Behind the Mask

[Delaney Wilder]

Breath low, hard, drawing in and out, but eventually she detached and Walk smiled against her, brow touching against hers.

"Mmmm, you too, dawhlin." The soft southern drawl of Tatooine brushing against the tune of his words, before planting a single playful peck on the cheek. Then the man was drawn away by the press of bodies as they swept further into the confines of the palace, music playing faintly in the distance and the cheer already tugging at their expressions. It was more pleasant than it had any right to be, but that did not make most of it any less fake.

The smiles, the kind words, most of it was a game.

The grand game, grandest of them all, one that [member="Delilah Keyes"] was a master of. One that he was getting to know more, now that he knew her better.

Eventually his slow stride found itself near the bar, where Walk leaned in and ordered himself a drink.

Nothing too fancy, neat scotch aged to perfection, because the Organas would not present anything other than quality to their noble guests.

"Might as well make use of it," Before flashing a toothy smile at one of the ladies sitting a few seats away from him. A giggle, then the polite aversion of eyes, followed suit by the angry look of the man next to her. Oh, dear. Furious whispered enfolded between the pair of them.

Walk immediately looked away.

Off to a brilliant start- if he got himself into an honor duel within the first five minutes... feth, Del would dig him up and kill him again.

 

[Delilah Keyes]

About an hour in, Delilah finally admitted to herself that, her contact?

Wasn't going to show.

She had circled the agreed upon space, small talk and smiles, politely declining a dance when possible, and accepting when it was not (never a second, no, there she would demure). Working her way slowly through a single glass of champagne, more prop than drink, mostly to keep offers of getting her something at bay without having to offend.

A glimpse, occasionally, of [member="Walker Ducarte"] as he found himself ways to enjoy the time. Sometimes their eyes met from across the room for a moment, and sometimes they didn't- he kept his distance as she requested, and while she appreciated that for the sake of the delicate game she was playing, there was also a small part of her that wished they were just here the two of them. In moments like this, the reminder of the ax hanging over both of their heads, of the existence of people who wanted them dead, was a heavy weight. Stolen moments or hours where it was just them, without Sonny or Freddo as spectres between, well.

Those had come to be some of her favorite times.

She made one last turn around the room, glancing toward the entrance before mentally throwing up her hands and saying kark it.

It shouldn't have surprised her- her contact was someone who liked his privacy- *and* toying with people. But it irritated certainly. And if Del was good at one thing in particular, it was making certain that no plans ever went completely to waste.

Dark eyes scanned the crowd, but she didn't find Walker there. It wasn't until she ended up in the room with the bar that she tracked him down again. She waited until his back was to her, fairly certain that he hadn't seen her come in, before sidling up to the bar on the other side. Leaning over the bar, she murmured something to one of the bartenders with a smile.

A minute later, a tumbler with two fingers full of the same whiskey he'd ordered at Rino's arrived in front of him.

"Compliments of the lady at the end of the bar."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Faith Organa"], [member="Iriaan Sakor"], [member="Nyree Justice"], [member="Viktor Alexander"],



Wandering further into the Grand Hall [member="Myles Davorak"] would probably pass by the figure Faith observed for a period of time across the ballroom. The being dressed like a Tusken Raider joined the various attendees who decided to engage in a bit of dancing. He took up a spot by the side of the Grand Hall's edge, with his paper mache gaderffii raised over his head he was doing what could only be described as "rhythmically bouncing his hips and torso up and down in a wavy motion while oscillating 45 degrees left, returning to neutral position, and oscillating 45 degrees right before concluding the sequence and repeating".

While doing so the disguised machine would mutter quietly in a rhythmic song that dictated his tempo and motion frequency,

"I like to move it- move it. I like to move it- move it."

Good thing about being a droid is that singing was rather easy, since he had a synthesizer build with his vocabulator, he could make anything he said sound like a modern pop song.


That's right, HK was a trend-setter.

 

[Delaney Wilder]

Ducarte had been eyeing the nobleman again.

Throughout the evening he had been having fun yes. A few dances here and there, a stolen kiss, but most of his attention was on casing the nobleman. Within the first minutes Walker already figured out the name: Desmond of House Cortess, a wealthy Baron that owned several estates across Alderaan.

Then his attention was drawn by the glass settled snugly next to him.

