Tears equals Men equals Trouble

[Estelle Russard]

Breakfast was one of Estelle's favorite times of day. Most especially when breakfast was at the Russard Estate, taken in the solarium and at a time when no one was in any particular hurry to be some place, doing some thing.

The table was covered with a stiff, white cloth and in the center was set a small vase of fresh flowers

Arvan poured the tea and Estelle stirred in milk, followed closely by two neat sugar cubes, splashing them in to her cup in a manner that had never failed to agrivate her father. Who, seated to her left and musing over the daily news-holovid, ignored her poor manners and waved off the tea, preferring his orange juice and a steaming chaser of black coffee.

"You sleep better last night, robin?" Jason asked, the way fathers do.

"Much better, thankyou" she replied, sampling the tea. "Its very good, Arvan" she praised and the servant, in turn, rewarded her with a warm smile.

"Its been a long few weeks for everyone" Estelle continued, voicing a sentiment they both shared, "I feel glad Aurelias was able to get away to Brentaal (http://75.126.43.122/forum/showthread.php?t=17843) at last"

The arrival of Kazaar's wife in Imperial Center and the resulting upheaval that had attended it, had been emotionally and physically taxing on the entire household. Grieving the loss of his son, Kazaar had at last recovered from his terrible injuries to make what could only be a very difficult visit to Adelaide, his estranged wife. The Russard's hearts had gone with him and, it was impossible for both Kazaars' not to be paramount in their thoughts.

"Do you think he will be ok?"

[Jason Russard]

Jason pulled his eyes from the Mercantile Index Review figures he had been studying to engage his daughter more completely.

"He'll be ok. This is something he needs to take care of, and if I know anything about our Mr. Kazaar, he can take care of things when he has to"

The Younger of the Russard males had given quite a deal of thought to the Kazaars' situation, or to be exact, to Adelaide's situation in particualr. He had not forgotten his promise to assist her however he could, but it wasn't this that played upon his attentions. He kept picturing her sad, lovely face and it stirred emotions that he would rather not admit to, even to himself.

"He'll be ok" Jason reiterated and punctuated the assurance with a comforting smile.

[Old Man Russard]

"Who'll be ok?" the Old man gruffed as Lissell, his nurse, wheeled him up behind the other two already seated in order to join them at the breakfast table.

"You talking about our lunatic chauffer?" he continued, kissing Estelle on the top of the head as he made the taxing transition from his wheelchair to the seat Arvan had pulled out for him. "..Head's as hard as a frigate" he continued, "and as long as he doesn't loose that, he'll be fine"

"Morning, Grandpa" Estelle greeted, even as the old man settled with a groan into his seat.

"Father" Jason acknowledged congenially.

"Still..." The Old man shook his head to himself still on the subject of Aurelias, yet not bothering to finish the thought aloud. "Damnit, Arvan" he exploded as a steaming plate was set in front of him, "Not that gruel again, take it away and bring me some bacon"

Arvan gave the Russard patriach a stern look. "The Doctor insists oatmeal is best for your constitution, Sir"

Jason the Elder flicked the napkin into his lap, "To hell with that old quack. I want bacon and some eggs, and some potatos with them"

Estelle was hanging on the "still..." comment, wondering just what he'd meant.

"You should really not yell at Arvan, father. It's not his fault your arteries look like wax works" Jason interjected.

"What do mean "still...?" " Estelle pressed, not caring what her grandfather ate for breakfast.

Jason the Elder looked at her for a moment, not following what she was talking about and then he got it. "Well, they are still married you know"

"So?" Estelle again.

"Soooo," His grand-daughter was a bit dull-witted in the mornings. "He might decide his place is with her, in Brentaal."

Estelle blinked at him, then at her father to see if he was catching this.

"He might stay there, might'nt he" The old man concluded. "Bring me a lot of bacon, Arvan!"

[Estelle Russard]

"He's not going to stay on Brentaal" Estelle scoffed, sounding more confident that she actually was. "He has a job here"

He had committments. To the Alliance, to Belargic and The Black Man. To her. He couldn't just walk out. They were fighting a war.

