moreofaponchoguy | Kashyyyk, Wednesday

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Kashyyyk, Wednesday

Once Cal realized he could get back to his world (with no apologies from Portalocity, of course), the first thought that came to mind, after making sure his friends were all right, was bringing Arden to Kashyyyk. His descriptions and BD's visuals could never truly describe the lush wildlife and amazing forests that Wookiees fought so hard to keep out of the Empire's hands. Plus, he knew exactly what he wanted to give her as a belated holiday present.

"It's going to be a bit of a climb to get to the top of the path, but I promise it'll be worth it," he said. "If you're still recovering from the party last night, I can give you a lift."

Was he teasing? Was he encouraging? Why not both!

[For the girlfriend! NFB due to distance.]

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"It's more my feet than anything else," Arden said, gamely starting the climb. "Those shoes were irresponsible and I don't know who let me out of the house in them, but they owe me an apology."

But she had looked so fuckin' good last night that even with sore feet and a few blisters, she couldn't be all that upset with her choices.

"So you may be teasing, but guess what? I'm definitely gonna cling you like a much bigger BD if I have to and so there. Put those hot arms to work."

"I mean, if you keep saying nice things about my arms, how can I not provide proof of my strength?" Cal said. He reached for Arden's hand, partly to make sure she stayed steady, and partly because getting to hold her hand was delightful in general. "I've noticed that women's shoes aren't always very practical when they're at their prettiest. That doesn't seem fair to all of you."

She seemed to agree with that sentiment, at least going by how she squeezed his hand once their fingers laced together. "Woman's fashion is terrible, I could complain about it for days," she said. "We can have pretty or practical, but never both."

She stopped, tugging him to her for a kiss, and then continued on again. "Happy to be back here?" she asked softly, giving Cal an adoring smile.

"All right, I guess I'm on the hunt for nice shoes that are comfortable," Cal teased. "It sounds like a difficult mission, but those are my favorite kind."

He couldn't help the smile that overtook him as they continued up the path. "Yeah, I really am. I like Fandom," he said quickly, "but knowing that I can come back here whenever I need to is just such a huge load off my mind. And this planet... it's still here. Nothing got ruined because I was stuck being away."

"If you manage to find comfortable, pretty shoes, I will officially be convinced that you are a galactic hero," Arden laughed.

More seriously, she added, "You don't have to convince me you're happy at Fandom while being happy to be back. It makes sense. I know you were so worried about what was happening while you were gone. It's okay if being here and knowing it's safe it a load off your mind." She bit her lip. "...And I'll understand when you feel like you have to come back. I hope just for visits and missions? But I know you're not going to stay on Earth, Cal."

"My hope is that, in time, I won't need to come back," Cal said. "That I can come back when I want, but everyone will be safe while I'm gone. And that I'll have even more places that are safe to bring you and our friends to. If nothing else, I want you to visit more so maybe you'll believe me when I say Cere and Greez like you."

"It's adorable how you think somewhere needs to be safe for me to agree to follow you there," Arden snorted.

Ignoring the bit about the adults liking her, la la la.

That was fine, he'd just keep mentioning it until she accepted it!

"Somewhere needs to be safe for me to want you to follow me," he replied. "I know you'd follow me into danger, but I'd like for it to be accidental danger. Or no danger. Or cute danger, like some wild animals don't like me but want to adore you."

"Oh like that's gonna happen, Mr. Animals Can Tell I'm Nice Through The Force," Arden said with a laugh. "Maybe - maybe - a bird will like me better, but that's about it."

She went silent for a few moments, picking her way over a bit of rough terrain, before saying, "Does that mean I only invite you back to my world if I know it's gonna be safe?"

You know, for those times when she went back to her world for...reasons?

The immediate answer that came to Cal's mind was "Of course not, because I'm amazing and brave and want to protect you," but that was a bad double-standard and he knew it.

"I guess neither place is really all that safe," he admitted. "I hope that changes for both of us. But I guess I'll have to settle for knowing you won't put me in danger on purpose, and I won't do the same to you."

From her expression, she had likely guessed something like that was in his brain already.

