Private Home is the Place

[Juliana Alderdice]

"I wish you'd told me before I came," Juliana said irritably as she tugged the bodice of her borrowed gown. She felt likes he was falling out of it. "If you'd told me I could have brought a dress that fits." She pulled the mirrored visor down and studied her appearance, then sighed and pushed it up again. It didn't help that her sister Patrice was slightly less busty than Juliana was. Thankfully she had a wrap that would help with modesty, but not with comfort.

"We received the invitation after your transport left," her mother explained. "Besides, you never had any trouble borrowing Patrice's clothes before."

Juliana rolled her eyes and reminded herself, not for the first time, that she was there on behalf of her parents, whom she loved very much. They had asked her to come home to help them with a problem, but had refused to elaborate when asked for details. All will be explained after the party -- the party which Juliana hadn't known about, the party to which the family was en route now. A family with whom the Alderdices were friendly was celebrating the engagement of their eldest daughter with a ball, which was rather commonplace among the wealthy, titled society to which Juliana's family belonged. So here they were, seated in the back of the landspeeder, one of several waiting to drop off at the Billitsworth family estate.

"And just remember, whatever you do, don't mention the... unpleasantness," said Juliana's mother.

"What unpleasantness?" Juliana asked, for what must have been the fifteenth time since she'd arrived on-world two days ago.

Her father chuckled to himself, scrolling through his datapad. "Exactly. Just like that."

Juliana resisted the urge to scream into her handbag. It was only a few minutes later that she was released from the prison and turned loose with instructions to mix, mingle, and represent the family well. The party was spread across the ground floor and gardens, with most of the rooms decked out in candle and crystal. Juliana made the rounds, pausing to chat with people she knew before getting herself a drink from the tray of a passing footman. Champagne. Decent vintage. Nothing spectacular, but you couldn't with this many people, it would cost the earth. Still, it's not the usual swill.

Leave it to the Billitsworths.

Orson Keto​

 

[Orson Keto]

Juliana Alderdice

This wasn't exactly his favorite place to be.

Schmooze it up with friends of the family in a rich and decadent hall. Sadly... there was little to be done about it. His parents said he must and that was really that. Maybe one day it would be different. For now that day hadn't arrived yet however. At the very least the drinks were flowing generously, that made it at least somewhat manageable.

Just as Orson was about to get himself a drink someone caught his eye.

Head tilted there.

"Juliana Alderdice?" Bemused Orson send her a little wave. "I didn't know you were back in town." He approached her a moment later. They didn't know each other that well, but Tetan nobility was a small world.

You are at first name basis just by the act of being born.

"Orson Keto? I am sure you don't remember me, but we had classes together." It was a long time since then, but dear lords time had blessed Alderdice in all the right ways. It took some effort not to get distracted. So to speak. He extended his hand casually, while inclining his head. "Are you back for good or taking a vacation from the Order?"

It had been quite the story when one of their own had left Teta for the Unknown Regions.

 

[Juliana Alderdice]

Juliana was halfway through another sip of champagne when she heard her name being mentioned by an unfamiliar voice. She half-turned to catch sight of one Orson Keto standing nearby the bar. Of course, she didn't realize it was Orson Keto at that moment, but she knew that she recognized the features of his face. That wasn't unusual. Juliana had probably sat at a dinner party or attended a ball or a had a class with ninety percent of the room's occupants. Even small-fry nobles like Juliana's family were included in the social calendar.

He was familiar. When he introduced himself, it all clicked, like puzzle pieces falling into place.

"Orson, of course," she said, smiling in a self-deprecating, apologetic kind of way. "Of course I remember you. We had Tetan History together with -- what was his name? -- old Professor Vinda. It's years ago now. I heard he retired, which makes sense, since he seemed half-dead when we studied under him." Instinctively Juliana switched her glass to her off hand and stepped forward and put his hand in his for a handshake.

"Oh, no," she protested. "Neither, really. My parents asked me to come back -- to help with a project," she added hastily, mindful of her mother's prohibition on discussing the unpleasantness. "But once that's resolved, I've got to head back to Dosuun." Juliana took a sip of her drink and gestured toward Keto with her free hand. "What about you? What have you been up to since we graduated? Have you been traveling, or...?"

