Who: Nina, Gabe and Tsuzuki What: High Tea date Where: Tsuzuki’s greenhouse When: Sunday for Afternoon tea Rating/Warnings: Low/None, just a bunch of plant geeks geeking out Status: Complete
Nina loved her dates with Gabe and she’d been looking forward to this one since he’d first mentioned it. Afternoon tea in a greenhouse sounded perfect, she loved being around plants which Gabe loved so much and afternoon tea reminded her of home and teas she and her adoptive mother had enjoyed together.
Holding his hand she followed his lead as they made their way inside.
Gabe had wanted to try this out since Tsuzuki first mentioned that his greenhouse held these tea social things. One couldn’t go wrong being surrounded by beautiful plants and the young man had said the food was good.
As they walked deeper into the greenhouse towards the low murmur of polite conversation, Gabe squirmed a little in his threads. He wasn’t used to dressing fancy, and the blazer and dress pants felt odd for him. But Nina had thought he looked great which was the only thing keeping him from desperately wanting to run home and change into something more casual.
“You excited?” he said quietly between them, though of course he could already tell she was by the look on her face.
He looked perfect to her and she had to admit as nervous as she had been about wearing a dress it was nice to wear something a little nicer than usual. It felt like a proper posh date which wasn’t something either of them had the urge to do very often.
“Very” she told him grinning, “I know it’s showing all over my face but it’s fun to dress up sometimes” she added, nudging him with her arm.
Gabe chuckled. “True.” He gave her another once over. He’d been unable to take his eyes off of his girlfriend in her dress, considering it was the first time he’d seen Nina in one. She looked amazing and Gabe had a feeling he’d be crazy distracted for the remainder of the date. “You look gorgeous.” He kissed the top of her head. Of course, to Gabe, Nina would look amazing in a paper bag - no matter what she wore he loved how she looked. “Though I dunno how long I’ll last in this thing.” He squirmed again, his muscular torso unused to the confinement of the blazer and dress shirt.
Spotting his fellow plant enthusiast, he raised a hand and called out to him (a little too loudly for the venue) “Hey, Tsuzuki!”
Tsuzuki’s favourite time at work was on the last Sunday of the month when the greenhouse held their afternoon teas. It was a good time to meet new people, have a couple of conversations, and be surrounded by sandwiches, scones, cookies and cakes. Tsuzuki technically wasn’t allowed to eat any of that kind of stuff until after the tea was over, and then he was given free reign over the treats, but he usually snuck a couple sandwiches or cookies during his shift.
The greenhouse itself was a great place to hold tea. A path wove through the flowers and the small trees, opening up to the area where they had set up some tables. A string quartet played soft music in the corner, unobtrusive but pleasant background noise. The sunlight shone through the glass ceiling and walls. The woman who worked it all wore plain, brown long-sleeved dresses with aprons, and the men, Tsuzuki included, wore brown vests over white dress shirts and brown slacks.
He’d been smiling pleasantly at the patrons as he greeted them, but upon hearing his name and then spotting Gabe, his face lit up and he waved at them cheerfully, hand over his head, before leaving his post (oblivious to the vaguely annoyed look the woman who took his place shot him) to go greet them. “Gabe, you made it! You look great. And this beautiful woman must be Nina.” He tucked his arm behind his back in a gentlemanly manner, and bowed slightly at the hip in greeting.
“I think you look very dashing and sexy as hell” Nina told Gabe with a smile before he spotted his friend and Nina looked over. Waving back as Tsuzuki did and giving him a smile as he greeted them, “Thank you” she said of the compliment, offering a little curtsy in response, “I have to tell you how wonderful this place is. You’ve done an amazing job, it’s beautiful” she told him, “And I’m pleased to finally meet you. It’s not often I hear of someone as passionate about plants as my boyfriend”
At that Gabe couldn’t help but grin his signature goofy grin. “Well, thank you.” They made their way over to Tsuzuki and he offered a slightly awkward bow in return. “This is the one and only. Nina, Tsuzuki.” Gabe grinned as he looked about them. “Man, you really outdid yourself. Place looks amazing! How many different species you got going on in here?” It took all of one minute before Gabe was geeking out over plants.
“Thank you,” Tsuzuki said. “You two can follow me.” There was still a bit of a line in front of them, but Tsuzuki had no problem seeing his friends to a table right away. “My sister taught me how to garden when I was a kid, and it’s stuck around. But it’s so relaxing, and so rewarding getting to see your plants blossom and grow that I can’t imagine doing anything else for work.”
As he guided them down the path to where he’d seat them, he boasted about the plants, talking about how many where in the greenhouse as well and pointed out a couple that he was especially proud of as they passed them.
Nina was perfectly happy to let the boys geek out together over the plants, it was lovely to see actually. She listened as they spoke and had to admit the plants Tsuzuki was pointing out to them were beautiful. It was no wonder he was proud. “Thank you” she said as Tsuzuki indicated this was their table, it was perfectly positioned to enjoy the whole atmosphere and Nina smiled brightly as she took it all in.
