Private Big heights in the city lights

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Denon
Objective: Enjoy birthday celebrations
Tags: Iris Arani
"Post theme: Loaded - Primal Scream"

Today was a day full of surprises. He had woken up in a bad state and deadset on just training on his birthday, however, a particular Jedi had different plans. Iris had messaged him about heading to Denon to hang out and celebrate, something which he hadn't done in three years. He was hesitant to say yes at first, but after some persuasion, Silas finally agreed and traveled to Denon. The last time he came here was for something way different, so it was going to be a nice change coming for pleasure instead of smuggling drugs.

"The place hasn't changed at all has it?" he said with a slight frown as their shuttle touched down on the pad. Both of them walked down the ramp and stopped at the bottom, giving Silas a chance to look at Iris with a slight smile.

"So, what are we going to do? I heard the arcades down here are pretty good, want to go see if we can find one around here?"

 

[Iris Arani]

Spending time on Denon like Iris had showed the ins and outs of a lot of places. Where folks could be safe, if only temporarily. Where to avoid. How to blend into a crowd. Most importantly, where to just hang out when it was needed to relax.

So, yeah. When she learned Silas had a birthday with no plans, she practically dragged him along. "Arcade? Arcade sounds fine. I know a good one close by!" And like that she took Silas by the hand to drag him along, flashing a grin.

"Just keep your eye on your wallet, okay?"

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Denon
Objective: Enjoy birthday celebrations
Tags: Iris Arani

"Oh? then lead the way!" he said just before Iris took him by the hand and began pulling him through the streets towards the arcades. It had almost been three years since he last went into one, so he was going to make the most of it, especially with a friend by his side.

"Don't worry about that, I know how the people are around here" he said with a small frown, looking at Iris curiously "I learned in not the best circumstances, to say the least" he said, as they both moved around the crowd of people on the streets

"Have you been to an arcade before?" if not, you're in for a treat"

 

[Iris Arani]

Oh.

"You were a street rat too?"

It was a term she'd learned from Corin Trenor only recently. Technically she was one, growing up. Just less aware of the troubles it all brought. It showed there was a lot Iris didn't know about Silas and his upbringing though. She offered him a smile as they moved through the crowd.

"I've been by it a couple times. It's in a safer place at least, but nah, haven't gone in or even played games now that I think about it."

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Denon
Objective: Enjoy birthday celebrations
Tags: Iris Arani

"Not entirely, I was living a good life with my family up until... they died," he said with a shrug as he remembered the way he was treated when he was being used by the gangsters to smuggle drugs as well as other things "I guess for three years I'd consider myself a street rat, but only because I was forced into that life"

Silas wasn't really up for talking about his past right now, especially on his birthday. The changing of the subject was welcomed greatly by the boy as he smiled back to Silas "Well, now's a better time than never to give it a go. There are some cool dancing machines they had back on my home planet, I hope they have something similar here"

 

[Iris Arani]

The sorrowful colors told the story before Silas did. Iris glanced away, nodding her head. Right. His parents died. Three years on the street after that- She didn't want to imagine what that might be like. Well, she couldn't. With no memory of her parents, she simply couldn't. Changing the subject was probably the best thing she did. Iris nodded once, giving a smile as she lead them into the arcade proper.

"I don't see why they wouldn't! Lets go try and find it, yeah?"

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

"By all means"

Silas and Iris walked for a few more minutes longer until they came across a huge arcade with large neon lights stating the name flashing at the front. It appeared there were already a lot of people in there, but many machines were still left unplayed "There it is, I never thought I'd be able to go into one ever again..." he said with a slight frown, before making his way inside and releasing a smile from the atmosphere.

His eyes seemed to sparkle as they rested on a machine before them, a dancing machine he had once seen on his home planet "Look! there's one there!" he said in an excited tone. Throughout his years he must have played all of the music selection on there, nothing was left untouched.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris was in somewhat of a world of her own. Half paying attention to Silas, half watching the colors around them. Inside the building, she could actually see more of the colors of the people here. Arcades were full of a lot of people just having fun. On a place like Denon, it was just too rare to see. She followed after him though, grinning some in surprise once he pointed off towards one of the machines he'd mentioned before.

Then she reached out to take his hand and drag him towards it.

"Alright, great! C'mon! Show me how this game works."

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Silas seemed to chuckle as iRIS pulled him along to the machine excitedly. She seemed to be more excited than he was, but he was happy his friend was enjoying herself and letting loose on all the fun they could do. Gently, he pulled away his hand and stepped onto the virtual dancefloor with Iris "Because you haven't done this before, we can do an easy one first if you want"

The machine itself was quite large in size, with a large hologram screen at the front and a dance floor for the participants to do the actions on. When the game started, there would be figures showing them the movements as the song went on. They'd have to follow at the same and whoever did theirs better would gain points for the end to be calculated.

