Day 4 | Night | To the Cliff and Back

[Kannon]

"Feeling picked, I am honoured." Duncan sent them a cavalier glance.

The majestic white pillars of the Arondi Cliffs started coming into view, distracting from the flirtatious mood a bit. They had passed the stormfront and entered safer latitudes. It was still windy.

"The Duke could be convinced that he needs more insight into the matters of custom and religion among his subjects, especially now that his Bene Gesserit concubine... left. Where would you like us to land? You know it around here better than I do."

[Kiran Alsahar]

They gave him a flirty grin, teasing, "You should be. You might just be my first."

Looking out over the cliffs, they indicated a clearing protected by a bluff. "The cliffs are blustery. That spot will give us a good place to go back to for a break, and it's safe.

"As far as that goes... I'd like to help. I admit that my perspective would be much different than a regular Bene Gesserit's. But a plurality of perspectives isn'ta bad thing, I think."

[Kannon]

"It's certainly isn't. I don't care much for the Bene Gesserit, and neither does the Duke, especially now. Speaking of plurality, you might be my first too, in a way. So far, it has only been the ladies."

Duncan suddenly got a bit ashamed of his whoring tendencies. Had they seen that too during their ailar connection? In any case, he felt like he needed to come clean about that. If it spoiled the date, so be it. The flight and the company were already worth it.

"Then that is where we shall go. Keep your seat belts on."

He broke the flapwing geometry and veered down.

[Kiran Alsahar]

They smiled at that even as they held on. "That's okay. Honestly, I didn't expect so many outsiders to have such an easy time getting used to the idea that I'm not a lady. So I'm just appreciating that part. As very... uh... binary as it is in most of the Imperium."

[Kannon]

"That's Caladan for you, our little paradise amid the seven hells that is the Imperium. Be loyal, honest, and try to excel in your calling, and the rest of what makes up your life here is up to you. I appreciate it even more because I once thought I had a place like that before, on Ginaz. But then then Grummans came and laid waste to it just because they could. Now there is maybe just a dozen or so of us swordmasters left, scattered."

He paused, focusing on the narrow approach. The cliffs were now more above than below.

"And I do have some memories of Giedi Prime, even though I try not to have them. Being a bullshit collector on Caladan is better than being anyone in that Harkonnen hive. Which is how I started here, by the way. As a stable boy."

[Kiran Alsahar]

"Giedi Primse sounds... familiar," they said quietly. Again, it was all just raw feelings. A hot mix of terror and rage. They shook their head and focused on the view outside the window. "A stable boy? You've come a long way, but also been through a lot."

[Kannon]

"The Old Duke took me in after I fled from the Harkonnen slave pits. Maybe I don't look like it, but I am an old man now, Kiran. Sure you're fine about that? You're the sweet little innocent thing and I am, I don't know, seasoned beef? An acquired taste for sure." He smirked while gently seating the thopter inside the cove even though the descent had been wild. Before he would open the hatches, he looked at them forthrightly.

"So if you get second thoughts we can just watch moonlight and build a sandcastle, maybe even trace a whale, and that'll be fine, you'll still be my friend thanks to whom I survived that Tleilaxu cave."

[Kiran Alsahar]

Kiran listened to him, nodding seriously at his words. Once the thopter was settled, they undid the belts and said, "Let me put in this way:"

They leaned across him, practically in his lap, and kissed him again. This was no safety kiss, lightly stolen as hey navigated storm fronts. This was deep and passionate, if slightly clumsy due to inexperience. When they finally paused to take a breath, flushed and smiling, they said, "I hope that explains my point of view."

[Kannon]

"Well, that answers one pertinent question. But leaves another."

Duncan had gripped Kiran's body where logic of such a kiss and embrace dictated. He was grinning after the kiss.

"Are we staying in the thopter or getting out on the sand?"

[Kiran Alsahar]

"Let's get out. We spent all day in structures. I'm starting to feel closed in, much as I'mtemptedto just continuethis right hete," they said with a bright grin before getting out of the thopter and starting away from the cove and into the windswept beach.

They tossed off the green garment they normally wore onto top, leaving them in something skin-tight and sleeveless, reaching from their neck down to just above their knees, clearly built for swimming. The high winds whipped their wavy hair around, the starlight highlighting it softly. They tossed their shoes aside and stepped into the waves calf-deep, taking a deep breath and exhaling.

This was home, clear even from the outside.

[Kannon]

Duncan followed the movement and the moonlit silhouette with his gaze, but his undressing took a bit more effort, with the pilot's vest, the uniform, and the heavy boots. Still, he managed with practised speed and would soon join Kiran in the water just with his trunks and the collection of scars on. He had defeated the temptation to start a splashfight, trying to read Kiran's mood first. With their rapture with the ocean, something was going on.

[Kiran Alsahar]

"You know, I was born here. Not right here, but you get the idea," they said. " The weather and sea currents were warm enough at the time to make giving birth easier."

They smiled at him. "This is home to me."

[Kannon]

He dampened his dark curls with seawater to force them back. They weren't too obedient.

"I wasn't born here, but this is home to me too. Home is the people we want to live and die for because the would do no less for us." He embraced their waist with one arm. "Though if home tastes melon, that goes an extra mile."

[Kiran Alsahar]

"You should double check on that," they said, pulling him down into a kiss again.

[Kannon]

He let them, curious what came next, fully enjoying the sweet-salty taste of their lips.

[Kiran Alsahar]

They turned red as an idea occurred to them. But... they were where they were most comfortable, with a person they trusted and were attracted to. The clear path of sky narrowed above.

They took a deep breath. No time like the present. Hopefully he wouldn't laugh. Their blush nearly had them matching their hair as they leaned up to murmur in his ear, "Do you want to find out what other flavors I might hold? Because I want to find out more about yours, as well."

He was ashamed by it before, but Kiran suspected they'd be glad for his experience tonight.

[Kannon]

Duncan conspiratorially whispered back, his baritone delivering a sensual message despite the hum of the sea.

"I recall replying to a question about it with a resounding yes."

He then bit on their ear gently.

"Though you better tell me if you want it to entail diving."

[Kiran Alsahar]

They bit their lip, shivering at the bite and his breath against their ear.

"As far as diving goes... well, I-I'm happy to let you take the lead as far as activities go." The stammer was there, the vocal interruption one of arousal more than anxiety at this point. They pressed close, kissing him again, but catching his lower lip playfully before letting go. "I trust you." Under these circumstances, there were few compliments about that.

[Kannon]

"Let's deepen our mutual trust then." Smiling with both mouth and eyes, Duncan brought them up into his arms, restarting the journey where they had left off, at the lips.

[Fade to Storm, Ocean and Cliffs.]