AU: Alderaan

[last_kallig]

Ibani has not only made plans, she's made PLANS, plans for supplies, transport, the ideal location, ideal weather conditions, and several other factors besides.

Excessive for a picnic? Probably. It could even be excessive planning for a picnic that, energy and mood of all participants permitting, might include seduction. Ibani does not care.

Besides, she might as well USE that enormous patch of wilderness that came with the title of Lady Kallig and that nobody's allowed to build structures on for SOMETHING, right?

She's slipped into Milliways in the hopes of finding Ben.

(OOC: Warning for adult content)

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[acertainpov]

Ben's not in the bar when she enters, but arrives shortly after, shutting the door firmly on a Tatooine sandstorm.

His hood is pulled down firmly over his face, his robe wrapped tightly around himself, and there's sand covering his beard.

But he recognises Ibani's presence and glances up, looking around the bar for her.

[last_kallig]

Ibani looks up as someone enters, the quiet in the Force suggests that it's Ben.

"Hello, Ben," she calls. "Want some help getting rid of all that sand?"

[acertainpov]

He's kind of obvious that way, isn't he? Still, it's better than advertising his presence at all, and so far no one who is supposed to think he's dead has noticed him here.

He knows he's pushing his luck.

"I always have too much sand," he says, hurrying over as if the sandstorm could follow him through the door. "I found it in my cold weather clothes after Hoth."

[last_kallig]

Ibani visibly boggles at that, a little. "I have no idea how that could have happened."

"Oh, I have news about the Tu'Kata you rescued!"

She pulls out a datapad. "They've settled down in an old temple, apparently. I haven't looked at the video yet, but apparently one of them has had puppies!"

[acertainpov]

She shouldn't boggle quite that much - it gets everywhere. He would be surprised it she wasn't finding it in her cold weather clothes after Hoth.

But more importantly - his eye slight up at the idea of puppies, and sits right down at her table, moving the chair closer to her so they can share the same angle of view.

"Really?"

[last_kallig]

She leans into him as she pulls up the video. "The lead scientist observing them said that they're calmer than usual for the species, apparently. She wondered if I had any insight on why that might be, I wasn't sure what I ought to tell her."

The video footage is clearly from some kind of camera drone, as the 'view' moves in ways that would be impossible for a human and there is a very faint whirring of machinery. The view dips into a hole in what was once a temple floor to reveal 5 Tu'kata sprawled on the stone and mostly asleep. One, the Tu'Kata who was staring up at Ben like an Akk dog when he was calming them on Nar Shaddaa, is nursing a litter of pups. They are tiny, wriggling, bundles of fur, eyes not yet open, making tiny puppy noises.

"....okay, they are ENTIRELY too adorable," Ibani murmurs.

[acertainpov]

"Tell her the Force works in mysterious ways," says Ben, unworried. "That usually works for me."

He puts a finger out to hover by the image - it's so strange seeing an image on a 2-D screen, instead of a holoprojection.

"She must have been pregnant on Nar Shaddaa," he says. "It's too quick, isn't it?"

[last_kallig]

Ibani chuckles. I'll definitely try that, then."

Ibani does some math in her head. "It's been a few months on my end, so not too quick if she was already a few months along on Nar Shaddaa. The speed of gestation was one of the things the ancient Sith tinkered with."

"The image would be three-dimensional, but the Tu'Kata tore apart the other camera drone before it finished transmitting. Which is why they use such primitive technology in the first place, less expensive to replace when it gets eaten. The wildlife on Korriban is rather feisty."

She reaches up gently to brush some of the sand out of his beard. "Ah, and before I forget, I have something for you from a friend of mine in Republic Intelligence."

Ibani pulls out something that looks not too dissimilar to the Republic Identity Tag he would have seen many times back in the day. Well, except for one thing, THIS tag is blank, still able to be completely altered despite being already signed and sealed as an official document. It is, needless to say, illegal as all hell to have one of these. "Would have had them fill some of it out for you, but I didn't know what you would want to put. And since I was hoping to take you to Alderaan, well I figured Republic ID might come in handy. I have an Alderaanian ID myself, as Lady Kallig."

[acertainpov]

Ben grins quickly when he sees the tag, and holds his hand out for it, before holding it up.

"Funny, I rarely get asked to show my identification, I forgot that happens."

[last_kallig]

"Well, you ARE on Tattoine," Ibani replies, tone dry. She passes him the tag.

"Should be run into anyone on the other side, my own authority will suffice." Ibani is quite certain NO ONE in the Empire would be willing to challenge Darth Imperious over something so small as the identity of one man, even if they ARE a Jedi.

