Junction Sun & Starlight: Evening Gala

[Iandre Athlea]

A laugh escaped Iandre before she could stop it.

"Well, I am certainly relieved to hear my toes are safe."

The amusement lingered as they continued through the dance, the orchestra carrying them effortlessly from one step to the next.

"And no, please don't."

Her smile softened slightly.

"I don't think I get enough chances to have an actual conversation these days. Most people either want something from me, want me to solve something, or spend the entire time trying not to say the wrong thing."

She shook her head lightly.

"Besides, I don't even know what your hobbies are, Judah. So I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions."

A thoughtful look crossed her features.

"For all I know, you spend your free time composing music, painting landscapes, or dominating some highly competitive gardening circuit."

The corner of her mouth twitched.

"Though I admit those all seem significantly less likely than whatever the real answer is."

Judah Dashiell

 

[Sylor]

Starlight Terrace
Vaux Gred
​

These were events he didn't arrive often, not in the cirlce that he stayed in. Yet when it was time to shed the armor and put forth a more gracious display, it was something he could do with relative ease. He moved across the floor with a purpose, taking small nods and measured glances at those who offered them. Not looking for anyone in particular as he arrived at the bar, standing with a slight lean, the bartender arrived in his view and field.

"What can I get you."

"Something strong, cold." Sylor spoke with a quiet precision, no hesitation just ease.

"Done."

He drummed his fingers along the bar for a moment while he half turned, looking towards the open. Watching, for all intents and purprose, enjoying the evening.

 

[Riffraff Ranat]

Tag: Open!
Objective: Have fun and behave (absolutely no sticky fingers tonight no matter how tempting)

Gilaria
Maravaila​

It wasn't all work and no play as one of the greatest freelancers in the galaxy, though recently it really had been a lot of work. With all the time she'd been putting into ops for the Covenant, Riffraff felt she deserved a break.

Turns out it was her lucky week. With all those ill gotten gains from her work on Coruscant and after some successes elsewhere, the ranat was ready to dress snazzy and rub elbows with high society.

She'd never been accused of cutting a fine figure, and truthfully the Jawa sized slicer was way outside her element in dressing up. But in a fit of bored curiosity, she'd had a suit tailored for herself a while back and finally had occasion to wear it. Riffraff was late to the event at large but just in time for the gala.

Orchestral music swelled and skilled singers filled the air with glorious music. Just as the opener was meeting its crescendo, the ranat strolled into the ballroom dressed decidedly dapper. With a toothy grin, she swirled her cane, tail swishing as she took in the sights. Ah to see how the upper echelon lived, and my my what fine snacks she already spied on offer. Not to mention the drinks which would certainly help her forget the various constantly complaints of her genetically modified and scientifically altered form.

Riffraff made a B-line to check out the food on offer.

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber​

“Well, at the time a simple ask for a dance was something of a dagger that drew closer to me than battles or duties. It was something more…personal, I guess you could call it.”

He stepped with her with the timing of the music, maintaining rhythm and closeness while deftly avoiding stepping on her. He was rusty the first time they had danced together, and he did not quite understand the measurements of her body at the time. Now he knew her. He knew where she would step and how to maneuver.

“That is reassuring.”

A small laugh escaped him as they moved with the music that danced around them.

“Then there was the sleigh ride. The first time you and I actually talked with one another, not simply out of acquaintance, but as genuine conversation.”

His thumb gently grazed her knuckles.

“That was probably the scariest part for me. Alone in the middle of practically nowhere and with a stranger nonetheless.”

A small chuckle left him.

“I’m pretty sure my parents warned me of doing such things.”

When he thought about the first encounter, it had hit him. How much everything had changed and the foundation they had started building. His eyes met hers with a small revelation. Not only did the friendship turn into something deeper between them, but even through the various hardships the bond only strengthened, instead of weakening.

He looked back on the harder times as much as the easier, not staying in the moment to suffer, but to acknowledge everything that had built them up. The tough times were just as important as the easier ones.

“I had been working on something in secrecy for you ever since our last dance. Back then it just happened by accident, but I refined it a bit more. If you would like to see it.”

