A Six String and A Naked Piano

Posted on Mon Mar 15th, 2021 @ 7:58pm by Kindra Graham & Alden Loxley

Mission: Fortune & Glory
Location: Pelorum, Bai Rih Mohn Beach Resort
Timeline: 2514 - Summer

It was a song he had played as a kid back on Ezra, then many times on air guitar and in his head during a difficult time back during the U-War. There was something magical and spine tingly about forming an acoustic string instrument duet on a stage in front of a large gathering of quiet, attentive rich folks. Something Alden didn't think he'd be able to explain to anyone who hadn't been there, in their little team of two. The Sound of Silence made sense all over again.

Above them a sky so blue it made his heart ache for home, and around them the warm, receptive air of this indulgent beach property with bells on. Beyond them, a myriad of colourful people who looked as if they were enjoying themselves. Beside him, dressed to impress though her mocha skin called to him from beneath those fine threads, sat a young woman he had known for just a few days wrapped about a harp.

Perfection didn't come much closer than this right now and his smile was peaceful as worn fingers paused on six strings for mere seconds before shifting gear into their next song. It was, Alden considered with a happiness he hadn't felt in a good long while, definitely a Wicked Game they were playing.

Guitar and harp blended effortlessly, vibrating strings harmonizing and bolstering each other, the entwined melodies greater and deeper in their joining than either could produce as separate instruments. The music enveloped Kindra, as deliciously euphoric in its creation as the merging of their bodies, it danced between them in an ebb and flow of sound, every note a caress.

The attentiveness of their audience was unexpected. This was a curated celebration of the anniversary of an event that had been both a wedding and a corporate merger ten years ago. Kindra had anticipated she and Alden would be playing background music, not so loud to prevent conversation, but entertaining for guests with no interest in conversing with their table-mates… such as the husband and wife hosts sitting at the table on the main stage.

As Kindra adjusted the harp's levers to E-major for the next song, she thought, how incredible it would be if Alden could Always Be My Baby, playful and sweet. A momentary pause between songs, and Kindra flipped the levers again to D major. With a nod to Alden, so different from her and yet they fit together so well, contrasting and balanced as one, Closer to the Heart.

People began to move about, finding their own places in the space created by the location and the three-dimensional quality of their entertainment's sound. Some danced, which made Alden smile at their confident lack of concern for those still seated. He'd rarely been deterred by other people's opinions, and that thought encouraged him to stand, to walk himself and his guitar about the stage a little.

A higher viewpoint with zero deduction in quality product, and a big dumb smile Behind Blue Eyes as he nodded respectfully to the hosts, foot tapping a perfect beat from boot to wooden flooring beneath.

That slow pirouette of his was duplicated by three couples below as Alden let his gaze fall directly upon Kindra exactly as they shifted pace again, falling together into the practised set list. It was written on a piece of paper beneath the chair he'd vacated for this solitary parade, but Alden didn't need it. The songs called themselves into being from his mind through his heart, fingers and soul to the six strings over which he had control.

From Mama I'm Coming Home through to Unforgiven he heard the words in his mind's eye, lips catching them with a silent need that translated across as his gaze caught Kindra's for the hundredth time.

Kindra's gaze was drawn constantly to Alden, moving around her on the stage where she was anchored by her harp, soundbox cradled against her shoulder. The music flowed around and through and between them, a bond both ephemeral and solid, like Making Love Out Of Nothing At All.

It would be easy to lose herself in the emotions their music evoked, along with their audience, who swayed and smiled. Kindra reminded herself that this performance with Alden, and all the rehearsals and moments in between they'd shared, were rare and precious experiences of pure happiness. She committed all she could to memory and held it close to her heart. Not only did she Get Lucky now, but a rebellious corner of her hid a spark of hope that Against All Odds their time together wouldn't end.

