Come, Come, Come Uninvited

Posted on Sat Nov 13th, 2021 @ 6:55pm by Alden Loxley & Kindra Graham
Edited on on Sun Jan 23rd, 2022 @ 1:11pm

Mission: Li Shen's Bazaar
Location: Fortune's Echo Bridge
Timeline: November 2nd – enroute to Li Shen Bazaar

The Echo was peaceful. Not quiet, a ship of this kind was rarely that. Most of the crew seemed to be engaged in personal pursuits or had succumbed to the deep sleep of the exhausted.

In her shuttle, Kindra used her mother's teapot to brew a relaxing tea she reserved for special occasions - lemon balm, Saint John's wort, and tea leaves all grown in Madrassa's own gardens. When it was ready, she poured the hot, fragrant liquid into two large mugs from the Echo's galley and headed for the bridge.

She hesitated in the doorway, finding Alden alone at the helm as she'd expected. She was not sure she wanted to have this conversation, but now that she knew where she stood with Alden, there were one or two loose ends she needed to resolve, before they reached the next destination.

"Alden," she said to get his attention, then crossed the small space and set down one mug next to him, and sat in the co-pilot's seat with the other. "I apologize for cornering you like this. But there is a matter of, well, a practical nature I need to talk with you about."

He could smell her, and the tea, long before Kindra hove into sight, so Alden had time to work through that initial snap reaction of tension and mellow a little before the companion crossed the threshold and into the bridge. He kept one hand on the controls, for comfort than any need to steer, legs stretched down below the console and the rest of him slouched casually in the pilot seat. Alison was taking a break now they were on the ten hour straight-line run to Li-Shen's, but they'd trade again before they reached that destination.

"No sorrys needed," Alden said, a lopsided smile accompanying the turn of his face to meet Kindra's own. His free hand took lazy possession of the mug, long fingers slipping above and below the handle, thumb curling around the top edge of that wider porcelain warmth. "You want to leave, right?" He assumed, prepping himself for that eventuality as a first priority.

Kindra couldn't speak for a moment, only shaking her head. "I, uh, boarded the Fortune's Echo under… false pretenses. Showed up uninvited like a one-night stand that followed you home." That embarrassing revelation had come to her after Alden left her grieving in the shuttle. Kindra sipped her tea to sooth her suddenly dry throat. "My actions were hurtful to you, and by all that is appropriate and honorable, I should disembark at the first opportunity."

She closed her eyes and inhaled the tea's calming scent, then met his gaze with an uncertain smile. "You know how important consent is to me. I don't want to leave. But I need to ask… do you want me to stay?"

Alden's eyebrows shot straight up as those two words left Kindra's lips. "False pretences?" He asked, no pause needed before his question was raised. He canted his head to the side and regarded the young woman with a definite intrigue, curious to know what exactly she was up to. There followed a slightly rougher, roguish smile as he added. "I don't remember the stand being just one night, either." No malice coated those words, and the mug never moved in his hand, its warmth permeating his fingers as he watched Kindra's reaction to what he would say next.

"I'd like you to stay, yes," he stated, gaze meeting hers and holding just fine.

That clear affirmative yes washed over Kindra like a cool, fresh breeze. Her demeaner of controlled casual formality eased, her slim frame relaxed into the copilot chair, and she released her held breath. She hadn't been at all certain of his answer, though she did not expect a straight-up no. Kindra had half-anticipated another non-yes, far more difficult to cope with. Her smile was relieved, warm, and genuine. "It is a pure pleasure to hear you say that, Alden. Thank you."

That shift in this experienced Companion showed both visually and audibly on this impromptu stage formed by the old Firefly's confined bridge. That lead actress took her seat and vented some held carbon dioxide, producing a smile that could melt the hardest of hearts. Or the softest. Which was more accurate for the only other one present.

But Kindra was no stray orphan or wounded miscreant. The history between them was painful, if a little more distant now, and Alden knew he had to make more current memories by which to live. "You're welcome," he noted, and flashed a brief grin before his guest spoke up again.

"By false pretenses, I only meant I could have found a different transport off Santo. I boarded Echo because I thought I could help with your, uh, Castor jail situation. Then I stayed because I wanted to apologize and find out if you and I…" Kindra hesitated, sipped her tea, then added, "Well, you know." Her feelings hadn't changed and she was still grieving, but she had accepted Alden's rejection and wouldn't press him again.

