I've Been A Fool

[Alric Kuhn]

He ran.

Alric Kuhn ran through the ships like a running fool. Designer shoes clashed against heavy metal bulkhead in a repeated thrum of noise. Each time they struck the ground they struggled briefly for grip, nearly sending Alric slipping more than once as he quickly rounded corners and turned down another hall. He ran as fast as he could, not caring for the heavy breaths falling into this lungs, the slight sheen of sweat falling over him, or the fact that his hair was quickly becoming a jostled mess.

He simply ran.

He didn't care what others thought of him.

He passed by Officers, Stormtroopers, even Sith, all of them looked at him watched him as he ran like an idiot through the bowels of the Star Destroyer. They thought him mad, driven insane by pressure. The massive grin upon his face and the mirth within his eyes would signal as such, but Alric Kuhn was far from mad.

No.

He had simply come to a realization. He had come to understand something, come to know something about himself. It had haunted him for weeks, for months, ever since [member="Silara"] had said those three little words. Ever since she had told him. He should have realized then. It had been so obvious. He felt a fool, an idiot that did not deserve her.

Perhaps she would be angry with him. Perhaps she would be annoyed that it had taken him this long to figure it out. Alric didn't care. She had to know. He had to tell her, he had to make sure that she knew. At the very least she deserved that.

He rounded another corner, nearly to the hangar. “Lady Vitium?”

Alric shouted as loud as he could to one of the men holding a datapad up ahead of him. The man nearly jumped out of his skin, eyes going wide and head shaking as his boss came sprinting towards him. Alric shot him a look of disdain, and immediately the man looked towards his datapad. He searched for a moment, then looked up just as Alric sprinted past him.

“Just landed! Hangar 3b!”

Alric turned another corner, sliding for a few seconds before setting off again. His tie was tossed over his shoulder, his jacket was billowing behind him, and he looked a mess.

It didn't matter though. She was here, and he could tell her.

 

[Ellie Mors]

How many months had it been now? It didn't matter. She couldn't quite remember all of the things they'd gone through, though she did recall quite clearly his disdain for her doing things behind his back - such as walking through the streets of Coruscant blind in the middle of a firefight, not that she really reminded him that she was the voice of the Dark Lord. So she'd decided to come in to check on things as any Sith Lord would if they were in charge of the reconstruction of a major core world. Even if that world now meshed together with an entirely separate fething planet. She hadn't quite gotten the specifics, nor did she quite care really, as she was only here - on the ship that is - to see one person, even if it had to be under the pretense of meeting with a man for business rather than things more intimate. Her flight hadn't been a long one, although it had been quite boring, and the transit from Empress Teta to the carrier that orbited around Corellia was expectantly fast. Things had been going well as of late - he seemed a bit more focused when she was around, as compared to when he had seemed content with ignoring her in Chiss space during their cooperated push to the Redoubt Cluster. She'd made her feelings about that conversation quite clear with him, although he seemed to brush it off quite easily at the time. But today was an entirely different day. One for business, real business, and perhaps an actual dinner with the man of her dreams.

The exit ramp slid down with a hydraulic hiss, making way for the blind Sith Lady to make her way down to the floor of the hangar bay. Based on how footsteps seemed to echo from quite some time, they were indeed aboard a Wyyrlok, she could tell by the delay in each step from the men who approached her to take her to see Alric that much at least. In reality she could see far more than she let on, though it was through the force rather than what was considered natural. "Lady Vitium." An officer greeted, though he sounded less-than-cheerful to see her. Her left brow rose slightly. "You sound less than enthused that I am here, is there a problem?" Silara replied, coldly, having become strangely gifted in "seeing" other people's attitudes. It came with the tone, the stress of syllables, and the like. "No, ma'am, though you may be less than happy to hear that another Sith has been trying to pull orders in your absence - believing themselves to have any semblance of authority in your cloud of influence." He replied, attempting to cover his discontent with outing the behavior of a Sith Lord. She contemplated pushing further but the sound of another set of footsteps caused her to turn her head toward's the source, feeling out with the force for a hint of familiarity. Masking her surprised pleasure with a cordial grin, Silara turned instead towards the approaching leader of Titan Industries, [member="Alric Kuhn"].

