different, an adventure or a memory bottled up in glass.
Her hand hovered over a jar labeled Bajoran Dawn. The script was elegant, looping, almost reverent. She felt a pang of homesickness tighten her throat before she cleared it softly. “Maybe this one,” she said, half to Kate, half to herself.
Glancing back, she offered a tentative grin. “I’ll let you be the adventurous one today. I’ll stick to something that feels a little closer to home.”
Lyra slid into the chair across from Kate, curling her fingers around the warm glass. She blew across the surface of her tea before taking a small sip, then glanced up with a shy smile.
“You’ve been listening to me go on about work since we met,” she admitted. “But I don’t actually know much about you.”
Her expression softened, curious rather than formal. “Where do you call home, Kate? And when you’re not wrangling schedules and admirals, what do you actually enjoy doing?”
"Home is Earth. That was my father's home planet. My mother is El-Aurian and Earth is her adopted home. I was there until I went to Denobula to college at 17, to study nursing, believe it or not. But that was just not for me, so I quit and joined Starfleet. Went to work for Admiral Blokpoel immediately and been there after since. I'm really not very interesting. I like books and literature and plays and dance performances, art shows. Let's see, I like yoga and hanging out with new friends in tea shops, looking at, not for, good looking men."
Speaking of which in walked one tall male, his long straight gold-blonde hair pulled to the nape of his neck in a colorful beaded hair clip. He was dressed in a very classy non-Starfleet uniform. "Wonder where he's from?" said Kate, a bit on the conspiratorial side.
Lyra followed Kate’s gaze, her eyes widening slightly before she quickly hid behind a sip of tea. “He doesn’t look like he’s from around here,” she whispered, the corner of her mouth twitching in amusement. “Definitely not the type who gets lost in the duty roster.”
She leaned in just a fraction, conspiratorial now. “If you keep spotting men like that, I might start making this a weekly tradition. Purely for the cultural study, of course.”
She laughed softly at her own joke, then tilted her head. “You mentioned art and plays… that’s very Earth, isn’t it? We had some theatre on Bajor, but I don’t know much about human performances. What do you enjoy most? The music, the stories, the costumes?”
Her tone was open and curious, a genuine invitation rather than polite small talk.
Kate could tell it was genuine interest and responded in kind. "They have beautiful art on Bajor," she said to start. "Most of my experience of it has been on Denobula where I went to nursing school." She saw Lyra's curiosity bubble up in her expression. "Never finished. Hated it. Joined Starfleet," Kate interjected into her story. "But I went to a lot of art shows there. I like to draw. Sketch really. And a few plays. But to answer your question, I like the stories. It's interesting to hear the story in a voice of the person in the story. It's so different than reading it, or just listening to someone read the story to you. Do they not have live enactments like that on Bajor?"
Lyra traced a finger along the rim of her cup, thoughtful. “Not really the way you describe,” she admitted softly. “On Bajor, most of the performances I grew up with were spiritual, chants, temple dramas, stories tied to the Prophets. They weren’t meant to entertain so much as to teach, or remind us of faith.”
She glanced down into her tea, the steam rising gently. “I suppose that’s why I never learned much about other kinds of performances. When I hear you talk about plays, or stories told on stage just to bring people together… it feels like something I’ve been missing. Something I’d like to experience.”
Her eyes lifted back to Kate, shy but honest. “Maybe you can explain it to me sometime. Or better yet, take me along, if there’s ever a performance here on the station. I think I’d like to see the difference for myself.”
"That would be so fun !!!!! " exclaimed Kate. "I will start watching for a such a thing immediately. I know you will enjoy it. I can just tell." She wanted to ask if all that emphasis upon the faith felt restrictive or manipulative, but she felt she didn't know her well enough to ask her to reveal the answer to that. "So, how do you feel about literature, reading and stuff? Do you like books, electronic or even real paper books?"
Lyra thought about it. “Oh, I’m a book worm nerd. I sometimes listen when time is short, I definitely read on a PADD, but there is something comforting in holding a physical book, smelling the pages, imagining who else has held it and tucked the corners.”
She gave a small, almost sheepish smile. “Guess that makes me old-fashioned in some ways.”
