Take Off The Mask

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

”I dunno, maybe you would've walked by, seen me by my stall selling Bantha meat…” He trailed off as he brushed his lips against hers.

The Corporate Titan smiled slightly.

The two of them together had very much reached the definition of the pinnacle of life. They had gone far alone and even further together. It was almost impossible to describe all they had done, though in truth Alric knew his wife's accomplishments far outpaced his own.

Something That only made him more proud to stand at her side.

”I catch your eye...you think to yourself ‘who is that handsome man?’, and then I step forward…” His hands gently grasped her hips. ”And scooped you off your feet.”

With a sudden rush he picked Danger up, plucking her from her feet and perching her on the balcony's railing.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

A sudden whoop and cry came from the auburn maned woman as the Tetan swept her off her feet. Her eyes went wide, vibrant emerald circlets that would reflect her surprise, shock, and mild alarm. Oh Alric's arms went around to steady her, balancing her perch as he moved in to settle closely in front of her.

There was amusement in his cobalt gaze, a widening that split that thick beard as shapely lips drew back in a soft grin. Danger in turn narrowed her eyes, her hand reaching out to give the man a light smack against his right shoulder.

"You know that gets my heart racing, you old fool!" she said in a soft chid, wiggling to try and get herself down. Of course, he would have none of it.

"And no, I didn't mean about you selling Bantha meat!" it was certain that he would twist her words to his favor to make it seem as if she DID mean it in that manner.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"Uh huh." He said with a small grin.

The life of a farmer honestly wouldn't have suited him. He was hard working when it came to business, and he had fought in the underground arenas as a younger man, but in all honesty physical labor had never really been something he enjoyed. It was a fact that he would openly admit to anyone that asked him, and something that Danger didn't even have to ask to know.

She knew him better than anyone else in the galaxy.

"I'm pretty sure I've caught you in those little fantasies." He mused. "When you're sitting by yourself, just...considering."

He gently poked her side. "Thinking about your husband stepping inside the farmhouse door, muscles rippling, sweaty after a day of work."

Alric teased her, his smile growing.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Oh, no he didn't!

Danger knew his game. He would play this and then they would both end up wasting the day away in each other arms and not be productive. Well, okay, Danger thought to herself with a knowing smile, maybe not quie wasting the day away, but they should consider about still staying active at their age. And active as in doing other productive endeavors.

"Uh huh... alright there Farm Boy," the woman gave a gentle pat over the brawn of his shoulders. Alric would never be cast in bulging muscle, he had the body of a pugalist. Of course, he wasnt able to join those underworld pugalist events as he had in his youth, but he kept himself fit.

"I need some advice." Her tone of voice said she was serious. "I went over BlasTech -- not sure what to do with it now. Should I continue investing in it or should I sell it?"

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Blastech.

It was a company that Alric hadn't really thought about in a long time. Ironically it was where he had first gotten his start within the game of corporations. Danger had of course later acquired it but by that time he'd gotten Titan. It was running well now, though hardly as advanced as Vanir or other weapons companies that existed.

He shrugged, his hands gently squeezing her hips. ”You have Browncoat.”

Alric reminded her quietly.

”Blastech has name recognition but compared to others they're not great in R&D” Never had been, even when he was in charge. ”You don't need it, and selling it and donating the proceeds to some war torn planet might give you a nice PR boost.”

Those were always good.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]



Coming down to plop along his lap, Danger took a deep breath, considering what he said. There was truth in his words. She could sell it and donate the proceeds to some planet that could do something with it.

“Or I could repurpose it. “ she added, mulling about that idea. However, how could she repurpose it? She already had Browncoat.

“Maybe realign… sell off the BlasTech name.” The Trade Queen turned over to Alric.

“I don't know. Reckon there are many options.” The question was how to do it? It was a moderately sized company. Could she repurpose it for defense? Expand its Research and Development for planetary defenses along that vein?

The woman just disliked being stagnant. BlasTech was stagnant.

That had to change.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"You can't repurpose without getting rid of the name." That was something Danger would already have thought of course, it was why she'd mention selling the name in the first place. Yet with a company like that the issue couldn't be stressed enough.