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Silara"]

He didn't slow down.

Not by a step, not by a pace. What he was going to do was too important, what he had in his head too planned out. His feet carried him across the massive hangar in no time. Alric was no runner, but it seemed at this particular moment he could when a galactic medal for long distance sprinting. That was what happened when the body was fueled by the heart instead of logic.

Alric rushed towards Silara.

He ignored Stormtroopers, officers, and anyone that got in his way. He practically flew over some crates that had been in his way, jumping over them with a long stretch of his legs.

As he approached her she would be able to catch his scent. With her eyes gone the other senses were heightened, not to mention what the force allowed her to do. She would smell the musky scent of sweat on him, sense his hurry and eagerness to reach her, feel that for some reason he was ready to pounce on her in a heartbeat.

A few more steps, and Alric reached her.

His arms swept around her, muscles flexing and lifting her off the ground as he planted a hard kiss on her lips, filled with passion and an overwhelming desire to simply hold her.

 

[Ellie Mors]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGp8bh7JUYc[/media]​

She needn't have eyes to see what was coming, or at least whom was coming, with the commotion that rang out. Confusion wafted through the air like a thick smog from those who had come to welcome her aboard, to them it appeared the man in charge of the One Sith war machine had completely lost it - his approach not slowing in the least as he sprinted towards her. Her hand rose and then swiftly dropped, pulling weapons out from the hands of those who had dared to raise a weapon to the Tetan, as she wondered what was so important that he put himself into such dangers as approaching her while she was on such official matters in such a deranged way. She never quite got around to asking him, however, for the moment she parted her lips to speak she felt him lift her up from the ground and for once it was she that was confused. His lips pushed against hers and shut her up before she could even begin. "Mmmph!?" Came her startled mumbling, much to the horror of the men and women who had gathered to observe - fearing they would be punished with the delirious corporate titan. For but a moment she was lost in his embrace, forgetting herself and where they were, but quickly she recovered and struggled in his grip. Her right hand flew and she moved to slap him, her expression extremely confused. Had she been capable of sight, her eyes been open, she would have looked to the onlookers in panic - had he lost his mind? Their relationship might have been a bit of a fling to the eyes of the crew months ago, but she'd done an excellent job of keeping it buried in the past from the rest of the galaxy. "What the kark has came over you?" She hissed, her pale face blushing four shades of pink.

For once it was she that was overwhelmed, lost for as to what she should do - how she should react. Before it had been her who had pushed for romance, she'd been the initiator, the enabler of his tendencies, and it was generally her who had made it known to Alric that she was the one who had missed him. But this was something else entirely, he'd simply ran towards her in front of everyone and swept her off her feet - and kissed her! He, the man who'd refused to say he loved her was now taking the initiative in a way she'd never have expected. It was pleasant, certainly, but she was bewildered and had no idea what had brought this on.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He felt the heat of her hand across his face, the puncturing sting of her palm sinking into his face and leaving a nice big red palm indented there. He grinned, his silly smile not leaving him in the least as pain thrust through his nerves. Alric didn't seem to care. He didn't seem to care about the people around them, he didn't seem to care about Silara's sudden objection, all he cared about was that [member="Silara"] was here.

That he could tell her.

“Marry me.”

The words would hang in the air. Gasps would be illicit form the members of the crew who were close enough to here. Men and women who quickly became extremely pale, some doubling over to vomit in the pure terror that entered their hearts at what would happen when the fearsome Lady Vitium decided to tear the Titan apart.

Alric just ignored them.

“I love you.” He continued on, though his voice was quieter, a whisper that only she could hear as he held her. “I have loved you since the moment I saw that smile of yours. Since you asked me for that ship. Since I saw the freckles on your face. I love you, and I've been a fool to only realize it now.”

