[D4, ME] Showing off

[Korvin Hikarrin]

"Rich kid parties are really a world of their own. What should be a scandal is just 'Hey, everybody gets a little wild on Mid-semester Day' and 'If it bothers you so much, just go cry to your parents about it.'" He shakes away a small shiver. "I like fun, I like crazy, but in a world of basically no rules because money will make everything alright... Well, it gets to be too much."

Korvin turns away for a moment, takes a deep breath, and then takes a moment to recover himself. "Well, this place is... intense... for... a variety of emotions."

When Dhel asks about Tybalt, Korvin grimaces. "I think he might be the ultimate rich kid party," he says ominously. "I mean, that's the reputation. When I met him this morning he seemed... like that's probably not much exaggeration."

The Pantoran sat in one of the over-engineered chairs across from Dhel and put his chin in his hands. "I guess my dad is going into business with him."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Thinking of some of the stories she'd heard, Dhel says quietly, "well, money makes things alright for some of the folks involved." That probably wasn't really anti-Imprerial...though it was anti-the-system-as-it-is-now. So possibly not the best topic to stick with.

"And he's being super nice to you on that account?" Dhel shakes her head slightly. Business at that level was way out of anything she had experience with. "Well...I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts then?" She offers with a smile. "Starting by explaining what half the things on this menu are... 'Roast Tarstill eggs' ...ok, it's some kind of egg. 'stuffed with minced Sleekit, Aldaaranian herb melange and soured Bantha cream,'" she reads off. "And that's one that at least I feel like I'd kind of know what to expect."

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Thinking of some of the stories she'd heard, Dhel says quietly, "well, money makes things alright for some of the folks involved." That probably wasn't really anti-Imprerial...though it was anti-the-system-as-it-is-now. So possibly not the best topic to stick with.

"And he's being super nice to you on that account?" Dhel shakes her head slightly. Business at that level was way out of anything she had experience with. "Well...I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts then?" She offers with a smile. "Starting by explaining what half the things on this menu are... 'Roast Tarstill eggs' ...ok, it's some kind of egg. 'stuffed with minced Sleekit, Aldaaranian herb melange and soured Bantha cream,'" she reads off. "And that's one that at least I feel like I'd kind of know what to expect."

Korvin runs both hands over his face and hair, helping to clear brain space to start responding to Dhel.

"I bet this is more setting a trap than trying to be nice, so I'll owe him and he can... Honestly, I have no idea what value he thinks I have. But he talks a lot about taking risks in business and wanting people in his company who keep taking risks -- I guess borrowing this room without warning is pretty risky." Korvin chuckles, though it sounds a little worn out and humorless.

A long look at the beautiful Bothan helps improve his mood.

"Here," he says, looking back at a datapad. "We need, uh, two of the deep fried party platters, some meiloorun and starfruit salad skewers, and an order of the eggs so you can see if you're right about them," he says seriously, then gives her a wink when their eyes meet. "And a beverage? Maybe just something bubbly and not intoxicating, given... the energy... in here." Korvin is working hard to act responsibly, but there remains a sparkle in his eye when he looks at Dehl -- like she's going to be one of the courses.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

That edge of danger and feeling of being watched hasn't gone entirely away, despite the private room, so Dhel nods at the idea that it's all a bit risky. She has every intention of enjoying the sharp adrenaline spice layered over everything, including everything promised by Korvin's hungry gaze.

At least _that_ is familiar. She's used to being looked at like this, to putting on a show, to somehow making it worth their while and offering a distraction from whatever they're looking to slip away from. Her own hungers align pleasantly with all of that tonight, and her laugh is genuine at Korvin's wink. "Two party platters though? There's just us!" After a pause to think about it. "I mean...how big's a party platter likely to be here?"

Glancing at the drink list, she adds, "I'm honestly not sure which of these aren't intoxicating." She keeps scrolling...there are a lot of drinks. "Is there a section...? Oh. There. Not that I'm worried about a drink or two. It's not like I had plans to keep your hands off me tonight or something," she says with a sharp-toothed grin.

"Or is there a race tomorrow, you need to get some extra sleep for? Hmm, but I guess the Nebula there sounds sparkly at least, if not fizzy, if you want us staying sharp."

[Korvin Hikarrin]

"Yes, a Nebula... and a Tarrank Shark." Even before Dhel can look at him quizzically, he explains, "I knew a guy who made them ugly but strong, which is a pretty good trade off when you're young. I want to see what a well-made one looks like," he days with a grin.

With a little effort, Korvin submits the order through the data pad. "Hmm, you can even set the delivery time. I'll just say 'as soon as ready,' although seeing what you can... get done... before time runs out..." His voice just trails off mischievously.

