Take Off The Mask

[Alric Kuhn]

His eyes snapped open.

Danger was yelling in his ears, shaking him and jarring him awake as best as she could. There was a heavy grog over him, but as soon as the sound of her voice finished echoing within his head the reverberating noise of Repulsor engines struck him too.

“Where?” He suddenly said, alert, awake, and his spine tingling with an odd prickling sensation.

Alric felt no heat or cold from his back, yet it felt like a thousand needles were stabbing him at once. The sensation was not painful, but it was not pleasurable either. He winced slightly as he tried to get up, his head swiveling, searching for where the engines were coming from.

His hand reached for the blaster in his pack.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

​

​

Dust trails on the approach would grow more discernable by the second, a gesture from a hand would direct Alric Kuhn's attention straight to them. Unless they could tell they were friendlies, it was best to keep out of sight until they could get a closer look.

"There," Danger would utter out, moving towards the backpack. Her hands would move quickly, going through the contents of a small side pocket. Two seconds later, she would pull out a small black object, wedged shaped microbinocoulars. On a knee, she brought them to her face, settling the microbinoculars over her eyes.

Quietly, her forefinger would work with the magnification, zooming into the distant dust cloud.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Alric followed her gaze.

He didn't have any macrobinoculars sadly, but he did have a pretty good set of eyes. The speeders came rushing towards them, and Alric couldn't help but clatter to his feet. He grasped for his backpack, pulling one of the ancient Blaster Pistols from it and checking to see if the powerpack was secure.

Not the best with a blaster, but it would do.

“Same guys as yesterday?” He doubted it, there was no reason to come back to the crash site, not after they had already taken the Alpha Red. More likely this was another set of scavengers who had their eye on a bigger prize.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

There was a worry there, settling deep in the pit of her stomach. Were they the same guys from yesterday? Or were they someone else? With the way that the dust devils were dancing and streaking across the dunes, it was hard to say.

At least until she finally managed to narrow in on the familiar logo of orange and red. Arceneau Trade.

The corner of her mouth would perk, and that sense of relief would bear down in a relaxing of her shoulders. "Nope. Sure ain't." Flynn had received her message, etched in fire in big bold aurabesh letters. The macro binoculars would dip from her eyes, her head swiveling towards his.

Before he'd know it, she'd grab his face with both hands, the black macrobinoculars slightly biting in to his cheek as she suddenly bent down and kissed him smack on the lips. It was a peck, but one packed with a pow of relief and jubliation.

"Just my boys." she'd drawl out, flashing a genuine smile as ever as she pulled back. Bright green eyes would dance, starting to move away to get to her feet.

Had to get their attention now.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He smirked.

There was no other thing to it, just a simple long smirk drawn across his lips.

Apparently her friends had found her, and apparently it would be time to get off this damn world. A loud sigh escaped his lips, and his eyelids folded shut. Even though he had just slept, even though he had plenty of rest and maybe even a hint of relaxation, Alric felt tired. His body was worn, his mind was half broken, his back still ached.

He could not describe what he was feeling.

Was it elation? Was it happiness? He didn't know. Those feelings felt somewhat foreign to him, as though they had been just out of his grasp for so long, as if they didn't quite belong where they currently were.

His eyes slowly folded open. “How do we make them see us?”

She was still in charge, this was her world after all.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Danger came to her feet, a renewed purpose in her. Shoulders set, her eyes critically considering. The corner of her mouth perked, and a swivel of her face turned to the man sitting beside her. Bright emerald green locked on oceanic blue.

"Well that's what they have smoke markers for, Kuhn," she'd tell him.

A gesture would be made for him to get up. "I'll wave them down. " she was efficient in her movements, taking charge. She'd round over back to her pack, her hands moving deftly over it. A clasp was snapped open, the macrobinoculars set to the side.

There was relief in her expression as well as a knowledge that this was finally over. Depending on distance, from here it was to an outpost or straight towards her Stronghold. Either would do fine.

They still had to figure out who was at the root of the theft of the Alpha Red vial. Headquarters would have more information on that with her security scans. Her mind was racing, going through everything that would need to get done.

