Private A New Point of View

[Kahlil Noble]

"A climbing challenge?" Kahlil grins. "I don't think I'd say no, even if it meant I lost." Anything to test himself at this point. Well, short of fighting someone to the death. Actually.. It'd be really nice to have a friendly competition with someone. The thought made him chuckle as he watched her put the garland on her head. Yep. Just a couple of Dressellians partaking in the festival.

The young man laughs a little before nodding. The sun was already turning the sky into a beautiful shade. He'd make his way after the crowd, turning his head to look to Palm-Imer again. Without too much thought he'd offer his arm, his smile as friendly as ever. "Shall we?"

 

[Palm-Imer]

A perfectly happy tone took over the calm voice of the geminaie, "Yeah, tallest mountains you'll ever see in your life. Would make any giant feel like an ant." It was abundantly clear that she enjoyed reminiscing her home-world. "Quite the opposite to Dressel, actually. I think this might be the first time in my life I've seen a plain field this large." Well, the prism grass sea could have passed for a praire, but trying to step on it was not bound to be a nice experience unless one enjoyed swimming or could walk on water.

She accepted the offered arm with a smile as they made their way after the moving crowd. "Can't wait to see what all this is about."

Laughter, chatter and overall pleasantness filled their surroundings as men, women, children and elders began joining the dense group. Soon enough, when they were already away from the city borders and the sun let its very last rays shower the landscape, they reached the fields. Tents, many colores lights and colorful decorations mostly designed after nature brought a the plains to life. As the people made their arrival, music started to invade the air and bonfires started to be lit.

Most were seen in groups, with their friends or family, bonding over conversation or surrendering to their eagerness and beginning to dance to the rhythm of the music even if no one else had yet joined in. Soon enough a booming voice over a loudspeaker caught the attention of all those present.

"Welcome everyone, and get ready to eat, drink and be merry for today we join each other once more to celebrate the Night of the Praires!" The public erupted into a cheer, and the joy of it all gained a delighted laugh from Palm.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Palm-Imer enjoyment was infectious. Kahlil couldn't help but laugh. "That'd be a nice change of pace, feeling small." In a less threatening way then he felt around his family. He kept pace with her as they walked, looking around curiously. Everything had started to get into the full swing. His gaze was drawn to the families, seeming more curious then anything. Thoughtful.

Was that how families should be?

The laugh from the woman beside him caught his attention again. There were so many things going on it was easy to loose track of it all. A thought made him grin before he'd start pulling her along towards one of the bonfires where dance and music had broken out. Perhaps one of the good things about being born a prince was learning how to dance.

The young man breaks away and takes a deep bow before he offers a hand.

 

[Palm-Imer]

She noticed once again how that ghost of deep reflection passed through the eyes of Kahlil as he looked at the families and groups. Her smile lessened only slightly, wondering what was about all this that seemed to seed such feeling or get that reaction from him. For a moment she seriously considered asking, her curiosity getting near the limit in which it took control of her. But that thought processed was suddenly stopped when the Jedi began guiding her somewhere in particular.

Soon she realized his intent, and as her amber eyes took in the scene of dancing people around a tall fire she shot him a shy look. Despite her self-consciousness, she laughed at his flourish and gladly accepted his hand. "I'm afraid you are going to regret this decision." She jested, determined to try to follow his lead as best she could. Ambassador Palm-Imer could dance. When she used her species' skills to switch behavior and she embodied the distant and blank personality and the perfectly-executed movements that she had been taught to use as a second skin, she didn't even need to think twice to move this way or the other.

But right now she was not the detached Ambassador, she was being herself and her own personality had a tendency to overthinking things she was not used to, such as dancing. "I pride myself in being capable of many things, but when it comes to dancing i'm not very talented."

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Oh, I doubt I'll regret this." He laughs warmly, giving a reassuring smile. The music was different from other worlds. Older instruments, the sort carved from wood, played up the rustic nature of the Dressellians. It was upbeat and fast, as was the dance itself. Kahlil glanced around, curiously watching how they moved. It was a thankfully easy dance to figure out, and he quickly got into step while helping to guide Palm-Imer to follow him. He was all smiles and laughs, looking at everything as they danced and twirled about the other dancers.

Partners started to switch, all part of the dance of course, and Kahlil flashed another encouraging smile before disengaging on cue with the other dancers. He swung through the crowd with ease, keeping up with the locals as he made his way around the bonfire.

 

[Palm-Imer]

Her partner's reaction did a lot to ease the nerves she was skillfully ignoring. Palm had learned to break away from her shyness with ease, but that did not mean its heavy and restraining feeling did not bubble within her from time to time. As Kahlil swiftly figured the right moves, she copied him. Or attempted to, her eyes moving swiftly from him, to her own feet, to the couples around them as she tried to work around the slight resistance her body opposed towards learning a new form of movement.

