Take Off The Mask

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Her chuckle came bubbling forth. WIth him deciding to get up it was just a matter of slipping from bed as well.

“Mhm… lots to be done.” she knew how long it took for them to travel from Elysium to the Farm. On their way here, they had a few stops at some of Arceneau’s and Vanir’s locations. They could do the same on the way back.

“But while it may take a week, we could stop by at the museum,” standing, Danger took her robe, slipping her arms through the sleeves and tying the knot closed at her waist.

“We could request a private tour, ensure it isn’t too crowded.” that would help with the younglings PTSD.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]


“Bit of a detour.” He pointed out, though not like that actually mattered. They had all the time in the world now. No appointments, no schedules, nothing. If they wanted to dip around the galaxy once or thrice there wasn’t anyone that would stop them from doing so.

“Maybe we need a new ship.” Alric said quietly. “Something a bit more comfortable than just the shuttles we’ve been using.”

‘Shuttles’ was a bit of a misnomer.

Alric and Danger tended to travel the galaxy in some of the fanciest starcrafts that one could ever imagine. Calling them Shuttles was like saying a speeder bike was a toy. However, if they were going to be moving around, checking up on things, and just dipping around the galaxy...well then he wanted to do it in style.

Even if they only took these trips once or twice a month.

It paid to be rich after all.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

A chuckle came echoing from the refresher Danger had entered a few seconds earlier.

"We had this conversation a while ago you know," she's remind him. They had been planning on designing a custom vessel for their use. Perhaps much like a yacht of sorts, with enough room for Mister Tuggles and made for long term voyages. The original plan had been to travel more, visit more areas, relax. Having Myra come into their lives had diverted their attention, but neither had minded in the slightest.

"We could continue where we left off," she proposed, letting herself enjoy the beauty of the sandstone refresher. A hand would gingerly brush against it. Appreciation at the craftsmanship reflected within her verdant eyes.

A second later, the sound of running water showering onto the stone floor filled the air.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

“Yes I remember.” Alric half lied. There was the blurry memory of a starship design embedded somewhere in his mind, but he’d mostly forgotten about it. There was a rather good reason of course, their daughter.

Before they’d found Myra they had meant to begin the construction of a ship. A brand new comfortable vessel that they could use to tour the galaxy. On Dromund Kaas however, what was supposed to be one of many stops, they had found Myra. The little girl had rather skewed the matter of building a ship, and touring the galaxy for that matter.

Since then, a ship hadn’t exactly been top priority.

“I suppose we have the plans somewhere.” Alric mused. “Probably in the database on Elysium.”

Elsewhere for that matter, Alric and Danger weren’t in the habit of only saving something important once. Backups were an important thing in their business, and both of the corporate Titans knew well enough that anything could be lost at any time.

A ship design wasn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things, but it’d be nice not to start all over.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Mhm," Danger's voice would sing over the steady pitter patter of the shower. A soft sigh of pleasure followed shortly. Water showers were one of the few luxuries that Danger enjoyed outside of Tatooine. Typically they utilized sonics, and while her Stronghold had a water shower, there was always something relaxing about being able to simply stand underneath it and let the water pour over her.

"You can check my datapad," she added, running her hands through the thick mane of her hair, wet locks saturated and dark against her tanned skin.

"The preliminary designs and all of our notes should be there."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

He thought about doing that for just a few moments before quickly discarding the idea. Oh he would return to it later of course, provided that he didn't forget again, but in that moment there were other things he found slightly more pressing. For one, they had to figure out half a dozen things about what exactly they were going to take on the trip, where they were going, and who were they meeting there.

While Alric and Danger could pretty much go wherever they wanted, but there were odd...stipulations.

They had enough reputation to get clearance to land on the planet, but that very same reputation usually mandated that they meet with one or two officials of that planet. It was something that Alric had come to expect, and something that he imagined Danger was also used to by not. At times however it got rather annoying, especially now that they had Myra. They'd managed to avoid it most of the time with her, but he knew that when they went to see the Museum they wouldn't be able to.

The museum brought lots of tourism, and that brought a thankful government. A government that would want to thank Alric and Danger.

He shook his head slightly, dispelling the thoughts and turning towards the other things that desperately required his attention. Without even reaching for the datapad Alric pulled off his clothes and rushed into the shower after Danger.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Danger's cry of surprise followed by her choked laugh resonated throughout the large refresher. Arms went sliding over the curve of her hips, encircling her as playful bites ran down the length of a wet and bare freckled shoulder.

"You old fool!' she laughed, pushing the thick mass of wet hair away from her face. Free from any artifice, one could see the scattering of light brown freckles that dotted her nose and cheeks. Those same brown spots littered down her neck and over her decollete. Years ago, Alric Kuhn had made mention of them in passing.

'Little brown spots.'