Orson Keto​

 

[Orson Keto]

"Oh, are you? Then I hope the project will go on for long enough to catch the party my parents are throwing in two weeks." Keto drawled lightly as he shook hands. He suppressed the urge to lean over and kiss her knuckles. It was so... traditional. His parents had drilled it into his head, but as a rule he tried his best to vex his parents at every turn.

This faux pas would be a nice part of that.

"They are celebrating a new contract or something- I am unsure, but apparently they are going to really dig into their wallets for this one." He shook his head at her question. "Oh, no, I wish. I did a brief stint over at Coruscant, but nothing as impressive as you have been up to. Traveler of the Unknown Regions, quite exciting."

His eyes shone there.

How he wished he could detach himself from his folks and do the same.

"My folks are still trying to get me to take over the family business, be worthy of the Keto legacy, things like that." The fact that the Ketos were most famous for leading a darkside cult slash government of Empress Teta for generations... well... that was best left forgotten. The nobility had a way with that however. To clean out the smears and only leave the glory intact. It would be impressive, if it wasn't so demented. "But tell me, Juliana, is the Unknown Regions everything we hear here?"

"Flesh-eating dinosaurs, snail predators and wild marauders hiding out in every corner? Or is it just embellishment."

Juliana Alderdice

 

[Juliana Alderdice]

"Another party?" Juliana asked when Orson had released her hand from his shake. "I'm not sure I'll have sobered up from this one in two weeks, but I'll do my best. Speaking of, were you heading for the bar? This is pretty good," she said, lifting her wine flute, "but I think I'd really prefer a cocktail." They joined the queue for the bar. Juliana waved a greeting at a passing friend as the conversation with Orson continued.

"I've never been to Coruscant," she commented. "I've always wanted to. You hear lots of things about it, but I feel like it's one of those places that you have to see to believe. What were you doing over there?"llt

They crept forward in the queue. "Remind me, what do the Keto family do for business?" she asked casually, taking another sip of her drink.

"As far as the Unknown Regions, it's not exactly like that," Juliana said. "Flesh-eating dinosaurs, snail predators and wild marauders, absolutely. But not in every corner. It's more like... every second or third corner. Actually, I haven't encountered any Ssi-Ruuk. I know some of my colleagues have, but -- " She hesitated. It was perhaps not the best topic of conversation to confess that she wasn't very good at being a First Imperial Knight, and as such had not been sent out on the most dangerous assignments. " -- not me, yet. I did encounter a giant spider in the mines on -- it was, ah, Tholon I think. Literally the most terrifying moment of my life."

Juliana got to the head of the line and studied the menu card for a moment. "I'll do a... Coruscanti 75, please." She put a credit chit in the tip jar and watched as the bartender combined Calavar gin, lemon juice and simple syrup in a shaker and shook it vigorously. He strained it into a champagne flute and topped it off with some Coruscanti champagne.

"So what have I been missing while I've been away? Any fresh gossip?" She turned towards Orson Keto as the bartender made his drink.

 

[Orson Keto]

"Oh, come now. It's not that long ago that you left Teta. We both know it is one party after another here." If there was one thing that socialites loved to do it was throw parties willy-nilly. It was a good thing the Ketos had something to celebrate. Otherwise it would be yet another gala to 'charity' with most of the profits disappearing in tax cuts and the sort.

"Finishing up my degree. Criminology. My parents were aghast, of course, but I didn't think our House needed another so-called Poli-Sci Major, wouldn't you agree?"

Coruscant was where Orson had first come to terms with a simple truth.

He was little like his parents or the rest of his extended family.

For one, not a brilliant business mind or a smooth political operator. Two, numbers made him fall asleep, so a life in engineering wasn't for him either. "Large spiders, huh?" A chuckle there. "Well, Coruscant got those in spades. The lower you go down the levels, the wilder life gets. Rumour has it that the lowest levels are home to mindless beasts, monsters and undead. I dunno how real that is, but the One Sith did rule from the Core-City for decades, so I wouldn't be surprised either."

"Corellian Blaze, please." Right after Juliana Alderdice's order came Orson's. It was some sort of fiery amber liquid that had been shaken far too quickly to follow what was being put in it.

Orson seemed confident in it anyway.

"The usual really." He leaned on the bar as he watched Juliana take a sip, only then taking one himself. She had changed over the years. Then again, they had only marginally known each other. A few classes taken together did not make an acquaintance really.

