For Old Times Sake

[Judah Dashiell]

Planet of Ceto - Salacia Consolidated Headquarters
[member="Dirks Hutchinson"]



Judah stared at the datapad screen across from him. Hands went up to rub his eyes as he reviewed the information. It was barely mid-morning and he was already wanting a break. Working from home today wasn't an option, there was a little too much hands on work to handle at the headquarters.


At least there wasn't any scheduled Holo Conferences til after lunch. Something about a potential salvage site in the Sanctum. That was certainly something they would want to check out and investigate further.


Lost in thought -- well, more like he was mentally calculating numbers -- a soft knock sounded on his office door. Slightly shaggy head looked up to see his secretary poking her head in. An elderly Selkath woman that had pictures of all 500 grandchildren across her desk. Judah liked her -- a real no nonsense lady who did her work without any extra drama. Just the perfect woman for the job. It probably helped she was elderly. Judah didn't need any questioning from the missus at home.


"Mr. Dashiell? Are you busy?"


"Yes and no. What do you need Mrs. Oeti?"


"A friend of the family is here to see you. Says he knows you. Do you want me to send him in or make up an excuse?"


"Just send him in, I've got a few minutes."

 

[Alleycat]

What the frak are you exactly trying to do here, Hutch? Remember you're not exactly bosom buddies with the salvager, though Farmboy did say if I was ever in the vicinity…

The dark-haired Rendili turned around from his perusing of the artwork in the lobby of Salacia Consolidated when the elderly receptionist came back out of the office of one Judah Dashiell; the man who got the prize. Though, Hutch had accepted his fate and moved past losing the love of his life to really the better of the two, who had once fought for the heart of Thessa Kai.

"Mr. Dashiell will see you now. Please go on in, mister…."

Dirks nodded a thanks, "Hutchinson." then took a deep breath and walked into the abyss. Well it seemed as if he was any way not really knowing what was awaiting him on the other side of the door. The former flyboy/ex-soldier hoped it would be productive. Last time they had talked, things had gone as well as could be expected given the previous animosity between them over their shared feelings for the mermaid.

"Hey, Judah… Thanks for seeing me. I was in a nearby system and thought I'd take you up on your offer… That is, if your still extending it?"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Surprised colored Judah's face briefly as [member="Dirks Hutchinson"] entered his office. The last time he had seen the man was quite some time ago -- [member="Thessa Kai"] hadn't even been pregnant then. In fact, it was shortly after Thessa had been rescued from the clutches of a Sith Lord. It wasn't a period he chose to revisit often -- after all, Thessa did fall into a drunken depression for a period of time. Wasn't that the last time they ran into Dirks?


Standing, Judah extended his hand across the desk in greeting. There might be a bit of hard feelings between the two but it wasn't going to prevent Judah from acting like a human being.


"Take a seat, get comfortable." Judah looked about the office. He wasn't big on alcohol but there was a number of bottles floating about. Gifts from other businesses, clients, representatives and the like. "Can I get you something to drink? I think I have stuff stronger than kelp juice laying around."


"My offer still stands, I try to be a man of my word. Surprised you made your way down to Ceto. I'm sure you'll want to see Thess? I suppose that can happen after business..."

 

[Alleycat]

The Rendili shook Judah's offered hand, then took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the CEO's well-appointed desk. Seemed the salvager was doing well for himself by the looks of things. Dirks was dressed in jeans, a button down shirt and a sport coat all in dark colors. Settling back into the chair, he brought his booted foot up to rest on his knee with his elbow leaning on the the arm rest.

"Sure… I'll take what ever you got that's smooth. To be honest, the only way I could drink Thee's kelp juice was to spruce it up with something stronger anyway," Hutch said with a bit of a chuckle behind it. "Oh and belated congrats on your marriage and little one. I'm happy for you two, truly,"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Dirks Hutchinson"]



Smooth? Judah blanked for a moment as he went over to a little cabinet against the side of the office. There were an array of items but he wasn't quite sure. He ended up picking up a bottle of Wryhen's Reserve, a small company out of Corellia. Judah knew [member="Chloe Blake"] from his time with the Vagrants. Based on that fact alone he decided the alcohol should be decent -- Miss Blake wouldn't put out a second rate product.


