Fear

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Oh he did that on purpose!

Amusement shone upon Danger's face as the Tetan would swagger away, naked as a jaybird and smug as the Nine Hells. Not that the parting view wasn't all too shabby.

"Bloody old coot," she tossed out behind him, giving another half snort chuckle that would fade as she shook her head. Pranks? Mischief? Just what did the old fool have in mind now? The internal muse would linger as Danger swung her legs over the bed, setting her feet down on the floor a second later. One hand would run through the wild waves of her hair, fingers combing through the tangles slumber had claimed the night prior.

Glints of silver wound through the auburn, and the Queen of Trade was reminded of her age. Now why did I let myself get wound up into this? The ridiculousness of it would not be hidden from her, and she gave a sigh to whatever high power there was out there. That man could convince just about anyone to play along his little game, and to a degree, there was no one to blame but she for going along with it.

Turning back to peer at the direction Alric had left, Danger's mind would wander for a few seconds. She understood to a degree what he was doing, but that didn't hide the scarlet bantha in the room. A tap of her fingers on the bed shut that final thought, then she stood. Well might as well make the most of the day, she thought with a stretch, arms reaching up high as her chest rose.

Comfortable clothes was it? Well, ain't like there was a slinky black dress to wear out here. Everything else was practical as it was useful. Her arms fell to her sides, and she gave her hair one last pass.

Guess pants and a button up shirt will do.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

No button up shirt for Alric, not today.

He returned from where he had ventured in what appeared to be a pair of worn denim pants and a simple black t-shirt. There was some ancient and faded print on the shirt, though reading it at this point would have taken some time and concentration. His hair was half slicked back and his beard was neatly groomed to perfection, shades of white beginning to show through both. He smiled at Danger, giving her a small wink as he managed to slowly slip over to her while she was half dressed. In his hand was a small tube of shaving cream.

"We need balloons." His voice was nearly a whisper as he flipped the can into the air and caught it, stepping behind Danger and slipping a single arm around her.

"They have those on Tatooine, right?" He teased her, his arm gently tightening around her.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Danger gave Alric a curious look as his hand would slip over the curve of her hip. She was in the middle of buttoning up her blouse, four more buttons to go. Her brows would furrow just so, and she would cast him a half amused expression that would wonder why he had shaving cream in his hand.

"Going to to start shaving now?" she'd ask, feeling the slight press of his lips against the crook of her neck. Her question would prompt a curve of his lips, but her snort would deter that thought.

"Balloons? On Tatooine?!" she had this incredulous tone in her voice, as if that was such an odd request. Oh there were rubber products of course sold throughout the bazaars and trade station --- but balloons? Her mind would race as if trying to recall if they would have any.

"Not on the stronghold that I know of," she told him honestly, pause mid buttoning up her shirt. "Ain't ever had a need for them here. Could likely out in Mos Eisley... leftover stock from the Expo."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"No Balloons?" Alric was incredulous.

He had just been kidding before, but did Tatooine actually not have any Balloons? My god, what kind of planet was this? He shook his head slightly, scritching his beard against the bare skin of her shoulder as he began to contemplate. "Okay."

Finally he came up with something.

"Bucket." He nodded his head and kissed her neck. "We're going to need a bucket."

Yeah he could make due with a bucket. It wasn't really ideal, but at least he could do something with it. Plus, if Danger now told him that there were no buckets on Tatooine he had an excuse to take her away from this planet and introduce her to a world where they actually knew how to have fun, and not just by building a few sandcastles.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"A... bucket?" Danger would give a half turn, rotating at the waist to glance over at the Tetan. "Why do you..." her voice would trail off. She shook her head. Whatever he had planned likely made sense to him.

"likely down by the maintenance section... in the warehouse," she told him, buttoning up the last two buttons of her blouse. A hair tie would slip from her wrist and she would finger comb her hair up into a pony tail. The former Titan took the moment to take advantage of the situation and his hand went sailing over the dip of her waist and over the curve of her hip. Another kiss would press against her shoulder, but it didn't stop the mischievous glitter in his blue eyes.

"Just what are you planning, Kuhn?" she would ask, a bit wary. Just how was this going to be fun? She would turn in his embrace, facing him as her fingers would trace up his arms and to his shoulders. A press of her lips would grace his bearded chin.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

He smirked. "Just watch and learn, Arceneau."

Alric pressed his lips against hers, pulling her tight against him and squeezing her gently.

"Just watch." Behind her back he flipped the shaving cream in his hand again. "And learn."

As soon as he said those last words he slipped from her grasp, gently dragging his fingers over her arm until he reached her hand. His fingers laced around her own, and then the Tetan began to pull her in the direction he was heading. Alric lead the way through the fortress, moving with quick steps and a certain amount of stealth. A few times he pulled Danger back, pressing her against the wall and lookign sideways as though they were spies. Each time he did so he would press a kiss against her lips, then slowly look about and begin to sneak off in another direction, his hand still wrapped around hers.

Eventually they reached the maintenance section. "Okay, buckets. Help me look."

Alric began to furiously search, shaving cream still in hand.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

He was such a confusing man.

