Take Off The Mask

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Breaking into the tourist industry?" Danger would confirm, a slight arch of her eyebrow. She knew a few companies who were already a part of that. BrightStar Entertainment was one of them. The Herglic Trade Empire also provided cruise tours. There were many more smaller companies, but with the way the war with the One Sith and the Republic dragged, business wasn't booming as much in the Core Worlds. It was a new venue to consider, and it had potential.

This was a more sound business decision than the first time Danger met Lily in the boardroom. She is learning.

"It has potential," she would tell Lily, nodding slightly, "A long term investment with steady returns." Truth be told, Danger made the bulk of her money through micro-transactions. Fuel, Food, Water, and medicine. Weapons and schooling. All of these would point to a constant, steady influx of credits because they were the bare necessities. Only after that, did their taste and desires become more specific.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Lily nodded. It was a more sound business plan then what she had done with the GUIDE, and more importantly it was something that she could do mostly by herself. All she needed was her fathers corporate resources, the rest she could take care of. The idea was simplistic enough that it wouldn't even be that risky either, safe and sound was far easier than one might imagine. She smiled at herself, somewhat pleased by the compliment that she had received from Danger.

"It'll go well." Alric said with a smile. "You'll just have to find the right path for the ships to take once they're built."

Something else that Miss Arceneau could help with, though of course Alric didn't say that out loud.

Had this been a part of Alric's master plan? Had he known what his girls were doing and known that Danger would want to get involved? Maybe. The Tetan was a Master Dejarik player after all, and something like this would be just in his wheelhouse.

Somewhere a more nefarious Alric cackled.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]



It was strange, seeing the subtle expression of pleasure grow over Lily's face. Was it something I said? Or was it because of Alric. Things were still new when it came to the girls, and Alric knew them better than she. In that she felt like the observer looking in, pressed to the window to see but not quite understanding how and where it all belonged.

One could say it was just growing pains, and that nothing came nor was learned overnight. Everything had to be taken with baby steps. This was theirs. Taking another sip of her water, she would curl her fingers with another squeeze of Alric's hand under the table.

Should she continue asking questions? Should she just listen? Let Alric take the lead? Mentally she chided herself that she was only riling herself up again.

Just be normal. Answer honestly, and do what you normally do.

"Reckon that wouldn't be too difficult at all." she'd add along after Alric, "Just have to do your research."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Alric nodded.

Lily was always one to do her research, that and more. Apparently she had been rather...well not shamed, but she had learned her lesson regarding what she had done with the GUIDE. Not to say that particular project hadn't worked out, but since she had been working with Vanir Technologies she knew more and more that in business it was often better to wait and see than jump right in. Alric supposed that was his own influence on her, though he himself tended to jump the gun at times.

"Alright." Alric said as his stomach grumbled. "Maybe we can all look at something together."

The Tetan gently squeezed Danger's hand again. "Later of course."

Lily slowly looked over to Danger, a bit of...hope lingering in her eyes.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

There was hope in that statement. A quest for the future. For them all.

Danger caught the expression flowing from Lily's face, and for a moment she wondered just what it meant. Maybe Alric had been right. Time would tell. A reciprocating squeeze would envelop Alric's own. With how everything was moving along, perhaps the rest of the day would go as smoothly as well. Certainly she and the girls were starting to feel more comfortable with each other. The conversation was flowing, at least around topics each were a bit more familiar with.

It would take time. The Danger they knew had the reputation and the iconic image of the Queen of Trade. Not quite the person most would consider to be in a relationship with their father, much the less, the same daring woman from the tales of his past.

Either way, it was small baby steps.

Ones they would all take together.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

The rest of the dinner would go well. Lily and Rose would talk to Danger more, Alric would interject every now and again, and eventually their meals would come. Alric had of course guessed correctly in the intent of his daughters, and the two of them entered a small competition.

It was something that they had done in childhood.

Something that truthfully was very...unlady like.

The two of them would stare at their meals, looking at one another just a second after, then pick up their fork and knives. They waited, Alric looking at them with an amused disapproval in his eyes. They tried to be sneaky about it at least, given that Danger was here, but there was no doubt in his mind. As soon as they began to cut into their food it was clear.

They were competing to see who could finish first.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Oh, it didn't take long for Danger to realize something was up.

Her attention went from Rose then over to Lily, and then back again. They were like to contestants in a food eating competition. Her brows rose, and she gave Alric a curious expression of query. This was new for her. At least, she didn't really understand it. Remi had died before things really registered, and since then, she had been raised as if she were an only child.

However, competition wasn't solely a trait left to those with siblings. She also had felt it, but on a more wider scale. Like with business, with other trade companies. To get ahead of them all.

None the less, seeing Rose and Lily attempt to hide their competition but still maintain an edge was humorous enough. She picked up her knife and fork, and began to dig in.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Alric ate his salad, which wasn't boring but healthy and good for an old man with hear problems.

Just saying.

