Conquering The Booze (Open)

[Raven Cadera]

"Don't see why rank should matter, but..." she shrugged, "everyone's different, I suppose."

Dhel's question brought on the rare event of a blushing Raven. "Ah... well, I had been on my own for a long time, away from my people. He was the one who convinced me to not be on the run anymore, to join him and others like us." Given the situation they were in here, she couldn't directly share the exact details - Mand'alor was highly wanted by the Empire and the place was crawling with Imps. So she hoped that Dhel at least caught on that while she wanted to share, she had to skirt around some details.

"I kinda fell in love along the way there. Then headbutted him when he couldn't quite make up his mind about it. Ok, not exactly like that, but... well, we've lived different lives before we got to that point, and he got stuck in his thoughts about the ifs and maybes, that's when I headbutted him."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel laughts. "Wow! That's..." her free hand rubs at her own forehead in bemused sympathy for the fellow. "I can't say I have ever been flirted with via headbut before, thankfully. I guess that shook him loose though?

[Raven Cadera]

"I am quite direct in my flirting?" she laughed sheepishly, looking down at the drink in her hand as she swirled the contents around. "But... yeah, cleared the head so to speak, and well... I gave him room to think it through at his own pace. It's sweet though, as he sometimes end up making things more difficult and complicated than they need to be, out of concern for others."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel is nodding. "I thought I was direct. But sometimes words just seem to bounce right off. Maybe I should try more headbutts in those cases." She gestures with her drink toward the other side of the room and a number of Imperial officers. "Now some of that lot? All they need is a smile to figure you're into them. Which is great if that's what you're aiming for, and a real pain if you're not."

[Raven Cadera]

"Really?"

Raven seemed... pretty much stunned at this revelation. Was it that easy to flirt with some people? First time she tried to flirt with Praxton... no, she had punched him then for being a stupid, sexy...

That one didn't count.

"... Do you flirt with people like that often? The white-and-pristine armored ones, that is?"

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Sipping her drink, Dhel lifts the other hand, palm down, and wobbles it in a so-so motion. "They don't come down to hang in the bars dressed like that...more like tonight. But you can pick them out pretty easy. A lot of 'em are the same dumb kids they were before they went in for an armor fitting, but now they've got a steady paycheck and the confidence to want what I'll offer. That's simple. Flirt and follow up and there's something in it for me, you know? Very straightforward."

She taps the glass, looking into the blue depths. "Some of them though, they want something else from the power that comes with that armor. They know that they can take instead of trade. You learn to develop a sense for them. Try to keep them from really noticing you, if you can." There's a deep breath, remembering she's having fun at a party, then a small shrug of her shoulders as she draws her smile on again. "But that type's not solely among the pristine armored men and women of the Empire."

"Cheerier topic." She lifts the glass in a mock toast. "How do you even figure out the whole 'only this person in my heart and my bed' and all the rest? It seems from vids and stuff that people just know. But I can't even figure out how to want that, much less how to recognize it."

[The SCaT Droid]

"Don't know, I'm too busy trying to convince folks I shouldn't have my memories wiped." SCaT said that with a sarcastically cheerful tone.

[Raven Cadera]

Raven had been trying to think of how to answer Dhel's question when the droid stuck its proverbial foot in its proverbial mouth.

"Look," she took a pause, breathing in, "plenty of people in the galaxy have it rough. Even more so than you, believe it or not, and no I'm not claiming to be one of them. However, you sound like an absolute ass. Maybe it's too hard for a droid to understand, but people no matter how shit their lives are, try to find those bright spots and small joys in life to break up the monotone of shit being handed to them."

She glared down the battle-droid, hardly phased by its taller frame. "Maybe if you did wipe your memories, you'd learn some manners on the second try."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel'd been a bit too stunned to answer, and blinks at the fierce response the rude droid drew from Raven. "Wow. Ok. Not really sure what that had to do with much here, but sure...brain wipes would suck."

[The SCaT Droid]

SCaT takes a moment looking at the two, first at the human, then the bothan. Threat confirmed from lady, checking for outside assistance, none found, therefore punishment inevitable, best to accept it so you get a merciful one. After the analysis, SCaT lifts his head a little higher and points right at the joint connecting the head to the rest of the body. "Ok, so just put your hands here and lift up, pay the fine of about a couple hundred creds tops, and this is over. You get your revenge, I feel the least amount of pain possible, and my owner can reassemble me if he wants with minimal effort."

[Raven Cadera]

The frown lingered. No it was more a scowl. "I said you can do that yourself. You think I want some revenge against you just because you're as charming as an ill-tempered microwave that's past its warranty?" The Mandalorian woman scoffed. "You're not worth my effort, and hardly worthy of a thought like revenge."

Raven stopped herself from taking a sip of the whiskey, remembering to not spoil such fine drink with a bad mood.

