The Blue Feather

[Rory Naasade]

Rory took it slow on the drink. She enjoyed the flavor, the experience, but it was equally clear that she was not a heavy drinker out of habit at least. Life experience and small size combined to keep her a cautious drinker, on the rare occasion she did at all.

She nodded, taking him at face value. He was right- if he had offered it carte blanche she would have dismissed it as a serious offer. That wasn't what people did. Well, maybe someone did but it didn't mean anything. Big promises were suspect. In truth, any 'promise' was suspect, but this was a far more reasonable offer. Rory didn't trust anything where she couldn't see how someone else could clearly benefit as well. Altruism wasn't in her vocabulary.

Stretching out her legs beneath the table, she laughed.

"Mostly those, though the last I'm not sure is a hobby when you do it once- and blush," she leaned in a little, clearly and deliberately inspecting his face. "Going to have to keep a closer eye on that, cause apparently I missed it."

He was a flatterer and too smooth by half.

Fun to talk to. Nice to look at. The whole evening was turning out to be surprisingly pleasant.

"Mmm in case you couldn't tell, I like racing," she supplied. "Swoops mostly. Not just the mechanics of it, but the race itself. The speed, the tension, never knowing if that person in the lead is going to keep it or lose it and the WHY. All things with a bike being equal- which is rare- the pilot is the weakest link. Are they bold or timid? Do they take too many risks? I'll watch or race myself, though usually when I've been involved I'm in the pit."

That made it sound more official than it was. Street swoop races were where the majority of her experience were. Rival gangs, with way too much energy and credits compared to sense. Of course, she couldn't talk because she'd never hesitated to get involved herself.

"Your turn."

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

A smirk played there lightly.

This was exactly what he liked- when a back-and-forth coaxed out smirks, grins and laughter in equal terms. Not heavily forced on just the flirting, but instead circling around the idea of fun.

When she had fun, he had fun and everything worked perfectly.

"Swoops, eh? I have ran a few bets on those, even tried my hands on one." He scratched his jaw a bit. "Then I found out that having sweaty palms aren't really helpful when you are trying to guide a roaring machine through a very tight pass in a micro second." Vin paused there for a moment as he processed just how that might sound considering their earlier euphemisms.

A cough as he grinned at her.

"I suppose I like it more when I can take my time with it." Saved.

Very smooth save, if he said so himself.

"Mmm, indeed it is." A nod and Vinon considered it for a moment. What he enjoy doing besides carousing, enjoying himself? Music? Betting... hmm. "Alright, I will share something with you that nobody else knows. If you promise not to laugh though!" "Cross my heart," her finger tracing the lines with broad strokes. He followed that line with his eyes, before chuckling.

"Only with your consent, Rory."

A wink.

Then. "I draw in my spare time." Hand waved almost immediately after that. "Nothing fancy or worthy for an art show, but... I like it. Started with pen and paper. Then transitioned into paint. It isn't as.... hmm... precise as loading it up on a HoloNet console? Still something enjoyable. Put your mind on zero or focus entirely on it. Good for the soul, you know?"

 

[Rory Naasade]

The particular 'if you know what I mean' quality of smile widened as he played with the metaphor again. Both of them knew they were doing it to the point it was becoming a game, and she actually gave him a pair of small claps for the last part.

"Wasn't an invitation," she said with a laugh, but didn't get upset or flustered by his gaze either.

Despite that and their joking banter, she listened to his 'confession' seriously. Oh she didn't believe for a second he'd never told anyone. Man was a talker and a flirt. That part rang at least a little of a line, but it was a fairly minor thing as long as she took it with the grain of salt it merited.

"Can't say that I do, I've never really done anything too artsy. Never had the opportunity. But I believe you. What do you like to draw most?" She asked, taking another sip of the drink.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

Run in the circles Vinon did and you learned a thing or two.

Vin was open and easy in a lot of ways, but there were some things that... if not exactly secret were still things that he was guarded about. Things that he didn't go out of his way to talk about because it might complicate matters. The painting was a different story- that was just a thing he liked to do and didn't enjoy- hm.

Words.

