Some Planet. Some Where...

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Everything okay?" Danger had briefly caught him pull his comm from his jacket pocket. One fresh cup of caf and black tea were held in each of her hands.

Mister Tuggles was noisily chomping down on his meal. He'd be there for a while then drink some water until he was full. As Alric sat back down, the Queen of Trade set his cup of tea in front of him. Not too hot, as he was particular about the temperature. It took her a while to figure that out because he'd just simply drink it the way she'd originally gave it.

She slid onto a chair beside him, offering him a smile.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"Yeah." He said waving the communicator at her. "It's Nel."

Alric hadn't been expecting word from her. They'd talked briefly after the trip to The Foundry, but other then that they hadn't even talked to one another for a few months. He frowned for a moment and read the message that she had sent, typing something on the holoscreen and quickly sending a reply. "She said she needs to talk, I told her we were here."

A loud sigh escaped him, mock disappointment.

"I guess we'll just have to spend the night." He shot Danger a quick, sneaky look before looking up at Myra whose face had broken out into a wide smile.

If only the little girl would speak, she could annoy Danger into letting them stay here forever. Even his wife, famed for her skill in diplomatic relations, trade arbitration, and corporate negotiations could not withstand the tears of a little girl who just wanted to stay in her magic castle.

Or so Alric thought.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Is the there somethin' wrong?" Danger would follow up, curious. Typically Nell didn't call Alric unless it was a set appointment. There was very little reason for the woman who ran Vanir Technologies in Alric's stead to do so. Letting Nell take over Vanir a while back had allowed the Tetan to enjoy his retired lifestyle, or so he claimed. Honestly, Danger thought he just enjoyed being able to sleep in and rub it in Danger's face whenever she still had to take some early morning meetings.

"Oh no... We'll have to spend the night," she repeated wryly as if she didn't catch that gleam shining within the depths of Alric's blue eyes. Oh, he was planning something alright. She could already tell. Danger just wouldn't mention how that single glance jumpstarted her heart to race or that she was also looking forward to that. Spending time some time alone with Alric was rare, so when they could take advantage of it, they did so rather shamelessly.

"Think you'll like that Myra?" Danger swiveled her head towards the little girl. Those gray eyes of hers went wide, and she gave another excited nod. She would be happy to sleep in her room. No doubt once that nap time came, she'd be out like a light.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"Not that I know." He said with a frown, considering what it could be. As far as he knew everything was perfectly fine with Vanir, more then fine in fact. The Foundry was almost complete. A massive intake of stock had just occurred, and quite literally the company had never earned more money then it ever had. He knew the latter fact especially because of his last dividend check. Her frowned for a moment more and shook his head, eventually shrugging.

"Yeah, no idea." Alric said simply. "Maybe she just wants to see the place."

He made a gesture towards The area around him. "Vanir helped build it after all."

For some odd reason that didn't sound right to him. It wasn't that Nel didn't care but...well no that was it she didn't care. Her species were not exactly the most socially deft, and in truth Nel had never really been the kind of person that would stand for small talk. He doubted very much that she cared about this place, or what Alric and the Family were going to do with it.

He had no idea what the woman wanted.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"How about you just call her back." Danger suggested. Her keen gaze took note of his frown, the slight furrows at his forehead that indicated concern. That Vanir helped build the farm did not surprise Danger. Alric had utilized their construction division to develop many of his past projects.

The restoration of the Ralltiir National Museum. The Arceneau Cultural Archives. This wasn't even including all the other facilities for his own company as well as for those of the EVE Foundation. This project likely wasn't a drop in the ocean compared to what Vanir has done; shipyards included.

"Nothing a comm call can't fix real quick."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

He shook his head.

"She said she wanted to talk in person." A shrug rolled over his shoulders. "We'll just have to wait."

Again the sly smirk to Myra before looking back at Danger.

"Not so bad really, the night time is lovely here." Of course, Alric had never actually spent a night on this planet but that hardly meant anything. Rose had been the one to tell him about this world. She had become somewhat of an expert in the field of planets, explored or otherwise, and she had told him that this place was practically an agrarian paradise. It didn't get too hot in the summer, didn't get too cold in the winter, and pretty much lacked for every natural disaster.

