Subject: Grail: "The Great Brightness" - `Private Concert'

OOC: I've noticed that some people were missing some addresses from their

mailstrings, please make sure to include everyone...

<<Stardate 43707.30 - 18:54>>

<<XO's quarters>>

François stood before Brinn's door. He didn't know how to face her

now that Mirka had coerced him into obeying orders by threatening to

find him unfit for duty. He still couldn't believe she had done that.

OK, he had to admit he had been a little out of control in the last few

days, but she had used her personal knowledge of him against him.

François looked down at the bloodied uniform jacket he held in his hand.

It was Brinn's and François had inadvertantly put it on after their...

altercation in the captain's ready room. This time he had to control

himself and not let his emotions get the best of him, even if Brinn

seemed to be very apt at pressing his buttons. 'Speaking of buttons...'

François thought as he pressed the door chime, 'I might as well get this

over with.'

There was no answer. François pressed the chime again.

Athalya Anne's eyes shot open before the door chime even rang. *Law'

have mercy.* She thought as she scrambled for something, anything to wear.

Answering

the door in her birthday suit was unacceptable - especially if that someone

on the

other side of the door was Francois DeMontigny. Quickly she threw on a robe

and found

Francois' jacket. *Oh, shit!* Athalya Anne inspected it. It had been

sacrificed

to her latest project - a tapistry. All that were left were the shoulders,

arms and

comm badge.

"Just one goddanmed second!" François heard from the other side.

"Alright, come in!"

The doors swooshed open and François stepped into the most organized

pig sty he had ever seen. Papers littered the floor like a thin layer of

snow.

Potted plants and half empty bottles of water covered just about every

available space and in the corner was a pile of clothing. But the mess

wasn't what caught François' eye.

Standing before him was Brinn, wearing a loosely tied robe and obviously

nothing else.

DeMontigny's eyes appreciated her long naked legs and the opened robe

that descended between her breasts. With a bit of amusement, he noticed

the dog tags just out side of her robe. If she had been another woman, she

wouldn't have been standing anymore. 'But this is Brinn,' François

reminded himself, 'Don't forget that she's a pompous, obnoxious marine

and that you hate that.' François looked up into Brinn's eyes.

Obviously, she had been sleeping and, obviously, she wasn't in a good

mood. 'So what else is new?' François asked himself as she threw the

uniform at him.

"I'm sorry, were you sleeping?" François smiled, "I wanted to return

your jacket and tell you that..." His eyes locked on something and he

didn't finish his sentence. He took a few steps forward, ignoring the

mess as he headed toward a guitar handle.

"Is... is that a Straat?" he asked, pulling off the shirt and picking

up

the instrument. He then proceeded to sit on the couch and strum a few

chords.

Athalya Anne had niether the nerve nor the energy to throw Francois

out. She yawned and curled up on the couch next to DeMontigny in a fetal

position.

"Play something." Athalya Anne requested, knowing full well that he'd leave

when he tired

of the guitar, which, hopefuly, would be before she fell asleep.

François was startled by the request. Not only had he never played for

someone, this was Brinn asking him to play. He turned to look at her. Curled

up on the couch next to him, she looked so soft and gentle, almost

vulnerable. But François knew that wasn't so. Brinn may be many things,

but

she was never vulnerable. She

was in control of the situation, as always. But still, François had never

pictured her being the artistic type. Looking around at the mostly

unfinished artwoks and at the musical

instruments, he realized that there might be more to Major Beautiful than

met the eye.

And now she wanted him to play something. Never wanting to let woman

down, François decided to do it. He just hoped he wouldn't be too awful. His

fingers returned to the guitar's strings and he started to sing.

"Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?

You been out ridin' fences for so long now

Oh, you're a hard one

I know that you got your reasons

These things that are pleasin' you

Can hurt you somehow

Don' you draw the queen of diamonds, boy

She'll beat you if she's able

You know the queen of heats is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things

Have been laid upon your table

But you only want the ones that you can't get

Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger

Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home

And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'

Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?

The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine

It's hard to tell the night time from the day

You're loosin' all your highs and lows

Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away?

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?

Come down from your fences, open the gate

It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you

You better let somebody love you, before it's too late "

Athalya Anne yawned, put her hand on Francois' knee and squeezed it.

"Thank you." She said just before she headed off to the land of Nod.

Francois just smiled as he watched her fall asleep. He couldn't help but

marvel at her beauty and, as his eyes rested on her lips, his mind went back

to the kiss they had shared. 'She's as a great kisser as she is beautiful,'

he thought, 'too bad she's a marine'. Getting up, he put the Straat away and

left, still smiling.

Lt(jg) François DeMontigny

Lt Maj Athalya Anne Brinn