Performing Arts
The first few days went well and were uneventful. The captive's only point of contact was Misao, who she largely ignored. The chipper woman did loan her a dress to replace her bloody Starfleet uniform. It seemed that the two were compatible in size and no amount of scrubbing could salvage the Starfleet material. The girl began to hesitantly open up to the cheerful woman about herself. Inconsequential things, but it was the most she'd talked to anyone besides Miles and Keiko. Thinking of her old crewmates, the only people to ever see her as anything other than a too young doctor, the music started.
"Oh no," she moaned quietly as the heavy backbeat set in. She scrambled for something, anything to stop the madness. This was the worst it had ever been. But there was nothing sharp in the little cell and the music continued on, relentless as time itself. "Help," she cried out the door. "Somebody help me!"
Sail
She all but vomited out the word, bent over as she tried desperately to quell the storm of her emotions. Nothing helped, and the song began.
This is how I show my love
I made it in my mind because
Blame it on my ADD, baby
This is how an angel cries
I blame it on my own sick mind
Blame it on my ADD, baby
Sail!
Sail!
Sail!
Sail!
Every line was pure, heaving agony for her. The small crew came to witness the Khaleesi's first performance on their little ship and watched in horror as she doubled over with every new lyric of the song.
Maybe I should cry for help
Maybe I should kill my(kill myself)
Blame it on my ADD, baby
Tyr could finally stand no more. He entered the cell and grabbed her heaving form, "Just let it out, Isabelle. You have to let the songs out." She shook her head desperately and continued.
Maybe I'm a different breed
Maybe I'm not listening
So blame it on my ADD, baby
Sail!
Sail!
Sail!
Sail!
Tyr could only hold her, pressing his muscled chest to her back as she vomited out her song. Then the next one started.
Hey Miss Murder can I
Hey Miss Murder can I
Make beauty stay if I
Take my life
Oh-oh-oh
"I don't even know these songs," she whimpered, face covered in sweat and tears. "How am I doing this?"
With just a look
They shook
And Heavens bowed before HIm
Simply a look
Can break your heart
The stars that pierce the sky
He left them all behind
We're left to wonder why
He left us all behind
She continued to convulse her way through the song. It was painful to watch. She very obviously did not want to sing right now, or ever. Kato had witnessed a Khaleesi's performance once before and it was nothing like this. The woman had gently swayed with her music, this was a violent ejection.
What's the hook, the twist within this verbose mystery
I would gladly bet my life upon it
That the ghost you love, your ray of light will fizzle out
Without hope
We're the empty set just floating through, wrapped in skin
Ever searching for what we were promised
Reaching for that golden ring, we'd never let go
Who would ever let up put our filthy hands upon it
Hey Miss Murder can I
Hey Miss Murder can I
Make beauty stay if I
Take my life
Oh-oh-oh
Hey Miss Murder can I
Hey Miss Murder can I
Make beauty stay if I
Take my life
The next song kicked in automatically, and Misao prayed that the torture would end soon. The Khaleesi was clearly hurting from this experience. What the hell could make a Khaleesi react this way to her music? Tyr ran his hands through his long brown braids and waited for this performance to be over. There wasn't even any healing going on with her fighting the songs like she was.
Got a green light, got a green light, yeah
But I'm going nowhere
Got a green light, got a red light, yeah
No cop, no stop
I don't care
Everyone of you could be the same
Everyone of you could play the game
Got a green light, got a green light, yeah
But you're going nowhere
You know the best things in life aren't for me
You know the best things in life aren't for free
With Tyr's constant coaching, she was starting to calm down slightly. The retching of lyrics was slowing down. He had her in his lap now as he sat on the floor of her cell, rubbing her belly as she sang and dripped sweat. The song wouldn't stop though. The backbeats were relentless, driving the songs through the ship. Everyone could hear them, and no one knew what to do about her dilemma.
Got a new fun, got a new crime, yeah
And it's going nowhere
Like a global pad, like a car crash
And no cop, no stop he don't care
Everyone of you are just the same
Everyone of you will play this game
Got a new fun, got a new crime, yeah
And it's going NOWHERE!
