Another small step towards recklessness

[Emelie Shadowstar]

It was probably one of the worst ideas Emelie had ever had. Not that she hadn't been full of them lately. Or was that bad decisions mixed with bad ideas? Either way, the idea persisted in her mind, running through her head in full detail like a pretty little play. She had enough people now, Serrena, Salvo, even Peregrine would probably just nod and do as he was told. The extras could be filled in - Dominick, Celleste if necessary... hell, if she really needed him she could probably find some way to get in touch Carrick, if he wasn't dead.

There really was only one questionable piece to the puzzle. But unfortunately that particular individual was going to either make or break the entire thing. Emelie had ideas on how to win him over though... though they probably were all rather bad.

Being drunk didn't help any. Not that there really was a waking moment where the woman didn't have some form of alcohol floating about in her system, but it took a great deal to actually get her to a clear point of intoxication. Not that she was beyond a usual functional level, either. It was more in that comfort range where everything just felt warm and calm...

She let a small sigh leave her after another drink from the glass that had once been filled to the brim with that delightful little beverage known as Breath of Heaven. The gentle after burn that rose in her throat elicited another deep breath as she placed the glass back down on the side of the large bath tub. It was one of the few luxuries she had that probably wouldn't have been given up for anything, and to think... it had been Xavier's idea. Real water, not one of those sonic-showers that just got the job done, but a full large scale bath where one could relax and let their cares simply melt away. Heaven, indeed.

A small light briefly came alive on the communications panel in the room, showing the main door to the suite had opened and someone had entered. Emelie smiled slightly, about time... Sure she wasn't probably mentally in the best position to attempt to convince the essential component in whatever mixed up plan she had... but then again, amazing things sometimes started off as bad ideas.

[Xavier Synik]

It was an odd habit that Xavier had developed, and one that he couldn't even really say when it had developed, but whenever he had started doing it, Xavier had gotten used to wearing suits to the office for meetings. Even when the meetings were over the holovid. Though typically when he wasn't meeting someone face to face he at least went with the semi casual approach and went without a tie.

As the door slid closed behind him he took a quick glance around the room and didn't immediately see Emelie.

"Em?"

"In here..." He heard her call from the direction of the bedroom.

Shrugging his jacket from his shoulders he folded it in half before laying it across the back of one of the large leather chairs in the main room of their quarters before unbuttoning the second button from the top of his dress shirt, the first already being undone, as he made his way to the bar. A couple ice cubes and a few fingers of a nice single malt that Em had found someplace and kept restocking every time he thought had drank the last of it.

Walking down the short hallway to the bedroom he discovered that she had actually called him from the on-suite bathroom. A couple more steps and he was standing leaning against the door jam looking across at her in the tub.

"Long day?" He said with a smirk.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

"Something like that..."

Her eyes moved to look at him before her head slowly turned to follow. Only the hinting of a smile remained on her lips, her normal coy smirk having faded under the mental onslaught of thoughts tumbling about in her head. So many damn things she wanted to say and now she couldn't make a one of them cooperate and form.

"I just feel trapped some days..."

It wasn't quite what Emelie wanted to address but it was a starting point. It was the truth, at least, and Xavier knew her well enough to get the general meaning. True, she wasn't exactly stuck on the station, hell she wandered off often enough for various reasons - a short trip to Ryloth had been most recent, but that was hardly paradise. But that wasn't exactly the issue... Xavier was one of the few who knew just how much of a free spirit she could be at times, and her sudden random trips to various planets for actual legitimate reasons were a far cry from what she honestly craved. She wondered if it was the sensation of having created her own cage of sorts in their realm of corporate identity that had lead her to the current, quite possibly mad, line of thinking.

[Xavier Synik]

"I know you do."

He was surprised that she stayed on the station as often as she did. He'd already started plans to rectify that, but that could wait until his plans were further along. For now she'd have to be happy with their little retreats to the villa on Lynaria.

"We'll go for a few weeks after this Russard stuff is finally wrapped up and things are running on their own."

He knew she knew what he was talking about.

