Coffee for your Price Charming
Posted on Thu Oct 2nd, 2025 @ 3:57pm by Sergeant Audie Fitch & Gunnery Sergeant Tessia T'Lar
Edited on on Thu Oct 2nd, 2025 @ 6:42pm
2,069 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: The Quarters of Audie Fitch - Deck 4 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD007 2000 hrs
Tessia had genuinely enjoyed her coffee conversation with Audie. More than she’d expected, really. She’d hoped to bump into her again, but a few days had passed without a sighting. Normally, Tessia wasn’t the type to go out of her way for personal visits or casual friendships, but something about Audie lingered in her thoughts. She couldn’t help but wonder—had Audie dreamed of Prince Charming after all, or had those darker dreams returned?
With a small bag of coffee she’d picked up during her last stop at the station, Tessia made her way to Audie’s quarters. Once at the door, she hit the chime and waited, hoping the visit wouldn’t be unwelcome.
Audie was using the time 'off' to relax and mentally prepare for whatever might be encountered once they arrived at their goal. Still plagued by dreams, she was fighting exhaustion, and knowing that they could be facing just about anything, she needed to be centered.
To that end, an audio of crystal 'singing' bowls was reverberating through her cabin as she sat cross-legged on her bunk, concentrating on breathing slowly, and letting the tones wash over her.
The chime startled her a bit, but the session was almost over anyway. Shutting the music off, she rose and padded barefoot to the door, clad in comfortable, loose-fitting sweats.
"Oh, hi!" she broke into a wide grin when she saw Tessia standing there. "Come on in!"
Tessia gave a small smile as the door opened, her gaze briefly scanning Audie before settling on her face. The sound of fading tones in the background didn’t go unnoticed, and neither did the relaxed, barefoot look.
“Didn’t mean to interrupt." She said, stepping inside when invited. “Figured I’d check in... see how you were holding up.”
"It's fine...I'm fine." Audie stepped farther in to the room, turning to look at her guest. "Kick off your shoes and stay a spell." With a laugh, she scooped Buster out of the chair he was curled in and deposited him on the bed. "Do I smell coffee?"
Tessia glanced down at her boots, hesitating for just a moment before deciding, why not? She slipped them off and set them neatly by the entry.
“You do.” She said, looking over at Audie with a small smile. “Picked it up on the station. Figured it had to be better than whatever the replicator passes off as coffee.”
"Just about anything is better than that!" Audie laughed. "So, how do you want to brew it?" There were several methods, and the devices could easily be replicated. "I'm not too particular."
Tessia smirked, setting the bag of beans on the table and stepping toward the replicator. “Good. Because I am.”
She tapped a few commands into the panel. “Replicator, one cezve, two demitasse cups, and a micro-flame heat plate.” A soft hum later, the items materialized neatly on the counter.
Turning back to Audie, she poured the beans into the grinder. "You brew it slow over heat, just until it starts to foam. No boiling. It’s more about patience than precision.” She smiled faintly. “Used to be the only decent part of a morning on Anekar. Sand in everything else, but the coffee? Always worth it.”
"So, better than shuttle-station brew?" Audie chuckled. "I'll drink just about anything at hand just to drink it, but I'm intrigued by your methods."
Sure, she knew that most of the bulk coffee she drank was poor at best, but sometimes you wanted coffee and didn't have time for the fuss.
"Computer, play Carlos Nakai." Some soothing background music was just the thing!
Tessia listened for a moment, nodding approvingly. "Nice choice." She said with a smile, enjoying the calmness of the music playing in the background as she turned her attention back to grinding the beans. Once the grounds were fine enough, she spooned them into the cezve with practiced ease, adding just the right amount of water and a pinch of sugar.
Setting the small pot on the micro-flame heat plate and adjusting the temperature to low. “You don’t stir once it’s on the heat. Just let it rise on its own. If you do it right, the foam forms gently at the top.” She glanced over at Audie “You’ll get one shot at that perfect foam before it overflows. Timing is everything.”
She turned back just in time to see the first signs of foam starting to build. “Almost there.” She murmured, lifting the pot with a steady hand just before it could bubble over.
"Oh, wow, that looks so simple, but complicated!" Audie watched closely, seeing how it would be easy to have the brew boil over and make a mess. "And foam on top is just the thing! It smells good, too!"
Tessia's eyes focused as she poured the rich, dark brew into the small cups. Careful to keep the foam intact. "That's the trick. Control the heat, watch the rise, and don't blink." She said. "Simple in theory but it lacks a little finesse." Tessia slid one of the cups toward Audie. "Give it a second to settle, then take a sip."
"Thank you." Audie took the small mug, breathing in the aroma of the coffee before taking a sip, grinning. "Wow, this is amazing!" Coffee, yes, but smooth and tasty, not at all bitter, and the foam was airy and even a bit sweet. Where did you learn to make this?"
Tessia took a sip of her own. “Glad you like it.” She said. “I picked it up on Anekar, my home planet. Desert world, rough around the edges, but it’s got a strong coffee culture.”
"One thing about Earth, it has deserts, mountains, seas...fire and ice, so to speak." Audie took another sip of the coffee, smiling. "Whatever your mood, you could find a place to suit it. I miss it sometimes, but I know I belong out here."