Gabe was taking mental notes the entire conversation, noting which items to purchase next round and for which season, and cataloging for later the tips and tricks Tsuzuki was mentioning. He was grateful he knew Tsuzuki, it enabled them to sort of fast track to a good table. “Thanks, man.” Gabe said and patted his friend on the back before pulling out Nina’s chair for her to sit. To her he whispered in her ear “You’re gonna hafta coach me through this. I’m an uncultured New York City boy.” He gave her temple a quick kiss and walked to the other side of the table and sat down. He had to admit, this was very cozy. The music was definitely not his style but it wasn’t unpleasant, he just hoped he didn’t start drowsing at the table because of it. Looking about them, he noticed Tsuzuki and all the other waiters and waitresses were dressed in the same brown color. “This the official colors of the greenhouse?” he asked his friend. Fullerton didn’t exactly have anything like that.
Tsuzuki first looked at his own uniform as though he’d forgotten what he was wearing, and then looked at the others. “Oh no, nothing like that. I think it’s meant to make us fade into the background.” Not that Tsuzuki had ever been any good at something like fading into the background. He really wanted to pull out a chair himself and join them, but despite the fact that it looked like most of the staff and volunteers were ambling peacefully about, it actually was pretty busy and he couldn’t afford to spend too much time at once conversing with them.
He presented them with menus, which was really more of a single sheet of laminated paper, designed with roses and other flowers in the corners. On one side was a list of teas, and on the other side was the options for the assortments of sandwiches, scones, and cakes. “Did you know what kind of tea you would like?”
Gabe’s eyebrows went up at the question and he looked at the list quickly, knew only two of them (Early Grey and English Breakfast) and looked over at his girlfriend for help. “Well, Nina’s the tea expert. ” And his face completely read ‘Help me!’.
Nina knew Gabe was taking as many mental notes as possible and loved that he was so passionate about his work. He’d definitely increased her interest in plants and flowers in the time they’d been together and his green fingers were rubbing off as she hadn’t killed any of the plants she had planted at home. Of course Gabe helped her look after them since they tended to split their time between their two homes.
Smiling she nodded, “Perhaps a darjeeling?” she suggested, “I think you’ll like that one and a jasmine tea for me” she requested politely with a nod and smile to Tsuzuki.
“You heard the lovely lady,” Gabe grinned. He planned to order three sandwiches, figuring by what he saw at the other tables that they were super tiny, two scones, and one of each type of cake. He wasn’t sure if they were sharing or if Nina wanted something else, but either way, he’d eat whatever she didn’t. He was a big guy and burned the stuff off quickly.
It was adorable how much Gabe seemed like a fish out of water. While he was comfortable with the plants in the greenhouse, it was equally obvious that teas like this weren’t exactly his forté. While Tsuzuki was part of the reason Gabe had come was to sit among the greenery and try new life experiences, he wondered how much of the reason he’d come was to make his girlfriend happy. It downright warmed the heart.
“Jasmin and darjeeling, coming right up,” Tsuzuki said with a wink. “I’ll be back in a jiffy!”
Nina smiled at Tsuzuki before he headed off then turned her attention to Gabe, reaching over to link their hands. “Thank you for this, it’s a beautiful place and the afternoon tea looks lovely” she said, having eyed up the goodies too.
Gabe squeezed her hand and smiled back. “Welcome. Was hoping you’d like it.” He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. He glanced about them at all the other people sitting and chatting quietly or listening to the music, sipping tea. “Is this how it is in England?” He really had no idea.
“It depends on where you go” Nina told him, smiling like a lovestruck teenager as they held hands, “Most places are a lot like this - though they have less exciting plant life. But it’s becoming more and more popular with younger people so girls will go with their girl friends and it gets a little noisier then”
Gabe raised an eyebrow. “Fancy tea parties are all the rage?” He couldn't picture giggling, smart phone tapping, selfie addicted teenagers bothering with high tea. “Glad it hasn't caught on here. This is fine the way it is.”
“Oh yeah, they take selfies with the tea and sandwiches and leave reviews on tripadviser - there are even blogs about it all” Nina said, “I’m kind of glad it’s still a nice quiet thing to do here”
It wasn’t long before Tsuzuki returned with a pushcart. The normal course of action was to leave the teapots on the table and move on, allowing the patrons to decide who would be mother, but he was excited that he’d finally had a friend come in for tea and he was eager for a way to kill time that he could spend working. “How’re you enjoying everything so far?” Tsuzuki asked, starting to pour a cup with a practiced hand. To people who knew Tsuzuki as the energetic goof that he was, the aura of easy grace and serenity he managed to emit might have been surprising.
“Great,” Gabe smiled, pulling his taken hand from Nina’s and reaching for the cup and saucer when it was his cup that his friend was pouring. He added the milk (he and Nina still debated whether ‘milk first’ was better or not) and resisted using the sugar so he could see what the tea tasted like first. Used to coffee mugs, Gabe rested his arms on the table, large hands arced around the sides of the teacup without touching it as it was hot, but enjoying the heat radiating from the porcelain.