---

With the entire length of his body stretched lazily down across a formal chair, Alden wriggled his toes and extended his arms right out until he could flex all the way to the very tips of his fingers. A ways behind him, a long-winded speech was being delivered - something about the couple's past it sounded like - but he only picked up on the cadence of the older man's words.

Eyes closed, Alden let his mind wander aimlessly and allowed himself to relax, to calm his entire system for a moment. Questions and thoughts meandered through his head and one surfaced, finding a path to be spoken. "Wonder what it's like," he said. "To have so many people so happily focused on your love life."

Having been in a sitting position for the performance so far, Kindra was on her feet, taking advantage of their break to stretch - arching her back and rolling her shoulders and head. She poured herself a glass of water and relaxed into the formal chair next to Alden with a heavy sigh. "This event isn't really about that couple's love life. This whole anniversary celebration is about money and power. Ten years ago their marriage sealed a corporate merger, legitimized a monopoly, and secured the political influence of both their families."

In a small, pensive voice she added, "This is the life my stepfather Walter wanted for me. Marriage for wealth and power… or to further my stepbrother's ambitions. But… I wanted to be a companion, like my mother."

She shifted to look at Alden, curious about his family. "What are your parents like? Do they celebrate anniversaries?"

Kindra's heavy exhale immediately drew Alden's entire, eyes-open, attention span. Those dark blue eyes regarded the young woman with confused interest as she spoke her mind.

Money and power. That was, in Alden's mind, a far worse reason than his own to get hitched. A reason that hadn't occurred to him until the words had left the companion's mind. Alden realised, in that moment, that he'd not really been paying attention to the whys and wherefores of this entire situation. All he'd been focused on was the current speaker, and that fact, their here and now, it still made him smile. This temporary fate was a far preferable one, short time notwithstanding.

What was that old saying about hot stoves and beautiful women? Yup. Accurate indeed. Kindra, however, was still talking.

"You should, I think," Alden said. "Get to do what you want with your own life." His hand reached for hers and gave it a supportive little crush, then he kissed each of Kindra's fingertips in turn. Only then did he pick up on the companion's question for him.

"Well, no," he admitted simply. "My momma does, sure enough, but thankfully neither of us hears from my papa." Alden quirked a bittersweet smile. "He died," Alden explained, and when Kindra opened her mouth to respond, the pilot quickly added. "Seven years ago."

A wave of desire shivered down Kindra's spine at the touch of Alden's lips on her fingertips. It was no wonder they hadn't spent much of their time together talking.

She smiled with sad compassion at the lighthearted turn Alden put to the loss of his father. "Sometimes I wish I could, though… hear from my mother. She's been gone for four years, and her murderer was never found." Hastily she added, "Losing her will always hurt, but I still have Walter and Margaret. My mother contracted with them long-term when I was little, and the three of them raised me together on Persephone."

Kindra was eager for more personal details about Alden. She slid out of her chair and into his lap, drawn to him like gravity, and nibbled his ear. "Where are you from? Tell me about your family."

Cuddling her intimately closer, Alden nuzzled Kindra's face with a warm cheek and spoke quietly, words ticking her ear. "Be careful what you ask the Verse for," he said. "Sometimes it grants wishes." But the thought of her mother being killed on purpose without any answer as to who or why irked him far more than Alden wanted to admit right now. It was a problem he couldn't fix for Kindra, much as he might feel a need to try. "Perhaps one day you'll have your answers," he offered. "And if I can help, I will."

His own humble beginnings were easy enough to share though, and the pilot buried his face into those dark curls and smiled warmly as he thought of home, of what his momma and sister would say if they could see him right now.

"I'm an oldest kid," Alden answered Kindra's question. "I have a younger sister and a younger brother. I was born and raised on a cattle ranch on Ezra, my momma's family have owned the land since it was terraformed and they still own it now."

His offer to help solve the mystery of her mother's death one day reminded Kindra again of how close she was to the painful reality of their parting. She lingered instead on the heat of his breath by her ear and the warmth in Alden's voice when he spoke of his mother and siblings.