He watched his two daughters chow down on their steaks, enjoying the odd competition, or rather, the fact that the two of them were trying to hide it from Danger. He knew that she had already noticed it, though likely was trying to ignore it while enjoying her own meal. The Tetan simply smiled, enjoying the way that the afternoon was going. It felt...good, to have them all together like this. The day had gone better than he had expected, better than he could have hoped.

Danger was at easy, the girls weren't at all scared or in an awkward phase, and he himself...well he was calm, relaxed.

A small smile pulled at his lips, his hand slowly sliding around his fork as he simply enjoyed his day. A well earned reward after months of work.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"You girls need anything more to drink?"

Oh Danger was trying hard to hold back the twitch of amusement at the corner of her lips. Her question would perk the twin's attention, slowing them down a bit, still attempting to hide their rivalry under the facade of careful cuts.

Alric was only getting more amused.

"Or some extra napkins?"

Okay, she couldn't help it then. Her mouth twitched.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"Nope."

Lily said with her mouthful of steak.

"Nah."

Rose replied between bites.

Alric only looked at Danger, a ghost of a smile on his face. She had definitely caught on by now, and comically enough, Alric had finished his food first. Granted there was a lot less of his meal than of theirs, but it was still rather funny to see both of his daughters still munching away on nerf steak while he simply sat there. The Tetan wondered briefly what kind of an impression this would have on the wait staff, then he realized that he didn't really care at all.

This was simply fun to watch.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Well if there was any doubt that Lily Kuhn wasn't doing well, that would get chucked out the window. Not with the appetite the eldest Kuhn daughter was inhaling down her food. With every second and every bit of steak they consumed, they became less apt to hide what they were doing.

At times they weren't really even chewing much at all.

Hilarity would ensue. Would they stop at just the steak? What about their side dishes? What determined the winner then? Reaching for the napkin, she brought it up to her mouth, really only to hide her bubbling chuckle.

But it was starting to fail something terrible.

That was about the time she gave a loud snerk.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Alric looked at Danger, his eyebrow raising slightly at the noise that she had made. It was something that he had heard from her only once or twice before, and truthfully that had been in odd situations. His eyes popped open slightly, one eyebrow raising. Perhaps this was more amusing to her than he had first thought. A smile pulled at his lips.

Was this what it would be like?

Was this what it should have been like?

For a moment Alric thought back to the past, he remembered him and Danger decades ago, he remembered how they had been, how they had changed. Alric slowly leaned back against the chair, his hand reaching back to scratch at the back of his head. A finger traced small lines at the very nape of his neck.

He watched his daughters, thinking back.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Half chuckle muffled for the moment, Danger shook her head.

There were a lot of things she'd been expecting. Seeing the girls act like.. well girls wasn't one of them. They were down to the last few bites and whoever won would have the bragging rights. They were so different from her. Made her wonder if this was what Alric lived day in and day out. Is this how it was to have a family?

It had been her and her pa for the longest after Remi and her Momma died. Colette Arceneau saw it fit to teach her daughter to be a lady, but it was August Arceneau to was determined to have his heir one way or another. Often times she was treated more like a boy than a girl, and such frilly what have you pushed to the side.

It wasn't like she minded. She spent many a time in her daddy's office, becoming familiar with the grain of his desk, the notches on his dejarik table, the scent of filmsi in the books.

Just different upbringings that's all. Different priorities.

Often time she wondered how'd she'd done it herself, had her children lived. Would she have done the same? Would she have been just as strict? Maybe that's why she latched onto Makai so much; loving on what she had lost.

A movement at the corner of her eye would catch her attention. She slipped her napkin away from her face and set it down upon the table, turning over to find Alric with a curious contemplative expression on his face. Almost as if lost in reverie. Danger reached over to catch Alric's hand anew. She threaded her fingers against his own, and held his hand.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

His thoughts were brought away from the past and returned to be present, his lips pulling into a small smile as Danger squeezed his hand. It was important to remember the past, important to remember what one had done and where they had been. To Alric, the past was more than a lesson. It was what had shaped him, turned him into the man that he was today. Of course, most would have said that about their pasts, but for Alric it was different. So much had happened to him, so much had tried to drown him, it was hard to say how he had survived it all.

Yet it was nothing.

Nothing in comparison to what she had been through.

Alric slowly looked at Danger, taking his eyes off the girls for a moment to think. Danger had suffered through so much more than he had. If he had nearly drowned in a pond, Danger had had an ocean. His thumb gently stroked over her palm, his eyes wandering over her slowly. His thoughts still consumed him, his other hand reaching up to cradle the back of his neck once again.

Had he done enough? Had he repaid her?

The old man drifted into thought once more, consumed, the laughter of his daughters echoing in his mind.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Everything alright?"

Danger had leant closer, her voice low in the ensuing laughter between Lily and Rose at the end of their competition. Their attention was on each other, a small measure of normalcy after being separated for so long. They were simply enjoying being with one another again, and the presence of the other would seem to give life to them both, blooming them with an energy neither had seen or felt in a long while.

