This will all be fine (open)

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin had ended up separated from Dhel for a little while as they each tried talking to some of the other attendees. The pull of the strong energies in this place made him even more uncomfortable than he already was about her safety, but he had good, rational reasons for wanting to keep an eye on her. And probably irrational ones too.

Holding a glass with barely a sip of something left in it -- too little really to even speculate what it had been -- he slowly moves toward a portable bar station.

[Raven Cadera]

A familiar tall figure, dressed in a tailored suit passed by him, depositing her empty glass on the portable bar. Then seeing who she just walked passed turned on her heels to look back at Korvin. It was very clearly Raven, but Dhel and Sholua had done their work in giving her a "glow-up" as her blach hair had been slicked back and a touch of makeup had been applied.

"Heya, kid," she gave a wave. "Enjoying yourself?"

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin makes a face at being called a kid, but he doesn't seem to have the energy to get mad about it. He sets the meager remains of his drink next to Raven's and then faces her with a tired, half-forced smile.

"It's, ah, not exactly my favorite place." He raises a hand toward his hair, which is almost crunchy from styling product. Fortunately he clearly knows the tolerance of said product, as the hand goes slowly and gently over his wavy hair do.

"I'm, uh, a lot more comfortable in the Middle City. I didn't like this place as a kid, and I only like it now if I have Dhel with me." He tries to keep respectfully focused on Raven, but his eyes do flit to the side occasionally, clearly trying to watch for Dhel.

[Raven Cadera]

"Really? Huh." That seemed to take her completely by surprise as she looks him up and down, as if to reassess her opinion of him. "Here I thought you were some rich guy, used to this kind of thing. Thought this was your natural hunting grounds, so to speak."

Picking up a new drink herself, she casually pointed in the direction of the restrooms. "She's fine. Went in there with Sholua a moment ago last I saw them." Taking a sip from the fresh glass, Raven decided this would be her last drink tonight.

[Tenzing]

Tenzing walked over with a serious expression and nodded at the two. He stared at Korvin for a moment, giving him the Cop inspection. "Can I see some ID please?"

The gruff manner remained for a moment before he easily slipped back into his more familiar persona. "Had you going. How's things kid? Nice to see you Raven."

He placed himself between Korvin and his potential view of a returning Dhel. "Everyone having fun tonight?"

[Korvin Hikarrin]

The younger man glares at his friend. "You're not funny, Tens. Not now, or any of the first 1,000 times you tried that." Although a flicker of a smile does break through to Korvin's face, recalling some of the many times he's heard that joke.

"And uh, no, not really, on the fun," he says moodily. "I was just telling Raven that I didn't like this place as a kid, and I only like it now if I have Dhel with me." He looks around the room, unconsciously reinforcing his point. "And yeah, Raven, people like me would 'hunt' at events like these. Saw plenty of that from my schoolmates. That's just one of the reasons I prefer the Middle City." The Pantoran's voice makes clear he's unhappy to be associated with such people, and there's an undercurrent of sadness as well.

[Tenzing]

"Hey, I live in hope. Don't worry kid, you'll get a sense of humour one of these days. You want a drink? I'm sure they've got low alcohol beer." The sly grin easily cut through the teen drama.

"Could've been worse. You could have grown up in a slum. Or a war zone" His eyes flicked around the room. Frankly he couldn't blame the kid, being surrounded by these rich types wasn't great. He had a lot to be thankful for though.

"What about you Raven?"

[Raven Cadera]

"Me?" Raven stopped herself from her next sip of drink, looking between them.

"Could be worse, yeah. Grow up a drifter, running to survive..." she frowned, pissing those thoughts away. "Didn't mean it like that, Korvin. About hunting grounds that is. Just a figure of speech among my brothers and sisters, as everyone have their place to forage and survive. Thought it might've been like that for rich folks too since I'm kind of managing to fit in here. For now."

She shot Tenzing a smile. "I'm good though. And no, you can't see my ID."

[Korvin Hikarrin]

The Pantoran seems determined to stay gloomy, but Raven's last comment forces a snort of laughter out of him. Embarrassed for half a heartbeat, he quickly shrugs. "What? Unlike you, she's funny."

After a moment for his joke to land, he accepts Tens' offer. "You know my rule is to always drink on your money," he says with a real smile. "But good luck finding anything here that's low alcohol. That is not how rich people party," he says knowingly.

And to Raven he says, "I'm sorry to be, uh, defensive. I've... Well, some of the kids I went to school with probably hunted less, uh, metaphorically than you'd like to know. It..." A shadow of something flashes behind his eyes, and he has to pause and squeeze one hand into a fist as the extra energy of this place tries to pull him into that memory. After a moment he shakes it off.

"Um. Sorry. We, ah, we were talking about something else," he says, like he's forcing the statement to be true. He relaxes and puts the fist down, turning on an obviously fake smile.

[Tenzing]

"Her?" Tens pretended to be hurt by the comment, then winked at Raven. As Korvin agreed to a drink on him he got to it. The kid needed to lighten up. Fortunately he was distracted by his story.