A palm would curl round her can of smoke, a relieving weight in her hand. That she would be using is what felt good. It marked an end. Straightening to her feet, her torso gave a half turn. Eyes would squint towards the horizon where the trails of dust marked the approaching speeders.

"Keep an eye out!" she'd toss over her shoulder; that was a reference for him to ensure there were no surprises coming from anywhere besides the incoming speeders.

Her boots would start to trace across the surface of the ISD, moving down in increasing speed. The blazing suns would flare over her with their heat.

Grabbing the pin with her forefinger, she jerked it hard. It went sailing over her shoulder, clinking against the hull of the ship. Bright orange smoke would start streaming in great billows in her hand.

A plume of it would rise up into the air, saturating the area around her, Danger waving it in her hand as the spot was highlighted for their rescuers to pinpoint.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He smiled.

It was a calm smile of relief.

What is over? It felt like it, but not yet. He followed Dangers instructions to the letter. Carefully moving and gathering his things. As he swept up the pack the odd little Royal Guardsmen keycard fell out. He stared at it for a moment, laying there on the ground, frowning. He shifted and then swept it up, pocketing it for some unknown reason instead of leaving it there.

His head swiveled to gaze towards the speeders, they were closer now, and the billowing smoke was more than a little hint that they had noticed the massive marker. Alric looked over to Danger, standing so tall and confident, staring down into the patches of desert bellow.

He wondered back to how this had all start, to how he had been so foolish in the beginning.

Shaking his head Alric walked up to Danger to stand beside her. The numbness of his back prevented any feeling of reaching him, the kiss of the sun upon him not even being remotely felt. He moved to stand beside her, the Titan and the Trade Queen.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

T A T O O I N E
J U N D L A N D W A S T E S
Arceneau Stronghold


The Twin suns had long since began their descent into the horizon by the time the small scouting party made it to the Arceneau Stronghold. They were deep in the Jungland Wastes, the tall cliffs and canyons of the ridgeline providing a natural area of fortification.

With ore deposits here preventing any measure of comm transmission or guided geographical pinpointing, there was no better protection against the advance of dangers of the inorganic and organic kind. Carved right into the cliff, Danger's home would be a near intimidating sight. Patrols in desert gear would man nooks and crows nests; that wasn't even including the bulky Herglic mercenaries and Arceneau Security personnel made up of Trandoshans, Gamorreans, and brawny Kaleesh warriors.

There were even a few Tusken Raider outfitted guards, enough to cause a double take.

"They won't kill you Kuhn," a weary comment meant to assure came from behind the Titan, the Queen of Trade sliding off the speeder. A low murmur came as her attention was caught by the large burly mountain of a man. He had darkly tanned skin, almost akin to bantha leather, with a thick beard covering the lower portion of his face. He was in desert attire, wearing a moderate amount of gear and weapons that would make anyone take a second to consider action against.

His name was Flynn, at least, from what one could catch from Danger. He was her overseer for the Stronghold as well as the head of security for the planet. Yeah, the planet. It was an odd thing to wrap around with, thinking that Tatooine had a head of security, what with it being no more than a dust ball prone to shielding the scum of villany.

But it did; times had changed since centuries prior. While there was still a criminal presence and freedom for a man to disappear in the dune seas, there was nothing that happened on Tatooine that Danger would not eventually hear about.

This world was her own.

The two heads of Arceneau and Flynn would draw closer, almost intimately so. What manner of conversation would not be able to be heard, they spoke in low tones. Danger's posture, however, would let anyone discern that she was intent and focused on the conversation. The stubborn set of her shoulders told a tale that she was not to be swayed while the curt nod from the old merc said he had his orders and would follow through.

Conversation over, Danger would twist her torso. Green eyes a deep emerald hue would latch upon the dusty and grime covered form of Alric Kuhn. Her lips would thin.

"You look like chit." came her blunt observation. A sigh and a shake of her head came next, one hand running through the tangled auburn tresses of her hair.

After a second, a hand would gesture for him to follow her.

"Come with me... Reckon you're itchin' for a refresher." the slow roll of her hips would draw her walk past him, "Feel lucky."

"We have water."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Alric didn't even try to listen in, he didn't even try to look at anything.

