Ask Notes on Tenderness

[Kiyomi Tyr]

Location: Ord Mantell

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___The life of a senator was perpetually busy, and for a pacifist like Kiyomi, it was doubly so. She fought tirelessly for planets and systems to remain independent and unaffiliated when wars or battles ensued, so there was scarcely time to breathe. The moments for quiet respite, when they did happen, she did not let go to waste. Today was one of those days when she and John arranged to get together for dinner at the end of the day. Kiyomi's speeder arrived at The Captain's Bounty, a small, unassuming restaurant in Savroia. There, the two of them could dine in relative peace.

___Kiyomi stepped out of her speeder with two personal Fiani guards at her heel, Ryota and Sachi. She entered the front door to see the owner, a human named Cen Horne, standing behind a bar cleaning glasses. He raised his hand to wave at her.

___"Welcome, Senator! Your usual table is ready," he said, gesturing for one of the waiters to guide her. As the young man he beckoned rushed to Kiyomi, she raised a dismissive hand.

___"It's quite all right, dear. I know the way," Kiyomi tittered. "Please, Cen, don't need your staff to rush to my every beck and call. I thought we were beyond such formalities by now," she laughed as she walked past the waiter and proceeded towards her table. Kiyomi sat down and situated herself, her two guards flanking just behind her on either side. "Please, Ryota, Sachi, you can both wait outside. Nothing will happen to me," she dismissed the guards. They inclined their heads and departed, heading towards the door to leave. As they left, the same waiter from before approached the table.

___"May I get you a drink, Senator Kiyomi?"

___"A glass of Domaine de la Maison sur le Lac," the woman answered. The waiter momentarily baulked, and Kiyomi laughed. "It's in a tall, teal bottle and comes from Naboo. I'm sure Cen can show you," she elaborated, smiling sweetly as the new waiter ambled away to retrieve her order. When he was gone, Kiyomi grabbed the menu to open it and began perusing while waiting for John to arrive.

@TheDudeMike

 

[John Tyr]

"Sir, I have to protest. What if the Hutts attack? We have to be ready," John's aide said. Christina was a good Ord Mantellian, always put the needs of the planet first. She had spent the entirety of her early adult life in the Defense Corps, until a Hutt mine had decimated her limbs, scarred her face, and gave her irreparable nerve damage. Now more prosthetic than human, she worked to keep John's desk clear of bullshit, and be his voice when he was otherwise indisposed.

"I am going to have nice night with wife," John said gruffly. "You can handle anything that pops up." Christina reluctantly sat back giving him a silent glare before accepting her fate. There wasn't always time to go to fancy restaurants, and have date nights when John and Kiyomi were both Senators. Tonight would be a treat, and no amount of offensive and defensive operations on Ord Mantell would be stop him from enjoying a night with his wife.

The speeder stopped, and John exitted without a word, shutting the door behind him. Christina would stay in the speeder and be driven back to the embassy building. For once, he was wearing a suit jacket, loosely fitting over an olive-drab t-shirt. John was never one to dress up, and just adding the jacket and wearing clean slacks meant he was more dressed up for dinner with Kiyomi than he had been a couple hours earlier on the Senate floor.

He made his way into the establishment, giving a dejected to wave at the greetings as he made his way to Kiyomi. He was a man on a purpose, and every movement of his large body said so. He was the kind of man that looked as if he could challenge a wookiee to fist fight, and was stubborn enough to do just that. So it seemed out of place when he leaned over with all the care in the galaxy, and gave his wife a gentle kiss on the lips before sitting down across from her. His emerald eyes searching the menus and table before lifting to meet Kiyomi's gaze. He smiled. "Sorry I'm late. Have you already ordered?"

@Remileah

 

[Kiyomi Tyr]

___When John entered the restaurant, Kiyomi's head shifted to meet his gaze. A warm, happy smile blossomed on her face. The jacket and slacks spoke volumes to her, accustomed as she was at picking up on the nuances and subtleties of his behaviour. He would have appeared underdressed and disinterested in this dinner date to anybody else, but to Kiyomi, he was the very image of class and showed his investment in turning this night into something special for them both. As he leaned over to kiss her, Kiyomi lifted slightly out of her seat to return it and hold it for several seconds.