Korvin sets down the datapad and rises, walking around to stand by Dhel's chair. He leans against the table and says with intense eyes, "The only thing I'm thinking about tonight is you."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"Good. Tonight's for letting your worries slip away. I intend to be distracting." Both hands against the table, she pushes the floating pod back and rises. "I'm betting you can set music in here. I know that's not really a window, but it feels like we're up on top of the city. We can dance, looking down on it all.

Stepping closer, she turns her head to rest against his shoulder. "And you tell me when we're getting too scandalous for the waitstaff?" she purrs as her hands slip up his back beneath the sharp, expensive jacket."

[Korvin Hikarrin]

"Always distracting, with or without intent," he mutters happily.

As her hands close in, he breathes heavily. "You sure you want to leave that to me? Rich kids have a pretty high tolerance for scandal..." He raises a hand to gently stroke her hair and smiles at her, but with that predatory look clear in his eye.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"I"m just confirming their ideas about the sort of Middle City girl that'd get brought up here to a private room," she says, nuzzling into that sensitive space between throat and jaw. "I'll never see them again." Those blunt almost-claws slip delicately up his back, tracing along remembered paths until her hands rest flat against his shoulderblades.

She trails small kisses up to murmur in his ear. "Your risk, your reputation, and you're the one as can actually reach the zipper on this dress." Would she be quite so brazen without the energy of this place slipping under her skin? Maybe. It's not as if Korvin's ever seen her be particularly subtle.

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin's eyes close and his breathing turns a little ragged. Dhel's attention is hard to withstand under normal circumstances, and this swanky room, with its amped up energy, is well beyond normal circumstances. You could probably do anything you want here.

One of Korvin's hands slips behind Dhel's back and the other behind her head, and he lifts her into a long, passionate kiss. When they finally break to breath again, his eyes are only about half open. "Take off my jacket," he says with a tone of command,

After she does, Korvin kisses Dhel again, now with an extra level of urgency. He looks about to speak, when a single, clear rap on the door stops him.

"Kriff," he groans and closes his eyes. But he's quick to recover and starts to chuckle. "If Tybalt somehow did this on purpose..." He mutters then shakes his head.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel's hands aren't idle through that kiss, digging in with their shared urgency. She's acting before she entirely hears the command, letting go, stepping back, and reaching to the edges of the jacket. There's a moment of calibration, sensing, in that command, the wealthy man that this wealthy boy might become in due time. She lets her touch linger as she slips the jacket from his shoulders, setting it gently on the table before being pulled, pliant, into that next kiss, where she lets instinct race her pulse and grasp for breath between kisses.

The knock takes a moment to register, and she laughs in his arms. "mmmm, not quite fast enough for that scandal then." But she does slip free, shaking her long hair back and smoothing the slinky fabric of her dress down. "I'll just hang this then," she says as she picks up the jacket and finds a place for it while their meal arrives with perfectly courteous waitstaff.

When they're done, she approaches the table, eyes a bit wide at the spread. She picks up a small plate, daintily piling several small bits from the platter of fried food on it before holding it out to Korvin, balanced across both hands. "No idea what most of these are, but I bet they taste better than fried shoe leather, at least."

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin looks at Dhel studiously as she offers the plate, no hint as to what his mind is processing in those moments. But he takes the plate, smiles and comments, "Plenty of fancy places charge you the fancy price, but it's fried shoe leather all the same. 'Who are you to say it isn't mouthwatering, the way we prepared our fried Karkaris Medusae?'" Korvin ends sarcastically with a haughty, dismissive tone -- so well delivered, he's clearly heard those words in real life.

The Pantoran finds his appetite for food growing now that it's actually arrived, and he quickly devours several strands of what resemble squid tentacles, chasing them with slices of what is pretty assuredly some type of orange potato. He half-narrates his choices for Dhel, since she'd mentioned not being familiar with some of the menu, but it's a very gentle lesson in high-end appetizers. After his first few ravenous bites, he makes sure the Nebula is within Dhel's reach, and slows but doesn't stop his munching to inspect the Tarrank Shark. Its half-submerged slice of candied fruit does provide quite a likeness to the fin of the drink's namesake, and Korvin nods in appreciation of the effort needed to make one like this.

"Well, it's safe to say Blaido didn't make this, unless he's really improved his skills," he jokes, lifting the glass to try a drink.

His eyes jump open at the taste. "Wellll," he remarks seriously. "Maybe it is Blaido after all." His eyes remain wide as he sets the drink down.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"Yeah? I've never worked any of the fancy places. They don't much like non-humans working up front." She's rapidly tucking bits onto her own plate as she speaks, grabbing a few extra of the purported squid tentacles. "But some of the cheap places hide a bit of less great ingredients with a pretty dish or just covering it with sauce."