"Okay... let's see" he muttered. sliding in credit and beginning to pick out a song. After a few moments, he came across a song and dance moves that would be easy enough for Iris. "Saturday Night" by Grego And The Lazer Brains was his challange of choice, a slow yet groovy song that was good to vibe to.

"You ready? hope you got your dancing shoes on"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Dancing.

Iris hummed softly as she glanced between the screens, just.. Unsure on what exactly she should do. Dance. That's what he said, but- She started to dance. Hopped up on the machine to casually start moving and grooving. She was, as expected, terrible. Not because she was a bad dancer though, she just kept going with her own flow instead of the machine's before she realized it.

She laughed. Smiled. It was fun at least.

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Silas shot Iris a smile and looked to the screen when the countdown started. Due to him being an experienced player, he already knew most of the moves before they even came up. When he was younger arcades were for treats, only if he had done well for an important activity was he able to play such a thing. His mother mainly joined him, who also was a pro on the dancing machines.

From the look on his face, Iris would tell he was enjoying himself. Silas missed having this kind of fun, and he was thankful to Iris for going out of her way to do such a thing. Compared to the moves Iris did, the boy looked to be a natural at dancing as a whole.

"Stars... I missed that" he chuckled with a smile "You did great for a first timer, a bit stiff but impressive nonetheless" Silas lightly nudged her on the arm "What did you think of it?"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"I'd rather just dance how I feel, instead of trying to match what the game says for points. But.. There's something to that. Learning rhythms like this." Kind of reminded her of her drills with Makashi. Actually, this might help with that. Better footwork. She nodded once, in approval to where her mind was going. "We should play again." Training mode activated. She grinned, already putting some coins in as quick as she could.

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

"There is, that's why I knew you'd like it. Each song has its own moves, something which you'd need to remember in order to get a higher score. Not only is it a bit of fun exercise but it will help with your coordination too" he smiled back at her as she hurried to put more credits into the machine. He was expecting her to like it, but not this much by any means.

"Why don't you pick a song this time, maybe there's a song that is one of your favorites on there"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"My own song, huh?"

Did she even have a favorite song? She'd listened to music a lot in the past years, but nothing really stood out to her as a favorite. For a moment Iris just stood in front of the screen, her purple eyes scanning through the list. Once, twice. Then a sigh.

"What if I don't have a favorite?"

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

"What if I don't have a favorite?"

"Then pick one that gives you the most interest. You'll be able to preview the songs before you pick them, so by all means have a look" he smiled and took a step back away from the machine to let Iris have some more room. He was sure they'd be something she'd like on there, after all the machine had some of the most popular songs in the galaxy on its system.

"I'll be curious to see what you pick..."

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris nodded a little before looking to the machine. And sort of started to scan through the songs. She really wasn't sure what her own tastes were, though. Music hadn't been something to her growing up. The world of colors wasn't just blinding. Eventually she settled on something, that being the second most popular song in the list. The first would be too obvious that she didn't actually know what to pick.

"Uh, this one."

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Silas watched eagerly as she looked through all the different songs, only to select the second most popular song on the machine. This one was slightly longer than the last but slower and easier to keep up with in a way. Smiling, he nodded a few times at her choice.

"Interesting choice, a classic! you ready to begin?" he asked as he hovered his finger over the play button. Upon indication, his finger would begin the countdown and their song of choice would begin to play.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Uh- Sure!"

Was she ready? No, not at all. Was she going to give her all anyway? Absolutely. Once play hit, she was quick to get right into the dance itself. Hyper focusing at that on how it worked. The first dance? A trial run as she learned how it went. This time? Makashi footwork at it's finest as she matched the arrows one after another in an almost zen mode. This time, she aced it.

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

"Let's see what you've got this time!"

Stepping beside her, the song and the dance moves began to play out on the screen. Almost in perfect unison and technique, both of them began to set the makeshift dance floor on fire. Silas seemed to have the moves already memorized deep in his mind, while Iris impressively focused greatly on the moves that came up. There was no way about it, she was a natural!

By the end, the scores flashed up on the screen. Silas smirked from ear to ear when he saw that both had achieved a perfect score. He turned to his fellow padawan and held up a hand to high five her

"Where in galaxy's name did that come from Iris?! you were amazing!"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris was just all grins at this point. Tired, clearly, but grinning. She at least figured it out. And now, now she was having a blast just dancing. She returned the high five rather quickly, following it with a thumbs up shortly after.

"Look at us! It's like all those lessons came in handy after all, huh?"

Silas Westgard