Concern would set the lines of Danger's face. He was deep in thought, and there was an edge of concern in his eyes. The slow rotating rub of his thumb on her palm told her it wasn't too serious. But she couldn't help but wonder what had his mind elsewhere.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

He smiled at her, attention turning back towards the real world.

"I'm fine." Alric whispered back to her. He was fine, his thoughts had just taken him away for a time. Perhaps that was the way of old men. The past was something to be looked at, learned from, something to be told about and never to be repeated. His hand squeezed hers in reassurance, a small signal to her that he really was alright.

Truthfully, he had tried to answer his own questions.

A part of him knew that he could never make up for what happened with Danger. A part of him knew that a piece of it wasn't his fault, but that the larger the part was. It was a hard pill to swallow, and when he looked at his two daughters he felt pride, but also a bit of guilt at what else could have been. He loved Lily and Rose, more than he could have ever described, but there was still that lingering thought, that doubt within his mind of the name on the back of his neck.

Of what would have been.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Alright."

That was just about the time the girls laughter reached it's climax. Steak gone, one had met their mark. Danger didn't get to see who got the final bit of bragging rights.

A pair of green and blue eyes were sparkling with merriment and joy, a snapshot of a memory that Danger would go back to some time later. Their laughter was infectious. The corner of her mouth twitched anew, and then her shoulders began to shake. Alric might be in the throes of contemplating what could have been, but Danger was merely in the now.

They were a joy, the twins were. Exceeded her expectations. It warmed her heart. It felt right. Her thumb would rub along the old Tetan's hand, a constant, a sign of contentment. Affection.

That trembling in her shoulders grew, and before they knew it, her own bubbling laughter joined Lily's and Rose's.

Outside looking in, one would imagine them to be any typical family. The red of the twin's hair a darker shade than the corseca of Danger's own. But she would never be a replacement for their mother.

But that didn't mean she couldn't love on them like her own.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

The rest of the dinner would be filled with laughter and joy, Alric smiling, his thoughts returning to more pleasant ideas, to the present. He and Danger would talk with the girls, listen to them and give them advice. Danger would pay particular attention, speaking with eloquence and encouraging both Lily and Rose to the fullest. It was nice to see, and at the end of the day it felt like everything had gone...perfect. Alric couldn't have imagined it better in his wildest dream. Danger's angst seemed to have melted away, her worries pushed to the side. For Alric, he could not have asked for a better day.

Eventually they parted.

The girls returned to the Kuhn Estate in the eastern hemisphere of the planet, Rose once again taking control of the starship. Her exit was as big of a commotion as her entrance, the shuttle barely having lifted off the ground when she blasted off towards the east. Alric could only shake his head and smile, leading Danger by the hand towards their own little shuttle. The trip would be as short as it had been the last time, and before long the two aged corporate titans would step through the door of his apartment once more.

Danger was the first to step through the door, Alric coming in just behind her, his shoes flying through the room as he kicked them off.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Well, things had gone rather swimmingly.

It was more than Danger could have ever hoped for. More than she could have ever dreamed. Heels were kicked off, sent sailing across the orange shag carpet, with silk stockings now sinking into its thick plush. By all accounts, it felt as if she was floating on cloud 9. She was giddy; gidder than she had ever been before.

The door shut behind them, and what came next would be a sight to see. Danger gave a slight half twirl, turning to face him. Those bright green eyes, edged with crow's feet, were sparkling with joy. True joy. It made her glow, radiate in a manner that was as wondrous of a sight as the Twenty Wonders of the 'Verse.

That's when she threw her arms around the old Tetan, they sailed over the breadth of his shoulders, where they looped behind the nape of his neck. Her perfume would tickle the senses, a slight hint of wine in her breath, but it was the laugh -- it was the laugh that did it.

It would encapsulate her entire body, ripple across her with such light-hearted and genuine expression of joy. Of happiness. Content. As if she didn't have a care in the 'verse and all she had was the now and it was fantastic.

Years faded, and one could perhaps see a facet of Danger no one had ever truly saw since she was twenty-one. A version of the woman who at that one time had been full of hope in the now and in the future.

Lips would press against his, capturing them not in passion, but in love. In a need to share her joy with the man that had made it possible.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

From the press of her lips, the couture of her body and the way she moved against him Alric could practically feel the joy radiating from her. She had a right to feel that way, everything had gone better than expected today. The girls had taken a liking to her, Lily and Rose both having been practically at ease when they had departed. Everything was...well for lack of a better term perfect. Alric couldn't help but smile as Danger pulled away from him, a broad, almost too happy smile pulling at her lips.

"I told you they were nothing to be scared of." He smiled back at her. "Just have to dive right in."

In truth, even he hadn't expected it to go so well.

Alric had thought that maybe their lunch would be nice, that their meal would be good adn teh gardens would give them something to talk about. The Old Man had never thought that the day would end in a hug from both Lily and Rose for Danger, a bit of an awkward hug, but a hug nonetheless.

He shook his head, grinning at Danger's delight.