An angel's share, and one for the 'Verse.

[Alndys]

"Don't jinx it." Aldiel replied, punctuating the warning with a sly wink. The jazzy band segued smoothly into an upbeat number, the melody carried by a bold and slightly saucy bass line - the perfect opportunity for Aldiel to slide his hand from Danger's hip to the small of her back and pull her a little closer. Sure, she might step on and scuff his shoes - but the music was saucy, and he was feeling moved by the music.

He moved gracefully with [member="Danger Arceneau"] in his arms, a talented dancer - light on his feet, confident and capable. He didn't immediately throw her into an intricate tango, because that'd be no fun for either of them. Instead, he gradually picked up the pace as she grew more comfortable in his arms, the increasing difficulty keeping them both engaged and on their toes. It wasn't unlike a tutorial, a crash course on dancing, communicated wordlessly - as perhaps was expected of a Lorrdian man. He was evaluating her skill as he went, starting slow was his way of dancing work her without expecting more sill than she had.

She was clever, he reasoned, and could keep up. And he was good at this. So no worries.

"You're a natural." Aldiel complimented, leading Danger to a more open part of the private balcony, where he could turn her about without concern for their surroundings. The lights were low and the atmosphere comfortable, Aldiel's smile a thin white line of enjoyment through the twilight of their private corner of the universe. Leaning his head to one side, Aldiel searched her eyes as he spoke. "Has anyone told you recently how lovely your accent is? If all the women there have voices as easy on the ears as yours, I simply have to know where it is."

A very flowery way of asking where she was from, to be sure. But 'elaborate' was possibly Aldiel's middle name.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Aldiel D'Lessio"]

Oh he was good.

Very good.

The corner of her mouth would twitch, and her eyes grew amused. "Just your typical backwater planet, Mistah D'Lessio." Not everyone in the 'Verse would be aware that Danger was born and raised on the planet of the Twin Suns. But the majority would know that Arceneau Trade's main headquarters along that of the Southern System Business Bazaar was located on Tatooine. A strange place, considering most would rather be at the core, but after the Gulag plague and the four hundred year darkness, new areas of commerce would bloom.

Tatooine, under Montgomery Arceneau, made it so for the Southern Systems.

"Tatooine." she'd drawl out, their slow but steady dance taking them around the dance floor. They would receive a few curious looks now and then; likely another tabloid would be prone to gossip just like with [member="Judah Dashiell"].

Green eyes would glance up towards those of Aldiel. "And you?"

 

[Alndys]

For a bit of a surprise, Aldiel turned [member="Danger Arceneau"] around in his arms and briefly held her back to him, his hand planted on her abdomen. "The black." He replied softly, just about purring the words into her ear with a steady sway to their linked bodies. It was a salacious - And perhaps slightly suggestive - pose, but he only held it for a moment before turning her back around with a breathless smile.

"My family's been nomadic for four generations, now." He elaborated a bit more, keeping his footwork light and his focus on her eyes. His hands guided Danger, his body suggested action when he wanted her to move a specific way. "Entrepreneurs. Salvagers." A quick turn brought them a bit closer to the band, who were finishing up their upbeat number in a fairly obvious way. Aldiel glanced their way, back to Danger, and appeared to get an idea.

Aldiel wrapped his arms around Danger, one on the small of her back and the other between her shoulder blades, squeezing her against him. Leaving in, the lean, mocha-skinned man find yet another occasion to whisper in her ear and leave his breath on her neck. "Put your arms around my neck. Trust me."

Once she did, Aldiel turned at the hip and dipped the redhead impressively low to the ground as the music came to an end - he'd shown off his finesse in guiding her, now he intended to simply support her in his arms, an appropriately dramatic end to the song.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Aldiel D'Lessio"]

He was a heady intoxication as aged fine wine. And he knew it.

Truth be told, it was hard to stop the slight rush of goosebumps down her arms at that salacious murmur. It was awareness, and perhaps the acknowledgement of a man who was as handsome as he was smooth and charming.