“It’s lovely” Nina said, “Thank you” she added as her tea was poured for her. “Have you been holding these afternoon tea sessions for a long time?” she asked curiously, liking Gabe’s friend. He had a good feeling to him.
“About half a year now,” Tsuzuki said. “Once I got the greenhouse presentable,” it had been a lot of work. Whoever the head grower had been before Tsuzuki obviously hadn’t cared much for his job, “I thought it would be a wonderful way to show it off. And to have a lot of delicious snacks right here at work. My boss liked the idea so he set it up!”
Gabe grinned. “Well you did a helluva job, Tsuzuki. Really. It’s impressive.” He then committed the social faux pas of leaning his elbows on the table as he sipped his tea. His face got contemplative, brow furrowing a little as he considered the flavor. Bitter, but not bad, strong, but not coffee strong - and smooth with the milk. Overall he liked it better than English Breakfast, but maybe not as much as Earl Gray (besides the Star Trek nostalgia connotations). “This is good.” He said it to Nina more than Tsuzuki, since she’d picked it out for him.
“You have it’s lovely and the perfect place to enjoy tea” she told him agreeing with Gabe, it was obvious a lot of love had gone into it. She recognised that from seeing the care Gabe put into his own plants. She watched him amused as he tried the tea, she didn’t think social faux pas were too bad. “I’m glad you like it” she said, she knew the Earl Grey would remain his favourite but wanted to get him trying something new.
Tsuzuki lapped up the praise like a dog, practically basking in it. The place did well selling plants to people who wanted to make a garden, but in Tsuzuki’s opinion the true draw of Sweet Pea greenhouse was the actual greenhouse, where people could pay a small fee just to get to walk and sit among the plants, and he had worked hard to make it somewhere where people would actually want to spend time.
“Thank you,” Tsuzuki said, a touch of pride in his voice. “It was no easy task, but with the years of experience my sister had bestowed upon me, and with a little gruelling labour, I do think I’ve met my goals. But of course, this is no time to rest, as I must continue to care for my plants as though they were my children.” It seemed to strike Tsuzuki then that he was still actually working and shouldn’t take up too long with his bragging. “Did you two know what you wanted to eat?”
Gabe smirked. He knew the feeling. He doted and fussed over his own plants, and those at Fullerton, much like Tsuzuki did.
“Yeah uh,” he glanced at the menu quickly again to get it right, “I'll have three of these,” he pointed at the menu, “two triple berry scones, and I'll try this one.” He pointed at one of the cakes. He’d decided not to order practically everything on the menu so Nina could choose some items herself.
“Well the hard work you put into it has certainly paid off. I know a little of the satisfaction of growing and keeping something alive thanks to Gabe” Nina said, since her own green fingers hadn’t really been there much at all before they met. She loved plants but previously hadn’t had much luck with them.
After listening to Gabe order Nina placed her own request, opting for different items so they could try each others should they wish to. “Thank you” she added smiling.
“The triple berry scones are delicious. Good choice.” He’d snuck a couple himself before people had started to arrive. He didn’t really need to write down their order; the menu wasn’t that big and it was easy enough to remember. “Oh, and,” he looked around just to make sure none of his coworkers were paying attention, and then he slipped a plate of cookies onto the table. “I brought these for you guys.”
“I’m glad Gabe is converting people to the Cult of Gardening,” Tsuzuki said, laughing a little. “It’s a nice little club to be part of once you get the hang of it!”
Gabe grinned. The cookies looked delicious. “Thanks man, appreciate it.” He took a cookie and munched on it; it was a butter cookie and the smooth taste was perfect with the tea. “I try,” he said around the cookie in response to Tsuzuki. “I think we need pins or t-shirts.”
Nina chuckled, “It is a very nice club” she agreed, “And t-shirts should definitely happen” she grinned, “I'll get thinking on a design”
Tsuzuki gleefully clapped his hands together. “T-shirts sound like a great idea! Would you really design them?” he asked Nina.
“Of course. Leave it to me and I will sort them out” she promised with a smile.
Gabe quirked an eyebrow in amusement. Were they really getting t-shirts? He sipped at his tea wondering what they would name themselves. “All right, Tsuzuki why don't you come up with a name, Nina’ll design ‘em and I'll get ‘em printed. I'll use the company Fullerton uses.”
Tsuzuki could barely believe his luck. He hadn’t had much friends growing up, and he hadn’t really made any in the years he had spent in the hospital either. He definitely hadn’t thought that he’d eventually make friends where they’d be talking about designing t-shirts together, whether the shirts came to fruition or not. “Leave it to me!” Tsuzuki said, already trying to come up with a name. “I’ll think of a great name!”
Nina kind of loved the idea, it would be fun and she’d make sure that the design suited them all. “Let me know when you do and I'll get started” she said with a nod, “Seems like we have it all sorted after that”