She brushed her lips against his, but continued speaking, stubbornly dedicated to sharing little details. "The estate where I grew up was not exactly a working ranch, but we had horses. Margaret and Walter gave me a mare I named Ramoth, and mother and I would go on long rides together. You must have had horses on your family's cattle ranch." Kindra's hands wandered, lending a double entendre to her next question. "Did you enjoy riding?"

So close. So stunningly beautiful. So distracting. So easy to talk to and do all those... other things. Their time would be fleeting, but that was okay too, that aspect meant Alden could focus entirely on Kindra and this party and not think of anything - anyone - else. Somewhere deep down he knew that his wife's ghost would catch up to him, but that part of his heart was temporarily locked away, allowing his soul to steal a temporary release.

"I do," he answered honestly. "We did. Many horses. I learned to ride at the same time as learning to walk. There's a magical sense of freedom, a bond of friendship that exists between a rider and a mount," Alden noted, that small smile broadening as he let his fingers wrap very loosely at Kindra's neck, curling at her ears. "A trust that exists when one takes a dominant position with another..."

Kindra tipped her chin up and leaned into Alden's touch, offering her throat to him with a breathy sigh. "Would you like to dominate me… take control of my pleasure… drive me to the pinnacle until I beg for release?" The prospect of submitting to Alden was enticing – promising the intense satisfaction of everything else they'd done together in the last days. But Kindra's intuition hinted there was something Alden really wanted. "Or, would you prefer to put your trust in my tender mercy? Whatever you want – restraint, pleasure, pain – I can take control and all you have to do is give yourself over to indulgence and immersion in sensations I control."

He nuzzled that neck unashamedly, planting a randomly curved line of kisses across her caramel skin while Alden pushed down some memories and tried to formulate a verbal response. What he wanted? What he truly wanted? It felt wrong, for more than one reason, and that made it difficult to answer Kindra honestly. So Alden cheated.

"You must always have to worry - consider? - what everyone else wants," he returned, words gently offered with a well-intentioned sincerity despite his perceived conversational wiles. "Is there a point when you stop thinking like a companion and you just get to have what you really want? What would that look like? What do you really want, Kindra?"

Kindra's mood shifted with the change in direction Alden took the conversation. Away from physical distraction and back to getting to know one another, his observation incredibly insightful for anyone who had not trained as a companion. "I, uh... I have not thought like a companion, not really, for the whole time you and I have been together."

The realization hit her hard. Her instructors at Madrassa would be ashamed of her. She had stopped thinking like a companion and had indulged in her own pleasure. Soon she would pay the price - it was all about to end. With utter honesty, she pressed her forehead against his and whispered, "You, Alden. You are what I really want. You are my indulgence."

Off behind them, someone had started making noises that implied their presence would be needed again soon for some musical scenery to compliment the next step of the host's main event. One of the Hathor event organizers appeared, her yellow resort uniform unmistakable, and cleared her throat.

With a regretful sigh, Kindra untangled herself from Alden's lap and stood, readjusting her clothing. "Seems it's time for our last set."

For some reason, that shocked him on a deeper level. That she hadn't thought like a companion. Had he broken something? Was it his fault that she'd strayed from her chosen path and skipped down another? Should he be doing this, here, right now?

Yeah. His head was playing with that Big Brother Voice. But when Kindra leaned in, whispered and sent every fibre of his being to tingle-mode, Alden's heart and other areas shoved the concerned voice down deeper. He wanted her and he didn't want to delve into why or whatever, he just needed her right here and now and it was as simple as that. Overthinking would unlock the past, and that ghost could haunt him later, when he was once again alone.

"Yup," Alden returned as that temporary angel of his heart left him moving his hands across himself to hide his visible desire. "Just gonna need a minute..."

Their last set, but not the last of their time together, and playing live music up there on a fancy stage before a happy audience was one helluva aphrodisiac. "Just one minute," Alden promised, and didn't move for any of those sixty seconds.