"We are book-sisters at heart. I feel exactly the same. I used to be self-conscious about reading so much of my free time away, but one day, I thought, You can read just as much as you want. It's your free time. And it's not like you're not getting your work done. So I've always got a book going. Do you read one at a time, or multiples?" asked Kate.
=/\= Promenade – Steep Space Tea House =/\=
The promenade buzzed with its usual tide of footsteps, voices, and the hum of commerce. Quen Lyra found herself walking a little too quickly, as if nervous energy might carry her through the crowd before she lost her nerve. At her side, Kate matched the pace with easy confidence, chatting about the twists and turns of navigating the station’s endless corridors.
When the tea house finally came into view, Lyra slowed. The storefront was modest, a long pane of glass etched with delicate star patterns that seemed to shimmer as the light shifted. Inside, the air was warm and fragrant, curling with the mingled scents of herbs, citrus, and spices. A holo-sign above the counter read Steep Space in flowing script, accompanied by a gentle chime as the door opened.
Lyra paused just inside, letting the sensory wash of the place ease the tightness in her chest. It felt worlds away from the sterile weight of the operations office. “Oh… this is lovely,” she murmured, almost to herself.
Behind the counter, a Denobulan proprietor offered a wide smile. Rows of glass jars lined the walls, each filled with leaves of different colors and textures, their labels hand-written in a looping script. A handful of off-duty officers lounged at small tables, cups steaming as they leaned in toward their conversations.
Lyra glanced at Kate, her expression softening into something closer to ease than she’d felt all week. “So… what’s your go-to? Something tells me you’re the kind of person who already has a favorite blend.”
"Oh wow. This is amazing. My go-to is green with citrus and a touch of cinnamon, but I'm gonna have to check this out." Kate returned the smile of the tea master. "Do you have a special of the day?" she asked. "And what your most unusual?" she added.
"My special is an Andorian Ice Brew. Very subtle like oolong, if you are familiar with that, but a little edgy. My comparison might be Lady Earl Grey. Nothing as rich as the Earl himself, mind you," he replied. "Most unusual? Mmmm, maybe the Bolian Rainforest mix. I can let you sniff a sample if you'd like. It's very earthy, but... blue, in the same sense you might say Green tea is green in its flavor." He reached behind the counter for a small jar, and tapped a little of the contents into a small paper cup and handed it to Kate.
She was skeptical and careful as her nose approached the rim of the cup, but nothing assaulted her immediately. It was definitely unusual, a bit like bergamot and curry, but with a heavy under-scent of .... dirt, blue dirt. She held it out to Lyra to take a sniff. "Let me look at the names on those behind you while she decides," Kate hedged having to make an immediate decision.
Lyra leaned in, cautious but curious, and inhaled the sample’s strange bouquet. Her nose wrinkled despite her best effort to stay neutral. “Oh, that’s… bold,” she said diplomatically, though her tone betrayed a flicker of doubt. “It smells like the promenade after a rainstorm—if the promenade were on a swamp moon.”
She laughed at herself and quickly shook her head. “Maybe I’m not brave enough for the blue dirt blend just yet.” Her eyes drifted toward the wall of jars, tracing the hand-written labels. Starfire Chai. Vulcan Serenity. Tellarite Hearth. Each name seemed to promise something different, an adventure or a memory bottled up in glass.
Her hand hovered over a jar labeled Bajoran Dawn. The script was elegant, looping, almost reverent. She felt a pang of homesickness tighten her throat before she cleared it softly. “Maybe this one,” she said, half to Kate, half to herself.
Glancing back, she offered a tentative grin. “I’ll let you be the adventurous one today. I’ll stick to something that feels a little closer to home.”
Lyra slid into the chair across from Kate, curling her fingers around the warm glass. She blew across the surface of her tea before taking a small sip, then glanced up with a shy smile.
“You’ve been listening to me go on about work since we met,” she admitted. “But I don’t actually know much about you.”
Her expression softened, curious rather than formal. “Where do you call home, Kate? And when you’re not wrangling schedules and admirals, what do you actually enjoy doing?”
"Home is Earth. That was my father's home planet. My mother is El-Aurian and Earth is her adopted home. I was there until I went to Denobula to college at 17, to study nursing, believe it or not. But that was just not for me, so I quit and joined Starfleet. Went to work for Admiral Blokpoel immediately and been there after since. I'm really not very interesting. I like books and literature and plays and dance performances, art shows. Let's see, I like yoga and hanging out with new friends in tea shops, looking at, not for, good looking men."