He breathed into her, his words genuine, not those of a madman. “Public. Private. Take my name. Don't. It doesn't matter. I love you. I want to be with you. Marry me.”

Some might have said that Alric Kuhn had gone insane. Some might have said that this came out of the blue, but those that understood him, truly understood him would know why this was happening.

Alric had been nearly phobic of commitment to Silara. Those three little words had held him back. Saying them was the only thing, the only thing that tied him to an illusion he had held about himself. That illusion had been shattered. It had been broken into a thousand pieces, and with it, all the holds that had earlier restrained him had simply fallen away.

This step had been inevitable since the beginning.

 

[Ellie Mors]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaKr98ktoxU[/media]​

If there was a color to compare Silara's cheeks to it was her hair. The minute he said those two words she nearly fainted, who wouldn't in her situation. He had to be insane, there was no way he could have ever asked her that. This was [member="Alric Kuhn"] for kark's sake, he was the playboy of the century, and there was no way someone who could have anything he wanted would ever settle on her. Not on the little blind girl - Sith Lord aside - and certainly not on some psychopathic, bi-polar, freak like her. Maybe she was dreaming? The gasps that reverberated around her very much clarified that it was not. Her mouth opened, and yet no words came out. His whispers, admissions, they were entirely unlike the Alric she knew, the stoic man that seemed so serious and yet capable of silent comfort. He was an insurmountable wall that she had long since given up on trying to climb, and yet right as she lowered her feet to the proverbial ground the barricade to his heart came crumbling down. If the Jedi said she had no heart, whatever beating, pulsating, organ in her chest burned with a passion that was rivaled by none. She could feel every iota of the Tetan's body against hers and it felt, well..

It just felt so right.

If she wasn't smiling before, one was now plastered on her face now, and before he could ramble on any further she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hands holding each other lightly behind the nape of his neck, and leaned in to kiss him, rubbing the tip of her nose against his with a coquettish giggle. Yes, even she, the Voice of the Dark Lord, was allowed - capable even - of such lighthearted emotions, and she was entirely overwhelmed with them. "Yes. Yes. I love you, you karking idiot, of course I'll marry you." She whispered back incredulously, moving her head to allow her chin to rest on his right shoulder. Oh how she wished she could cry, to produce tears of joy for this moment, and though she couldn't she held on to him to prolong that moment as long as she could. Alric Kuhn had just asked her to marry him. To marry him, HIM. But he'd even gone so far as to tell her that he loved her. Everything was just so surreal, if it was a dream she didn't want to wake up from it. She didn't care if the entire world beneath them was crumbling away, she didn't care about her own problems, about their problems, right now she just wanted to forget about it all, to just be with him, with Alric, and to love every moment of it.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Elation soared through him. Peace, love, and oddly enough relief. It seemed that even when you were sure, even when you knew the outcome, there was a slight panic at asking such a question, anxiety that was born of possible rejection. It had been a new emotion to Alric Kuhn, one that he had never felt before.

Yet when she said that word. That simple syllable, all of it went away.

Every spectrum of joy that could be felt pulsed through Alric. His arms tightened around her, squeezing her. Then he began to spin her around, twirling in circles and dizzying her, a smile on his face.

He didn't care about the circumstances. He didn't care about the hundred or so people watching them, still in awe of what was happening. What mattered was that she said yes, that they would be together, that everything would be alright. Corellia could burn. The galaxy could be split asunder. Everything could be broken and tossed to the side, but not them. They would be together.

Slowly, he came to a stop, putting [member="Silara"] back on the ground as his head slowly began to spin. He smiled at her, and even though he knew she could not see it there was something that told him she could feel his elation.

Gently, as though she were the most precious thing in the galaxy Alric touched her face.

His thumb caressed her cheek, his palm tilting her face upward so that he could kiss her once again. “Come Liebling.”

