Catching Up (Alric Kuhn)

[Ellie Mors]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

All she needed was his confirmation that he'd be there - it trumped the fact that Danger and Myra would be as attending as they could - for the biggest smile she'd worn in a long time spread across her face faster than any grin she'd made before. In all honesty she was extremely anxious for the whole ceremony to happen and get it over with. She'd done hundreds of one-on-one talks with high-ranking officials in various governments, she'd talked with corporate executives of rivals corporations, and even made a short speech to ring in the new financial quarter to the majority of the team at Koros.

But she'd never once had to be broadcast across the entire system, perhaps even throughout other parts of the sector, for something that she was the center of. She'd been on a live holofeed a number of times, usually because of paparazzi, when she was younger and was in public with the two of her parents, but facing the entirety of the system to be crowned their empress was just.. it was surreal. She was happy, but at the same time afraid that she'd do something dumb and look like an airhead over the holonet forever. Kind of like how she felt - anxiety-wise - before breaking the news to her father.

"That's great! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lily answered, a tad bit more enthusiastically than she'd meant to, with a lunge for a hug. "I won't be able to see anyone until after the festivities begin, before the ceremony, but I'll make sure to find you right away." She explained, nearly forgetting that she'd been told that there wasn't to be any contact with her until she'd been properly dressed and prepared with traditional clothing and dress for the coronation. Why she couldn't have her father of all people with her while she got ready was lost on her, though she had the sinking suspicion that it was some kind of way for the "old" government to give her and her family trouble. 'Well he'll still be there!'

"I've been cleared to invite a few people that I couldn't use business or family for a reason as to why I wanted them there, assuming they show I'd like to introduce you." Lily added, still a bit energetic after that burst of happy enthusiasm. She hadn't been lying earlier - or omitting the truth, really - when she had said she wasn't seeing anyone yet, but she did have possibly the biggest crush on someone that she had hand-selected an invitation for. When she'd told Emil why she knew him, and why she wanted to invite him, the aide was dumbfounded by her rationale.

'He ruined your most expensive pair of pants and you're inviting him because of that?' She knew it was just the deep-rooted prejudice he had for people who weren't rich, powerful, and influential - basically the common rabble - and the eye-rolling she received when she tried to explain the naive-bordering-innocent way the boy had conversed with him had nearly earned him a smack on the back of the head, but it did sum up her own internal confusion over why she wanted him there.

"I think you'll like them. Hard working, values what he has, and finds my taste in expensive clothing absurd - right up your ally!" She said with a smirk, picturing the blank stare the half-Mirialan had given her when she'd accosted him verbally for ripping her pant leg several months prior. Wage-gap and influence aside, she was certain her father would at least be more okay with her cozying up to him rather than some arrogant Krath noble. Not quite a lady-and-the-tramp pairing, perhaps rich city-girl meets country bumpkin.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Lily Kuhn"]

"I'm sure he's great." Alric said, though clearly apprehensive.

Oh it wasn't the boy himself, Alric was sure he was nice enough.

The problem was the same as he had with Rose dating, mainly the idea that his girls were growing up. The idea that both of them were now adults, that they had their own lives and that in a few short years they would likely look to start their own families...well, on one hand it was great, but on the other it made Alric feel very small. By any definition he had lead a great life, and though he regretted no moment of it, he sometimes pined for the times when his daughter's were young.

He had always enjoyed that time the most.

When both of the twins had wanted to go camping in the yard, when they had sneaked out of bed together to watch latenight TV. When he had caught them reading or playing late at night. There was a bit of nostalgia to it all of course, but that didn't mean Alric couldn't miss those times anyway.

"When is it?" He asked with a smile, trying to push memories of the past away for a later time. "I want to make sure I have everything arranged."

He and Danger weren't as busy as they used to be, but he would still have to make sure to clear away everything else in the schedule.

 

[Ellie Mors]

Lily had to force herself to not laugh at her father's almost reluctant assurance, knowing how much older she must have made him feel when she talked about boys, dating, and god-forbid the mention of marriage. While Lily couldn't quite picture herself as a mother, she did long for another way to bond with her father and - though it slightly scared her - she couldn't rightly imagine a better way, at least in this point in time, than making him a grandfather. Not that she had any plans, at all, whatsoever, of getting to that point, but she was starting to feel that longing for family again. 'Must be how he feels when he looks back.' She thought, wondering if the same nostalgia that kept him being as protective as he was also drove her to wanting to build her own extension of the family.

She'd still have a few years before she was ready to even think about that, though, and her standards for relationships were far too high for her to simply elope with someone after a few months. "I think he likes me, actually.." She muttered, thinking back momentarily before she realized she'd been asked a question. "Right! It'll be the last day of the next month during the evening. I'll have the specifics, like where the family will be able to sit, forwarded to you by tomorrow." Lily answered. With Danger and Myra having to stay back at the apartment, there would be two empty seats at their table left open, though assuming Lisette and Rose managed to show up she could simply arrange to have the two chairs pulled aside and not have an awkward two-person chat at her own table after the crowning ceremony.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

"I'm sure your sisters will come." Alric reassured his daughter with a smile. There was no telling what Lisette would do, but he was sure that Rose would come scrambling back. His...well, no longer youngest daughter, but youngest twin had one of the fastest ships in the galaxy, she would be able to make it back to Empress Teta in a heartbeat, not to mention all those new hyperspace routes that she and the folks at GUIDE had discovered. Alric was confident that she at least would make it.

"It'll be quite the party." He commented to his daughter. "Are you sure you're ready for something like that?"

Attention was...an odd thing.

