|
|
Post by tress on Jan 28, 2012 20:36:47 GMT -5
That only gifted her with a glare, it wasn't his fault he had been appointed to be the official liaison to KDY. That it gave him leeway with his duties and other job requirements to his office was just a bonus. He would have asked for no better job really, at first he had thought to use his new Senators title to afford himself some immunity in charges. Smuggle things in or out of a system under the guise of the Diplomatic status he had. There would have been other criminal activities he would have tried, but that was before he met Khari.
"I'm job as liaison to you is time consuming, I must keep my eye on you and make weekly reports back to the Empire." That he had failed to do that since the start only had him smirking.
"Never a thank you for all your hard work, its always do this do that." he looked over at her again and raised a brow in question. "Why would i try to dissuade you for? I get to be my own boss if things go through as planned. Not that I'm not already in some degrees, but you understand where I'm coming from." laughter came with that statement, he didn't know what but it had make him laugh.
He at least had the decency to blush with that, it had been done on a whim. Dangerous as it was, he should never had done it, but what came of it surely had been worth the risk he'd hoped. "Have i told you I'm sorry for that?"
"That was only to get your attention, little did i know you were otherwise occupied." Sighs and pouts crossing his arms, not looking at her anymore. He remembered that night as if it had just happened. Going after her, but wanting to be daring and romantic even if they had just met. Wasn't his fault the balcony ledge was slippery and a long LONG way from the ground.
"I would risk it all to get to you, to be with you..." he offered her a kiss to tempt another one from her.
"That's I i ask of you, besides having our own..." he threw that one in there at last second. "Least we could do is practice?" which was said with hope, if not begging for the chance. "Practice makes perfect....and no going out tonight, depending on how you answer we are ordering in."
|
|
|
|
Post by kharivestra on Jan 29, 2012 15:42:54 GMT -5
Shaking her head slightly, mock sadness tinging her words, Khari couldn't help herself. Again.
"Perhaps...but I'm very forgetful, why don't you tell me again?"
Smiling sweetly at him seemed like the perfect way to set all that off, if not taunt him into retalliating, he often found the most inconvenient time to do such things to her - such as the comment about his status in the meeting with the Jedi - and that was what prompted little moments like this. It was all in good humour, that much they had straight between them, and that was all that mattered, that no one overstepped the mark.
Her gaze immediately narrowed, a sharp word or two would have had the same effect, but he was still jesting, and therefore she couldn't have been harsh with him. It was clear what he'd meant, and his assumptions at the time, while less than amusing, were also totally wrong. She hadn't been engaged in anything aside from conversation with her, now deceased, telbun.
"We've been over this, dearest, it is possible for someone to be alone with their telbun and not engage in the activities for which they were purchased. And, if I recall, I had a headache." Khari hadn't, and he knew she hadn't, but she hadn't been doing what he'd suggested either. Funny really, since she'd been offering Taru that freedom that she'd ended up giving the man before things went totally awry and lead up to his trying to blackmail her.
And woe betide the person who made that mistake.
He had her full attention in tempting her, though, and she gave herself to that moment forthwidth, drawing out their kiss, soft lips moving deftly over his to the point of lingering over it all. Anara had always cautioned her that eventually, as was supposedly the case with much of the known galaxy, married couples lost that spark. She could never see that happening, things were far too interesting for that.
"Next time, you could try knocking on the door...or at least bringing a jetpack with you?"
They were out of the turbolift now and crossing the long hallway to their suite, and Khari was somewhat thankful that this time, they'd made it this far without incident. Their last trip on official business had been an eventful failure, as were a lot of things these days, sometimes it boggled her mind to wonder just how they had come that far and were still in control of what they had. No plan went without it's hitches, though, and she needed to keep reminding herself that.
Tress's asking her to consider taking on the Knylenns, though, she couldn't even imagine how he'd managed to get so fond of them in such a short space of time, but therin lay the irony - she had found herself making many a promise to them to keep them in line and delivering on them too. Not because she had to, but because there was something rewarding about how their little faces seemed to light up when either she, or Tress brought back some trinket from wherever to show them.
That notion of fondness disturbed her as much as it warmed her heart...and then there was another thing.
"You know, Rhy is going to wonder if we have drugged them when he gets them back." And he would get them back, especially if they took into serious consideration having a new addition to their own family.
Perhaps when all this nasty business was over with, there were several things, both cultural and not, to consider.
His keenness didn't deter her, though, rather the opposite.
"Practice you say?" She canted her head slightly to the side, raising a slender finger to her chin in ponderance, "Yes this begs more looking into, less thought, you wouldn't want to get out of practice, you know how hell bent on perfection I am. Anything less and I would just have to show you new means over an extended period of time....we could be there hours."
Khari's gaze drifted off momentarily, while she fumbled for the code to their suite, then waved the little holokey over the scanner, letting the door swoosh open to reveal the room's interior.
Splendid, she thought when it seemed like the place was empy, no nasty surprises this time. Things were going well for once...and about to get better.
Stepping over the threshold, she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside swiftly enough to have startled one of the housekeeping droids nearby - it's tinny whistle of annoyance going ignored, completely.
"Less lassitude, more enthusiasm!"
She quipped, closing the door behind them and doing her best not to laugh at his expression. Now, suddenly, she was beginning to regret not goosing him in the hallway, his visage would have been a picture.
"We're definitely ordering in."
|
|
|
|
Post by tress on Jan 29, 2012 17:42:48 GMT -5
He had been sincere in his apology but she seemed to make fun of him over it. Glaring at her, she wanted to go that route he would show her. He gave her a small kiss, just a brush of his lips against hers and a renewal of the original apology. "I'm sorry for what i did....but, its on again for making me say it twice."
He made a rude comment, but it wasn't towards her. Just the whole Telbun things in general. Have an innocent talk, when they were bought and paid for breeding purposes. Someone coming in to see them alone would have thought the same thing, naturally. He had thought the same, and had even grown jealous of the situation after having risked his life to be daring enough to sneak into her apartments.
There wont be a next time, wife." he said after giving her a kiss that lasted way to long for his tastes. Wasn't really the place to do that...stuck in a turbolift, kisses like those led to other things... "Lets hurry and get to the rooms."