Entering the room further, Xi moved over and sat on the side of the tub. He looked into her eyes and spotted something in her eyes.

"What's on your mind Ms. Shadowstar. Feeling a little stir crazy?"

[Emelie Shadowstar]

As the glass of alcohol was brought back to her lips as Emelie gave him a look that was more addressing the use of her last name than any form of answer. A small sigh left her as she set the glass back down and let his last question run through her head. First she had to force herself to try to stave off the instant appeasement to just about everything that came with the promise of spending, what sounded to be a large chunk of time, on Lynaria. Then her mind had to settle on what exactly she felt, which only resulted in a resounding...

"Maybe."

It was only in hindsight after she'd spoken that Emelie realized she could have said the single word in a toying manner that would have been more fitting for her. Then again, considering who she was actually talking to, maybe the genuine soft spoken hinting of confusion was somehow better.

"I shouldn't be, though..."

What exactly was stir-crazy anyway? It wasn't like Emelie had ever really experienced the sensation to be able to say yes or no. She couldn't help but think back a few weeks, not that she could remember the incident or anything, but Trina had told her she'd finished off a small bottle of membrosia by herself and had gone on a bit of a ranting spree. The higher points of which, Trina had seen fit to remind Emelie of.

Apparently the proposed act of insanity she was planning on speaking to Xavier about would have to wait. Apparently her subconscious had issues needing to be settled first and the glass she'd been drinking from was enough to give her at least some form of courage towards it.

Another gentle sigh left her as she raised a hand slowly from the bath water and flicked off most of the excess droplets. She hesitated for a small moment before gently placing just her fingertips on one of Xavier's hands.

"This is probably going to sound completely stupid, but apparently I don't care..." A small pause followed, followed by a deep breath. "You still consider me as more than just a business partner, right?"

[Xavier Synik]

Xavier put down his glass on the floor beside him and then slid along the edge of the tub until he was close enough to her to be able to lean across the tub letting his face move to only a couple of inches away from hers and looked her square in the eyes.

"Em... You are far more then a business partner. I'd give up all of this in a heartbeat, so long as I didn't have to give you up."

He leaned in and kissed her softly, letting his lips linger on hers for a moment before pulling away and staring into her eyes again with a slight look of concern.

"You want to tell me what's going on in there."

[Emelie Shadowstar]

Emelie let a small smirk form, just a tiny one, barely tugging at her lips as she looked at him. For a moment, she pondered letting a small no be her only answer and then her eyes moved away from Xavier's and she shook her head slightly.

"Stupid paranoia, apparently."

She normally would have been chiding herself for even mentioning such a thing or even giving it a second thought, but all that overcame her in that moment was a profound sense of relief.

"Just, you know me, Xi... I'm not used to this sort of arrangement. The past few years I've made my own rules, done things on my own, haven't had anyone or anything else to even concern myself with... and then... well..."

The amount of alcohol in her system spurred on things she normally kept to herself. Emelie would quite possibly find a bit of loathing cast at herself for it.

"...well, you happened. And..." Her eyes moved away, glancing at the wall and then slowly slid back to him. "I'm damn scared out of my mind of losing you. If you left... if you made me leave... I just... I don't know what I'd do."

Moving on! She let the silence hold for a small moment, barely enough for the thought to even register before continuing.

"But I can't just sit around and play business woman anymore either. I have to do something..."

[Xavier Synik]

Xi leaned back slightly and ran his hand lightly across her cheek.

"I know it's not you. Hell I'm surprised it's me to be honest."

He looked at her and chuckled slightly and then shook his head just barely enough to notice.

"Okay I know you. You don't have to do something. You want to do something. You've already got something cooked up up in that pretty little head of yours don't you."

He reached down and picked up his glass.

"I also know that if I stay here, I'm more likely to end up in that tub with you... and that we wouldn't exactly be talking."

He stood up.

"Finish up. I'm going to go see what I can find to eat, we can talk at dinner."

He leaned down and kissed her lightly again. Pulling away from her lips he leaned over and whispered into her ear.

