It's not a party until...

[Gideon Argos]

Sure enough, there she was, fully awaiting a dressing down that would never come to pass. It was amusing, but he kept that from showing on his face. The smile of good humor shifted to one of endearment as she attempted to compose herself without actually, well, composing herself.

"You at least get an A for effort.", he replies genially.

There was the gentlest of reassuring squeezes on her shoulder for a moment before he adds, "You're staring." But the smile now took on a mischievous cast, as if he were purposefully pressing her buttons to get a rise out of her. With that, he let go of her shoulder and clasped his hands together in the small of his back.

He was clearly going to make it hard for her to be a proper lady.

 

[Quietus]

Smirking, Silencia allowed her hands to slip from the man's arms as she continued to walk, heels clicking in the distinct, forward, purposeful rhythm of her stride that never once missed a beat, "Yes, my son, I thought you'd never ask." She was going to raise the subject sooner or later, but truth be told Silencia rather liked catching up. She'd spent enough time keeping the silence in her life, and Moridin was an interesting man to boot.

"He's gone through two mentors, outlasted them - really he's quite ready to move on, but he needs guidance. Needs a purpose, one I cannot give him here. You strike me as a man with a great deal of purpose and I like the way you think."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Moridin chuckled as he began to walk after her again. He smiled at the mention of two previous mentors that had been...outlasted. He assumed the boy killed them, or Silencia did because they did something to displease her. Either way it made him laugh, the thought of going through Masters like cookies, in his days you took what you could get and nothing more.

In his day Moridin had taken on about a dozen apprentices. Only one had actually survived to become a Knight, coincidentally he had been her favorite, although he most definitely had not gone easy on her. Mentally he shrugged to himself, he wondered what ever came of her though. The Dreadlord thought for a few seconds, but then returned his attention back to Silencia and her words.

“Guidance...” The world rolled off of Moridins tongue and he smiled “You would put your son in such danger? I rule part of the Sith you now, I have a target on my back the size of a small moon. Not to mention the Mandalorians gunning for me, something about assaulting their leader.”

 

[Ereza]

She'd just loosed a breath with another blooming smile before her hands went straight to her face, "I'm sorry! Sorry! I don't mean to, you're just much more han-" she stopped, thankful that her hands were already there to cover the cheeks she felt growing warm again, "-not what I expected. I mean look at you," she gestured at him with both hands, eyes wide with shock at the words that were just spilling out of her mouth. He'd caught her so off-guard, mind the pun, that she just couldn't help it.

"You're-" she screwed up her mouth, trying not to so blatantly tell the man that he was devilishly good looking but he had to give her that smirk. That's not fair.

"Young!" she emphasized this point with spread fingers and rolling on her tip-toes, "and in such an honorable position," yes, she had momentum now, keep going! "and seem so wordly and experienced, I was really thinking you were going to be an old man," no, wait, Amore cringed and sucked those last words back, "not old, but, you know, older. Your voice is a little different through the mask and you're quite tall."

Quite tall? Amore, really?

Why is this so hard?

"I'm doing it again, aren't I?" the girl frowned.

 

[Gideon Argos]

The man chuckled faintly at how much she was rambling. He'd never seen a woman get so flustered around him before, ever, and it was endlessly amusing and yet oddly endearing in it's own way. Waving her apology off with his hand he tries his best to keep his laughter in check. "No, no. Don't apologize."

Fighting to keep the hilarity of the situation at the back of his mind he simply focused on being as professional as possible without being a robot. "Yes, most of the officers come from the lesser nobility, but it's those who show the most promise who actually get promoted beyond First Lieutenant."

Holding out both hands in an effort to calm her down, he smiles again, white caps of his teeth showing faintly past his lips. "You're not being very relaxed, no. But do, continue. I'm enjoying this."

And there was the smirk again.

 

[Ereza]

Eyes narrowing, the girl's expression flattened. At least someone was getting a good chuckle out of this. But it wasn't her, haa! How very chivalrous of him, poking fun of her. But really, she was horrible at this. He mine as well just put the mask back on because she couldn't even make words.

Amore opened her mouth, attempted to say something, then closed it again. Nope.

"That's," she chose a word that was usually easy to follow, only this time it was letting her down, "... ...Captain, you know, that's great. Really. You must just be wonderful," no, don't finish the sentence there because that sounds suspiciously like a come-on, "at those things." Shoot.

"This..." she grimaced, "this walk isn't working very well for me. And I'm thinking it's probably because we aren't walking. So," she lofted her brows and pointed over her shoulder, "I'm going to walk." And maybe find a nice big hole to throw myself in. Amore glanced around, nodded to herself, flashed him a sideways smile and turned to continue walking.