A slight frown knit her forehead. True, this was an unusual circumstance, and he had been fighting for the Rebel cause years longer than she had, it was possible Aurelias might seek a change. The idea was unsettling.

Estelle had taken for granted the partnership she enjoyed with the ex-bounty hunter. They made such a good team, the idea of that not continuing - for any reason - was not a reality she had ever given any thought to. And the suggestion of this possibility disturbed her. She realised she had been viewing the situation of Adelaide's return in a narrow perspective, seeing only the immediate circumstances, and not as a big picture with bigger ramifications. Her grandfather's comment had come at her from left-field.

She nibbled her toast pensively.

What if he stayed there..?

[Jason Russard]

Jason couldn't decide if his daughter was being willfully naive or if she really was just that self-centered.

"Elle, he's not going to risk a future with his wife for a driving job. If a reconcilliation is what he wants, its likely we've seen the last of Kazaar for quite some time"

He patted her hand lightly, "Dont worry, we'd get another body-guard for you. A Trandoshan mercenary perhaps, or even one of those beefy Cizerack's, that might be better."

Estelle threw him a dark look and her father's grin faded.

"Seriously, though, Estelle. It is quite possible the Kazaar's could work things out. Adelaide's been through a lot, that gets to a man."

[Old Man Russard]

"And she has those sad, pretty eyes" the old man offered, "Bring a man to heel just as sure as a static pike (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Static_pike)to the breadbasket. No man can hold up over a weeping woman" Both Russard men shook their head at such a well-known universal truth.

"Every woman is wrong until she cries, and then she is right**" Jason the Younger added and sipped his coffee like a sage.

"Oh, for crying out loud" Estelle groused, disgusted "What happened to the male Russard spines of steel?"

"I'm telling you, 'Stelle" the Old man pointed his fork at her and fixed her with his striking blue eyes, "Kazaar married that girl in the first place - and that's saying alot. Dont be disappointed if they try to fix things, I wont stand for it. Dont you begrudge them some happiness" He pushed the potatoes into his mouth. "You were raised better than that."






**Quote source: Sam Slick (Thomas Chandler Haliburton)

[Estelle Russard]

Estelle slumped back against her chair, brooding, as the talk between the men turned to other things.

She heard them speaking, but neglected to listen, her thoughts moving off in a singular direction.

Would Director Belargic sanction such a change for Kazaar? Of course, that question was academic when it came to someone like Aurelias - he would do as he dang-well pleased.

Estelle guessed the real question she needed to be asking was, Was there still something between Aurelias and Adelaide to salvage? She had to admit, there likely was. Grandfather had hit it on the head when he pointed out it was a big deal that he had married her in the first place. All that Estelle knew of her partner was that he was a hard man, made hard by circumstance, and was not an easy person to get close to. She, herself, enjoyed a relationship Kazaar permitted to very few. But it was not a marital one, and maybe, (she worried) Aurelias was remembering that he had once wanted that.

She allowed Arvan to refresh her tea, but she didn't drink it as dwelling on these unsettling thoughts had quite distracted her and breakfast was long forgotten.

[Jason Russard]

".....Dont you think?"

Jason had repeated the question, a little more insistant this time as his daughter appeared to have been ignoring him.

Estelle looked at him at last, but blinked like a newborn wamprat trying to focus for the first time in the dazzling desert sun. He sighed his annoyance and restated for Estelle's benefit, again. "The Dean, Mr Theaarsson, his suggestion is a good one, dont you think?"

"What suggestion?"

Another sigh, this one less long-suffering than the last. A man only had so much patience.

"That you take an extention on your Courses. Your projects have been good, but it seems you are always only just meeting the turn-in deadlines, and sometimes not at all. It's reflecting on your final grades. Though, it escapes me as to what you do all day."

Neither father or daughter noticed the sudden interest the Old Man took in the sports pages.

"What?" Estelle still looked a little vague.

Jason pressed the issue in a concerned, but firm parental fashion, "Your grades could be better, Elle. Should, be better. Maybe...with everything going on, you need to space things out some more. Sign up for another six months.."

"What!"

Ok, that got a response, but not one Jason had been expecting. "You dont like the idea? It would ease some of the pressure on you."

Surely, that was a good idea. Less pressure.