"We can take a bath later... after you tell me what your up to."

Smirking he left the bathroom before she could respond.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

That... was the problem with letting people get to know you, especially on the level that she had let Xavier do so: They could predict you, and your ideas - at least in the short term. It seemed like no sooner had she pondered the idea of getting him to join her than Xi called her on it. Darn. Though, there was something enjoyable about it. Out of everyone she had ever met, he was the one that could keep up with her mentally and sometimes even pass her in her own little race.

Emelie couldn't help but shake her head as he left the room... his actions were similar to something she would pull and she wasn't sure if she should be slightly annoyed or amused. Of course... with what she had planned, his proposal could very change and she was still marginally worried about that.

Ten minutes passed before she managed to drag herself from the warm water of the bathtub, adorn a soft robe, and slowly made her way down the hall and to the living area, glancing into the kitchen before joining Xavier there.

She stepped behind him, gently running her fingertips against the back of his neck on her way to where the remnants of the full bottle she'd opened that evening remained. A small sigh gave way to her decided it better to switch over to a glass of wine or two for the rest of the evening.

"So, you want to wait on this ludicrous proposition I have, or should I start giving you reasons to regret what you said earlier now?"

Her tone was obviously joking despite her mind questioning the validity of it.

[Xavier Synik]

Xavier had also switched to wine. A red that came from their vineyards. It wasn't bad, but he had already made a decision to introduce a new variety of grape during the next growing season.

He hadn't found much in the kitchen for dinner, but there was enough for a pasta dish that he had picked up somewhere and a salad.

"Why don't you start. The sauce isn't quite ready yet anyway."

He went back to the stove and stired the pot of red sauce for a second while he waited for the water to boil.

"Besides, you know me now as well as I know you." He turned his head to look over his shoulder at her. "And thus you know that I never say anything I regret."

[Emelie Shadowstar]

"I thought that it was 'never say anything you don't mean'?" One of her typical sly smiles slowly spread across her features. "You can't tell me you've never had a night out, had a few too many, and said some things the next morning that made you want to go back in the past and slap some sort of adhesive on your mouth."

Emelie knew she was stalling, granted it was in her usual way of tossing silly comments around so it probably wasn't as painfully obvious as it could have been. Problem was, she was still trying to figure out where to start with it all. Might as well start small...

She poured herself a glass of the same wine Xavier was drinking, taking a sip of it before leaning against some of the cabinets, keeping her eyes purposely from looking over at her partner as she let the words finally leave her.

"What do you think... about us pulling a casino job?"

[Xavier Synik]

He'd been expecting something off the wall, but he'd have to admit that she caught him off guard.

"You want to pull a job...? In a casino?" The shock and surprise filled his voice.

His first reaction was to immediately say no. No that wasn't quite right. It was to say "Hell no". But while his mouth opened to say something he caught himself.

"I'm guessing you don't mean as a sabacc dealer?"

His attempt at levity went over like a lead balloon as she glared at him for a moment before looking away again.

He stayed silent for a second using the pause to toss some pasta into the now boiling water. As he turned back to her he let out a slow breath.

"I'll be honest with you Em. My gut reaction is to ask you if your joking, but I know your not. So before I say anything let's hear what your thinking."

[Emelie Shadowstar]

There was a bit of reluctance towards it all given his initial reaction, which instantly crossed off several of the possible locations off her list. If he'd been all for it, Emelie may have gone for one of the more adventurous locations, high risk appealed to her but she couldn't bring herself to strike at the very soul of the beast if Xi's heart wasn't in it.

But there were two others that remained in her mind, even if the locations on Cloud City or Coruscant were out. Now to just try and present the others in a way they wouldn't instantly be shot down...

"Heavens know you and I don't need the credits, but I have people who could use their share. Think of it as a morale booster for those we keep around for the more hazardous jobs."

Sounded good enough, and it was the truth as best as Emelie could figure.

"As for locations... I'm thinking..."

Now came the hard part...

"Either Nal Tra'a on Nar Shaddaa or possibly the cruiser Morning Star that I think is typically in Chandrilian space."