"Oh, though, you may have noticed the absence of House Thermor? They were wiped out half a year ago. Dreadful political scandal and then assassins took them out, while they were in the open." His head shook there, but something in his demeanor was... really nonchalant about it. Perhaps the practiced sociopathy of nobility.

Or something more.

After all, it was part of why her parents had send for her. It wasn't every day that a great House fell and so swiftly too.

"You don't miss home then, since you aim to return to the Order?"

 

[Juliana Alderdice]

"Criminology?" Juliana echoed dubiously. It didn't sound like something that their kind of people typically pursued at university -- if they went to university at all, which wasn't always a given. "I'm not quite aghast, but -- surprised, I guess?" She shrugged and absent-mindedly tugged at her bodice uncomfortably. Curse Patrice, curse her and her tiny bosom. Somewhat satisfied, she wrapped the shawl around her shoulders and folded her arms over her chest for a modicum of modesty. "But quite right. Political Science is perhaps one of the most oxymoronic things in the universe. The last thing anyone needs is another political science graduate's mouth to feed."

She giggled along with Orson and stood by, watching as the bartender prepared the Corellian Blaze in a flash. Her dark eyes tried to follow along, but the bartender was too quick. Alas. She made a note to look it up later and, with both of them having a cocktail in hand, reached out to touch the rims of the glasses to the other. "Chin-chin," she said pleasantly and took a drink of the Coruscanti 75.

"Not bad," was her appraisal. "A bit light on the simple syrup, but I suppose if you're a toff you've better things to spend your money on than sugar water."

They wandered away from the bar, him giving her the lowdown on the Thermors. "Oh," she said, rolling her eyes. "The only surprise there is how long they got away with it for, don't you think? They greased every palm from here to Atale, it was bound to happen that at one point they'd get tangled up in the wrong thing. It's not uncommon among people who have more money than sense, don't you think?"

She paused. "Oh dear, I hope I haven't offended. The Ketos aren't connected to the Thermors, as far as I'm aware, right?"

The conversation turned to her returning to the First Order and she hesitated briefly. She didn't want to seem like a brainwashed cult escapee, but she did want to express herself. She cleared her throat and said: "It's not that I don't miss home," she said gingerly. She missed her mother, her father a little less, her sister less still, and the location not at all. The endless parade of parties and balls and frivolity had been fun for a season or two in her early adulthood, but now she had a higher calling. With a sigh, she tucked a strand of deep red-brown hair behind her ear. "It's just that there I feel I have a real purpose, a calling, more than just -- well, this. I think you probably can identify with that, Mr. Criminology Degree."

Orson Keto​

 

[Orson Keto]

Juliana Alderdice

A chuckle there.

"Nah, no offense taken, they were objectively awful. It is people like them that give the rest of us such a bad name. I don't think our Family had business with them, no, but my folks barely tell me anything these days." He smiled and took another sip of his drink. Tasty. Nice and sour with some bite behind it. "They are far too afraid I will spend an hour lecturing them again on our responsibilities in the vein of Noblesse Oblige."

His eyes briefly trailed down as she shifted her dress and the shawl, before catching himself.

Hopefully Alderdice hadn't noticed, how boarish.

But it was difficult to maintain his composure, because by the Force was she a stunner. Hopefully she'd stick around for a few weeks at least. That would give Orson some time to wrap her in, maybe.

Orson listened quietly to her speaking about the Order. It was surprising to hear, most of their generation took little value with causes. Too busy spending their parents' cash and crashing speeders. But Keto identified keenly with the desire in her tone. To actually make a difference, do something right.

"Absolutely. There is more to life than endless dinner parties, boardroom shenanigans and high tee with royalty." He leaned chiefly against the wall while studying her. "Sounds like you found something excellent back there. I think most of us here can't find fault with the Order." A shrug there. "Both the first and the second incarnation of it. Nothing wrong with bringing some law and order into that collection of wild scummy villainy." Underlining that even though Orson aggressively disagreed with his parents in some ways.

In other ways... he was still a privileged human.

"Maybe... I will come visit someday and you can show me around? I hear Cloud City is quite wonderful this time a year." And there Orson flashed his grinning smile, hoping to draw out one of hers that got him so interested in the first place.