His mug of tea was a welcome physical prop with which to busy Alden's hands and partake of some firsthand warmth while he listened. Santo seemed so long ago, but Kindra had certainly been of some assistance. Humilating as it had been, Echo's captain didn't regret his defensive action towards Daiyu. He did regret turning the Companion down, but there was only so much heartache a man could stand in one lifetime and for once Alden was thinking with his head. If there was something more to come from their relationship, he needed that to be on his terms and his time.

Maybe.

Probably.

Be strong, man. Be strong.

"It's okay," Alden countered Kindra's apologetic explanation. "I'm glad you chose Echo. And you did help on Santo. Very much." He wasn't making any other commitment on that score just yet though.

Leaning back, the keys she'd found that were now in her pocket pressed into her side. But she had one more thing she needed to say with regard to her continued presence on Alden's ship. "When I do need to leave, I'll say goodbye properly." Her forehead creased, the situation with her stepbrother weighed heavy on her mind, along with possible outcomes. "I'd like to promise, but the 'Verse is a dangerous and unpredictable place. I just want you to know that if I ever again leave without saying goodbye, it won't be my choice and it won't be a reflection of my feelings for you."

"I'd greatly appreciate that," a grin wrapped with good humour about those words. A Proper Goodbye. "But also, ain't no rush on the leaving. I mean that." Alden confirmed for the record. He noted the lines marring that pretty forehead though and waited for his moment to draw attention to any reason behind them.

"Any partic'lar dangerous unpredictable types you'd be currently worrying about?" Alden asked outright, feeling no need to dance around this mutually concerning subject.

She shrugged, and opened her mouth to say no, there was nobody particular. Kindra fully intended to leave before her personal trouble impacted Alden and his crew. But seeing that grin on Alden's handsome face, looking into his eyes… Kindra could not lie to this man. She drew in her legs, folding herself smaller in the chair so that the cup cradled in her hands also rested on her knees. After a long silence she reluctantly murmured, "Jim Buccleuch, my stepbrother."

"It's complicated." She exhaled through her teeth, composing a brief but truthful explanation in her head. No reason to believe Alden wanted details or needed to know about the stipulation in Walter's will. "My stepdad Walter is dead, and his son-" Walter's murderer. Her mother's murderer. Kindra shivered and swallowed a gulp of tea. "Jim is the reason I hired Jonas to be my bodyguard." She'd be dead too, without Jonas' intervention. He'd been her protector, her teacher, her safe harbor. She smiled to herself. "Thanks to the eloquently convincing argument Jonas made in his own unique style, Jim let me be for a few months. But he tracked me down again on Santo."

There was some serious thought involved there, Alden realised as he watched Kindra's reaction to what he'd thought was a simple question. Clearly something was on the young woman's mind. He visibly tensed as Kindra drew physically in against herself - an overt gesture of self-protection - definitely a telling move. And then Alden leant towards her, stopping just short of touching only because Kindra surprised him by breaking her own silence.

Jim Buccleuch.

It's complicated.

One eyebrow raised and a long arm finally reached out to wrap strong fingers about the slender woman's forearm. 'I'm here,' said the gesture as Alden listened intently to Kindra's story unfold.

"Families can be complicated," he said, agreeing and offering a concerned solidarity. He felt that shiver and tensed as if there was all of a sudden some physical threat to the woman before him that invited action by manner of offensive reaction. But Alden was a simple soul and his focus leapt to the core of the matter before he bothered to unravel all the yarn of the tale.

"Jim wants to hurt you?" Alden asked outright. "Why?" And how was this Jim still alive if he and Jonas had come to... arguing... and no doubt violent action.

Kindra looked down at Alden's warm hand on her forearm and tried to wrap her head around his simple offer of comfort, whilst at the same time imagining Alden face to face with her psychopath stepbrother. She swallowed. "Why is the complicated part."

"At first I thought Jim was motivated by the terms of Walter's will, but it turned out he wanted a datarod Walter left for me. I told Jim that I thought the datarod was corrupted because I couldn't open any of the files, so I threw it away." Kindra shifted her tea to her free hand and took a gulp. "I lied to him, but I think he believed me... persuaded a bit by Jonas. These last couple months I've been trying to find my birth father, and that's the only reason I can think of for Jim to be looking for me again."