He shrugged at that, "Really could keep him out there indifferently. He has his house, his pleasures and all he needs." it had been his plans as of late, keeping Rhy away from things. He really would be better suited out there anyways. Give him trips to the Core worlds for some entertainment then off back to work out there.
"The kids would be better off with us, you and I, know it." he pressed a little about them. "Rhy is to much of a bachelor to care for them properly, Anara I would never trust her again with their care. We can teach them right and not the wrong ways. They will lead the Knylenns one day. A family connected to the Ten. Always aligned with the Vestras cause of how we raised them."
When it came to more, enjoyable matters, he was all grins and eager to start.
"That's the woman i married." he said just before scooping her in his arms and carrying her further into the suite they had been given. Straight to the bathroom, no time to waste he was thinking. "Shower, food, talk, with 'other things' here and there."
|
|
|
|
Post by kharivestra on Jan 29, 2012 18:37:26 GMT -5
A bark of laughter eminated from her direction almost immediately. Keeping Rhy all the way out there? He must have been having a good old time, though she tried not to think too hard on that one, it conjured up many unsavoury possibilities. Tress had logic, yet again, Rhy wouldn't have time to look after the two younger siblings, but then would they? And he asked why there was a need for telbuns...this was exactly the time they became useful.
"I'm sure Rhy is perfectly happy all the way out there, away from the preying glances of older ladies, but seriously now, we have plans. One I could perhaps understand, but two? We're going to need help....and possibly councilling by the time they reach their majority." Where was a swift shot of corellian whiskey when she needed it? Now she was starting to understand why she didn't have siblings...not that it had mattered, she saw the bare minimum of her mother while growing up, save for when she could actually hold a conversation that didn't consist of poorly pronounced words.
"I agree with you completely on my mother, that was an unusually cruel joke, even for Rhy...but as I understand it, he was persuaded to offer custody to them via someone not too far away from me right now. Hmm?" Less than subtle about it, she extended one index finger in his direction, and coughed ever so slightly while pointing. When she thought she had his attention, she took her time about rescinding it. Then she shrugged. This was always going to be a bone of contention, and he was wearing her down.
"We'll never get a moment alone again if we take them on, is that what you want? And I tell you now, if you thought my occular discomfort was bad in front of the imperial Regent, it will be legendary when faced with a life of no...me time."
That really was putting too fine a point on it, but they were alone, there would be a time for cordial nicities later.
Strategically, the idea also had merit, there was no denying that. But she wasn't sure, not completely, that the Knylenn's would see this as an act of kindness so much as a takeover bid.
"You do realize that a former CEO of the Drive Yards was raised perfectly fine by the existing members of their own family, after his mother died in childbirth, don't you? We really aren't required to do this."
Khari could already feel the disappointment welling up in him, and any minute now he was going to use something, some seemingly insignificant fact to prove her wrong. Aside from the fact that the afformentioned CEO had actually become so paranoid that the corporation would be taken by the alliance or the empire, that he'd tried to blow up the orbital array and had succeeded in blowing himself to atoms in the process. Still, the fact remained that when he was alive, he was perfectly sound....sort of.
It wasn't so much of a yelp that left her lips when he suddenly picked her up, but a surprised woot, now this was taking things into your own hands, and it brought back to mind the moment she'd told him that she was perfectly capable of doing such things herself. Blushing profusely as she recalled picking him up, getting at least a pace and a half before collapsing in a tangle of limbs and curses, too.
"You will get no complaints out of me, just lead the way." As if he really could when he was just carrying her anyway, it made it more amusing to her. "Be quick about it, or i'll get used to this mode of transport and keep it."
|
|
|
|
Post by arri on Jan 30, 2012 15:34:03 GMT -5
Layers, she had been trying to avoid them out of a compulsion to stamp down the habit. But as he brought her over a matching shawl, she couldn't really refuse his reasoning. It would be cooler out there once the night really drew in, particularly this close to the coastal region. Wrapping it around her shoulders, with his help, she draped it up and under her arms, stylishly, and allowed him to take her arm in his.
Without a moment to spare they had taken to the streets, just taking their time about picking their way to the restraunt and their reservation. Time, it seemed, lapsed into infinity while she was out here among the bustling cantinas, shops and stalls. This area was clearly used to the tourist trade, but there was a destinct presence of security, and several times now Arri had glimpsed the watchful eyes of CorSec from every innocuous corner of every street. It reminded her of the Yuuzhan Vong war, how everyone had been under suspicion because literally anyone could have been an invader in disguise. Now they didn't even have the luxury of being able to discover if someone was an enemy agent. Not easily, persay.
The cane he'd debated over had her torn between chuckling reservedly and and outright telling him her opinion. They had to be the two best dressed people here. The implications he'd clearly been considering in a humerous light, however, made it nigh on impossible to do anythying but smirk.
"Do you possibly think you could make yourself any more rakish than you are currently?" She queried with a raised eyebrow, a healthy dose of cynicsm was never far from the fore.
Her curiosity was overwhelmed by the merriage of everything going on around her. Now that she was free to take it all in, she felt giddy with the essence of it all, almost like an awestruck child trying to take in everything at once and not knowing just where to begin. It was a heady mix, this elation and curiosity both, but one she wouldn't have traded for anything. That he was there to witness it all did embarrass her slightly, and when she would catch a glimpse of him looking her way, or smiling to himself regarding her interest in a particular sight or item, she felt her cheeks flush warmer.
It would have had to have been the thousandth time it had happened, when she turned to him, leaning in close so as not to shout over the humdrum going on all around them, and whispered her weakness.
"Apologies, it's not that I haven't seen these sights before now, it's just now I can truly take them in. They appear shiny and new." She made a small flourish with one hand rather frippantly with a brief giggle, which transformed into a happy sigh thereafter.
"Almost makes you forget there's a bounty on your head, doesn't it?" Was now a good time to explain all about that one? He knew the bare minimum and that was, essentially, all he really needed to know. Maybe, one day, if he ever inquired about her past, she would tell him. But by then there was a chance that whoever would catch up with her. It wasn't wise to dwell, and this was supposed to be an enjoyable moment. In kind, that was exactly what she intended to do, enjoy the moment.