The worst this planet saw was a yearly stormy season that lasted for two or three weeks, but even that had it's own charm.

It did to him anyway.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"So you've already seen it yourself?" Danger shot Alric an inquiring rake of her eyes, a once-over to glean more information from the old scoundrel. She caught the sly smirk, and his horrible attempt to hide it. Danger shook her head, waves of auburn and silver brushing her shoulders and back.

"You are incorrigible." she hissed out with mock affront, the twinkle in her eyes revealing that she was only teasing him in turn. Either way, Myra seemed to be keen on Alric's idea about spending the night.

"Alright," she began, giving a dramatic sigh. Oxygen whooshed out of her lungs and her shoulders sank. A small gesture of her hand went waving in front of her face with added dramatic flair.

"Since you both seem to be workin' in cahoots, I reckon we can spend the night here. " Danger conceded, much to the excited bounce and kick of one little girl in her chair.

"Go on now, finish your lunch. We can then all take a rest for the afternoon."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Well, he'd won one battle. Now he just had to win the war.

That would come later of course, and for now he would just finish the rest of his meal. That would go rather quickly, with Myra and Alric scarfing down their meals as fast as they could. The wind pressed calmly at his back, the air cutting calmly through the kitchen even as they ate. He smiled slightly looking around for a moment and then standing up from his chair.

"Well." Alric began. "I think maybe we should see about that nap."

He gave Myra a sly look, watching ad her head bobbed for a moment.

It was clear that the little gril was already somewhat tired.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Think so?" Danger would counter, a twinkle in her eye. She slid out of her seat, moving to lean over the table and take the empty plates from them both.

"Myra, honey... why don't you go up along with Alric so he can tuck you in? Maybe tell you a story?" the sly glance over at the Tetan followed a smirk. She knew how he enjoyed telling stories. He had done the same with Lily and Rose. From what Danger heard, Alric could spin quite a tall tale.

"I'll get on here and clean up a bit." moving behind the little girl, she pressed a kiss on the top of her head. Strands of soft hair tickled her nose, and she gave a small chuckle.

"Think you can do that Mistah Kuhn?" the throaty drawl came with a subtle edge of knowing if he could manage it quick enough.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Alric didnt wait for the little girl to respond, or rather, he didnt wait for her to not respond but instead try to run away from Alric before he could catch her and take her to her room.

Without the waiting, Alric managed to retain the element of surprise.

In one quick, hawk like scoop, Alric snatched Myra up into his arms and off the ground. He picked her up and almost immediately threwher over his shoulder. The little girl bubble out a laugh and tried to escape, but there wasnt much she could do.

"Off we go." Alric said with a smile as he headed towards the bridge.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Danger would watch them with a small smile lingering upon her lips. Ther was just something about Alric holding a little girl that tugged at her heart. Maybe it was because of the past. Due to Fiona. Or maybe just how oddly right it seemed.

Alric Kuhn had come a long way from the angry, cocksure, arrogant businessman he had once been. He'd done questionable things in his rise to power and had stood toe to toe with Sith Lords and the like. He had managed to negotiate the assurance that no Yuuzhan Vong worldbuilding would come to the Corellian Sector in the wake of the Netherworld Crisis, and as the years passed, he did his best to do what he could to be right.

It made her wonder, how things could have changed. What might have been if she hadn't met the man back in her VIP suite? That was a Lepi hole that went into far too many different directions, she mused to herself upon further consideration.

Alone in the kitchen, Danger let herself wander in her thoughts for a moment. Staring out into the open window, the soft breeze coming in and bathing her with its refreshing caress.

"We've come a long way, haven't we?" Danger murmured to herself.

A long way.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Alric meanwhile did as he had been tasked to do, putting Myra into bed. The journey wasn't a long one, he used the stairs instead of the turbo-lift. This knee would punish him for that later, but in all honestly he wasn't too bothered by the fact. Pain would fade, and his knee was about as busted as it could get without being completely removed. He might as well enjoy the time he had on his own two feet.

Quickly the two of them moved towards Myra's bedroom, Mr. Tuggles scrambling up the steps behind them.

