| ***** Fifteen minutes had past, and Jemmiah was starting to get concerned. Ben still hadn’t come back. Kryztan still hadn’t gone away. Qui-Gon still kept darting over-protective glances at her. And her trick still hadn’t happened. She was just about to despair of anything going right, when something strange down the far end of the bar grabbed her attention. It wasn’t Letina and the holocam making a drunken sweep of the little ensemble as they prepared to head for the next Cantina. It was the strange and gratifying sight of Jay Abran being menaced by two extremely tall women. "Menali Jay Abran?" The first woman asked, clearly dressed in a security uniform. "Yes." He flashed that confident, golden smile at the pair of them. "Padawan at the Jedi Temple?" "That’s correct." He nodded, still smiling. "And what can I get you two beautiful ladies? To drink, I mean." He added. Kylenn watched the encounter with a mixture of trepidation and mirth. Jay was a tall young man, but these two made him look pretty insignificant… "We don’t drink when we’re on duty." The second woman, an annoyed looking brunette chipped in. "Your loss." Abran shrugged. "You know, I never could resist a woman in uniform." "That’s just as well," the sandy haired officer said, "because you are under arrest!" There was a gasp of astonishment from amongst the masters and padawans. "Hold on a moment." Qui-Gon stepped forward. "What do you mean? What is this man accused of?" "Theft." The second officer said. "Of what?" An-Paj looked astonished. "A pair of ladies stockings from the ‘Best Buy’ Fashion Department this morning. We’ve had you under surveillance all day." Abran’s normally bronzed skin went deathly pale. "There must be some kind of mistake here." An-Paj frowned. "What would this young man do with a pair of ladies stockings?" "You get all kinds in this galaxy, sir. Believe me, I’ve met most of ‘em. Hazard of the job." "You told me that Obi-Wan was…" Jinn trailed off. He crossed his arms. "Take him away." He shrugged. "What!" Abran almost wailed. "Master Jinn! I swear it was an accident! I didn’t realize I had those stockings with me until I got back to the temple. I never stole them!" "A likely story." An-Paj replied, enjoying the Padawan’s discomfort. "Why else would he go into a ladies fashion store? Hang the little vrelt!" "You told me that these," Jinn fished out the offending articles from his pocket, "belonged to my padawan. Are you now saying that this isn’t the case?" As the weight of the formidable Jinn stare fell upon him, Abran gulped and looked at his feet. "Y-yes, sir." He confessed. "In that case, I hope you have a really comfortable cell to spend the night in." Qui-Gon said roughly, aware that Letina Sorrell was hovering in the background with her holocam. "But master, you MUST believe me!" "Must I? Why is that? You’ve already lied to me today." Jinn frowned. "I’m sure that prison food is an improvement on the refectory’s food." Berlingside grinned. "Prison?" Abran squeaked. "For at least half a year." An-Paj put in. "Minimum." Depa Billaba agreed. The two huge women officers picked up Abran by the arms and hoisted him off the ground as easily as if he’d been a rag doll. "You are busted, sunshine!" the brunette said gleefully. "But nevermind, we’ll look after you!" The sandy haired one said. "But I didn’t…" panted Abran. "These are proof!" The second said. "Unless there’s something you’d like to say to everyone here." She indicated the gathering of startled Jedi. Abran nodded, trying to find his voice. "I…I just wanted to apologize for bringing the Jedi order into disrepute. I never stole those stockings," he swallowed nervously, "but I would like to offer my sincerest apology to Master Jinn for misleading him in any way as to their ownership, and to Obi-Wan and Jemmiah for slandering them." "Is that it?" Number one said sternly. Abran indicated it was. "Well, there’s something I want to say." She put her hands on her hips. "What?" "SURPRISE!" The two officers burst into peals of warm laughter. Qui-Gon looked round to see Meri and Jemmiah giving each other a celebratory high-five, whilst Letina moved in on a clearly stunned Jay Abran to get as good a close up as she could. An-Paj and Dex Berlingside were laughing into their glasses of ale. Jinn saw Jemmiah throw a wink at him. He couldn’t resist a smile. "Are you saying this whole thing is a set up?" Leona looked amazed. "You betcha’ it was!" The brunette grinned toothsomely. She walked over to Jemmiah. "Jemmy sweetheart, I never thought I’d see the day when I’d out trick a real Jedi." "Good one, wasn’t it!" Jemmiah crowed. "Are you going to stick around for a drink?" "No, me and Tilly here have got to get these costumes returned to the set before they’re missed." She clapped the smaller girl on the shoulder. "Star’s sakes girl, I’d watch out for that one." Jemmiah spared a quick look at Abran, who was glowering furiously at her. "I’d say he’s the type who would be out for revenge." "I can handle him." She smirked. Qui-Gon appeared at the Corellian girl’s shoulder. "Well done, Jemmiah." He said simply. "I hope Letina got all of that." "Thank you, Master Jinn." She replied. "I believe she did. And much more besides." "That was a mean trick." Jay Abran snarled at Jemmiah. "If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out in the first place." Jemmy said. "This has got to be one of the WORST days of my life." "You think YOU’VE had a bad day." Kenobi wandered into the room, scratched by thorns, and soaked. And not smelling very pleasant either. "You should hear about MY day." I’m going to get her for this, thought Jay Abran furiously. She is SO going to wish she’d not tried that! He watched Jemmiah’s loping, swinging Corellian gate as she walked along the street in front of him. On one side was Kylenn Imri and on the other Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, hovering like an uninvited chaperone, as if to ward off any attempts on her person by the seriously annoyed Jay Abran. Or was that the romantically inclined Kenobi? Hari’s Tavern was not terribly far away from The One For The Road, and yet everyone seemed to be dragging their heels somewhat. At first Abran thought it was the shock of the fire and everything, until he realized that it was undoubtedly the small matter of the ‘Truth or Dare’ game that should have been played in the last