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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[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.

[last_kallig]

"I am, of course, ridiculously biased," Ibani replies cheerfully at his sly look. Underweight, at least, can be corrected. Ibani resolves to, somehow, feed Ben more often. It's like Ben doesn't take proper care of himself.


Now there's an exercise for thought. If they had been...this, when Ben was in his prime, would it have changed anything for the better?

She pulls her second boot on and stands up, automatically stretching, checking that she can move freely. Some habits are very deeply ingrained indeed by now.

[acertainpov]

Strapping a deep brown belt over his ecru-coloured tunic, Ben tilts his head at her. It's not that he can read thoughts, of course, but theres a sense of thoughtfulness that raises his curiosity.

"Not that could ever look fit to be on the arms of someone like you," he remarks, proving that he's probably got the edge, flattery-wise

[last_kallig]

"Nothing terribly important," she replies when he tilts his head. "Though I might need to feed you more often," she teases.

He does have the edge flattery wise, and Ibani blushes. "Flatterer."

"Almost ready to go?"

[acertainpov]

Ben leans against the dresser to pull his boots on, and after a moment's thought, hangs his lightsaber on his belt.

"Feels odd to be wearing this openly," he remarks, and spreads a hand, gesturing towards the door. "After you."

[last_kallig]

Ibani grins and leads the way on to Alderaan.

"We've got a ways to go to reach where I had planned to picnic, but I needed a door," she explains. They step out of a rest stop and on to the road.

There's a speeder bike waiting,with what looks like supplies packed onto the back. "You can pilot if you like, or hang on to me." Not that Ibani plans on being at all reckless, but it would be a convenient excuse for Ben to wrap his arms around her.

[acertainpov]

"It's your speeder, I wouldn't dare presume."

Which means, in Ben-speak, that he would love an excuse to wrap his hands around her, please. And he does so, even resting his chin on his shoulder - he tookt he opportunity earlier to trim and shave so his cheeks are particularly smooth, and her skin against his feels good.

[last_kallig]

Ibani just savors the contact for a moment. "We're headed to a wilderness reserve area. Well, technically an area inside a wilderness reserve. Came with the title, not allowed to build a structure on it even if I wanted to, so it's still wild."

She grins. "And when we get where we're going we should be the only sapients for at least 100 kilometers in any direction."

Ibani is a much better pilot than Anakin, at least in the not terrifying passengers department. The trip is smooth, easy, as they go down the road and climb up into the Jural mountains.

[acertainpov]

Ben grins as well.

"So no chance of surprise kidnappings?"

[last_kallig]

"I hope not!" Ibani grumbles. "Between your luck and my luck..." Seriously, IS the multiverse out to get them?

They pass through trees, many a hundred years old or more and reach a small glade. "Here we are." There's a spring fed pond in the middle of it, rocky shelves leading like steps down into the water. A giant Alderaanian oak spreads its boughs out and provides dappled shade at this time of day.

There are no people, but there are wild things hiding around the glade, insects and birds and herbivorous animals.

"

[acertainpov]

Ben dismounts from the speeder, and does what he often does on reaching a planet that isn't Tatooine: he shits his eyes and inhales, drinking in the space. Then he turns around to help unload the picnic.

"And this is yours?"

[last_kallig]

"Technically," Ibani replies. She unfolds a truly enormous blanket, the size of the top of a queen sized bed, and puts it down under the giant oak tree.

"Seems a waste, considering how little time I'm ever on Alderaan, but at least the wildlife can make good use of it."

There's also a large basket on the back of the speeder, from the sounds it makes when Ben picks it up, it contains food, wine, and glassware of some kind.