Eventually she started falling into it, her move less stiff and hindered as the joyful atmosphere washed away her overthinking and she got used to following his lead. Her smile suddenly faded and was replaced by a look of laughable dread when the music announced it was time to change partners. "Oh no." she muttered, but soon enough she found herself with arms linked to a happy young Dressellian. Her cheeks flushed as her difficulty to follow surfaced again given the slight change in style.

It was embarrassing in a funny way, and between laughs and timid apologies she was glad she was welcomed by very understanding dismissals of her concerns and even some partners who were determined to help her learn. This time around she didn't get any better at it, but the many reassurances at least allowed her to still enjoy thoroughly even in her lack of skill. Some minutes after, the round around the bonfire was complete and just as she locked hands once more with Kahlil, the music came to an end and everyone bowed to each other and cheered. Which she did too, clapping her hands afterwards like some were doing. "Okay, I survived that. That's good." She said, jesting and with a wide smile. Her honey-colored eyes met Kahlil's. "You are quite the dancer! That just natural skill or is there another reason?"

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Every now and again Kahlil would find himself glancing to Palm-Imer , just to make sure he didn't throw her into the deep end with a sack of rocks. And every time he found himself laughing and turning back to his own partners. He wasn't the best at this dance, but he was enthusiastic and a quick learner. He'd lead anyone through their dance with a happy smile.

By the end he grins wide to his original companion. He takes a smaller bow as the others around do the same before joining in the clapping. He was all full of energy now as his grey eyes sparkled with joy. This was the most fun he's had in years since he first left the Sith. "It was more a family obligation at first, but some friends of mine showed me how fun it could actually be." He chuckles a bit before nodding with a teasing smirk.

"It's good you survived though. I'd hate to be responsible of your demise."

 

[Palm-Imer]

"Oh well, there are worse ways to go than dancing anyways. I'd have accepted my fate." Another jest, Palm was naturally good humored and she was particularly happy this night, so the witty remarks and amusing commentary rolled off of her with ease. The geminaie took a second to catch her breath and just when she was about to propose they keep on exploring and see what else this Night of the Praires had to offer, a jolly Dressellian gallivanted their way as though he was still trying to dance to the rhythm of the music which was no longer there. At least not near, many other bonfires were still the center of dancing rounds.

The man had two flutes, apparently made of some sturdy wood or maybe a polished horn of an animal, filled to the brim with some beverage. With a smile and slurred words that were absolutely incomprehensible he just pushed a flute into the hands of Palm and the other one was passed to Kahlil before the Dressellian gave him some pats on the shoulder and was on his way, waltzing over his own feet with no true direction. That was a very drunk man.

Palm took a small sniff at the thing, and her nose burned due the smell of alcohol. "Wow. This thing would make good engine fuel..." She said, looking at the Epicanthix curious to know his thoughts. Maybe it was unwise to drink it, maybe he was up to take the risk.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil lets out a happy chuckle and nods to her. It'd certainly be one way to go. He watches Palm-Imer with a wide smile. She'd gotten just as into it as he had. He was about to ask her something before the drunken man made his way over. He raises a brow curiously as he accepts one of the flutes, glancing to the boozy liquid. Local brewing at it's finest.

"It very well could, but the plan was to blend in, right?" He grins wide once more as he raises his flute for a cheers. Then he'd down it. The whole thing, chugged all at once. Man did it burn. He grimaced by the end, his body shivering in a near revulsion to the amount of booze he just consumed. "Ugh. Not much to taste! We'll see how much it'll hit." The young Jedi laughs a little, watching her curiously to see if she'd follow suit.

 

[Palm-Imer]

The geminaie's eyes widened at his either very brave or very unwise decision to down the whole thing. They didn't know where it had come from. Maybe it was not only booze. Who knew what effects it could have? Perhaps it was only apt for Dressellians to drink it...A waterfall of thoughts went through her mind that strongly advised against following in his steps. But having a well refined compass for wise decision making was different from actually following it.

"Well, here goes..." She was unsure and it did show in her voice, but there was also some determination to see this night through and one of it experiences apparently involved chugging down mysterious drinks. Gathering her courage, the flute was tilted upwards and she tried to down as much as she could of the drink. Either less experienced or more sensitive to the sharp burn, she gave up with only a bit of it left. It was still an honorable attempt. "Kark, that's so horrible." The expletive slipped out of her without much thought, she was clearly more occupied trying to will away the feeling that was currently attacking her throat.

"I just really hope we don't collapse somewhere in these fields."