"Do people really talk like that outside of vids?" One of the fruit skewers is set on her plate as well. They're tinier than she'd expected with golden star-shaped sections she might just circle with her forefinger and thumb, some kind of large, red berry. and other attractively cut fruit that all looked like it had a light drizzle of glaze before a quick broil. After delicately wiping her fingers, she picks up her drink...the delicate bubbles slowly rising through a thick, glittery liquid. Whatever had been used to thicken it allowed for several differently colored alcohols to remain separate...slowly swirling together as the bubbles pass through.

Dhel watches it for several long moments, mesmerized by the slow-motion mix. "That is too pretty to drink yet, can I try yours?"

[Korvin Hikarrin]

"Of course. I like sharing with you," he says with a grin.

Korvin's youthful male metabolism helps make short work of a good section of one platter of fried food while he watches to see Dhel's reaction to the Tarrank Shark.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel can frankly feel the strength of this one by the fumes hitting her eyes and sensitive Bothan nose. The fruit smells sweet, but eating that can wait til much later. She takes a small sip, eyes widening as she swallows, then takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. "OK..." she huffs, voice gone a bit husky. "Glad I'm not singing after, since that's gonna mess with my range a bit there." She takes another sip before sliding it back and returning to the much easier to swallow foodstuffs with a small shake of her head.

"mmm...so you've eaten at places like this plenty, I'd guess?"

[Korvin Hikarrin]

"Hmm," he grunts, finishing a bite. "Not that much in recent years. When my dad was still in politics, before the Empire, there were always events -- at home, in fancy restaurants, anywhere -- and people who can afford to spend a lot on events. And I was pretty young, but when you grow up with something..." He trailed off, frowned a little, then seemed to decide to continue.

"So you get... I don't want to say 'used to,' but kinda used to food that's fancier than it needs to be and costs way more than it needs to. And there's been less and less of those events in recent years, thank goodness..."

Korvin takes a small drink from the Tarrank Shark, not trying to knock himself out but seemingly washing away some kind of image from his younger, more socialite days.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel works through her plate fairly rapidly as he talks. Nothing like the way she's seen Sholua polish off her food, but with a definite sense of not being entirely sure it's not going to vanish.

"Why 'thank goodness'? I mean...ok, it's fancier and pricier than it should be, but if the folks buying it can afford that, so what? " She runs a furred hand down her dress, the inexpensive synthetic satin. "Fancier than it needs to be, but it's got some use on stage and.." she grins, "getting invited to fancier places than I've any right to be."

"Thanks for that, by the way," she offers with a small smile, looking up at him through her lashes.

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin seems to bristle a little, fighting back the extra surge of passion that he's coming to expect in this place.

"You're welcome, although I wouldn't come here with anyone else," he says quietly but honestly. "And you have a right to be wherever you want. You're a lot better person than the people pretending that their money makes them good," he says somewhat grimly. "Getting into fancy places, eating fancy food... It's great when it's special. When you do it all the time... It makes you different. In a bad way."

Korvin stands up to step away from the table, walking over to look at the wall mimicking a window. The image isn't soothing, exactly, but it provides a stillness to counter the almost pulsing energy of the rest of the space.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"mmm, better, worse...doesn't have much to do with who has the right to be someplace though. Sinclair's only cares that you've got the credits to spend, for example. Not entirely sure what this place needs, but...some kind of status." She rises to follow, stepping up behind him to wrap her arms around his waist and rest her head between his shoulder blades with a warm murmur of contentment.

"Do you think you're different in a bad way for growing up with that?"

[Korvin Hikarrin]

The Pantoran exhales into her embrace, then chuckles at her question.

"I don't know what I am. The only rich kid in Capital City saying rich kids are doing the wrong things? I..." He shakes his head, and there are the faintest whispers of air as his mouth moves like he's trying to talk, but he's not finding any words.

He turns within her arms, and brings his hands together on the small of her back.

"I want to be the guy who brings Middle City people up here. I don't know why, but taking privilege from those who take it for granted and sharing it with people who appreciate it..." He shakes his head again, like he knows his head is in the metaphorical clouds and he's trying to escape. With a heavy breath, he concedes, "I'm probably just crazy."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"Maybe. But there's worse things to be." She slides her hand up his back to rest behind his neck, pulling him closer, swaying gently with the pulse and shift of desire running through the place. Dimly, she's aware that it's not trips to Sapphire's that anyone below needs. But it's hard to articulate that right now. So she just enjoys it for now...and him, lifting her face to his for a kiss. "Hmm, scandalize the staff before or after dessert then?"