Chapter 9: Rhythms and Rituals

Hana never saw Captain Bai again. The outpost’s command center was at the top of the main tower in Sector One, and as a merchant she did not have clearance to enter. In the days after Captain Bai’s ceremony, several other patrons arrived at the doors of Shinrin-Yoku. Adding the tea room to the outpost’s registry had indeed increased awareness of her establishment. On the Rocks still had vastly more patrons every day, but Hana remained grateful that anyone showed interest in her establishment. Days bled together as the rhythm of life on the asteroid became familiar. This new normal was finally integrating into Hana’s psyche, and soon engaging with the metal walls and glass outlooks replaced the muscle memory of sliding wooden doors and creaking floors back on Earth.

Among her patrons, Hana had served E’twobe and Lunara together, and E’twobe had taken to coming by once or twice a week for a simple cup of warm hibiscus and elderberry tea Hana had mixed herself. This had opened Hana’s mind to offering tea in simple form beyond full ceremonies. She was against the idea at first but after a few days of mulling it over in her mind a thousand times decided it would be worth it. If her main goal was to share the art of tea with the outpost, the artform could take on many different iterations.

Time passed and soon Hana had been rockside for six months. Certain patrons became familiar regulars. Many of the patrons had never taken part in a tea ceremony before and were merely curious about the experience. Life rockside was simple, so new experiences were hard to come by. That led to dozens of people passing through each month, asking to participate. This brought joy to Hana, as she was able to create something new and unique for these guests that they might never have gotten to experience otherwise.

One day, Hana was shocked to see Sol at the entrance, asking for a tea ceremony. He looked healthier and calmer than that night at the bar, and he spoke in humble humility. Hana happily served him, and after the ceremony, he expressed true gratitude to her.

“I am sorry for how I treated you, and how I treated IRAM-88. Neither of you deserved that. I will continue working towards earning your respect. I am happy LeBlanche told me to come and apologize.”

Hana almost rolled her eyes this time. Shreve LeBlanche seemed intent on sending every person on the colony to Shinrin-Yoku except himself. Still, she held her composure and smiled in a bow.

“I am proud of you for the growth you have shown, Sol. Please come back any time you would like tea or ceremony.”

“I’d like that. Still not sure about tea but I’ve heard you have a lot to try.”

Indeed, Hana had amassed quite a few recipes to try. Her current favorite was ‘Nebula’, a peach-goji-rose oolong tea that she served with slow boiled water. It helped with digestion and rejuvenation. She’d found it was a pleasant support for digesting the steady diet of greens from the hydroponic lab. E’twobe quite enjoyed it as well.

One day Hana met a couple that was her age and lived a few units down. Her name was Katya and his was Jax. Katya was the outpost’s medical specialist and Jax was the programmer who maintained the outpost turrets responsible for repelling stray asteroids and other debris that might strike the colony. They were pleasant and personable. Katya herself was very knowledgeable about teas from her time in medical training and quickly became a close consultant for Hana whenever she was trying a new concoction. Jax himself seemed to live with the intention of experiencing everything with full verve, and provided thorough, dramatic feedback for each new idea.

Weeks of talking together among the women in the sector turned into a weekly gathering at Shinrin-Yoku where over a dozen women, including Lunara, E’twobe and Katya all joined Hana. This was not something familiar to Hana, as she had spent her adult years isolated and kept from most of the world. Her home life had been defined by restriction, solitude, and hurt. These new relations were not something she knew how to navigate, but the comradery became a happy brightspot in each week.

Through it all, Mr. Shreve never showed.

“LeBlanche? Good luck actually getting him to come by or do anything he doesn’t want to do,” laughed Lunara one night at the women’s gathering.

It was late in the evening and Hana had decided to finally spend one of her alcohol credits. Lunara had made her a matcha old fashioned, and was not lying when she said one drink was all Hana would need. The alcohol was mixing her thoughts quickly than expected, and Hana found herself being more outspoken than usual, which is why the question about Shreve had come up to begin with.

“He sends Captain Bai here. He sends some of you here. He sends Sol here, but does he come? No. Not once. He’s so. He’s so strange isn’t he? That’s strange?”

E’twobe smirked.

“He might be strange but he’s quite handsome isn’t he,” she said distractedly.

“E’twobe!” hiccuped Hana.

Lunara thought about it and nodded to herself a laugh.

“I guess he actually is, in a tired, rugged way. And he was always good to us on the last outpost,” said Lunara.

“You worked together before this? That’s how you know one another?” asked Hana.

Lunara nodded.

“He never came around. Festivals, events, gatherings, none of it. Kept to himself but always helped. He’d show up at the communal baths every once and a while, get a lot of us flustered, then leave.”

Hana’s face turned beet red. She’d heard that some outposts had communal baths were all attended, which in these modern times was quite common. For her, it was completely unheard of, as she had never even undressed in front of other women before, much less anyone else. Still, the concept suddenly latched itself into her mind and for a brief instant the curiosity of what Mr. Shreve might look like beneath his layered work clothes danced in her chest and down to her hips.

“You bathed in front of him? H-he bathed in front of you? Un-undressed?”

Lunara caught Hana blushing and laughed.

“It was nice in case you were wondering.”

Everyone burst out laughing and Hana collapsed with her hands in front of her face.

“LUNNNNNAAAARRRAAAA????!!!!” she yelled out with a laugh of humiliation.

Alcohol did its job and removed the inhibition and rationality in Hana’s mind, which meant that once the women had left, Hana opened up her leaf supply and began making her newest blend. Rummaging through her options, Hana thought on what would be best for the person this was to be meant for; Mr. Shreve.

Ideation gave way to decisions, and she was soon mixing tulsi, lavender, juniper, and bay laurel into a blend with hojicha leaves. Ingredients were blended together in loose leaf mix then shaken to evenly distribute within the ceramic jar.

Hana opened her unit’s task system and placed a transfer order. She did not know Mr. Shreve’s address so the in-outpost transfer system could pick up the jar tomorrow morning and deliver it to Mr. Shreve that afternoon. After the transfer order was processed, Hana set the jar at the entranceway so that she could easily hand it off to the courier, then made her way to bed.

The next morning, Hana overslept on account of the alcohol’s potency, and was awakened when there were abrupt knocks at her door. Bolting upright, Hana realized she’d overslept and began to frantically put her hair in a bun. Last night’s clothes were strewn across the floor and Hana saw now that she was completely naked.

“One moment!” she called out as she threw on the nearest clothes she had available then made her way down to her door. To her abject terror, Mr. Shreve was there at her door.