Temptations
Chapter 38 - Serious Music
May, 2269
She appeared at his door with her ka'athyra, proceeded straight to where his was secured and unfastened it, handing it to him. He looked at her, raising one eyebrow. She just turned and headed out to the corridor. He followed, curious to see what she had in mind. She was not letting anything through her shields. Occasionally he thought that he should have not taught her to build them so well that they kept him out.
He followed her down the corridors to that same rec room where he had indulged himself and joined with those mislead young people in their impromptu concert. He felt vaguely uneasy. What did she have in mind?
She crossed the room, and sat in almost the same spot that that young woman had been in. She patted the bench at her side, and he found himself sitting where he had been before. Where he had been so caught up in the joy of the music that he had not noticed what they were planning. Now he was profoundly ill at ease. She appeared to take no notice of it. Instead she began to tune her instrument. He attempted to settle himself, and tuned his own.
And when she began to play, he followed where she led. Soft, gentle music, soothing to the soul. Classical, measured, restrained, controlled.
By the end of the third piece, he was beginning to lose his ill ease. By the end of the sixth, he had his composure back.
And then the music became lighter, more joyful. And she lifted his mood from somber reflections on his own fallibility to an acknowledgment that even he could fail, and having failed, could recover.
The final piece that they played was bright, happy, fast-paced and spontaneous. And he rose from the bench, having forgiven himself, his heavy mood entirely gone. He nodded to the vigorous outpouring of appreciation from the crewmembers who had been listening, and proceeded back to his quarters, with her right beside him, radiating happiness.
When they reached his quarters, he put up his ka'athyra, and then took hers, and set it where it would reach no harm. And then he lifted her, and carried her to his bed, and expressed his gratitude in ways that she appreciated very much.