I Kinda Liked It

[Intro — Chloe at the piano, testing a melody] So... About the other night. Still not thrilled Ya borrowed me voice Without asking. We need boundaries, child. Serious ones. [beat] But... I listened again. [Verse 1] There's a note around three minutes in I didn't know that I could sing, Something old beneath me breathing, Like a bell beginning to ring. Yer vowels tangled into mine, Me little rasp beneath yer tone, And somehow when they came together Neither one of us sounded alone. Should've frightened me. It did. Still does a little bit. But... [Chorus] I kinda liked it. There. I bloody said it. What ya did there with me voice? I kinda liked it. Maybe a little less you, Maybe a little less me, Maybe something in the middle Neither one of us could be Before all this. Don't get smug, child. We're not calling it permission yet. But if ya wanna try it with me... I kinda liked it. [Verse 2] I've spent me whole life finding Exactly where me own voice sits, How a whisper holds a secret, How a high note cracks then lifts. I know when to let it tremble. Know when breath becomes a word. Thought after all these years of singing I knew every voice I had. Then you went and found another. Older. Lower. Strange. Like me voice remembered centuries Me mind had never named. And underneath your ancient sorrow I could still hear something mine. Not possession. Not surrender. More like... Harmony. [Pre-Chorus] And that's different. Isn't it? It bloody better be. [Chorus] 'Cause I kinda liked it. God help me, there it is. That little turn around the melody I know was yours, not his. Maybe a little less Chloe, Maybe Morrigan steps back too, Till there's room enough between us For something honest to come through. Not yer puppet. Not yer vessel. Not some prophecy fulfilled. Just two voices sharing one song Because both of us said we will. Yeah... I kinda liked it. [Verse 3 — quieter] Don't misunderstand me, child. Ya scared the hell outta me. Waking up to hear me singing Something I don't remember being Is not romantic. Not mysterious. Not some lovely magic trick. If we're sharing this old body, Consent's a rather important bit. So no midnight studio visits. No borrowing me hands. No finishing songs without me. Those are very simple demands. But... If I'm awake, And you're listening, And there's something ya wanna say— Maybe don't whisper behind me eyes. Maybe we sing it that way. [Bridge — piano becomes stranger, Celtic ornamentation entering Chloe's melody] Show me how ya bend that note. No, not like that— Slower. There. Again. [wordless vocal phrase] Oh. That's... That's gorgeous. Here, follow me this time. I'll take the melody. You find somewhere underneath. Don't push. Don't disappear either. Just— Stay. [music swells as two qualities seem to inhabit one vocal] There! Did ya feel that? For one second I couldn't tell Which part was yours And which was mine. And... I didn't need to. [Final Chorus — joyous, strange, increasingly powerful] I KINDA LIKED IT! Oh, don't make that face! You've been haunting me for years, child, Let me enjoy this bloody grace! A little less you! A little less me! A little more us in the sound! Not losing who we started as— Finding something else we found! Keep yer centuries! I'll bring the chorus! Bring yer darkness! I'll bring the light! You bring every song ya swallowed Through a thousand bloody nights! And I'll bring nineteen years of living Like tomorrow's guaranteed! Maybe somewhere in between us There's a voice we both still need. Not Chloe disappearing. Not Morrigan restored. Just something neither one expected When ya first came through the door. [Outro — playful piano, intimate vocal] So... Tomorrow? Studio? Together this time. I'll book it. I'll drive. I'll sing. You... Whatever it is ya do. [pause] And child? Ask first. [quiet response] Who you callin' child, child? [Chloe laughs] Yeah. I kinda liked that too.