Their walk had taken them through the winding streets of the city, sticking to the more affluent areas since they were on foot. But eventually culminating at their arrival. The restraunt was every bit as bijou as it was ostere, precisely the sort of place she would have been taken on numerous worlds, and then asked to make herself as inconspicuous as possible...which was rather difficult in all that garb.
It was to her surprise that they were lead on something of a tour, taken to a nice, cozy spot out of the way, perhaps usually designated for VIP use only, she couldn't be sure, and left alone to make their decisions. At least this menu she could read - she'd had a momentary look at the on-offer signs and notices at countless establishments along the way, and found herself frowning in consternation at just what some of the delights on offer were. These, though, now these made sense.
Sat near a large balcony view window, they had one of the best views in the house, and while she admired it, she would always look back every so often, when she caught sight of him looking her way in the reflection of the glass.
As the waiter poured them a glass of the finest corellian wine, he drew her attention again, violet eyes glimmering opalescently, taking hold of her hand delicately and proposing a toast.
Now that was something she could drink to. Picking up her glass with her free hand, she raised it to 'clink' against his, then took a small sip of the crisp tasting beverage.
"To us and the future" Arri repeated, smiles all round it seemed "It begins here, but we really do need to consider a viable source of income, there must be so many...in this room alone, no less?"
|
|
|
|
Post by tress on Feb 1, 2012 16:28:21 GMT -5
"It wouldn't be as bad as your thinking, we just sent time with them and lived to be here now. Don't you find yourself thinking of them right now? What did you promise them on the return?" he looked at her, saw that she had indeed promised them something. "See they mean something to you, admit it. They have wormed their way into our lives. Lets see where it takes us. Wasn't planning on this, but wont turn away from things either."
"I had no cause not to trust her then, remember.?" Shortly afterwards she had told him about the blackmail over her, then the catching of Anara with Prescott. It was the wrong choice after all. "I was wrong, but now isn't the time to point fingers we need to get them away from her."
She could ruin everything they had worked for for the last few months. There was no telling what if anything she had told Prescott and what he was doing with the information. Either way he wouldn't be stopped, and that meant securing the safety of the kids. "We have to do this, there is no chose in the matter really."
He gave her that look, "Really? How many times did we find to sneak away for ourselves on Anaxes?" that was accompanied by a knowing smirk. "I'm sure other examples can be brought to mind if you need remembering..."
"Careful there, love. Wouldn't want to be dropped on your spoiled rump would you know?" he made to drop her just to scare her as he walked to the refresher. It was spacious and came with tub, shower and other accessories. Placing her on her feet he turned her around and pulled her against his chest wrapping his arms around her. "So what was that you wanted first? Shower then food?"
|
|
|
|
Post by kharivestra on Feb 1, 2012 18:17:54 GMT -5
Khari hated to admit it, but he was right again, that was becoming a more common denominator recently and she'd have to do something about that. It was selfish, she knew, to just want things to stay the way they were, and she'd be the first one to admit it. But could she really help it if she liked a certain way of living and wished to preserve it?
The reminder of Rufus's little face lighting up at something she'd brought him back from an excursion undid everything she'd previously thought. Damn she hated it when she was anything close to human in that respect, because it was proving Tress right again! In all seriousness though, she couldn't change that.
"Promise them? I didn't....well I might have promised them a small something...but that's hardly anything to - " it didn't matter, he'd made his mind up and caught her floundering amongst the lies again. In doing so, his following statement just made her flush pinker, she was clearly becoming too easy to read, yet another thing in the long list of things she needed to keep an eye on. Maybe the Jedi had sensed her discord that way? How was she supposed to even entertain the idea of pulling the wool over their eyes if she advertised the fact on her face.
this was something different.
"Of course they do, but we have to think of the bigger picture. You'd be the first to admit that an upbringing on Kuat isn't the same as anywhere else. With perhaps the exception of one no longer existing planet. These children are used to a certain way, what we're showing them isn't indicative of what they'll be experiencing when they are old enough to jump back into the proverbial pool and join the others." There was no point in trying to talk him out of it, that wasn't really her intention, but she was already thinking in terms of this being a done deal. The two kids had been with them this far, and he was right...they had found time for eachother regardless.
Now she was deadpan straightfaced, no choice wasn't any choice, literally, and that sounded like he was making his mind up for the both of them. Not only did that grate against her sensibilities and matriarchal upbringing, it also silently nudged at her in terms of him pressing a certain point.
So he was right about one thing but that was too far to go unchecked.
"Tress," Khari began in a softly sweet manner, all sweetness and light usually meant something sharp and heavy was laying beneath the surface. "It's very sweet of you to consider their welfare, considering, and I love that you're enjoying that, but if you ever tell me what I do or do not have a choice in in the future, you're going to find yourself at a severe disadvantage."
Still she kept smiling sweetly, then tapped the end of his nose lightly with one fingertip, uttering a small but swift 'hm' just as he would be considering what she'd said. It was about to be war, and he was asking for it.
And yes....he knew it too.
Her sweetness dissolved in memory...they weren't sweet so much as hot, passionate memories that stuck with her vividly - and although she took into serious consideration, having him answer her, that wasn't what he was trying to do.
"We had your parents to keep an eye on them, if you recall. That night in that questionable cantina, doesn't count." But it was memorable, she added as an afterthought, her subtle smirk said it all.
"Careful there, love. Wouldn't want to be dropped on your spoiled rump would you know?" he made to drop her just to scare her as he walked to the refresher. It was spacious and came with tub, shower and other accessories. Placing her on her feet he turned her around and pulled her against his chest wrapping his arms around her. "So what was that you wanted first? Shower then food?"
Her expression was a picture, all outrage and indignant to boot, the only thing that would have made it more complete would have been her sticking her nose in the air. But he'd love that.
"Drop me and you'll spend the rest of the night kissing that spoiled rump until the bruises go down." Jabbing a finger in the direction of his chest, she might have been kidding, just as he was, but when he pretended to drop her, she immediately grabbed ahold of him awkwardly like she was trying to catch herself. A stern glare was his reward for that one, but it wasn't without it's humour. Which was exactly why she reached round and pinched his backside, none too gently herself.
When he placed her down and she felt him pull her back against him, though, the game was forgotten for a moment, enjoyment taking it's place. Whatever she said about the knylenn's, she really had enjoyed her time on Anaxes with him. The shock of meeting everyone aside, or rather their reactions to her, it had been a welcome interlude that left her refreshed for what they had to do here.