___"Of course not," she answered as their lips parted. "I only just requested my drink. You are no later than I am, so that makes us both right on time," Kiyomi finished with a quiet, amused snicker. "I was thinking about trying the grayling this time. It has comes sprinkled with rosemary, thyme, beech nuts, and honey," Kiyomi almost swooned at the thought. "What do you think you'll have?" As she finished speaking, the waiter returned with her crystal decanter of wine, setting it down on the table with a long, thin-necked glass.

___"This is exactly it," Kiyomi said, glancing at the waiter with an appreciative smile. She removed the stopper from the bottle and tipped it to fill her glass. The waiter turned to face John, offering him a formal bow.

___"What will you have to drink, Senator?"

@TheDudeMike

 

[John Tyr]

John's gaze never left Kiyomi's, even as the waiter bowed and prompted his drink. "Old fashioned," he said. The waiter took a moment, the lack of eye contact seeming to unsettle them. Eventually they got it and disappeared. John reached over the table, taking his wife's hands in his gently. "You look stunning, as always." To emphasize his eyes left hers to travel down her frame and then back up. He'd seen the best and worst out of the galaxy, and she damn near the top of the best.

"I think I'll go with something simple this time around. The sirloin tips with wild rice," he said with a smile. The restaurant was fancy, and he'd be missing out on being able to try a delicacy, but it had been a long day flipping between the Senate chambers and dealing with developments on the home front. Something a little more hardy, with all the same savory was what he would go for. "It was a long day. Been on the horn with General Akkins on and off all day."

He would leave it at that. Tonight was not about work- it was about them. Sometimes it was hard not to bring work home, or out, with you when you're both Senators. Kiyomi was well versed in what having to speak to the General of the Ord Mantell Defense Corps meant. Another attack or raid on civilian centers. The longer the Hutts were able to fund things, the worse it got. Instead, he decided to bring up something a bit more humorous.

"That fiani boy- the Jedi- seemed taken with you," he mused playfully. "Couldnt take his eyes off you the whole time. I can't blame him." The waiter brought the old fashioned. John took a careful sip of it. They used maple syrup instead of sugar. Just the way he liked it. He gave a low hum of satisfaction but put the glass down.

@Remileah

 

[Kiyomi Tyr]

___"You look very dashing, yourself," Kiyomi responded, her smile widening. She laid her small hand on John's larger one, lifting her free hand to spread it over his. While he appraised her figure, she appraised their hands, mindful of every distinguishing detail between them. His were coarse and calloused, while hers were soft and smooth. It was one of the things that set them and their lifestyles apart, but she still found a great measure of comfort in it.

___"That sounds very distinctly like you," Kiyomi chuckled when John mused about his order. Her ears flicked as John spoke briefly about his day, but the woman took the hint as he quickly changed the subject. She reached out to pick up her glass and lift it to her lips, delicately sipping her fine wine. Kiyomi tittered again as John commented about the young Jedi from a few days ago. She set her glass down, vividly recalling the initial encounter and how he had frozen when she entered the room. Kiyomi shook her head.

___"I'm probably old enough to be his mother," she laughed. "What can you do, though? Boys will be boys and ogle pretty girls," Kiyomi said. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her knuckles as she gazed at the man with a cheeky smile. "Why? You weren't feeling jealous, were you?" she teased, her smile turning into one of mischief.

@TheDudeMike

 

[John Tyr]

"If I say yes do we get to share a hotel?" John returned her mischevious smile with a playful smirk. It was the closest expression he had to mischief. He'd grown up a straight forward man that didn't beat around the bush. He'd always stuck to military women over the years, until Kiyomi surrounded his heart with a platoon, and stormed inside with the precision of special forces. No one in the galaxy has been able to break the perimeter she set around it since.

"How was your day?" he asked, still holding her hand in his. He imagined it wasn't much different than his own, at least on the Senate front. He enjoyed hearing about it from her perspective though. Anytime the Hutts or the Imperial Senators had their antics, John had always come away thinking a new war was brewing. Kiyomi was always the one to calm his nerves and offer a different way of looking at things. It always seemed to end up being a mixture of the two.