When Tenzing returned he passed a large glass into Korvin's hand. It was filled with a thick-looking yellow-orange liquid. It also had a large curly straw and three umbrellas in it.

"Enjoy!" He clinked his own much more subdued glass against the monstrosity and casually sipped his own.

[Raven Cadera]

Raven raised an eyebrow at the fake smile, and then looked at him with that kind of disapproving look only a mother could have. "Wipe that fake smile off your face, Korvin. It's not impressing anyone."

"Just imagine what Dhel would say if she saw you looking like that," there was a brief smirk before she placed her glass to her lips. Now it was her turn to wink back to Tenzing.

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin's glare at Tens had no noticeable effect on the older man, although lesser beings might say the glare could have peeled paint from walls. Still, he took the large glass and without hesitation used the ridiculous straw to take a long draw from it. "Hm," he says with a touch of surprise, "extra pineapple but they're skimping on the Corellian rum."

Looking sideways at Raven, he retorts, sulky but honest, "When I'm with Dhel I don't need fake smiles."

[Raven Cadera]

"Do you always sulk like that too when she's not around?" Raven asked very pointedly. This wasn't the first surly teen she had been dealing with and Korvin was already half the trouble Varina was on her own.

[Korvin Hikarrin]

"Look, I'm--" Korvin slams his eyes shut and raises a hand to his temple, perhaps seeming even to wobble for a moment. The extra surge of anger that came with annoyance in this place had almost blasted straight through him.

Pushing on his temple and talking through gritted teeth, Korvin says, "I don't like this place, ok?" He manages to keep the volume within their circle, not attracting unwanted attention. "Tell her, Tens! How am I usually? Like at Drezzie's. This..." He takes a deep breath. "This place is a whole..." He waves his hand vaguely. "I don't know. Just not even as comfortable as when I was a kid." His features look tired and angry, with eyes still bouncing around the room like he's expecting an attack.

[Tenzing]

Tenzing looked at Raven solemnly. "What you don't realise Raven is that. Well." He sighed emphatically. "Korvin is usually just a regular pain in my ass, rather than an emotional pain in my ass. At Drezzie's I've got a whole separate tab with his name on it, and that was before he got a girlfriend."

[Raven Cadera]

"Hmmmm he did seem pretty tense earlier too," she said as she looked at Tenzing, exchanging knowing parental looks with him. "Though that might've been because Dhel was sitting on his lap during the movie. Kids these days, you know." Raven laughed and had to resist the urge to grab Korvin and give him a noogie.

"You'd think a kid would be less emotional after finding a girlfriend, no?"

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin glares at the teasing old people, taking a deep drink from the monstrous glass Tens had brought. There is, fortunately, a certain difficulty with remaining passionately angry when your taste buds are beset by a tropical flavor party.

Tenzing looked at Raven solemnly. "What you don't realise Raven is that. Well." He sighed emphatically. "Korvin is usually just a regular pain in my ass, rather than an emotional pain in my ass. At Drezzie's I've got a whole separate tab with his name on it, and that was before he got a girlfriend."

He makes an unhappy face, but after a moment nods. "Yeah, I probably am that."

"Hmmmm he did seem pretty tense earlier too," she said as she looked at Tenzing, exchanging knowing parental looks with him. "Though that might've been because Dhel was sitting on his lap during the movie. Kids these days, you know." Raven laughed and had to resist the urge to grab Korvin and give him a noogie.

"You'd think a kid would be less emotional after finding a girlfriend, no?"

"Hey now! Dhel and I were being very well behaved!" Korvin seems genuinely defensive. "Tens, we weren't making out or anything. And she wasn't sitting on my lap! I mean, that would have been nice--but we weren't doing anything. You got snuggled almost as much as I did," Korvin says, pointing an accusatory finger at Raven. "I was just tense meeting a bunch of her friends for the first time," he says dismissively, crossing his arms.

[Raven Cadera]

Raven chuckled and looked at Tenzing, her arms crossing casually across her chest while still holding onto her glass. "The kid doth protest too much." Still she had a friendly smile for Korvin. "But hey, I get you. Or rather, you remind me a lot of someone I know who's also a shy one. Question is... is this like... serious relationship level, or just you two fooling around?"

[Korvin Hikarrin]

The young man's face falls as Raven asks maybe the most hurtful question in Korvin's world. He takes the giant drink in both hands and stares at it intently. It's easy to guess he has a death grip on the glass too. When he speaks, without looking up, it's with a shallow voice.

"It, um... It's serious for me. Not... so much... for her." He closes his eyes and takes a long drink.

[Raven Cadera]

"Ah."

That answer seems to be quite helpful in ceasing the teasing act she'd been pulling with Tenzing, and she looks to her partner-in-crime for a moment. "Sorry. That's rough, buddy."

Awkward pause. "Maybe it's just not the right time for it. I don't know, you're both pretty young?"