Closer to the Heart

Posted on Sat May 28th, 2022 @ 5:56pm by Kindra Graham & Alden Loxley

Mission: Home Sweet Wonderful Home
Location: Fortune's Echo
Timeline: November 15 after 'Keep Your Friends Close and Your Family Closer'

Kindra hummed a tune as she packed her harp and chose her attire. The red gown with matching pumps, lacy red underthings, and - because the client had requested it - a veil. Her last clients had been on Santo, it felt months ago. The lack of income was a small but present pressure in the back of her mind. Kindra had savings in core-world accounts tallied in Alliance credits and had exchanged a good sum for platinum with a money changer on Li Shen's. This client's fee, paid in advance, had replaced that withdrawal.

Softly, she sang the next verse of the song she was humming.
"The blacksmith and the artist
Reflect it in their art
They forge their creativity
Closer to the heart"

Of course, credits were only a secondary consideration. Servicing clients meant far more to Kindra than the monetary reward. This was her vocation, her calling and path to making the 'Verse a better place, by easing the burdens and improving the lives of her clients.

When Kindra had made her availability on Three Hills known to the registry, she had received numerous offers. One in particular stood out, a suitable client of a type Kindra considered a specialty. The arrangements were simple. The client had taken a room for Kindra at the Sublime Nimbus Hotel in the town, would send a limo to collect her, and meet her there.

More than three weeks had slipped by since she'd boarded Fortune's Echo and she'd made the firefly's port shuttle her residence. But it was more than that, Fortune's Echo was her home. She'd found friends old and new here, and... Alden.

"You can be the captain
And I will draw the chart
Sailing into destiny
Closer to the heart"

Finally, she and Alden had... a beginning? The fragile possibility of a future, she hoped. The term destiny in the song probably didn't apply, but the twists and turns of where things between them might lead, well that was an adventure Kindra looked forward to experiencing with him.

At the moment, preparing herself to entertain a client was a multi-step process, involving not just her physical appearance, but Kindra's mental and emotional state as well. She lit incense and began with a ritual cleansing followed by deep meditation. By the time she left her shuttle with an overnight bag in one hand and her harp case in the other, she was transformed. Her long, curly hair was smoothed back into a tight bun. Veil draped around her shoulders, Kindra's expertly applied makeup gave her features a sultry and sophisticated cast, and the long, red gown clung to her in ways designed to spark the imagination.

Kindra had made a promise to Alden, that she would not leave without a proper goodbye. And even though the limo would return her to Fortune's Echo the next day, Kindra intended to find Alden and make good on that promise.

He'd never really become accustomed to folks leaving him - his father, his brother, his wife and now his partner in business and crime - but Alden had developed a means of dealing with it. He found something to do and he put his heart and soul into it. In this case, he'd yelled at his little brother, promoted his oldest friend and then, for no reason besides distraction, had begun to take the Mule apart. There was a fuel leak somewhere that he'd been meaning to fix for far too long and the dust and distress of Ghost hadn't improved it any.

So, while Kindra was getting herself ready and Chloe was talking to Drake about their engineering needs and timescales, Alden was in the cargo bay stripping down the 4-wheel drive buggy. His sleeveless tee was covered in soot, dirt and general grime from the last three planets they'd touched down on, as was his face, arms and neck. From where he sat, legs stretched out and engine between his knees and boots, Kindra could see a clean patch or two on those familiarly worn, dark brown cargo trousers, As she strode into sight, he stopped, wiped his face on his forehead and succeeded only in redistributing the amassed filth. That done, though, Alden's entire attention shifted to this glamorous and perfectly presented Companion.

Ouch, was his first thought. Too many clothes. Then the spike of envy warmed his chest and taunted his emotions.

"Wow," was what he actually said as his dark blue gaze met her gloriously deep brown. "Someone's paying for the full package, huh?" There was enough humour in his tone to suggest Alden had mostly accepted his fate in this regard, but a hint of something else hiding behind it.

Kindra's initial reaction upon encountering Alden in his current state - surrounded by engine parts and covered in grime - was disappointment that she could not risk even a goodbye kiss, and certainly not a hug.

"Something like that," she replied, matching his light tone. The shadow of numerous unspoken topics seemed to hover over them. Especially how to navigate the complication of her work in their relationship, or even what their relationship was. But also the stipulation of Walter's will and Alison's abrupt departure, without even a goodbye. She'd been waiting, reluctant to push, but it seemed Alden still wasn't ready to talk with her about… so many things. "I promised I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye." She looked away, now uncertain if seeking Alden out before she left was a mistake. "And, well… I'll be back tomorrow so it's not really goodbye."

He realised his tactical error a little more slowly than Kindra had noted her obvious disappointment - at least that was Alden's take on the look on the Companion's face. Grabbing a packet of sealed grease wipes was a little something a little too late, but he did it anyways, dragging the stingy, wet cloths over his face and hands as she regarded him and the mess he'd created. If this was really happening, he needed a goodbye kiss at least. Surely she wouldn't deny him a kiss? Though she did look super-fancy, and he was... an idiot.