None the less, Danger was having a good time. Maybe it was the light flirtation, or just the knowledge that this was all harmless in the end. She had someone to return home to, and while she would never stray, it didn't mean that she was blind. Aldiel D'Lessio was a catch by all intents and purposes, and as her smile would grow, the sort of company she was starting to enjoy.

Her body would follow his lead, and she did as suggested. Hands went slipping around his neck, and before she knew it, her world spun and then fell. Her eyes grew wide in surprise at the dip, and what came next as he drew her back up after the climax was the reward of her laughter.

Eyes bright and a bit more relaxed, Danger could only shake her head.

"And you said you didn't dance all too well, Mistah D'Lessio." she would chide him, but without any venom, just humor. There was a lull in the music allowing couples to return to their tables.

"How about we return to drinks hmm?" after that, she required some water, and maybe later on, they would be able to dance some more.

 

[Alndys]

"Did I say that?" Aldiel mused as he slipped away from [member="Danger Arceneau"] and into his own seat, nursing his whiskey with a playful smile. "That doesn't sound like me - I've been dancing since I was a child. I apologize if I've misled you." Dancing was, Aldiel reasoned, as natural an extension of Kinetic Communication as singing was to the spoken word. It was reasonable to assume a Lorrdian child might be somewhat familiar with graceful and rhythmic motions. "Hopefully, I haven't lost your trust over this small matter."

Returning to the table was a good idea, he had to give Danger credit where it was due. They could both use an opportunity to cool off a bit, after that. Aldiel absolutely could, anyway. When the waiter came shortly after to take their order, Aldiel didn't presume to order for Danger - after all, this was their first meeting that had nothing to do with business. How was he to know what she liked to eat? After all, she likely had no idea he was a vegetarian - though she might get that impression, given how his meal turned out to be mostly mushrooms and greens.

The lighting was modestly low, the music had calmed into a pleasant and classy backdrop - unobtrusive to normal conversation, but not slow enough to induce a lull or chase off the couples that remained dancing around the restaurant. Aldiel could only spot a handful of them from their balcony, which was part of the reason he liked a balcony. It satisfied some teeny tiny little busybody urge deep in his soul to know what was going on around him at all times.

But the kryat's share of his focus was for the stunning redhead sitting across from him. "Tell me something, Danger?" He inquired curiously, leaning one arm on the table while the other traced little circles around the rim of his glass. "I've always thought that a person's plans and intentions speak volumes about them - and, after all, I'm here to get to know you." Aldiel explained with a sly smile. "If everything goes your way and all your wildest dreams come true, where do you think you'll be in, say... five years?"

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Aldiel D'Lessio"]

Danger shook her head, relaying that in the negative. "No need to worry, if anything, I'd say you're doing just fine."

Now in their seats, it felt curiously intimate. All the more so when D'Lessio made his inquiry.

Where would she be in five years?

For a moment, Danger was struck. Oh it wasn't to say that she didn't plan out her life. She did. Had to really. All of Arceneau Trade had been a series of goals. Short term. Long term. Five years. Ten years. Twenty.

It was a life spent bleeding her lifes' blood, bringing it to what it was today.

The corner of her mouth worked a bit, and she gave a rare sheepish smile. A sigh would turn into a small laugh. "To be truthsome, Mistah D'Lessio... I've been planning plans and five, ten, twenty year goals for a while for Arceneau Trade."

Green eyes rose to meet his in her embarrassed confession.

"I've yet to make one with the conditions you've stated therein."

 

[Alndys]

"You're a woman of your work, Danger." Aldiel chuckled softly and tilted his head ever so slightly to one side. "Even to such a point as using terminology like 'conditions stated therin' on a dinner date." He teased ever so slightly, before sitting back and curling his fist under his chin, keeping his full attention and dark eyes on the redhead. "Then again, I tease only because it so grabs my attention - your sharp mind for business is an attractive trait, after all. But if I could make a confession, or presume to answer my own question, in five years I do hope we'll at least be on a mutual first-name basis."