"I know I can't go with you on missions or whatever," she said softly. "I'm not trained and nobody needs an overeager civilian screwing things up for them. But some places are just always going to be dangerous. Risk assessment is a thing and doesn't always have to be zero."

Cal let out a deep sigh as he pushed some debris away from the path with a little more of a Force push than was probably necessary. "We should also make plans for neutral locations, where the only danger is committing silly social mistakes," he offered. "To balance out the inevitable danger. Speaking of which, have you heard anything from home lately?"

Arden shook her head. "Not from anybody. I don't know how to take that and have just decided to not think about it."

Light that bridge when they came to it or something.

"Not thinking about it or poking at it seems like the right move." Repression, every Jedi's favorite activity! "We can start the year with good hopes instead, right?"

See? She was learning! That was a good thing to pick up from him, right?

...Right?

"Exactly!" Arden agreed. "Did you make any New Year's resolutions or anything? Anything you wanna focus on in the new year?"

"I didn't know that was a thing," Cal said. "I could probably train more. That would be useful if I'm going to be coming back here more."

It was possible he didn't get the vibe of resolutions.

Arden laughed. "Not quite what people usually mean," she said. "Usually it's some kind of change you wanna make in your life, or a goal you want to accomplish."

"Ah, right, something new. Does trying to get better at cooking count?" Cal asked. "Or baking, really. I've gotten better at making real food for myself, but baking is so specific. What are you thinking about doing?"

"Becoming a better baker is a great resolution!" Arden said. "I hear baked goods are great to give to girlfriends, too. How weird is that?"

Her teasing grin faded a moment later as she confessed her resolution. "I wanna get better at using my powers. Like, actually learn how to use them, not just control them."

"I think that's a good resolution too, even if it's just for your piece of mind," Cal said, giving her hand a soft squeeze. "I know how scary it can be when your powers aren't under your control. Even if you just get a little better at them or knowing when something's going to happen, that should help a lot. I hope you know I want to help."

"I do," Arden said, giving him a softly adoring smile. "You, and Kams, and Remy...I think the next thing I have to do is just...let loose. See what I can do. You know? Because I have no actual idea. But that also sounds terrifying."

"I can imagine it's terrifying. But not knowing the limits of what you can do also sounds scary," Cal said. "If getting a little banged up is the price I have to pay for watching you become a huge wind storm, I'm willing to pay it."

"Weird kink, Kestis," Arden laughed. "But I guess I'm into it."

"Okay, I see how it is. You don't believe I can handle it, do you?" Cal asked, putting on a dramatic expression of offense before sweeping her up into his arms. "I guess me and my arms will just have to show you."

Arden laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm just saying!" she protested. "You sounded real excited about me turning into a giant windstorm! I didn't know that was what you were into! No wonder you came to check up on me on the beach that first day. You saw the dust devils and got all turnt!"

"Aww, I was hoping to keep my secret for longer. I heard the dust and thought, 'I bet that cloud's really fun to kiss. Better say hi,'" Cal said with a laugh as he carried her up the path. "All those silly romance books with bruising kisses steered me in the complete wrong direction."

"So long as you don't mind kissing me even when I'm not a windstorm," Arden said, deciding to enact a, uhhh...practice...something...by kissing him as he hiked.

You know. For practice. And training. Can he walk through the underbrush while getting kissed silly by his girlfriend! Super-important Jedi skill!

Cal could protest, or he could keep kissing Arden, and was there really even a choice there? He held her closer and kissed her back, choosing not to navigate through bushes because she deserved all of his focus.

By the time she pulled back, she was dreamy-eyed and smiling. "I think we've gotten so good at that," she drawled, biting at her lip.

"We really have. We're fast learners," Cal said with a grin. "I hope that fast learning includes riding a really big bird."

"How big a bird are we talking about, anyway?" Arden asked. "Are we close?"

Cal hoisted Arden a little deeper into his arms and nodded. "Yeah, we're close," he said, bringing her to the peak of the path. As they moved past the last bit of underbrush, the shyyyo bird waiting could finally be seen, and heard as it squawked at Cal. "Is that big enough?"