"Jonas thinks I'm safe enough on the Echo with him, you and Alison. I'm pretty sure this long trip out to Ghost will have thrown Jim off my trail, he's probably back on Londinium by now." She met his gaze, expression colored by worry - mostly that Alden would get involved, and partly that he'd change his mind about letting her stay. "This is my trouble, Alden. I won't let it impact you or your crew."

He didn't shift his (hopefully comforting) grip from Kindra's arm, though the tension admittedly did tighten a little during the telling of this unexpected tale. Alden hadn't really given a lot of deep thought to the companion's reasons for hopping on board his and Ali's Firefly - there had been a lot going on in fairness - but now he realised he'd been so caught up in his own heart and mind that he'd missed Kinda's whole story. So much.

It burned a little to believe that Jonas was a fully paid up member of the Kindra Protection Club, but that envy was a fleeting guest on the far more complicated train-ride that Kindra pulled him into. Alden took a moment to drag his brain into second place and catch up on past events. Then he let go of Kindra's arm, sat back and frowned deeply. She couldn't seriously be expecting him to stay out of this, not now she'd shared this much.

"You're not safe," he said, perhaps far too honestly. "Not if Jim thinks even for a second that you lied." Alden thought for a moment, considering all the moving parts of what he'd just been told. So much to consider, but for the moment there was one important piece of necessary information missing. Alden locked eyes with Kindra as he asked. "Did you get access to that datarod? I mean I don't need to know what was on it, but did you get a look?"

Kindra huffed an exasperated exhale – she did not want him involved. She shifted in the copilot's chair to face him, planting her feet on the floor, half-full mug in one hand. "Jiàn tā de guǐ, Alden. I don't need you to play the knight in shining armor. My status as a registered companion provides some level of protection. And I'll have you know that I can be a very convincing liar. I'm just not capable of lying to you!" she snapped. The instant those last words were out of her mouth, Kindra's eyes went wide. She hadn't meant to let that slip.

In one swift reaction of motion, Alden removed his hand from the Companion's arm and recoiled immediately backwards to tensely occupy the Echo's pilot chair. Renewed purpose, mostly a cover for his surprise, sent his gaze to the console and the blackness out there between them and the edge of the Kalidasa System.

She winced, closing her eyes for a moment. Jonas already knew everything, he was with her when it started. How much worse could it be if she answered Alden's question? Kindra took a deep breath, recovering a semblance of dignity. In a smaller voice she said. "I, uh, I really do appreciate and value your advice, Alden. The datarod… there are four files. Three Walter intended for me that I've opened, and one I can't access – an encrypted file that takes up most of the memory storage. Walter wanted me to find my father and give the datarod to him."

Alden didn't allow his gaze to meet Kindra's own, he focused on their forward pathway and the jumble of words and related emotions that rushed through his mind, body and soul. He tried to place them in order, failing miserably at this task and doubting himself all over again to boot. I make a really good knight in shining armour, his brain told him, closely followed by the unwanted jealousy that wrapped around the fact that apparently Jonas was allowed to play at medieval damsel rescuing. Unjustified, yes. Unavoidable though.

"Okay," the Echo's captain eventually said, the word uttered with a certain decisiveness at a normal volume. There was genuine hurt wrapped about the next sentence, but Alden didn't shift his visual perspective. "Well, I guess Jonas can help you find your father."

The lowered eyes, the tone of voice… he'd made it clear he didn't want her, so surely Alden could not be jealous. Kindra was still scared, afraid of what might happen to her if she confronted Jim. But at least she didn't have the added fear and worry of Alden and his crew getting involved. Kindra rested her hand on top of his, an offer of comfort. "I'll find him myself. And I'll be careful," she said firmly.

Suurrre... Well, I'll be keeping a look-out as best I can, thought Alden. And if you're not careful, me and mine'll be there to help. However confident Kindra was, this sounded like a situation where mob-handed would be favourite. But right now, at least she was sharing information, not ducking out in the night without saying a word.

Unsubtly changing the subject, she set her mug down and reached into her pocket with her free hand, bringing out the keys and holding them out to Alden. "I found this, well really the puppy did, under the sofa outside the infirmary when we were on Ghost."

He looked up, surprise brightening that previously glum expression as Alden heard the keys jingle, then a frown darkened his brow again as Kindra handed them over and took a good look. What the....