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Vaux Gred]

Sylor

Vaux got up to the bar, looking at the bartender and speaking up, having heard when the man already up there had asked. "And I'll take whatever's the strongest thing you have is." She quickly said, looking over at guy again before taking a breath and speaking up.

"So I'll guess either you're use to all this, or need something to get through it." She remarked, trying to sound casual. Still, she wasn't use to any of this, and clearly the hard edges wouldn't just go away. She adjusted the jacket she was wearing, hoping to get it a little more comfortable. She would look out at the rest of the gala for a moment, just taking a breath. Until the drink came, and she slammed it down without even thinking about it. Yes, it was a gala, but that wouldn't exactly change her overnight. Right?

 

[Seren Gwyn]

The music carried them effortlessly across the dance floor, the orchestra's melody weaving around them while lantern light reflected across polished marble. Seren found herself smiling more than she normally would, perhaps because the evening felt so far removed from the lives they usually led. No battles. No politics. No impossible decisions waiting around the corner. Just music, conversation, and the familiar comfort of his presence.

A quiet laugh escaped her at his confession.

"You make it sound as though I lured you into some terrible trap."

The amusement lingered warmly in her voice as she looked up at him.

"Though I suppose there is something charming about discovering that a man willing to face Sithspawn without hesitation found a conversation more intimidating than a battlefield."

Her smile softened as he spoke about the sleigh ride. She remembered it clearly now. The cold. The isolation. The unexpected ease with which the conversation had unfolded once they had actually begun speaking to one another. At the time, she had not thought much of it beyond enjoying his company. Looking back, she could see the foundations forming long before either of them recognized them for what they were. "I remember thinking it was surprisingly easy to talk to you," she admitted. "Which was not unfortunate, because it made me want to continue doing it."

Then his final words completely caught her attention.

The teasing expression faded into curiosity as her amber eyes searched his face. Whatever it was, he had been working on it for a long time. Long enough that the secret had apparently begun after that first dance. The realization alone warmed her heart.

"Months?" Seren echoed, a note of genuine surprise slipping through her amusement. "You have been keeping a secret from me for months and somehow never let it slip?" The observation carried mock disbelief, though the warmth in her eyes made it clear she was teasing. "Now I am concerned. Either it is extraordinarily important, or you have developed a level of self-restraint I did not think possible."

Her fingers tightened lightly around his hand as they continued moving with the music, the orchestra carrying them through another slow turn. "Of course I want to see it," she said, her smile softening. "And now I am far too curious to be patient about it. Whatever it is, the fact that you have held onto it since then only makes me want to know more."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber​

A small smile met her jest.

“The only one who has been able to trap me successfully.”

Their steps followed through with the music, a steady slow rhythm as she recounted the memory of the sleigh ride. A hint of surprise touched his face when she told him about how easy he was to talk to. The surprise mainly coming from his lack of experience when talking with women.

The feeling of surprise lingered but the look upon his face disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived.

“I think you were one of the first ladies I had a genuine conversation with. I did not necessarily know how to talk seeing as my social skills were quite…lacking.”

A small chuckle left him.

He inclined his head towards her as she spoke, a playful smirk cracking his lips when she mentioned keeping secrets.

“I prefer to call it a surprise, and believe me, I had to learn a whole new level of restraint to keep it hidden until it was ready.”

He felt the slight tighten of her fingers around his hand and instinctively his thumb gently grazed hers. She wanted to see it, genuinely. The words excited him deep inside, but his composure remained. His eyes slowly closed as he concentrated.

Small trails of smoke pulled from him out of his clothes, not heated, not full of malicious intent, but with a drive to show her something. The smoke had taken on a different hue, some tendrils were almost golden and the others a darker red. They slowly coalesced around them like a slow circle before forming faint shapes.

Faint shapes of people dancing, not just dancing but mimicking their movements. Those shapes slowly developed more detailed features that very quickly began to resemble Varin and Seren as they danced. A small ring had formed around the pair that maintained the now four other dancing partners around them that mimicked their features and their movements. Seren’s doubles took on the golden hue, while Varin’s took on the red.