"Shower, food...entertainment. In that order and whatever else comes along the way." Pausing, she remembered something, "I'll make that call first...i'll join you in a moment."
|
|
|
|
Post by tress on Feb 3, 2012 16:08:53 GMT -5
He didn't want to gloat, but a small smirk still escaped over her saying what she had. There was no getting passed that the kids had wormed their way into BOTH of their lives. You don't make promises to little kids and not have it mean anything. "Nothing to feel ashamed about, they are sneaky little demons that have you wrapped around their fingers already. What they give you that hopeful expression as they asked if you would bring them something? That look that made you agree, but that's not all...its them, and your feelings for them."
"We can raise them as Kuati though, keep them close to what others experience, but add our own flair to things. How are we going to do it for our own kids when we have them?" raise them with a telbun, he can go along with that, but then what.? Just leave them and see them when there is a chance? He wanted to be there for them if they needed him, help mold their lives.
Guess he over stepped there judging by her...warning. "You have a choice, I don't...not if i want to continue with this plan we set in motion. How can we do that if your mother holds them against us? How can we just leave them out there to be used as a bargaining chip against the plan or either one of us.?"
Later he took her into his arms and walked her to the bathroom. A slow warm bath, then food she had said. He was going along just cause...well, he was married to a sexy woman- put two and two together yourselves.
He place her gently on her feet and held her, pulling her back against his chest. The window showed the surrounding area and that along with her made holding her for as long as he did special. "I wouldn't dream of it, wife. Though I wont lie and tell you the idea of being that close to your rump isn't exciting. Just for future reference mind you. Wont be a punishment per say, maybe try something else?"
He watched her go and wondered what she was going to do. He would ask later, right now he got to work turning on the tub filling it with warm water. Ordered some food for after the bath...now for some entertainment she said. What to do? "Later, right now that warm bath was looking good." he thought to himself. Taking off his clothes he slipped in just as she came back..... "Care to join me?"
|
|
|
|
Post by kharivestra on Feb 3, 2012 17:28:22 GMT -5
He really wasn't going to budge on the subject of the two Knylenn boys, and that wasn't surprising to her. She'd seen it from day one, just with the suggestion of them taking them on, the disappointment when Rhy had seen it as a better idea to leave them with Anara. Granted, that had been as Tress' insistance, but that was before he'd spent any small ammount of time with them. They were easy to deal with if you knew their vices, as was the case with their entire family, those just developed over time.
Would Anara have used them against she and Tress? Perhaps, especially if she knew that they could be used as a pinion against her new husband here, but that depended entirely on what her plans were. They didn't even know for certain she was not simply seeing Prescott on a personal level rather than another one entirely. It was pointless to ask her, though, they'd need to find that out for themselves.
And that was easier said than done when they didn't know where to start looking.
Now at the suite's holocomm, she sent out a brief communication to the offices of the representative she had contacted some time before their trip had begun, leaving a message to let them know they were on world, and would be meeting them at the alotted time the following day. This was the big one, Corellia's independence would leave them vulnerable, but proud, how they played this was all important. They didn't want to be seen as carrion eaters swarming on the corpse after all. She had discussed little else on the way over though, and that had provided her with time enough to formulate what angle to take when the time came. Most of it was dependent on how the Corellian's would take such a merger, which on the outset, looked more business than it was political. Those who needed to know, would work out the true measure of the story, that was the main thing.
With that done and dusted, she took a brief moment to switch the window to a privacy tinting, something Tress had neglected to do on his way into the sanisteam room, not that they would have too many sight seers at this altitude, but it was force of habit. Disrobing, she carefully folded and placed her clothes to one side, then headed in to join him.
Sauntering into the sanisteam room with a noticable skip in her step due to the coolness of the tiles under foot, Khari found Tress relaxing by himself, looking like the nexuu that had got the cream - though why he was enjoying relaxing half as much as he was somewhat surprised her, since he'd spent half the journey sleeping, he couldn't possibly be tired. She, on the other hand, had found it difficult to sleep when she was travelling with a bunch of denizens she hadn't met...and then there was that Bothan.
A small shiver rolled down her spine, but she belayed it in favour of the view.
"I didn't know my tub came with company, they better not be charging me extra." She purred wryly at him with an appraising eye, "And if they are, I'll just have to make each and every credit count, won't I?"
She was already stepping into the tub, making sure the water didn't rise high enough to spill over the sides when she did so, slipping down just in front of him, back facing him while she sank down to just below shoulder level, then rested gently against him.
"I'd love to." Was the even reply, with just a hint of jovialness to it, "Now that communique is out the way we should have the evening to ourselves. But forgive me, I interrupted you earlier." She reached up and back some, just lightly touching the side of his face, "Where were we?....Ah, yes, that was it, practice makes perfect?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Zanear the Edge on Feb 6, 2012 16:40:59 GMT -5
The couple had their toast and then a meal. The Starpoint definitely lived up to its name, the food was fantastic, the service was impeccable, and the ambient atmosphere was intoxicating. And yet all good things must come to an end, so within an hour the pair was going down the lift and back into the street. Now the time was nearing midnight local time and yet the place was still very busy. They walked down the streets and mingled with the crowds. Zanear had waved off the questions she had posed, wanting to just enjoy the moment. He was an agent of Chaos, he didn’t want to spend too much time worrying about silly things like planning ahead. At least when it came to minor things like acquiring money anyways.
Heading closer to downtown Coronet the crowds grew, there seemed to be a rather large gathering of paparazzi near one of the five star hotels. Zanear found the entire thing entertaining, but also decided that too much attention would be bad for them. So he led the pair down a small back alley, now picking up the pace so that they traveled much faster. His ears had overheard something he knew was bad news...the CEO of Kuat Drive Yards was here, on Corellia.
Chaos could be a bitch.
After a bewildering series of turns and back alley jaunts, they arrived at a door. The Falleen knocked in a pattern and waited. An eyebolt opened and a voice was heard.
You’re late. I should make you wait until tomorrow.