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil was far more trusting of the locals. There's no way they'd poison folks at such a well loved event. Right? The young Jedi didn't think it'd happen at least. He'd grin wide as he watched Palm-Imer attempt to do the same as him. Even if she didn't finish the whole thing he cheered her on, clapping and laughing when she finally brought the flute down. He laughed louder as she swore, a much more playful smile taking over his features. "Yeah, it's pretty karking bad huh."

That might actually be a valid worry, given how much his cheeks started to burn. He clicked on his com, half laughing into it. "R6, I'm drinkin with a friend. If I don't make it back come pick me up." He looked back to the Geminaie. "You got a place to crash if it hits too hard?"

 

[Palm-Imer]

It didn't take very long until she began feeling the effect of the drink, whatever it was, start getting to her head. Light-headedness she could handle well, but she had the dire feeling it would evolve into so much more before the night ended. She hoped she was wrong, but it was empty hoping. She nodded approvingly when Kahlil contacted his droid with instructions. Unfortunately she couldn't, or at least didn't want to, comm-link her apprentice to tell her she was probably going to be as aware of her surroundings as a blind and deaf bantha by the end of the night and might need some help. No, she would avoid that unless it was absolutely necessary. She had to set the example after all.

"Yeah, I do. And if i can't crawl my way back to my ship I'll just find an inn to pass out at." She said, trying to mean it as a joke but a bit concerned that it might a very real, possible outcome. Then some noise in the distance called her attention, and she turned her head to find the source of the sound. Some artists had began dancing and doing some seriously impressive acrobatic stunts and people gathered round to cheer them on and watch. Smiling again, she looked back at Kahlil asking him to follow and began walking towards the artist. There was no wobble in her step yet, but she could definitely feel some diziness begin to make its way into her head.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Yeah. This was either gonna be a very short or very long night. Kahlil closed his eyes for a moment, trying to steady himself. Probably woulda been smarter to pace down the drink. But how often did he get to do this? He frowned a little at the mention of crawling to an inn, squinting hard. "No no. I can have R6 pick you up too. No riskin you wakin up in a ditch or something." It wouldn't be right if he left her alone without making sure she was at least some place warm.

His attention turned to the artist, blinking. Well damn. They didn't hold back at these sort of festivals. The young man nodded quickly at her prompt, smiling happily as he walked with her. He wobbled a little at first, but seemed pretty stable on his feet. "This planets pretty awesome." He watches the show rather intently, a big ol' smile on his face. The Jedi seemed to be having quite a bit of fun.

 

[Palm-Imer]

"That sounds like a good idea, thank you." She said, feeling a bit safer now that at least there would be someone...or well, something looking for them if things got a bit out of hand. She was expecting them to, really. With every passing second she could feel the booze strengthen its effect on her. There would be so much regret in the morning, but now was not the time to concern herself with tomorrow's worries.

The honey colored eyes of the geminaie filled with wonder as she watched the artists go about. It was truly an impressive and beautiful thing, she had not seen such display of skill since the last - and only - time she had assisted to a circus performance at the Hystrion Opera. Their bodies jumped and twisted and turned. Soon the show reached its climax, and one of the artists did an impossibly complicated pirouette as an ending flourish. Claps erupted in the crowd. Palm, now with tainted cheeks and a clearly slightly inebriated disposition set her eyes of Kahlil and with a confidence she had no place having made quite a ridiculous claim. "I bet we can do that too." She said, gesturing to the now emptying area where the performers had been and referencing that last stunt.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Oh, they probably could. With their connection to the Force it'd be simple to jump around as the acrobats did. Kahlil was just as enthralled with the preformance. Were they force sensitive? Or did they have their own strength? If he was more sober he'd check, but by the end of the show the drink really hit him. Buzzed would be an understatement, though he certainly wasn't drunk. A happy spot in between that usually wouldn't make issues.

Unless of course he made dumb decisions.

Palm-Imer suggested what he was thinking. His silver eyes sparkled with unworthy confidence as he snatched her hand to guide them to what could probably be their doom. "Yeah! I bet we can!" He laughs as they stop where the last show had ended. Some folks were still around, some asking how much they drank. Or if they had a flute. Kahlil waved them off as he focused on the Geminaie.

"I'll toss you, you do cool flips, and I catch ya." Yeah, cause that wouldn't go wrong.

 

[Palm-Imer]

The geminaie looked around as people made questions, swearing she had only had one drink - which was the truth, even if it had been one hell of a drink - and ushering some folks in the direction that the Dressellian that had handed them the flutes had gone. It was a surprise that she even remembered where that had been, or maybe she didn't and was just sending people off in random directions thinking that she was indeed giving accurate and trustworthy guidance.

