What Was and Might Be III

Posted on Sat Nov 12th, 2022 @ 10:57pm by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov
Edited on on Sat Nov 12th, 2022 @ 10:59pm

Mission: In-Between (S1:E3-S1:E4)
Location: Holodeck 2
Timeline: Mission Day 28 at 2215
2595 words - 5.2 OF Standard Post Measure

"That or...get myself killed trying." he said, looking at her and smiling genuinely, as if that particular possibility didn't bother him. "Where do you see yourself in the world...you know, when we get back?"

Lyra kissed just below his ear with tenderness and warmth. "I thought that would be obvious." She teased and then pulled back, turning her head to look outside.

"I will be in a fight immediately when we get back, I'm sure. My mother or brother will either give me what is rightfully mine for my service to the family... or I will take it all."

"In your view, what is rightfully yours?" he asked, looking at her with interest in his eyes. He hadn't seen this side of things; the potential conflict. He was intrigued.

Lyra didn't look to Andrei. Her eyes simply remained on the beach and the water now glowing blue when the waves crested and washed up onto the shore. It had been a strong draw for tourists, but her family had a mile of this beach and the surrounding area as their own private getaway.

"My brother Raoul will either be named Lord of Brazil proper or he will inherit the title from my mother. My brother Antony will inherit his father's merchant operations." She paused then and seemed to consider if she should continue; to consider if she trusted him to hold this and work with her on it. Finally, she turned her head to look at him again, her heels easily putting her at his eye level.

"Once they reclaim what was stolen, they will also inherit the Ivers' fortune and assets which include control of the fleet shipyards."

"And control of the shipyards means control of the Fleet." Andrei said, turning his eyes out of the window again. There was a gleaming quality to them now. "And control the Fleet.."

Lyra looked back outside as well, simply allowing Andrei to digest what he had picked up on. She eventually lifted her hand and ran the backs of her index and middle finger together slowly down his arm. It was simple and loaded all at once.

"I will not go home simply to be saddled to some old lord to be a simpering lady."

"You will saddle a young one, love." he said, grinning out the window. The statement was both meaningful and difficult to certify. With control of fleet production, the wealth to back it up, command of the allies of Russia and Brazil, the heir to the Intelligence Service, all the wealth they bring back with them, and a Shadow Fleet teaming with ships and new technologies, the Terran Empire's hierarchy would certainly need some readjustment.

"We'll see." She replied simply, not for even a moment assuming her place with Andrei was secure. That would have been stupid and she was not stupid. He was making steps, sure, as was she, but Andrei enjoyed games.

"So, where to next?" he asked, turning back to her and grasping her hand in his.

Lyra laced her fingers with his and took a slow, deep breath. She pulled herself away from the erratic bouncing of her thoughts between Andrei and her family and the wealth of anger at the end of the road. Calming herself, she turned and smiled at him.

"Music room?" She offered up. It was a shared interest of theirs, after all.

"Just down the hall, if I remember correctly." he said, and walked with her toward the door. As they exited into the hallway, he closed the door behind them and started them down. A few paces, and they reached their destination. Stopping outside the door, he looked at her. "After you."

This time she didn't hesitate opening the door and they immediately stepped into the windowless wood paneled room that looked much like a stage from a concert hall than anything else. It was designed for perfect acoustics after all. Her mother had never been a professional singer - she had given that up to be a lady - but she enjoyed singing and had made sure to have a place where she could do that and her children could be finely educated in music. Lyra also knew that this room was one of the few that actually had some public images to draw from as she remembered her picture being taken while she had played piano while she was a little girl. Sure enough in the center of the room sat the massive white grand piano she remembered.

She didn't release Andrei, instead holding her hand as they walked into the room together. "This... yes, I do remember this. You replicated it perfectly, darling."

"I've been here before." he admitted, walking in with her, still hand in hand. He moved them over to the white grand in the middle of the room and released her hand in order to place his on it. He looked up at her and raised a brow. "How long has it been since you've played?"

