Lovers. Fighters.

The Copper Hideout was far from being a hot spot on Cloud City. Located in the mid levels, a literal middle ground for many people who could afford to get out of their regular settings, upper scale money or street brats, one could find a wild mix of locations and opportunities in this section of Bespin. Alienor navigated all levels of the City depending on her mood and needs; and she appreciated the privilege she had. One reason she liked this cantina was how it was off the beaten path, and had outstanding music, for whoever appreciated loud and aggressive versions of softer music from a multiplicity of species.

It was also a good place to discuss things in relative privacy.

Sitting in one of the back booths, next to her mate, she sipped on her ale, sparing a glance at him. She couldn't help grinning because she knew that she was most likely to be found outside of luxury than he was, even though his past as military and since then as legal and illegal businessman, had had him venture into many unorthodox places. She often thought that moving from one circle to the other with grace, ease, and sometimes a knack to get into the craziest trouble, must be a Tankreyd thing, based on some stories her parents had told her, and how her cousin Baska had lived since a teenager.

She scooted closer to Tonyh and bumped her hip into his.

"Let me guess, next time you pick where we get the drinks," she teased.

Tonyh hadn't expected to return to Cloud City that quickly; but between his relationship with Alienor, and potential business ventures, besides his investment in Molly's establishment, it made sense for him to do as such. Truth be told, he tried to minimize his travels due to his young daughter; but with his career, he couldn't take care of everything on Centares. That was one of the reasons why he was also hoping to get his partner's help. If all went well, his illegal dealings may become more practical within the next year or so. It was still fairly up in the air; but he had a loose plan, and his preliminary contacts and research made him think he was on the right track.

He realized that Alienor was even closer than she had been, as they sat side by side in the booth, so it could make any whispered mischief easier. Plus, he liked having her near; and after ridiculous years of being apart, he knew it was a very reciprocated opinion, as her hand on his thigh proved it.

He smirked at her quip, and laced one arm around her waist, slapping her hip.

"Let's say that our music tastes do not always align; but I can trust you to find a fitting location."

She laughed and made a face.

"Besides your thieving talents, how do you feel about setting up an operation base of sorts?"

He sorely needed to straighten his underworld dealings in a way that wouldn't require regular traveling all over the galaxy.

Alienor was still surprised of how they had been easy into their intimate relationship in the past weeks. At first, she had worried a little that once they would resolve the unaddressed tension between them, it would be more challenging; but they were doing just fine. She put that on the fact they were both relatively mature, and had always been honest with each other, including calling the other out on any bullshit. So that was a good foundation, she mused.

"Well as long as we agree on the essential, we can always fight over things. It can make things entertaining," she teased.

"Granted I don't thing arguments over music is enough to provoke sexy wrestling."

She was poking the beast and loving it, as always.

"I'll take that dare, gorgeous. Watch me," he growled into her ear.

"Oh, I will," she retorted, turning her face to him, so she could kiss him for long seconds.

When he brought up actual business, she paused, nursing her drink as she pondered on his question.

"Well, I don't know. I mean that's not something I had to think about, like ever. I can help with connections, transport, and even fundraising though."

She wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for, but she bet she would learn quickly enough.

"Well, direct fundraising for such matters would be compromising for us; but I will definitely take you up on the offer for an upcoming event for my legal endeavors on Centares in the near future."

Since their relationship had been exposed from that kiss they had shared in the parking lot of the performance hall where she had given a recital, they hadn't care much about hiding it. In a way, the strategy had paid off and managed to bore some of the paparazzi already. He believed it likely had to do with his partner's reputation and especially history of smacking equipment and scaring the hell out of these scumbags. Tonyh definitely didn't mind how dangerous the musician could be. He actually appreciated that a lot.

"I'm debating starting from scratch or just taking a place over, depending how it goes."

He caught Alienor's look.

"Of course, we'll avoid a replay of that heist gone bad, right? Granted, I have a few good memories of it, despite the regrettable ending."

He leaned closer to her, tilting her chin with his finger and kissed any potential retort with a kiss that would be considered quite inappropriate in several systems....

"I'm very expensive though. I hope you know it."

Alienor winked to him and took another sip from her drink.

"This means that I'll need my beauty sleep before the big event, but then kiss sleep goodbye."

They both laughed. It had been weird, albeit in a very good way, how proud and supportive they were of each other. She wasn't typically used to that outside of her friendships.

She had a lot of things to say about the time they had gone their separate ways; but he effectively silenced her. For a moment, she remembered what she had thought would be their last shared moment, before she had stupidly and brashly rushed back to something, someone, who had almost destroyed her. At least, it was behind her at this point, permanently buried thanks to a loved one.

When they caught their breath, her mind reverted back to business options.

