Galactic Alliance: A Little Bit Fancy

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alen Na'Varro"]

Roll: 4

Overall: 6

So this was how it was going to be. Truth be told, with every shot the more the blood began to pump and rush through her veins. So it was with no small amount of coyness and sass that the Trade Queen would pluck the second shot with flair. A smirk would dance upon her lips. Her eyes would glitter with devilry. And her pose as she would lean forward with near shameless dare as she shot the liquor back enough to prompt a titter among the crowd.

The burn was familiar, and the challenge in her bold gaze more so. Come on Na'Varro, it said.

Is this all you got?

 

[Ibaris Varanin]

"I will, Alen, thank you," was what she'd said to Laura's father, while inwardly she was excited and celebrating. She could keep a cap on it, she was almost twenty, damn it. When the older man walked away to make the rounds, Ibaris stood there, thinking over how things had changed and how far they'd all come. Then she went to find the washroom. Being this pretty and staying that was wasn't entirely without effort, especially given that it wasn't something she did on the daily.

Some minutes later, she came out and went looking for something to drink that wasn't quite the same as what all the more experienced adults were sipping, or in the case of [member="Alen Na'Varro"], [member="Alric Kuhn"], and [member="Danger Arceneau"], throwing back. Amusement coloured her visage at that particular sight and she came to the bar just down from where [member="Kaili Talith"], [member="Chevu Visz"], and [member="Liam Quez"] were at, and asked for a numa berry soda.

"That's my mama," she said, overhearing the conversation she intended to join, knowing the youngest Talith couldn't possibly be talking about anyone else but [member="Spencer Jacobs"], "she's older than she looks."

The bartender brought her a bottle of numa berry soda with a bendy straw, and she smiled and thanked him, before injecting herself into the little group, absolutely unaware of the conversation that had been going on before she arrived at the bar counter. She flicked a glance at Liam, then turned her attention to the other two girls, one she knew, and one she didn't. She smiled at both of them and proffered her right hand to the green girl.

"Hi, I'm Ibaris."

 

[Liam Quez]

Of course, typical Ibaris finally makes her way over to me and hte rest of the group. She seemed done with dealing with the grown ups after possibly getting what she wanted out of them. Then again in her typical fashion, she utterly ignored me. I don’t count the glance she gave me as noticing me. I noticed her the moment she walked in the door, I think I deserved a bit more than a glance. Letting her talk, I partially thanked her arrival. I would have had to talk my way out of something I couldn’t.

It dawned on me though, Chevu didn’t know Ibaris and Ibaris didn’t know Chevu - this was going to play out like one of those terrible sitcoms that leaves me alone with no one at the end of the night. Looking at Kaili, I knew she had to be wondering how this was going to play out but then I wondered if she was actually thinking about what was going on. The girl seemed more interested in the woman who…

I glanced over my shoulder towards the blonde woman who had made an entrance while I was talking to Chevu. My jaw dropped and I looked at her and then back at Ibaris who had claimed the woman was her mother. The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree if you know what I mean. Finally deciding to say something. "Everyone looks so nice tonight.” I glanced back towards Ibaris and stared for a moment, remembering I probably shouldn’t do that I looked towards the other girls. I couldn’t help myself though, I had to say something. “Princess, didn’t know you could clean up so well.” A grin and then a wink, suddenly I wondered if I had maybe said the wrong thing.

Oh well too late.

[member="Ibaris Varanin-Jacobs"] [member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Ibaris Varanin]

Whether [member="Chevu Visz"] was going to shake her hand or not, Ibaris looked sidelong at [member="Liam Quez"], then turned her head towards him, flashing the blonde a demure smile. He didn't know. Of all the things he knew about her, all the time they had spent together over the years, he knew so little about her past, so little about the details. Sure, calling her 'Princess' was his way of acknowledging what she had been, in a way, to a galactic government that no longer existed. Maybe she would fill him in. Maybe she would do that now. She lifted her drink and took a sip, and watched him over the rim of the glass, sucking gently and slowly on the straw. She stopped, swallowed, and lowered the glass.

"I'm used to this kind of stuff. It's been a while, but..." she smiled, genuinely now, "...you would have seen a lot of this if you'd grown up around me."

A fond glimmer passed through her gaze, and she inched a little closer to her 'partner in crime'. You know, if there was any crime happening. Partner nonetheless, of sorts.

"Thanks, by the way. You look alright, yourself."

Really, was that so hard? Things had changed a great deal since that day, almost seven years prior, when she had walked up to him all nonchalant and given him the spiel about needing a pilot that wasn't a scaredy-cat, that wasn't going to piss his pants and flee. Liam, for his part, had kept up that deal admirably, and it had taken her this long to really begin to appreciate just what he did, all that he did for her. He was becoming irreplacable, and his value in her eyes was steadily rising, with each passing day. She stared for another minute, without seeming like she was doing it too hard, then broke her gaze with him.