Except that you want your money, Zanear responded smartly. There was a growl, then a sound of a deadbolt being pulled back. The door opened quickly into a dimly lit room. As their eyes adjusted they were lead down a dark and very narrow hallway. Several twists and turns, always descending, lead into a very bright room. Hot white lights lined the walls and a large spotlight style over head light was centered above a chair in the middle of the room. It’s collapsible and expandable to accommodate most species. He spoke in a mono tone as if he’d done it thousands of times.
So, what do you want done sweetheart? I’m sure all of this cloak and dagger is to change you so the Bounty hunters won’t find you. When Cletis stepped into the light, his features became clear. He was a striking man, his near human features dark ebony in color. It was then that the pair would notice his body was covered in intricate tattoo’s many varied and yet intertwined with each other. There seemed not an inch of him was without ink, and yet each piece told a story.
Cletis was a Chev. And anyone who knew about slavery knew about the Chev. So his appearance was not unexpected. He was five foot eight inches and stood just a short few inches from Zanear. Well? I’m waiting. Zanear looked down and saw Cletis’ right hand held out. Ah yes… the money. Here you are my friend. Zanear held out a credit chip, and Cletis took it. Quickly swiping it into his datapad, he made sure all the money was accounted for.
Alright, talk. What do you want from me?
|
|
|
|
Post by tress on Feb 8, 2012 17:22:56 GMT -5
Off with his clothes he slide into the tub looking out the window thinking of everything thats happened in the last month. From marrying the woman of his dreams, to a death to someone he cared about, then visiting his family. Ups and downs it seemed like normal, but this ones had hit him hardest.
He wanted stability, control and time alone with Khari. Life seemed to always give him the opposite. For the next few days he would make it a point to forget everything but Khari and the time they had.
When the windows tinted he looked back and just took it all in. He watched her disrobe all while he bite his lower lip. He wanted to say something but he didnt want to ruin the moment. So he let her do as she normally did, be her normal sexy self.
He helped her step into the tub his hand in hers. "Yup, full service on this one." When she sat down he had to ask. "Bubbles? Some water jets? Me over there with you?Candle light? Some fruit? Anything you need."
"Eventful talk just now?" he asked about the call she made. Still wanted to know what that had been about.
|
|
|
|
Post by kharivestra on Feb 8, 2012 18:40:10 GMT -5
Settling back against him, she made herself comfortable to listen to him drawl on, knowing that if she had taken him up on many of those offers he would have chided her for taking liberties. That was nothing compared to the one's she could have demanded, but there was still time.
"Just you," She responded, relaxing a little more, reaching for his hands to pull his arms around her a little closer. However endearing he found the kids they had left behind whilst on this excursion, he couldn't deny things like this would be few and far between were they there too.
"Anything more is a distraction, and I don't want you distracted by fetching things."
Contented for the moment, she luxuriated in the temperate water, letting it's warmth seep into her skin and warm her in turn. If he had leaned over her shoulder a little, he would have seen the content smile she wore proudly, but she put pay to him doing so by shifting against him, seemingly trying to get a tad more comfortable. The tub was spacious enough, but that alluded to drifting off course occasionally. At least this time, there was no Anara to burst in uninvited and she wouldn't get her hand bitten.
Khari issued him a rather morose sounding noise, a small groan of sorts, being reminded that she had an impending meeting when she was just starting to enjoy herself wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind. But he did need to be appraised of the goings on, so they might as well do this in the here and now.
Her hand slipped from his arm, raising up out of the water to mimick as though she was going to splash him for his reminder - a very immature move by anyone's standards, but they were alone here, who was going to tell?
"I simply left a message for our host, the meeting will go to schedule as planned. Their assistant assured me the message would be passed on, so all is in hand." There was a brief pause in which she seemed to suddenly remember something, but it was an odd little something at that, "Do you hear that?.....Absolutely nothing, no parental, staff, knylenn interruptions...pinch me, I think I'm dreaming."
Shifting around so that she now faced him, expression plaintively serious for the second or two it took to say he follow up statement.
"Actually do it and i'll reach for that towel...and you remember what happened last time."
|
|
|
|
Post by tress on Feb 10, 2012 16:10:05 GMT -5
Folding his arms around her he smiled as she settled against his chest. "Just me, huh?" who was he to argue with that. The little things she had said, just them two with no distractions. This he could get used to, he thought as he kissed the side of her neck.
"I couldn't agree more" he said wrapping his arms around her a bit more. "This i can get used to, can we make it a point to have weekends off for these kinds of things ...and others?"
There was nothing more to do than enjoy the moment for what it was. He just held her close, relaxing into her. It was a shame they only had two days, but he would make sure they made the best of them. Awhile later he had to know about what she excused herself to do earlier.
"Marry me here." he told her suddenly. "The public will be finding out about us sooner or later. Why not make it official here?" one upmanship? Yeah, that's what this was, but really he meant it. He wanted her to have that public wedding, guests galore. Something to be remembered, but he waited to see what she thought of it.
|
|
|
|
Post by kharivestra on Feb 10, 2012 17:06:29 GMT -5
Why leave it exclusively to the weekends, she thought lazily, wondering if she'd actually given voice to the thought or not - he would no doubt share her opinion, if he wasn't a little deterred by it, and she'd never known him to be. She just rested there, his arms around her, enjoying the moment for all it was worth, because as the next few days should unfold, they might not have a moment to spare for such things. In the long run, though, that would pave the way to bold new ventures. Then they could reap the benefits to enjoy many more moments like this...that was appealing.
"You had other plans for the weekends, did you?" She asked at long last, craning her neck to look at him, sliding slightly to one side, so that he wasn't out of focus, but he never lost his hold on her.
It wasn't really a question so much as a quip.
Now that piqued her interest, and why shouldn't it? Barely a month ago she had married him, in private, after what had been a turbulent few months of getting to know one another. Ultimately, though, it had been an explosive split that had brought them back together, manufactured or not, they both had to admit to becoming caught up a little in that one. So what was this about then? They had spoken about a time coming when they could go public with their relationship, it would put pay to rumours and bids to blackmail among suspects too, but on the eve of new alliances, was this really what they wanted to be doing? Like it or not, it was bigger than the both of them.
Sitting upright, she slid round in situe to face him full, gaze searching, insistant. When she looked into his eyes she found nothing but sincerity there, and that went a long way to confirming her minds suspicions - she only hoped that he'd never seen what they had already as her trying to hide him out of fear for what her peers would say, so much as how this would affect her hand in business matters.