Like a kid leading point in some grand spy game, he brought her down towards the maintenance ward with all the stealth he could manage. At one point, he had dragged her back into the shadows, pressing her against the wall with his body. A finger had pressed against her lips, and he had worn the most devilish of grins. Half of her wondered if it was to steal a kiss or if he was really trying to get into this whole, sneak playact.

Once they reached the maintenance bay, the Tetan had begun his furious search. Still perplexed at why he would need a bucket and a bottle of shaving cream, Danger acquiesced and joined in. He went left and she went right. Every now and then, the sound of approaching footsteps would prompt Alric to gesture at her to get down and keep a low profile. It was as if it was an infiltration of her own stronghold, with them certainly up to no good.

Finally, by a few cleaning products, Danger produced the desired bucket. It was made out of plastoid, and would normally hold about four liters. Playing along, the woman came up along side him.

"This what you want?" she would murmur, extending it out to him.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

He smirked at her as she found the bucket. Apparently Tatooine wasn't entirely a lost cause. With a confident, almost smug, stride he made his way over towards her. "It's not everything I want."

Alric took the bucket from her but didn't stop his advanced, his hand that held the shaving cream snaked around the small of her back. He pulled her close, his nose gently nuzzling against her own. Today was about having fun, playing a few pranks, maybe showing Danger that it was alright to cut loose every once in a while. Oh she knew how to do that, but she didn't know how to do it properly. A part of her was always thinking, always worrying, always playing that dejarik board.

It was time for that to stop, if only for a little bit.

"Trust me." Alric said with big doe eyes, giving her a look that could melt duracrete.

He kissed her gently on the lips.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

He made her feel light headed when he did that. All lightheaded and breathless. His nose would gently nuzzle her own, and her lips found his, melting under the kiss. What was it about him that made her feel like putty? That had her naturally sink her body against the hard wall of his chest, seeking his warmth and the press of his embrace.

It was the feeling of falling into someone who was holding you up from hitting rock bottom. The feeling of warmth washing against your skin as another person supplied you with your next few breaths.

He drew back, and a light squeeze would follow after. Staring up at him, wide green eyes would drink in the sight of the Tetan. Peppered hair, trimmed beard, the laugh lines that sat at the corners of his eyes. The expression of tenderness he gave her that made her fall even more in love with him than before.

Alric Kuhn was a drug. A highly addictive drug that had you hooked as soon as you took it. There was no going back from that. She'd always crave more.

"Okay." her soft hush would provide her answer and maybe there was more to it than just the word. Acceptance. Commitment. Awareness.

Trust.

"So now what?"

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

He smiled at her.

Maybe she was beginning to accept it, that she would be having fun today. That thought made him happy. He wanted Danger to be happy. He wanted her concerns to be gone, for her worries to disappear. Alric knew that it wouldn't be easy, he knew that there would always be fears that she had, but if he could erase them, or make her forget them even for a few minutes, then he would have what he wanted. He gave her a short squeeze, a small nuzzle on her nose, then he let her go.

"Now, we need a door." It may have seemed odd, but it would eventually come to a crux. "An actual one."

He knew that there were a few in the stronghold, mainly on the older buildings. "After that, we'll have everything we need."

After this...well they could do something else that was fun. Their day was open, they could do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. For Alric, that meant making Danger's day a little bit more enjoyable. He wanted her to smile, he wanted her to laugh, he wanted her to be happy.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Why would you need a door?" the confusion would return, and she would study him as he went off with a purposeful gait to search for the perfect door. Danger went following him in pursuit. "We mainly have hatchways with blastdoors..." her words would trail. Tatooine wasn't the best area for swinging doors. Such a design would prompt the likelyhood of it getting blow off its hinges and did little for ensuring the bulk of the sand would remain in the desert and not indoors.

A brief frown would gather as she would mull over there potentially might be one. Maintenance bay would connect to the hangar, and there were also other little areas and pockets of pourstone adobe that would be situated within the compound.

He gave her a brief look that would relay, 'Just wait.' and took her hand in his. Tugging her along much like a child would do to another, they left the maintenance bay. He was such a silly thing, she mused. One couldn't help but shake their head at the man, but there was something infectious about it.

Danger found herself smiling.

"Oh!" a thought came to her, "Maybe by the cargo storage." she would state with a wide eyed expression, snapping her fingers to point at him. "It is situated further inside the compound so a bit more secure."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"Aahhh." It was something at least, and it was a place that someone would go to eventually, thats what mattered.

He knew the compound pretty well from when he had been staying here. Granted it took him a few tries, and once or twice he had to look at Danger with large puppy dog eyes to get any sort of direction. It usually solicited a small giggle from her followed by the point of her finger. It helped that Alric was encouraging the behavior, holding the bucket and shaving cream in one hand while dragging her along and still acting out his stealth mission.

Eventually they would reach the cargo storage house, an old building that just like Danger had promised held a regular door.

"Aha!" Alric said as he dragged Danger inside. The air was stuffy and slightly stale, but breathable. "Now, for the prank. Lily and Rose did this to me once, I think they learned it from one of their friends."

