ota, let me know which option you want

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

Option 1, the arboretum

Elizabeth is sitting in the hydroponic garden, trying to tune a guitar. She has a tuning fork, but it's not in use anymore because she's tuned that string already. Now she's trying to remember how to use the little dots on her frets to bring the rest into line. It would probably be easy to look up on the PADD but for now she's enjoying being alone with her thoughts and the intermittent twang of strings. Once she gets the hang of it the tuning goes quickly and she switches to using the guitar to lead herself in vocal warm ups. She sings loudly, unafraid of drawing an audience.

Option 2, Ten Forward

Later in the day Elizabeth is in the bar reading aloud to Anne. Anne is sleeping in her pram, which she's nearly outgrown. Elizabeth doesn't mind that her audience is sound asleep. She loves Walt Whitman. He has such imagery and a zest for life that she adores.

This poem has specific meaning for Elizabeth, though she isn't sure it's the best to read to a baby.

"My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead."

Private to Booker

After all the socializing Elizabeth was relieved when she got home. She put Anne on the floor by the replicator and started to make them both dinner, calling out to Booker as she worked. "Are you here? It's been a ridiculous day."

Comments

[Ten Fwd]

[savedbylove]

Emma walked into Ten forward to get her usual cup of coffee, but she was feeling kind of sick, so she opted for tea instead. She didn't know what was wrong with her, it was probably some kind of bug or something. She was wandering towards the bar when she overheard the poem.

"What a sad poem. Whitman?" She asked, glancing at the baby, and the focusing her attention back on the woman.

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

Elizabeth knew Emma on sight. In another world they were friends, each with their own lives and loves. Here things were different. Elizabeth smiled sadly, nodding at Emma. "Yes, that's right. Don't worry about it being too sad, I'm not sure she's listening." Elizabeth motioned toward the sleeping baby.

It was time to be an adult, to meet the woman who'd won Killian's heart. After the Klingons she thought it was unfair for the universe to ask this of her. At last Emma was probably a good person. "I know another version of you, Emma. Would you like to join me?" She motioned to an adjacent chair.

[savedbylove]

"Don't worry, I'm the last person to judge on what it takes to be a good parent," She said, smiling sadly, as she looked at the baby once more before looking back at Elizabeth.

"Thanks, which version did you know?"

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

Elizabeth gave her a sympathetic look, but didn't say anything. It wasn't her place to judge, not without all the information. Parents didn't give up their children easily. She understood that now that she had her own.

"I'm not sure when she was from or anything like that. In the last universe, er the one before last actually, there were multiples of people sometimes. There were two Emmas and a few other doubles."

She took a deep breath and motioned to Anne. "There's something I need to tell you, since it's obvious the Killian here is absolutely smitten with you."

Arboretum!

[element_wizard]

Oh.

Well, someone beat him to being the musician in the arboretum today. Slinging his own instrument - a guitar looking thing - over his shoulder, he wandered over to listen to her play and sing.

While the traditional thing would be to try and accompany her at this moment, he instead just sits nearby and listens, fingers occasionally tumping against his knees.

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

Once she has warmed up Elizabeth starts to actually sing. It is a song she knows well. She once recorded it for a single in Rapture. Her guitar playing isn't nearly as good as her voice so she is obviously having a hard time keeping up with herself. Guitar is still a relatively new hobby.

She doesn't notice anyone watching her for a while, she's so intent on her playing. When she does see someone watching her out of the corner of her eye she stops, a little embarrassed. Of course if she'd wanted privacy she would be in her room. She misses having an audience. "Hello."

[element_wizard]

"Cohen was a hack," Alec said without really thinking about it. The song triggered memories - that and with the Big Daddy wandering around...

And hello to you, too, Elizabeth.

[Arboretum]

[lost_singularity]

DJ had taken to wandering various places on the ship (that he was allowed to go at least). The Aboretum was one of his favorites because he liked all the plants. It was calming. The music caught him by surprise though - and the sound of a guitar and woman singing drew him closer so that he could quietly observe. He wasn't trying to hide, he was mostly trying to keep a polite distance because he didn't want to interrupt.

Something about the guitar pulled at him though. Some emotion he couldn't name.

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

Elizabeth finished warming up and took a deep breath to start singing before she saw someone watching her. She smiled at him, strumming a chord before launching into her signature show piece. She only strummed now and again, because she wasn't the best at guitar just yet. Even without accompaniment she was a confident and talented singer.

[lost_singularity]

DJ saw her smile at him before she started to sing. He slowly moved forward, watching for any negative reaction before eventually sitting down near her (but still at a polite out of reach distance). As he became absorbed in the music, his tilted eyes got a far away look and the tension that had always been ever present in his face and shoulders relaxed.

It had been a long time since he'd been able to do that.

His fingers moved subtly, as if remembering how to strum and pick out the chords on the guitar. He wished he had one of his own suddenly to try and see if his body truly did seem to remember something he didn't. There was just something calming about the music, that allowed him to wrap it around him like a warm blanket and pull at his emotions.