His hand wrapped around hers, and quickly he began to lead her back up the ramp of the ship. He knew there was business to do. He knew that Corellia needed rebuilding, that there was a war to fight, that the galaxy was in turmoil.

But for today, for just today, he would enjoy the time he had with her.

He would listen to her sing.

 

[Ellie Mors]

What a fool, What a karking fool. She hadn't fought back, she hadn't argued, she simply turned bright red as her new fiance carried her back into her shuttle, much to the bewilderment of the officers that stood in disbelief behind them. Several sighs of relief were exhaled when they realized that their restructuring efforts would not be evaluated so soon, though several others contacted various aids to the Sith Lord to ensure that the actions taken were recorded for official purposes. The return trip was much more quick, at least in perceived passage of time, spent with a loud ruckus in the private quarters of the ship while the crew sat uneasily near the front, uncertain if what they heard was the sound of a woman being beaten or something far more illicit for a corporate shuttle. In either case their arrival revealed a tired couple that made their way back to a shared apartment. Dinner had been nice, some words of endearment exchanged, but it still hadn't quite settled in that she was getting married, and not to someone so anxious when it came to commitment.

So when they finally closed their eyes and fell asleep, it was as if it were any normal day. Sleep was normal, she'd roll from one side of the bed to the next, constantly using Alric as a body-pillow, and at times pulling the entirety of the blanket over herself. Eventually the morning came and she woke with her body pressed up against his back, arms wrapped around him in a possessive hug. The blanket, of course, had been kicked away in their sleep - her fault of course - and while Alric still retained a pillow she had not. It didn't quite bother her, though as her eyes opened the previous day's events finally sank in like a tidal wave. "Oh my karking.." She whispered, followed by a sharp intake of air. She wanted to be happy, to be elated, but at the moment she didn't know how to feel. Confused? Lost? In any case it didn't matter. She'd have Alric, and he'd have her. For better or worse that's how it'd go.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Silara"]

Alric awoke as he always did, with a sudden jolt of energy and thought.

His eyes snapped open, his mind immediately plunging into what had happened over the last twenty four hours. For a brief moment he found panic running through him. He had asked Silara to marry him. She had said yes. They kissed. He was getting married.

He was getting married.

The thought ran through his head twice, his eyes suddenly growing wide, his heart beating faster, and then a realization came to mind. He was okay with it.

That shocked him more than the idea of getting married did. Commitment was not exactly his strong suit, yet the thought of marrying Silara, of being with her for the rest of his life, it didn't bother him in the slightest. His heart began to slow, his pupils returned to normal size, and a thick breath escaped past his lips. He shifted slightly, he couldn't feel Silara at his back, never could because of what had happened on Tatooine, but he could feel the warmth of her arms around him. The touch of her breath on his neck.

It was calming.

His hand shifted, moving over himself and coming to rest upon her hip. It gently began to slide down her thigh. The way she moved against his palm told him she was awake, his fingers gently curled against her skin as he spoke, a loving massage. “So how do you feel about kids?”

Alric's voice was deadpan.

 

[Ellie Mors]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMrrh54gqi4[/media]​

The past few days, week, months even, were like a drunken high extended by long nights of alcohol and spice, and today, the morning of, was the hangover, the start of her withdrawal. Where her skin against Alric had felt comforted, his body like an incomparable sheet of warmth, the rest of her felt deathly cold, giving further reason for her embrace of her fiance, sleep or not. The last words she'd ever expect out of his mouth, commitment aside, was exactly what he just said. Did he want kids? Was he asking if she did, or did not? The question was a loaded one, one which immediately made her heart race. How could she answer? Did he want kids? Perhaps he was asking to make sure she didn't, or maybe he did. She had two in the past, but one had suffered and died during a premature birth because of her occupation, an event that helped shaped everything she came to know. Her other child hated her for what she had become, and for a moment she wondered if saying yes would be turning her back completely on the youth. For a moment she hesitated, holding her breath without quite realizing it. "If it happens..." She whispered back, uncertain. "Then I won't be upset." She wasn't certain, herself, if that was a yes or not, but she resolved it was the best way to answer the question. Perhaps she wasn't devoted to procreation, but she wouldn't be against it happening by chance, or if Alric had decided to try for them. She wasn't indifferent per se, but the whole subject was a bit uncomfortable to say the least.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Silara"]

For a moment he lay still, then he decided to shake his head.

