"What?" Tycho snapped at Hobbie. He'd been staring at him, with that cocky smile the whole morning, while the Alderaanian waited for Wes, as they were supposed to leave for the Daouli valley in less than twenty minutes.
"Nothing..." Hobbie smirked at his friend.
"It's not 'nothing'! You've been giving me that look since breakfast..."
"You're going out...with Wes..."
There it was. That stupid smile again!
"I'm not going out with Wes!" Tycho countered. "This doesn't count as that... And you know it."
"He seems to be quite happy about taking you there!"
"He's not happy about taking me! He's happy about going back to a place he likes, that's all! Why? Are you jealous?" He teased Hobbie, raising his eyebrows in a playful manner.
Hobbie laughed at Tycho, shaking his head.
"My interests don't swing that way, Tych. You know that!" He added. "It's already enough that I put up with him as it is..."
"Putting up with who?" Wes' voice came from the door. The Taanabian approached them with swift steps.
"With you, who else?" Hobbie jested. "I was giving Tycho my condolences for having to put with you for the whole day."
Wes threw his friend a dirty look, punching him lightly on his arm.
"And that's why you're staying here..." He pointed at Hobbie, squinting at the taller man. "Because you're an ungrateful person. I've been offering you my friendship for the last two years, and this is how you repay me!" Putting on a n exaggerated look of dismay on his face, Wes took his hand to his chest.
"Offering? More punishing me with it, that's more like it!" Hobbie scoffed at him.
Tycho cleaned his throat, getting their attention. The Alderaanian was squinting at them, his lips pressed tightly.
He wasn't actually annoyed of course, and both of his friends knew it. It was just a way to get to end their ever-going banter...
Tycho was aware that, if it wasn't for Wes' outgoing, almost childish, personality, Hobbie would have continued to be an extremely closed up person.
Back at the Academy, the Raltiirian man had struck him as aloof and borderline antisocial, but with time he'd discovered that he was actually a nice person to have around, once you found your way over his defenses!
Belonging to a strict, military family, Hobbie had learned from young age to stay quiet at his corner, and had with time developed a somewhat pessimistic personality.
His friendship with Wes, though it struck some people as awkward, due to their opposite natures, had actually helped him become more sociable.
If on one side, Wes was bringing out a more playful nature on his friend, Hobbie also kept the Taanabian a bit more 'grounded', controlling his brash ways!
There was balance on their friendship, and that was a good thing for both!
That was also one of the reasons why the five had become a tight unit over the course of those two years in Rogue Squadron.
Their personalities were complementary in many ways, having reinforced their friendship.
"Do I have to tell Luke about you two?" Tycho asked them. "Seriously, why don't you just grow up? You know, gain some common sense, manners… all the things that would help you behave like grown up men!"
"But Tych!" Wes argued. "If we did that, the rest of you would find it awkward! I'm not sure you'd be able to deal with us if we behaved…"
"The only person who needs to behave here, is you Wes!" Hobbie patted his friend on his shoulder, turning his back on the two of them and leaving his friends alone.
Wes made a face at him, turning to Tycho.
"Ready?" He asked him.
Tycho bit the inside of his lower lip. The whole idea of going on a trip to the valley with the Taanabian, was at the same time an exciting thought and an unnerving one too…
Was he ready for that, indeed?
"Sure!" He answered, trying to ignore the dizzying feeling he'd been experiencing since last night. He had a hard time falling asleep, doing his best to remember that this was Wes! No matter how much he would love to pin some other meaning and motivation to his invitation, the fact remained that his own reasons for wanting to go out with the Taanabian, didn't quite match with Wes' motives! "Won't it be risky for us to go there? Won't it call to attention that there's rebel pilots in Taanab?"
"Don't worry about it, Ok?" Wes reassured him. "All expenses that we need to make, won't be paid on any of our names. Since my family's farm is considered a business, we have a payment card in the farm's name, and not in any given individual's name. If anything is needed, we still have our fake ID's."
"And how will you explain using the farm's card?"
"I'm taking Daymin's ID. He won't need it for today, since he'll be helping the guys with preparing the shuttle, and storing all the crates."
"Ok! I'll trust you on this." Tycho said. "But I'm taking my blaster!"
Wes smirked at his friend, pulling up the sleeves of his yellow tunic, to show two vibroblades in their sheaths, strapped to his forearms.
"Do you sleep with those on?" Tycho sniggered at his friend.
"Of course not!" Wes answered. "I place them under my pillow!"
"Right next to your blaster…"
"Exactly...Wait…How do you know that?"
"You'd already told us that your sleep with your blaster under pillow." Tycho reminded him. He had already been on the service end of that blaster, the first he'd been sent off to wake Wes and Hobbie for their rounds! He'd learned right there, that shaking the Taanabian awake, was a dumb mistake!
"Oh right! I forgot that…" Wes conceded. "Let's go, shall we? We still have to go to Pandath to catch the transport to Daouli. But don't worry, it's not like we're going to the main spaceport. There are small ports for domestic transportations."
"if you say so…"
"Trust me, will you?" He winked at Tycho.