"Just tell me you'll avoid Hutt territory. I don't deal with space slugs. As for buying or claiming territory, it might be a power move, as long as you don't get a large criminal organization on your back."

Tonyh glared at Alienor when she told him to avoid Hutt territory. "I enjoy living, so there's no way I aim for such a shady and idiotic scheme." He had no appreciation for Hutts, not a shred. As for large criminal organizations, or even mid-sized ones, he agreed with his partner that avoiding stealing territory from them was the smart thing to do.

"It still leaves us with multiple options for isolated individuals, or small-scale gangs, or young and tiny organizations. That could save us some time in terms of infrastructure."

He paused as he looked around them, still unimpressed with the music style, but grateful for the semi-privacy allowed by the booth in the back of the bar.

"And as you said, a power move would be right up my alley. I need to expand business, besides the fruitful legal trade." He had kept up the good work of the import export started by his mother many years ago; but it wasn't enough for him, and he had no issue admitting such ambition. The criminal world paid off, and he liked the thrills of it, more than simple board meetings. While he hadn't been cut for a life following orders in the military, he had still distinguished himself during the decade spent in it.

"I'm thinking that we might be able to pool our contacts, and see what new ventures can be available. I don't want to rush; but it's been on my mind for a while, and I'd rather get it done sooner than later."

Alienor knew that taking over someone's facilities was what appealed most to Tonyh, even though he was still considering starting from scratch. She couldn't disagree, because she liked the idea too. It was more risky; but his cunning and unapologetic ambition spoke to her own. That was one of the first in common they had discovered years ago. There was no reason not to go for it now, once they had a good target.

"We'll have to review what unaligned territories are decently located. Staying under the radar is important, but being close enough to a trade route wouldn't heart either. You still want customers to be able to find you. I'd say that outside of insane climate, the location is more important than the kind of weather you put up with. I take it you want to have mostly underground facilities, without getting easily cornered by potential bigger fish in the ocean, right?"

She polished her current drink off, and leaned against the back of the booth, listening to the music as she pondered on who besides her usual crew might be good to contact among her network. "How large do you plan the base to be? How many permanent workers? Are you reassigning them from your current location or hiring mostly new hands?"

Tonyh had always valued how pragmatic Alienor was. It had been handy back during their first time working together; and he had faith it would be the same as he worked on building a new base of operation elsewhere. He wanted to be free to dabble into all sorts of clientele; not just on Alliance territory. He chuckled at her remark about the weather. That was typical Alienor. And her comment about underground facilities made him ponder for a moment. While he thought it had potential, it also posed its own set of problems, like everything else though.

"Indeed," he said curtly, still ruminating over what she had suggested.

"As long as ships can come and go with ease for shipment, I am fairly open about the location as you said. Any sort of settings has its up and down sides. The idea of having underground vaults does sound good though. You can even have an escape access dug through for evacuation if needed."

He wasn't such a large fish in the ocean yet that all the sharks would come after him; but he had already had his share of trouble, though it didn't particularly bother him, especially as he was looking to expand.

At his partner's next question, he had a faster answer though, for he had already made a few decisions.

"I will reassign for the ones running the operations when I'm not there; but I plan to hire new hands for the day-to-day matters. Of course, if you have recommendations, I am all ears."

Alienor polished her current drink and flagged the waiter for another one. She drummed her fingers on the table for a moment, focusing on the music playing. She gave a side glance at her partner and made a face at him. He shrugged as she hummed along the music. The blonde erupted in laughter, getting quite the kick out of her companion's dislike of the music. It didn't mean she wasn't giving much thought about their actual conversation though. Having always an eye and ear open for illegal opportunities when doing her work as a famous musician meant that she was good at looking harmless while concocting new schemes.

"Are you planning to spend more time there than on Centares?"

While business was of the utmost importance to both of them, she wondered how it might impact their relationship, which already mostly spread across at least two worlds. Of course them traveling across the galaxy was nothing new, even before their paths had collided again. She was happy with keeping an apartment on Cloud City for multiple reasons; but it was easy to adjust travels regardless.

They had a very close connection and it felt they kept stealing time away from their busy lives; and she couldn't help wonder how their mismatched schedules and locations would evolve as time went by.

Alienor was skilled at looking harmless to whoever didn't know her; but Tonyh knew better. Her shenanigans amused him, and almost made the music bearable. His musings came to a halt as she asked him what his living accommodation plans were once he would establish the new base. He hadn't really thought about it. Centares was his home world; and while he wanted to have a neutral base so to speak, he didn't really see himself forsake Centares. Not only did he like the place, and had well established himself and his official business headquarters, following up on what his mother had once started; but he didn't want to raise his daughter in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by illegal business.

"I plan to have things run smoothly there; and will be there on a regular basis. I don't plan to personally relocate from Centares."