He would never have admitted it, he would never have said anything, and he barely showed it, but a part of him was terrified. The Tusken's, who he knew would not hurt him, who Danger had assured would not hurt him, but there was a creeping feeling in the back of his mind.

There was no shaking it, no removing it, he knew why it was there. Any psychologist, hell any child would know why. The Tuskens had instilled a fear in him, one that would not be easily shaken. When he closed his eyes he could still feel the bite of the lash, could still feel the harsh arching pain curving through his being and eating into him.

Alric shook slightly, as though he were cold.

Then Dangers voice reverberated into his ears. His eyes suddenly snapped open, bright blue staring at those verdant forests. A smile crept onto his face, and the temptation to say something snarky in return to her rose to new heights, yet a Tusken walking behind her called to his attention, and all that came from him was a sudden nod and a single word. “Alright.”

He stood from his place against the speeder, following Danger quietly.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Danger did not miss his quickening step.

A glance over her shoulder would catch a glimpse of him. There was a pallor to his skin, a blanching among the sunburnt flesh and the layer of sweaty grime. The crunch of sand and pebbles came with every footfall, Danger returning her attention towards the large twin blast doors that secured the main entrance of her stronghold.

"Daddy always said that a home takes on the personality of its owner," she began to talk, a twang in her voice that thickened round the vowels. Raw fingers would gesture towards the blast doors ahead of him. There they would detail the weathered features, the stout and secure foundation, the attention to detail but no nonsense approach that would give the illusion of blending into the very canyon itself.

"Granddaddy wasn't one for the spotlight, he took on a more pragmatic view." steps would bring them bounding up, the hiss of the door sliding open as a few guards would nod at the woman passing on by.

"Security was his main concern; a place to hide." inside, she led him into a large open courtyard carved from within the canyon walls that would reveal scattered tents. Workers and droids stood moving crates underneath them; gear of some sort from a glance. The place was large enough to hold several small shuttles and some speeders. On to the right one could see the open hanger style enclosure that would allow entrance to the larger freighters. "Sandstorms were pretty bad back then. Served best to make do what the desert gave to begin with in order to fight it."

She was talking to keep him focused on her, distracted. Another gesture around. "Some say that these were originally old Krayt dragon lairs; others claim that they were here a time before them. Be what it may, there's no other spot with a view of the Waste like that from on top."

The walls were smooth as one would figure, well worn with the natural beauty of the stone reflecting in the light. "Place is littered with stairs though...granted, my momma was having none of that."

Turning towards the left, another pair of twin blast doors would come to view. They were doors that would lead to a large turbo lift. "She made my daddy install lifts not long after she married him." a smirk drew over her lips.

Two more guards greeted her, one turning to punch in a key for the turbolift doors to open. A motion to encourage Alric inside would follow.

"But that was just the beginning."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He followed after her, listening intently.

Alric somehow doubted that anyone Danger Arceneau didn't trust ever made it this far into the fortress, or those that did didn't make it back out.

Her tale at the very least kept his mind of the Tusken's that were seen walking around the place, though more than once he had to shake his head and move away from someone. It wasn't on purpose, he didn't even realize that he was doing it, yet his unconscious mind guided him away from what he could only perceive as danger.

Weary of getting hurt again.

The turbo-lift doors opened, and Alric followed Danger inside. The two guards looked at him for a moment, then Alric and Danger found themselves alone. The massive blast doors closed, and the Titan looked at his companion of now more than a week.

“You know...I have an apartment on Coruscant.” A smile returned to his face. “Basically the same thing, right?”

 

[Danger Arceneau]

A pause. Then an answering smirk.

"I reckon mine's bigger." she said, notable rare amusement lifting her tone. Reaching beside him, she would lean forward to press floor requested. A soft click and then the turbolift would give a faint shudder. WIthin seconds, the force of them ascending would play mild havoc with their bellies. That odd sensation of freefall.