"I was hoping to invite you to a picnic, just you and me. A good sized chunk of wilderness in the middle of a nature preserve in the Jural Mountains came with the title of Lady Kallig, Force only knows why."

[acertainpov]

He tosses the tag up in the air, catches it again, and secrets it into his robes. He'll worry about filling it out later, but he'll probably just go by his own name.

Well... 'Ben.'

"A picnic?" he repeats, begins to smile. "Now that would be lovely."

[last_kallig]

Ibani's smile is bright. "Would you like to come with me now? Or get some of that sand off first? I DO have a fresher in my room here."

Her eyes twinkle mischievously. "Or I could dump you in the lake out back."

[acertainpov]

Ben glances at her, catches her eye, and genuinely looks like he's considering a number of options for a moment. Then he grins wickedly and catches her hand in his.

"Show me the fresher."

There's privacy there, after all.

[last_kallig]

Ibani leads him upstairs to her room. It hasn't changed since last time he was here, warm earth colors and simple layout.

"Hm. Decisions, decisions." Ibani grins teasingly. "I'd offer to help with the sand removal, but then we might never get out of here."

[acertainpov]

Despite this very good point, Ben hasn't let go of her hand.

"Are we in a hurry?"

[last_kallig]

"Hm, no I suppose we aren't," she says.

Her grin turns wicked and full of heat. "How close would I have to be, for you to let me feel you in the Force safely?" She moves into his space, close enough to kiss. "This close?"

[acertainpov]

He folds his hands around her back, wrapping her in his robes in order to kiss her softly, but then he stops, pulls back, and reluctantly pushes her away again.

"I'm sorry."

He can't.

[last_kallig]

Her smile is soft and understanding. "I expected as much, which is why I was not going to join you."

She kisses him again. "Don't leave me waiting too long, hm? I have plans that I think you'll enjoy."

[acertainpov]

Ben turns his back on her to hide the regret on his face as he undresses, placing his robes on her chair before he goes into the fresher.

He wishes he could, and wishes it didn't matter so much to her, but that's the way things are.

Despite this, he's longer than is really necessary, just basking in the water, and emerges soon enough, clean and wet and with a Milliways branded towel around his waist.

"I didn't check if you had anything for me to change into before I went in," he says, apologetically.

[last_kallig]

"That's alright," she says. She can't quite resist the urge to kiss him. gently. "Would you like something like what you were wearing, when you came in? It's Summer on Alderaan right now, for me."

Ibani begins to change out of her own robes. She hasn't lost as much of her tight, wiry, muscle as Ben has, she can't afford to. She's still at War, likely will be until she dies, she needs every edge she can get. The scar from Hoth is a thin, pale line on her side, curving along her ribs. What she's changing into is an outfit in dark hunter green, boots, pants and shirt. Tailored, but not fancy. Something an Alderaanian noble might wear on hunt or safari in the wilderness.

[acertainpov]

He approaches her from the side - it would be from behind but he puts himself in her field of vision while she can't sense him in the Force - and runs a finger over this newest scar.

"I don't think Tatooine hermit is the best look for a fashionable member of the Alderaanian ruling class," he remarks. "Maybe a something a little better cut."

But brown and tan are always going to be his go-to.

[last_kallig]

Keeping himself in her field of vision is wise, considering what Ibani's life is like. (It's only paranoia if you're WRONG.)

She shivers in delight as he runs his fingers over the scar. "Bar gave me something like this for you, in your usual colors," Ibani says, smiling. "It's in that drawer, there."

[acertainpov]

"Of course she did."

Should he be worried that Ibani always seems to have the right clothes for him? Like having your own Jedi dress-up doll.

He kisses her and turns towards the drawer, dropping his towel and piling it on the chair with his Tatooine robes.

They are a pretty good style - brown and tan, and his personal favorite, red riding boots.

"These will do nicely."

[last_kallig]

Ibani prefers to think of it as Being Prepared. She doubts whatever money Ben is living off of stretches all that far, and the fact that spending money on a Jedi would make half of her ancestors roll over in their graves is a nice bonus!

Ibani openly admires the view as he drops the towel. (She didn't exactly get to SEE much on Hoth, what with having to stay huddled under the blankets to keep from freezing.)

"You are a ridiculously handsome man, Ben," she says as he starts to get dressed. She's half on and half off the bed, working on getting her own boots on.

[acertainpov]

Ben pauses, not exactly caught off guard by the comment, but not taking it in his stride either, and he glances down at his body: underweight, desert scorched and old before its time, before shooting her a sly look.

"Flatterer."

She should have seen him in his prime, though.