"These are my brother's?" Alden half asked, half told the companion. "See this," he rubbed the duck-shaped metal tag. "Drake." But why... "You guys found them under the sofa?" This made no sense.

It was a relief to see his expression change, distracted from her problem. "Those keys were well camouflaged in dust bunnies and smelled a bit of peanut butter – I think that was what got the puppy's attention." Kindra recalled that Alden had told her he was the eldest of three siblings, with a sister and brother. "Your brother Drake was a member of your crew?"

Distracted, yes. Forgotten? Nope. Alden would circle back around to Kindra's revelations and problems just as soon as he wrapped his brain around this conundrum. The furrows on his brow deepened as he considered the keys' presence. Dust bunnies and peanut butter? Been there a while then. But why hadn't Drake missed them or asked for them back?

"Huh," Alden said, eloquently. He rattled the keys, bouncing them in the palm of his hand a moment, then locked his eyes with Kindra's own. "Yeah, that'll do it on the drawing attention," he agreed. "And no, my brother's never been Echo crew. He did help us fix her up some, but that was..." Noah. Alden paused. "Kinda more delegation of resource than Drake actually fixing anything personally. Weird. I'll let him know." He shook his head. "Thanks." Maybe he was overthinking it.

Alden took a few uncouth gulps of now cold tea and regarded Kindra with a curious gaze.

"So you're really thinking of taking this search on solo?" He asked. "Seriously?"

So much for distraction. Kindra sighed with an intentional show of annoyance. "You aren't going to let this go, are you?" she asked rhetorically. "I have been searching for him. I was following some leads, and almost caught up to Kinmont on Santo, but I lost him."

"Nope," said Alden succinctly. Besides, she had brought it up, it wasn't as if he'd started and impromptu interrogation. "And I think you're being naive if you're expecting your stepbrother to drop the whole thing." He shrugged. "Sure, he could have given up for now, but I suspect he'll want to talk to you if you do find your father."

Kindra wrapped both hands around her mug and focused on the cold remnants of tea. "I have a few more leads, people Kinmont might keep in touch with." Walter's message had got her to hope her father would offer an explanation for abandoning her, and that he'd welcome seeing her after all this time. She lifted the cup to her lips and finished off the last of her tea, not meeting Alden's gaze. "Could be, my father just doesn't want me to find him."

Alden watched the companion's facial expressions, studied her demeanour and mannerisms closely and pushed down a slight sense of envy as he made his close observations. His journey to find his father hadn't ended well, and he didn't wish to cloud Kindra's hopes with his own demons, but they were rising up within him regardless.

"Can't think of any reason a father wouldn't want to see his daughter - especially one as smart, beautiful and wonderfully delicious as you - but..." Alden paused. "There are plenty of reasons a man might not want to be found. I totally understand you needing to know which they are."

Kindra met that deep blue gaze, then looked away. If only she was able to lie to Alden when he asked that first question and tell him there was no one in the 'Verse particularly dangerous to her, she could have avoided this whole inquiry.

He was right. Kinmont might never have given her a second thought since he left her as a child, and his elusive status probably had nothing to do with her. "Thank you, Alden. For your comforting words, and for offering to help." An offer she should not accept. Trouble for him and his crew. Plus, it was far too tempting to believe Alden wanted to help because of personal feelings for her, rather than his apparent self-sacrificing need to rescue everyone in his sphere… like Daiyu, Tristan, and even Karen. She met his gaze and leaned toward him, curiously. "You know, most fathers wouldn't describe their daughters as wonderfully delicious."

He gently shook his head, softly snorted and, gaze lowered to the console to check their flightpath, Alden screwed up his face in silent dissention. She didn't want his help. She did apparently want to remain a passenger, but then maybe that was solely due to him being a safe ship, a known entity. Companion Protection and all, there were plenty of unsavoury types out here on the Rim.

But as Alden looked back up, Kindra's gaze caught his and he didn't even try to break that visual lock as she leant closer. Was that amusement, pain or curiosity in those beautiful brown eyes? Alden chose honesty, brutal and unfair as it often could be, when he answered Kindra's question.

"Probably not," he confirmed. "But stubborn, willful and brilliant as you are, you'll always be delicious to me." He fussed with the switches as Echo protested something about a filter error, then stretched long legs out to the side, left boot grazing Kindra's own footwear. "If you won't let me help, you'll at least let Jonas, right?" Alden asked, his soul bared in that light frown and concerned glance.

