mr_gaeta | [Road to Najmi]

[Road to Najmi]

Once they're out on a road not pockmarked with stones and potholes -- or, at least, dotted with fewer of them -- the constant jostle of the cart settles into an easy, rolling rock from side to side.

Given his usual lack of sleep the night before, it isn't terribly surprising that that's enough for Gaeta to slip into a light doze, leaning against the back wall with his bag bunched up like a pillow.

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"Fortune," he says, and his smile goes a touch more sober, "or a gift of the gods."

Maybe they're on the same page after all. To automatically think of any favorable outcome as such a blessing that it's a gift from the gods, though --

Gaeta knows what he's gone through to reach that point.

And it's not his place to pry an answer out of Azimar on the topic.

"I suppose," is all he says instead, quiet, and with a slight nod to accompany it.

"In the meantime," he says, still evidently cheerful, "you've done me the great honor of teaching me a song; shall I teach you one now?"

He exhales another breath of near-laughter; this time, though, it's genuine.

"What did you have in mind?" he asks.

"Oh, I've songs for any occasion," he says expansively. "Shall it be another tragic love song, or shall we have something happier?"

Settling more comfortably, "I'd prefer something happier."

By Azimar's definition, even happiness could be considered a gift. Gaeta won't turn it down.

His eyes gleam. "I know of just the one," he says, and reaches for his second pack, carefully stowing the flute inside and drawing out a small stringed instrument.

"I had this song from a streetsinger in Lantares," Azimar confides, settling the instrument across his lap and plucking an experimental chord. His lip twitches at the sound, and he reaches for the tuning pegs. "Minnowmead by name."

He quirks a brow, watching the tuning with interest.

Maybe it's just a sympathetic reaction, but the chord sounded a little off to him, too.

"Interesting name," he remarks, a touch dry.

"I've no idea if it was his real name," he admits cheerfully, plucking one string as he turns the peg, gauging the sound. "It suited him, though."

A barely audible snort. "What does a guy have to do for a name like Minnowmead to suit him?"

"Oh, he was a little fellow --" Azimar's moved on to the next string by now, but lifts his hand long enough to make a swift darting movement, not unlike a fish in a pond. "-- and very quick. Good at slipping out of trouble's nets, if you take my meaning."

He plays the chord again, and a second one, and looks satisfied.

"Oh, I do, believe me."

There's no mistaking the dryness now. (Gaeta did know Gaius Baltar for four years, after all.)

His eyes narrow thoughtfully when he hears the chord. It's...not something he can place, exactly, not like a clear and decisive change of oh, yes, that sound is a little higher and that one's a touch lower. It just feels better against his ears; it has the satisfying click of code aligning or a tactical maneuver falling into place.

"And this --" He plays a much more decisive chord, a sharp beat of sound. "-- may have had to do with his outlook on life."

A few bars of introduction, swift and rhythmic, in a minor key but somehow managing to be jaunty all the same, and Azimar sings:

Oh, a traveler's tale I sing to you, a traveler's tale I sing
I'll walk a mile in beggar shoes and crown myself a king
I have no home, I'm free to roam, I sing my little song
And if you feel like singing, well, come on and sing along!

The chorus is wordless, a spirited line of melody on two repeated nonsense syllables, dan dan da da da.

Gaeta doesn't sing; not just yet.

But the chorus is easy enough to pick up, and experimentally, he starts to hum it under his breath.

Me mother said, me father said, "what is this foolish thing?
To walk a mile in beggar shoes, to crown yourself a king?"

Azimar's voice goes high and querulous on the second line, then deepens and slows portentously for the third:

"A travelin' life is hard, m'boy," I heard my father say...

A pause, and he grins and picks up the jaunty rhythm again on the final line:

So I kissed him once upon the cheek and went my merry way.

Back to the chorus, and he's still grinning.

Catching the spirit that the song embodies...well, it's a little difficult, if Gaeta's being honest. Years of wandering against your will tends to sour you even on travel done for the joy of traveling.

But the way Azimar sings it makes it far easier than he expected -- and this time, Gaeta joins in on the chorus, flashing a quick grin to match the bard's.

The rhythm slows for the next verse, and Azimar's expression goes plaintive and soulful. Exaggeratedly so.

I met a lovely maiden, o, a lady fair was she
And I asked her for her hand, down upon my bended knee
The lady swore she loved me not, her heart I could not sway....

A mournful sigh -- and then the grin's back.

So I kissed her once upon the cheek and went my merry way.

The laughter's a hell of a lot closer to a snort this time.

(Gaeta's also taken to humming along, in the same cautious and half-silent way, to the verses now as well.)

Now many a road my feet have known, full many a street and lane
So many people I have known, their pleasure and their pain
And when I reach my journey's end, to take my final rest ...
I'll know of all the lives to live, a travelin' life was best.

He slows again on the last line, with a faint reminiscent smile.

So if the road is calling you, your spirit on the wing ...
Then walk a mile in beggar shoes and crown yourself a king!
And if the ladies speak you fair, and steal your heart away --
Well, kiss 'em once for me, old boy, and wend your merry way!

He plays the last chorus twice, his voice climbing to finish on a high note, punctuated by one final triumphant chord.

Gaeta tips his head in a nod and breaks into dutiful applause, offering up another quick grin to go with it.

"Very nice," he intones.

Kaya's applauding too -- the first noise or movement she's made in quite some time.

Azimar turns to look at her, faintly startled, but grinning. "Milady awakes!" he says cheerfully, with a mock bow.

Gaeta looks her way, too, brightening somewhat as he does.

(And hoping, as realization strikes, that she had dozed off and not heard about the recovery from his amputation.)

"What do you think, could I pull that off?" he asks her as he indicates Azimar with another tilt of his head.

"You could learn it," she says, judiciously. "You already learned the chorus."

"Oh, yes."

Deadpan, and not serious in any way.

"That took weeks of memorization and hard study."

"And I fancy you could learn even faster, were the song more to your taste."

He grins crookedly, settling the instrument across his knees.

[Road to Najmi]

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