"There's night lillies in the garden, you should come smell them. Then you'll know what honey smells like and you won't have to wonder anymore."

 

[Gideon Argos]

He knew that he'd stopped acting like a proper nobleman for a bit there, but then again, she was hardly acting the proper Lady so he'd thought no harm no foul. Judging by her expression, he'd been wrong. "I didn't mean to offend. I just found the, err, embarrassment you displayed to be attractive."

Yeah, he just said that.

But, the smile was back as she started walking again, and his steady gait was once again audible behind her as they began their journey yet again. "Then, please, show me the lillies. I'm quite curious as to what this smell is." She wasn't the only one, however, who was more than a bit at a loss for what to do or say. This conversation was so outside the norm for everything Gideon had been prepared for, and it was, in it's own way, baffling.

 

[Ereza]

"I'm not offended," she said, and quickly enough her own smile was back, forced somewhat over her simmering anxiety. She didn't look at him, but mostly because he'd just paid her a very forward compliment and she wasn't sure how to react to that. Which was rather ridiculous considering it wasn't the first time a gentleman had been forward with her. She, the daughter of the wealthiest Aristocractic Councilwoman and heir to the Shamalain Homestead - if she had thought it had been bad before, Amore was in no way ready for how it would be now that she was of age and old enough to receive suitors. She'd not been allowed to date prior, but now it would be expected of her.

Oh Gods, Amore's stomach twisted tightly at this sudden realization, how awful. I can't even speak to a man in private...what am I going to do in public?

Flop around like a fish on deck, probably. There's a good laugh.

Now on this downward spiral of self destruction, it was perhaps good timing he remarked on the flowers. Yes, the flowers! We have a destination. She smiled again, glad for the change of subject, and nodded. Luckily it wasn't far to reach them. There were smaller stone and boulder gardens scattered all along the path, and soon enough they reached one with the aforementioned night lilies.

"Here they are," Amore stooped down by them and plucked a matured white bulb from the bunch, holding it up to the man to take for himself. "My mother doesn't allow flowers in the house. She's allergic to them. But I like them, so we planted gardens all around. Unfortunately there aren't many types flowers that bloom at night, so I rarely get to see them."

 

[Gideon Argos]

Eyeing their surroundings curiously, Gideon follows after her, noting that again her mind seemed to be racing but that at least his comment hadn't seemed to put her off too much. Yes, it was far more forward than he'd have liked, but he'd hoped to at least help her better understand him in offering that information up. He still wasn't sure if it had worked or not.

Still, the flowers brought a smile to her face, and he decided that perhaps this wasn't as bad as he might have feared. Something about the smile lightened his spirit just a bit. Sure enough, they were among the gardens a few moments later and she was plucking a white flower for him to take a whiff of.

Giving her a 'thank you' as he takes the offered flower and takes a curious sniff. The smell was... interesting. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was so different he couldn't peg it down as 'pleasant' just yet. Making a faint 'hrrrm', noise, he takes another sniff before lowering it to consider. "It's very... different."

 

[Quietus]

"If you're a Sith," the Lady began, "and you do not have enemies, then you are doing something wrong."

How many hundreds of years ago had it been since she'd sat at the head of a Sith Council? At the head of an entire Empire? Far too many and she wasn't going to think on it for very long. "Enemies are what I believe were the undoing of his previous mentors. It's rather difficult to find a reliable teacher these days. But you," she smiled at Moridin, a wry expression, "I have faith in you. And faith in his abilities and his tenacity for staying alive. Give him drive and he will overcome."

Meeting the end of the corridore, Silencia lead the man left and down a set of marble stairs to a large, open circular room with walls and ceilings of glass that met them with a full view of the night sky. Across the way from where they entered and beyond the farside glass doors sat a small shuttle, engines still hot. Upon crossing the room a figure entered at that opposite entrance: a young man in his early twenties. He was tall, dark haired and wearing scruff from a long journey. His clothing was sullied, burned, blood-stained and torn in places, but despite his appearance he had the look of an accomplished man. In his arms he carried two boxes; one wrapped, the other a laquered wooden box.

"My son, Merovign," the woman greeted the boy with a broad smile and a kiss to his forehead, "you found it?"

"I did," replied the man, passing the wooden box to her with a sober smile and a nod, "who is this?"

"Lord Moridin," Silencia's smile grew at the box as she took it in hand, planting another kiss on the boy's cheek, "an old friend of mine." She stood back to allow the men their peace.