10Fwd

[sealed_gauntlet]

Elizabeth would have someone else to read to in a little while, as Samanosuke was looking for her, and her company. He had something--something he'd discovered on his padd, from the history/future of Japan--that he wanted to show her. But it wasn't anything that couldn't wait until she'd finished.

He liked to listen to her voice.

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

ELizabeth's sadness melted a bit when she saw Samanosuke. She didn't know what they had just yet but she liked him a great deal. She put her PADD aside and motioned to the chair next to her. "Hey, how have you been?"

[sealed_gauntlet]

"Very well, thank you," Samanosuke replied, bowing before he sat. "And you?" The corners of his eyes crinkled as if he were trying to suppress a smile. He liked spending time with Elizabeth as well. And he hoped she would enjoy his discovery.

[Ten Forward]

[original_fine]

He can't help but overhear, as he gazes out the window at the stars. It's his favorite view on the ship, so far--it's the most familiar, after all.

When she falls silent, he looks over. "Heavy stuff," he says, quietly. "Sorry, I don't mean to intrude. Jim Kirk." He holds out his hand.

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

Elizabeth smiled sadly at Jim. "Elizabeth DeWitt and I don't mind the interruption." She shook his hand, trying to push her sadness away. "Perhaps this one will be more to your liking."

"ONE day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washèd it away:
Again I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tide and made my pains his prey.
Vain man (said she) that dost in vain assay
A mortal thing so to immortalise;
For I myself shall like to this decay,
And eke my name be wipèd out likewise.
Not so (quod I); let baser things devise
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame;
My verse your virtues rare shall eternise,
And in the heavens write your glorious name:
Where, when as Death shall all the world subdue,
Our love shall live, and later life renew."

[original_fine]

He listened, taking in her tone along with the words. No matter the shift in poetry, her sadness lingered.

"It's not about liking," he said quietly. "They're two sides of the same coin, aren't they? Not the reality of loss, but how we deal with it."

[seekingcrocodile]

Ordinarily he spends a lot of his time in Ten Forward, but lately he's been spending more time in the arboretum. His attempts to make a star chart of his own failed, but now he does know how to find that information on the computers, so he's been studying them and comparing them to the stars through the windows, trying to make sense of them.

Truthfully, he could use a bit of a distraction right now, as much as he's been working on this. Tracking down the source of the music is definitely a good distraction right now.

"Oh. That's nice."

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

Elizabeth looked up, her expression becoming more thoughtful when she looked at Killian. "Thank you. I used to sing professionally. The guitar is new. How are you doing?" She scooted over and patted the spot next to her, an unspoken invitation to sit.

[seekingcrocodile]

He sits next to her in the spot she indicated. "I still haven't figured out half of the things on this ship, I'm not even sure I'd call it a ship, and I don't like not knowing where I am. Other than that, I'm managing."

Ten Forward, please. ^__^

[ikissdhimbck]

Kate is sitting a few tables over, just close enough that she can hear Elizabeth's recitation. Poetry ain't a thing she hears a lot of these days, but once upon a time it filled her days and nights. She smiles to herself, even if the words are sad. Whitman.

Her eyes scan over to Elizabeth and Anne. She's seen the duo before, of course; they've both been here a while now, and Kate's friendly with folk even in passing. However, she's never really reached out.

Mayhaps that's one of the reasons she's still sitting alone after all this time.

"O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells."

She smiles softly, tipping her hat in greeting.

"I see you're startin' her with the classics."

Still odd to say, given how where she's originally from in time Whitman is still alive.

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

It's strange to Elizabeth to consider Whitman a classic. He was largely overlooked in her time, due to his still being alive. She looks up when Kate quotes the poem to her, a smile on her face. "This poem has special meaning for me. I'm glad it becomes a classic. How are you doing today?" She's seen Kate as well, but she's been so wrapped up in her own dramas that she hasn't reached out much herself. Clearly it's time to change that.

[ikissdhimbck]

Her smile warms up, reaching all the way to her blue eyes.

"I used t'teach poetry, once upon a time. None of Whitman's works — he didn't get too recognized for his contributions till long after I'd stopped teachin'. My journeys since have opened me up t'more of his works."

She takes a sip of her tea, shaking her head softly.

"I'm doin' well enough, I s'pose. Especially figurin' everythin' that's happened recently. How 'bout you an' the little one?"

The 'red alert' had been, well, alarming — pun not intended. Even if the invading Klingons hadn't lasted long, it still shook everything up a bit.

Liz-Book

[just_dewitt]

Booker was flopped on his bed, but called out to her, his door open. "Yes! Just resting myself. How are you?"

He glanced through the door and saw her and Anne and smiled.

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

"Confused!" she huffed, before putting plates on the table and retrieving Anne. "Are you hungry?"

[just_dewitt]

Booker hmmed, then shrugged. "Sure." He sat up and rose, then sauntered out.

"What confused you?"