"Kelp juice is disgusting. Used to drink it when I was trying to impress her. Now, not so much."A high ball glass and the bottle of whiskey was left in front of Dirks, as Judah returned to his chair behind the desk. "Oh, thanks. He's a great kid and well....you know Thessa."


A little awkward silence fell before Judah continued on. He had the perfect spot in mind for Dirks but wasn't sure if the man would take up his offer. Never hurt to ask.


"Back to our topic at hand. I'll cut to the chase ; I need a Chief Security Officer. Salacia has a contract with a PMC firm, Firemane Industries. Now I trust [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] and her crew completely. However, we have a shortage of leaders. Plenty of capable grunts, I don't have enough capable minds to actually point them in the right direction. There is no person over all of security. You'd be in charge of security for every piece of our operation - physical as well as data."


Judah typed in a few requests on his datapad and a map came up. Salacia holdings and their general area of work. It stretched from Ceto to the Levantine Sanctum. He handed the datapad with the map to the other man.


"Southern to south-eastern edge of the Galaxy is our main focus. Not to mention salvage, which is all over the place. You'd mainly be travelling our locations though, just part of the time. Other part is incidentals. Paperwork. Meetings."

 

[Alleycat]

"Heh… The things we'll endure to impress women," Dirks quipped with a knowing lopsided grin, then he took a nice long sip of the amber liquid in the offered glass.

The Rendili savored the extremely smooth taste of the high-end whiskey for a moment, then swallowed finding comfort in the familiar burn and warm feeling the spirit gave him. He wasn't a drunk, but did drink a lot, mostly to ease the constant phantom pain of his cybernetic leg and take the edge off his troubled soul; never on the job though, just in private when he was alone with his demons. Hutch probably suffered from PTSD thanks in part to his MIA days on that forsaken backworld jungle planet, but he'd never admit it or Force-forbid seek professional help. Women and booze were a good enough cure for him, though one day it would probably catch up with him.

Dirks listened attentively as Judah cut straight to the chase after a thought provoking pause on the salvager's part. It made the Rendili a little curious as to what the man had been thinking there, but that was neither here nor there. This job was not what Hutch had expected. To be truthful, he didn't know what to expect from his old adversary back in the day, but a Chief Security Officer position for Salacia. Well now, that was an offer Dirks just couldn't refuse.

The more often than not beach bum these days swirled the amber liquid around in the glass in thought as he perused through the the information provided on it, then finished the last of the drink off in one gulp. Hutch set the glass down quietly on the desk, then changed his seated position going from one of casualness to one of business. He looked Judah in the eye after handing the datapad back to him.

"That's some job offer there, Judah. Thank you. I'd be honored to take it... A Security Chief you've got," Dirks nodded assuredly.

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Dirks Hutchinson"]



"Excellent. I'm looking forward to getting things rolling. I really think your training plus experience is going to be a good fit. Always great to get ex-military in these positions. "


Gaze turned to his datapad and his brows knitted together for a moment at the text. Judah maneuvered to a different window to add Dirks to their line up. Fairly soon the man would have to go through all the orientation steps. Connecting him to Salacia's intranet, familiarizing Dirks with their locations, the core group of folks, their operations. One step at a time though. Judah wasn't trying to overwhelm anyone. The company had started from nothing so he himself had time to grow into it. Those coming in now didn't have that advantage.


"Did you want an office here at HQ or do you prefer to keep your base of operations on Rendili? I don't care where you work. Beyond that, I'll be sure to ease you into the job over the next several weeks. Did you have questions for me?"

 

[Alleycat]

"Here would be preferable, if it can be managed… The fething Sith aren't exactly the best hosts, if you know what I mean."

With Rendili now under the influence of the One Sith since the latest galactic event, Hutch was homeless so to speak. Well except for the Joker's Wild, but that was getting a little old staying on his ship all the time. It would be good to have another port in the great galaxy he could call home for now.

"So when do you want me to start?"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Dirks Hutchinson"]


"I've had my own trouble with the Sith semi-recently, so I can understand." Judah frowned a little at the thought. Ceto was quite a distance aways, as was their locations in the Tingel Arm. Sith didn't exactly just stay to their territory though. Not that Salacia was drawing an incredible amount of attention from enemy forces. At least not that he knew of.