First names? How daring of him.

He maintained lead of the conversation, if only because it seemed to be the most comfortable pace for the both of them. Placing one hand on the table, Aldiel tapped along with the slow beat while offering a smile. "So. You've a blank slate in your appointment books in five years. Let's work on defining that day as something you can look forward to. It'll be fun!" Aldiel suggested, his tone bright and chipper.

"So. Danger." He continued, refilling his whiskey glass - and hers, if she needed one. "In order to frame your perfect day, we'll need an idea of where you like to be." Aldiel lifted his glass in a brief, casual toast before taking a sip. "Your favorite place in the Galaxy is where we'll start. Where, Danger, do you like to be more than anywhere else? Or where have you always wanted to visit, but just never could come up with the time to do so?"

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Aldiel D'Lessio"]

A first name basis? Quite daring.

"That might take a bit more whiskey and a bit more time," Danger said softly, lifting her green gaze up to meet that of Aldiel. There was a small ghost of a smile on her lips, one that suggested that perhaps it wasn't too far off. Building connections, moving beyond simple acquaintances, that was a difficult thing for Danger.

Trust, well. Trust came at an expensive rate. Sometimes more than even the Queen of Trade could afford to buy.

However, she was attempting to change that. Attempting to branch out. Change things. She wasn't the Danger of the past. Not anymore. "My favorite place in the galaxy?"

That prompted a chuckle.

It wasn't due to the question, but it was due to where her mind simply brought her towards. "Tatooine."

An odd location to be sure, but it was the world she was born and raised. In it, she saw a beauty others rarely saw. Sure, with it came the likely threat of death either through criminals or the intense and merciless suns, but there were points of beauty that Danger appreciated.

"Places I never had a chance to go?" now that was a bit more difficult.

Her eyes would drift, panning to glance at the restaurant. "That might take awhile..." she'd been traveling from one side of the 'verse to the next the entirety of her life.

Truth be told, it wasn't about a place she'd love to travel to. It was more the experience she was after. However, the one she truly wished for was out of her hands.

A child born of her womb wasn't the sort of dream she could ever hold onto.

 

[Alndys]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Aldiel considered this for a moment. Tatooine wasn't the answer he'd been expecting, after all, or anything like the answer he'd been expecting. Sitting back, Aldiel made room as their food arrived, carefully laying a napkin over his thighs. "If I may confess something, I've always regarded Tatooine as something of pipe dream." He began, before chucking and raising a hand. "I know I'm not the only businessman to think of taming that desert, and Force knows that I won't be the last, but I can't help but feel that there's some sort of enterprise to be had there. Something to bring a little more civility and a little less... criminal element." As he cut into a juicy mushroom, Aldiel chuckled quietly. "Although, as I understand it, the wild reputation of Tatooine is a part of it's appeal."

A helpless shrug followed that, along with a smirk. "But I love the challenge of tackling lost causes. Just look at all the work we've put into Trevel'ka." Humanitarian aid for a planet known for little more than disease and poverty, schools and hospitals built - the Merrills had established Silk Holdings as a leader in emergent technology and forward thinking, and Aldiel's cousin specifically had been passionate about the cause of dragging the Galaxy, kicking and screaming, into the future. While that often meant connecting worlds that had been written off as unimportant through means like the HALCYON network and affordable 'junk' freighters designed by [member="Jorus Merrill"] himself specifically for the masses, Aldiel often translated that vision to mean bringing the forgotten and forsaken peoples of those planets up to a point where space travel would be useful.

The Lorrdian gestured to his date with his fork, smiling. "Anyway. In five years from today, you'll be on vacation on Tatooine." He continued cheerfully. "Of course, we will need to set an itinerary. Why don't you give me a couple examples of your favorite things, so we can ensure your agenda is as appealing as possible."