"The greatest asset of that company is the history attached to the name." Sure they were stagnant right now, but they hadn't always been. "Blastech made the most famous blasters in the galaxy, except maybe WESTARs. Everyone used to have a blastech."

He shrugged. "You can repurpose their facilities to make something else, but the name means something in the weapons sector."

Alric frowned for a moment, considering in thought.

"You could turn it public." There was an idea. "Sell shares, and I don't mean to big investors, but give it to the little guy...everyone gets a piece."

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Alric was right. She couldn't repurpose it without changing the name, and the name is what currently sold it. BlasTech was as much of a household name as Arceneau Trade right now, the only difference being that BlasTech had the luxury of being a name brand for well over a millennia. It might not be the BlasTech from before, but it is a brand name.

"I could turn it public." her hand came up, fingers lightly kneading and skimming through the length of Alric's hair, pressing against his scalp.

"Maybe in one to five percent shares." another light tap of her fingers, the woman mulling over this.

"Up to forty percent perhaps?"

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

His hands rested on Danger's hips, and slowly he shrugged.

"No more then ten per person." That might have seemed a bit harsh of an imposition, but the pointwas to sell the shares in a way that more than just large corporations could hold a stake. Blas-Tech was a company that was close to the galaxies own identity, allowing more people to own more of it would reflect well on Danger.

It also helped that even in such an event as all the share holders coming together, Danger would still own a majority stake. That meant the company would always remain on sound footing since if necessary she could take control.

"Forty five I would say." He mused. "Perhaps give shareholders incentives as well."

Alric smiled slightly as an idea formed. "Let them tour factories, give them access to research, see if new owners can come up with new ideas."

He shrugged, it was a thought, but of course doing that would have its own risks.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

There was merit in that. Green eyes came down to study the Tetan. After a moment the fingers that had run through his greying hair at the crown of his head came to a pause.

"Then we will do that. The next Bazaar Expo should be coming up. Perhaps I will do it then." The Trade Expo was one of the largest and involved hundreds of companies. It would be best to do the auction then.

"Unless you have any other ideas?" leaning down, Danger went to nuzzle his cheek, feeling the bristle of his beard.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

”Me?” Alric parroted with a smile. ”No no, I'm just a simple Bantha farmer.”

Could one even farm Bantha?

Alric knew that the great big beasts were domesticated in some places, but the only time he'd ever heard of them actually being used that way was by tuskens. Generally the rest of the galaxy tended to eat Nerf or something similar. It didn't really matter of course since all he was doing was teasing Danger, but it helped to be accurate even in that.

”I dont know nothin’ bout your fancy business dealings. I'm just a man trying to.make his own way in the galaxy.” He swooped his hand ostentatiously as though he were reaching towards some distant star, the bristle of his beard scratching up against the side of Dangers face as his movements became more exaggerated.

”Selling Bantha eggs and what not.” He smirked. ”It doesn't get you much, but enough to attract a beautiful woman.”

He pecked her on the nose.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Oh you," Danger gave a laugh, once again using her right hand to give the Tetan a smack along his right bicep. A roll of her eyes then came the shake of her head.

"Sure you are. Fancy business dealings indeed." he could continue with a gag for as long as he wanted. Or really, for as long as he was able to get a reaction out of her and Myra. Thinking about their adopted daughter made her wonder about her. The preteen had been moody as of late; likely having to do with Makai. That though process also made her wonder about Lily and Rose. Both girls had diverted towards drastic different routes since Danger first took it upon herself to ensure their safety with Noghri guards.

"Have you heard anything from Lily and Rose?" she inquired, settling in comfortably against her husband.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

His children were honestly and truly his pride and joy. Such a thing was an utter cliché for parents of course, every father loved their children, but Alric no shame for it.