"Come on Miss Myra." Alric said as he passed the threshold of the fifth floor landing, making sure that he didn't throw Myra up too high as he tossed her back from over his shoulders and into his arms. The little girl made a half giggling screaming noise, plopping into place and silencing herself with a loud, interrupting yawn. He grinned at her, having known that the exact scenario would happen directly after Lunch. If there was one thing you could count on, it was kids getting tired.

"The bed was made especially for you." He said with a smile. "I told them it has to be extra comfy."

Another yawn passed from her lips, a happy smile forming in its place.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

The rest of the dishes were set inside the sonic cleanser. A wipe down of the counter was next. There wasn't much to clean up when it came to just the three of them. As for the cup of tea and caf, well they went on a small little detour with the woman.

A walk towards the windows revealed that there was a door there that would allow entry to the enclosed garden. It was a cobblestone patio, with many trees. Further back and Danger saw the faint outline of a gazebo.

With plenty of shade from the trees, it made the area feel fresh. Even a hot summer would be nice under that shade. Walking out, Danger slowly walked out into the patio. That gazebo caught her eye. Maybe sitting there while they drank the rest of their tea and caf would do them both some good.

And perhaps Alric would be a little more forthcoming.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Alric managed to tuck Myra in without too much difficulty, the little not having the strength, or really the energy to do much arguing. Mr. Tuggles watched him for a moment, deciding after a few moments that there was nothing else to be done and sequestering himself against the side of the bed. He watched the Tuggle for a moment, then scooped him up off the floor. The creature made an odd chirping noise as it waggled it's legs, licking Alric's nose as the Tetan placed him on the bed.

With an excited series of tiny stamps Mr. Tuggles made his way over to Myra's side and promptly plopped himself down. The little girl let out a giggle, then hugged the creature, cuddling up next to him as one would an oversized stuffed animals. Alric kissed her forehead. "Goodnight Honey."

He stretched back, then slowly left the room.

The trip back towards the Kitchen was equally short as the trip to Myra's room, though oddly enough he found it lacking of his wife.

Alric frowned for a moment, then quickly began to explore where she could have gone. He would have heard the click of her boots in the stairwell, so he knew that she couldn't have gone that way. Unfortunately the Farm was still rather large, and finding her took a little more time then he would have liked. Eventually however he managed to locate her, setting eyes upon her within the Gardens. He smiled.

"There you are." He said happily.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

His voice made her smile. By now she sat within the shade of the gazebo. Left leg crossed over right, and she had set his tea beside her while she drank her own.

"Well I reckon I couldn't have gone too far." she teased him from over the rim of her cup. The soft coo of birds would sing around them, a flutter of wings as they darted to and fro.

"So a farm, hmm?" she began, giving him a knowing look. It followed a short chuckle and shake of her head, but one that indicated she wasn't too bothered by it. The grounds, the castle, really everything, was magnificent. Beautiful. Unlike anything Danger had seen before.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"Yeah." Alric said as he slowly moved up in front of her. He didn't sit down, mostly because he felt like if he sat down it was very unlikely that he would be getting up again any time soon. His knee didn't hurt, not really, and he wanted to stand while he still good. He smiled down at her, his hand slowly sliding through her hair. "A farm."

Alric cocked his head.

Was this where the battle would be fought? The battle that would decide where their new home would be. Danger wasn't dumb, not in any sense of the imagination, she had likely already figured out what he wanted with this place, why he wanted it, and just how he would argue to stay here.

Very likely she'd already worked out her counter argument.

The Tetan didn't care though. He wanted this. "What do you think?"

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"It has its charm," she said, her voice a throaty drawl that would pour over the Tetan like Chandrilan molassas warmed under the sun. There was just the slightest upward lift of a chin, the narrowing of her verdant gaze.

"Certainly a large estate," she added, setting down her cup beside her knee upon the iron wrought bench. "The weather is balmy, the view, breathtakin'."

"Never figured a farm would be a particular holding to take to for the long-term." a soft shrug of a shoulder, and the searching appraisal of her eyes.

"Myra certainly imagines herself a princess and perhaps it might increase her vegetable intake..." a pause, the slow flex of a jaw.

"But we're out in the last reaches of the 'verse out here. " a cant of her head as she met his eyes.

