Music in the Night

Posted on Sat Jul 2nd, 2022 @ 7:08am by Lieutenant Commander Diane Doctrine
Edited on on Sat Jul 2nd, 2022 @ 8:08am

Mission: The Lost Brother
Location: 10 Forward
Timeline: current

“Music In The Night”

Lieutenant Commander Soran Wagnor
Lieutenant Commander Diane Doctrine

=10 Forward=

Soran couldn't sleep so he'd walked down to the Ten Forward. The room was mostly deserted, he sat by the window and looked at the stars. He began to play his harmonica allowing the music to express his feelings. He was in his own little world and didn't hear the door open.

The lounge was quiet. Toby was having a sleepover at a new friend's cabin so Diane took a walk to Ten Forward perhaps for a drink and to relax a little. She saw Soran by the windows playing a harmonica. The music emanating from the instrument were a little sad sounding but sweet. She strolled over to him so as not to surprise or startle him and sat one table over from where he was.

When Soran was finished with the song, Diane clapped softly. "Very nice," she complimented.

"Oh thank you," Soran smiled. "So I'm not the only one who can't sleep tonight. Is Toby alright?"

Diane's face brightened at the mention of her son. "He's fine. He's sleeping over a friend's place this evening. He just started kindergarten and now he knows all the other five and six year olds on the ship."

"That's good to hear," Soran smiled."When I see a parent up in the middle of the night nine times out of ten that has to do with their offspring. I'm glad it's something positive."

“Compared so some other parent’s stories I’ve heard, I feel rather lucky he’s so well behaved,” she replied. That was most likely due to his grandparent’s influence since that’s who he spent most of the last four years with, Diane thought privately. “He’s adapted to ship life quicker than I expected.”

"Hard to sleep without him?" Soran asked.

Diane looked out the window a moment thinking about her response. She looked back to Soran and answered, “Perhaps? I suppose I’m also taking advantage of some alone time. I didn’t think it would happen as we were separated for four years… but raising him alone is proving to be more than a handful.”

"Your son is fortunate to have such a caring family and a strong mother." The Angosian looked at the woman with empathy; there were far too many widows and orphans among his people.

Diane really didn’t want to blush and she wasn’t sure she could stop it. She felt her cheeks warm a little and she knew it would show on her pale complexion. “That’s kind of you to say, thank you.” While looking out the large view ports she asked, “Is performing in the lounge part of your nightly security patrol or is there some other reason you’re out this evening?”

He laughed at her joke, "couldn't sleep so I thought I playing to the stars might soothe my mind. According to the myths of my people; the stars listen and send messages to the other side. I know it sounds foolish, but as I get older I find myself playing to the stars more often."

“I don’t think there’s anything foolish about that at all,” she chided back, “I can’t believe the stars would not listen to someone who plays as well as you.”

"That's kind of you to say so, I've been playing mouth organs most of my life." He had a nostalgic look on his face.

Diane chuckled. There were way too many jokes to mention in every language in the Federation and beyond about those two words. She managed to keep her composure and replied simply, "Music is not one of my talents but I do enjoy listening to variety of genres."

Soran was fairly certain where her mind had gone and appreciated that she hadn't gone there. "People often sell these small instruments short, but with a little determination.."

He put the harmonica to his lips and began the 'William Tell Overture.'

Diane listened and when she realized what song it was she broke out in laughter. When he was finished she asked, "That's amazing! That's a lot of music for a small instrument." She rolled her eyes at the pun hoping he didn't think it was aimed at him.

Soran laughed. He could see the obvious pun, but he wasn't going there.

"I noticed you took a seat to view the stars as well," he observed. "What do they symbolize for you?"

Diane looked out the window once more and reflected for a moment before answering. Her head tilted a few degrees to the right as she thought of the right word to express her feelings. "Possibilities," she said at last with an optimistic smile. She looked to Soran, "Every star is a possibility. We'll never know what it is unless we go look. Will we ever see them all? Should we even try? Or perhaps we should merely marvel at their individual beauty?" She chuckled lightly to herself, "I'm not usually this philosophical... but you asked."