He lover his daughters dearly with all his heart, no matter what they did or where they came from. ”Rose is in the Wild Regions. Working with the Chiss I think.”
Alric could hardly keep up with her at this point. She sent quite a few messages now and kept them informed, but it was sometimes a little much. He was sure that Danger could follow the maps much better than he could. Either way he was incredibly proud of her, something he'd made sure to tell her at almost every opportunity. It annoyed her a bit, but she knew that her father meant well.

”Lily…” He trailed off slightly. ”She's her mothers daughter.”

He loved her of course, but compared to her sister Lily was quite a bit more...erratic, something that showed quite well. ”She's doing good, calm, but you know.”

There was no other way to put it, his hands tightening on Danger for just a second as he thought about It.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"Think Rose will have some time to come visit?" Danger knew that Alric loved his daughters, and seeing them would do him some good. "We can plan a little family reunion." the woman suggested, once again running her hands through the Tetan's hair. It would be nice to see them, to catch up. Maybe Rose might be able to pluck Myra from her moody state.

"Go to Vineta? Maybe to one of the Coreworlds." would do them all some good maybe. Some time to relax while Danger oversaw the upcoming Business Bazaar Expo.

"Just something to consider." Lily likely was busy with matters of state with Empress Teta, but Danger imagined that even she should be able to get some time off.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Family reunion.

The words seemed a little bit odd to him considering that he still had other family in the galaxy. Ein was doing well by all accounts and his other cousins were...well they were on Empress Teta. He had no idea what all of them were doing, but a few were probably trying to gnaw at his ankles for his money. That thought made him frown for a second, though only for a second.

”We could do that.” It would be difficult to drag Rose away from her work, but his daughter loved seeing Myra, and thus they could use the little girl as bait.

”Maybe not Vineta though.” Alric said in consideration. ”It can get a bit crowded.”

Myra has gotten better with that sort of thing of course, but Alric was the ever watchful father. She may not have been their blood, but Alric loved his third daughter just as much as the other two.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

"We could go to some of the remote worlds then? " there were plenty of options. They didn't have to go to the Core Worlds at all. Velusia, Alderaan, Wroostri, Kelasi I.

"Or stay at the farm." another option if they wanted maximum privacy but plenty of relaxation. Ultimately, spending time together was the goal.

"Could spend time at one of the other resorts we've opened as well." a tap of her fingers punctuated the woman's train of thought.

"There are lots of options."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"We've opened resorts?" Alric smiled for a second, genuinely not remembering whether or not they'd actually opened any other than Vineta. There was Cloud Nine of course, and probably others, but his memory was failing him on some parts.

He scratched his head for a second.

"Maybe we should go to Dac." He suggested. "Spend a few weeks underwater."

Alric wasn't serious of course, he knew that Danger wasn't quite comfortable with oceans like that. It was a quirk that men and women from Tatooine carried, something they never really got used to. He liked to tease her about it over the years, but before she boxed his ears he decided to make a genuine suggestion. "How about the upper levels of Kashyyyk?"

That was a once in a lifetime view.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]


"Kashyyyk?" That was a world she hadn't been in years. The Trade Queen would mull over this, letting it sink it. Nothing drastic or unsettling had come through the holo-news about Kashyyyk lately. Perhaps that would be an excellent destination for the five of them.

"I'll look into it. See what is available. The Silver Jedi have jurisdiction over it, and I doubt there is any real concern for danger."

Bending low, she pressed a kiss upon a bristled cheek. "I'll take care of it." she smiled, giving him a small wink.

"How about you contact the girls and we'll get dates settled?"

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

He smiled slightly. "Who'd have thought an old farmer like me would have an assistant like you."

His hand suddenly slipped around her and he gave her rear a solid grope, smirking as he did so.

"I'll see if I can reach Rose." Perhaps even Lily would be able to show up. She was busy nowadays, having taken over the affairs of Empress Teta, but there was a chance she could peel herself away for even a day or two. Kashyyyk wasn't too far away. "Lily I can get ahold of easily."

Alric flashed her a smile.

A vacation would be a nice, something with the entire family, and Myra had never seen Kashyyyk before either. The Wookiees were a friendly bunch, if you treated them with kindness, and visiting the planet sounded like a rather grand treat.