Alric had lived with it for most of his life, and so had Lily and Rose really, but not on this scale. His daughters had never really been famous, or rather, he'd tried to keep them out of public scrutiny as much as he could. Of course there had been the odd magazine article, the holo-net report sometimes, but nothing quite so...scrutinizing. As the Empress of their homeworld almost everything that Lily did would be questioned, reported on, and then criticized. It was the way of ruling, and the way of being famous.

He himself had a taste of it when Silara had been Empress, and even before them due to his status as CEO of Titan, but the media had been less harsh then, and less interested. War always helped distract people. Yet he was concerned Lily would find the peoples scrutiny a bit too...choking. His daughter, although better now, had not long ago suffered some ill-effects, and he was loathe to have those effects return because of some idiot writing on a holo-blog.

The Tetan shifted slightly. "No one will judge you for a closed Coronation."

 

[Ellie Mors]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

The assurance that her siblings would attend was just the kind of affirmation that she needed. It had been too long since she and Rose had last spoke, and it had been even long since they last saw each other, so just the prospect of seeing her twin was exciting - almost as exciting as how anxious this ceremony was going to make her. She nodded at her father's comment about how lively the event might become, but frowned at his question. She wasn't upset, angry, or anything - the expression was there to show her disapproval of that kind of attitude.

"Nobody is ready for it the first time around, you know that better than I should." She said, rolling her eyes. She felt, for a moment, like she was seventeen again, arguing with her father about some party she wanted to attend - only now it was her party, and she wanted it open to the public, and not only for publicity. "Dad, yes - nobody would blame me for being shy and keeping things quiet and behinds closed doors." Lily began, trying to find a good explanation for why her making this publicized was the better route. "But I don't want to just be another blip on the radar. I don't want everyone to just assume nothing has changed - everything will change, I will be that change, and I want everyone to know who is standing with them." She explained, though it didn't seem like she was quite finished.

"Part of it is - was - because I like being the center of attention. But the reason I'm trying to force this into public view isn't so the people can just be distracted by another pretty face on their holovids - I want them to know who is with them, and isn't with the crazed sociopaths that 'control' this system. I'm for them, not for the Sith." Lily said, slightly more heatedly than she intended. She realized soon afterwards that she might have sounded upset, maybe angry, so she let her features soften and sighed. "Things are changing, Dad, and I don't want to be one of the things gone when Teta comes next. This is for a better future, not just for me but for the Empress Teta system as a whole - and someday for a grandchild of yours that might be running if your daughter makes it that far." She said.

She liked that thought. Kids? Maybe not the best idea for a future, but maternal love was certainly something she could get used to.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Lily Kuhn"]

Change.

Change wasn't a bad thing, it really wasn't. Alric had changed so much over the last few decades that honestly he sometimes didn't even recognize himself in the mirror. It was something that he had thought about quite often since marrying Danger, since taking Myra from Dromund Kaas. Time changed everything, but it was always at a constant rate. Changing one man was easy, changing an entire planet? A culture that had stood for thousands and thousand of years?

That was different.

Empress Teta had always been the way it was, for hundreds of years, thousands, before the One Sith had even been an idea. Perhaps Lily was just being idealistic, perhaps she truly believed that she could change their homeworld, but Alric knew better.

He had every faith in her of course, every belief, but she was up against a monstrous society that hadn't evolved significantly within the past dozen millenia. That wasn't to say she couldn't change small things, that she couldn't make things better, but in Alric's mind the people of Empress Teta would always be the way it was; Hierarchical, complex, and above all, secretive.

"Okay." He said with a genuine smile. "I'll support you in whatever you decide."

That was the truth, he would. There was no point in trying to tell her otherwise, no point in saying that he didn't think it was possible. He believed in her, that was what mattered. Whether or not he believed that Empress Teta could change? That was something else.

 

[Ellie Mors]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

A smile for a smile, though hers was a bit softer and a bit more subtle. She knew how idealistic her little monologue had been, and she knew how difficult it would be to get there - and doubted it would happen in her lifetime - but she also knew that if nobody tried then it would never happen. Someone, or something, always has to be a catalyst for change. As much as she would have liked to have sat back and let the planet keep going on as it had for the last several thousands of years, Lily knew that it was a cycle that had to end sooner than later, and if she didn't do it there was no telling who, if anyone, ever would.

"Thank you. I'm glad i can always count on you for motivation." She said. "As long as this world becomes a better place, even if marginally so, I will be content. I'm sick of the lying, the hiding, secrets, all of it. If - when - I end up having children, I just want them to live a life that is better than mine." Lily added. It was too much talk about politics, however, and it was starting to become a bit too heavy of a conversation to have in passing, even for her. A light sigh was exhaled to start a transition to something else, anything really. "And I'm happy for you, too." She said after a brief pause. There was something... else.. that popped into her head, but it was definitely a sore topic and something she couldn't ever bring up in conversation.

"I hope I've taken after you." Lily muttered, glancing over at her glass.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Lily Kuhn"]

He'd always thought his children had good lives, certainly better than most. They were privileged, spoiled in a way really. Oh sure he'd messed up big once or twice, but neither Rose nor Lily were ever lacking for opportunity. Any university, any school, pretty much any place you could learn anything had been open to them. Of course Rose had chosen to follow her mother for a time, something that Alric had...disliked, but eventually that had sorted itself out, though not in the most pleasant of ways.

Alric still had regrets regarding that. Regarding Lily too. He frowned for a moment then slowly shook his head. "Why don't we go do something?"

The old Tetan prodded.

"There's bound to be something happening in Cinnegar." There always was, a party, a ball, something that the high nobles wanted to attend. Alric had been to pretty much all of that as a kid, either his Sisters taking him or his mother insisting that he should go. "Half the nobles are probably clamoring for your favor by now."

That would be funny to see.