He stood behind her, rocking Danger in his arms with nothing but a rascal grin and a twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Tryin' to save water by joinin'?" she teased him, grabbing a handful of water to splash playfully at his face.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

“Of course.” Alric said as he received a splash of water to his face.

“It’s such a finite resource.” Not really. There was so much water here that they could probably keep the shower running for the next three hundred years. “Being from Tatooine I would expect you to know such things, Mrs. Arceneau.”

From his own understanding, water showers were very rare on Tatooine.

It was one of the few places in the galaxy that it was cheaper to buy a sonic shower then just a water one. Plumbing was usually built into a home no matter what, so adding a shower wasn’t all that difficult, but sonics?

Well they tended to use a lot of power.

Of course on Tatooine that was rather easy to get ahold of, especially compared to water. “Tsk tsk.”

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Her chuckle was felt across her body, in the soft shake and sway of wet curves. Turning in his grasp, the Queen of Trade moved to face him, tilting her head back with a wide grin. With his hair becoming saturated with water, the long, dark forelocks were beginning to fall forward over his brow. It gave him a classic little boy expression, mischief sparkling in his eyes.

"Mmm... so considerate about the environment," she managed to coo, fingers tracing up his forearms. Hot steam was starting to thicken the air, curling up in wisps of white as the water fell over them.

"A champion of conservation." she teased, leaning forward to give him a soft kiss on the lips. "But if you are going to share my shower, reckon at the very least you could help scrub my back."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

The water felt good, everything did. It was nice to be here, to finally have it be his home. There was a quality to it that he couldn't quite describe. He'd had situations like this before of course, on Empress Teta, even on Elysium, but that was...different. He had still been involved then, still been at the middle of things. Even during his first marriage he'd never quite pulled himself away from the hustle and bustle of the galaxy. Now though? Now it felt like he was in the clear.

"Well." Alric began as his fingers slipped onto her hips, slowly turning her around to face away from him.

He was happy here, and it appeared that Danger was too. He had no doubt that Myra was pleased, after all what little girl wouldn't want to live in a castle? Mr. Tuggles could run around on his own here, interact with the forest and live more openly. Everything was...better.

"I thought I'd start." His hands roamed over her stomach. "With other things."

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Myra, honey!" Danger called out, walking into Myra's room to search for the youngling. They had decided to eat breakfast and then start the trip back to the station. A few stops along the way wouldn't be too off their route, and it would be nice for Myra to see other worlds.

The little girl was by the corner, sitting with Mister Tuggles on her lap. She was currently brushing out his coat, the massive creature on his back with his belly to her. There was a distinct sense of pleasure and contentment coming from the Tuggle, as each stroke of the brush would lull him into half slumber.

"Well look at that!" Danger began, grinning at the little girl. "Now ain't that a fine shiny coat Mister Tuggles." Danger exclaimed, getting Myra's beaming smile and a quick perk of the Tuggle's head in response.

"He looks good." she'd tell her, coming down to sit beside the little girl. Had to go about this gently, so Myra wouldn't worry.

"You like it here, Myra?" Danger asked, bringing her hands up to gently comb through the younglings dark hair. Strands of dark brown would curl around her fingers. Myra had long hair, almost to her waist. It had needed a trim to begin with, but now it was starting to get a nice sheen.

The little girl gave an empathic nod in agreement. The bright rosy color on her cheeks confirmed it along with the vibrance in her grey eyes.

"Alright... well. In that case we're gonna have to get all of our things from the station and bring them here right?" it was a way to explain that they would have to leave in order to come back.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Alric hadn't followed to go get Myra, instead he had wandered into the Kitchen and begun to make breakfast. The entire endeavor wouldn't take a lot of time, and this way they could tackle two tasks at once instead of corralling their daughter and then trying to get everything else done. It was the best way to parent really, delegating one task while someone else did the other. This way they would be able to leave by noontime instead of sticking around until the evening.

It didn't really matter of course, but when Danger wanted something done, it was done.

"Now lets see." Alric said as he began to dig through all the different cabinets. He would make a simple breakfast, though they'd already done pancakes more then once. Omelets would be a preferable alternative today, with some oatmeal that had cinnamon in it. Simple really, but both things that Myra enjoyed and something that Danger couldn't complain about. The only trouble was that he couldn't seem to find any eggs. He frowned for a moment, then eventually plucked some out from the fridge.

They had been hidden behind the milk.

Alric had never really liked cooking all that much.

It was a good way to woo the ladies and fun at times...but...well the clean up had always kind of put him off of it. Doing dishes was a royal pain in the ass, and personally he couldn't wait for Myra to be old enough that he could pawn off the chore on her. He'd always done the same with Lily and Rose.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Thankfully, Myra didn't seem to find the suggestion that they go back to the station to pick up the rest of their belongings an issue. That had been her main concern. The youngling appeared to really take to the farm, and Danger didn't want to cause too much stress on the little girl.