You know the best things in life aren't for me
You know the best things in life aren't for free
You know the best things in life aren't for me
You know the best things in life aren't for free
Finally, thankfully, the music faded out and the music session ended. He continued to hold her close, intoxicated by the scent of her. She smelled of lilacs by the ocean and warm summer nights. She smelled like coming home; something he hadn't felt since his Pride was slaughtered when he was eleven. He'd worked his way up since then, starting as a slave in the uranium mines and ending as the top mercenary in the universe. He'd worked hard, too damn hard to piss it all away now, to lose everything over some random girl.
Hardening his resolve to finish his mission once again, he stopped when he noticed a long ugly mark on Isabelle's thigh where her dress would usually cover. She shifted, still recovering from her ordeal, and he saw more.
"What the fuck is that, Isabelle?" he asked in horror, lifting the skirt of her dress completely to reveal hundreds of cuts on her thighs. They bisected and overrode each other, causing scars on her leg that didn't seem to have ever healed. Darla looked down at what he was staring at and immediately covered her legs.
"It's none of your business and my name is Darla," she snapped, moving to climb out of his lap. He wouldn't let her and soon the two were struggling.
"Those are knife marks, Isabelle. Why the hell are you cutting yourself-"
"I'll do as I please," she growled at him, still trying to free herself from his vice-like grip. "It's none of your business! You're my captor."
"It is our business though," Misao jumped in, feeling nothing but sympathy. "We're bringing you to Bowser, yes. But we're not monsters. You don't belong with those people. Especially if they're hurting you. Why would they-"
"Nobody did this to me," she snapped. "I do it to myself. But I don't have my knife right now, so-"
"You've been cutting yourself to keep from singing?" the Captain asked, his grip on her tightening to bruising intensity "My god, what have those people done to you?"
"I hate being weak," she yelled as if he'd squeezed the truth out of her. No one was prepared to be catapulted into her memories. All of the crew could suddenly see and feel her misery, her loneliness. She'd been found next to a wrecked ship, sobbing with a major head injury at age six. No one had ever been able to figure out where she came from or what she'd been doing on the ship in the first place. They'd found two corpses in the wreckage, but the genetic markers hadn't indicated that the three were related. She'd been raised in foster care, a disposable person. The crew witnessed the taunts and vicious pranks pulled on the little orphan as a child, the way people avoided her as an adult. She was different. She was weak. She couldn't defend herself if the need arose.
"People treat me like a freak because I am one. I don't want to stand out. I don't want to be different. I don't want another reason to be shunned. So when that strange tickle happens, I release some of my pain and the urge goes away."
Tyr just stared into her eyes as she glared at him, humiliated but defiant. "But you're a Khaleesi…"
"I didn't ask to be a Khaleesi! I just want to be normal. I don't want this curse, this weakness. I want to be able to slap someone without the threat of breaking my jaw! I want-"
He kissed her without thinking. She pushed at him, ignoring the bruising appearing on her arms from the efforts, but soon she relaxed into his embrace as he gentled it for her. The two were lost in each other for a precious few minutes, just enjoying one another as the girl began to glow. Then she remembered herself and pulled back. He followed her lips, but she turned her head, refusing to fall under his spell again.
"You need to stop. Don't play with my emotions," she said flatly, shaking her head to clear it.
"What are you-"
"You just stole my first kiss and you're about to sell me to the highest bidder, Captain," she said coldly, pulling further away from him. "Remember which side you're on." Tyr took a moment to look around the cell and then at his captive. He swore loudly and punched the wall behind her before getting up and storming out of the room. She did her best not to flinch at his show of violence, the light surrounding her body extinguished as reality set in. He was the enemy, her captor. He'd just stolen her first kiss. And what a kiss it had been! Warm and wet and wonderful, everything she'd ever dreamed a kiss could be. What was wrong with her, allowing herself to be kissed by a virtual stranger that planned to sell her to a rich tycoon? She needed to guard herself more carefully against the man. She could easily get her heart broken in this ordeal otherwise.
AWOLNATION - Sail
AFI - Ms. Murder
Filter - The Best Things