The waiter came back a moment later to take their orders, writing their orders to the minutest detail on a datapad before bowing and taking their leave again. John had indeed gone with the sirloin tips on wild rice. As an added bonus, he got a cup of applesauce on the side. A guilty pleasure of his every time they patroned this establishment. It was just plain, without even a hint of cinnomon in it, but it always hit the spot as a little desert after eating.

@Remileah

 

[Kiyomi Tyr]

___The implication of sharing a hotel for the night made Kiyomi chuckle again, her gaze splitting away as her eyes deviated to the side with some embarrassment.

___"Maybe. I'll think about it," Kiyomi replied as she looked at John again. When he inquired about her day, she sighed quietly. "There's a plague of some kind ravaging Ansion," she continued, stopping momentarily to take another delicate sip of her wine. "It's running rampant through the outer settlements. Some of the Senate wants to impose travel restrictions or bans, which would make humanitarian efforts such as sending medicine and other supplies difficult," Kiyomi elaborated, shaking her head with disapproval as her free hand lifted and her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose.

___When the waiter returned, Kiyomi's wilted demeanour lifted to the cheerful, upbeat disposition she often carried. The woman placed her order, staying true to her idea of ordering the grayling. She also ordered some apple and blackberry pudding with spices and cream for dessert, and when the waiter left, Kiyomi's ears flopped down again. Her dainty fingers gently tightened around John's hand.

___"Suffice it to say, it was a very long day of battling motions that would only make those people suffer more than they already are," Kiyomi added. "How are things here? Were there any new developments?"

@TheDudeMike

 

[John Tyr]

John listened intently on his wife. Her body language telling the story more than her words. She was so peaceful, so pacifist. John never agreed with her politics, but she'd somehow managed to snuggle her way to his heart regardless. Whenever she had a bad day, or even a tough day, the idea of burning the senate down became a real thing in his mind. The only thing keeping him at bay her tenderness and wish for that to not happen.

He lifted himself from his seat and slid himself next to her. He towered above her, even when sitting, and was double her size, but his arms wrapped gently around her and his lips pressed into hers as answer to her woes. He was her protector, her rock. She was his holster, and in return, he was her shield. When their kiss broke, he placed another one on her fore head, his hands planting themselves on the small of her back and the back of her head.

"It's okay, Kurva'ri," he said softly into her hair. "You've done everything you can for today. Tomorrow is a new day where you can fight again," he said. He cupped her cheeks in both of his massive hands and gazed into her eyes. "You're the brightest, and most honest polition in the Sentate, and you're my wife. I love you."

@Remileah

 

[Kiyomi Tyr]

___As John rose from his seat, Kiyomi's head lifted to watch him join her on the other side of the table. Her petite frame slipped smoothly into his arms, and as his lips met hers again, the moment felt suspended. It was a moment of affirmation, and she was fulfilled for a certain time, though a finite one. For Kiyomi, the strength of a man wasn't seen in the power of his arms. It was seen in the love with which he embraced another, and the love John held her with was unlike any she'd ever seen in a man.

___"It will be, so long as I know you are waiting for me," Kiyomi answered. She leaned against him, pressing her entire being as close to him as possible. "I'm nothing special," she continued, her eyes closed as she laid her head against his chest, absorbing every detail of the sound of his heartbeat in his chest. "I'm a simple, ordinary woman with simple, common thoughts. I've lived a common life and I don't see any monuments being dedicated to me," Kiyomi said. Her hands pressed against his chest as she pushed away.

___"But I love you with all my heart and soul, and to me, that always has and forever will be enough," she finished, looking up at the man with a warm, passionate smile. The woman lifted slightly in her seat again, giving the man another soft, loving kiss. "If we keep this display going, though, people are going to start staring," Kiyomi added, one of her hands lifting to playfully tap the tip of John's nose.

@TheDudeMike

 

[John Tyr]

John smiled, making his way back over to his seat. If only so that the waiter wouldn't get confused. "I believe they were already staring when you walked through the door," he said looking around to find that, indeed, several patrons were staring. That was fine. Let them stare. His emerald eyes met her gaze again. "I know I do still, every time." Half the time they were in a senate meeting, he spent staring at her, watching her work. It wasn't like any of the motions being voted on effected Ord Mantell any. He would put it past other Senators to not even know Ord Mantell existed.