 

[Juliana Alderdice]

They were wandering aimlessly; Juliana wasn't sure if she was following Orson or if Orson was following her, but somehow they had managed to circle the dance floor and enter the conservatory, which was sparsely populated by people but densely populated by exotic flowers and plants. She sipped her drink as they progressed. "I don't know if it's excellent or not," said Juliana truthfully. "I don't feel patriotic, exactly, about it. Certainly not jingoistic. But I do feel that the First Order is, on balance, a force for good in the universe. They don't conquer so much as rescue and help. It's quite different from how it used to be, or so they say."

"I went out there on a relief mission," she said. "But I was quite impressed by the way things were going out there. The way people were pulling together an supporting one another. When they offered me homesteading rights, I thought -- why not?" She swirled the contents of her glass and took another sip. "I'd be really pleased to show you around, if I can get more leave," Juliana said. "I've heard Cloud City is nice, yes, although I've never been there. My home is on Dosuun, but I spend a lot of my time in the First Imperial Knights training and study facility. Or on missions."

Juliana was about to say more when she had an unpleasant surprise. Her mother, approaching with Viscount Eisen, one of the suitors that she had been trying to fling at her daughter for ages. Eisen was handsome and charming, but oily and duplicitous. All the debutantes from Juliana's season knew that he was a philanderer and cheated at cards. Anyone who married Viscount Eisen would not enjoy capital-S Society.

Or marriage, with an upper case or lower case M, for that matter.

"Ask me to dance," Juliana said. "Ask me to dance right now, please, Orson. Quick-quick-quick -- " but it was too late. Her mother had reached her.

"Juliana, there you are. You remember the Viscount Eisen, don't you? He was hoping to have a dance."

The First Imperial Knight made an uncomfortable smile. "I would love to," she said after a slight beat. "But Orson here just asked for a dance and I agreed. Right, Orson? You remember Orson Keto?" Juliana could almost see the wheels turning in her mother's mind before her eyes widened imperceptibly. Those Ketos was all but written on her eyelids. Juliana looked up at Orson. "We should probably... right?" She cocked her head towards the ballroom.

Orson Keto​

 

[Orson Keto]

Before Orson could say anything more?

He got relegated to background scenery.

In truth it was the way Keto liked it. He might carry the name, but the entire baggage coming with it? Not his idea of a good time. As such Orson had no issue taking a step back and letting Juliana Alderdice handle the conversation with her mother. Instead he curiously studied Eisen standing by her mother's side.

The fake smile plastered on that one's face was thin enough it could snap his face.

Definitely not attractive.

"Hm, wha- oh, yes." Slipping in his own smile as he inclined his head to the Lady Alderdice. "Your daughter is a delight, my Lady, I certainly hope you do not mind me stealing her away for a few more minutes. I promise I will bring her back safely."

Keto did not wait for a response. He detested it, but Ketos did not ask for permission. They simply assumed they had it already and more often than not? This was reality. A wink loaded with snark at Eisen followed, before he guided Juliana away from the smitten mother and spurned suitor. "You do realize she won't ever stop haranguing you about me now, right?" Keto quietly murdered in the woman's ear as they strode onto the dance floor.

"Or was that your plan all along, ma'am? Damsel in distress just to get me on the dance floor?"

A clear tease as he smiled towards her, before offering his hand to her.

"May I have this dance then?"

 

[Juliana Alderdice]

Juliana's mother looked unconvinced, but there was nothing she could do. The younger Alderdice felt that she would pay for it later, but it was worth it to avoid an encounter with the odious Viscount Eisen. Thankfully, Orson was able to pick up a hint like nobody's business, and she was rescued. With an apologetic look at her mother, Juliana allowed herself to be swept away from the pair on Orson's arm.

"My mother doesn't need you to harangue me," said Juliana as they darted away. "She harangues me at every available opportunity. When am I going to come home? When am I going to be married? To whom am I going to be married? When will I have children? When will I give up this silly adventure of mine and do something sensible for once? You know -- that kind of thing. Mothers. Can't live with them, can't bloody shoot them, can you?"

They emerged onto the dance floor and Juliana took up a position, her hand on his shoulder, the other reaching for his hand. "As much as I'd like to say I had a devious plan to snare you, the truth is I'd have taken anyone in that moment. Eisen may be a Viscount but he's also a cad and a cheat and something of a slut. Mother only sees the title, but all the girls I came out with know him for what he is. Not bad looking, of course, but a weak chin."

