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 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.

[acertainpov]

It's heavy enough that Ben uses the Force a little bit to help him carry it, but he manages to make it look like he's carrying it all himself as he sets it down.

The illuion is rather shattered when he sits down near the oak tree and just waves a hand to open the basket, starting to set out the food from where he sits.

[last_kallig]

Ibani sits next to him, smiling, then leans against him. Her Force presence relaxes a little, expands, the psychic equivalent of letting your hair down.

The wine is cold and sparkling, the various foods bite sized, ideal for eating with a single hand or feeding to someone else. Ibani's glad that the food is calorie and nutrient dense, now that she's seen that Ben in underweight.

"The breeze feels nice," she says, head on his shoulder. The sunlight filtering through the canopy softens the silver of her hair.

[acertainpov]

Ben wraps an arm around her as she leans, tilts his head towards her and inhales deeply, bring in the small of her hair along with the smell of an Alderaanian summer: summer flowers and scented trees and the distinctive tang of living Kriin trees.

"Mmmm," he agrees. It's nice to have a breeze that cools, rather than bringing more hot sand.

He doesn't move to eat yet, just enjoys the sensation of sitting here.

[last_kallig]

Ibani can't resist the urge to kiss him as his head is tilted toward her and he inhales, so she does. Warm, soft, gentle, everything one would not expect from a Sith.

She reaches for him in the Force, wanting to feel him there. Some part of her has trouble believing he's real, when she can't sense him in the Force.

"Hm. Tempted to put my head on your lap," she murmurs. She remembers how he held her on Hoth, when the backlash hit. It was nice, but it will be better without all of THAT, she's sure.

[acertainpov]

It takes the gentle nudge of her reaching for him to remind Ben that he's safe, and he stretches out into the Force like working out tired muscles, slowly making himself known to her.

It will take a few minutes but he starts to drop his defences.

For now he smirks, quirks a grey eyebrow at her, unable to resist the temptation of making that dirty.

"You don't waste any time."

[last_kallig]

A part of her she didn't know was still tense relaxes as she can start to feel Ben again.

Ibani blinks at his comment, confused, and that echoes in the Force. Then, she realizes what that must be referring to, and blushes.

"I wasn't thinking of that, although that might be an idea for later," she muses aloud, her expression and the Force speculative and considering.

"Food first? Or that Force trick I learned from the Voss that I mentioned on Hoth, the one for wear and tear? This would be a good place for that, plenty of light and fewer distractions."

She's not going to say NO distractions, because Ben is very good at being distracting all on his own.

[acertainpov]

Ben's grin is on the soft edge - it was only a joke, flirty as it is, and he's more interested in other things even when they get to that.

"Food," he decides, because that's what he's more hungry for other than just to sit here for a while.

And luckily, he doesn't have to move to get any of it. "What did you bring?"

He can see, but he wants the tour.

[last_kallig]

"This is sweetened oro bark," she says, pointing to the sweets shaped like small sticks. "I'm honestly not sure what the rest of them are, precisely. I asked the proprietor to pick their favorites."

There are tiny flatbreads wrapped around meat and vegetables, a grape sized fruit next to warm chocolate for dipping said fruit, a vegetable/lentil fritter of some kind, and tiny cakes with differently colored layers of fillings.

[acertainpov]

Ben chooses the flatbreads to start, reaches out and summons two of them, one floating to him and one to Ibani. He picks it apart slightly with his fingers and smiles at what he finds.

"Nerf," he says. "Only Alderaanian chefs can turn this meat into a delicacy."

[last_kallig]

Ibani thanks Ben as he floats the flatbread to her.

"I've seen those, big, placid beasts." She chuckles. "Still feels a little strange to encounter animals that don't want to eat me on sight. Never met any until I first found Milliways."

The various vegetables with the nerf are crisp tender still, providing contrast to the soft meat in flavor and texture.

Ibani makes a 'mmm' noise as she chews carefully.

[acertainpov]

"Someone was herding nerfs in Milliways?"

That's as surprising as her never having seen one before. In Ben's time the damn things are ubiquitous, and never prepared as well as on Alderaan.

[last_kallig]

"Oh, no, I meant animals in general that weren't trying to kill me on sight. Korriban's wildlife is universally extremely aggressive. An unarmed first year acolyte wandering around was liable to wind up down something's throat inside of two hours."

"Although I wouldn't be surprised if someone HAD tried to herd nerfs at Milliways." Milliways is weird like that.

Ibani finishes her flatbread, then shifts position to lay on her back with her head on Ben's lap, barring any objections from Ben.