With My Back Against The Wall

[Tonyh Vankar]

The Aleva Performance Hall was the most renowned event location on Centares. Many artists from various fields longed to perform there; but few were granted the privilege. Alienor Tankreyd was the latest name to grace the Hall with her talent. Tonyh would deny it; but he may have been in shock when he had seen the musician's one-night concert announced across all planetary media. He hadn't expected her to show up on his home world, especially for this kind of reasons. At least, he had no doing in bringing her to the Aleva Hall. He wondered whether she remembered that he lived there.

Their fated reunion on Cloud City hadn't left his mind since he had bid her goodbye. He wished it had just been an episode among many others in his life, and that he could just put everything behind him, as they had agreed to do as such, for they were both adults. Things could have been different once upon a time; but their one chance had long faded into oblivion. At least, it was what he had thought upon returning to Centares, reveling in the prospects of his new investment in Miss Black's project.

But Alienor had returned to his mind more often than he wanted to.

Even as he had spent much time with Sonya, ensuring she was all fine, despite the little scare he had got while he was on Bespin, he couldn't let his meeting with Alienor be. He tried to persuade himself, she had only contacted him to ensure that he wouldn't hurt Molly and screw her over. It had never been in his intentions, and he still valued Alienor's protectiveness towards her loved ones. It had always been part of her charm.

Regardless of his best laid plans, the night of the concert, he was sitting in a private booth, having paid a little fortune to get one of the best seats in the massive hall. He didn't know what would happen; he didn't even know whether they would speak, but at least he wanted to get to see her perform again.

[Alienor Vankar]

It was a bad idea.

But it would earn her a solid load of cash.

The Aleva Hall was a place she had never got to perform before.

Would he be there?

Why did she care? It was over.

There was never anything so it couldn't be over anyway.

Alienor had suspected Tonyh was behind her invitation to perform on Centares; but all the information she had gathered indicated he had had nothing to do with it, unless he had a brand new alias; but even then, nothing could be traced back to him. The musician trusted in her own talent to land her prestigious gigs; but the timing had just been so uncanny.

"Five minutes, Miss Tankreyd," the manager said to her, before disappearing.

The young blonde stared at her reflection. She looked stunning. She had a stellar track listing for the evening. It was one of her dream stages.

And she was bloody thinking about Tonyh Vankar.

She never drank before such performances. Tonight was no exception; but she still eyeballed one of the bottles of champagne awaiting in a cooling amphorae.

She hadn't even told Molly about the show on Centares; she had just saying she was going off world. It was possible her bestie had figured things out through the grapevine, as well as the holonet. If that was the case, Alienor was grateful that Molly had said nothing on the matter. She didn't even know what she would have told her friend. She wasn't sure what to tell herself in the first place.

She got to her feet, impeccably perched on her high heels. She checked her royal blue dress, hugging her curves while providing comfort and preventing wardrobe malfunctions. She tucked a rebel strand of hair behind her ear.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her violin, and left her room, heading straight for the stage, as she heard the intro music fading out.

[Tonyh Vankar]

So many had pointed out over the years, he could have "anyone" he wanted. Tonyh wasn't so certain as he watched Alienor step on the stage, her lean and elegant silhouette clad in silky blue gown. Although the lights didn't show it as well as they could, even on the large holo screen close ups, the dress matched her bright eyes' hue to perfection. Having seen the musician face to face only a few weeks ago, he realized how much the stage made her look different. It was still her, because no impersonator could have half the talent she had as her violin resonated in the whole hall, the acoustic subliming her music. He couldn't help musing that it might be why she was able to stay under the radar more often than not, despite her extensive fame.

He recognized the three first pieces she played. They were already hits by the time they had first met. They were still audience's favorites. She had a knack to do emotional pieces as well as upbeat, encouraging ones. He loved her violin's music so much; but he always had a soft spot for whenever she would play the piano. That was his undoing, though he had never admitted it to her, even when he almost did.

He hated himself for thinking about what ifs. He shouldn't even had been there tonight. It made sense given his business reputation on his home world, and that he was - rightfully so - known as a well-educated man, and amateur of the arts.

He tried to distract himself by looking around the Hall, then at the program on his lap. It wasn't successful as even if he forced his eyes away from Alienor, her music still resonated deep within his soul.

