last_kallig (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
last_kallig) wrote2020-08-08 08:53 am
last_kallig) wrote2020-08-08 08:53 am
AU: Bar Crawl
After the events at the Foundry, Ibani felt that both she and Ben desperately needed some R+R. There was much research and questioning of her various contacts, smugglers, pirates, spies, and other such folk for good places to drink and eat on Nar Shaddaa.
She has a list! Although her first plan is to ask Ben where HIS favorite places on Nar Shaddaa were and see if any of them exist in her when, because you never know.
In the interests of blending in, Ibani has gone for the smuggler/pirate look in brown and bright emerald synthleather with a vibroblade strapped on one hip. (She has her lightsabers too, of course, but those are more hidden.)
She has a list! Although her first plan is to ask Ben where HIS favorite places on Nar Shaddaa were and see if any of them exist in her when, because you never know.
In the interests of blending in, Ibani has gone for the smuggler/pirate look in brown and bright emerald synthleather with a vibroblade strapped on one hip. (She has her lightsabers too, of course, but those are more hidden.)
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He's never sensed this much Dark Side in a non-sentient being. Animals are creatures of emotion and instinct, and he's senses fear before, but this level of hate...
He keeps his eyes closed, keeps his hand out as they race.
He breathes, carefully and calmly, and reaches out to them, past the twisting of the Dark Side, towards their minds.
It feels like it takes forever, every second lasting an hour or more as they close in.
And then, everything gets a bit calmer.
He cranks open an eye and looks down his arm to where the hounds are snarling a few feet away, their desire to tear his throat at in clear conflict with a very strong desire not to do that.
Without letting them go, he flicks his glance over to Ibani, just to check how she's getting on.
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"It would be in your best interest to stay away from this moon from now on, if you catch my meaning."
She glances at the Tu'Kata, sure that the imaginations of the two criminals will fill in all kinds of threats.
She's impressed at Ben's ability to hold them like that, something she doesn't think she could do!
"Fine, fine!" the man replies, his voice shaky. "Just, just let us get out of here!"
The desire to not tear Ben's throat out is winning, slowly. The snarling is dimming to growls, hackles lowering just a little.
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Slowly, as if having to consciously think about every move, Ben circles around the group of hounds, and they make unconscious steps together, a little more like nerfs that a pack of predators, although with the occasional snarl and shift of claws to remind eveyone of what they really are.
He steps towards them, and they shuffle back a shorter distance, so while the group is moving in the direction Ben wants to go, the distance between him and those teeth starts to close.
After a couple of steps there is a clear path between the rest of the humans and the door, and without looking away, Ben makes a hurried beckoning motion behind his back.
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The criminals are out the door and gone as quickly as they dare and Ibani is standing at the door herself. Seeing Ben like this, with such a determined edge, such strength in the Force and such control is
kind of hothitting all kinds of cultural buttons that Ibani's only partially aware of having.no subject
The struggle has eased since it was only him and them at risk, although there's still a conflict of wills.
He approaches them carefully, and they back away, towards the cages at the back.
Feeling Ibani's presence in the door he speaks gently.
"Any chance you can find something to fix those doors?"
He doesn't like it, the cages are too small. But he doesn't have any other ideas.
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Ibani gets to work straightening bent metal and welding it in place with Force lightning. She IS good at fine control.
When the cages are done, she steps back. "I'll place a holocall, I think I know someone who can take them home to Korriban, unless you have another idea?"
(OOC: Using force lightning to spot weld is something I've seen in fanfic, I think by fialleril on Tumblr?)
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Against all common sense he places a hand on the bars. Against all rules of universe, he doesn't lose that hand.
"What will happen to them on Korriban?"
They're just dogs, under it all. Bred to be violent and corrupted by the Dark Side, but there's still an animal under there.
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She smiles softly at Ben placing his hand against the bars. She's never met anyone else with so much compassion.
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"Do let me know how they get on," he says, and steps back, into her shoulder with a tired rub of his head. "And maybe find somewhere actually quiet this time?"
It was hard work!