Her breath caught at his answer, uncertain if it meant Alden might still have feelings for her - even if it was only physical attraction - despite rejecting a romantic relationship. Distracted, Kindra answered his question, "I will ask Jonas if I need help, yes. And I'll tell you if my problem could impact your crew." Jonas, she knew, understood transactional arrangements and the boundaries between professional and personal relationships.

She responded to Alden's comment with the same honesty, meeting his gaze with regretful seriousness. "To me you will always be the irresistibly charming and compelling pilot I fell in love with, the man I couldn't say goodbye to." Heat warmed her cheeks and she glanced down to where their feet were touching. She shifted closer to press more of her leg against his, then looked him in the eye with an almost shy, playful smile. "If my presence on your ship is too awkward... you'll tell me, right?"

He envied Jonas in that moment. His blood brother. His friend. But Jonas had no romantic entanglement with Kindra and that, should Alden ever be brave (or dumb?) enough to allow himself a second chance at, was worth more. More than enough to not rush into or chance until he was sure he could risk his heart with the complexity of both their history and her profession.

"Shiny," Alden said with evasive simplicity. Those eyes! He needed to not lose himself within them right now. Soon Kindra would leave, and her words, her description of him that warmed the depths of his heart and points south... they would be gone too. Spoken to others for credits rather than specific affection, but touted nonetheless. Choices. This one hurt, but he couldn't break either heart again. He wouldn't.

Their legs touched and desire involuntarily rekindled. Her crimson cheeks, the light pressure of both her lower limb and her intelligent, mischievous gaze. Alden had already leant in closer, his face barely avoiding touching Kindra's, before he realised they weren't together. He couldn't simply kiss her and grin about it. "I'd tell you," he promised. Then he kissed her anyway.

Kindra's surprised hesitation lasted a fraction of a heartbeat before she kissed him back with all the passion she'd held back since boarding 'Echo. Alden's scent, his lips, his touch… desire ignited in her core, more intense and delicious than she remembered. Even as a warning sparked in the back of her mind, Kindra pressed closer as she kissed him, one hand cradled the back of his head, the other ran up his arm.

Her attention momentarily split between Alden's lips and the logistics of two people potentially sharing a pilot's chair meant for one, when her inner voice broke through.

Stop.

Alden didn't want this.

She broke off the kiss reluctantly, breathless, her pupils dilated. "Alden..." Kindra caressed his jaw; confusion, uncertainty, and desire waring within her as she searched his face. Had he changed his mind about the two of them? Asking could result in another painful rejection, but if she didn't check he might resent her later. In a teasing tone partly ruined by the lustful tremor in her voice, she asked, "Was that, uh… too awkward?"

Alden didn't answer that question. He didn't say anything at all. Words, queries and ideas ran through his heart and mind, unfiltered, wayward and wandering unfettered and free. Nothing managed to make that jump from ethereal idea to actual vocalisation. This was such a very enjoyably wild rollercoaster ride he didn't want to (or maybe wasn't able) to let go.

Heart rate turned up to eleven, breathing calm yet heated, body still and lazily sloped back from head rest to floor with no sign of shifting position any time soon. Mouth ajar, eyes softly happy, expression pleasantly soporific, Alden hadn't really let go of anything.

A slow dumb openmouthed grin didn't really answer Kindra's question, and yet it truly did. He shook his head and reached forward to cradle her cheek, long fingers catching warm soft flesh from jawbone to ear and ignored any issue of two occupants of a single chair as he pulled Kindra into Round Two. The faint murmur of 'nope' was an afterthought in deference to her need for consent.

With Alden's clear and enthusiastic consent given, the voice in the back of Kindra's mind – the voice she thought of as her companion training that was usually in control – went still. Unfettered by thoughts about consequences, or worry for what Alden's apparent change of heart could mean for the future, or even caring whether some member of the crew might happen upon their amorous entanglement, Kindra focused solely on Alden and this moment. No one else she'd ever known fulfilled this need in her soul. His sensual, playful grin, his compassionate, intelligent eyes, the touch of his long fingers against her skin.

She allowed herself to submerge into the emotional high of holding Alden again, his lingering kiss, and her own blissful indulgence. Unlike three years ago, there was no urgency and no set limit on their time together. They could take all the time they needed.

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