Then she heard Kahlil's proposal...and drunk Palm found no faults in his logic. At all. They could like, totally do the thing. Quite a few more forms of agreement rushed through her slightly confused mind. Palm had a very deep fear of getting hurt, since healing processes were just about the worse thing ever for a geminaie, but right then and there too much booze was flowing through her veins to bring her to care. "Okay, let's do this, yeah."

There was not much she could do to actually get ready for the stunt, at least not that she could think of in her current state. So she simply waited to become airborne and hope everything would go as gracefully and smoothly as she was currently picturing it in her mind. Yes, the hopes of a drunk person were such a pure and innocent thing. At least in her case.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Yeah, this was gonna be awesome! Kahlil crouched low, cupping his hands in a classic vault maneuver as he grins to her. Even crouching though he was still pretty tall. She'd probably go flying. No, she definitely would. This was about looking awesome! No small toss is gonna cover that. With a single nod to Palm-Imer he'd let her be the one to initiate the jump.

Once she approached he'd help her get airborne, not so subtly using the force to boost her further with a happy and excited laugh. "You got this!"

 

[Palm-Imer]

Arming herself with all that extra courage booze so graciously offered, she took some steps back so she could better assess the jump. Although of course, its not like she was in any position to have a clear and fault-proof observation of the events about to take place. It was all just a poorly sketched up plan in her mind with bits and bobs of how it would all turn out. None the wiser to the many mistakes in her logic and calculations, she went forward and next thing she knew she was going up into the air at a speed that was too fast to be comfortable with and much higher than she had originally intended.

In her current state, the woman had no perfect control of her mobility and if there was any nice-looking flip or trick in there, it was only the result of her flailing about as fear started to creep fast and deep into her chest. After what to her felt like ages, she began her descent and the fear became ice-cold panic as her eyes caught sight of the ground beneath her. Much like felines, the advanced development of her vestibular system allowed her to rearrange her body instinctively as she fell, adopting a crouched position that would allow her to land on her hands and feet and she hoped, with all her drunken might, that this crazy decision did not cause her an injury.

She closed her eyes as she was inches away from the ground, and when the impact came - although it was harsh and it certainly sent a rash of pain up her arms and legs - it didn't seem to have caused any damage she should be worried about. Relief flooded her with such strength that she did not even bother picking herself up immediately from the ground and instead rolled over on her side. Eventually she opened her eyes and looked at the Epicanthix, "We are never doing that again." There was a slight slur in her words.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

She went up high. Really high. It took a moment, right around when she reached the peak of the jump, that the realization of how terrible of an idea this was finally hit Kahlil. His eyes widened in horror as she started to flail around. Booze still obviously affected his mind, but adrenaline made him feel shockingly sober. There was no way he was just going to let her fall. Any normal person, Jedi or not, would get injured for sure!

Not that his drunk mind came up with the best idea. He could have caught her with the Force and lowered her safely. That'd of been the smart thing. Instead, he decided to catch her. As she closed her eyes he jumped forward, haphazardly catching her in his arms just a few inches above ground. Grant it, he didn't have much for balance. He'd hit the ground, hard, groaning a little. Kahlil opens his eyes to check on Palm-Imer after a moment. As she spoke up he laughed, setting his head back down in relief.

"No, we're not." The locals that had been watching rush around them, asking if they're okay and helping them to their feet. Telling them that was reckless and stupid. Kahlil nods as he stands, giving an embarrassed smile but not saying much. The group disperses eventually as Kahlil heads off to find a place to sit.

"You're okay though, right?" Kahlil looks her over as he gets them both some water.

 

[Palm-Imer]

Palm looked at Kahlil and thanked him for catching her, although her muddled mind didn't realize her words came out in the musical sound of Nexilis instead of Galactic Basic. Still, the sentiment behind her words could probably be understood and she didn't pay enough attention to realize she had spoken her mother-tongue as she came down from the adrenaline high that the fall had provoked.

Her honey-colored eyes wandered through the crowd on concerned and disapproving faces, her own expression reflected how sorry she was both for having attempted that and for having worried the locals. In other words, Palm looked like a kicked puppy. Her attention returned to Kahlil when he spoke. "Yeah I'm okay, just startled. My head is pounding too." But that was definitely because of the booze and not the fall.

When Kahlil went to get them water she remained in her place, and once he came back she greedily downed her water before thanking him. She prayed to every god she knew to take away the dizziness, and only then did she stand up. She was steady enough, it could have been worse. The scare had sobered her up a bit. "Are you alright? Thank you for catching me, but I must have hit you pretty hard." She said, trying to joke a bit but genuinely worried that she had hurt him during her fall.

Kahlil Noble