It was a pure thing and the last thing that Vinon wanted was for it to be cheapened. Picked up like a fad by his hangers to impress him. Ew.

"Skylines, I enjoy the depth and angle shots." No euphemisms there. It was genuinely what he preferred most of all. "People are always interesting as well. Especially if you draw them when they aren't paying attention. They are more... genuine in that moment. The paint job fraying at the edge and revealing just something of the gears working underneath."

Looping that right back at her.

"Mm... do you dance?"

 

[Rory Naasade]

In Rory's old circles (could they be old when she could still feel them clinging to the back of her clothes?), information was currency. Everything she had told him, shared with him, was surface. Things that anyone interacting with her for the length of time it would take to bring in a score or get a job done could see. She didn't believe he told her anything actually private because that wasn't something people did.

His answer surprised her a little. If he'd made her guess, she would have teased him, but been entirely serious in her assumption of people, and probably without clothes. Skylines? Just like that moment of intensity earlier, that caught her attention more than any of his casual and oh-so-easy flirting did.

"Bet you can tell a lot about a place by the skyline," she said, glancing over at the windows here. While somewhere out there was Nar Shaddaa, the holo of the Coruscant skyline was part of the appeal of this place. She hadn't noticed it at first, but looking at it now she could see that the sun was slowly setting, the darkness falling from the top of the windows down. The holo moved slowly, like it naturally would, but it was not a fully static image as she had first assumed. Huh. People spent money on the weirdest things.

"Hmm?" She'd drifted a touch with that and then refocused at his question.

"Sometimes," she said with a laugh. Another thing she'd rarely had the opportunity for. "Been a while and I wasn't particularly good."

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

"Definitely." Vinon agreed with fervent nodding. "No place is the same, even if they seem the same. They call Metellos... The Coruscant That Wasn't, but they haven't ever seen the sun setting, causing its orbital ring to flare up for a brief moment. You don't see that on Coruscant!" Once more Vinon caught himself before he got too excited about it all.

He tried to be more cautious about it.

Yet, there was something about Rory that just drew it out of him. Maybe it was a desire to prove her wrong- prove there was more to it or maybe it was her smile. The eye twinkle when she got interested.

This was weird.

It wasn't often that he cared enough to actually get carried away. "Hmmm,-" The music shifted from something very energetic and beaty to something a bit slower. Jazzy again and Vin hummred at the tune of that. "Want to give the engine a whir and dance with me, Rory?" He didn't rise and offer his hand- that was pressure in even the smallest of things.

Either she wanted or didn't.

Rory would make that decision without his urging one way or another.

 

[Rory Naasade]

There was a slightly different quality to that smile as he dove into it. She could see the lines of passion on his face. That right there at least wasn't a line. Wasn't the perfect shine of fresh applied paint to attract attention. There was the real Vinon Demeaux under the glitz.

She saw it, but didn't encourage it. It was the more interesting part, but she also wasn't looking to gain any sort of real insight here. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. Careful under her own layer of paint.

The surface interactions were less interesting, but far safer.

"Never been," she said, but didn't add that the list of places she'd never been consisted of 99% of the galaxy. That would change, she promised herself.

She side eyed him a little bit when he asked that. Gaze casting up and down, very clearly considering.

"I don't think I've ever heard of dancing boots, but, why not. I'll do my best not to trample all over your feet," she said, grin returning from where it had faded for a moment.

They stood, and she looked up, clearly perplexed for a moment.

"You slouch," she accused, looking him up and down. "I thought you were shorter from how you were sitting."

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

"In my experience dancing is about comfort, Rory." He slowly rose up and stretched a bit. It was there that the full wardrobe of his attire was on display. Every little piece, little fabric, little edge was perfect. Not in neatness, but in the way it all fit together until it projected a feel. The only thing missing here was a cape. But somehow Vinon felt like that was a bit much.

At least for an interior attire.

"If the boots work, they work." Shrugging as he rounded the table and chuckled with a toothy grin. "Hey, you knew I was casual, what made you think I'd sit up straight and at attention?"

His hand reached out for her to put hers in it.