Merovign looked to the stranger with a sigh. He was tired and sore and hungry, but the man before him was clearly important or he would not have garnered the respect of his mother to be introduced so personally. It only took a moment to learn why - Moridin practically exuded the Darkside. Merovign immediately summed up what was very likely going on. "My Lord," he offered with a respectful nod.

 

[Ereza]

"They're rather pungent so close," she admitted, her lips twisted into an odd nob of a smirk, "I much prefer the scent in the air. Sort of like the Ladies at the party. Too close and their perfume is overwhelming, but sometimes you catch the lingering scent and it's just right." This all probably sounded rather silly and she supposed it was. Amore thought a lot about silly things like flowers and pretty sunsets and frogs sitting on lily pads. And then she spent all afternoon painting these silly things. Funny how rarely anyone cared to talk about them but were so willing to spend hundreds of credits on a mural to put on the wall of their living space. It never made sense to her why they did it. She liked her paintings because it allowed her to experience the things she liked at any time of the day. But the Kuati people weren't like her. They were not limited to the nighttime hours for such pleasantries.

"Do you live in the Drive Yard Colonies? I hear they pay 30 credits for a bushel of flowers in a vase up there."

 

[Gideon Argos]

"I'm afraid I'm not to familiar with smelling much in general - we're always to be prepared for battle, so the armor is on quite often.", he admits a bit bashfully. He'd not gotten a whiff of much at the party itself either, so it wasn't as though he could say much beyond that, although he felt that perhaps he'd failed her in some way by not knowing.

Raising a curious brow, he nods slowly. "Yes, I do live there. But I wouldn't know of flower prices as I've not...", he visibly seemed to be finding the right way to phrase this, "...had occasion to warrant their purchase." It was fairly ambiguous as to what that meant, but there were plenty of occasions as to where flowers could be deemed appropriate.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Moridin looked the young lad up and down. He was strongly built, and looked as though he was well versed in the art of the fight. Interesting, so Silencia hadn't been kidding when she said he had gone through two previous teachers. The Dreadlord was fairly interested in this. He would of course train the boy, it was part of a long standing agreement, although he also knew that whatever this boy grew into it would not be a mailable apprentice.

He was Silencias son, that alone meant his loyalties would never lay with him. Still, it would be interesting to see how he did in a real fight. Moridin looked at the boy and then nodded in a hello. He turned turned about and looked at Silencia.

“Then I suppose. We should get started sooner rather than later.” The Dreadlord said with a slight smirk on his face. Despite what he had said earlier he actually was quite busy. He had a third of an Empire to run, and along with that he was almost at all out war with the Mandalorians, or he would be soon.

That gave him an idea however and his smirk grew a bit larger and mischievous.

 

[Quietus]

"As you say," Silencia nodded, casting a side glance to her son who gave her a somber look in return. She knew what the boy was thinking without even needing to delve into the internal machinations of his mind. While this manor was indeed his home and his mission had proven successful, the real reason he'd returned this evening was to see his sister on this very important day. He'd made the extra effort, lost the extra blood to make it happen ... and what he'd worked so hard for had just been so easily and quickly swept away. The Mistress looked upon her progeny knowingly, fingers laced securely around the box in her hands before lifting her left hand and holding it out towards him.

Merovign sighed again, glancing to the wrapped present in his grasp and gave it to her with a weary nod. There was no telling what Moridin had in mind, but he suspected it likely wasn't an evening of fine wine-ing and dining. With each passing moment it seemed less likely he would see his sister at all. He tried not to imagine the dour look of disappointment on the young girl's face upon hearing whatever excuse his mother conjured up. It didn't seem right for him to request such a thing from this man who clearly had better and more important things to tend to, whatever they may be.

"I must be going," now with both items in hand, Silencia stepped back with a dark smile on her lips, "so good to see you again, Moridin." Having already given her son a mental farewell, the Lady turned and strode off and out of sight.

 

[Ereza]

"I see..." Amore replied, slowly rising back to a stand and thinking on where to go with that information. Didn't he have flowers in his homestead? It was really almost impossible to tell if he were married simply by looking at his hands - they were gloved and hid any trace of a ring. Then again, she assumed he arrived alone as he'd not been in the company of any others the entire time. So...perhaps he didn't have a significant other to buy flowers for. What about family? Friends? Or how about just the simple pleasure of having them around? A riot of colors in a dreary gray world. Amore had visited the Drive Yard Colonies many times and she couldn't say she envied the people who lived there.

"Well, 30 credits is simply outrageous and to that I say, should you ever wish to have flowers, you may pick them from these gardens free of charge." Those last words were stated with punctuality and perhaps a bit of pride. The gardens were well tended and there was quite a variety, though this time of night was not the best time to see this.