He looked up to the barkeep, then away towards the pointed direction and noticed the lady at the end. A smirk tugged up and he took a careful sip first, the bite stinging only slightly and making him want more. If not for the liquid than at the very least a different sort of sting of the moment.

Two moments later Walk settled himself neatly next to her, drink in hand.

"Any success?" Ducarte asked, before taking another sip and enjoying the taste. "A very good memory, miss Keyes, I am quite impressed."

His attention was still on Desmond and his attache though.

[member="Delilah Keyes"]

 

[Faith Organa]

[member="Iriaan Sakor"] [member="Viktor Alexander"] [member="Nyree Justice"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Myles Davorak"] [member="Delilah Keyes"] [member="Walker Ducarte"] [member="Alexander Sannes"] [member="Kiran Arlos"] [member="Krayzen Dratos"]
Faith stood in the middle of the room and for the first time in her life no one seemed to take notice. It gave her the greatest feeling to be un noticed in this crowd of costumes she was suddenly just like everyone else.

She slipped her dance card into her pocket she realized that she could go and have something decadent from a tray. Like an expert she moved through the crowd managing not to run into anyone, side stepping quickly keeping the wings and hem of her dress from causing the slightest infraction. She smiled and nodded to those that looked at her, "excuse me yes thank you"

She found herself finally in front of a table

It had many different things sweets, delicacies, and of course the traditional items. Seafood from the Alderaan oceans, vegetables and fruit grown in the valleys, breads, meats it was all here. She could feast with her eyes and imagine how everything tasted. When she was at these things she rarely found time to eat and if they did bring her a plate she nibbled at it to never to caught with her mouth full.

She took a small plate and put four things on it each more tantalizing to look at then the other. She was in heaven.

 

[Garith Darkhold]

Grand Ballrooms was never Garith’s venue of social gathering. Still the man valued family and cared about his. Still he struggled with what to do. To go down stairs would most likely put him into an uncomfortable situation. To not go down stairs would, well if he did not them he would not be socializing with his family. The might be understanding. For the moment he stayed up stairs. He was unsure if [member="Arianna Organa"] would be demanding of him to go down stairs or understanding if he stayed upstairs, either way he was close and his family knew he was there.

 

[Arianna Organa]

Arianna was not down stairs she was on the second level sitting in her rooms. She did not have an appreciation for the Balls that she once had. She was older now and sometimes these affairs were more tiresome than enjoyable.

The family knew she was here, the guards knew she was here, there was no where else to be. The holo novel she read was providing her enough entertainment for the moment.

She knew on the other side of the hall Garith Sr had come to spend time on Alderaan with the family.

[member="Garith Darkhold"]

 

[Delilah Keyes]

"Hmm? Oh, the whiskey? Well, I *do* make knowing my business Mister Ducartes," she said with a wink, sipping from her own glass of brandy. Not that she had paid specific attention to what he'd been poured that night, just that she paid attention to everything. Of course.

She'd chosen her own drink with the same in mind. Remembering the way that night tasted. Even if that moment itself had been interrupted by a rodian with a blaster, it had led to something unbelievably pleasant. Surprisingly comfortable without boring or chafing.

"And if you would believe it, I got stood up."

Over the rim of her glass, she sketched him a mock pout, but from the sparkle in her eyes it was clear she wasn't actually all that disappointed. Not that she's admit it aloud, but he'd know. Lowering the brandy to bar level, she swirled it lightly in the glass. Her words were casual, movements casual but she watched her glass instead of him.

"How about you? If you've found something to fill your time, I'll find something else to occupy me, but I thought...."

[member="Walker Ducarte"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Delilah Keyes"]

Brows raised lightly.

What kind of individual would leave someone like Delilah Keyes hanging? Eyes roamed briefly across the cut of the dress and the memory that added depth to it, before he shrugged as punctuation. "Looks to me like it's a loss for your contact, but a possible gain for myself."

A smirk played now, before he shook his head.

"I have found something to fill both of our times." A sip was taken from his glass, enjoying the sting, before his head gestured carefully at the Baron on the other side of the room. Currently Desmond was busy waving his hands around - obviously too much to drink - and making quite an arse out of himself.

His lady-friend was at his side, cheeks flushed and embarrassed. She didn't know how to stem the tide.