"That is actually one of the things I kept up with more or less. I tried to practice and play at least once every couple of weeks at minimum." Her fingers danced along the edge of the piano slowly and she looked down at it, her eyes growing a bit distant in the moment.

"Well.." Andrei said, leaning in and kissing her cheek slowly. His eyes then met hers, close. "I'm waiting..."

Lyra's eyes blinked once slowly at the kiss on her cheek which brought her back to the moment with him. She looked to him and saw his expectant gaze; with a soft chuckle, she maneuvered to sit down at the bench and rubbed her hands slightly. Once she was prepared, she lifted her hands dramatically as if she were about to play the most beautiful symphony.

And then she played a rousing tune of Chopsticks.

Finishing the last note, she grinned up at him.

"It was never more well-played, love." he said, chuckling and rapping his knuckles on the coated wood of the piano. "If I had a heart, I would have cried."

"Thank you, thank you. It is one of my finest performances." Shaking her head, she put her attention back to the piano and began to actually play. Her fingers flew deftly over the finely crafted keys and Listz's Un Sospiro came pouring from the piano with the ease of someone who had taken to the instrument naturally and honed the skill with practice. She played with feeling despite her focus, and didn't need the music for the advanced piece.

Andrei listened for a few moments, closing his eyes, his knowledge of the art form becoming suddenly obvious. He moved his head with the sounding of the melodic line, a series of notes plucked out above gentle arpeggios. He didn't interrupt, but as her playing became more intense, he opened his eyes and watched her play. Seeing her work the keyboard like a master was a turn on for him, though he made no outward indication.

Lyra of course paid him no mind at the moment given her focus was solely on the song she was playing from memory. Her delicate but strong hands moved with grace, crossing each other when necessary but otherwise dancing over the notes. She played the entire piece for him, the acoustics of the room only accentuating the beautiful symphony and the sentiment she played it with. Finally, holding out the last tetrad, she finished the melody but simply looked down at her hand, pensive again.

"That was wonderful." Andrei said, having picked up the violin situated near him without any pomp. "Now, for me, it has been a while."

He lifted it to his neck and started to play Bach's Partita for Violin Solo No. 1 in B Minor. For the first few seconds, it was slightly out of tune as he found his footing again, but it quickly fell into the perfectly intoned range. As he played the fast pieces, he moved quickly with it, turning every now and then and causing his long black hair to dance and jump with him.

Lyra remained seated on the piano bench and gave her full attention to Andrei. She wore a gentle smile and her eyes moved over him as he played, studying him in an intimate fashion. He played with feeling, something he didn't often display genuinely. She knew the song and he was playing it quite elegantly even with the small hiccups at the start. Maybe it had been a while, maybe he was just being "humble" she didn't know, but it wasn't worth the energy to put thought into; not right now at least. She wanted to focus on him and his music.

Andrei’s natural grey eye and his luminescent blue one followed the movement of his fingers and the flowing of the bow as he made the violin sing. He found his natural rhythm with it, and soon he was playing it like it was an extension of his hand. As he reached the end he started to smile and then he finished grandly and slowly for dramatic effect. When he was done, with a violent flourish, he looked at her.

“You sing too, don’t you?”

Lyra smiled up at him when he finished. He certainly did have a talent on the violin, much more than he had let on to her when he had told her he played. She placed a hand on his hip while she sat. “About as much as you do on the singing, I imagine. You play the violin beautifully though, darling.”

He stole a kiss from her, soft, warm, and lingering, but he didn’t respond to the compliment. Instead, he put the violin down and sat himself down behind the piano. He started playing a tune in the romantic Italian style, but improvisational and not yet recognizable. As he did so, he began to speak over it.

