• Memory • Songs of Red and Grey

[Zana]

Vhalar 10th, Arc 680

“Good morning, love.”

Zana looked at Jaq through sleepy eyes as wakefulness started to take hold of her. He was laying on his side, propped up on his elbow as he spoke those words, his green eyes watching her. Except they weren’t entirely green at the moment, they swirled with pink and purple. Zana gave a lazy smile and returned his kiss with passion.

“You’re beautiful, you know. I love you.” Jaq whispered and Zana watched him with a wry smile and shake of her head.

”I’ve told you. Don’t say that,” yet she could not deny that her smile was pleased, for all that she tried to retain an air of cynicism. It was a feeling which she returned, but she did not speak it. Jaq laughed and kissed her neck, nuzzling against her as he did.

“And when did I ever do what I was told, Vanity’s child?” Jaq raised a fair point and Zana had to concede it. She allowed herself to just smile and feel the moment. They had been together for six arcs at this point and Jaq was so much more than her handler. He loved her and she, him. In every way, Zana believed, they were a partnership.

“I have something for you, my little songbird,” Jaq said and Zana raised an eyebrow. He turned and got out of the bed they shared, moving over to his bedside table, from which he retrieved a small box. Handing it over to Zana, who was taking the time to appreciate the view, he urged her to open it.

Zana sat up in bed, curiosity lighting her face as she took the box. Before she opened it, she looked at Jaq and he laughed again. “Always curiosity, my songbird. Just accept it as a gift from a man who loves you.” Again with the love, Zana thought but she dipped her head and opened the box.

The silver necklace which he had given her was beautiful and delicate. The pendent on it was a small silver bird and Zana looked at it with a smile that was entirely genuine. Reaching her hand out, she touched it, fingertips brushing against the cool metal. Jaq watched her and then, unable to remain quiet, he looked at her with a query in his eyes. ”It’s beautiful, Jaq. Thank you.”

Leaning forward he kissed her and smiled. “Time for your lessons, my songbird. Come on.”

Everybody knows I love you baby. Everybody knows I really do
Everybody knows that I've been faithful. Give or take a night or two

[Zana]

Vhalar 10th, Arc 680

It was a beautiful morning and the pair of them made their way to the garden, Jaq had his arm draped around her shoulder and Zana nestled against him. Once they were in their usual spot, beneath the tree where they inevitable practiced, they put down the gitterns they had carried here and Jaq smiled at her. “Beautiful bird. We’re going to concentrate on posture and breathing totrial.” Zana nodded her head, listening to him and she smiled when he asked his usual question. “Tell me, then, why is it important?”

”Because the more I can, and do, control my breathing, the longer I will be able to hold notes.” Zana smiled and looked at him teasingly, ”without warbling or anything.” He nodded and kissed her, cupping her face in his hands.

“Good. Show me.”

Attending to her posture first, Zana made sure that she was standing well. Her back straight and shoulders back, she made sure that she breathed from her stomach, not her chest. That was vital, not just breathing from the top of her lungs, she knew. To breathe from the abdomen gave her the full range of what she was capable of. Jaq put a finger in front of her mouth and nodded to her. “Slowly, my love. Give it to me slowly.”

He knew it was hard to concentrate when he looked at her like that, teased her like that and Zana felt the familiar flutter in her chest at him. Now, however, was a time to concentrate and so she did. The trick with breath control was, she knew, not to push the air out but to control how fast it moved. So slowly, gently, she allowed air to escape her lunge and she breathed out on to the finger he held in front of her. Everything between them was passionate, physical and Jaq knew exactly what Zana could do with that outbreath should she choose to. The daughter of Delroth had, after all, used her mortalborn abilities on him more than once and they enjoyed what it did for their sex life.

So, there was an air of tension between them. They both felt it, both relished it and Zana knew that, once her lessons were finished, they would move on to a very different kind of training.

“Good. Lay down on the floor,” Jaq said, his voice betraying his own increasing level of passion and Zana looked at him curiously and then did as he bade her. “I have an exercise for you to do,” he explained with a grin and then laughed aloud at her glance of disappointment. “You’re insatiable. Soon. This first.” Zana flung a pouting expression towards him, but otherwise remained impassive.