The movements flowed with theirs effortlessly while giving them space, the scent of cedar smoke surrounding them, but not overpowering. It was like their own personal dancing floor around them, but not cut off from anyone else.

His hand gently kept hers held as he slowly opened his eyes, having formed the movements and the features of the silhouettes around them off of accurate memory. A display that not only had he kept his attention to her, but that his memory had taken in every movement they had made and the very features of her face.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Cali Ziiva]

Friends! Kasir Dorran
Objective: Dance Dance Dance

​

Cali usually wore bright colors and fashions most others wouldn't dare. They went well with her brilliant pink self. Tonight she was far from wearing a traditional gown, but at least it wasn't utterly outrageous in design. It was, of course, a light blue. Color never killed anyone.

Balls weren't her style, really. Parties, yes, but these formal functions were too calm. Too gentle. Like, you could barely hear the music because people spent all the time talking. At least they had some nice things to eat and drink though.

Suddenly, a man's voice, deep and dark drew the Zeltron to turn in place and stare up at him with bright eyes. Huh. Kasir 'clean up' surprising well. Had he been a prince in former life or something? "Ya should totally attend one of my parties, Kasir. Ya'd not only hear the music, but feel it no matter where you are. So ya can dance wherever too. So, ya know, the decorations are to die for 'cause that's what gets people to move around." Otherwise people would just loiter wherever they ended up with no motivation to roam.

Then Cali blinked as Kasir spoke of being perplexed by proximity. Strange assumption? "Okay!" A sundae huh? Such a demanding curmudgeon. "I'll show ya what proximity has to do with dancin'. But ya'll have to give me your hands, 'kay?" She reached out for Kasir to drop a hand in her own while her other reached up for his shoulder. "Uh," Cali paused, "I'm not good with a waltz though. So, ya know, just follow my feet, Kasir." He'd probably appreciate a good tango. Lots of foot work. Totally translatable to fighting or something. He'd probably be good at it. Long as he stayed limber and didn't turn into a statue. Best part? No twirls.

"Ever heard 'bout how Echani communicate in fighting? Like, bring out the truth or something? Dancing is kind of like that. Anyone can dance, but not everyone can say more than words by the way they move their feet, their legs, their hips... How they tip a partner, twist in time with them. All while holding their gaze." It wasn't her foremost means of dance, but she'd already tried the rave-approach back on the beach.

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Aselia Verd

The day on the beach had been nice, but truth be told, Adelle had been looking forward to the gala. It had been a while since she’d danced with Aselia—their lives had been too busy to squeeze in even a stolen moment. The terrace gleamed with decoration, chosen and deliberately placed with the same precision that Adelle had seen at the Grand Vizier’s public wedding reception. Vibrant music that seemed to live and breathe in the air kept the guests moving and the mood light. The sheer amount of credits that had to have gone into an event this size threatened to break her mind, especially since Adelle and Aselia hadn’t once needed to pay for anything, but the night and the gala were too perfect an opportunity to squander it with pricetag shock.

Adelle looked over at Aselia, appreciating how well the dress fit the redhead, and took Aselia’s hand in hers.

“I know events like these aren’t your thing,” she said. “But I won’t lie, I love how they look on you.”

 

[Sovereign Echoes]

​

The two women took their bows to a warm swell of applause, gracious and unhurried, and stepped back from the light, a glance and a smile traded between them as they went, the easy camaraderie of performers who knew the night was long and the stage would keep.

The orchestra did not stop so much as change its breathing. The big golden sound drew inward, pared itself down, until what remained was something quieter and closer, a low, warm pulse of bass walking soft beneath a brushed rhythm, a few notes of piano falling like water. Intimate. Unhurried. The kind of arrangement that didn't fill a room so much as lean in and speak to it.

And into that hush stepped a young man.