[Xavier Synik]

Xavier just about choked on his wine.

"The Sun?" He put the glass of wine down on the counter and looked at her trying to read her face. "Em there are easier ways to make some money. Why don't we just go after Cloud City or the casino on Coruscant?"

He said the last part almost like he had read her mind in her not saying those locations. He knew as much about the casinos as she did. They both read the same reports.

Turning around he flipped the knobs on the stove turning them off and proceeded to drain the pasta. As he began to plate up the noodles he kept silent his thoughts racing through his head. On the one hand it was one hell of a fools errand to pull something like what she was proposing. All the unwanted attention it could possibly bring them, and more importantly his current and possible future relations with the rebel alliance. On the other hand, that covert relationship could use a slush fund that he could use to fund things without having to deal with trying to hide the money coming out of the Silenus main accounts.

As he placed a plates of pasta on the table he went back to the counter to retrieve his glass of wine, and then returned to the table and took a seat. Taking a bite of the pasta, he chewed slowly as he contemplated what she was talking about further. The business mind had been replaced with the tactical mind for a moment.

"Morning Star's exit strategy sucks. Can hang out on a planet for a few days if plan A falls apart, but on a ship in the middle of space you've got to get off the ship." He took another bite of his dinner followed by a sip of the wine. "Lay out your plan."

It wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no, and it was as good as she was going to get for the moment, and he knew that she knew it.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

The questions Xavier initially asked had no room for reply, though Emelie wished she could have formed some sort of response for the silence that followed was almost agonizing. She followed him to the table and sat opposite, hands staying in her lap as she felt pangs of guilt for even considering such an idea. Her own boredom and desires had a very real probability of putting everything they had in danger. She knew that from the start, but having that small concern reflected in Xavier's words and expressions was something she hadn't been quite ready for.

When Xavier finally spoke again she couldn't help but let a small smirk form. In Emelie's opinion, it had been far too long since she had seen him in such a mind frame. His swiftness in thought when it came to business dealings was impressive, but it was his tactical mind that had attracted her in the first place... especially when he used it against her. But now wasn't really the time to think about that...

"It's not solid, that's not my area of specialty. I can handle people one-on-one, I can lay out basics, but... I need you. You've always been able to fill in the details I miss."

She sighed softly and took a drink of the wine.

"With the Morning Star out of the question... that leaves us with Nal Tra'a. Probably the easiest to handle and easiest to get out of and quite possibly also the easiest to pin the job on someone else. Nar Shaddaa isn't exactly known for its upstanding civilians."

The pasta was poked at with her fork before she finally managed to make herself eat despite the knotting in her stomach. Another drink of wine came before she sighed softly once more.

"I've got 5, maybe 6 main people to work with. It's not as many as I'd like, but I can't really pull Trina or Durnik into this. It's not fair to them. Either way... I need to get a hold of the blueprints of the Casino first. Shouldn't be too hard, I think I have a connection that can get them. I'd have them now except that I didn't feel like pulling all my favors on getting a stockpile of documents when I'd only be using one. From there, judging on what we'll be dealing with... I'll send in a team of four or so to scope out security, get a good idea of the routines of when credits are moved, what doors they use, where guards are, when they switch shifts... After that, I'm thinking running with a basic distract-and-grab. Keep it simple... mostly."

Emelie paused and looked up from the table where her eyes had been focused as she had been speaking, raising to look at Xavier.

"Truth is I haven't done a lot of the actual job planning. I wanted your approval before I even began to move on this."

[Xavier Synik]

Xavier put down his fork and took another sip of wine. Putting the glass down he pushed away from the table and stood up. He saw her mouth open to say something, probably to ask where he was going, and just held up his hand for her to hold on for a second.

Leaving the kitchen area he disappeared for a minute before returning with a medium sized datapad in hand. He already had a calendar pulled up and was looking at it before he slid it down on the table in front of her. Resting one hand on the back of her chair he leaned over her and pointed at the calendar being shown on the screen.

"You think you can get the casino plans and your people's dossier's to in a week?" He pointed at the square marking the date a week from the current date.