"Don't go?" Alden half-asked, half-hoped. Crushing inevitability formed a knot in his stomach despite his need to not suffer any more loss today, and he felt a little guilty for the puppy-dog eye look, but it was already happening before he even tried to re-establish emotional control. "Don't leave me?" He heard himself say.

With that endearing big dark eyes expression on his face, and the childlike need in his voice, it took every ounce of Kindra's willpower not to gather him up in her arms and… ruin her dress. She had her own business to run, and even if she gave up the hefty client payment and stayed, Alden also had work to do and couldn't spend the time with her anyway.

Gently, she said, "I won't leave you, Alden. I'll be back tomorrow. I promise." she repeated, soothingly. He already knew this, and yet it felt like something else… She took his hastily-and-mostly cleaned hands in hers. "What are you asking me?"

Tomorrow. Alden sighed. Tomorrow was a fickle, untrustworthy, unkind roll of a dice that neither of them could cast. Tomorrow meant putting hope into play, it meant relying on a whole bunch of random chances, circumstances and other people for a future that was always a day away. His dislike for tomorrow was unreasonable, unfair and unconnected to Kindra Graham, but it still brought a wince to his face and forced himself to take a step back. He only realised he'd done either of those things after the fact, however, and but for the length of his arms, he'd have let go. As it was, he fidgeted like an awkward child leaving for college and offered a lopsided apologetic smile that conflicted with the nature and lilt of his voice about the words.

"Nothing," he half-lied. "You gotta do you." He meant that, but he didn't like it any more for his honesty. The Kindra he was attracted to was independent, confident and strong. She was, however, also sleeping around and getting paid for it, no matter how a man dressed that up, it didn't sit right, not when he was looking to make a connection with said woman. Or maybe he was too selfish. He couldn't expect to have someone all to himself, that wasn't how the Verse worked. And, Alden caught himself, all this internal dialogue was dragging on too long.

"I'll miss you," Alden admitted. "I like you a lot," he added, with that stupid little grin that covered a host of deeper emotions. "So just promise me you'll keep to your promise, k?"

"I won't leave you. I promise," she repeated firmly. Kindra's heartfelt response to Alden's declaration of like might put undue pressure on him to respond in kind. So instead Kindra moved cautiously closer to him and pressed her lips to his, careful that none of his full-length grime encountered her formal attire. Then she stepped back, still holding his hands.

Kindra opened her mouth to say what was on her mind, hesitated uncertainly, and decided to just say it. "I'm tempted to ask you for a promise in return. To always be the person I come home to." She smiled with warmth and humor. "But that might start sounding like the kind of vows neither of us are ready to consider." They needed time, and they both needed income. Alden was nowhere near acceptance and might never make peace with the idea, but for now at least, he seemed resigned to the demands of her profession. She gave his hands one last squeeze, then let go.

He quietly digested those words for a moment, coming off the back of that promise not to leave him. What was he asking of her, and she of him? It took Alden a moment to work through the math of this emotional conundrum and he spent that time appreciating the fine bone structure of the young woman before him. Her face, the curve of her neck, those dark velvet chocolate eyes with the depths that had no doubt drowned many a man before him.

Promises. Home. Vows. Alden's heart ached for a moment as the past washed over him for a second and his expression wandered into distant thoughtfulness. Was Kindra asking for a marriage here? Seemed like it, but he couldn't take it too seriously with that lighter tone running through the teasing words.

"I promise my home will be still be here when your meeting is done," Alden returned with a casual flippancy that matched his lopsided smile and raised eyebrows while he patted the old Firefly's nearest bulkhead. "And you'll always be welcome to call it your home too." He couldn't help wondering how this would work if things were the other way around, but he knew that was an irrelevant impossibility for him anyway. If he ever made that promise again, it would be an exclusive one-woman deal.

As she let go of his hands, Alden mustered up a grin to hide the conflict in his heart and pushed down the bad feeling deep inside. She'd be fine. He'd be fine. It was one day.

"Be safe," he called across the space between them. "See you tomorrow." The grin flashed broader and he stamped a booted foot on the ramp then smacked a hand against the rim of the main hatch. "I'll be right here when you get back."

Kindra gave him one last heartful smile. They'd talk more tomorrow, and surely things would work out between them somehow. She adjusted her veil so that it covered her face completely - her client had insisted on as much discretion as possible. Then she took up her overnight bag and harp case and walked down the ramp to the waiting limousine. When the driver got out, opened the back door and offered to take her harp, she shook her head and set the harp on the back seat next to her. He seemed about to insist but stowed her suitcase without another word.

As the limo pulled away, Kindra looked out the darkened window at Fortune's Echo with a pang of regret and wished she could ask her mother how she had, as a Companion, navigated her relationship with Kinmont Armstrong.

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