Children had never much played across his mind, not for the last few years at least. He had blocked them out, never thought of them. Yet the idea had crept into his mind, because of the woman that he loved, because of the way she held him. For a moment he simply lay still in bed, then he began to shift.

It was a bit silly, if not awkward. He was much larger than her, his shoulders bulky and the height differential making it so that he had to dip down slightly to be level with her. In the end he simply decided that turning was silly and it was better to position himself on top of her.

Like a warm blanket he draped himself over her, his hands grasping her own pushing her arms up over her head so that he could hold them in place there. He planted a soft kiss on her lips, then on her cheek, then down her neck, the rough hairs of his beard scraping against her skin slightly as he moved down her skin. “Whatever you want.”

He said quietly.

Perhaps he would have children one day, perhaps he wouldn't. No matter what he had her, thats what mattered.

“Now.” His voice suddenly became playfully stern, his head rearing up so he could look at her, one of his hands reaching down so it could brush down the side of her face in a gentle caress. “I must insist you take my name. Old family traditions.”

 

[Ellie Mors]

To say that she wished her sight could return to her was an understatement, a severe one at that. The silence of contemplation, of unease, it ate at her like the ticking of a clock in a countdown from infinity. Perhaps she was overreacting, perhaps she could have gotten over it. Maybe she was already over it, at least until he opened his mouth.

“Whatever you want.”​

Every woman in the galaxy, for the most part, wanted to hear that. At times she wanted to hear it. But when [member="Alric Kuhn"] tried to cushion her words with a quiet response, one which seemed.. indifferent? It was as if either her answer hadn't mattered or that he simply was going to give her what she wanted. Not an explanation, not any elaboration for why he wished to know - not anything really. For once she was tired of getting whatever she wanted. What she did want was a normal relationship, one where it was give and take, where they didn't take every decision for granted. If she did something he didn't like, he simply shrugged it off for the most part - or he never said a word. When he did so to her, she kept quiet - as she was now. Allowing a small smile to inch across her lips, if only to acknowledge his request, she wondered how to handle it. Perhaps Alric was entirely new to being in a commitment, but putting one or the other on a pedestal and showering them with praise, gifts, and acting as if the very ground they stepped on was unerring, well, it bred discomfort and a fear of failure in the other, or in this case her.

Her organic right hand snaked its way around to lay flat against her fiance's back, almost as if she were hugging him with a single arm, and closed her unseeing eyes to nudge her head against his. "I'll give you kids, baby." She said, softly rubbing his back with her hand. She was perfectly willing to have children, especially his, but she had reservations about doing so while an active Sith Lord. It made for a difficult pregnancy and horrible mood swings. Her small smile grew a bit, however, as she realized she'd called him by a pet name - something she certainly didn't normally do.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Silara"]

Was that the answer he had been seeking?

It was hard to tell at first, for Silara especially since she could not see him smile, could not see the warmth in his eyes. Yet she would be able to feel it, some of the tension draining from his body, replaced instead with the thrill of things to come. His arms moved, one hand sliding behind the nap of her neck, the other running its course down her side over her hip and onto her thigh.

She would be able to feel his excitement as his hands pressed into her, digging into flesh.

He kissed her, a hard kiss filled with passion.

Had it been the pet name? Her smile at his demand? Or perhaps her gift to him, a child, children even. Maybe it was a mixture of all those things. Maybe it was excitement left over from the night before, but as his hands began to press against her soft supple skin, and with the palm at the small of his back urging him on, Alric found himself lost within Silara.

Without saying another word, he took his future wife.