Speaking of which in walked one tall male, his long straight gold-blonde hair pulled to the nape of his neck in a colorful beaded hair clip. He was dressed in a very classy non-Starfleet uniform. "Wonder where he's from?" said Kate, a bit on the conspiratorial side.
Lyra followed Kate’s gaze, her eyes widening slightly before she quickly hid behind a sip of tea. “He doesn’t look like he’s from around here,” she whispered, the corner of her mouth twitching in amusement. “Definitely not the type who gets lost in the duty roster.”
She leaned in just a fraction, conspiratorial now. “If you keep spotting men like that, I might start making this a weekly tradition. Purely for the cultural study, of course.”
She laughed softly at her own joke, then tilted her head. “You mentioned art and plays… that’s very Earth, isn’t it? We had some theatre on Bajor, but I don’t know much about human performances. What do you enjoy most? The music, the stories, the costumes?”
Her tone was open and curious, a genuine invitation rather than polite small talk.
Kate could tell it was genuine interest and responded in kind. "They have beautiful art on Bajor," she said to start. "Most of my experience of it has been on Denobula where I went to nursing school." She saw Lyra's curiosity bubble up in her expression. "Never finished. Hated it. Joined Starfleet," Kate interjected into her story. "But I went to a lot of art shows there. I like to draw. Sketch really. And a few plays. But to answer your question, I like the stories. It's interesting to hear the story in a voice of the person in the story. It's so different than reading it, or just listening to someone read the story to you. Do they not have live enactments like that on Bajor?"
Lyra traced a finger along the rim of her cup, thoughtful. “Not really the way you describe,” she admitted softly. “On Bajor, most of the performances I grew up with were spiritual, chants, temple dramas, stories tied to the Prophets. They weren’t meant to entertain so much as to teach, or remind us of faith.”
She glanced down into her tea, the steam rising gently. “I suppose that’s why I never learned much about other kinds of performances. When I hear you talk about plays, or stories told on stage just to bring people together… it feels like something I’ve been missing. Something I’d like to experience.”
Her eyes lifted back to Kate, shy but honest. “Maybe you can explain it to me sometime. Or better yet, take me along, if there’s ever a performance here on the station. I think I’d like to see the difference for myself.”
"That would be so fun !!!!! " exclaimed Kate. "I will start watching for a such a thing immediately. I know you will enjoy it. I can just tell." She wanted to ask if all that emphasis upon the faith felt restrictive or manipulative, but she felt she didn't know her well enough to ask her to reveal the answer to that. "So, how do you feel about literature, reading and stuff? Do you like books, electronic or even real paper books?"
Lyra thought about it. “Oh, I’m a book worm nerd. I sometimes listen when time is short, I definitely read on a PADD, but there is something comforting in holding a physical book, smelling the pages, imagining who else has held it and tucked the corners.”
She gave a small, almost sheepish smile. “Guess that makes me old-fashioned in some ways.”
"We are book-sisters at heart. I feel exactly the same. I used to be self-conscious about reading so much of my free time away, but one day, I thought, You can read just as much as you want. It's your free time. And it's not like you're not getting your work done. So I've always got a book going. Do you read one at a time, or multiples?" asked Kate.
“Oh, just one,” Lyra admitted. “I like to sink into a story without having to split my attention between different worlds.” She paused, then added with a small smile, “Though sometimes I can balance a good novel with something lighter, a biography, or one of those self-help guides everyone seems to recommend.”
"I tend to read one at a time," Kate confessed. "But if I don't like it, I feel no obligation to finish it just because I started it. Not enough time in my life and too many good books to read cover to cover. Here's to two old-fashioned book aficionados." Kate held her tea cup up for a gentle toast.
Lyra laughed, the sound light and unguarded for the first time all afternoon. She raised her cup to meet Kate’s toast, eyes bright with amusement.
"Next stop...," began Kate.
"The bookstore!!!!" they said in unison.
~~~
Lt Kate Cherbourg
Yeoman to VAdm Suzanna Boren
Starbase 369
&
Ens Quen Lyra
Yeoman to VAdm Sidra MacLaren
Starbase 369
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