"I did ask," he smiled. "Your philosophy is a refreshing answer to my superstition. One of the advantages of serving on a space vessel you can always look at the stars, so do we still do our star gazing at night?"

“That’s an excellent question,” Diane mused. Looking around the lounge she noticed they were alone for the time being. “It appears so.”

He sat quietly enjoying the stars his fallen comrades still on his mind.

"I have photographic memory, rarely forget a face and never where I saw it." Soran explained. "You were a year ahead of me at the Academy, we didn't have class together but I remember seeing you around campus."

"Really?" she asked, "I can't say I remember seeing you... but I don't have a photographic memory," Diane added cheekily.

"I didn't have a lot of friends at the Academy, I was older than the average cadet. I was also a cocky bastard, a cadet Kvapil put me in my place during a search and capture exercise. We didn't become friends, but I never underestimated him again." Soran paused. "I didn't put it together, where I'd seen you until I noticed how much your boy looks like his father."

Diane suspected that was where this was going once Soran mentioned Rick. "Rick... he was a tough nut to crack," she replied somewhat somberly, moreso than she'd intended to sound. "Toby does take after him quite a bit."

"My people have a saying 'to look at a son is to see his father's face.' Soran mused. "Rick bested me in a training exercise once, our instructor was taking advantage of my unique anatomy. The other cadets were tasked with finding me, but I didn't register on standard scans. So I was able to evade most of them. He knew I always had my lucky medallion, so he scanned for its unusual alloy. I still don't know how he got a scan of it in the first place."

Soran took the medallion out and walked it across the back of his fingers.

Diane's eyes narrowed as she watched Soran work the coin around his fingers. Here she was, wanting to move on and now this guy wanted to talk about her long passed lover. She sighed and made a mental decision to just grin and bear it. Conversations about Rick were bound to happen and she should be expecting it and she shouldn't get depressed every time he was brought up. "Rick... was resourceful that way. He proved it many times in the field. I think some of that rubbed off on me... at least I hope it did."

Soran sensed her reluctance to speak of lost one so…

"Thatha gave me this," holding the medallion. "She's the one I play to the stars for most often. Some people leave us too soon."

Diane nodded slowly. She wasn't sure how personal she wanted to get with someone she didn't know all that well yet. But, Soran was a new member of the crew so she fought off her ingrained intelligence instincts. "You've lost someone in action." It was a statement rather than a question. "No matter how much time passes, it's still... difficult to talk about... You know what I mean?"

"I do," Soran said. "I rarely speak her name, but I've been thinking about the past a lot lately. I'm sorry sometimes I wake up and it's like the memories are so vivid I feel mates around me, that's when I play to the stars. I'm already in regular appointments to Lt Jansen incase you're thinking I'm a section eight."

He looked down he didn't know why he was telling her this, he shouldn't be burdening this woman with this. She was clearly dealing with her own ghosts.

“I don’t think you’re going crazy,” Diane replied after a moment. Speaking softly with empathy in her tone, she went on, “A new assignment will have that effect on people. You’re thinking about your past and wondering how you arrived here. That’s been my experience if that helps. You’re sad because you miss people who were close to you. There’s no shame in that. It’s natural… but you can’t dwell on the past either. We can’t change it, but we can learn from it and use those lessons to move forward.”

After another long moment, she added, “It took me… a long time to figure that out… and it wasn’t exactly easy.”

"You're very wise," Soran nodded. "If you ever need a sympathetic ear I will be here for you as you have for me."

“Thank you,” her mood brightened a bit, “And I’ll be happy to do the same for you.”

"Thank you, I appreciate that." Soran and yawned. I should try to get some sleep."

Diane smiled, “Well, I’ll let you get to that.” She yawned herself, “Well, that’s contagious. I guess I’ll be off to bed myself.”