"Tomorrow would seem fitting. Gives you a chance to let everything sink in. It would be a bit odd to get you started in the middle of the day only to head out in a couple of hours."

 

[Alleycat]

Dirks' parents and sister's family had been lucky. They got off Rendili before the Sith took hold of the Core planet. The Hutchinsons now resided on Denon for the moment. It wasn't the best situation living in refugee housing, but it was better than living under the thumb of darksiders.

"Well that sounds like a plan then, Farmboy… Tomorrow it is. In the meantime, got any recommendations for a place to stay around here?"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Dirks Hutchinson"]



"On this island, there really isnt a bad place to stay. In town, away from the beach is naturally a bit cheaper in both quality and price, but you're not looking at Murder Slum Central around here. Most of Ceto is a fairly nice place, nothing too major. Some shady places in the large, underwater cities though..."


What Judah said next though was likely to get him killed by the one and only [member="Thessa Kai"] however....


"Feel free to stop by for dinner, I'll give you the address. Believe it or not Thess can actually cook now."

 

[Alleycat]

"I'm used to living right on the beach so I guess I'll see what I can come up with. I'll take your input under advisement."

The Rendili rose from his chair, quirking a dark brow up at what Judah shared. "You don't say. Thee cooks, huh… Well miracles do happen," the dark haired-Rendili chuckled lightly. Both men knew that [member="Thessa Kai"] in the good ol' rebel days wasn't much of a chef. Seemed married life suited her… or so Hutch would soon find out.

"I'll look forward to dinner then and meeting your little one too"

Dirks offered his hand for a shake before leaving. "I'll let you go then, get back to closing out your day, and thanks again for the job, Judah. I really appreciate it."

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Dirks Hutchinson"]



"Oh, its my pleasure. You'll be helping me out." Judah shook the offered hand. "You may not be thanking me in a month though."


When Dirks started to deal with the cross Galaxy locations and Firemane PMC he may quickly think otherwise. Or....the ex-Rebel may tough it out. Time world tell. At least some more security work would get done. More issues needed to be addressed, especially after that nerdy girl hacked into their systems on Etti IV.


Either way, Judah finished out the day while dreading about heading home. He would have sat in the driveway for a bit, yet Makai seemed to always know when he was about to be home. Loosening his tie, Judah stepped into the beach front home and looked around. Maybe [member="Thessa Kai"] was at the store....couponing. Or off flying. He could only hope.


"Hey....uh...Darlin' you home? Got some interesting news."


Waiting a moment, Judah could hear the sound of smaller feet rushing towards him. Like a shaggy headed blur, his son was attached to his legs with a solid 'omph!' Ice blue eyes looked up at him.


"I wanna hear the 'terestin' news."


"Well, wait til your Ma wanders in here, that way it'll stay a surprise, alright?"

 

[Alleycat]

Well beach front living in one of the posh towers on Ceto wasn't in his pocket book yet, but Dirks did find himself a nice place to live one row back along the canal in a more modest apartment complex (lower left), which at least had a view of the ocean from its small balcony. With traveling, it wasn't like he'd be there a lot anyway so the extra credits could be used elsewhere to make life more enjoyable.

Hutch's new bachelor pad was a furnished one bedroom that had a second room, which would make a nice office now that he was Security Chief for Salacia Consolidated… Which the job offer from his old nemesis (for the affections of a certain mermaid) still completely blew the Rendili beach bum away. The former rebel had never thought in a million years he'd get such a sweetheart job offer, which probably meant it wasn't so lovely after all. Oh well… He would make the best of it, and do a good job in the meantime.

Now to figure out what to bring to dinner with [member="Judah Dashiell"] and [member="Thessa Kai"]... Flowers, chocolates, booze? Might need lots of it! Oh yeah and should he get something for the the little tike? Guess Hutch would see what grabbed him while out shopping before going over to the Dashiells.

 

[Thessa Kai]

[member="Judah Dashiell"] [member="Dirks Hutchinson"]

Wearing a simple blue beach-dress, her feet padded after Makai. Fingers came up to pick a fruity-loop from Makai's afternoon snack out of her driftwood locks of hair. "You got news huh?" Iced-azure gaze sparkled in curiosity as she scooped up Makai. "Hey little man."