[Estelle Russard]

"You want me to get an extension? On my course load?"

The idea definitely was not appealing to the youngest Russard.

"But, I'll never graduate at that rate"

[Old Man Russard]

"Or, you could just knuckle down and get it done" the Old man gruffed with typical directness.

[Jason Russard]

"Of course you'd graduate" Jason assured his daughter, sidestepping his father's remark neatly. "It would just mean you wouldn't have to push yourself. You've had a rough go of things lately, and this latest situation with Mr. Kazaar has been very trying. On us all" he added quickly. Estelle was getting quite prickly, he noticed, and he didn't really understand why. Every time he mentioned the Adelaide thing..Oh. No.

"Estelle,"

Jason couldn't quite stop his face from forming a distasteful rumple, "You aren't becoming attached to Kazaar, are you?" Jason was not nearly ready to deal with something like a bad-boy crush from his level-headed daughter, no matter how much he respected the bounty hunter.

"He's old enough to be your father!" He couldn't help the little pitch-rise in his voice.

[Estelle Russard]

"What are you talking about?"

Had her father gone mad?

"Dont be hysterical, Jason." This from the Old man, who was now, however, curiously looking at his grand-daughter.

Oh, good grief. "I thought we were talking about school?" she said looking from one man to the other and trying to keep her skull from blowing apart at this lunatic suggestion. "If anyone at this table is losing perspective because of recent events, I think Im the last person the fingers should be pointing at."

She stood up and glared at them - wanting nothing better to tell the pair of them how the most pressing thing was not her University education, or some imagined infatuation with a lethal cigar-smoking killer, but that her cover as an art student, which facillitated her status as a special agent in clandestine operations for the Rebel Alliance was possibly going to be thrown into a major upheaval because of the fly-by-night arrival of the ex-ex-wife of her partner (the lethal, cigar-smoking killer), and who now may decide to drop the ex-ex and keep the wife, putting aside their partnership and everything they had worked hard for and sweated in blood and tears for at risk - or at the very least, complicate things and cause changes that she was not ready for. And just when everything was going so good, too.

"The two of you, sometimes, just simply dont have a clue" she said in exasperation, "Thats the trouble when you only live with men!"

Estelle left them with a withering look to finish their breakfast without her.

[Jason Russard]

"Well, that didn't go very well" Jason said to his father, not quite certain of what just happened.

[Old Man Russard]

Jason the Elder turned back to his sports page, observing dryly to his bewildered son, "You got trouble"

[Estelle Russard]

She'd left the Russard men downstairs in the solarium, but their ridiculous suggestions followed her doggedly into her room, annoying her to an unreasonable degree.

The school thing was not entirely without merit, she supposed. It was becoming increasingly difficult to find plausible excuses for her frequent absences. The influence of her father's goodstanding (ie: money) with the Board would only save her for so long. But the answer was not to draw things out longer, but rather complete things quicker if she could.

But the Kazaar thing, good lord. Like her father had said himself, Aurelias was old enough to be her father. Well, almost. He did have that whole dangerous, fallen-from-grace attraction thing about him, that was true. And the scowl thing, that was cute. But she'd never considered him other than a partner. Hadn't thought of anyone that way since James.

Estelle glimpsed herself in the mirror, and turned to examine her reflection more critically. What did a man like Kazaar look for in woman, anyway? She lifted her chin, tiltng her face side-to-side. Passable, she decided. Nose was kinda long. She then turned a little on her toes, not un-pleased with the shape of her body and the way her clothing fell against the soft lines of her frame. Maybe she was a bit skinny, though?

Agh, What was she doing? Entertaining such schoolgril fancy was embarrassing. Kazaar would laugh his head off, if he knew. Giver her one of those looks. But an image, unbidden, came to her mind and Estelle remembered a very different look Kazaar had given her..

****
Kazaar turned his attention towards Estelle, rushing over to where she lay. He knelt next to her, throwing his coat over her bruised, broken body. The coat surrounded her and he pulled her into his arms.

"I gotcha, Kid," He said softly, "Lets get ya home..."