"Here, as in right here?" That hadn't come out how she had intented, and Khari corrected herself hastily, "Well not right here, in this tub, but...Corellia?" Again, not how she had intended it to sound. What had come out sounded like a mixture of snobbishness concerning Corellia as a potential wedding venue, and surprise that he'd even considered it as such.
Waving a hand to stave off any impending hurt or insults, she shook her head just as fast and took a deep breath before actually thinking over what he had just said, in comparison to how she should reply. The crux of the question was a no brainer, she would have said yes in a snap if it hadn't been for outside factors. She'd married him once, why not again after all? She loved him, that was never in question.
"Yes, Tress. I will marry you, again, and we can be as public as we both agree. But is Corellia the best choice? They're on the verge of war here, I don't know about your family, but mine aren't likely to attend if that is the case...if, at all." That had always been a private bugbear, knowing that her's would undoubtedly be split down the middle between approval of her boldness to disapproval at just who she'd picked as her husband. But regardless, the choice wasn't their's to make.
Smiling at him softly, she hoped that he could forgive her surprise, but it wasn't something she had expected to hear twice in the same year. She had always thought that they would simply go public with the marriage they already had, rather than making it formal. And it was abundantly clear they could never have held such an event on Kuat, and then Anaxes? Probably not. Corellia was a good locale, were it not gripped by conflict of tension right now.
There would be other places.
"Say something..." Khari began, but never finished when her words were drowned out by the keening of the holocom in the main room of their suite.
Funny, she hadn't expected a response until the following morning, perhaps it was just the hotel manager checking to see if everything was well with their check in. The media welcome they hadn't expected, but it was par for the course really.
Letting out a burden laden sigh, she couldn't take her eyes off Tress at that moment, portraying all the apologies in those dark orbs that she could in regards to this being yet another interruption in the lives of two people who really didn't want one right now.
But she didn't want to get up.
|
|
|
|
Post by arri on Feb 10, 2012 18:03:04 GMT -5
As the ending to a perfect night went, this was rather the unusual one. Arri couldn't imagine that many people had experienced all that they had together, thus far, and would end it in quite the same way, but this was of her choosing, and done it would be.
After their meal, and sating it was, the pair had departed the skyhook in favour of walking their way to meet up with this acquaintence of Zanear's. Not knowing what to expect had begun to stir nervousness in her, a small quiver of uncertainty that she did her best to surpress rather than nurture, choosing distraction as her poison of choice as opposed to speaking it openly. Every place they passed held something else to be observed, down to the people inside the establishments and stores. Not every world would be like this one, and she hoped to see many more captivating sights during their travels, however long or short those might be.
The falleen seemed content not to furnish her questions with answers though, and that was all fine and well. But she did begin to wonder if she was somehow an annoyance with all the questions she could ask - and she had many more where those had come from, but he was, a self confessed agent of chaos, and planning never really came into the equation. She could see the appeal, else why was she here?
Choosing to keep her concerns to herself, she relaxed back into the state of observation, and by the time they had begun nearing the place where they were to meet Cletis, a large crowd had begun forming outside one of the larger, more renound Corellian hotels.
From their position, directly adjacent from the crowd, it was easy to see that those who were gathered were mostly there for various forms of media. Not once did Arri catch a glimpse of who they were there to see, nor indeed did it really occur to her as strange that a world in the precarious state it was, would really attract any sort of celebrity, Corellian or otherwise. Never in a billion eons, could she have guessed the truth, though. Had that been the case, everything else they had planned on this night, might have gone out the window.
Thankfully, her mind was diverted once more, finally, when they reached their destination, and the being that Zanear had been telling her about - a Chev, surprisingly, - greeted them in a fashion that could have passed for business like, clandestine though it was, on many a backwater world. How he'd ended up here, Arri could only imagine. She made a point of remembering to ask that, when next they had a quiet moment alone.
While Zanear settled up the payment, she took to glancing around the interior of the room they had been led to. It was clean enough, and although the outside of the place had seemed almost seedy to her at first, inside was another matter. Simplistic in terms of design, the singular chair at the center of the room was surrounded by a workspace and a variety of designs as intricate as those that adorned the chev himself, just in a variety of different colours and blends. It was a lot to take in, but by the looks of the various holos that littered the main desk, he'd had a great many satisfied customers in the past.
And now her.
Realizing, for the first time since her arrival, that both males were looking at her now, she halted her curiosity right where she stood, blushing slightly for acting like the awestruck child she must have looked like all over again. Zanear, by now, would be becoming accustomed to this...for Arri, however, it was just a tad embarrassing.
Now it was time to bare all, so to speak, or at least bare a little.
"Zanear tells me you would be uniquely suited for removing something unwanted...." Reaching down to where one of her gown's silken sashes wove it's self around her body, she pulled back the appropriate fabric, to reveal the tattoo in question, that which she had longed to be rid of for longer than even she realized.
"...Say this, for example?"
Holding the edges of the dress, she managed to reveal her hip and the entire marked area, without the need to hike her skirts up and really give them both something to gape at, not that it would have surprised Zanear in the traditional sense.
"I would rather be rid of it and if you can make that happen as quickly as possible, I would be most grateful." Grateful didn't cover it, he'd forever be in her debt if he made that happen tonight, she'd been stained by Kaur's family for too long, done things on behalf of them that no one should have felt they had to do. And now she was wanted in conjunction with Zanear, possibly pending assassination charges, the mark needed to go, today.
|
|
|
|
Post by tress on Feb 10, 2012 19:43:17 GMT -5
"More like practicing on my mind, but we do need to make plans for that don't we." he was grinning knowingly but leaned forward to kiss her. "that is if you don't have other plans yourself." She would know what he meant, it was that practice that she had suggested herself that he was using for his own benefit right now. After all practice made perfect, and he felt it would take years of practice to get things right. So why not start at the earliest chance?
When he broke the kiss he didn't move away, but continued to offer her light kisses, a nibble and a soothing swipe to easy any pain that would have been caused. "So what do you think?"
He couldn't help not smirk over her reaction, he had been expecting it but this was to good to pass up. He wanted to make fun of her first question., then as she corrected herself cause she might have thought it came out shocked sounding. "Dont know a tub marriage sounds exciting. Imagine the holopic on tomorrows news." he joked around with her.