 

[Ellie Mors]

As far as pleasure goes, she wasn't one to complain that morning, but as the day went on after they got out of bed, Alric seemingly taking the day off of going in to the office for once - she'd made sure of that, the more stale it became. It felt so strange for her, to love someone so much when they hardly saw each other, but now that [member="Alric Kuhn"] seemed so determined to be with her at every turn it was like that fire was extinguished, like he was smothering her. Borders weren't a thing for her, so him walking in on her in the shower, taking her as she changed, and all those things that would probably make a normal woman blush didn't really bother her. It was when he became an overbearing presence, trying to give her whatever she saw and wanted, that he became unbearable. For the longest time she couldn't understand what had come over her rigid boyfriend, the man who conquered her like he had the financial sector of the One Sith. Even now, sitting on their lofty couch in just a silk robe with her head on his shoulder as he seemed occupied with something while his free hand that was at her waist seemed occupied with something else entirely, she couldn't quite fathom why he had such a sudden one-eighty in personality - only to realize she'd done the same thing as a Sith.

Again her thoughts returned to Kashyyk, only now with the wisdom of hindsight. Her duel with Graxin; had it truly been because she'd saw an opportunity for the future, had it really been because she'd seen a vision of obtaining something she'd wanted because of it - or had the former been merely a way for her to ignore her growing weakness, and the latter a symbolic warning of her slow descent from power. Did marriage truly cause so many problems? She knew she couldn't just leave him, not for the excuse of hiding from weakness, from vulnerability, but she also could not simply give up being who she was, not simply to avoid being taken advantage of because of these faults. Her resolve in that was to overcome those shortcomings and return to how she had been initially - two separate identities rolled into one, only far more divided and complete than the former Darth Vitium or even Darth Sinna. For now, however, she'd have to address personal concerns with the man to be her husband, a soft hum of appreciation escaping her lips as she smiled softly, her smooth cheek resting against his shoulder. "Babe, could you do me a big favor - and this is going to sound really strange.." She said suddenly, though as soft as she normally spoke with that same rasp trailing each word. "I need you to say no sometimes, okay? Even if you want me to love you, I won't stop just because you don't want me to think you don't agree with me. If you want kids, then tell me you want kids, if you don't - say you don't. I don't want you to say that it's up to me all the time, I feel like you're expecting me to be flawless, and like a coruscanti gem I am not." Silara continued, reminding him of this truth not only because of her blindness but also with a gentle squeeze with her prosthetic hand. "And you need to sleep more, some day you'll find yourself burned out and then even I won't get you relaxed." She added, a bit more demanding on such than her own issues prior - perhaps giving a bit of a revelation that she cared just as much about his personal health as she did about herself, if not more. For a moment she breathed in and out softly, thinking about her plans for the future to have her eyesight returned, though she hadn't yet spoken to him of it. But there was also something else she hadn't said to him yet, something that involved things kept from her - things she wanted to know. He'd told her things about life on Empress Teta, but not yet things that were far more dark than the loss of siblings.

Perhaps he wouldn't have had a reason to tell her when they were merely a fling, but marriage was a serious thing, and she certainly wanted to share everything with him and him with her, secrets couldn't exist or their union would be a mere sham.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Silara"]

He sat there for a few moments, startled.

Aric hadn't realized until now that he had been doing anything different. He hadn't noticed the change in himself or his behavior. He had simply done the best he could to please her, done what he thought was right, how he thought she should be treated. For a moment the stroke of his thump on her waist stopped, and he sat there in silence.

Had he been coddling her?

His mind raced, moving back days, weeks, and he realized that he had. A small moment of horror lapsed by as he realized that perhaps...he had changed.

That wasn't to say such a thing was bad, everybody needed to change, everybody needed to evolve. If one stayed constantly the same they would eventually break. That was an inevitable outcome. Evolution was important, it was what made strength, what allowed things to move forward and develop in a proper fashion.

He shifted slightly, his hand sliding further around Silara, pulling her closer so that his palm would rest on her stomach.