[Alienor Vankar]

Alienor's nerves calmed down the moment she began playing the first piece. Live performances always brought her to life; and this one was no different. Regardless of where her thoughts had wandered up to the last seconds, she lost herself in her music, basking into the light, acoustic, and especially the audience's cheering for her in between songs. It was invigorating and she had no issue confessing this was very addictive. Besides how music earned her most of her money, to the point she wouldn't need to publicly perform anymore, she wouldn't stop sharing her creations with live audiences. It was a unique experience, and she enjoyed every moment of it, whether in famous places such as the Aleva Hall, or obscure and smaller ones. Every location and audience had a different feel, and it was intoxicating.

Her transitions were flawless, the whole concert organized to provide the most enjoyable experience to her audience. She navigated from joyful to soulful pieces, all the way towards the end. At that moment, a large piano slid to the stage, and she sat down, her fingers briefly hovering above the keys as the lights changed. She would always finish with violin compositions but in such a place, she had to include some piano pieces. Any other choice would have been blasphemy.

The last of the three piano tracks she played wasn't an original, but her interpretation of a traditional (https://youtu.be/NCC3-m-1u8A)from Centares, which she had specifically arranged for the occasion.

[Tonyh Vankar]

The moment Alienor plays the piano, Tonyh felt anger rise within him. He didn't see that coming but it washed over him like a never-ending punch in the face. He's nothing but an idiot, one bloody moron. What was he expecting, coming to her concert? Everything that could have been was already over. He knew better than pining over someone who wouldn't want him back. He was more mature than that. Or so he had believed until that evening. He was mad at himself and wanting to just up and go, drown his stupidity into the bottom of a bottle. Maybe even go to one of the brothels deep in the city outskirts, paying to forget the musician, busying himself in other women's bodies, and burning this ridiculous longing to the ground.

But he didn't move, although his mind was far away from the music, one of the rudest things he actually could do to a musician as talented as Alienor. His mind wandered to multiple places, trying to untangle his sorry ideas from what he had caught himself entrapped in. He would just leave once the concert was over, return to the life he had built on Centares, staying away from siren calls from yesterday.

[Alienor Vankar]

The remainder of the concert went smoothly, and Alienor dotted on her audience, gifting them three encores, which were all met with heartfelt gratitude. When the lights flooded the whole place, the musician's gaze wandered, as she curtsied a few times, eventually leaving the stage with a bright smile on her lips. She was on quite a high after this performance, and she held onto that feeling for as long as she could. The manager was talking with her assistant as she headed for her room, because she was dying to refresh, as always after a concert. She vaguely remembered that a cocktail was planned for a few dozens guests, which was quite common for her, especially in the case of single-night events. She said it would take her twenty minutes to be ready.

She could be done much quicker than that, but she enjoyed not being rushed. She took a quick shower, and changed for a simple black tuxedo with a blue shirt and matching blue boots. She put up her blonde mane into a simple up-do. She guzzled several glasses of water, always feeling dehydrated after concerts, even though she barely ever sang.

When she left her room to meet with the manager, she felt her heart race as they stepped inside the elevator taking them to the reception lounge. She had managed to forget him for the concert, but her wandering mind came back in full force, as the doors opened, revealing guests offering her a standing ovation as soon as she walked towards them.

[Tonyh Vankar]

When the show ended, he pried his eyes away from the sight of Alienor's radiant face, as she beamed in sheer joy at the well-deserved ovation she received. He was done with the whole thing. He just needed to go, back wherever she wasn't. He had enjoyed her music; he had realized this was all useless hopes for a dead-end. It was time to think about the future. He stormed outside of his booth, making his way through the crowd, as he had no desire to linger any longer. He could see the staircases, for he didn't even want to wait by the elevator, which would be undoubtedly crowded. Ten flights of stairs and he would be out.

"Vankar," a voice called out right when he was about to reach the door. He stopped on his track, ready to bite whoever dared stop him. Turning to face the annoyance, his gaze fell upon one of his best patrons on Centares, with whom he had done extensive business in the last ten years. As much as he hated to admit, he couldn't simply wave the Baron away.

"Baron Sivers, fancy seeing you here. I take it you're an admirer of Miss Tankreyd's music," he managed to say as they shook hands.

"Who wouldn't be? I saw you on my way to the reception lounge, where several of us will get to meet her. You have to come with us. I heard she is an absolute delight. Bright and beautiful besides her fabulous talent."