The waltz struck up and Juliana allowed Orson to lead. "Still, you are a hero for rescuing me. Incidentally, what do you know about Eisen? I always wonder how much information travels in our circles -- I know gossip makes the rounds quickly, but I don't know about facts."

Orson Keto​

 

[Orson Keto]

Juliana Alderdice

"Hm, no, you cannot." Orson responded with just a hint of thoughtfulness.

Sometimes he wished he could.

For different reasons than Juliana, of course. As far as Orson knew the Alderdice family wasn't directly involved with his family's crime. The Keto tendrils ran deep into Teta's bowels, but it hadn't corrupted everything yet. There was time. Still time. All that Orson had to do was forget that he loved his family, only keep the evil in mind and... shoot.

How hard could it be?

They turned in the dance and Orson caught a glimpse of his mother talking with some foreign dignitary. She was laughing. You could almost believe she was the charitable matriarch that spend billions of credits to good causes.

A chuckle there. "And here I felt special for a moment." Orson responded with a light chuckle. "But I blame that on my upbringing. You don't get raised in the Keto Family without just a sliver of misplaced pride, do you?"

Orson grew silent after Juliana's inquiry however.

"Facts can be a dangerous thing, Lady Alderdice." Murmured finally while his thoughts went across what he knew about Eisen. "One thing I have heard- heard, note, not know- is that Viscount Eisen has been boasting about the vacations he has been taking to the Tingel Arm." What sort of vacations does one take to a wartorn territory that is seeing a fight between the Sith Empire and about four different fronts at the same time? This was something that Orson had been curious about.

"Apparently... there is a planet in the Tingel Arm, formerly used by the Sith, where hunting humans is legal." That part murmured in a whisper in her ear. "Apparently Viscount Eisen enjoys hunting very much, if you catch my drift."

Maybe Keto should have instead said something about his jaywalking.

But- if Juliana's mom was serious about pushing to tie THAT knot? Well, the lady on his arm deserved to know what she could be getting herself into.

 

[Juliana Alderdice]

"You don't make it out of any of the families in our set without some kind of complex," Juliana agreed. "Pride is but one of the many and varied sins that these people engage in." She smiled up at her acquaintance and said, "Just because I would have taken a waiter doesn't mean you aren't special, Keto. In fact since you jumped on the grenade and rescued me, that makes you very special."

She listened to Keto, her dark eyes casting over his shoulder as they turned this way and that. Her mother was still chatting with Eisen, and she had to wonder whether what Orson had just told her would change her mother's outlook on the Viscount. She had to wonder because her mother was a status-obsessed shrew and cared more about the optics of making a good match for her daughters than making an actual good match. Not that Juliana was particularly interested in being matched; she would leave that for Patrice.

Well -- anyone but Eisen. If her mother tried to marry Patrice off to Eisen she would have to step in. She didn't know what she would do in that case. Maybe kill him, but probably not. First Imperial Knight and all; killing people was generally frowned upon. "You're joking," she gasped at Orson, craning her neck to look up at him, momentarily losing focus so that she was out of step. She accidentally trod on Orson's toes before she quickly regained her place. "Sorry -- sorry! My word, you're serious. You know -- I'm not surprised, now that I think about it. And please... my mother is Lady Alderdice. Please call me Juliana."

She glanced over his shoulder again at his mother, an eyebrow raised. "Who's that with your mum?" Juliana asked. "I don't mean to cast aspersions, but they look like they're up to something, don't they?" She chuckled.

Orson Keto​

 

[Orson Keto]

Juliana Alderdice

"Ah, well, see. I got a hero complex, ma'am. I just really can't help myself but try and rescue a damsel in distress." Keto teased lightly while leading her across the dance floor.

This felt... good, really.

More often than not Orson felt like a prizing animal on the stand. At least with Juliana it didn't feel that way. Maybe it was because she wasn't planning on sticking around. She had her own passion... out there in the Unknown Regions. So, whatever her mother might have wanted, Juliana wasn't eyeing him up for a match.

Made this far more breezy and less stressful.