“When I was 13, my mother was asked to sing in a role in Gianni Schicchi, the Puccini opera, at First Night. The Emperor had specifically requested the opera. She sang 'O Mío Babbino Carro', reprising her operatic skills. I was astounded. I had never seen her sing in public before. Since then, the song has always been one of my favorites.” He said, then the introductory time of the piece became obvious on the piano. He looked at her and smiled. “I assume you know it?”

Lyra watched his fingers move over the piano and absently her hand moved to rest on his thigh; it wasn’t questing, simply there. She thought about it and wondered if perhaps she had been there too; there was some sort of vague memory about this song right before… well, before everything that happened.

“I do, yes.” She nodded. “I’m sure your mother sang it beautifully.”

"She did." he said, playing the chords that would intro the famous melodic line, prompting her to sing. "Well, go on."

Lyra was surprised he was asking her to sing this song given it was a favorite done by his own mother - that wouldn’t be matched, but she was confident in her abilities given and nurtured by her own mother, so as Andrei played she began to sing. There was a lovely, clear quality to her voice, power that rose and then fell at the appropriate phrases. She performed beautifully. For all her savagery and sadism, for the brutality her hands could perform, there was a well bred and artfully talented woman.

As she sang, Andrei made sure to use the piano to support the twists and turns of her melodic line, identifying the places where forward motion would help her, and calming when her singing indicated. He was very sensitive, following her, anticipating her, encouraging her. And, at the same time, he studied her and enjoyed every moment of her singing with a pleased and non-judgmental expression. His music was the best part of him, really. It was him at his kindest and most expressive, and he showed it to very few. When Lyra finished the penultimate phrase, "O Dio, vorrei morir!", he increased his volume and prominence on the main theme, taking it from her like she had passed it, and then gave it back to the last phrase. As she finished, he played the final chord and grinned.

"You sing beautifully, love." he said simply, and stood up.

As he stood, she lifted her hand and took his. “Will you sing for me, darling?” She asked, looking up to him in earnest. It was obvious she wanted to hear him. “I will play for you.”

"Name the tune." he said, moving aside so she could take his place on the bench. "It is your party, after all."

The smile that alighted on her face was bright and cheerful at his compliance. She thought only for a moment and turned to the piano. Her hands took up their position and then she began to play without any unnecessary flourish. Given his knowledge of Puccini, her choice was quick and obvious. Given the introduction was short, she played through it a few times and looked up to Andrei to see when he caught on and was ready to begin. Nessun Dorma was a big song, but no more than he had challenged her with. She had faith in him.

"Ah, a challenge." he said, and stood up straight, preparing himself to begin the aria. It was a classic, and one of the most famous in all of opera. He began singing with the declarative beginning, his attention split between the natural tension of the phrase and Lyra's playing. The song grew, ascending, and his singing grew with it, until he was singing those flying high notes which made the aria so remarkable. His vibrato strengthened and flowed naturally. His was not a once-in-a-generation voice, but was still clearly fit for the stage, and it shined particularly in its high ranges, filling the room with a loud, dazzling, and professional sound. As he held the last note, he closed his eyes and sang all the way to the breath.

As Andrei had with her, Lyra played to compliment and guide him through the performance. She played with beauty and feeling, but never once to the point where she might overtake Andrei's performance. What they wove together was beautiful, pure. Very unlike them, to those who knew them on the surface. Trusting her fingers and memory, she did take some opportunities to look up to Andrei just to watch him as the notes poured from him. She was moved by his impressive talent, truthfully. She carried him through the last note and brought him to close.

After letting a moment of silence pass so Andrei could both recover and just enjoy the moment of masterful performance, Lyra stood and moved to him. She said nothing, but instead just leaned in and kissed him with an unheard of tenderness that was still fueled by their typical passion, one hand resting on his cheek and the other on his chest over his heart and the Terran emblem there.

Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close with his strong hands, insisting the kiss last longer. When it was over, he looked into her eyes

“We are going to dazzle the Court one day.” He said with a sense of certainty that didn’t need to be practiced for him. “Where to next, love?”

TBC