Alric began to finaggle with the shaving cream, taking the small bucket and filling it with a more than healthy amount of shaving cream. He then shifted slightly and opened the door ever so slightly, directing Danger to hold it open for a moment before he jammed it slightly in place with a small rock. He then looked around for a moment and placed a small package he found on one of the tables just beyond the door, it was in sight from the outside, but not within reach. He then placed the bucket on top of the door, grinning the whole time.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Well don't you look mighty proud of yourself," Danger would state by Alric's side, half shaking her head in amusement as much as bafflement. Here they were by there lonesome and he was so smug with the result of his contraption, it was hard to not find humor in the situation.

"Like the cat that ate the cream." A low chuckle came bubbling out of her, her hand rising to cup his cheeks in both of her hands. "You are the devil himself, Kuhn," she told him with a tang of mockery, reaching up to give him a peck on the lips. Sinking into his embrace, she settled herself in, green eyes bright.

"I hope you're happy now."she'd say with a far warmer smile and a relaxed expression than she had before.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

He did seem pretty happy, though they were hardly done.

"I am." Alric said with a small smile, giving her a quick brush of his lips before breaking the embrace and once again pulling her in the direction that he wanted to go. "Now, for part two."

Of course this little trick was something that needed waiting, and luckily Danger's guards were all rather keen on making sure that the fortress, and everything in it, was perfectly neat and organized. He supposed that was the way of being trained well, something that right now he was rather glad for. It was also a lucky thing that most of the guards here at the Arceneau Stronghold had very good senses of humor, mostly because this joke didn't really work well with people that didn't.

"Okay, hide!" He whispered to her, ushering her behind one of the small workbenches that lined the warehouse.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Danger found herself sliding into a half crouch beside Alric, fingers curling around the edge of the bench as they both ducked low. They were both slightly out of breath, not to due exertion but because of the sudden pump of adrenaline Alric's excited exclamation to hide would draw them to this shadowy corner.

Plopping down to sit, the ridiculousness of the situation made Danger chuckle. It was a chuckle she immediately would attempt to stifle by covering her mouth. The act was rather amusing, as there was very little foot traffic along this section to begin with. They sat between two stacks of cargo containers, aurabesh sigils running across them identifying them as long term provisions and desert gear -- emergency field supplies, that sort of thing.

Her chuckle would barely echo among the silence, but would wane as Danger shot a glance over at the former Titan. For a moment her smile would linger, and her expression softened. She took in the silver glint of his hair and that drizzled his beard. The worn, tanned visage and the lines of crow's feet at the corner of his eyes. He aged well, blast the man, and it showed.

A stray forelock in their journey had fallen over his brow, and the soft touch of her fingertips would lightly brush it back with a skim of slender digits.

For a moment, she was struck in remembrance that the cafune would bring her. Of another time when the roles were reversed. Only that at that time it had been in the dark of a cave, his fingers running through her hair, the other massaging her neck. Of a time where the thrum of his humming had turned into a dirge, the timbre of the tenor echoing amidst the storm.

Where he had sung of a lost love, of a woman that had run away, of a man that had tried to find her, and of that failure.

Sad, mournful, and beautiful.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Alric didn't notice Danger's nostalgia.

He felt her hand brush through his hair, his own catching it for a moment and trailing it down to his lips so he could plant a kiss on the back of her hand. He shot her a smile, a small smile, then directed her attention towards the door. There was movement beyond it, the catching of a shadow against the inside of the building being a tell tale sign of that. Alric smirked, then made a sushing motion so that Danger, and he himself, did not tip off whoever stood on the other side of the door.

"What the?"

The voice trailed off slightly, wondering as the shadow shifted and began to walk towards the door.

Alric looked over towards Danger and waggled his eyebrows, then waited half a moment more. Then, finally the door opened. It was shifted all the way open, and the bucket atop it wobbled for half a moment before quickly tipping and falling over. The shaving cream filled receptacle began to fall and with a soft squelch it landed upon the head of the guard who had investigated the door.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Thankfully, her left hand was still over her mouth, which allowed Danger to stifle her subsequent laugh. Well, it was more of a chortle. The blue streak of curse worse that would follow as the guard ripped off the bucket from his head was hilarity indeed. Shaving cream was smeared everywhere; on his hair, face, over his eyes.

The bucket went clattering on the floor, spilling leftover shaving cream in a series of white plops. Danger couldn't help herself as the guard would swivel his head towards their direction, ducking lower to avoid detection out of instinct. His eyes were covered in shaving cream, the guard's hands coming up to scoop and flick the white foam off his eyes.

Another string of curses and the man would start to depart, ornery for the most part but set to clean himself up. Likely he was going to yell at someone for the blasted trick.

A smirk and the muted sound of Alric's own laughter drew Danger's attention, and she couldn't help but turn to face him again. It was all rather silly, and certainly woes were cast off to the side for the present time.

She shook her head. Well, come what may, Alric Kuhn certainly had an interesting curious way of having fun. It was senseless, but for the Tetan, she knew he was trying to lighten the mood.

It was all that really mattered.