Together moving towards the dance floor next. It was busy now- busier than it had been before she arrived. It seemed that in the time they had passed together the people had quickly trickled in. They found a corner of the floor that wasn't packed, before Vin glanced down. The wheering of the servos was far more pronounced now that they were close to one another.

"Hm, we will take it as fast as you need, yeah?" Slowly pulled her in without presuming too much. One other thing she'd notice once the press was close.

He smelled nice.

 

[Rory Naasade]

Like a peacock. Not in a bad way, just in ways that Rory didn't particularly get. Sure it looked nice, but what was the point? She was still not that far out of a life where the next meal was a mystery- not just what but if at all. It wasn't even a conscious thing so much as a subconscious baffle and disconnect. It meant that while she certainly gave him that once over with appreciation, there was something in it missing from the people he would be more used to interacting with. There was none of the appraisal, checking that it was all 'correct' or putting him into a place on the scale where he belonged in comparison to anyone else. And it was over a moment later, as if, almost-

Rory didn't really care at all about the clothes he was wearing beyond the noticing itself.

It wasn't that she wasn't aware of the differences. They'd already covered that. No point in belaboring it.

But he'd put her enough at ease in that regard at least that she didn't think he was secretly keeping score on that one either. And if he was?

Well honestly then kark him.

"Boots are comfortable for work, can't say I know if they'll be good for dancing so I'll have to let you know," she said with a smirk, putting her hand in his.

She liked that, despite the unorthodox way the evening had started, that up until this point he hadn't tried to invade her personal space. There wasn't discomfort in that regard. While it had been technically part of a barter, other than her company, she hadn't felt like he thought she owed him anything more.

One of the reasons she'd said yes now, in truth.

She kept one of her hands in his, the other settling on his arm, as his moved into a light touch at her waist- not too familiar.

"I dunno," she said a little dubious, but there was humor in her voice. "This might be one of those rare occasions I'd rather take it slower."

It wasn't just the closeness that meant the soft whir whir of the servos was more noticeable. It was the unfamiliar movements, causing the systems to adjust slightly. Settled there, still space between them, she looked up. Oh, she noticed how nice he smelled. Rory? Clean was what he got, along with a faint hint of machinery that never full came out of her hair. His hands, she noted with a touch of amusement, were softer than hers. Burns, calluses, scars, all told a story.

They moved slowly, him leading, sticking to their corner of the dance floor. She was a little quieter now. Self conscious?

No.

Just concentrating.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

"Please do, I am always looking for something more comfortable to the feet." He murmured back as they slowly settled into a slow rhythm. In his arms Vin didn't need long to realize she hadn't been playing coy with him.

There was concentration on her expression and in the set of her elbows.

Every step being considered, trying to do her best to keep up to the measure of the beat and not doing a bad job of it either. "Rusty, sure, but... you got the swing." Vinon complimented softly as he moved them, helping her along as best as he could. This sort of dance was a thing of two after all. Some might have made it more difficult for her, trying to force some sort of speed or rhythm.

But Vin was easy.

He let her decide the rhythm and followed along with it without concern.

Once Rory seemed more comfortable he slowly tugged- not pulling but indicating that with permission he would like. From there the ball was in her corner. After all, she was busying herself with the beat already, no point in forcing things when she was trying to concentrate.

"Keep this up and you will impress me." A soft tease there.

 

[Rory Naasade]

"Jury's out on the boots. Little too heavy for dancing but they don't make my feet hurt so we'll call it a wash for now. Mmm, well, had a.... friend.... who liked to dance. For a while we did a lot. But that was a long time ago."

She didn't elaborate further. Already a little closer to something that mattered than she liked.

Her grin shifted to something of a smirk as his hand got just a touch heavier on her waist, and she looked up, arching an eyebrow at him. Then took a half step in. Not pressing up against him, but just touching. As far as he was getting for now.

"Oh, but Mister Demeaux," she said innocently, batting her eyes at him as they turned. "Didn't you know? I'm not trying to impress you."

Her smile widened out of the coy play it had been for a moment.

"You might find that I rarely bother," she added, shrugging slightly and dropping out of that game.