A slight frown cut across Danger's features as she let her gaze wander over her. Oddly enough, Myra appeared to be a little paler than normal.

"You feeling okay?" she'd ask the youngling, reaching out with her hand to press her palm across her forehead. A little warm, but not too bad.

Myra insisted she was okay, giving a quick nod up and down.

"Alright." she bent down and pressed a kiss on Myra's temple.

"Breakfast will be done soon, come on down when you are done."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Food was made relatively quickly, it's simplicity saw too that. He finished everything and set the table before Danger and Myra could even reach the kitchen, mostly because he was eager to get on with the day. Though travel wasn't exactly his favorite thing, he did enjoy the thought of seeing Myra react to the different places that they would be going to.

It was fun to see the little girls wonder.

He'd gotten the same joy out of watching Lily and Rose when they were kids, though it was a tad different with Myra. Whereas his twin daughters were a little used to grandeur, Myra was still a bit foreign to the concept. Oh she lived in a castle now, but before then? Well her life had not exactly been the most pleasant. Things were bigger to her, larger, grander then life, and that caused her to react a little bit...more. There was pure joy in those reactions.

It was fun to watch.

"Hurry up!" Alric called down the bridged hall. "It's gonna get cold!"

It probably wouldn't, but hey.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"How is the chef this morning?" Danger's voice went floating over to the Tetan, the buxom Queen of Trade stepping into the kitchen a few minutes later. The click click click of Mister Tuggle's nails would follow her as he trotted along Danger and Myra.

"It smells delicious," she said with a beaming smile, ambling over to Alric to press a kiss on his cheek.

"Want anything to drink?" she'd look at the man quizzingly, moving over towards the caf machine to make her own cup of java.

Myra on the other hand, went straight to the cupboard that would store Mister Tuggles's food. Like a very responsible little girl, she slid open the door and took out the small measuring pail to pour out the food into the Tuggle's bowl.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Oh yes.

He could definitely sucker Myra into doing dishes.

"He is well." Alric said truthfully, watching as Myra placed Mr. Tuggles' bowl on the floor and began to wander over towards the table. He would have to begin convincing Myra that the dishes were a fun thing to do, and that doing them was some sort of privilege. Part of him wanted to begin cackling maniacally in that moment, but he held back for the time being. "Hungry thought."

A quick few steps lead him towards the table.

"Maybe some water." He answered her as he slid himself into place at the table, looking at his daughter with a smile as she wiggled herself into the seat.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Well good thing breakfast is ready," Danger would tease him, chuckling as she set a cup on the caf then selected the grind and roast for today. Water was easy, and with a quick reach up, she plucked a glass from a shelf. Pressing the rim along a small filtered water nook, clear liquid began to fill it with its steady stream.

"They are refueling the ship right now." moving back to the table, she set the glass beside Alric. " It shouldn't take long." she added, caressing him from one shoulder to the next.

"How is Nell doing?" came her next inquiry. Would she be joining them for breakfast?

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"She left." Alric said with a shrug. "Eager to get back to her work."

He smiled at her. "She's always been a little...anti-social."

That was certainly true. The woman enjoyed her work, and that was pretty much it. The Liran was brilliant by all accounts, designing starships that had half the galaxy marveling. He thought for a moment, then looked back towards his wife. A shrug rolled over his shoulders.

"Probably better." He took a bite of his omelet. "Since we're headed out today too."

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

A small beep indicated that her caf was done. Three spoonfuls of sugar later and a quick stir, it was just how the Queen of Trade enjoyed her perfect cup of StarCaf. It was one of the few things she enjoyed. Danger was able to take it black, but the bit of sweetness in her caf made it just right.

"I worry about her," Danger admitted, giving a slight frown. By now, Myra came over to the table and was about to sit down when Danger would ask, "Did you wash your hands?"

The slight widening of her eyes suggested that Myra did not. A sheepish smile and then the youngling went over to the sonic cleanser. The Tuggle, of course, was at her heels, trotting along behind her. His tail was so fluffy now, that every time he would move, it would drag slightly on the ground.

"Sometimes I wonder if Nell should really take a vacation for her own good."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Alric shrugged. "I don't think Liran actually know what a vacation is, Honey."

That was certainly true.

"They're an odd species." Not very common to say the least. "Live on ships, have no way to reproduce. Incredibly intelligent and naturally gifted in the creation and design of technologies. Their entire existence depends entirely on developing new things so they can keep reproducing. Ordinary cloning tech doesn't work so well with them."

He shrugged. "I think Nel is in the stage of her life where she just needs to work and create, it's a natural inclination for them."

She had explained it to him once, a long time ago. Liran's lived quite a long time, and during that time they were usually creating some sort of technology to help their species survived. They were an industrious folk, and more often then not they worked their entire lives. That was almost unthinkable to Alric, but apparently Nel found it natural.