“I want kids.” He said to her. “Daughter, son, I don't care, but I want to have children with you. Someone to carry on my name. Someone to take after me and you. An amalgam of us.”

This was his way of showing her understood her demand, of telling her that he would try and do what she had asked. Of course he would likely still spoil her, buy her clothes, jewelry, homes, ships, anything really, but he could say no to her. He could make his own wants and needs known. He could do that.

As for sleep “Rest does not come as easily as I want. My mind...it never really stops. Plots, plans, the game. It all comes to me, rushes to me. When were laying next to each other, when you slip yourself around me and hold me fast asleep. My thoughts run wild. A million different direction for a thousand different plans. It's....it's hard to stop.”

His mind was the one thing that made him special.

 

[Ellie Mors]

If this were a dream of her own creation she would have melted into his arms there and then, his honesty touching her and she was glad he wasn't simply telling her what she wanted to hear, and in all of this there wasn't a 'but' to be found, and she was glad. A spark of something else, something new, lit up her world, however, when he spoke of children. Maybe he didn't quite get the same feeling of doting love for offspring - perhaps he hadn't yet experienced what it was like to have two children and to lose one while the other strayed away - but she appreciated his wish for them. So while she couldn't quite alter the rules of reality she instead snuggled up against him as best she could, humming softly to herself as he awkwardly explained his lack of sleep. It was one of those rare moments when life made you feel oddly high with no stimulant whatsoever, and the small smile on her face was a telltale sign of it. "I want us to work, not just in spite of ourselves with love." She said, though she couldn't quite understand what exactly she was trying to say and began to mentally grasp for straws. "I don't care about money or gifts - though you better give me at least a box of chocolates for my birthday - but I do want to share everything with each other, not just the things we want the other to know, but the nitty gritty things that make us, make me, uncomfortable." She explained, trying to salvage her poorly worded analogy made prior.

She let out a content sigh, although she was a bit conflicted, and rubbed her right hand over his thigh in a comforting, wife-like sort of way. Well, it'd be wife-like once they were married and she made it a thing at least. Regardless, she wanted him to say something, but she wasn't quite certain if he was aware of what she meant. "I've been hearing problems that the One Sith is having locally on Empress Teta with groups that call themselves the Krath." She explained, not quite elaborating on what it was she'd actually heard - messages from them about him rather than simply reports by the Sith, She'd heard some interesting implications by some of them, not that she looked into them at all with respect to her future husband's privacy. Her voice lowered a little, becoming a bit more gentle as well. "I know your name, where you're from, and some other details, but I don't really know much about you." Silara said, changing the subject entirely to avoid the touchy things she'd been hinted towards in some other talks. It was really strange that she knew so much about him, but hardly anything about his past. He gave her a slip of paper that told her something about his life before her right before she went into surgery, sure, but he never really introduced her to friends, never quite mentioned others by name really. If they took their physical relationship and their strange love-at-first-sight sort of situation out of the equation then they were practically strangers. Call it curiosity but she wanted to know more about him, and if he wanted to know about her than she was an open book as far as she was concerned.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Silara"]

The name Krath brought a lump into his throat.

That was something he didn't want to speak about, something that he much rather would have forgotten, but something that he knew would eventually come back to him. He frowned as she settled into his side, as she spoke about truths and knowing him.

She was right.

He had never been one to share much. Even Danger, his best friend for three years, didn't know everything about his past, she knew quite a bit, but not everything, That somehow sat wrong with him, that he was still all alone despite having a friend and a fiance. Alric looked down at her, shifting himself into a more comfortable position.

One hand would rest on her stomach, the other would gently begin to flow through the locks of her auburn hair, a comforting, soft cafune.

“Then I'll tell you everything.” His voice was soft, but it nearly caught. There was a hint of fear in his tone, perhaps he thought that if she knew everything the love that she bore for him would go away or fade. But it was what she wanted.

“My family...” Alric began speaking, and he did not stop for what seemed like hours.