"Though if we are being truthsome, you intended exactly that."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

There wasn't any avoiding it anymore. There wasn't any lying to her, and there certainly wasn't any bending of the truth. Alric knew that if he would get what he wanted, if Danger would ever agree, then it had to be everything or nothing.

"Yeah." He said simply as he looked down at her, his hands cupping her own.

Alric would have crouched down to meet her eyes, but his knee really didn't allow him that particular range of motion anymore. It was really one of the worst things about the injury, despite the constant pain of course. He frowned slightly, then finally decided that it wouldn't do to stand in front of her during this. He wasn't trying to put himself in a position of authority over her, wasn't trying to control her, he was trying to talk to her as an equal.

Slowly he slid himself onto the bench beside her, letting out a groan as he did so.

"We've been in the middle of it too long." Alric said quietly. "I don't want to be anymore."

He paused for a moment. "I don't mean move away from it all...just get some distance."

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

So here they were.

To a degree, Danger wondered if this is what Alric had said to Silara a few years back. Did they have this exact conversation. Did he build some distant sanctuary where they could run away and hide from the ‘verse? Did he sit beside her, held her hand, and tell her that he didn’t want to be in the middle of it anymore?

It was rather cruel to do so, but Danger was only human. She had her flaws and she had her concerns. She also had her moments of stubbornness as well. No one was perfect. Not she nor he. Which made this conversation a bit tense perhaps. No, not tense -- surreal.

Danger found herself taking a deep breath. Oxygen filled her lungs, fresh air compared to the recycled one from Elysium. It was strange, but not new. To a degree, it wasn’t that Danger was opposed to living on a planet; she’d done that with Tatooine for a long while. It was the request to step back that she had more of an issue with. A woman in her position didn’t simply give some distance. She was just too involved in the web of things. One way or another.

It was more to it than holding sway. It was personally feeling responsible for those who were under her care; me and mine. As the Queen of Trade, Danger has moved the Nine Hells forward and back to do just exactly that. The Confederate Systems discovered that early one. Lord Protector Ayden Cater did as well. And the Galactic Republic saw the formation of the collective might of corporations rise against them. All because Danger had used those same connections she’d forged and nurtured in the past.

Alric. Alric was different. Much in the same as he was back when he decided to disappear from the ‘verse with his late wife. Then again, considering she was a Sith Lord, what else could she expect with the selfish decision when it came to everyone who was employed under him and those that depended him. What had really enraged her is that he had shown the same disregard to Lily and Rose. To this day, she still couldn’t comprehend the train of thought that both of he and SIlara had in regards to that. What parent simply disappears from their children’s lives? How does one live with himself in that?

Oh she knew that Alric regretted it, that the decision hadn’t quite been his best. Some part of her wonders if it had been Silara’s idea. However, another time another life. What was in the past was the past and there was never any changing what had been done.

The present on the other hand… well that was different.

“Some distance…” Danger finally spoke, repeating what the Tetan had indicated in her honeyed drawl. Her brows drew together, contemplation marring the fine lines of her face.

“Now what does that exactly entail?” she asked, green eyes locking into blue. It was hard to read her well right now, even despite the fact that he alone was the one person in the ‘verse who knew her so well.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"Living here." Alric said simply. "Really living here."

He waited for a moment, shifting his weight slightly then continuing. "We stop going to every Gala and Ball, stop picking at everything, stop hosting auctions and stop poking our noses into everything we can."

It wasn't bad that they had done that, in fact, for a better part of their lives both of them had spent time trying to make the galaxy a better place. They had succeeded, objectively they had done better then even some of the Jedi Order's out there, though few would ever know that. Yet now they were growing old. They were getting up there and there were other things to be concerned about.

"We don't have to cut ourselves off entirely." He made a motion towards the front of the building. "There's offices here, conferences rooms, heck you've seen the Central hall. I don't mean we disappear, I've done that once and it's the biggest regret of my entire life. I just mean..."

For a moment Alric didn't say anything, then he continued. "I mean we live here. We watch our daughter grow up here. Watch her run in the fields, watch her grow, see her lean to ride a dewback."

He half smiled at the example.

"We can invite our family and friends here." He motioned to the towers. "We can live here, be happy here, and we won't have to go everywhere all the time."