He laced his arm more tightly around her shoulders, before leaning to kiss her, only pausing eventually when he heard the waitress clear her throat loudly. Glaring at her, he nevertheless managed to remain polite. When she asked them whether they needed something else, his answer wasn't helped. "A room would be nice, but for now your appetizers special and another whiskey for me will do, thank you."

He heard Alienor laugh as she fetched the new drink that had just been brought to their table. Quirking a brow at her, he smirked. "Say it. I know it's on the tip of your tongue, you mischievous devil."

Alienor found herself feeling great relief when Tonyh said he would keep his home on Centares. While she loved the idea of having a secret but accessible base on neutral territory; she was starting to enjoy Centares a lot; and dividing their time between two major places, and only doing everything else as traveling, was as practical as could be, given their situation. While money was no issue for either of them, living so far away was still annoying now that they had finally found each other, and more exactly embraced their strong bond. Neither of them was the kind to try to persuade the other to change their home base; but it still was a bit annoying.

"Alright, then I guess I'll continue to take trips to Centares and you to Cloud City, right?"

She had little time to say more as he held her closer and claimed her mouth in a passionate display of affection. When they stopped upon the waitress's arrival, the blonde couldn't help laughing. They were hopeless, and she loved every moment of it. When he teased her, she shifted her position, so she could reset both her legs over his lap, not minding one moment the booth wasn't the most practical spot for such things.

"I have no idea what you mean," she growled at him, a dark spark gleaming in her eyes. She was pushing him, and she wanted his reaction to escalate a bit before she spit it out.

She soon felt his strong hand slide up her arm, shoulder, and collarbone, before he wrapped his fingers around her throat, pressing just enough to make it painful.

"Don't make me repeat myself," he taunted, which sent shivers down her spine.

She reveled in the sensations but finally did as told.

"We don't need a room."

She felt his grip loosen up, as he stared at her in surprise. She coughed and then laughed, enjoying getting to surprise it. "

"So what, Vankar? Expecting me to just say you're hopeless? It'd be beating a dead bantha, darling."

By all higher powers that might be in the universe, he loved that woman. It still surprised him how little time they had spent together prior to them going their separate ways for several years, and yet having experienced such a deep bond since they surrendered to the strong connection they had. It was hard to believe they had only truly be together for a couple of months.

She kept him on his toes, and he owned her in ways she craved. Life was definitely more interesting to him since she was in it.

"Well, I would hate for you to feel obliged to move from Cloud City. It suits you."

He caught the look in her eyes. Their lives made it difficult for either of them to really move. And as much as he liked the idea of having her close by more often, it wasn't the right time.

"I just don't picture myself raising Sonya here. And as much as it makes me sound like a sentimental idiot, I have great fondness for Centares."

He looked at her and grinned.

"And so we don't want to kill each other right away, do we?"

Alienor was still shocked that Tonyh was a father; especially when he could have just discarded the kid. As much as he could be a deadly opponent, even vicious for having fought side by side with him, he was a man of his word, and would go above and beyond for people he cared for. The fact that his former comrades had mostly stuck around when they had all left military life was quite a testimony to it.

"Let's not kill each other yet, indeed," she replied with a grin.

She had a difficult time imagining they would do so; but time would tell how the transition would go, if they ever ended living in the same space, which she was genuinely unsure about. It wasn't that she didn't want to; but with their lives, it was a stretch of imagination to consider such a thing happen.

"All right. What do you say we finish our drinks and go back to my place to actually put a plan together?"

She wanted privacy for that; and they would need to be able to take notes and work with a holo display to get a better idea of what their next steps would be.

Tonyh was very much looking forward to establishing another base of operations, away from Alliance space, or even imperial space for that matter. Politics were not something he cared that much about, a shame in his mother's view. This supposed flaw had been overlooked by the Vankar matriarch from the moment he had proven a stellar businessman, making the import and export family's company flourish to unexpected heights.

All he wanted was the capacity to operate without governments intervening in either his legal or illegal operations. He disliked hierarchy with a passion, what had strongly participated to his decision to resign from the military. He liked being a free agent, and he planned to keep it as such. That was why Alienor and he worked so well together, besides their romantic entanglements. They hated having to answer to other people; but both valued the riches of solid and reliable partnerships.

"I say this is an excellent plan," he replied without hesitation, his glass now empty. He tossed a credit chip with a generous tip to the waitress passing by, and got up, offering his hand to Alienor.

He pulled her to him as soon as she stood, and they promptly exited the establishment. Truth be told, he found the crowded streets music to his ears after that whatever punk groove in that bar. He didn't mind screaming, but he liked it much better from his enemies, or when they were cries of pleasures from the beautiful blonde on his arm.