 

[Gideon Argos]

Again, she seemed quite pensive, as if unsure of how to take what he said. He wasn't sure how he'd meant it to be conveyed, if he were honest, but things would happen as they would. Twirling the flower in his finger, smiling faintly he looks out across the bulbs swaying gently in the night time breeze that was picking up. "It would be a bit of a trip to come down here just to pick some flowers... but I could perhaps be enticed to if the company were right."

Eyes drifting across the gardens, they settle briefly on her. "Let us keep walking, I'm sure soon it will be time for the first dance of the eve."

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Ashmedai drifted casually through the crowds of people as they all engaged in whatever conversation suited their fancy. Casually, the Sith Lord reached out for a glass of champagne from a tray carried by a passing waiter. Idly, he sipped the cool beverage as his silver-green gaze continued to scan the crowds around him. Eventually, his eyes landed on a figure that he recognized, once again, only from an executive description of Kuat Drive Yards. It appeared the Director of Operations was in attendance at the party.

As Lady Lorelei had disappeared to some other area of the estate, Ashmedai elected to engage the woman that, in all honesty, probably had more of a capacity to...assist him. Draining the contents of his glass, he cut a long circuitous route through the crowds to the nearest table to despoite the empty crystal.

As Avadreia approached the area where the gifts were being deposited, the Sith Lord silently approached from her rear-right. Stopping a few feet from the woman, Ashmedai cast his gaze over the assembled gifts with an amused expression. "What do you give a child that has been afforded everything since birth at every celebration of said event." It wasn't really a question - more a statement he was pondering out loud. Slowly, he shifted his gaze to the woman and smiled pleasantly. "Evening, Ms. Lacroix." The Sith Lord did not extend his hand or otherwise offer any other form of friendly gesture. In fact...even Ashmedai's smile somehow seemed...hollow, empty.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Moridin nodded to Silencia as she walked away from the two men, an interesting woman she was. He would have to remember to be around her more now that he was free of his stasis. The Dreadlord studied her for a few more seconds and then he finally turned to the other man who he now supposed was his new Apprentice, or at least one he was going to teach. The Dreadlord mused on this for a few seconds and then spoke.

“Tell me.” Moridin said quietly as he keyed something into his comm-link, he was calling for a ship to get them out of here, He was fairly sick of parties. He needed to get back into the fight. “Have you ever fought a Mandalorian?”

The Dreadlord said with a smile as he thought about his next move. The Mandalorians would be coming him very soon, he had already planted the seed of dissent, or at least allowed one of the previous Mandalores to go back to his people with a new bit of knowledge. The Dreadlord thought for a few seconds more as he always did. Then he walked passed Dissero, expecting the man to follow.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Verie, perhaps sensing that there was going to be a boring conversation, murmured an excuse and hobbled away towards the gardens before her mother could stop her. Avadreia turned her head towards the voice and inclined her head to return the greeting. "I guess it depends on the gift-giver," she replied as she leaned over and placed her gift on the table, atop a stack of gifts. "I have chosen to give something that I doubt she has much experience with before: freedom, after a fashion."

But, since freedom was hard to put in a box, it was really a catalogue of Kuat Drive Yards' latest pleasure crafts and a felt-tipped pen, with a note inviting the birthday girl to select one of the models which Avadreia would have built and delivered to her. With her mother's permission, of course.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Mister...?"

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Ashmedai's smile seemed to broaden ever so slightly at Avadreia's comment about her gift. "Perhaps you are correct. Freedom..." For a brief moment, the Sith considered what it would have been like to grow up without the Force. His family had been inexplicapably poor, and he was quite certain it would have taken him...an extensive amount of time to leave the surface of Corstris. He likely would have already been married with at least four or five children as was typical on his world. Further more he would have continued to be uneducated and generally unaware of the greater galaxy. Yet...life would have been much simpler. Would he have required the freedom of a ship to escape it all? Probably not, he could merely journey off into the woods for an extended period of time and be done with it.

Suddenly realized that Avadreia was patiently waiting on him to respond with his name, Ashmedai forced himself out of his fantasy world. That life had been lost to him several decades ago, and while it had certain appeals, he was quite sure that the idea of living such a pathetic life no longer interested him. "Centurion. You may call me Cameron, however." Casually, the Sith Lord extended his right hand, the veins running along its surface and the healed scars within his rough palm clearly indicating he was not always a business executive. In fact - much of the Sith Lord's appearance, posture, and movements contrasted with the rather expensive tailored suit he had adorned for the evening.

Then again...precious few in the galaxy were so perceptive. Particular among privileged crowds such as those arrayed before him this evening.