He was striking in the way that mixed lineage sometimes made a person striking, something Human in the warmth of him, something Keshiri in the faint dusk-color of his skin, something Echani in the pale silver of his hair and the still, watchful grace with which he moved. Young, but unhurried. He took the microphone almost gently, as though it were a thing easily startled, and for a moment he only listened to the band breathe beneath him, finding the pocket, letting the groove settle into his bones.
Then he closed his eyes and sang.

The voice that came out of him was a surprise and then immediately not one, smooth, aching, effortless, riding the low warm current of the bass like he'd been born on top of it. It was a city song, somehow, even here above the sea: a song of glittering lights and electric nights, of wanting and watching and the pull of something just out of reach. He sang it soft, and the softness was the trick of it, it drew the whole vast terrace in close, until the dancers slowed and the conversations dropped to murmurs and even the lanterns seemed to still on their lines to listen.

​

 

[Colette]

Aoi Tanaka

"Thank you, I'm not." Colette smiled. "I am part of the Jedi Council, out of The High Republic. In one part to be seen, and in another to find potential sponsors."

Although given the presence of others and where this event was being held she most likely wasn't alone. It was best to just focus on the present company and think less about the rest for now. All things considered the last time Colette had attended one of these events she ended up having a good time around the time she left and an even better time with the said person a few days later.

She focused on the odds that would happen again instead.

"Aoi Tanaka." She repeated after a while and straightened her back. "And you're into hardware, right?"

Colette nodded towards her hands and nails.

"Your grip is stronger than most, meaning you most likely have hands-on experience. Software people usually have a more jelly bean-like grip. Firm until a little pressure is applied."

 

[Judah Dashiell]

"It has not stopped women from assuming or guessing about my sad hermit life, so forgive me if I jumped on the defensive a little. Gardening? Competitively? I have such little time now." He paused and offered a small smile. "You're right, the truth is sadder than what you have come up with. I'll let you believe all three you have come up with."

Easier that way, in his opinion. The music swelled and changed, some kid taking over for a slow song. As the crowd hushed, Judah pulled her closer so they could continue to dance and speak without causing a scene.

"Who wants something from you and who wants you to solve something? Issues with the Diarchy? Jedi? Something else?"

Diarchy made most sense, despite being a failed government. Given her position a few months ago, loyalists would be looking to her, if there were any.

 

[Vaux Gred]

Tag: Kat Decoria

After Vaux had drunk like she was at a bar, she looked around, noticing an Echani that was enjoying a drink. She figured that wouldn’t be the worst person to talk to, so she started walking over. Of course, despite the weather, she still had her coat… dress… thing on. Even with the dress shirt she still felt more comfortable with layers. She was use to flight suits and armor, not this.

Still, she sighed. She could mingle. Right…. She could at least not get the Nether brought down on the fleet. She walked over, giving a slight wave. “So…. Enjoying the party?” She asked, almost clearly not use to all this. Almost.

 

[Iandre Athlea]

The music shifted, pulling her attention for a second before Judah guided her a little closer. This time, she didn't stiffen or pause. She just moved to the rhythm and him, comfortable enough that the steps felt natural rather than something she had to think about. Lantern light caught the rich burgundy of her gown as they drifted across the floor.

"You know, that sounds a lot like you're dodging my question."

A smile tugged at her lips.

"So what are your hobbies, Judah?"

She was honestly curious. Somewhere along the way, she'd figured out she knew way more about him as the businessman, the leader, the guy everyone relied on, than the person underneath all that. "Competitive gardening was a wild guess, but now I feel like I have to find out what you actually do when no one's watching."

His question made her expression soften. She thought about it for a second before answering. "Some people still want things," she said with a light shrug. "Though honestly, that's less true now than it used to be."

Her eyes drifted over the ballroom before settling back on him. "When you've been a Jedi most of your life, people tend to come to you because they need something. Advice, help, guidance. Sometimes they just need someone to carry a weight they don't think they can handle themselves."

The smile that followed was smaller, more thoughtful. "Lately I've been spending time with Jayna. Though I'm pretty sure she's helped me at least as much as I've helped her."

A quiet laugh escaped her. "She's an amazing young woman. Being around her reminds me there are still good people out there, even when it's hard to remember that."

