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