… And once again, it took Tycho all the self-control he could muster to keep his composure!
Each time that devilish man smiled at him or winked at him like that, his heart skipped a beat and he felt his breath faltering.
Why, of all people, did he had to go and fall in love with Wes Janson?
Why couldn't he just get over it, and move on? Deep inside he knew that he was wasting his time. That it was all for naught…
But how do you stop loving someone?
He was in deep, that he would whatever crumbs the Taanabian would throw his way… Even if it was a day out in the Daouli Valley…
Wes had lied about the Daouli Valley being a beautiful place!
It was more than that…
It was breath-taking!
After an hour's trip, they had arrived at the valley, and were now landing on a wide stone strip that was attached to this enormous, beautiful house!
The valley looked more like a wide basin, like something huge had crashed there eons ago!
He could almost imagine, when the galaxy was a young place, some kind of meteorite crashing there and leaving an impact crater, that nature had taken over along the millennia!
The whole north side was filled with ancient looking houses, pretty much embedded in the mountains. They all had their private landing strips, like the one they were in now!
An ornate broad tower construction rose in the middle, taking the feature of a cup at the very top of it. It had to be the Observatory Wes spoke of! It stood off from the rest, because it had been covered in a white stone, making it gleam when the sunlight hit the structure!
The south side, just like Wes had described, showed various narrow waterfalls, ending up on what looked like a wide plateau-like lake that ended on a glorious curtain of crystalline water, plunging into the actual lake, only three meters below that wide waterfall!
The house they were landing in front of, was nested between two of those narrower falls. It was protected from the water by huge transparisteel walls, and it was mainly built out of the same light coloured wood he'd seen on the Illum trees, back at the farm. The front side of the house had big transparisteel windows covering it from top to bottom. No doubt to make the best use of the light hours they had there. Which explained why no houses where found either on the west or east of the valley.
Concentrating the houses on both south and north sides, would guarantee sun light most of the day!
He felt a light pat on his back and he turned to face Wes.
"So? What's your opinion so far?" The Taanabian asked him.
"This is amazing! I mean, we had beautiful places in Alderaan, and in way it does recall the Wuitho Tri-Falls!" Tycho said, still taking everything in. "But this? This is something else! I like the way you just installed the houses in the rock itself, without damaging anything, and without spoiling the ground or taking space from the lake!"
"You though only Alderaanians had an undying respect for nature?" He asked him with a smile. "Just so you know, our farms? None of them were built by destroying anything! Not one tree was taken down to build any housing! Daouneer was actually a huge plateau where nothing ever grew, besides plain grass fields. The cities of Pandath and Pendath? Absolute rocky plains…"
"Is that why you haven't inhabited those small islands In the middle of the ocean?"
"Exactly! If we tried moving people there, not only would it disrupt the wildlife there, but it would also spoil nature there! Unless you live in tree houses…and fight rancors, Elgun Tigers and other kinds of wild animals!" Wes snorted. "No, those are left alone. We only have some tours, especially school trips, where we fly over and around them, to show people, another side of Taanab they don't contact with on a daily basis! There's only one island where you can actually stay for the night. But even that one you need to have a permit. And if you destroy anything, you have to pay a fine!"
"Have you ever been there?" Tycho asked him, mesmerized by this new side of Wes that he was finding about.
"Sure!" Wes smiled, like being drawn by a distant memory. "Ayaan island is the place where every kid goes to spend a weekend with their schools. We all camped by the beach, and we spent the weekend learning about the fauna and flora of the island. And then we got introduced to the Yiqueens!"
"Seems nice!" He smiled at Wes' look. His life at home might not have been a good one, while his father was alive, but it seemed outside that he'd managed to collect some good memories along the way. "What about this house? We're visiting someone?"
"Oh no! This is our summer house!" He announced. "You're going to find out that on the inside, this one goes a bit away from the usual Taanabian home décor! My great grandfather had this house built as a wedding gift for his wife!"
Tycho whistled, looking at the huge house in front of him. It was quite obvious that the whole farmboy image they all had had of Wes, was parsecs away from the whole reality of it!
"So, when were you going to tell us you're rich?"
"I'm not rich!" Wes countered. "my family is! You think I kept any money with me when I arrived at Tierfon? Besides, to keep my family safe, I can't exactly go around pulling out golden cards, no can I?"
"Still, you could have chosen to keep this life style, instead of hoping around from one corner of the galaxy to the other…"
"Yes, I could! All I had to do was behave, present myself at Prefsbelt, conclude the course, clear my family's name from suspicion, and get myself a nice appointment…but that's not me!" Wes pondered, passing his keycard on the main door's lock. "Anyway… my lovely brother-in-law managed somehow to clear their names. So, next time I see him, I'll thank him for that…just before we take him in! And my mother and Aunt have managed to, through the Daouneer Cell, send us funds, foodstuffs and other things!"
"Wow! I didn't know that!" Tycho answered him, his attention being somewhat diverted by the interior of the house. "That means the last time we had some proper meat on the menu, it could have been from your farm!"