Walk leaned in, touching briefly as the whisper spoke. "Want to rob someone with me?" Playfully... but knowing him he wasn't joking at all.

 

[Kista Bralor]

Kista was rather too anxious down stairs. So for the moment she needed a breather from the party. She knew her great grandparents were up stairs.

Moments later…

Moments later Kista came into the room where here Great Grandmother [member="Arianna Organa"] was. Followed behind Kista was several servants carrying to platters of food and one carrying several bottle of champagne. “Hi”, Kista smiled and waved while all dressed up for the party. “I thought you and Grandpa Darkhold could use some refreshments from the party. Where is Granpa”, Kista noticed he was not in this room. She knew he was upstairs, somewhere. Her grandmother was here though. [member="Garith Darkhold"]

 

[Faith Organa]

Faith filled her plate and headed to the balcony, time alone an untold treasure. She was passing by some of the guests when she heard someone say something about stealing..."stealing" oh she frowned.

Faith paused picking up something that was oozing cheese and popped it in her mouth as she looked about. Where was Myles? She could see the Alderaan guards posted here and there in their dress uniforms. Rather than go off to the balcony she stood where she heard the words and tried to enjoy her food. She ate something else it was...spicy...warm...with an odd texture but she liked the taste.

She made a mental reminder about finding out what it was. She was still interested in the Tusken Raider, she had to laugh at it, it was a good costume.

[member="Walker Ducarte"] [member="Delilah Keyes"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Viktor Alexander"] [member="Alexander Sannes"]
[member="Krayzen Dratos"] [member="Kiran Arlos"] [member="Iriaan Sakor"]

 

[Delilah Keyes]

She smiled, leaning in when he did.

They could dance, they could drink, they could laugh and simply exist. But, let's be honest here.

"You know just what I like," she murmured against his cheek.

Her face next to his, those dark eyes cast over to the Baron and his companion. Her smile widened slightly.

"Faint outline in his right pocket. Key card. Think you can distract his lady friend?"

"Oh darlin', that's what I do."

"Mmm, good."

Pulling back, her face brushing against his, she found his lips for a deep but brief kiss. "For luck," ​she murmured before pulling back, that smirk playing over her features before finishing her brandy in one go.

Sliding off of the barstool, she and Walker separated. She lost track of him in the crowd, but she trusted him to do his part. The Baron was drunk enough and full of himself enough that for the moment at least it was clear he wasn't paying any attention to his companion. The problem was only that she was paying her full attention still to *him*.

[member="Walker Ducarte"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Delilah Keyes"]

Baroness Cortess was a pleasant person, mild-mannered, high cheekbones, kind to everyone with no reproach nor judgement. In a cut-throat environment of politics and high-stakes intrigue the Baroness was one of the few people who didn't have any clear enemies or opponents.

Everyone seemed to like her, enjoy her company and dignity.

It was for this reason that most people averted their eyes and did not laugh at the Baron, nor her attempts to calm him down with the drinks.

Seemed rather impolite and insensitive to make light of her plight.

"M'lady?" Walk stepped up just as the Baroness stepped away to get herself a drink. Through the mask the lady looked up, letting her attention drift away from the glass for a moment. She noticed the shoulders first, the suit second, the mask third. Underneath the iron a dazzling smile showed white teeth.

"I saw you watching earlier, m'Lord." The Baroness cooed softly, already touching the sleeve of his jacket. A gesture of push but also of closed proximity. "My husband was rather displeased by it."

That seemed to bring her back from the moment, trying to look over her shoulder to see what Desmond was up to now.

"I could not help myself, m'Lady, beauty must be admired, must it not?"

Soft giggle - which caused even the Baroness herself to widen her eyes at, she hadn't laughed in ages. Her attention was once again squarely on Walk.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Faith Organa"], [member="Walker Ducarte"], [member="Delilah Keyes"],

The Tusken Raider who picked Faith's interest so much was currently leading an impromptu conga line through the dance floor, as his programming told him that was the optimal way to enjoy a party. The string of dancers made a semi-circle around Walker and the married woman he was trying to seduce before shuffling off further into the party to pull in and consume more and more dancers, growing ever larger.

While leading the small parade HK was shaking his gaderffi stick in the air, held proudly above his head, just rattling it up and down.