Not here. Not in front of all these people.

That was her hesitance. Intimacy... well, she didn't have so much of a problem with it, so much as doing it in front of other people. She didn't like those eyes on her when she was soft, when she was... could be seen as weak. An image of strength was so important, even in this dress, these shoes. Still, she wanted to do something, just something to show him that she was here with him. The fingers of her free hand curled into a soft fist, and she took another drink, looking to him again. The fingers uncurled, and she swallowed; she reached out, cautiously, and curled those fingers around the edge of his closest hand, not enough to squeeze, but enough for him to feel. She flicked a glance at his face, and a brief, shy smile was there, just for him.

And then it was all gone. She broke contact, both physical and visual, and turned her head and eyes back to the rest of the group, looking at [member="Kaili Talith"] and smiling, perhaps a bit nerved.

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

He'd wanted to be a pilot since he was a young boy, and was a pilot since graduating from the academy at sixteen, but didn't work his first flight assignment until eighteen, having been tapped immediately for an instructor's contract for two years. The legend, according to his father, was of pilots that were heroes, that this stuff was in his blood. He never let it go to his head, and now he was the head of the very corporation that built the fighters he flew the most. This was a corporation that had become a second family to him, after the death of his wife almost thirty years prior, when he active duty status wasn't a wise idea. He'd been their top test pilot, and was again when he retired from active service as a fighter pilot. How Lessa had seen him as the ideal choice to succeed her, he'd never understand, but he would grow into this role as he had with every role prior to this. It was time, after his predecessor's erratic movements, to have Incom Corporation settle in firmly with the likes of which it had in centuries long past.

He'd talked with the Salacia man for a bit, gathering a bit more rapport with Mr. [member="Judah Dashiell"] - maybe Perris would have the pleasure of his company outside of these random run-ins, someday - but there were other matters to attend to that night; after finally making the rounds and having some chit-chat with a number of the bodies present at this shindig, he went looking for Nemo Ven. The Supreme Commander, he'd been told, wasn't an easy fish to catch; often a subordinate of his was what the majority of those looking to deal with the GADF got to talk to. For his purposes, the starfighter manufacturer would take whosoever was qualified to arrange what he was looking to have done, and if that did in fact end up being the guy from Dac, then that was just gravy. His own military background went back, way back, long before the One Sith were a twinkle - he still preferred to deal with such types, when he could get them.

Weaving between people, he was certain a fish-head would be easy to spot. How did the dang guy get so elusive? Was he even here? Eventually, it occurred to him to ask someone, so he approached the closest individual with the intention of doing just that...

[member="NPCs by Corey"]

 

[Light Rises]

There was always the one geek in the lab who was the one that knew their topic area better than anyone else, and that always seemed to have a cost. Typically? It was at social skills. With Tomaas Vald, it was social skills and the cues to act like the astronautical engineer he was. No, the man was coming to the meeting, where he heard Incom was being represented, dressed like some college drop out. The fact that the twenty something had a PhD in Astronautical Engineering with a Masters Thesis under his belt in Avionics was a bit of a shock. No, there wasn’t quite a Fedora, but there was definitely the smell of a citric soda on his breath when he sat down. His shirt was wrinkled, but it did have a collar, and buttons that went all the way down, too.

The fact that the merchant had found him was a surprise. “Ven’s not here. But… I recognize your face. You’re the guy! You’re that guy!” Use your words Tomaas. “Right? Perris, Incom?”

And there might have been a little bit of squealing. “Name’s Tomaas Vald, Alliance Acquisitions.” He held out a hand. Yes, he was eating finger foods, who wouldn’t? And it was free!

Not that he had to worry about that.

[member="Kelly Perris"]

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

He gave the young man a once-over, one eyebrow lofting. A bit dishevelled, but he'd heard that acquisitions was littered with nerds and yahoos, when he initially looked into what it would take to get in proper with the Alliance. Bemusement tugged at his mouth, but he killed it, retaining the line and half-hard stare that was a holdover from his days as a navy man.

"Oh, ah..." he took Tomaas' hand, and gave it a good, firm shake, "...yes, that's me."

He was a little taken aback by the reaction this guy had to seeing him. Being 'that guy' wasn't a thing he'd ever been, and the air of 'kid in candy store' that the acquisitions man put out was... a tad off-putting. Who knew that he had fans? Inwardly, Perris shrugged. Outwardly, he let the bemusement overtake his expression, and released Tomaas' hand before he unconsciously began to crush it.

"Then you'd be the one I'm talking to, Mister Vald," he said, finally, "but get a grip on the enthusiasm, yeah? I don't need every ruddy detail of this business broadcast for the whole party to hear."

That was when the line-mouth came back in, and the steely eyes.

[member="NPCs by Corey"]

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Needless to say, things got rather interesting for Danger and Mistah Na'Varro at the end of it all.

Who won and who lost will remain in infamy, but at the very least, would be mighty entertaining.