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Ibani sends a text message to a contact, calling in a favor. She wraps an arm around Ben, running her fingers through his hair in an attempt to ease the tiredness.
She smiles. "Might as well make use of that Sky Palace I bought as part of my cover here. Got it at a discount after one owner took the wrong Sith artifact in as an art piece and it killed them and the next three buyers. It got a reputation for being haunted."
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"Is it haunted?" That doesn't sound quiet!
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They make their way to an air taxi and Ibani inputs their destination. "I kept the outer rooms, the ones meant for outsiders to see, the way they were. DEFINITELY not my style, but having people see what they expect to see is...useful."
Like most things in her life, a deception hiding the truth beneath, a bodyguard of lies.
The Sky palace floats above Nar Shaddaa, far enough away that there is as close to quiet as it ever gets on this moon. The outer rooms are, well, gaudy. Complicated patterns and entirely too much gilding, meant to flaunt wealth at the expense of any taste.
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He turns circles as he walks through, determined to get every angle of the terrible tastelessness in his sights.
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The furniture is both ornate and hideously uncomfortable looking. Delicate looking spiraled Nautolan couches with an aquatic theme cheek to jowl with bluntly square heavy wooden Alderranian tables carved with nerf herders and their nerfs.
Most of the 'art' is urns carved to resemble various nude species of many sexes. Ibani feels that most of the urns look like they are trying to flee as opposed to anything approaching erotic.
There are entirely too many crystal chandeliers illuminating what's below, making the gilding actually uncomfortable to look at from certain angles thanks to the reflected light.
It is a perfect storm of hideous conspicuous consumption.
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She inputs a code and they pass through into the private areas. This, THIS looks almost exactly like Ibani's room in Milliways. Warm earth colors, simple lines, only necessary, comfortable, furniture. "This is my work. I was here for quite a while after Thanaton killed me, as I needed to keep my head down."
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Ibani assembles something like a picnic basket using the fruit basket on the kitchen counter: fruit, cheese, sparkling wine and chocolates.
"It's a copy of one my apprentices, Corrin and Kaal, had at their home on Ziost, growing up." The loss of her apprentices will always hurt a little, and now their home planet is gone too, a lifeless husk of ash thanks to the former Sith Emperor.
She sets the basket down and takes off her boots and socks. "I like to go barefoot in the garden," she explains.
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"A luxury I don't often afford myself," he observes.
(Sand gets everywhere.)
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She flexes her own toes, then leads him through the door into the garden. It's made to look like a natural space, like a meadow with a stream running through it, a tree distantly like a Willow providing an ideal place to sit and observe near the stream. Wildflowers bloom amid the grasses, and water plants grow in between the rocks of the stream. There are no paths, only soft grasses underfoot.
"These are all plants native to Ziost," she explains. "This style is fairly popular there, one that aims to create as natural looking, as wild, a space as possible."
"Was popular," she corrects herself after a moment. "There are other places like this, gardens made by people who took a piece of Ziost with them when they left. I don't know if any of these remain, in your time."
The lighting is made to feel like a single sun, beginning to set.
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Let's be honest, even as 'peacekeepers' Jedi didn't often get to see private gardens. He walks in the grass slowly, savouring the feeling of life against his skin, and one hand on her shoulder contantly.
So much of the galaxy has been lost. He wonders if any part of Mandalore exists like this in his own time, preserved despite the wars that destroyed it.
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She's glad that he's enjoying himself and she moves slowly, letting him savor the life against his skin. Their eventual destination is beneath the tree, and she invites him to sit with her.
"I like to meditate here," she confides. "It's peaceful, quiet." Ibani doesn't get much peace or quiet outside of Milliways.
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It beats meditating on Tatooine, but then Ben gets too much peace and quiet these days, it's nice to have peace and quiet in decent humidity.
He sits, folding his legs in front of him, and removes his hat to expose his hair to the climate controlled air.
"So what have you salvaged from the kitchen?"
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"Fruit, cheese, chocolate, and a little wine," Ibani explains.
She removes the glasses and the wine first, then looks up at him, almost shy.
"May I kiss you?" she asks, flushing slightly.
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"Please do," he says, with a warm smile.
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