When the baron's hand clasped his shoulder, Tonyh knew he had no way out. He cursed in every language he knew in his mind, as he followed the Baron to the lounge.

If he had to walk into the bloody lion's den, at least he could dull the whole thing with liquor, he thought to himself, as he fetched a glass of whiskey, as soon as a waiter presented him with a tray of drinks.

He tried to step further into the room, gladly letting people crowd the front, so hopefully he wouldn't have to interact with Alienor.

[Alienor Vankar]

Alienor accepted a flute of champagne after she greeted a couple of guests, most of them from the upper class of Centares, including aristocracy. She smiled and exchanged pleasantries, being quite used to such things. It was good PR for her to be polite to people even when she just wanted to crash. Also, she most often lived a normal life, away from the spotlight, so it made this kind of thinly veiled masquerade bearable. It wasn't that she thought all higher ups only met her to look good; but she had interacted with enough of them to know it still made for a good portion of them. At the same time, she got to play in places like the Aleva Hall, and the supported her music at times, which also let her into their sanctuary and plot for future heists. All things considered, being pleasant was a meager price to pay.

Entrenched in the incessant dance of small talk, she had almost forgotten about Tonyh, when a Baron suddenly called for him. She stared at him for a brief instant; but hid recognition deep within her mind. She had no reason to let these people know she knew him. She kept her personal life private; and she realized she woudln't even know what to say about any sort of history they were supposed to have.

When the Baron introduced Tonyh to him, she gladly went along, offering her hand. "Lovely meeting you, Mr. Vankar. I hope you enjoyed tonight's concert."

She had hoped to see him; but now that he was in front of her, in the midst of a small gathering, she felt on edge.

[Tonyh Vankar]

Bitch.

He couldn't help it. That was what crossed his mind when she pretended she had never met him. That was some nerve, she had. Part of him wanted to expose her bloody lies; but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It made him even angrier.

"I did. You are quite the accomplished musician."

Looking at the baron, he then nodded to Alienor. "If you will excuse me, I am expected elsewhere. Enjoy your stay on Centares, Miss Tankreyd."

There was no reason to prolong this masquerade. He had showed good faith to Servis, had gone along with Alienor's annoying facade. He had earned to get out of this mess.

He left the lounge, and did go towards the stairs, as soon as he saw that some other audience members were still lingering in the hallways, raving about the performance.

At least his speeder was parked fairly close to the staircases as far as he remembered.

[Alienor Vankar]

She had seen the look in his eyes. She had thought he'd just call her out for her lies; but he didn't. She didn't know if it made things better or worse. What angered her though was him stomping off within the next minute.

What were you expecting? Seriously? You can't blame Tonyh for that.

She could blame him for a lot of other things though.

That was why she pulled the oldest trick in the book, and excused herself to the restroom; but instead tried to catch Tonyh. She saw him go to the staircases, and she rushed to the service elevator, hoping he was going to the parking level, knowing there was only one with reserved spots. He was likely there.

She didn't know why she was chasing Vankar; and had she been in her right mind, she wouldn't have done it. He just riled her up.

She zigzagged through the speeders until she saw him. Her heels hitting the ground faster and louder as she approached him, she called out.

"Tonyh!"

[Tonyh Vankar]

He was too lost in his thoughts to hear her footsteps. He was about to climb in his speeder when he heard his name, when he heard her call his name. What in the hell was she thinking? What the fuck was she doing? One second she didn't know him, then she seemingly chased him all the way down to the parking area. He would have probably marveled at how she learned every layouts by heart as part of her illegal activities. Right now, he just wanted to get her out of his mind, and out of his presence.

He glared at her. "What now, Alienor? Did you recover your memory?"

He didn't care how pissed he sounded. He had thought they could be mature adults back on Cloud City, and here they were being idiots. He had already been there, done that. He had no interest in chasing her again.

[Alienor Vankar]

She stopped right in front of him, catching her breath. The look in his eyes froze her. Had she really angered him that much because she kept her private life as such? What the hell was that about? When he snapped at her, she cringed, but she wasn't going to take it like a doormat. She was no doormat, and certainly not to a man. She had made enough mistakes in that regard.

Then, what was she doing here, running after Vankar like some naive pining blonde?

"Come on, it's not as if I had really other options."

She had had options, several times, and it seemed she always picked the wrong one when he was one of them.