"Things are stable. The Hutts doing their thing and the terrorist cells they fund doing theirs," he said, shaking his head with solemn distaste. "Defense Corps has it under control now." The Defense Corps always had it under control, but not before something happened. They had the resources to fill the ranks, but not the resources to be proactive in defending against the Hutt spawned groups that reigned terror on the people of Ord Mantell. John needed funding more than anything else.

"But that's enough of that talk," he said with a smile, lifting his gaze back to his wife's. "Are you doing anything after dinner? I heard the botanical gardens are gorgeous this time of year."

@Remileah

 

[Kiyomi Tyr]

___"You'll stare at any pretty girl," Kiyomi deflected, playfully sticking out her tongue as John moved back to his side of the table. She glanced around the establishment at some of the watching patrons, lifting a hand to waggle her fingers in mock greeting. The attention of both senators was enough to send the spectators back to their business. Satisfied their privacy was re-established, Kiyomi's sight fell on John again, her ears bobbing and plush tail swaying as she absorbed his report.

___The information he shared was familiar to her. The situation on Ord Mantell was nothing if not static. There was minimal fluctuation. The Hutts would fund terrorists, the terrorists would strike, the Defence Corps would respond and contain the situation, and the cycle would repeat. Kiyomi looked down at the glass of wine in her hand, staring at her reflection shifting around on the surface of the red liquid. Her husband didn't need to elaborate that the military's budget was lacking. That was something she intrinsically knew.

___"I'll... start a fundraiser. An art show," Kiyomi proposed, looking up from her glass. Her gaze met John's. "There are some very talented artists here. I can reach out to some of them, have them pay a nominal registration fee to showcase their work, and then set a flat ticket price for attendees to browse the collection. The last art show went very well," she affirmed confidently with a smile. "The proceeds can be funnelled towards medical and educational supplies and food for the afflicted areas. That should allow you to free up some of your budget for... other things."

___It wasn't much, but it was Kiyomi's way to help support her husband without directly funding the war. With fundraiser money being put towards relief efforts, a goal and effort she aligned with, he could push funding in other directions she didn't. It wasn't always something that sat well with her, but sometimes compromises needed to be made.

___"I didn't have plans after dinner, but I suppose I do now, don't I?" Kiyomi asked, offering the man another sweet smile before taking another sip of her wine. "I heard they recently acquired a shipment of environmental bugs. I'm sure those would be lovely to see."

@TheDudeMike

 

[John Tyr]

“Only if they look like you,” he said. A server came around with a tray, placing Kiyomi’s plate of food down first in front of her, and then John’s in front of his. The waiter had come with, to see if they needed anything else. John shook his head, letting the two wander off to other tables. The food smelled delicious, and it wasn’t until the aroma really set in that John realized just how hungry he was. His stomach growled with contempt at how little food he’d put in it today.

Kiyomi was a brilliant mind. John had always just used Defense Corps trainees and recruits for humanitarian duties. It allowed him to keep the front line units on the front line, the resting units resting, and gave the new kids a bit more of a well rounded experience before they stepped into the hell that was asymmetrical warfare.

“I like that idea. You could start a non-profit that continues to raise funds, even after we’ve kicked the Hutts off the planet,” he said. It was a ways away, he knew, but having Kiyomi run a non-profit to help with the hospitals and education system, even during peace time, would allow John to focus on making sure the Hutts never stepped foot on Ord Mantell again. And if they did get their slimy slug tails on Ord Mantell, turning them into minced worm post haste. John smiled, partly at the thought of Hutts exploding, but mostly for his wife. “See? Brightest Senator in the room.”

John took a few bites of his food. It was, as steak is supposed to be, delicious. The wild rice underneath with the sauteed onions and mushrooms just set the entire dish on another level. “Then it’s a date. We’ll have to use your driver though.” He took a sip of his drink, doing his best to look innocent. “It still has the one way mirror between the drivers and the back, right?”

@Remileah