Human Edge

Andrea leaned back against the double bunk and rested the violin on her shoulder, wedging it against her with a pressed cheek. Bored out of her mind on a ship hurtling to a possibly hostile planet, the young noble decided to spend a little time remind herself of the cultured world she had sprung from. With a few quick draws, Andrea limbered up and then began to play.

She suspected much of her time among the rougher types in the company meant she would either be playing precious little OR having to use her prized violin as a common fiddle. There were not many people moving through the bunk area so she left the door open to keep the recycled air from getting even more stuffy.

The piece she chose was a bit more jovial then most associated with the 'classics' but still more dignified then the frantic play of fiddler.

Passing down the hall, Bruun caught the drifting music and had, for a moment, a feeling from long ago. It felt like three lifetimes ago, but there was happiness attached tio it still.

Following the pleasant notes to their source, Bruun starts talking through the open door, even before he pokes his head in to see the player.

"Hey, that's a really great rendition of...Oh. It's you. Uh, your ladyship," he says, tone flat after the warmth that had come with the first few words. He didn't know this woman, but seeing her around she'd seemed so... distant, if he was being polite.

"Dorgan Bruun. Charmed and such. And, uh, sorry to interrupt. It's been a long time since I've heard that song."

Andrea stopped her playing with a sigh, "Passable I suppose, though hardly worthy of the music halls of Kestrel or New Avalon." She waves the bow at him, "Bruun...one of the mech less no? Though I imagine the Company has seen to that."

She rests the violin on her lap, "Andrea Océane Laurette DeTroyes, of the Kestrel DeTroyes, in Davion space."

Beyond her violin, a rather fancy looking cavalry sword was propped up near what must be her bunk...especially with two pictures containing her maglocked to the wall above the bed. The first containing four people in addition to Andie, clearly something of a family photo...all five wearing the sort of stoic expression Bruun likely expected. The second might have been more interesting, a younger Andrea and three others in military grade mech suits...and they were all smiling no less.

"I suppose you could call me 'My Lady DeTroyes of Kestrel' if you wish, but I am a mercenary in the same company as you...so perhaps Andrea would be better?"

"Yes, Andrea would be much quicker," he says, letting everything else slide by. Well, not everything.

"You should go easier on yourself about music, you know. If it sounds nice then you're doing it right. And you can't be too far off if an old mechwarrior like me could place the tune from two halls away," he says, leaning against the door jam.

Andrea laughs at that, "Don't think I am so modest Bruun, only those whose lives are dedicated to the instrument play the halls I referred to. For the worthies of the Davion realms, and occasionally those beyond, no less." She taps the bow against her shoulder, "For me the violin was just a hobby I picked up from my younger days, something to pass the time. My preferred instrument is likely the same as yours: a mech."

"Oh," Bruun chuckles. "Well, a mech's certainly the most important instrument. As long as you know what you're doing with one of them, you can always make someone happy."

That brought a smug smile, "I am the scion of a long lineage family of mechwarriors, graduate of the New Avalon Institute of Science's College of Military Science and formerly of the 17th New Avalon Hussars of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns. I feel confidant in stating I do, in fact, know what I am doing."

She points the bow at him, "But what of you Mr. Brunn."

"Well," he almost matches the smugness of her smile. "You can think of me as the one and only. I've probably been a mechwarrior about as long as you've been alive, I've walked away from three burning mechs, and the last time my lineage mattered was when my rich kid education let me sign on with my first merc company when I was 18 years old. Since then it's been lots of kills, lots of complete missions, and generally Bruun being awesome."

Andrea rolled her eyes and picked her violin back up, playing softly while she spoke, "Been unhorsed three times and survived? Is that good luck or bad luck? And where might this one and only have arisen?" Her tone and smirk suggested the noble was not impressed as perhaps she should have been.

Bruun doesn't respond to the unhorsing comment, but his eyes suggest he knows what he'd say.

"Well, Miss Andrea," he says with a note of scorn, "born on Fletcher, trained in the finest mechwarrior academy on Oriente, and rose up through 10 companies since then. I've covered a lot of territory, and I don't reckon on sharing all those stories."