This was true. Being friendly and going out of your way to make sure people generally liked you or at least found you likable was very different than trying to impress them. In a way, it was the exact opposite. With the later, you wanted people to pay attention and notice you. With the former? It was the easiest way to escape negative attention that might come from the later. Oh sure, it absolutely back fired on occasion. But drawing attention in the form of trying to impress was more dangerous than Rory was ever interested in.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

He inclined his head a bit, but didn't pry.

The line of her mouth said enough on that note- not something she wanted to talk about and perhaps it had been more than she already wanted to share. Maybe it was a bad ending or maybe there were still feelings there.

Either way?

Not his business.

Oh, but the coy smirk was his business as she countered smoothly and made him laugh just a bit. The press against her waist remained on that level as she stepped closer, touching but not pressing. It was enough- for now. "Mmm, that is... impressive then." Batting a reply back and leaning in just a bit. Enough to fill her vision without piercing every inch of her personal space.

Enough to offer.

"I like your smile." He said, repeating the same compliment that he had began this evening with. It sounded more genuine now. Less of a line and more of a truth. "I will try and be more amusing to coax it out more."

 

[Rory Naasade]

She laughed when he teased her right back with the 'that's impressive' remark, eyes closing and head tilting back a bit as she did. When her chin tipped back down and eyes opened again, she drew in a slight breath as she looked up at him. There was an intensity there, or perhaps it was just more noticeable closer, in the way he was watching her.

"Bet you say that.... or something like it.... to a lot of people," she fenced back, but her smile widened.

"As it happens, I like to smile. And laugh. So that helps if your aim is that I enjoy your company," she teased him back now.

"Galaxy's hard enough without a frown plastered all over it," she continued, tone light and easy. "Might as well smile when you can, right?"

With how often she smiled she must be a very happy person then, yes?

That was the point of it anyway. Let them think that.

Oh, it wasn't that Rory was unhappy. She did genuinely find pleasure in so many things. But there was a certain mask here, a certain game. Not meant to be played the same way he played his. But as with all things about Rory Naasade, this one came back down to a matter of safety. Happy, smiling, safety.

She didn't step in this time, but she didn't back up either. It was difficult to read if she had missed the invitation or was ignoring it.

"You happen to have a nice smile yourself, Vin."

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

He didn't push further.

Either it was missed or ignored- the latter? Would be worse to push in spite of it. Instead Vinon let that touch be their line for now, where they moved against one another and found the perfect rhythm. Where her leg could keep up and the beat of the song flowed smoothly around them. In those moments Vin almost imagined he could hear her heartbeat against him.

Melding with his.

Everything perfect as it just clicked together and the room became heat.

"Glad you noticed," The smirk playing before he chuckled. "As for what I say- right now, in this moment, it is all for you and no one else matters." Vin murmured to her, but again... he didn't pull her closer.

Even if he wanted to.

Those words rang true though. He wasn't the one to wonder about what would come next- all in the moment, always, that was what mattered. Not tomorrow, not in a week or a month. Now. Specifically with those he was with. "Seeing as our smiles are so nice, maybe... we should compare them more closely." Glance down before meeting her eyes again.

No smirk, but smile bright.

"Only if I have earned a kiss yet, of course."

 

[Rory Naasade]

While the exoskeleton more than made up for the weakness in her knee, that didn't mean it was the same as not having any problem there at all. The exoskeleton functioning in the way she had always wanted it to, but had never been able to accomplish with scrounged tools and materials was still a very new thing. It didn't undo a lifetime of care, of favoring, of subtle muscle memory that screamed of the unreliability of that leg when this close to someone.

Rory chuckled, smiling, but shaking her head ever so slightly.

"Oh, I believe you," she murmured, her own voice dropping into that same familiar, conspiratorial range as his. "I just also think that your now, your in this moment, and your nobody else but you travels from moment to moment and person to person. In that moment, with that person, you mean it. Until the next moment and person comes along."

It could have been spoken as a negative. In this case it was merely a statement of observation, without weight on it's worth put upon it. She wasn't judging him for it. But she was seeing through it, clear as day.

Her smile widened as his eyes flickered down, and she knew what he was thinking about before he said. He was, in some ways at least (not all, not nearly), transparent.