"Learn from this, and maybe you'll avoid getting scrapped in the future by someone who does have a vendetta against your kind. Now, get out of my sight. I'm not in the mood for your whinging."

[The SCaT Droid]

SCaT dexterously wrote a tiny note on the back of the slip of paper in its other hand that was behind it's back, which read "how is a quip a whing?" Handed it to the bothan, then steps back slowly, keeping his eyes on the two in case one of them changes their minds, then when he has enough crowd for cover begins to run for its life.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel looks at the departing droid, and then the note and frowns. "Was it really asking you to take its head off in retaliation for rudeness...at Sapphire's?" That was so far outside of what made sense.

She shows Raven the slip of paper. "I really do not understand how droid programming works, I think."

[Raven Cadera]

Raven shrugged, turning away from the pathetic scene of the droid running as if its coat was on fire even when she had said she wouldn't be bothered to harm it.

"Beats me. Probably getting buggy if it's a relic from the war. That's what happen to droids when they don't get maintaince or wipes, or so I've heard. I'm not much of a droid-person." She sighed and shook her head to clear her mind. "Kriff, I was having a good evening, all things considered... sorry about that, Dhel."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel waves off the apology. "Why, for getting upset? I mean...that was rude."

"I don't fault it wanting to keep what's in its head, I guess. People are kinda buggy too, honestly. But it's hard to get folks to treat you like a person if you're constantly reminding them you aren't?"

She takes a long sip of her drink, feeling the fumes this time. "It is kind of a fun evening, even with the dangerous parts. Korvin brought me a few weeks back as a treat. Private room up there..." she nods in the general direction of the door they'd taken. "the menu include things like entertainment services along with the food. Pretty sure the only reason I haven't ended up working here at all is the fur."

[Raven Cadera]

Raven on the other hand was holding off on drinking right now, wishing to calm down and find the good mood again. "I meant what I said, that lots of people in the galaxy have it worse. I was one who had it pretty bad, and I still saw people worse off than me. Anyway," she sighed, brushing that away for now as she ran a hand through her hair... then regretting it as she got a handful of hair-product from the gesture.

Following Dhel's nod, she frowned slightly. "So it's like some sort of... glorified den of villainy? Do they force people into that kind of work, or...?"

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel shrugs. "I'm not sure, honestly. Den of excess? In the lower levels, some folks trade willingly and others are held to it through debt or other threats. Up here? I don't really know. As a kid, I thought everything had to be so much better up here. It was cleaner and brighter and everyone had the credits to never worry about anything." She sips her drink. "Then I started earning my own way, and hey, folks from up here coming down to the Middle City make a lot of assumptions about things like... anyone with a serving tray being on the menu if they're willing to pay something for it; which kind of made me wonder what they were used to up here."

"But I get what you mean about folks being worse off. And...it keeps us quiet sometimes when maybe we shouldn't be? Folks in the middle always worried about falling into the Lower. I wonder if folks up here worry about falling to the middle city?"

[Raven Cadera]

Raven sighed, followed by a shake of her head. "Maybe? I don't know... but, yeah, people always worry about falling on hard times. Though the better off they are, the weirder sight they have about what hard times are. Like... Oh no, I won't be able to have three houses and five sports-cars anymore." There was of course a lot of sarcasm in that statement.

Now she did take a sip of the whiskey to wash away those thoughts, even if it was a bad idea and ruining the good liqour.

"... Maybe talk about something else?"

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"Well..." she sips her own drink. "Before all this," she waves vaguely in the direction of the vanished droid, "I was wondering...how do you even figure out...how does it feel...to want one person like that? Not just like, you like bedding them and care about them and all, but actually want to make promises and not ever be with anyone else like that.

[Raven Cadera]

"Oh... right. You did ask that. Hmmm..."

Her brow furrowed in thought as she tried to figure out how to answer, as it wasn't really something she had spent much time contemplating. "Maybe I'm just that kind of person...? A bit affected by my parents who were a rather sweet couple, now that I look at it in hindsight. As a child I was a bit more the usual aw gross in response to their affectionate ways," the memory of that brought out a low, reminiscing chuckle.

"... I just knew, when I realised how I feel about my partner, that I'd never meet anyone else who would understand me like he did, or make me feel whole again. I've lost a lot in my life, and... I've feared a lot. Done stupid things. But he... with him, I'm able to be better than I was on my own. When I see him, I just feel like my heart is lighter and that I can face anything, because I know he will share all with me as I will with him." It was rare, tender moment, the way she spoke of him, with a warm red color appearing on her face and probably not from the booze.

"Maybe there could be others, but I don't think I would have been able to find just that right connection that I have with him. I don't know if I would want to give all of myself to others as well, as I do with him. So, in a way, I admire those who can, and who have that much to give."