"Why not Corellia?" it would show them that even in the mists of possible war, something good can happen. Besides them getting married is the stuff of novels. The good girl business woman, marrying a man of questionable background. "It would be news worthy."
"I can stand some of your family members not coming to the wedding...EVER." he said to make a point, he didn't need to name names. She would know he spoke of Anara. "That it's here on Corellia, i was hoping to spin it off as good press for them or us. That we value them as friends and wished for no other place then to be married at the Gold Beaches...." that's when he heard the beeping. Frowning he waited.
"You going to get that?"
|
|
|
|
Post by kharivestra on Feb 11, 2012 14:53:15 GMT -5
Ah, so that was what was on his mind, it all seemed clear enough now, and the smile she mirrored was his own devious one. When their lips met, though, there was no place she would have rather been, kissing him back with a feverous enjoyment. But he ended it a tad sooner than she would have liked, to speak his suggestions. Oh how they were desirable ones right now, evidently, since that smirk she wore hadn't dissipated in the slightest.
"I think," she murmured seductively against his lips, just tempting him into more "we're going to need more than a weekend."
This time she deepened that kiss, not content to settle for anything less, and taking her sweet time over it too, enjoying the feel of his lips as they moved against her own, reluctant to draw away when he did, but she did so to hear what was on his mind. The entire galaxy could go to one of the nine hells right now for all she cared, this moment was just for them, no one else.
"A water logged wedding wasn't what I had in mind...and yes, I can just imagine the pictures, especially when they get a good look at that wonderful tattoo of yours." Her sarcasm was palpable, but she'd play his game with him for a little while, knowing that at any given moment one of them would up the ante. It was a perpetual motion machine in it's own right. "It needs updating by the way, I believe I hold Kuat's winning score at three to two."
A challenge was as good as a change, so she believed, and that was most certainly a challenge. The playful light that danced in her eyes said as much, game on, as if they'd have it any other way, and she looked forward to whatever he came up with.
Khari really did need to look at this somewhat objectively, though. If he was serious in asking her to make them public knowledge, they both had to be prepared for whatever fallout there would be in the coming weeks. That would be substantial, however they attempted to exercise damage limitation.
"If it's headlines you want, all we need do is express fondness in any public establishment in the core. I don't care for the holonet news, I love you." Taking hold of his hands, she held them in her own, tentatively running a thumb along his knuckle-line, "And yes, I find the secrecy a little tiresome at times, I'd like nothing better than to act the way I want to around you and not have to concern myself with who might be watching and how this will affect the opinions of those we really need on our side in endeavours. But I suppose there is only one way we can find out how they will react, isn't there?"
Imagining the crowd that they would invite was the hardest part. Anara would not be invited, but would no doubt show up as she always seemed to do when Khari least wanted, or expected, it. Though this time she couldn't see the woman keeping her opinions to herself, not after the encounter she'd had with Tress and definitely not now that Tyber was dead. And at the hands of the man Anara had jumped into bed with, too - that woman would never learn, never change. It was as infuriating as it was shamefully embarrassing to Khari.
Then there was the small matter of where everyone would sit. The thought of some of her older relatives, long since in retirement, sharing breathing space with a family who's fortune had largely been made in crime - crime at their own expense, no less - didn't fill her with much hope for a peaceful time. Such was life, it would be interesting at best.
Wasn't that the truth? Khari thought with much sarcasm, she wasn't thinking of inviting Anara anyway, so he need not have worried, though she didn't know if the old bat would become vindictive if she invited the telbun responsible for her upbringing. Knowing her, she'd forbid him to do so out of spite and disapproval, that or insist on coming with him, invited or not. Neither prospect was promising nor ideal, but it was realistic. Tress had to know this too.
"We should be prepared for the eventuality that she might show up, I don't want her there anymore than you do, but I can't invite Hadin without her knowing, even he can't hide everything from her..." that nagging worry was nipping at the fringes of her mind again, what had happened to Anara anyway? Was it possible she was still with Prescott, or maybe he'd actually harmed her. A far stretch, but not impossible.
"I know that after everything, I shouldn't care, but...don't you find it odd that we haven't heard anything from her since leaving Bespin? I haven't heard a single word, not even a missed communication, a holonet report, nothing."
Thankfully, she was saved by the bell, or bleeping in this case, as the suites holocomm began chirping like a songbird intent on getting it's message across. When it didn't stop, Tress had looked at her in that way that said just what his words had seconds after, and with a long drawn out sigh, she groaned a little, and sunk down deeper into the water until she was completely submerged, disappearing for just a few seconds beneath the surface of the sudds and warm water. When she reappeared, she smoothed her hair back, wringing out the ends before she stood up, letting the water run in viscose tracks over her curves as she wiped the majority of them away and gracefully, stepped out of the tub, grabbing herself a towel as she went. Wrapping it tightly around her, Khari glanced back at him still living it up in the water by himself and shook her head slowly,
"One of these days, Zann, I'm going to get you all to myself, and woe betide the person who interrupts me."
Disappearing into the room beyond, she was heard in muted conversation with the person calling them, for just a short period of time. After that had transpired, she reappeared, standing on the threshold of the sanisteam room wearing a serious expression that marked the change between business and pleasure. This was all business, shame that it was.
"Look alive, it seems we are summoned ahead of schedule...fancy that." She said plainly, wishing for all it was worth that she could have just ignored the call - but this was important, integral. "We're scheduled to meet the CEC CEO and the Corellian representative at their head offices in Coronet, tonight."
|
|
|
|
Post by tress on Feb 13, 2012 0:58:41 GMT -5
He liked those ideas that suddenly popped into her head, it was more like they shared the same thoughts on certain things. This was definitely one of them. "More than a weekend? More than two days?" he made it a point of teasing her. If she wanted more than the weekend he was ready, he had packed expecting this. "I can think of one reason we shouldn't, but why not take the time to enjoy ourselves while we cant, eh?"
As she deepened the kiss he tilted his head to get better situated for it, they wouldn't be in an awkward position like he knew from experience. It was a slow drawn out moment of lips moving over the others as the rest of the world tuned out around them.
It was later as he asked her to married him in public that the kiss was broken.