"I'm not the one who forced you to attend my concert anyway."

She was poking the rancor now, but it was her most natural defense mechanism. It was maybe a destructive one, but she didn't care.

[Tonyh Vankar]

He knew her excuses well enough. He had heard them several years ago. He had stupidly thought they were better than that back then; and even more recently when they had reunited on Bespin, upon her request. She was the one doing the chasing, not him. But she still had the nerve to try to turn tables and put the blame on him. That was something. She hadn't changed.

"It's not because you're a good musician that I should grovel at your feet whenever you decide to chase me out of boredom or some misplaced pride."

He took a step closer to her, looking down at her.

"Stop chasing me when in the end you'll just go to an asshole. Leave me out..."

[Alienor Vankar]

She punched him before thinking about what she was doing.

She stared in shock at what she had just done. He had riled her up to the point she lost her self-control, which was a rarity, despite her quick temper.

"Don't you fucking dare!"

She was yelling and she didn't care.

"I paid the price for choosing that asshole years ago. Don't brandish that as some I'm holier-than-thou idiocy. You're full of shit, Vankar."

[Tonyh Vankar]

She always had a mean hook, which he knew from experience, and she still did. He held the side of his face, feeling the headache flaring up. She was mad as hell but it didn't make him feel any less angry.

"Does that give you the right to hit me? Have you lost your mind?"

A twisted part of him knew that it meant she still cared if she lost her temper like that; but he wasn't going to admit it.

[Alienor Vankar]

He made her lose her bloody mind. He had tossed everything upside down since he had walked back into her life, without even meaning to. He was right though; she had issues, and he was one of them.

"It doesn't."

She didn't apology though. It was particularly misplaced as if he had hit her, she would have ripped him a new one.

"Just stay the fuck out of my life, Vankar."

She turned on her heels and walked away.

[Tonyh Vankar]

She had walked out of his life before. He had let her go. He had respected her fucked up decision to choose a scumbag over him. He wasn't perfect; but he knew they had a connection.

He wasn't going stay out of her life. Not this time.

Not caring that he was bleeding from a cut on his temple, thanks to one of the rings she wore, it took him but a moment to catch up with her.

Her grabbed her wrist, forcing her to look at him as he violently pulled her against him. Firmly holding her waist, he crashed his mouth against hers, claiming her as he should have done years ago.

[Alienor Vankar]

All the needs and desires she had kept buried in the confines of her psyche came ablaze the moment Tonyh grabbed her. Maybe it was why she had pushed and prodded, with the visceral hope he would just do just that, claim her. She moaned into his kiss, unable to battle his mouth. He was taking over her, and she craved it. She trusted him, even after all this time, and it had only magnified her attraction over the years, even when their shared moments had been scant albeit memorable.

She tried to wrestle her wrists away from his grip, tried to push against him, in an instinctive battle for dominance, but he would have none of it. Within the next moments, Tonyh had forced her against a nearby pillar, and pinned both her wrists on the sides of her face. His strong hands pressing into her wrists still incited her to try to move against him, but next thing she felt was his hips pressing against hers, leaving her no leeway to move unless he gave her space to.

She winced when he bit at her lower lip and tasted her blood.

She didn't care, she had drawn his blood first, as the still seeping cut on his face proved.

[Tonyh Vankar]

He knew that beyond the lean and graceful cat-like woman he restrained against the pillar, was a martial art experts, and the knowledge he could still take her as he was was exhilarating. He had forgotten how she felt against him; and he was only getting started. Somewhere in the back of his gone mind, he remembered where they were, and he reluctantly trailed his lips from her mouth to her ear, nipping at her earlobe.

"Let's go," he said, his voice raspy, releasing her, which he knew was an opening to get her to counterattack. It was fine: he had plans to keep her at his mercy soon enough.

The moment he let go of her wrists, vaguely catching the bruises forming on them, she grabbed at him in one swift move, her petite but strong hands around his neck as she pulled him close.

"Lead the way," she growled before kissing him quickly, and freeing him, leaving him struggling for his breath.

He caught sight of her brushing blood off from her chin with the sleeve of her tuxedo, but he was already walking away towards his speeder.

[Alienor Vankar]

Alienor followed Tonyh to his speeder without any objection. She hoped the ride wouldn't take long, because what had just happened in the parking lot had ended way too soon. She felt frustrated, and the yearning for more felt searing from her skin to her soul. The ache felt different than the one she had buried for years though. He had broken through her barriers and it felt right.