Her hand went drawing back, reaching into her hair again to push the locks away from her face. "And the air quality better." came the snort thereafter. She'd find herself leaning against the wall of the turbolift. There was something relaxing about the steady rumble, even if it was only for just the few seconds it took to get them to the top. There were several stops between the hanger and the personal living quarters Danger called her home. There were armories, safe rooms, security surveillance, a medbay, and other living spaces for the permanent residents. The stronghold was exactly that, a fortified desert fortress that would see the residents live through a year's worth of necessity. Deeper underground bunkers were the end all haven with the intent of surviving even an orbital bombardment. Never tested, but one can only hope.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Just a few seconds, she thought. It was just the desire to be for a moment; her body was still tense and running on adrenaline from the past week. Perhaps still a bit numb and in shock.

To think that a week ago she had come here to find solace in solitude.

Now she was standing in the turbolift of her home with the man she had ran away from to begin with.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

A man who would draw close to her.

They were quick silent steps, one that she would still hear. There would be no surprise as he came upon her. His mind was still permeated with thoughts of Tusken Raiders, with lashes of the whip and tearing away of flesh, with the desert, with the pain that he had felt and with the reminder of his dead sisters.

The hairs on his neck rose as the turbo-lift ascended, that odd feeling settling into his stomach.

“Danger.”

It was a single word, but it caused her eyes to flip open. Bright verdant green stared into icy blue.

Perhaps it was his frayed nerves. Perhaps it was the inkling of tension that still held between them, perhaps it was the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. Alric didn't know, but he felt a need to be near her, to be close. Was it because they were safe now?

Alric didn't know.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

There stood Alric Kuhn before her, swarthy of face and lost little boy expression that gave a silent plea. For what, well now, that's the question that needed answering.

All men have some percentage of poodoo in them. They stretch what they know, what they've done, and what they can do like adding soda to whiskey. How much a woman can stomach depends on her taste and her level of desperation.

Danger was not desperate. She took her men straight up, although during moments of weakness she had been known to partake at any angle. When she found herself sinking into those watery blue eyes like an unholy baptism, well she knew she was done for.

Her resolve began to dissolve. Temptation isn’t a vice you triumph over once, completely, and then you’re free. Temptation slips into bed with you each night and helps you say prayers. It wakes you in the morning with a friendly cup of caf, and knows just the way you take it, heavy on the sin.

Alric Kuhn was one heavy sin. One that said she'll be cursing herself thrice on over 'fore long. It wasn't the fact that he'd given as good as he got, nor did it have to do with the angles of his handsome face. No, what he did there went beyond all that. It scratched at the door of the soul, begged to be let in. It was a need. The presence of another.


Her momma always said that the decisions a woman makes make the woman. What did that make her?


The rumbling of the turbolift done set a hum in the air, a fine trembling that could very well hide the one being called 'pon her person at that very moment. Seconds would tick, that tension thickening like molasses on a winter's night. Another shudder of the lift would announce their arrival at the suite, and therein yonder past the lift doors would be the vast pourstone and mountain carved shelter she called home. Rugged and earthy, no frills save for what one could use to make the desert a comfortable home.

But that wouldn't be visible to them. No, not yet.

No the focus was there between her and he. In the choices that came, none other more important than the one she made right now.

Not another word was said, body language would be a way to communicate this venture. Actions spoke louder than words. The hiss of the turbolift's door would slide open, and in that moment, Danger's hand would also venture forth. Fingers would outstretch, cutting the distance between them as shafts of light from the distant setting sun's cast them in a swath of golden light.

Bathing an image of two figures drawing together as lips became a point of a reaffirmation of life.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He stood, quietly, wave after wave of calming water dripping over him.

It rolled down his body and washed away the salty taste of dirt, muck, and a thousand other things that had built upon him. His body sagged against the wall, his hands hanging at his side. The warm water poured over him, the relaxation of it pressing into his skin and relaxing him.

He could feel it drip down his shoulders, his sides, his face, his chest, but not his back.

In a world of crashing waves that was this small shower Alric could not feel his back. His lips turned down in a frown, one hand snaking away from his side and slowly rubbing across his back. He felt the dead and scarred region, where his nerves were silent, he felt the splitting scars and the deep valleys that were there.

His eyes closed, tears adding to the water running down his face.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Fingertips would gingerly slide against the puckered red and pale pink streaks that were Alric's back. They started a fair inch below the inky black script - Fiona and Violet - his sisters if she recalled correctly. They alone had remained untouched, the whip marks turning into corded ripples down his shoulder blades, and over his spine. Her finger tips would map the

Water would shower over them both, trickling silvery rivulets over lean flesh. Danger would quietly trace the streaks of scars over his spine, following that cruel pattern over his ribcage and further still to the small if his back.

