Love Connection (Day 8 Late Evening Ritts)

[Arali Zian]

"Actually, after some family drama this morning, Zane said drinks are on him. I'm not letting him off the hook that easy."

One of the perks of Jedi training? It can help deal with unwanted worries. There is no emotion; there is peace. Except for the emotions she wants to play with. She guides Asra in with a hand on her back as she locks away her worries, "Have you ever tried Jogan fruit brandy?"

[Luth Khalan]

"Welp, I'm not going to complain about that," she agrees, letting herself be guided by the hand on her back. That was quick... at least it relieved the tension. "I haven't yet."

[Arali Zian]

The pair head to the bar, careful not to lose sight of Zane and Naveera, and Arali flags the barkeep.

"Barkeep! Two Jorgan fruit brandies!"

"Now, here's hoping for a quiet evening. I've been blasted into enough walls for one day."

[Nekoinu]

"So, who's your friend, and who's the other then?" Naveera inquired casually. She watched them both and then looked back to Zanebry. "Just how many women do you know on this moon?"

[Zanebry Varliss]

"Well you know Arali, she has been a friend for a couple years now. She's been in a bit of a dry spell when it comes to lovers, so I decided to help her out. The other is Asra, I met her in the market the other day, and during one of our conversations it came us that she has bad luck with." He smirked. "She seemed a bit wound tight to, so I figured I'd help her out." He slowly led Naveera to the bar and ordered two shots of tequila, offering one her way before answering the second question.

"Honestly more then I can count, but very few mean anything to me. They are a fan of my music, or someone I've taught how to dance. Maybe they sat at my table while i was gambling. Out of all of them though, you are the one that matters to me most."

[Luth Khalan]

The pair head to the bar, careful not to lose sight of Zane and Naveera, and Arali flags the barkeep.

"Barkeep! Two Jorgan fruit brandies!"

"Now, here's hoping for a quiet evening. I've been blasted into enough walls for one day."

"To a quiet evening indeed. Not enough of those."

She takes a sip of the brandy once it arrives. "Blasted through walls? Sounds like you've had an exciting day."

[Arali Zian]

"Haven't been blasted through any walls today," she sips her brandy. "Which is good, since one was stone and the other was steel."

She looks off into the distance for a moment, then back to Asra. "I dueled my old master this morning. We never really got along, and he's not exactly the open-minded sort. Measures an apprentice by their ability as a warrior. I wasn't much of a fighter back in the day, so he set me aside and wrote me off as a lost cause. He wrecked me, but I didn't make it easy on him. That's been on my shoulders a while, but I finally got him to recognize I'm not the little girl he saved all those years ago..."

She cuts herself off, before she gets too choked up, "...other one was me getting blasted into a girder by an assault droid." Another sip of brandy, and no amplifying information. "So, how's your day been?" she beams.

[Luth Khalan]

"Sounds like he'd get along better with some of the people I know. It probably sounds crazy for a military person, but I never liked violence," she mused, shaking her head. "Still, at least you accomplished that. It's not a small thing."

"Well... 90% quiet and 10% complicated, mostly in the afternoon." She sips her drink. "At least dinner was pleasant, and this evening is looking considerably up."

[Arali Zian]

Arali raises her glass, "To that 90%, then." Clink. "And here's hoping it's more than that tomorrow." Not that there's a chance in Hell.

Her glass hits the bar, then she takes a drink. "Come to think of it... I don't think I had dinner?" she shrugs, not particularly disturbed by it.

[Luth Khalan]

Clink. "That 90% indeed. Well... at least having something to do is something," she sighs and chuckles, taking a drink once they'd toasted. She looks over toward her. "I'd say it's not good to skip meals, but I'm hardly in a position to complain about it. I missed breakfast."

[Arali Zian]

"I think it's... less bad for us than it is for humans? We can go quite a while without food, so hunger just kind of... stops for a while if we're stressed." She shrugs.

"So. When the universe isn't crashing around you, there's nothing exploding, and nobody is shooting at you, what do you do for fun?"

[Luth Khalan]

"Hmm... That must make things a little easier."

"Well, if we go by the last year, I sit in the middle of the desert and wait," she jokes with a laugh. "Going by my time on Nar Shaddaa, I talk to people I like, read, and dance." She slips off the barstool and holds a hand out to Arali with a smile. "I'm feeling a bit restless. Want to join me for the latter?"

[Arali Zian]

"Well, since the first two aren't available," she teases, then knocks back the rest of her brandy and gets up, offering Asra her hand, "May I have this dance, my dear?" The cheese in her voice is cheerfully over-the top.