Tessia nodded, listening to Audie. “Earth has range, I’ll give it that.” She said, taking another sip of her coffee. “I can see the appeal of living in a place like that.”
Her gaze drifted slightly. “Where I grew up, the landscape was endless...ocean waves of sand that never stopped moving. Heat shimmered off the horizon like it was alive. You could walk for hours and never find shelter, only wind sculpted rock formations and half-buried ruins. Nights dropped cold enough to bite, and days could strip the skin from your bones if you weren’t careful.” She looked back at Audie with a faint smile. “Not exactly inviting, but it teaches you things.
"I can imagine!" Audie chuckled, then shook her head. "Well, not really. I have enough Celtic and Scandinavian blood in me hate the heat! Give me cold, any day. Well, maybe not cold-cold, but..." She shrugged. "I like my civilized comforts."
Not that her job didn't involve long bouts of misery, but she always had the knowledge that there was a place to go back to...and Buster!
“You’ve definitely got more ‘wool sweater and warm fire’ energy than ‘desert sun and sand in your boots.’” Tessia teased.
There was something easy about being around Audie. Something that let Tessia lower her guard, just a little. She found herself saying more than she usually would.
“Anekar’s the kind of place where the heat doesn’t just press down on you. It buries you.” She said. “But then night falls, and the temperature drops. Sometimes it’s a relief... comfortable, even. But in certain parts of the planet, it swings so hard and so fast, you’d swear you weren’t in a desert anymore.”
She paused, eyes distant for a moment. “It keeps you on your toes. You don’t take anything for granted out there.”
"Sounds like it...makes you tough, huh?" In that aspect, Audie had had it pretty easy, the climate in most of the places she'd lived had been fairly temperate and bearable. "You know, the music...the people who played this sort of music lived in high desert, sounds the same as what you are describing...hot days, especially in the Summer, but in the winter, the nights can be freezing. They are hearty and creative."
Tessia nodded. “Yeah… makes you tough whether you want to be or not.” She leaned back slightly, letting the music drift around them for a moment before continuing. “My mom used to say, ‘The desert doesn’t care if you’re ready—it teaches you anyway.’” Her tone was soft, reflective. “She always believed that surviving out there didn’t just build strength. It revealed it.”
"That makes sense." Audie sipped her coffee, idly stroking Buster's ears. "Better than the other way around, right? I mean, once you've learned tough, it's easy to accept comfort. But if comfort was all you knew, accepting tough can be...well, tough!"
She'd had a good mixture of both growing up, and was grateful for that balance. "Seems like you're doing good appreciating the good things that come your way."
“More than you.” Tessia said, her voice quieter now as a distant look passed over her features. Memories from her last assignment surfacing for just a second too long.
The soft purring from Buster, content under Audie’s hand, pulled her back. She offered a faint smile and took a sip of her coffee. “But that’s a story for another time.” She glanced at the cat, then back at Audie. “How long have you had Buster?” Maybe not the smoothest subject change, but it worked well enough, she thought.
"Going on a year now," Audie explained, grateful that the one-eyed ginger provided a way for Tessia to change subjects. "He was a stray when I arrived on Poseidon Station...and a pushover for tuna and a warm bed." She grinned, scratching the cat's ears. "And he's given back in turn...he's a great listener, and he gives me something to come home to. Makes up for not having family, I guess." She shrugged. "Well, I do have a family of sorts back on the station, and some good friends, but they aren't here, and Buster is."
Tessia smiled her eyes following the slow movement of Audie’s hand over Buster’s fur. “He picked you. Cats tend to know who’s worth their trust.”
She leaned back slightly, fingers wrapping around her coffee cup. “Might be a bit forward, but… if you ever need someone to talk to—or just a quiet presence. I’m around.”
"Thanks." Audie smiled and nodded, feeling that she could trust Tessia to keep her confidence should she want to have more of a conversation than Buster might provide. "Same...and if you're more in the mood to just blow off steam in the holodeck, I'm here! Or," she chuckled, "I'm always up for a good round of Freestyle Golf!"
Tessia smirked. “Freestyle Golf, huh? That sounds dangerous coming from a Marine.” She gave a small nod. “I’ll keep that in mind. And same...coffee, sparring, or just whatever.”
Audie laughed. "Well, Freestyle Golf can be pretty hazardous if you aren't paying attention. You use the ship as your course, knocking it off whatever is there, but trying not to lose it off catwalks or in the ducts, so finesse is involved."
She took another sip of coffee. "Buster likes to cheat, batting the ball everywhichway!"
“Sounds like chaos disguised as a sport. I’m intrigued.” Tessia said.
"That's exactly what it is," Audie confirmed with a grin, "make up the rules as you go, and even better with a little libation involved! It's a good way to decompress after a mission, and you can add all sorts of changes...costumes, croquet mallets, I even tried once with tennis rackets, but they didn't work very well."
She finished the last of her drink, then sighed. "Well, time to get back to real life. We'll set that date!"
A Joint Post By
Sergeant Audie Fitch
Corpsman Team 2, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Gunnery Sergeant Tessia T'Lar
Sniper, Team 1, The Cure
USS Pioneer
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