A Spoonful of Sugar (Day 2 Morning)

After their morning walk, Daisy had said goodbye with an enormous and sticky lick to the side of Lyen’s head, so as the nun made her way to the galley she was furiously smoothing and smearing her cheek and frazzled hair. The massive dog was both a blessing and a mischievous distraction--being with her was to be in the now, unhindered by worries or cares: those two big eyes were enough to make anyone smile. Up the catwalk and into the hallway, the galley opened before her.

“Oh, Vas, just the man I needed to see,” it was strange thinking of Vas as the man in charge, being ten years his senior, but he appeared to have everything in hand. The proficiency with which he ordered crew and organized supplies all from his nimble cortex was certainly impressive. “Riley asked me to update you with what medical supplies we’ll need the next time we make port. I’m filling in for Dorian…” she added with a wan smile and a glance at the ground. Her hand still wrangled sticky strands of hair from Daisy’s affectionate goodbye.

Vas looked up from his cortex. The poor guy was still trying to figure out what actually happened with Serena! The women code talk she did had his head spinning.

"Hm? Oh! Sure, I can see what we can pick up on Pelorum … anything we're in dire need of?" Lyens public broadcast of her feelings were clear and Vas wasn't sure how to address it. Mostly because he didn't feel the same way Serena and Lyen felt apparently. Now things just felt suddenly awkward.

“Well, just a few basic necessities,” she replied, “cotton swabs, adhesive strips, latex gloves, but there was something else I wanted to ask for. I have some vaccinations, but our travels take us just about everywhere, so I thought it might be good to cover the basics for the crew. Tetanus, various fevers, hepatitis, influenza, that sort of thing. I have the tetanus and flu, but we could really use malaria and hepatitis.” Ly paused, eye dropping to Vas’ cortex, “I’ve been meaning to ask: have you seen Gill or Haddie since we were boarded? I was just thinking that I don’t know whether they’ve had chicken pox yet.”

“Hm-hm.” Vas nodded in the affirmative and he looked over the list. “Our next stop we will be hard pressed to get most of this but I’ll get you the itinerary that we can prioritize what to get when. Aside from the Vaccines if you can give a priority list of what we absolutely can’t live without I'll try to get those first.” Vas stressed. He didn’t want to sound like a scrooge but the belt was pretty tight for the ship.

“The medbay needs needles, IV bags, and anesthetic, as well as the gloves and adhesive strips. That should just about cover how accident prone this boat has proven to be. The rest we can last a while without, but if we can scrape anything together for those basics we should be in ship shape.” Having reported, Ly’s hands turned to making tea, as was her custom. “Interest you in a cup? A little bird told me you had a grand adventure on Greenleaf,” a cupboard opened and shut, producing a meager pouch of green tea laced with grapefruit--a holdover from her ancient shopping trip with Jacy. The nun held it up for Vas to survey.
“Yea it was fun … then I hand to break the news to her … kinda put a cloud on the trip home.” Vas shrugged and he peeked at the tea. “Bit of a bold flavor to pair with green tea.” He commented.

“Nothing a spoonful of sugar can’t help,” Lyen said, tilting her head, “I’m sorry, I hope it didn’t sour the whole thing. The, uh… duck… seemed to make an impression. It’s good she has you to look out for her.” She took Vas’ interest in the tea choice to mean he’d have a cup and set the kettle to boil.

Vas cringed a bit still in the dark about what Serena was going on about. “The food duck? Yea well duck is good … at least I think that what about. I don’t know … sometimes I get her and other times I wonder if we're talking the same language.“ It seemed to be a theme in the young punk's life.

The nun smiled, her back to Vas as he recounted his experience with Serena. “Honestly, I think Serena speaks her own language.” The tin mugs were set, the kettle whistled. Along the bar Ly’s measured hand poured to start the steeping. Taking a stool, she watched the steam. “Oh, before I forget again, where’s Haddie and Gill?”

“If he aint swabbing he might be in the laundry room … or running errands for the guests.” Vas answered. “If ain’t doing any of those he probably hiding out at Bolo’s or whatever his name is room. If he is, box him over the head and remind him he works for a living like the rest of us.” The punk snarked.

She breathed a sigh of relief at Vas’ sarcasm: they were aboard afterall. With Keller detained… well, it set a measure of doubt over the roster. In a deft movement she strained their tea and set his tin cup before him. “I won’t be boxing any ears, but I’m good at reminding. You run a tight ship, Jat,” she said, a grin fighting her lips, “I haven’t seen you unwind for much more than a cigarette.” Then she had a thought, “Do you meditate?”

“The Lieutenant runs a tight ship.” Vas corrected. “And yea it’s a wonder i don’t smoke more than I already do.” He joked and sip his tea. “Thanks … Well … I used to.” He shrugged, not much call for it anymore and it was something he hadn't thought much of for some time.

“If you wanted to take it up again I’d be happy to join you. Sometimes I get this feeling when I haven’t meditated for a long time--like I’m holding my shoulders up to my ears. That’s when I know I need to sit and make the time for me. Sometimes it’s easier to be good to ourselves when others support it, too. Let me know if you want to some time, okay?” Even among her brothers and sisters of the Order, it had felt like she’d been spending more time alone than she could stand. A familiar presence was worth its weight in gold. The green tea with dried grapefruit was sour and bitter, but that was what she liked about it.

“Not really my thing anymore. ‘Side I seem always to be moving, Riley kraken the whip, helping with the budgets and all the passengers.” It didn’t sound like a lot but when you started going down that rabbit hole the list of things to do started getting long. Was he making an excuse? Yes he was.

“My door is always open.” It was a strange position to play, now part of the crew, so she thought she’d add, “Do you need anything else from me, Crew Chief?” Even just saying it reminded her of Serena’s affectionate drawl. She stood, holding the cup in her hands.

“Nope, everything is shiny!” Vas said brightly.

“Shiny,” she echoed, “Adhesive, gloves, IV bags, anesthetic, and needles, if you please.” With a slight tip of her head Ly pronounced, “Amitabha, Jat,” and set off toward her room among the passengers.