[Luth Khalan]

"Hmm... I think we're only missing the middle. You've certainly been a lovely conversationalist so far," she replies with a grin. Asra bows elaborately as the cheesy offer and puts her hand in Arali's. "Nothing would give me more pleasure at the moment. Well... nothing that wouldn't be awkward on the dance floor," she jokes with a giggle.

[Arali Zian]

"I've been accused of many things in my day," as she leads her date to the floor. "Being awkward is only several of them."

Arali takes the lead, and starts slow, trying to gauge just her partner before she really gets going.

[Luth Khalan]

"It's nothing I can't relate to," she agrees. She starts moving steadily, keeping the beat. She has a lot of natural grace, and it comes through in her movements, even if it's apparent she's never formally learned dancing in any real sense.

[Arali Zian]

The music picks up pace, and Arali decides to step it up sooner than later, and the only warning Asra gets is a mischievous gleam in her eye. Without another word, Asra's caught in a rhythm of untamed energy and wild improvisation, with every dip and spin Arali knows and a few she makes up, and only the slightest hint of mercy.

[Luth Khalan]

Asra finds herself forced to cling to Arali, doing her best to keep up with the completely unfamiliar movements, probably leaving them closer together than normal dance position just out of a matter of the shorter woman making her she doesn't fall in her heels. Not that she minded the closeness it ensured, but still.

[Nekoinu]

Naveera watched the other two wander off to do their own thing. "I suppose I should be less harsh with you. I was worried you were looking around for another date," she remarked, "I'm here for the same. I wanted to make it easy on them but they seem to be getting along well."

She cupped his chin and smiled warmly. "Good to know I'm the best of them all."

[Zanebry Varliss]

"Honestly? You should be more harsh with me. Tonight though, I was truly here for those two." He raised his shot in his hand and waited for her to join him before taking it. "They do seeming to be getting along well enough, we need not worry though."

"Always." He leaned in to brush her lips with a kiss. "You also deserve better then me, but if you're willing to settle, would you join me on the floor?"

[Nekoinu]

"Should I really? What, have you been up to no good?" she asked, a bit of genuine concern in her voice. She returned the kiss but otherwise kept her ground for the time being.

[Zanebry Varliss]

"Breaking things off mostly, trying to be better." He smirked. "I still have a long way to go though, and, well temptation is everywhere."

He smiled apologetically. "I half want to ask you to move into my ship with me. Having you close helps."

[Arali Zian]

The pace does not let up, but the rhythm does smooth out, as Arali continues to dance like a woman possessed. There's something about this woman. This Asra. She's cute, sure, but more than that. Feeling her holding close, there in her arms... it's so natural, so right, and something between them, it calls to her. Drives her, faster and farther than she'd normally think is wise.

Well, master did say to trust your instincts.

She gives the lady a dip, and the world stops. Their lips meet, slow and tender after the relentless tempo of a moment ago, and something washes over her. The Force binds all things, but never quite equally. There are connections. Some stronger, some weaker, and right now, this one is powerful indeed. She feels Asra's presence all around her, inside her. So warm. So oddly familiar. So...

She opens her eyes, breathless as she looks down at the woman in her arms. She's... Force sensitive?

[Luth Khalan]

Asra didn't miss the sense of connection, and as the rhythm smoothes out, she finds herself falling into synch with the woman before her. By the time the dip comes, they're moving naturally together, even with no distance gained between them. She felt completely at ease here, as though she'd come home. She feels no more need than Arali to slow down.

They kissed, and she returned it without hesitation. Her eyes faded shut as she felt the physical kiss and the beyond physical sensation of Arali. It was strange, this feeling she was getting. She'd always felt echoes and shadows of it, but never before as strong as today. The difference between the feeling that surrounded her now and earlier in the afternoon was night and day. A cool and inviting lake versus a seductive but dangerous inferno. Both drew her, but in such different ways.

Her eyes open to meet the Twi'lek woman's with concern. She was looking down at her, and there was something in her look... Has Asra gotten lost in thought for too long? Maybe she really had just cracked under the pressure finally...

[Arali Zian]

Arali doesn't look around. She doesn't have to. She reviews the layout of the building from memory, for a way out. A way to get somewhere private and... no. That won't be necessary. That will draw more attention than staying on the dance floor.

Dammit, why can't one part of this day be normal? Pretty girl who is clearly interested, and then of all the luck... no, not luck. Will of the Force. Damned obnoxious will of the force.

The dance continues, same pace as before, yet they are so much more in sync, and Arali does not go for the fancier moves anymore, using the floor to maintain privacy.

"Are you..." she starts, meeting Asra's gaze, then cuts herself off. She knows the answer to that one. "You are not Sith, but you are Force sensitive," she begins, cursing the need to spoil the mood. "You felt it; that connection. The ability sometimes awakens later in life. Until you are trained, at least enough to conceal your ability, this makes you a target."