Apothecary Tour

Posted on Wed 25th Nov, 2020 @ 4:21am by Yuliette Marayan Dr. & Khellian s'Siedhri MD

1,190 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Denouement
Location: Brown Sector: Dawnstar Clinic

The door to the clinic stood open in the morning, so Yuliette led herself in. Being familiar with the place from her visit the night before helped her nerves, and she took to walking about the waiting room quietly, looking around, absorbed in thought.

"Good morning Doctor." Khellian greeted her quietly as he exited the treatment area that he was just setting up for the day's patients. He wasn't open the whole day today, but he would hold morning hours before heading back up to his own personal clinic.

The Cardassian looked up in reflexive response before she caught herself and then stood frozen between acknowledgment and denial.

"Neone correct?"

"Yes! Yes. Neone. Just Neone. Dave and Mary returned home safely. Thanks again to you and your assistant. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your morning, I just wanted to arrange a time when we could discuss some things in your apothecary."

"I am always open for discussion, as we're technically still closed. May I offer you tea?"

"Oh, yes, please."

As he prepared it, Yuliette pulled her sleeves over her hands and fidgeted with the ragged cuffs, absently looking over the carefully marked labels on the dispensary containers and mouthing the herb names. "Zuhlbadi? Is that another name for majad flower? it looks a lot like it."

"It is a subspecies. Many of the same benefits, fewer instances of erythema when ingested. And its safer for those with copper based blood."

"I see." Yuliette nodded, continuing her slow exploration of his stock in the jars. "Querimenthis? May I?" She indicated, asking to touch the jar.

"That one is fresh, and still needs some undisturbed drying time. If you wish to open, the ones to either side are safe." The doctor replied with a gentle smile. "I have recently received some cuttings from Romulus that will be joining the shelves once they are rooted well in my garden."

Yuliette opened it and brought the jar to her nose, inhaling. It had a distinct dry, bitter scent. "Oh! That's common Oar-foot. Digestive. Drawing."

"Quite right." he said, casting a glance over his shoulder at her and smiling more openly at her peaceful expression.

"Do you carry gum thistle or misla?" She wasn't really sure yet how the categories were arranged and still lost and she searched visually, trying to figure out the rhyme or reason to his collection. "What are these in the soaks?" She pointed to the stoppered decanters with stems submerged in liquids. There were labels tied to each, but she couldn't read the Romulan letter-forms.

"I don't use them often down here." he replied quietly as he Poured a preparation of salt and brandy into a jar, in order to add two handfuls of a plant that looked like a green pebble. "That jar you have to the left is jorreh and so is this preparation here. It takes quite some time to soak to get to the petal like open fluffy flower you see in that jar. The white one is aye'urrobafv. They are wetlands herbs from Romulus. " Soon she would discover if she thought about it, that it was organized for usage rather than effect. The herbs he used most often, were at a level easy for him to access without having to bend or stoop. They were then grouped by effect, going up with the most rare and not used herbs near the top of the shelving unit.

"Oooh..." Yuliette paused as she decided the set she was now standing before were expectorants. Good for clearing sinuses. This was a good way of keeping things. Intuitive. "I'm not familiar with most Romulan native flora, I'm afraid, but I'm impressed at your efforts to grow and maintain them in light of all the tragedy and loss. I suppose it's the diaspora that will keep them alive, dispersed over the galaxy...."

"It would be a terrible loss, to have all of our herbs and plants become extinct from lack of effort." He replied with a half shrug. "My home garden has a section where I regulate temperature and soil qualities to be more like Romulus. "

"That would be sad. Is your garden here in Brown Sector?"

"No, it's in Tivoli gardens beside my home and my primary medical practice." He smiled gently at her "It is why I am not here every day. Makila can handle most things that don't require a doctor, because she is a capable and qualified nurse. The things that do require me, get pushed back to the days I am here."

"Ah, I see... I have to be plain with you." Yuliette said, producing a sheet of paper with notes. "If you're open to it, I want to purchase from you some quantities of herbs for some easy remedies and soaps, things of that nature. But it looks like I'll need help finding equivalent herbals for actions from other herbs I know.

"I think we can come to an arrangement. Though, folk remedies are the reason my services are often needed down here, as they go awry often." he said after a long moment of silence passed between them. The furrow in his brow indicate that he was thinking hard. "are these herbs that you would want picked fresh or dried?"

"Most of them can be fashioned either way. Although I prefer the action of fresh herb when possible."

"Does it change the effectiveness of soaps and things of that nature?" he inquired, interested in the technique.

"Most preparation types can be done with dried herb. Infusions, tinctures, and decoctions. But there are some preparations best with fresh herb directly applied. Like aloes and plantain. And some herb that make a stronger tea from fresh herb. but I'm more than glad to work with whatever you can make available."

"Are you willing to come up to the garden and see for yourself?"

"I..." she wasn't sure how to handle the invitation. "I would love to see your garden, but I really can't. I...." She looked at his face to decide if the clinic doctor could be trusted. His eyes seemed intense and behind them... maybe tragic or lonely. She got the sense he might be able to relate. "I have some paperwork trouble. I need to stay out of internal sensor ranges until I can clear it up or I might be deported."

"Ah. I knew there was a reason for your subterfuge. You may consider the invitation an open one, when you get your paperwork straightened out." his smile was warm and fatherly, as if he was speaking to Makila.

"Thank you. I appreciate the invitation. And the herbs. And your discretion." She finished the tea. "I should let you go to prepare for your patients. I'll leave this list with you. I'll be back soon to purchase whatever amounts you can spare me."

"Very good. I shall see you presently." He bowed to her, with his hand on his chest.

Yuliette returned his tea cup with an awkward smile and a slightly shaky hand, and saw herself out, closing her eyes against the fear that she'd said too much, once more.

 

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