She forced herself to keep her gaze ahead of her, refusing to let herself getting distracted by the man by her side, until they were behind private doors. The way he was asserting dominance was liberating, more than she had ever wanted to admit it could. People didn't imagine her as docile, but most also didn't know how dark her inclinations could go, unless they were on the wrong side of her weapon.

Tonyh saw through this, for how long she didn't know; but she only cared about what was to happen that night.

[Tonyh Vankar]

Although it had been close to sunrise by the time Tonyh and Alienor got any sleep, he was woken up a few hours later by the loudest snores he had ever heard. And he thought the military had been bad enough. He looked at the woman by his side, neatly curled up having stolen half the blankets. How was it possible that such a tiny, albeit fierce, woman could snore louder than a Rancor?

He turned on his side to look at her, and realized it hurt slightly when he breathed. Then he recalled he probably had bruises at his throat, because of one of their last romps. When the headache due to the punch she had hit him with prior to their departure from the Aleva Hall, had eventually become quite painful, he hadn't admitted defeat; but for sure Alienor had taken advantage of him quite literally and violently. He guessed it had been payback for the rest of the night, where he had had her at his mercy over and over again.

He was still wrapping his mind around the previous night. He had really thought that despite the still obvious tension between them that had been brought to the front the last time they had met on Cloud City, they were just going to stay on their separate paths. He liked the recent turn of events much more, even though he wasn't sure how she would address that when she woke up.

[Alienor Vankar]

She didn't know how long she had been sleeping, but it took her a few moments to remember where she was, flashes of the previous night coming back to her. She groaned as she tried to switch position. She winced and looked at her wrists, covered in bruises. She bet she bore other traces of what had happened between them over her body.

"You okay?"

His gruff voice startled her as she realized he was awake, and quite staring at her. She showed him her wrists and smirked. "If I want to keep my career up, I'll need to make a budget for kolto and bacta, or we need to keep certain things for special occasions," she teased.

He moved closer and gently took her hand, leave a trail of kisses up her arm all the way to her bruised wrist. "I'm sure this can be arranged."

She loved how he didn't apologize for what she had been a very willing participant to. She also felt a very deep satisfaction at seeing the bite marks and bruises on his neck, as well as the healing cut on his temple from when she had hit him in the parking lot.

"Good, because I don't do one-night-stands." This might sound awfully casual, but it was the closest verbal confession he would get about her feelings for the time being.

[Tonyh Vankar]

He had seen Alienor's darker side mostly professionally and through her music; but last night had been a greater surprise than he had expected, and he was glad that she seemed to take what they had shared in stride, and even being looking forward to more. He wouldn't want to prevent her from her art and career, but he had the strong feeling that as they had said, it was good they were both well off, because he did foresee needs for bacta and kolto in the future, and for both of them, because she was a mean bitch when she wanted to. Surprisingly though, they worked well at alternating who was taking charge. He would be lying though if he tried to deny the fact she seemed surrendering more often than owning his ass, was very much to his liking.

He smiled at her comment about not doing one night stands. Her quirkiness was part of her charm. He found it adorable how she could be violent one moment and then almost shy the next one if it came to exposing herself in ways she didn't want to. He didn't need her to say more. He snaked his arm around her, and kissed her for a long moment.

Then he just had to say it, staring down at her.

"If every time we have sex, you end snoring like a bloody Rancor, I might have to reconsider though."

[Alienor Vankar]

She opened her mouth and glared at him when he brought up her snoring. It wasn't as if anyone had had recent opportunities to hear her do that.

"Bastard," she yelped before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"At least I didn't snore while we were doing it," she teased before kissing him.

He pulled back as if she had stabbed him, and stared at her. "You're a pain in the ass, Alienor."

She laughed and waggled her eyebrows. "As if you didn't know that before last night anyway."

She extricated herself from his embrace and sat up, her legs still feeling kind of weak. She yawned and stretched, before shooting him a glance. "At least, that's not snoring anymore." They could be two playing that game, and she knew it had already become a private joke.

She suddenly realized that they had something to figure out. The not living on the same planet part was no big deal. They traveled often enough, and as he had pointed out, neither of them was hurting for cash. "How do we do this? No, not this, the whole being an item business. I'm fairly sure paparazzi will eventually figure it out. I mean we both have a public official life, and then our illegal endeavors; but how do we play this?"