"That's exactly what it means!"
"By the way. This is not a house! It's a kriffin' palace, Wes! That's what it is!" The Alderaanian was wide-eyed, looking at the impressive main hall. The living room was a sunken one, with a circular shape. The entire décor of the house was on very subdued colours, unlike Wes' home at the farm. The walls and the floors were all made out of actual slabs of white Malubi stone! He had only seen such material once. It was very hard to get, since it was from the Hapan Cluster! If there was something the Hapans were known for, it was their isolationist way of life. To find an entire home lined with it, was unheard of!
Surrounding the sunken living room there were five columns, made out of the Illum wood, but with intricate leaf designs made from the same Malubi stone. In-between the columns, curtains of shimmering light green Hapan silk flowed in layers. Inside the room everything was cushioned, even the floor. Again, it kept the white and green colour palette, in a design that reminded him the vines used to surround the gatewalls of his own Alderaanian home!
At each side, a staircase lead to the second level of the house. Along it, he saw portraits. Not holoportraits, like he was used to, but actual painted portraits!
The whole household seemed to evoke a less technology bound era… an era in which life was more inclined towards what one could create with their own bare hands, instead of recurring to droids and other machinery.
It was beautiful!
"Your great grandfather built this for his wife?" Tycho gaped at Wes.
"Yes, he did! I guess he wanted her to feel at home… She was Hapan, you see? Her family was dead set on not allowing her to marry him. But she went against them, and she moved to Daouneer."
"You have Hapan ancestry? That's cool! Did you get to meet them?"
"My great grandmother, we say Ma'Ganee here…it's shorter, passed away just twelve years ago, actually. Da'Gadee… great grandfather, obviously!... died when I was only a year old, so I have no memories of him. I was named after him, if you want to know!"
Tycho chuckled as Wes lead him to one of the side door.
"The original Wes Janson…"
"Yes, he was!" The Taanabian confirmed.
"Doesn't that make you officially a Wes Janson Jr.? Or Wes Janson II?" Tycho teased him "Was he like you? A joker?" He smiled.
"We don't use numerations, nor junior for our kids..." Wes gazed sideways at his friend. "And he was a bit more...pondered! I only got the physical build and hair from him..."
"So, you got the eyes from your great grandmother? Because they're known for their poor night vision."
"Just the colour... We have the usual Taanabian visual acuity."
"What was her name?" Tycho asked, curious about that mysterious Hapan lady that had decided to marry the very first Wes Janson.
"Lara…" Wes told him. "Lara Dal'Aari! They met when our family managed to strike a deal with the Terephon authorities, to export cattle to that Hapan world. And that's how it started!"
"And that's how you're here!" Tycho smiled at his friend. "And all of this, was that Wes' way to give her a piece of Hapes in Taanab! Which explains all the Malubi stone, and the Hapan silk…"
"A bit ostentatious, I know. But I quite like it! You wanna see the pool?"
"You have a pool here? With all the water, out there?"
Wes laughed at him, hanging their vests on the lobby and leading him across a long corridor. That corridor was made of wood and transparisteel on one side, and it had the natural mountain rock on the other side.
As the corridor ended, both men arrived at a sort of bathhouse, with showers on one side, and benches and racks on the other. A side-to-side transparisteel door lead to what Wes had called a pool…
"Hey Wes!" He called out.
"What, Tycho?"
"Your so-called pool…is a cave!" He pointed at huge dome-like structure, which was obviously part of the valley's mountain. There was a gap in the wall, from which the sunlight hit directly on the water of the natural pool. The water was so crystalline that he could see the bottom. It was evident that, somehow the pool's bedrock had been smoothed, to prevent any accidents or injuries.
"Yeah, so?" He asked Tycho, amused by the Alderaanian's reaction to everything since they arrived at the valley. He reminded him of a kid in a candy store…
"It's a kriffin' cave! This side of the house is literally embedded in a cave!"
"What can I say? Ma'Ganee Lara liked this place…"
"So… When you mentioned a pool, you really meant the lake with the waterfall on the cave?"
"Yes!" Wes smiled, with that cocky grin Tycho was never quite sure if he hated, or if he loved it… "Look at the bright side! You see that hole directing the sunlight right into the lake? It means the water is warm, even if it's almost winter…"
"Anything else I should know?"
Wes opened his mouth to answer, but decided that maybe that wasn't the best time to say his family pretty owned half of the Daouli Valley…
"No…that's it!" He nodded. "Lunch first, and then we hit the pool? Or do you want to do it the other way around?"
What to choose…Tycho thought!
Enjoy the vision of Wes' almost naked body right now, or wait until the evening?
Stupid question! Clothes off first…
"It's too early for lunch." He reasoned. "And that water is calling for me! Can you hear it? Tycho…come swim…" He took one hand to his ear, like he was trying to hear something on the distance.
Wes rolled his eyes at him, shaking his head.
"Right…go change into your shorts, and don't forget to shower before getting on the pool."
Tycho turned to go change, barely containing a wide smile.
This day was already getting interesting…
And it was just beginning!