Her gaze held his for a moment before she went on. "As for saying the wrong thing..." She shook her head slightly. "I question myself constantly. More than I'd like to admit. Every conversation, every decision. I don't think I've ever really grown out of that."

The admission came easily, maybe because she didn't feel the need to pretend otherwise. "The difference is most people think confidence means you're sure. Usually it just means you've learned how to keep going even when you're not."

Judah Dashiell

 

[Seren Gwyn]

For a moment, Seren forgot about the music, the gala, and the dozens of guests moving around them beneath the lantern light.

Her attention remained fixed entirely on the smoke as it gathered around them, the familiar scent of cedar threading through the evening air. At first, she watched with simple curiosity, trying to understand what he was creating. Then the shapes began to take form, and her breath caught softly in her chest.

The realization settled over her slowly. Not because she failed to understand what she was seeing, but because she understood it perfectly.

The golden silhouettes moved beside them with the same grace as living dancers, their movements mirroring her own while the crimson forms echoed Varin's. Every step. Every turn. Every subtle shift in posture. The details were impossibly precise. It was not simply an illusion. It was a memory given shape.

A memory he had carried with him, refined over months.

Her amber eyes followed the dancing figures as they moved around them, and for the first time since he had revealed the surprise, she found herself completely speechless. The sight was beautiful, yes, but that was not what affected her most. What struck her was the care behind it. The patience. The countless hours he must have spent shaping something so delicate, so personal, simply because he wanted to give it to her.

Slowly, her gaze lifted from the smoke-formed dancers to him.

The orchestra continued playing around them. Couples continued moving across the floor. Yet somehow the space around them felt quieter now, as though the rest of the evening had stepped politely aside.

"Varin..." His name left her softly, almost reverently, as her eyes drifted back to the figures dancing around them. "You remembered all of it." There was no disbelief in her voice—only wonder, only affection. "Every movement. Every step." A faint smile touched her lips, warmth shining through her features as she watched the smoke glide and turn with impossible grace.

"You spent months teaching smoke how to dance." The observation carried a quiet, fond laugh, her tone gentle rather than teasing. Her fingers tightened slightly around his hand as she looked back at him, eyes bright beneath the lantern glow. "And you thought I would not be impressed?" The smile softened, deepening with something more tender. "This is beautiful."

For a moment, she simply stood there, watching the dancers circle them, the illusion weaving memory and magic together beneath the night sky. Then her gaze returned to him, steady and full. "Thank you." The words were simple, but the feeling behind them was not. "I think this may be the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Sylor]

Starlight Terrace
Vaux Gred (Sorry for the delay, life and things) Kat Decoria
@Open
​

"So I'll guess either you're use to all this, or need something to get through it."

"I feel a little out of my element, If I am to be completly honest." Sylor voiced easily, laced with a mild humor. He didn't have opportunities like this that came up very often, but he knew how to handle them. "Name is Sylor, its good to meet you." He nodded, raising his glass lightly. And there was another that had caught her attention. "Enjoy yourself, don't be afraid to do that." The Mandalorian offered with a easy gesture of goodwill as she walked off to converse with Kat.

Sylor took another drink, finising the contents before asking for another, a simple finger tap on the counter and a nod. And another drink was being prepared.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

"So Jedi are sought out like oracles, in a sense?"

Judah supposed on one hand it was possible. Although in his mind he suspected Jedi seeking out Jedi was the most likely scenario. Unless there was a specialized skill, Judah couldn't see the average person seeking out a force user. If he had to guess from Balun alone word of mouth was a thing. Then retirement and outlandish stories more than likely increased being looked upon to have some sort of knowledge.

"Happy to hear you and Jayna are getting along famously and assisting one another. Maybe she can teach you to stop questioning yourself. At least so often."

Having no idea who Jayna was, there were enough context clues to assume a young woman who needed some type of advice or care. Maybe an orphan, given Iandre Athlea 's refugee work. He would continue on as if he knew.