[Tonyh Vankar]

He had always liked challenging women; but Alienor was worst than that, and he loved it. That was probably why even after years, he hadn't forgotten her, despite the fact they had barely shared a few scant moments before the hurricane the previous night had been. He was nevertheless caught by surprise by her question. He hadn't thought about it, ever, if he was brutally honest. Mainly, because he didn't care. They both had public personae, as well as their underworld activities. He saw no problem with the public knowing about them.

"Do you think I'm bloody scared of dating a celebrity?" He said, coming across maybe slightly snappy.

"It's not as if it never happened before," he added, feeling like an ass as he did so. He hoped Alienor would be the last celebrity he dated, but that was another story.

[Alienor Vankar]

If her eyes were daggers, Tonyh would be sporting brand new scars right there and then.

"Your exes can only dream of my success and talent, scoundrel." She retorted, meaning every word of it. She knew her value, and she wouldn't be compared to these women.

"At least people will know that you've upgraded, I guess," she mused, before getting to her feet and walking towards the refresher.

[Tonyh Vankar]

Most other women, he would have called jealous, but not Alienor, at least not at this moment. Heck, he couldn't claim that his track record in the past years, bloody hell, since their fallout, had been stellar. He had had his fun, and didn't feel bad for it, but he knew that outside of Sonya, nothing good had stemmed from his string of lovers.

"Well, same can be said about you, sweetheart."

He got to his feet and followed her to the doorstep of the bedroom, pulling her to him. "You have upgraded too."

Given how she just pulled him with her into the refresher, he considered she agreed with him.

[Alienor Vankar]

When Alienor got dressed back in the tuxedo she had worn the night before, she finally checked her comlink, on which she found a few frantic messages from her assistant. Checking them, she pursed her lips, and rolled her eyes. She should have thought this through, but she definitely hadn't.

"What's going on?"

Tonyh was staring at her; and she pulled a couple of pictures taken from the holonet, showing them kissing in the parking lot with attention grabbing headlines. "I think that settles it, right?" She was more annoyed than she wanted to; but it was nothing new in her life.

"At least they avoided me punching you, and you pinning me against a pillar, so that could have been worse."

It still annoyed her. "I guess I haven't broken enough recording devices in a while, since I have to avoid hurting the actual sentient carrying them," she mused darkly.

[Tonyh Vankar]

It wasn't the first time he had made it into trash headlines; and it wouldn't be the last. As long as they kept his daughter out of it, he was good. And Sonya was still too young to risk being exposed to this mess for the most part. He had also made a few agreements to ensure his little girl wouldn't be subjected to this, at least for the foreseeable future.

"So, what you mean is that they left the best parts out?" He couldn't help teasing when he saw Alienor's annoyance.

Finishing to button his shirt up, he walked up to his partner and tucked her hand holding the comlink back into her jacket pocket. He leaned into her, his lips brushing against the side of her face.

"We should just have brunch in one of the hot spots of the city. They'll get bored easily enough if we're not hiding."

The irony was that it was something Alienor had told him years ago, which he had seen work for the most part, although he didn't have to put up with that as much as the musician did.

[Alienor Vankar]

Alienor couldn't help biting her lip at Tonyh's jest. That parking lot will definitely be a memorable spot for both of them now. In a way she found it amusing how they had such well-mannered public personae, but their underlying scoundrel nature was a crucial aspect of what had finally brought them together. "Or maybe they were just traumatized by their images. I mean, I've found out many paparazzi are easily frightened, so I'm fairly sure they're horribly vanilla."

"Don't make me laugh, it hurts."

"Good," she replied smugly.

Taunting him was becoming addictive, especially now that she knew what he was capable of.

He walked up to her and she soon felt the firm lock of his fingers on her jawline. It wasn't going to bruise, but she couldn't move her face without risking hurting herself.

"If you expect me to be a very compliant girl, you'd better feed me, and get us medical supplies, handsome."

[Tonyh Vankar]

"I have very high expectations, so I'll make sure you are well-fed and cared for, Miss Tankreyd."

He kissed her for a long moment before stepping back enough to offer his arm to her, which she took right away.

He knew that she would leave Centares soon; and that they would need to figure out next time they got a chance to spend time together. For now, he had her all to himself, and that was what mattered.