He squealed and giggled. "Momma!"

"We have to work on keeping our food in our mouth and on our plates, don't we?"

He giggled and buried his face in her neck. "Yahhhh." Leaning in and careful not to squish their toddler, she kissed Judah lightly on the cheek. "News from work, hun?" Makai held out his hands expectantly to Judah as if to say 'your turn to hold me dad.'

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Thessa Kai"] | [member="Dirks Hutchinson"]



"I think I'm still trying to learn to keep fruity loops out of my own hair. Must be a hazard for us Dashiell men."


Flashing a grin at the pair, Judah grabbed Makai and worked on loosening his tie. Sticking it on the boy as a joke, he knew the news would have to be broken soon. Maybe having the boy in his hands would act like a bit of a softening agent. Was it wrong to use his son as a half-Galan shield? Well....maybe not for this.



"News is, we've got dinner company."


"Uncle Chalu!" Makai perked up, referencing the second-in-command of Salacia Consolidated.


"No, not Uncle Chalu. An old friend of...the.....family, sort of. Dirks Hutchinson. Hired him on to oversee security, especially with those raids that have been happening out in the Tingel Arm....Might take a bit of workload off my plate at the same time.Enjoy some more days at home here."

 

[Thessa Kai]

[member="Judah Dashiell"] [member="Dirks Hutchinson"]

Twin-driftwood browns shot-up and eyes may have bulged a little.

"Oh?"

She managed to close the pair of aqua-lips.

"Oh."

Makai giggled and pointed to Thess. "Mama has fundy face." The once veteran x-wing pilot couldn't help the grin. Hands found a perch on her hips. "Ohhhh. Is this a funny face? This face is gonna get you!"

A high-pitch squeal left Makai's lips as he tried to snuggle closer into Judah. He couldn't escape Thessa's raspberry. She straightened and shot Judah a look. "It's a good thing I made a huge helping of seafood gumbo. It'll go with the side of awkwardness.

Makai perked up. "Wud is kwardness?"

In truth, she was more relieved. She hadn't heard from Dirks in awhile. There were no hard feelings, at least on her end. She considered the Rendili a friend, even with their turbulent history.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Thessa Kai"] | [member="Dirks Hutchinson"]



Well....that went better than expected.



After Makai practically crawled around his back to escape Thessa, Judah put the tie around his head like a weird bandanna and set the little guy on the floor, where he promptly asked what awkwardness was. It was a bit of a hard context to put in for a toddler. Judah struggled a few minutes before answering.


"Its when someone is uncomfortable because of a situation. Don't worry, we're going to have a fun time tonight, alright buddy?"


"Kay."


Judah leaned over and kissed Thessa. At least she was taking this all in stride. Wasn't the last time they saw Dirks when Thessa had just came back from Daxton Bane? He couldn't remember.


"You look lovely as always Mrs. Dashiell. And thank you."

 

[Thessa Kai]

[member="Judah Dashiell"] [member="Dirks Hutchinson"]

She leaned close to her husband's ear to whisper. "Just remember, flattery will get you everywhere."

Grinning and pursing her lips, she pulled away and ruffled Makai's hair.

"Mommy's going to finish making dinner. Who wants to help her decorate some cookies for dessert?"

Makai's head bolted up faster than a flash of an x-wing's ion canon. "Mememememem meeee!" Thee smiled and held out her hand for Makain's chubby fingers to wrap around. "Well, c'mon little guy. Then maybe you can help Daddy set the table."

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Thessa Kai"] | [member="Dirks Hutchinson"]



"Everywhere but making cookies"


Judah disappeared upstairs to change into something that was more relaxed than Corporate Sector. By the time he arrived back downstairs and into the kitchen, Makai was standing on a chair, still decorating his cookies. Judah looked over his shoulder and 'borrowed' some of the little coated candies he was pressing into dough.


"No fair! I need those for Captain Atlantis' shield. See?"


"Well....just squish the other ones closer together." Judah shook his head and grinned at Thessa. "Smells great in here. I should keep you barefoot and in the kitchen more often."


"I washed the vegibles"


"Correction, I should keep you and Makai in here more often."