He hissed softly under his breath when she stepped on his feet. Shifting slightly to take some of the pointiness off of it, heels were quite the fether in moments like these. Luckily it was nothing compared to a stab wound or a gunshot to the shoulder.

"S'okay, Lady Al- Juliana." A smile there, chuckling there. "I am sorry, some things are quite ingrained, aren't they?" Nodding there however. "Yeah, I am serious, that one is bad news... but then... it's quite in vogue right now to be 'Bad' on Teta." Maybe it was a call back reference to the old cultist roots all the major families of Teta had. It could be encouraging sentiments within the nobility that you needed to be a little bad, if you really wanted to get ahead in the game.

Disgusting, but... depressingly understandable all the same.

"Hm?" He refocused on his smiling mother and the man standing near her. "Ah. That... I am reasonably sure is an Imperial from the New Order. They are currently quite busy rooting out the Sith from the Tingel Arm. A Moff, if I am not mistaken, of one of their smaller industrial worlds."

A smaller industrial world that contained former Sith foundries pumping out millions of armament.

No wonder his mother was circling the Moff like a vulture.

"Anyway, how long are you staying? Maybe I can show you around some of the new places that opened up since you were last here."

 

[Juliana Alderdice]

Juliana raised an eyebrow at Orson's assessment. Good to be bad, huh? "You'd think, with evil bastards blowing up planets hither and thither, people wouldn't be quite so interested in trying to emulate them." She looked away, the closed her eyes. As if Orson would be able to see the reflection of Csilla's destruction in her gaze, as she had witnessed it, firsthand in the heat of battle. It was something no one should have ever had to see. Juliana knew she had gotten off light, but survivor's guilt had its barb in her and so far was not willing to let go.

She had been tasked with boarding the superweapon and disabling it. Her mission had failed and she and Brec had barely escaped with their lives. It was hardly any consolation that Juliana wasn't alone in her failure. The might of most of the galaxy's superpowers had arrayed against the sick cultists who had annihilated Csilla and it had not been enough. That there was blood on all their hands didn't change the fact that her hands were bloody.

Orson kept speaking; Juliana opened her eyes and forced a smile. "Oh... a few weeks," she said in response. "No set date of departure. I'm... I'm on a leave of absence of sorts, so... provided my mother doesn't try to get me engaged, I believe I'm at liberty to stay as long as I wish." She twirled around the dance floor with Orson, gazing past him at the sea of expensive suits and gowns doing the same behind him. "I'd like that. It's been a long time since I played the tourist. When works for you?"

Orson Keto​

 

[Orson Keto]

Juliana Alderdice

"Amen... ma'am." Bemused at the almost pun as they moved on the dance floor.

She seemed bothered with it in a different way however. Expression softened there. Word had it that the First Order had been among the nations trying to stop the Brotherhood over Csilla. Had Juliana been part of that effort? It seemed... too personal to pry. Maybe he'd ask later about it, but right now it seemed insensitive.

Clearly it was still fresh for the moment.

"Well, you are free to tell her I am courting you." Orson teased gently as they spun once more. "Maybe that will get her off your back for long enough to enjoy Teta a little bit."

A bright smile at her acceptance of his earlier offer however.

"Excellent! Well, we could meet up tomorrow evening, unless you think you will still be sore of tonight's dancing practices?" Another tease as the music came to a halt as did the dance. He lightly guided her away from the dance floor... opposite direction of their mothers. That was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now.

Instead it was the direction of the open balcony.

"I could show you the new High Street they build last year?"

 

[Juliana Alderdice]

Juliana regarded Orson curiously. "No sane man would put himself on the hook like that," she said in response to his offer to tell her mother that Orson was courting her. "I don't think you quite understand what you'd be signing yourself up for. She would have your mother for tea, and then a grand dinner. Everything to try to convince your parents that an Alderdice girl is worth the effort. If you think this is excessive -- well."

The First Imperial Knight joined the applause when the music and dance ended and automatically looped her arm through Orson's as he led her off the dance floor, towards the balcony. She took another flute of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter and revived herself with a sip of the crisp bubbly as they strolled out onto the balcony. The cool evening air was revitalizing.

"New High Street?" Juliana asked, her eyebrows rising together in a show of piqued interest. "I hadn't heard of that. Sign me up. What do I need to wear?"