Everybody knows I love you baby. Everybody knows I really do
Everybody knows that I've been faithful. Give or take a night or two

[Zana]

Vhalar 10th, Arc 680

Laying on the floor with the sun beating down on them, Zana felt the grass against her skin and she looked up at Jaq with a questioning gaze. However, he talked her through the exercise and she concentrated, listening and nodding as she did. Flat on her back with her hands on her stomach, fingers pointing in towards her belly button.

“Feel your breath, Delroth’s delight. That’s it. Breathe in slowly, from the stomach and feel it. See what it does to your hands? Now, slowly, release that breath.”

When she concentrated and did this, Zana realised that she did not normally or usually breathe from her abdomen at all. How odd, she thought, that she did not. But this exercise was helpful, in that it showed her the differences, illustrated how she felt and how it felt when she breathed properly. It was important, she knew, that she did not lift her shoulders or push out her stomach but that, instead, she allowed her body to do what it naturally did.

“The aim,” Jaq said, kneeling next to her and his hand resting on her stomach as she breathed, “the aim is to always breathe like this. You’ll live longer.”

”That’s less of an issue for me than you,” Zana replied with a slight upturn of her lips. ”But I take your point.”

He chuckled and motioned to her stomach. “Again.”

It was a good habit to get into and Zana would continue to practice as time went on. When Jaq was happy that she understood what it felt like, what she should be doing and so on, he instructed her to stand. This she did and he explained what he wanted. Zana looked rather incredulous, but nodded. ”So, you want me to sing, in one breath, counting as many numbers as I can? What note, what pitch?” Jaq waved a hand. The note didn’t matter, he explained. What mattered was that she was comfortable and that she could then use that method to measure improvement.

It made sense, although it seemed strange. Still, Zana breathed in and counted on one breath. She was rather surprised that she could only make it to eight and she wanted to vary her note. Jaq agreed, that would be a good thing and they could combine working scales with counting. So, rather than the usual Do-Re-Mi of scales, Zana instead counted. Each time, she made sure that she did not go lower in numbers than she had and thus, she hoped, she would improve. With a glance at Jaq, she recognised that he was pleased and he nodded.

“Beautiful bird. Your voice is beautiful. But then, you are Delroth’s evil spawn.” Jaq’s words caused her to laugh, which was, of course, exactly what he had intended.

”The trick, of course,” Jaq said, picking up his gittern and motioning for her to do the same, “is to manage this posture, this breath control at the same time as holding this.” Zana nodded. When holding the gittern, the temptation was to bend over it.

“We’re not playing it today, today we’re just singing. But I want you to sing and hold the instrument, rather than introduce that later,” Jaq explained. “So, we’re going to sing songs of red and grey.” His fingers strummed over the strings of his gittern and Zana listened carefully to the introduction and then, at the correct moment lifted her voice in song. The tune in question told a tale of a woman who had laid with a man, her memory of the one night they spent together. The red of the leaves and the grey of the clouds were what gave the title to the piece. Zana had to admit that the singing from her abdomen really made a difference both to the time that she could hold the note for, and to the depth of her tone.

”I can feel the difference,” she said and Jaq nodded.

“I can hear it. We need to keep pushing that.”

”If I practice, will my range increase?” Jaq nodded in response to Zana’s question. That would inevitably happen. But it was more than that, he explained. Her tone would become more pure, more clear. Her pitch would improve too.

“But that’s enough for to trial, songbird. Keep breathing like that, alright?”

Zana nodded and turned to him with every intention of distracting him from his teaching. It turned out, as he wrapped his arms around her and lowered his head to kiss her, that she really didn’t need to.

Everybody knows I love you baby. Everybody knows I really do
Everybody knows that I've been faithful. Give or take a night or two

[Alistair]

Zana

Knowledge
Detection: Noticing your usual patterns
Detection: Reading the expression on your lover's face
Singing: Breathing from the diaphragm
Singing: Counting out instead of scales
Singing: Practice to expand vocal range
Singing: Exercises to improve breath control

Jaq: Your ex-handler
Jaq: Said he loved you
Jaq: You loved him
Jaq: Called you his songbird
Jaq: Gave you a necklace

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Fame: N/A
Devotion: N/A

Points: 10

Comments: If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please let me know.