He would not feel her touch; but her presence was there. She was empathetic to his state of mind, the knowledge that his own foolhardiness had brought him to such an end. However, what was done is done.

He was alive. That is what mattered.

It would take time to work through things; it did with her after the realization of just what the use of Aspha had on her own body and the repercussions that would follow with the vicious internal scarring. They say that a woman is defined by her ability to give life -- reckon in the end Danger had in the last ten years attempted to contradict that.

However no matter what she did, it didn't erase the facts. She was barren; the Arceneau dynasty ended with her.

At times it was a hard pill to swallow. Would her daddy have looked at her different?

Steam would rise in curls and whorls, and slick fingers would start and upward trail, slinking across his ribs to where her touch would flare into existence.

Ain't nothing she could say that would erase what had happened. But at the very least, odd as it was, and perhaps due to the week long craziness that had brought them together, Danger simply offered comfort.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

His chest rose and fell, his body stuttered, and his entire form shook.

Head still leaning against the wall, Danger slowly sliding around him, water pouring on the both of them. What was he supposed to do? What was going to happen? The stark contrast to just a week ago, what had happened, what they had done and felt.

His arm fell to his side again, hanging there.

“Well.” His voice was broken, cracked. “Could you get my lower right? I can't seem to reach it.”

Humor.

It was a wall, a veil, a mask., but it was something. It was a little bit of Alric coming back into the fray, a little bit of himself. He had to start somewhere, he had to go back into what he was. There was no use in simply sitting there and sulking, that would only make it worse. So he cracked a joke, made fun.

What else could he do.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Reckon that reach was never a problem with you, Kuhn," came the lighthearted quip right after, offering up oblivion with her hands. Her voice would carry a throaty roll of amusement, tracking along the same line as that of Alric's attempt at humor.

She knew well what he was going on with. Everyone had to start somewhere. To his benefit, he choose to step forward in humor than in hate.

Far better than how she had once lashed out over a decade ago.

She wouldn't show him a measure of pity; ain't what a man would like. There were times of comfort and times to simply push a man forward. Danger honestly was still trying to figure out things herself. This was unfamiliar territory to her; to a degree she had attained a measure of banter like so with one particular Information Broker -- but never to this extent.

A loofah and the scent of lemon verbena would fill the air, and soap suds would foam thick in her hands. While not a Companion herself, hospitality and service were a skill that had bled into Danger Arceneau through her mother. Just that few ever were a recipient from the titan maned woman herself.

"Reach that is," she would chuckle out low, commencing a slow but steady wash of the man's back.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He smiled at her words, though he did not feel her touch.

There was an odd sort of pressure as she dabbed at him, a press, but that was all. He frowned slightly, lips turning down as his arms hung at his side. He wondered if he would ever get the feeling back, if it would return naturally or if he could somehow recover it. For some reason he doubted that, for some reason he knew that it was just a pipe dream that would never become reality.

Alric had done what he had done, and now he would have to live with the consequences.

His eyes folded open, bright blue staring at the wall of the shower.

“Those men.” He said suddenly, completely changing the subject and turning it towards something that he knew was more important, something that would be bothering her just like it had been bothering him this entire time. “Do you think we can find them?”

This was her world, she had told him so.

If anyone could find them here, it would be Danger.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

"Flynn is looking into it." Danger would inform him. That was what the two had spoken low about prior to entering the stronghold, relaying as much information as she could to the Head of Security.

"If there is anything, Flynn will be able to find it. One way or another," she added, her hand gently moving in a soft rotating motion over the cruel pattern of his back.

"One can still disappear on Tatooine," a trail of water would carve down her cheek, steam rising in the increase of temperature. "But one can't hide a storm that big; not with my satellites. Not to mention... there ain't no stealth ship that could fly out of here. Grav traps make it so that we can detect them --- and that Interdictor makes it mighty difficult to leave without leaving some kind of trace."

They would be able to find a lead; it just would take time to go through the logs.