"That's not a bird," she informed him as she gawked at it. "That's a whole-ass dinosaur.

"No, it's a shyyyo bird," Cal said with glee as he carefully set Arden down. "It's friendly, I promise."

He walked up to the bird, doing his best to give off nice vibes, and BD-1 trilled as a backup. "Hello again. This is Arden, she's with me and also safe." The bird fluttered its wings softly and leaned its head down for petting, which Cal was happy to provide. "You can get in on this too, if you'd like."

Arden stepped forward, a little tentative. "Hi there, nice dinosaur," she said, her hand gently extended. "I'm a sylph. I don't know if that means I feel like family to you like it does to birds on Earth - you know, your distant descendants - but hopefully yes?"

She was feeling a little intimidated, but was an urban fantasy heroine, so that meant sass.

Luckily, galaxies far, far away were perfect for sassy sylphs, and the bird sniffed at her for a moment before shifting its head towards her to accept more petting.

"See? It's all going well," Cal said. "Do dinosaurs fly? Because this is how we're going to fly."

"Some did," Arden said, because she didn't know the whole 'pterodons weren't properly dinosaurs' because you know what? Neither do I and also it's bullshit. She placed a careful hand on the bird's head to begin gently petting.

"Hi there," she said, voice softer, with a deep drawl Cal was familiar with. "I'm Arden. Nice to meet you. You gonna let us fly on you? It'd real nice. I don't get to fly myself, so it'd be nice to get up in the sky on something as beautiful as you."

"Hey now, no flirting with the bird, it's not needed," Cal said, snickering and slipping his arm around her. "You don't know how not to be charming, it's one of the things I like about you."

The bird--who was perfectly happy being crooned to and petted, thank you very much--fluttered at Cal and made a happy noise at Arden before crouching down a little to make it easier for them to climb onto its' back.

"May I use my strong arms to help you up?" he asked.

"You know I can't say no to your arms, so that's cheating!" Arden said with a laugh. "And awww. Jealous of the bird? I was just being friendly."

See? You get some drawl, too, Cal!

"That voice is unfair and you know it," Cal said, countering with a low tone. He hoisted her onto the bird's back and bounced up behind her, slipping one arm around her middle to hold her against him. "You can hold on if you want to, but you don't have to. I'll keep us safe."

"Says you with that voice and the arms to go along with it," she countered. "Especially since I had to wear pants for this trip."

Though with as closely as she was snuggling back against him, maybe a skirt wasn't needed.

"Are we gonna go fast?" No fear, only excitement.

"I mean, we can cruise slowly if you really want to," Cal said, but the nudge he gave the bird with the heels of his boots suggested anything but that. The bird leaned up and took off with a sharp ascent, flapping its broad wings to cruise them into the air. The ride was smooth and steady, but definitely fast, and Cal made sure to hold Arden tight as the natural force pushed her into him.

"This is amaaaaaaaaziiiiiiiiiiiing!" Arden said, grinning at the world fell away and they began zooming upwards. With absolutely no concern for her personal safety (or, perhaps, with nothing but absolute faith in Cal's ability to keep ahold of her), she craned to look over the sides of the shyyyo bird, marveling at the landscape that was unfurling below. "So fuckin' goooooorgeoooous!"

This was exactly the reaction Cal was hoping for. Arden deserved the world, as far as he was concerned, and to give her the sensation of flying and show her his world at the same time... he couldn't ask for a better combination. "It is beautiful, isn't it? There are places the Empire still hasn't touched. I want everything to look this wonderful again."

They flew over giant trees, and waterfalls, and towering cliff faces, and Arden's face was alight with joy and wonder as they passed them all. She kept clutching Cal's arm - again, not in fear, there was no fear in her at all - but to point at something else as she noticed it. The rainbow hanging over the top of the falls as the sun refracted through the water vapour. That tree, huge even at this distance, which meant that it must be the size of an actual city if they were to get close enough to it. A lake that glimmered in the sunshine as they arced overhead.

"How can anyone look at this place and think of anything other than how beautiful it is?" she asked. "And want to protect it?"

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Kashyyyk, Wednesday

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