"Ah yes, but if I kiss you tonight you'll never know if I did because I wanted to or because you haggled for a date and that's just what I consider par for the course," she said with a teasing laugh. "You'll always wonder if it was because you really were that charming or if I simply thought I owed you."

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

He didn't argue against her.

Because it was true to one degree or the other.

Didn't defend himself either.

Because neither of them thought it was a *bad* thing and that was enough. She got a wink from him though that said more than words would. Acceptance that she got him there, expression that it was earned and he wouldn't try and reprove it.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, Rory." Vin replied relaxed and with amusement. She *was* fun and that only told him that he had made the right choice.

Kiss or not.

"You wouldn't kiss me for some imagined debt." Clearly Vin didn't think she owed him anything. Even the dance had to be earned in his mind.

Much less a *kiss*.

"Or for my charm, no," there Vin leaned in. Oh, he wouldn't *press* that either. But the tips of their noses almost touched there, breath mixing together for a moment. The fruit of the twisted soft and accentuating his smell. "You'd kiss me simply because you were curious how it would feel."

In that moment Vin offered himself.

Open, available and without pretenses.

But he didn't take what wasn't his to claim.

 

[Rory Naasade]

"Mmm not wrong," she said with a knowing grin of her own.

And he wasn't. Just as him a moment ago, she wasn't going to argue with him on that one, since it was true. If he'd made it seem like she owed him anything more than she was willing to give at any point she would have- cheerful and smiling- poured that frou-frou drink all over his head.

She tipped her head up a fraction, tip of her nose brushing just against his. Her eyes flicked down to his lips then back up, an open mouthed smile growing broader.

"On any count."

She didn't move right away, let it sit there, the tension build for a moment- all he had to do was lean in a fraction more, but he didn't. He'd come in, offered, and then waited. That was where she made the decision.

Where she pushed up on her toes and kissed him.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

The tension was electric between them.

Stretching out, until the music and the other people were forgotten. Mesmerized in their own little world between the two of them, the brush of her nose against his, his brush against hers without moving in deeper. Letting her finish the distance of a breath between them. Until the tension broke and their lips touched. He closed his eyes and met her in that kiss, his arm wrapping just an inch tighter and pressing her closer against him.

Only once she met him halfway did Vin melt against her.

The kiss stretched on, longer, felt like minutes where in reality it was more like seconds. Then they broke, but Vinon didn't let go of her. Their lips brushing as they breathed, hard.

"Mm, I think I need another feel, just to be sure." Eyes met hers, nuzzling her nose with his. "How about you, Rory?"

 

[Rory Naasade]

Eyes still closed, she chuckled, her lips just beneath his.

"See, I got everything there I needed to know. But if you're a little slower on the uptake, arrangements can be made."

She kissed him again, full and longer this time, pressed against him. It had been awhile, if she was being honest. Felt good, he felt good. Though at the moment, that was exactly as far as it went for her.

When they parted the second time, she opened her eyes then, shifting and taking a half step back.

"Song ended," she pointed out with amusement, looking up at him. A new piece was picking up, honestly way more energetic than she was prepared for. And she had no intention of making out with him on the corner of the dance floor.

"Your friends are looking restless," she added, eyes flicking meaningfully to the side. While Vin's attention might have been solely on her, Rory's attention was by nature something that wandered, at least in part. And when people like Vio were glowering at her back, it was hard to ignore.

"Maybe it's time I gave you back to them."

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

"Mm, well, we already established I take my time with things."

They kissed more.

It was good.

But once the separation happened Vin wasn't unhappy about it- oh, he would have been willing to push it forward, but it wasn't something he had expected for tonight. A date was a date, it was not immediately an invitation to get into the business as far as he was concerned. "Do they?" Vin glanced over and noticed them standing at the corner of the bar. Glowering and talking amidst themselves. He sighed, deeply, before shaking his head and smiling at her.

"Oh, I did not realize I was a commodity that could be passed through hands, miss Naasade."

The brilliant smile showed the tease for what it was.

He stepped in again, his hand softly touching her elbow for a moment. "I had a good time tonight, Rory." A glance over at his friends again. "-why don't you give me your number and I promise I won't call you for at least half a week, so you can come down from my high?"

A smirk there.