Posted by Lieutenant Sharah Fayth (Chief Star Fleet Medical Officer) in Eela’s Apartment- Compelling Things to Grow

Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Eela’s Apartment- Compelling Things to Grow

Posted by Lieutenant Sharah Fayth (Chief Star Fleet Medical Officer) in Eela’s Apartment- Compelling Things to Grow
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Sharah looked up from where she was working to connect the last of the planters. She looked at the little plants that Eela had already planted and ran a finger over the leaves, her head tilted like she was listening to something and then grinned. “I do. Very much, plants are…a part of me that I love.” She grabbed the last of the herb seedlings and set them down in front of Eela. “Medicine…the need to help others is a compulsion I can not ignore. Botany came along after that.” She got up and disappeared into the nook and returned with a 3 foot deep pot. She sat and started marking out space to cut the side of the pot. “Do you like potatoes or other root vine type vegetables? We can grow them in this pot, cut a door here, and then you reach in to remove them without having to dig everything out.”

“Actually, that’s a great idea,” Eela said, finishing up with the herb seedlings. “There’s a Haliian root vegetable called murrow that is like a cross between a Terran potato and a parsnip. So says my husband…” Eela sat back on her heels for a second and frowned. “Ex-husband, I should say,” she said with a slight frown. She was usually pretty good about the distinction but then some days her brain just… forgot.

Sharah watched Eela a moment. There was a soft, tentative mental touch. Considering the painful bombardment Sharah lived with her own mental touch was incredibly gentle and controlled. She wasn’t sure how Eela would react, and Sharah was prepared for a rebuke. Even people of her own species actively avoided being in contact with her. It wasn’t invasive, just a soft understanding that some times life’s changes could sneak up and surprise us at times.

Eela turned her head and gave a tiny lopsided smile. “Forty years is a long time to be married. We’ve been separated the last eighteen months, but the divorce isn’t official yet, so in my mind we’re technically still married. Weird as that is,” she said with a shrug.

“Hmmm I don’t have any Murrow, but I think there is some in the seed stores with sciences. I can prep this container and then have some sent over for you, or bring them next time. What type of trees would you like. They would have to be just barely bigger than bushes, but we could do a couple.”

“A dwarf variety of something that has a nice umbrella like canopy would be nice. And maybe an evergreen? So as the seasons change it’s not just sticks out here?” Dasca suggested.

“We can set up planters, but I don’t have any here. Not enough room in my bags,” Sharah tossed out with a grin. She tapped out on a PaDD she had in her pocket and then passed it over. “These are what we have available as already grown plants.”

Scrolling through her options, her eyes lit up. “Oh, that golden yew is lovely. It would look great and be a nice contrast in colour and texture. And that firebush. I love the changes in colour and that slight pink tone the leaves have to begin with. They would complement all the green out here.”

“When I was 10 my parents felt we had exhausted all the possible…treatments…for my condition on Betazed. So they decided to seek help elsewhere. we got transport on a little Discovery class called the Galileo. I met a science officer there, a botanist, who was very kind to me. He let me play in his arboretum and gave me a safe place to hide from all the noise and confusion. His name was Oliver Loughty. It was from Uncle Olly that I learned that plants were used to make medicines.” Sharah paused and looked out across the view for a moment before turning back to the work. “I asked him if he knew of a plant that would cure me, that would make me better. He didn’t of course, but he showed me how to take care of the plants. He taught me everything he knew, and how to use that care as a type of meditation. To give me focus when the universe is chaotic. Over the years my…attachment to plants and their ability to help heal us grew into a connection with my medical training. It’s not so much a choice between the two as blending them together. Though I did serve briefly as the Botanist and then CSO on the Ark Angel before returning full time to medicine.”

Fayth, SFCMO

“I understand,” Eela said, brushing dirt off her hands. “I was a counsellor first, long before I decided to switch to command. The blending of two different skill sets was not always easy but I quickly found my insight into people helped me navigate decision making more easily. More compassionately. I fully believe the type of counsellor I was directing impacted the kind of Captain I ultimately became.” She smiled warmly at Sharah. “I’m glad you found a way to make it all blend together and that you find peace with the plants.” She herself was still looking for that thing that could provide a bit of peace in her life and right now these plants might just be a good start.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Sharah had a secret about plants. Well maybe it wasn’t really a secret, others probably knew and realized. There was plenty of scientific evidence to support it, but it was to her it was a precious secret. The plants sang and she could hear it. “Their life is very simple. They have only basic needs and live in harmony with what is around them. They find joy and sorrow together. They emit and absorb chemicals in symbiotic cycles with the soil and what else lives there. It’s idyllic.”

Fayth, SFCMO

“All living things communicate- you just have to be able to listen,” Eela said softly as she went to get a watering can to water in the transplants. The automatic system was great for regular watering, but she knew that there could be air pockets and wanted to settled the soil and see if it needed topping up more.

“I miss the waterfalls back on Halii. There’s something magical about the environment around them. I’m not a biologist but apparently there are particular organisms that emit a soothing vibration on a frequency that Hallians are tapped into. It’s…” Eela shook her had, at a loss for any word to describe it.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Sharah had at one time missed Betazed, and in some ways she still did. She missed the planet. She did not miss the people. She missed her parents and her brother. She wished she could see them, but they were a long ways away.

There was a pensiveness and something a little deeper in Sharah, but Eela didn’t probe. She just noted the shift in emotion.

She pulled over several more planters of various sizes and depths along with seedlings. “So these are purely decorative. They will all bloom at different times so you will have color and growth all year. Some are even winter blooming plants.” She set up several seedling trays on a table so Eela could sit more comfortably if she wanted, “Okay, and over here are all vegetable seeds I noticed you bought at the market. We need to start the seedlings and once they sprout we can move them to bigger planters.” Sharah got to work and was soon covered in a halo of loam. She was having fun.

Fayth, SFCMO

With a grin, Eela moved over to the table, grateful for the change in position. “I know about planting seeds, but it’s been awhile.” She herself was having a lovely time and was glad once again to have made this connection with Fayth. These seemingly small things were the threads that would weave into the tapestry that was Oed and it helped her feel like she had a place here.

“Once we’re done, how about a cup of tea or coffee after we wash up? I could use a rest before I get ready to go into the office,” Dasca said.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.