OOM: Everybody's dancing and the band's top volume

[acertainpov]

CODE BY

It should have been a simple intel gathering exercise. Slip unannounced into the shipping traffic surrounding Scipio, use stolen codes to land, get to the dropbox, get the datachip, leave.

The first problem is that it isn't Obi-Wan's contact, it's Depa Billaba's contact, and she arranged the meeting. But Depa Billaba then went into battle against General Grievous, andd is now in a coma, so Obi-Wan has been dispatched instead. He has the negotiating skills, he could make the connection.

The second problem is that the dropbox doesn't contain the datachip, but an invitation to a ball, and a flimsi that says I'll meet you there.

And the third problem is the name on the invitation is Jynna Lora.

"You're good at undercover work," Cody says to Obi-Wan, "but I don't think you could pass as a 'Jynna Lora.'"

"I suspect you're right there."

"So do we turn around, signal for a female Jedi?"

Obi-Wan considers this, and shakes his head. "No, I think I shall go to the ball. Wait there, Cody."

And on that, he heads through the door to Milliways.

Comments

[acertainpov]

"Oh most definitely," Obi-Wan says. "Eye-catching, easy to move in - for dancing."

Look, every ball he ever goes to devolves into fighting. He's sure that's just a coincidence but it helps to be prepared.

"And it helps me pick something that will coordinate without taking the attention away from you."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Ah, Jynna Lora likes the spotlight, does she?" Rae chuckles, seeking to know more of the character she needs to be.

(You play your part. From the feet up, baby.)

"But I imagine she's used to receiving such attention, expects it, being from a prestigious family and all."

[acertainpov]

"She does if you do," he replies. "I trust Depa's contact wouldn't have left her an invitation in the name of someone who actually existed, else she would face questions about it."

And the fact that Rae looks nothing like Depa Billaba would affect that. "But it's a ball for the wealthy and influential among the banking clans. I'd expect any one whose name is on the invitation to prefer attention be lavished on then rather than their masked 'Plus One.'

"Although I rather think you'll shine brightly no matter what I'm wearing."

[sunbaked_baker]

"I'll manage," Rae chuckles slightly. "One doesn't make it in the small restaurant business without learning to manage people."

The only way Rae Seddon would attend a ball as herself would be as one of the caterers, but perhaps balls for the wealthy and influential would be normal occurrences for Raven Blaise.

So she'll go as Raven Blaise - or as she imagines Raven Blaise would - under the name Jynna Lora.

[acertainpov]

"Wonderful."

He dismounts from his barstool, just as bar provides a package of clothes for himself, and takes her hand to kiss it, with all the grace and deference of a knight greeting his lady.

"Shall I meet you down here, then?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Yes." Rae accepts the kiss to her hand with only a faint moment of unease that is quickly dismissed, not enough to dim her smile. Her own package of clothing appears in short order (with matching shoes which look somehow both appropriately fancy and comfortable to wear, thank goodness for magic). "I'm sure I'll think of any number of questions to ask in the meantime, so we have our story straight."

[acertainpov]

He'll keep at it despite her unease as long as it's only faint, only enough to prove that his hands are as soiled as hers and that she still shines bright as twin suns.

Bowing to her again, he disappears and returns to the bar a short while later, in a short tunic and pants in muted gold with a red and black sash draped from one shoulder, and a cape hanging from one shoulder, outwardly a bronze colour, but lined in a satin to match Rae's suit, hanging past his wide belt long enough to disguise the lightsaber strapped to the back.

His beard is on full display, but the top half of his face is completely hidden in a half mask that completely fails to hide the amused grin on his face.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine retreats upstairs to her room to change, and figure out who this Jynna Lora should be. She delights in the feel of the smooth, shining fabric, bright as citrus, and feels herself relax as the asymetrical scarf/cape (scarf-cape?) and the joyous tumult of beadwork across the shoulders and along the arms of the outfit do much to obscure her scars.

The shoes - a muted gold - are even comfortable.

There are a couple of issues to work through while getting dressed. For one, the amber-centered sun ring on the silk cord around her neck will not lay flat and hidden under the neckline formed by the scarf and beadwork. Though as a baker Rae habitually wears no jewelry on her hands, she sets aside the cord and fits the large ring upon the index finger of her right hand. It fits well enough and the amber goes well with the brightness of the outfit, even if the ring's weight is unfamiliar to her. The other issue is her knife, the little folding pocketknife that has lived in the pocket of whatever she's wearing for the past forever. She would be distracted by the lack of it if she were not to take it, and the bright, beaded outfit, as stellar as it is, doesn't have pockets. So, not for the first time, Rae finds herself tucking the little knife into her bra. Like the ring, its presence is a comfort.

That leaves the question of what to do with her hair. It is still somewhat short to manage anything elaborate, but a plain, unadorned 'do probably wouldn't do. Not for a ball of interplanetary wealthy elites. But Bar has come through again. In the parcel with the shoes is a small box containing a pair of understated earrings and matching hair comb crafted to look like a spray of jeweled berries in gold and black. She sweeps her hair back and up along one side, feeling her hair should match the asymmetry of her outfit, and finds she likes the look of the comb set there. The faceted black berries stand out against her red hair, and the gold of the comb and earrings matches the gold of her shoes.

She hardly recognizes herself when she is done, turning this way and that to get a good look in the mirror. She certainly doesn't look like Rae Seddon, coffeehouse baker. Maybe Raven Blaise would have worn something like this while representing the Blaise family at some event for all the ancient, influential magic handling families. Raven Blaise would know she belongs at balls and formal events, and not as a would-be caterer. She would meet other party-goers as equals. She would smile, and mingle comfortably. Raven Blaise and Jynna Lora would have a lot in common.