He told her everything. Every detail he could remember, every little event. He told her about his family, his father, his sisters, his abusive mother. He told her about how his sisters practically raised him, about how they taught him the game and his confidence. He told her about the games they played, about the trees they climbed and the adventures they had shared in together. Then he told her of who they really were what they really were. He told her how he had found his families connection to the Krath, and he told how he had tricked and used them in order to gain control of Titan Industries.

Alric told Silara everything.

It took hours, and eventually he would tell her more recent events. He would tell her about Danger, his one and only friend, he would tell her of Tatooine and what happened there. At the mention of his scars and the pain that had caused them she seemed to wince slightly, likely at the thought of his breaking. He would tell her of Titan and ATC. Then he would move beyond that. He would tell of Titan, of his plots, his plans with Astraeus and the Hapans.

Alric went on an on, until nothing remained to tell.

At the end his eyes cast down towards her, more than a hint of fear in them, his hands grasping at her as if he never wanted to let go, his body shaking slightly.

 

[Ellie Mors]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csNU0VukJTM[/media]​

As Alric spoke she became enraptured by his long tale of how they came to be, from beginning to present - an unfinished story that she was now a part of, a story she never wanted to put down, that she never wanted to end. When he spoke of joy she felt happy for him, and when he spoke of trying times she was afraid even though she had him beside him now. The tragedy of his losses more than overcame the memories of her own past - she was far more empathetic with his decisions, his mistakes and tragedies than with her own, a reaction born directly out of her love for him. When his tale was told and he didn't speak anymore she held him tightly, though for a different reason than he did for her. Where he felt unease, fear, vulnerability, she wanted to comfort him, to console, to be that pillow that he desperately had needed all this time. "All this time I never realized.." She said quietly, her head on his chest while they held each other in an embrace. "As much as I needed you, you wanted - needed - me just as much." Silara continued, rubbing the midsection of his back softly.

"As long as I live I will never disappear from your side, where you go so will I - don't ever think that any problem is too much, or too small, for me to care about, if it bothers you then I want you to tell me." She whispered, wondering how she never noticed that he had just as many skeletons in his closet as she did hers. "I want to be there for you every day, every night. And if you want to talk I'll always be ready to listen." She added, snaking her hands around him until the tips of her fingers touched and she squeezed a hug. She didn't like being the one watching someone else spill out their troubles, but she was content with being his confidante, a proverbial pillow for him to 'punch' as she had as a child. She smiled a little brighter and released her grip on him to continue her prior back rub. "I've told you once, and I've told you a hundred times, I love you." Silara said, wondering if those three words were cheap to him as much as they were precious to her. "We won't always agree, we might even argue, but at the end of the day, no - every waking moment, I love you and always will." She said, childishly knocking her head against his arm lightly. "You're all I'm living for." Came her hushed whisper against him, sighing contentedly.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Silara"]

His hands stopped shaking.

His breaths evened out.

His face seemed to relax and every muscle in his body untensed. In an instant her words seemed to strike to his core, reaching deep within him and settling every worry, every doubt, every fear that he had had about the two of them. It was not those three little words that did it for him. It was not the proclamation of her love.

It was the way she had said it.

The look in her eyes, the absolute devotion and perhaps even adoration that could be found there. It hit him like a bat, and it caused a small creeping smile to fall on his lips.

His arms wound around her, his body clung to hers in a tight embrace. She seemed so small there for a second. Alric didn't care about her past, he didn't care about who she was or what she did when she was not with him. All he cared was that she was his, that she belonged to him in every way imaginable.

He kissed her neck, her cheek, then down her jaw, and acknowledgement of her words.

As Alric pulled back he cupped her chin in his hand. “Everything I do. I do for you.”

He kissed her.

“I love you.” He kissed her again. “I will never take you for granted. I will never betray you, and I will never leave you.”

There was nothing more to say.

The two of them had declared what they were to one another. They had shared their secrets and told their tales. Alric was ready. He was ready to marry her, ready to have children with her, ready to have and take her for what she was.