****

It was the one memory of Mastala (http://75.126.43.122/forum/showthread.php?t=15524&page=2&highlight=Spy+Game)that did not make Estelle shudder, and the look she remembered in Kazaar's eyes had always been something that had helped her recover. How safe she had felt that he was there. And she knew she could count that he would always be there.

But that was something different than what her father had been suggesting. Completely different. It didn't mean anything. All the jobs she and Aurelias had done, all the things they'd been through together. It wasn't like...that.

She looked again at the mirror, a level look, but a little unsure.
It wasn't like that. Was it?

A knock on her door, thankfully, interupted this confusing line of thought, and Estelle pushed the issue temporarily from her mind.

"Come in, Dad" she said, not having to ask who was there.

[Jason Russard]

Jason stepped sheepishly into the room.

"We're pretty useless, I know" he said, a plactating smile softening his voice, "You'll have to forgive men their idiocies a lot in life, you'll find".

"I know" Estelle answered, giving him a soft smile of her own.

Jason sat on the bed beside his daughter, and hunching forward with his hands knit together between his knees, he looked to the floor as he spoke. "Im lost sometimes, belle, I have to admit. I try to get it right, look out for you the best I can. And I dont know why I get surprised to find that you have answers and solutions all of your own, and often ones much better than mine." He lifted his head to look at the wonderful creature seated next to him, marvelling at how he could have accomplished such a miracle as her. She was beautiful, confident. Sweet. How did that happen growing up in such a man's world as the Russard Estate? "Im very proud of you Estelle, and whatever you chose -- whoever you chose -- in this life, has my blessing."

He bent forward and kissed Estelle on her forehead gently.

"You do what feels best to you"

[Estelle Russard]

Wrapping her arms around her father, Estelle hugged him tightly, and felt the familiar comfort and strength that he had always freely given her. Their respect and love was mutual.

After a moment, Estelle withdrew and her father saw an idea forming in her mind. He looked at her askance, "What...?"

"Do we still have the cabin in Princess Falls?" she asked.

"What, the chalet?"

"Yes, the chalet. The one where Grandpa would go on those hideous hunting trips"

"Yes, but no-one's there now. The season ended two months ago, any renters are long gone"

"So...I could have it all to myself?"

"You want to go to Princess Falls? By yourself?" Jason wished he could take back what he'd just said a few moments ago. This was a terrible idea. "Why would you want to go there by yourself? Not to hunt, surely? And you know you shouldn't hike alone - there's woods, and rapids and wild animals.."

Estelle grinned at him. "I cant hike alone, no. But I can study"

[Estelle Russard]

72 hours later

Word had come back quickly - The Director had approved Estelle's request for 'leave', the confirmation memo having blipped onto her computer a mere 16 hours after its submission. Not bad considering the plethora of communique's that would no doubt flood Belargic's desk on any given day.

A brief interim period for the young agent was sound reasoning, and the timing could not be better, considering Kazaar's personal situation. Who knew how long that capsized glass-bottomed boat might take to right itself. She could see Grace grasping the logical benefits of fast-tracking Russard's school completion and Estelle felt certain her's was the hand behind the approval's signature, knowing how Dasquian and Grace often conferred together on such decisions. Things may change substantially for all concerned. A new 'cover' might be necessary for both Estelle and Aurelias. Make hay while the sun shone, as the saying goes.

Kazaar would be appraised of the new development through secure channels, once he checked in with HQ from Brentaal. There was no need to alert him until then, Estelle thought. As much as she would like to talk to him, it would not be fair. He would be doing his own reassessing of things himself - just as she was - and he would act accordingly. She tried not to worry as to what that may mean for their future.

And so, 72 hours later, Estelle was tucked away safely at Princess Falls, a vigorous fire crackling in the enormous stone fire-place of the Chalet, her next 8 lessons printing out for her to review in preparation for a more indepth analysis. She felt good. Excited, even. The challenge of creativity and discovery laid out before her like a journey - a safe journey - in which she alone would take, and master.

Alone. Well, not exactly alone. From the kitchen, her Grandfather called out to his granddaughter, happy because he had found the 18 year old Scotch he'd hidden behind a loose board in the walk-in pantry.

"Fooled that Lissel once again" he championed aloud, ignoring the reproving look from his Twi'lek nurse.