He was in the midst of showing a smirk, then a frown. "How do you figure your winning?" he asked sitting up straighter. "I count it as a tie really. That episode in the meeting with the RGE..." he made it know just what he meant. "DURING THE MEETING" he smirked. "That counts for 3 points at least. Hey, maybe that should have me on top..."
"For that alone i should have been crowded winner.."
He looked from their joined hands to her eyes and worried. "It was just an idea, Khari. If you need more time we can wait. I was thinking just of the Golden Beaches and getting wed there. Maybe call in the folks and ..." he lifted on of her hands and placed a kiss there. "We can wait until after this meeting. Its better knowing how this will turn out before we plan something so big. Then there is the subject of your mother...."
He had thought it weird, but in their months on Anaxes it had been a dream almost, no bothers just family and quiet times alone with her. Everything else had been lost to him for the most part. "Now that you mention it, yes." he looks at her and shrugs. "Call home and find out. Someone somewhere has to know where she is." he wasn't really worried where she was as long as she wasn't ruining things for Khari and him.
One look at her and his breathe came out with a hiss. "Yoda's cane, woman !" was all he could say. "The sight of you can revive even the floppiest of things. Forget that and stay with ...." but she walked away and he let himself slink back and submerged under the water. The visions of her tortured him in the best way possible. He came up spurting liquid...
Hearing what she said he, coughed"Wot right 'ere ....err, now!?"
****
Bonadan, Corporate Sector. High rise apartment suite in the distance. The sun barely peering over the horizon sending a ray of light to announce the arrival of a new day. A couple finds themselves in bed with a sheet covering them as sounds of intimacy escaped every now and then from their lips. So it had been a daily ritual now for the last three weeks. A few hours spent working, the rest Rhy spending with his insatiable lover. He had it all now he thought, power, wealth and....his lover.
He pulled the sheet over his head and slipped from the bed to stand up. He was naked expect for that hat as he walked to the near by wet bar. "A drink to replenish your energy, Anara?"
|
|
|
|
Post by kharivestra on Feb 13, 2012 15:42:30 GMT -5
As she was walking away, those words had hit her ears forthwidth to make her smile in one of the best possible ways, but she kept her smirk to herself when disappearing into the next room, only to return a few minutes later with a rather disappointed look on her face. It wasn't because of him, though, he need not have concerned himself there. But their respite was going to come to a swift end - it would probably go a long way towards sating their appetites, if they continued this later. Khari resolved to do so at the next available convenience, and she couldn't have let him get the last say in that three points to him conversation. Oh no, she wouldn't have that and it wouldn't rest here, she was just picking her moment carefully.
"Yes they're waiting in the next room, shall I invite them in?" A complete fabrication, all sarcasm and witt, but he could have seen that by her stance alone - that haughty way she held herself, hand on one hip, imperiously.
"Of course not right here. They're waiting for us at the CEC offices nearby, a speeder will be along shortly to pick us up, I have security arranging things now." Khari paused there, waiting for him to move, and when he didn't do so within a short timeframe, she cocked one eyebrow, silently questioning his inactivity...and then backing it up some.
"Well come on, can't spend all day lounging around here, this is what we've been waiting for. Besides, I know how long you like to take to beautify yourself, and don't think for a second I haven't noticed you pilfering my cosmetics."
Wryly she beckonned him out of the water, turning on her heel and heading back into the main room to recover some fresh clothing. Their bags were still where they'd left them, by the couch, this was going to be a very swift trip indeed if this didn't pay off. Khari knew they had to make it count, there was no margin for error.
Drying off, she was making this hasty, though not too hasty - she didn't want to arrive looking like she had just stepped out of a hedge.
****
Anara Vestra stetched out languidly enjoying the blissful aftermath of what she had just been sharing with the man beside her. If one could really call him a man, he was in the prime of his life but still young enough at 32 to be considered just that, young. Or younger than her, anyway.
This had to have been the best decision she had made in the past few weeks, and a welcome respite was easily as good as a change.
And all it had taken to prompt this was a simple holonet news report. If Prescott really wanted to play games, then he could do that, but she was going to enjoy herself just as much playing hers. Somehow, this mutual arrangement she and Rhy tended to share, as it were, always worked out well.
Feeling him stir beside her, she tilted her head in his direction in time to see him rise and saunter off - hat and all - in the direction of the wet bar. Ah yes, Anara thought, always thinking of the important things.
Music to her ears.
"I would love one, your choice." The words just schmoozed passed her lips, things had been this way since her arrival and didn't show signs of abaiting. And what was more? She didn't have any pesky staff harrassing her. The only annoying certainty was that she would have to go back to it eventually.
"And then bring yourself back over here, I'm not finished with you yet."
|
|
|
|
Post by tress on Feb 13, 2012 18:45:30 GMT -5
They were outside waiting? He sank under the water again, and came up sputtering water. "Seriously they came here?" he had missed her looked of sarcasm.
He grinned when he heard she had been playing him, even up to the point of laying back and enjoying the water. "So whats the rush, I thought there would be two days of fun and relaxation. " he really want her back in the tub with him to finish what they started, but she was seeming hell bent on hurrying him.
He stood up at that last thing she said. Hands on hips glaring. "Me spending time on beautification? I am naturally this good looking." stepping out of the tub he pulled her close and kissed her and took his time doing it. When at last he broke the kiss he left her there grabbing a towel on his way out of the room. "For that remark you have to wear your present...up to you to do it now or later, but you will be wearing it."
Choice was up to her when.
In the bedroom he grabbed his bag and took out what he needed and once dried he got dressed. Every once in a while he looked over at her trying to catch glimpses of her. "So you decide as to it being now or later? Cause as you said its time to go..."
****
He was happy, if he spoke the truth. Since she had come he had been living a dream almost. One of just them, funny enough just spending their time here in this room in semi types of undress.
He took a nice drink of the juice he poured himself, it was just what he needed. Nice and cold, refreshing him.
He poured her one and got a refill for himself before he walked slowly back to her. A silly grin on his lips knowing he was just wearing a top hat all this time. A purple felt hat of all things. "Again. I'm not a machine..." he offers her the drink he brought for her and a kiss to sweeten the deal. "But, I do find i cant get enough of you....so drink fast. I have an hour left before work, which you will spend here sleeping so when i get back we can resume things. "
|
|