Orson Keto​

 

[Orson Keto]

A chuckle there.

"Oh, dear, yes let's avoid that, shall we?" Bemused there as they walked. The idea of going through that whole hubdub... yeah, no. Not even as a favor to a lady he was definitely starting to like. But Orson enjoyed the relative freedom he was getting from being the sole heir to his family. They put pressure on him, yes, but they knew they couldn't push too hard.

He already packed up and left for Coruscant for a few years.

After returning from his stint at the university, he had made it clear that if they didn't give him some leeway that few years might turn into more and further away at that.

"Oh, yeah, cripsy new and all the trend right now." Orson murmured as his eyes glanced up and down her current dress. Definitely liked what he saw there. "Well, what you are wearing right now might be a bit too formal. Do you have some jeans and a jacket in your elaborate wardrobe?" The tease accompanied with a wink as he took a sip from his own glass and looked on over the skyline once more.

It truly was beautiful.

"It will be easier if people don't immediately flag us as high nobility, you know." He explained after a brief moment of pause. "I can pick you up, say around five? Or do you prefer to meet up somewhere?"

Juliana Alderdice

 

[Juliana Alderdice]

"Let's meet there," said Juliana as she leaned over the railing, enjoying the cool stone of the balustrade on her skin, still warm from dancing. "I think it would be cruel to let my mother read into things. I think she'd start ordering stationary samples if you came to the house." She rolled her eyes and took another sip of the champagne and was relieved that the dress code for tomorrow was less formal. If nothing else, it was less likely that she'd be falling out of whatever she wore tomorrow, because she could wear something that actually fit.

What a novel concept.

They had settled the details when her mother and Eisen appeared in the doorway. Juliana was cornered, like a rat, and had no excuses not to go. She smiled apologetically to Keto, then murmured a very formal-sounding, "until next time,' before going back to the dance floor, where Eisen spun her and rattled her like dice in a cup.

---

​

The following evening, she appeared at the appointed location -- a coffee shop -- and, as suggested, wore a pair of fashionable, jeans under a flowy white blouse. She wore a dark blue blazer to guard against the chill that was already starting to set in. She was a few minutes early, so she ordered herself a cup of coffee to go and a local newspaper. Thus equipped she sat at a quiet table for two, spread the newspaper out and examined it. The cover story was a string of missing persons cases. There were smaller headlines about a run on a local bank known for its high-profile, high-wealth clientele. The Billitsworth party was featured on the front page of the style section.

Despite herself, she allowed her eye to wander over to the worst dressed list, half-expecting herself to show up there thanks to her ill-fitting borrowed gown. Apparently the boost to her decolletage was enough to keep her off the naughty list. She wasn't on the best-dressed list either, but there was Orson Keto , right there at number ten. She chuckled and folded the paper so that she could show Orson when he arrived.

"Look at this," she said, holding out the paper to him, showing the picture of him in his outfit just next to the brief writeup on him. "Tenth best dressed out of a party of a thousand? Do I need to genuflect when I see you, now?" Juliana took a sip of her coffee. "Two men on the list and you managed to get beaten out by the Viscount Eisen. What a shame. Still, tenth -- not bad. I'm not even there."

 

[Orson Keto]

Juliana Alderdice

Orson fit in neatly.

Broken down denim with a few holes in the pants, a faded out band shirt and a leather jacket over it. Gone was the slick noble progeny and in came the stereotypical street ruffian with axes to grind. He had picked out Juliana rather easily, but instead of immediately going to join her... he settled in nearby and watched her for a moment.

There were things you could find out about a person, that they revealed, when they thought nobody was observing them.

He took the opportunity to light up a cigarette, tucked it between his lips and only then made his approach. "Hm?" About to say hi, Juliana cut him off and showed her the paper she had been reading.

A blink there as accepted and took a look.

Immediate groan as Keto realized what it was about. "Please, don't. That's way too high on the list as is." A shrug there. "Mother screens every official appearance I make however, so there wasn't much I could do about this one. Except the socks. I managed to flash them once or twice. Beautifully awful, different colors on each foot, too."

Smirking there as he ordered himself a coffee.

"Pretty sure those socks cost me about three places if not more." He puffed the smoke out and offered a cigarette to Juliana as well. "Unsure if you are allowed to smoke, of course." The smirk turning deeper in response.