shadowsong26 | BSG AU Meme

So, I am still rather stuck on For Sorrow Sung, so we'll do a meme to hopefully get things going again! ...meme in a completely different universe, but what the hey.

This is for a Total AU BSG 'verse, which is basically BSG Characters IN RENAISSANCE/BAROQUE VENICE (with some modifications)! This universe (and the full-length fic which will eventually come from it) is called Serenissima.

General Background:

When whatever Full-length Fic I end up writing begins, Joseph Adama is the Doge (elected crowned head of the city, for those who don't know). Roslin is a widowed noblewoman, and Billy is her son. Zarak is shortly to return from a twenty-year exile after having attempted to unseat/assassinate either Joseph or his predecessor. Baltar is a cardinal, with a bastard daughter currently being raised in a convent in the city (yes, he is a cardinal. He is certainly not the only one in the period with an acknowledged bastard. Take a look at Renaissance/Baroque cardinals/Popes. I recommend starting with the Borgias). Starbuck and the Doge's younger grandson have recently eloped. In keeping with the setting, Cylons are Turks, and Caprica-Six is a Turkish courtesan. There may or may not be other Turks in the city as well.

Due to either Zarak's imminent return or possibly recently-outmaneuvered similar attempts on either/both of their parts (separate, obviously), Joseph wants Roslin and Baltar firmly in his camp. so he arranges for Roslin to marry his similarly-widowed son, Commander William Adama, and his grandson Lee will marry Baltar's daughter in a year, when she turns fifteen.

Rules and Other Miscellania:

I have generally decided what roles/ranks people have in this universe, so please bear that in mind when prompting. Any prompts involving Roslin/Adama or Roslin and Billy may be filled by bookblather, who has Encouraged me in this.

Three prompts per person, I promise to fill one. (bookblather, you can also request)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lee and Atia: Madamina
Lee studied a painting on the wall of Santa Maria degli Innocenti. The painting showed a young girl in profile wearing a pale pink dress, one hand trailing along an opulent curtain. There were two other female figures behind her, dressed much more simply--one in green, one in blue. The pink girl showed a certain hesitance, but not quite fear. She wasn't precisely beautiful, not the way most paintings of Esther were--all gold and light--but she had some of the most compelling eyes he'd ever seen in a painting of the Persian queen.

Upon close examination, the painting wasn't the masterwork it appeared from a distance. There was an obvious smudge on the blue girl's dress, and the pattern on the green girl's bodice changed slightly halfway across. Esther's hand seemed a little off as well, in the positioning of the fingers. All of these, then, were the hallmarks of the work of a talented amateur, possibly one of the sisters.

The inner door opened and the convent's Mother Superior came in. "The cardinal was detained, and asked that I chaperone this meeting in his place." She sounded disapproving. Somehow, Lee was not surprised.

The Mother Superior moved to the side of the room to watch them, and Lee finally got a good look at the girl behind her--his fiancee.

She was small, smaller than he had expected. Her hair was a soft brown, caught up in a pearl-studded net. She swept him a curtsey without looking up. "It's a privilege to meet you, Signore."

He bowed over her hand, noticing faint ink-stains and a slight callus on the inside of her index finger. "And you."

There was a brief, awkward silence after that, which she broke. "I want to thank you, Signore, for agreeing to this meeting. I know it's not...usual."

He smiled at her. "I was glad to," he replied, then searched for something else to say, when another silence stretched on. His attention was drawn back to the Esther painting, and he blinked a little. "Was that you? The model for Esther?"

She looked up, following his gaze to the painting. "Oh. Yes, Signore, it was. Sister Angelica likes to paint, and was kind enough to let me assist with the convent accounts in exchange for modeling for her."

The Mother Superior made a slight disapproving noise, and Lee wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. "It's a good likeness of you," he finally said, knowing the comment was a more than a little pathetic.

"I'll pass the compliment onto Sister Angelica," she replied softly, looking down at her hands and tracing one of the ink stains. "She'll be glad to hear it."

Another awkward silence stretched between them, and she was again the one to break it, rising quickly. "I'm sorry to have taken up your time like this, Signore. Thank you again for indulging my whims." She curtseyed again, and allowed him to bow over her hand again before not-quite-fleeing from the room.

Lee stared after her. He sighed, and inclined his head to the Mother Superior. "Thank you for your time," he said.

She sniffed. "Of course, Signore," she said, then swept out of the room again, leaving him alone to consider the painting.

BSG AU Meme

2) Lee meets his bride-to-be