"As for hobbies...really not that important but I fear if I don't tell you it will be the subject for the rest of the evening. Nothing exciting, fishing is my biggest hobby. Woodworking. Cooking. I recently took up bird watching. Figured I was already outside, might as well observe more nature than just the fish."

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber​

Muscle memory had taken over allowing him the chance to just watch her expression. Deep down he could feel a nervousness coming about him, why? He did not know why. Something about presenting a gift that he had worked hard on just to see how she would react tugged at something deep within him that made him…

He watched her smile…That warm smile that he had grown to know and the fondness that was carried with it, then the recognition in her eyes told him everything he needed to know of how she felt. The way she followed the silhouettes movements around them in awe.

A real smile cracked his lips, not just warmth but genuine pride and…happiness?

That feeling rose within him burning hotter than any anger he had felt before and all within this one moment, to see her smile and admire the art he demonstrated.

When she said his name his eyes fell upon her.

“The memory never left me.”

His movements remained slow and steady with hers, matching the very steps of the apparitions before them.

“That memory has stayed with me since the first time we took those steps together. Every bit of detail filed away, just to be looked back over again and again.”

His voice softened as his fingers brushed over her hands.

“A memory that I used to go back to when…”

A small quiet chuckle left him.

“When days or nights truly were lonely. It was the first time that I can remember in a long time where I felt I did not need to remember my home.”

He watched the silhouettes once again.

“I didn’t teach the smoke to dance, I formed it into a vision I wished to share with you.”

When he looked back at her after a quiet moment he spoke again, his voice but a whisper.

“And that was the first gift you gave me. Thank you.”

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Iandre Athlea]

A soft laugh escaped Iandre.

"Oracles might be giving us a bit too much credit." The amusement lingered in her eyes. "Though people do come to Jedi hoping we'll have answers they can't find anywhere else. Sometimes all they really need is someone willing to listen." His comment about Jayna brought a warmer smile. "She's been good for me. I think I've spent so many years trying to teach people that I'd forgotten how much there still is to learn from them."

Then, at last, Judah answered her question.

"Cooking?" Her smile brightened. "That's something I enjoy as well. Tell me... can you grill?"

The question stirred an old memory of standing beside a grill, patiently teaching Kallous that dinner wasn't supposed to come off the fire blackened beyond recognition. She could almost hear the laughter that had followed. The memory tugged at her, but only for a moment. With a quiet breath, she let it drift away. She had spent enough time looking backward. Perhaps it was finally time to begin making new memories instead.

Her attention returned fully to Judah, her smile settling into something easy and genuine.

"Grilling used to be one of my favorite ways to spend an evening." She tilted her head slightly. "Perhaps I should make it one again."

Judah Dashiell

 

[Seren Gwyn]

The smile lingering on Seren's face softened into something quieter as she listened to him. Watching the smoke dance around them had already been enough to leave her overwhelmed, but hearing that he had returned to that memory during his loneliest moments stirred something even deeper within her. She had never imagined that a single evening, a single dance, could have carried such weight for him.

Then he thanked her, and her brow lifted slightly in genuine confusion as she echoed softly, "The first gift?"

The question escaped almost before she realized she had spoken it. She searched his face, trying to understand what he meant. Her mind wandered back through every conversation they had shared, every mission, every visit, every celebration. She could remember gifts he had given her, moments they had shared, kindnesses they had exchanged...but she could not remember giving him anything that deserved to be called a gift.

A thoughtful silence settled over her before a quiet realization followed, and she drew a soft breath as her gaze lingered on him. "I...don't think I ever realized I had." Her fingers remained intertwined with his as they continued their slow dance, the smoke-born memories circling them beneath the lantern light, and she held onto him just a little more firmly, as if grounding herself in the moment.

"If a conversation and a dance could become something you carried with you through lonely nights..." A warm smile returned, touched now with just the slightest hint of regret. "Then I think I have been terribly neglectful." Her thumb brushed gently across the back of his hand. "That will have to change." The words were spoken with quiet certainty. "I think you've spent far too long being the one surprising me." A playful glimmer appeared in her amber eyes. "Which means, at some point, I shall have to return the favor."

Varin Mortifer