When Rae comes down the stairs into the bar rooms again, she hardly looks like herself. She stands a bit taller, and not just from the shoes, and her steps are unhurried and sure. The delight bubbling behind the self-assured smile, though, is all her.

[acertainpov]

As she descends to the bar floor, Obi-Wan is there to greet her, bowing deep and low with all the respect and dignity of a knight greeting his lady.

The mask continues to fail at hiding the delighted twinkle in his eye as he offers a hand: turned out, palm up, towards her, doing nothing near as crass as taking her hand, just making his own available to help her down the last few steps.

"My lady Lora," he says, his voice smooth and adoring, "I did not think it possible for you to look even more beautiful than I already knew you to be."

[sunbaked_baker]

There's no disguising those eyes and that smile, even with a mask.

"Flatterer," she replies with easy good humor and familiarity, smiling lightly at him as she sets her hand in his for the last few stairs.

Jynna Lora smiles easily, Rae has decided. She knows herself; she knows her place in the galaxy, and it is a good one. She is personable, charming, self-assured...

("When you carry a baking tray that is just a little too heavy for you, does it hurt? No. It is just a little pressure on the understood boundaries of yourself.")

She gestures at Obi-Wan's own outfit with her hand, the ring catching the light. "Though I could just as easily say the same about you, Sir Knight. You seem like a prince straight out of a story."

[acertainpov]

"And what a story," Obi-Wan says, "although somewhat untold, I'm afraid, as the invitation had no other name on it. What name would you give your knight, my lady? I was thinking Gido Karaay? Or Dash Cardon?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Oh, a knight so dashing simply must be Dash Cardon," she replies, because of course he's Dash Cardon. "I'm so sorry Gido Karaay wasn't able to join us today, but duty calls."

[acertainpov]

"It does sound rather like a Rodian name, doesn't it?" Obi-Wan reflects, rubbing his freshly washed and trimmed beard thoughtfully. "Very well, Sir Dash it is, as your service and by your side, my lady."

[sunbaked_baker]

"My dear Sir Dash, you are entirely too kind to act like I could tell Rodian from Imarrin," she says, chuckling and not thinking about the sheer amount of bluffing she may have to do, in a galaxy not her own.

"But then, I imagine we've come a long way for this event."

Far enough that a representative of the highly esteemed and prestigious Lora family wouldn't already be known among the wealthy elite.

[acertainpov]

Obi-Wan chuckles at the first sentence, but he has confidence in her.

(Confidence and a Jedi Mind Trick)

"Oh, yes. Scipio is in the Outer Rim, and you, my Lady, are representative of one of the ruling elite of Imarr, on the far side of the inner rim. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if you had more important things to worry about than politics, though of course you hate the corrupt Republic and are an avowed Separatist."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Of course," she says with just a touch of imperious distance to her smile, as though it were the most natural conclusion in the world, hardly needing to be said. "So it is only natural that they might not have heard much of Imarr or the Lora family, however prestigious. Our business is our own, not theirs."

She smiles, and it's Sunshine's smile again. "They can just wonder."

[acertainpov]

"Indeed, my lady."

Obi-Wan inclines his head to her quiet and differential. "Not that anyone will question too much, I think. They won't like to admit a lack of knowledge, after all."

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine chuckles, warmly. "I can't help but think the feeling is mutual, there."

Her capacity for invention is flash hot stark, but she will certainly play her part.

"Do we know much about our illustrious host?"

[acertainpov]

"The Jafan Typho," Obi-Wan says. "Human, native to Scipio, not affiliated with any big power, but he has many friends in the Banking Clan, so you can expect to see many Neimodians. Just a second,"

He extends a hand, palm up, and closes his eyes until a tiny yellow fish appears to swim through the air from one of the hiding places around the bar, until it flops damply in his hand. Then he hands it to Sunshine.

"For the language barrier," he says. "It works best if you put it in your ear."

[sunbaked_baker]

Externally, Sunshine just pauses, looking at the tiniest fish flopping lightly against her hand then shooting a glance at Obi-Wan to see if he's serious about this (which... he seems to be). Internally, there is a definite moment of full-body flailing at the idea.

"Shiva wept, Obi-Wan, you better know what you're doing," Rae mutters, glancing at the tiniest fish again and trying (and failing) not to imagine what this will feel like. "And little guy, you'd better be able to find your way back out again."

[acertainpov]

Obi-Wan just grins at her, cheerful, confident, and almost, almost like he knows exactly what he's doing.

"If it makes you have any more faith in me," he says, "I wouldn't harm a living being for the sake of a prank, no matter how funny it would be."

[sunbaked_baker]

"I believe you," she says, maintaining eye-contact as she lifts the fish towards her ear. "For the sake of all those cinnamon rolls you're hoping to taste ever again."

[acertainpov]

The fish obviously wants to live in her ear, as it wriggles towards it and slips into the ear hole easily, but Obi-Wan can't exactly say he's envious of Sunshine - it probably feels weird intil it gets comfortable enough to forget that it's there.

"It's not of my Galaxy," he explains, "but it feeds o the equivalent of the Force, I think. Translates spoken words into brainwaves. We'll only really know if it works whan you get out to the ship, I imagine."

That he would never gamble with cinnamon rolls is a given.

[sunbaked_baker]

With only a momentary grimace and expletive for the strange - and also blessedly momentary - sensation, the fish settles into Rae's ear as though it belonged there. She can't even feel it, which she supposes is a comfort.

"Will... it work in reverse, do you think? They'll be able to understand me in return?"

[acertainpov]

"I hope so," Obi-Wan says, with absoltuely no idea if it will or not. "If it doesn't, I can translate, at least. It won't harm your disguise to be a mysterious noblewoman who refuses to sully her tongue with Galactic Basic."