Em didn't say anything but nodded.

"Good. Then tell your people to gather..." He paused as he scanned the dates and flipped the month over, "here?" It was about a month and a half from the current date. "And have them meet on Lynaria. I want to keep Silenus out of this."

He moved away from her and took his seat again, spinning the datapad around so he could see it.

"How about you and I leave for Lynaria in two weeks? Planning and the like." He smirked at her and gave her a slight wink.

He'd planned on taken a vacation to Lynaria sooner rather then later anyway, and while two weeks would be sooner then he had planned, planning for this little job she was talking about seemed like a good excuse to get away a little earlier.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

Her mind was an assault of emotions and thoughts. Somehow, although she had wanted it, Emelie had never actually expected Xavier to agree with her. Not only that but he had gone above and beyond anything she had expected to get out of him in that evening's discussion.

As he settled back across from her at the table she arched an eyebrow at him. His mentioning of bringing her group of people to meet at Lynaria still resounding in her head. Surely he hadn't meant the villa, they would have to arrange something else. But there was time for that.

For the moment she had the answer she wanted. Which let her mind drift to his ending comment, and let it linger on the wink. Like he had to be playfully subtle when it was just the two of them... Though she perfectly hid the small leap she had felt in her mood as he brought the prospect of them retreating to their vacation spot in two weeks rather than however it would take to get the entire Russard partnership up and running.

Her glass of wine was raised just slightly.

"Two weeks? Who am I to argue? There is a great deal of planning to be done, after all."

[Xavier Synik]

Two weeks...? Who had he been kidding. Unfrotunately the advantage of being the CEO of your own company also meant that you had the disadvange of not always being able to just take off when you wanted. Sure it sounded possible in theory, but then you needed to sign something which leads to revisions, which leads to negotiations, which leads to...six months later.

And so six months later, they still hadn't been able to get to Lynaria. While he was sure that Em was disappointed in the fact that they still hadn't gotten anything off the ground, he was thankful that she had jumped into another of her personal projects.

And now, six months, two weeks, and a few days from when she first brought it up, Xavier sat in the living room of their quarters waiting for her to return from whereever she had gone off to, so that he could bring it up again.

He'd ensured that he had the ability to leave the next day for an extended period of time, and so it was either going to be to plan out the heist they had discussed previously, or to go to Lynaria on vacation. He wasn't sure which, but either way he was fairly certain that tomorrow morning they would be heading for Lynaria.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

The trip to Coruscant had been in a word, exhausting. Every revelation, every action, everything had felt like it had drained her. Not in any terrible way, just in the way that left Emelie wanting nothing more than to throw the bag she packed into a room, deal with it later, and open up a bottle of wine. Maybe two bottles... one at a time, of course. She wasn't that wanting.

As for that little plan, the farthest she got was in the door of the suite she shared with Xavier, the bag slipping from her shoulder as the door slid closed behind her. The simple act of finally coming home took all the weight in the universe off of her.

A glance was given to her partner, a small smirk played upon her lips as she held up a single finger to have him wait on... anything. Thoughts, actions, speech. Emelie after all, was not a person to deny her desires, and that bottle of wine was still calling no matter how much she felt better by just entering the room.

It was only after she had gone to the kitchen, uncorked a chilled bottle of their own vintage from the winery on Lynaria and poured herself a glass that she returned to the living room and allowed herself to finally drop on the sofa.

"You look like you've got some sort of secret, so out with it before I have to go and tell you some boring story about running around the bowls of Coruscant."

[Xavier Synik]

Xavier smiled at her and laughed lightly.

"Trip was that good huh?"

He leaned over and gave her a light kiss.

"Welcome home. Though don't plan on staying long. We're leaving tomorrow for Lynaria. For sure this time. I've cleared my schedule for a least a couple weeks, with the option for a couple more."

He smirked as her eyes lit up.

"You just need to make one decision. We going to relax completely or is this going to be a working vacation. I seem to remember you had some grand scheme you wanted to take on the last time we were supposed go."