cantina. Revelations of all sorts were going to fly, Abran mused, mentally rubbing his hands as they reached the doorway and then proceeded down the steps into possibly the dingiest little tavern that he had ever been in. Even Dex Berlingside wrinkled his nose up in surprise at the strong smoke smell. If it was smoke. Meri was the acknowledged Truth or Dare champion, and it had been in her honor that Jemmiah had included this short version of the game. You could never ask the same person more than once, which was just as well considering how many there were of them. This time, however, Jemmiah had surpassed herself. The game would include padawans and masters alike… Possibly this was the real source of the discomfort that was lurking beneath the oh, so Jedi exteriors of the would-be victims. Jay Abran seated himself beside Healer Leona and Dimallie, who was showing the slightest of signs that she was still alive and about ready for another drink. Poor girl, thought Jay, she’ll have recovered just in time to play the final round of Corellian rules drinking Deathmatch back at The Hell’s Chance. Jemmiah seated herself next to Obi-Wan and Kylenn. Opposite sat Kryztan Harkley, openly staring at her. It gave Abran his idea. If Jemmiah was ever foolish enough to pick dare, he’d dare her to kiss Kryztan. Jemmiah was quite aware of the eyes upon her. Kryztan sat ogling her, and Jay, well; he looked downright set on vengeance! Qui-Gon was also aware of three people staring at HIM. Healer Leona P’lila, somewhat bashfully it had to be said, his padawan who seemed distinctly uncomfortable with proceedings, and worst of all Sal-Fina who had an expression on her face that reminded him of a cannoid with a wasp problem. Damn, he wasn’t looking forward to this. A person could give away too much, if he wasn’t careful… Mace Windu was feeling VERY smug. Let’s see that Kenobi boy get out of this, he grinned! When they had all taken their places, some squashed up tightly together, some almost sitting on each other’s laps, a dubious silence loomed large. Nobody wanted to make the first move. "Who want’s a drink?" Berlingside muttered. "I do!" Jemmiah said. "And me, thanks." Kenobi replied. "Me, too!" Sybelle chorused. "I’ll get it!" Qui-Gon stood up, as did all of the masters. They looked at each other, embarrassed, before sitting down again. "I’ll get it." Berlingside smiled in relief. "You all start without me." Qui-Gon didn’t think he’d ever seen the man move so quickly. After another moment of sitting facing each other, Healer Leona piped up: "Oh, this is silly! I’ll ask the first one." She looked about for her victim. "An-Paj, what’s it going to be? Truth or dare?" The healer looked surprised. "Why me? Please do remember that I am quite capable of making yours, Simeon’s and Dimallie’s lives quite intolerable tomorrow if I so wish." "Truth or dare?" She repeated. "I can have you scrubbing freshers for the next half century." "Truth or dare?" She refused to be intimidated. He closed his eyes. "Truth." Leona’s eyes twinkled. She was going to enjoy this. ***** "Since we're all aware of your martial status, I've always wondered about the responsibility of caring for six wives" Leona stated with a sly smile, "what I'd really like to know is if you've always been able to live up to your obligations?" An-Paj looked at the assistant healer questioningly then glanced around the very crowded table. Many of the participants wore the same confused expression he did. It wasn't until he saw the few idiotic grins on some of the padawans that the meaning of the question registered. Shooting a stormy glare at Leona, the Master Healer did his best to hide the incredible embarrassment he felt seeping into him. Leona met his hard gaze, her own face bathed in calm serenity. "Well?" she asked with a smile. Between the few drinks she had had and the fact that she was actually spending time in the company of Qui-Gon she was feeling pretty courageous. Even if An-Paj made good on his threats of retribution, seeing the dark patches of blue exploding on his face was easily worth it. "I, ah..." he coughed uncomfortably, trying to delay the inevitable while dozens of eyes bore into him with excited expectation. Dex Berlingside returned with a tray of drinks and before even being able to set them down, An-Paj grabbed for the tallest glass, not caring what it was, he drank it down. "It was during my last wedding" he began keeping his eyes firmly planted on Leona. At least this way he could at least pretend there weren't quite a few others listening intently to his story. "She was the youngest of the sisters, fifteen years my junior, you must remember. We're allowed two weeks of time alone, what you would call a honeymoon, before she would join my household. It was during these two weeks that I found myself having...ah, difficulty fulfilling my obligations as you so tactfully put it." "How did you solve your little problem?" Simeon Cates questioned with a stifled smirk. An-Paj tuned on the padawan, mentally marking him for future punishment. It wasn't necessary to answer but the amused looks on everyone's face gave him the desire to pass on some of the humiliation. "Oh" he sat proudly upright "a little meditation and the addition of dietary vitamins proved quite the adequate solution as I'm sure Mace can attest to." Mace' eye's went wide as everyone turned to look at him amid the sound of soft feminine giggles and masculine snickers. An-Paj gazed around the table. "My turn." he said, "Sal-Fina, truth or dare?" ***** Lilith and Krelo sat at the edges of the group, fully ready to enjoy every second of this game. Lilith had never played, and Krelo hadn't played it since she was quite young, but they were both looking forward to the revelations sure to come out tonight. They each had drinks and were seated far enough out that they could hear everything, but that no one would ever ask either of them to join the game. Or so they thought. ***** Sal-Fina eyed An-Paj with imperious disdain, pondering her choice. A dare in front of her padawan that she might not be able to complete would make her lose face and there was no way that she was going to let THAT happen. So, boring as it might seem Sal-Fina elected for what she considered the safer of the two options. "Truth." She replied warily. "There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a number of years." An-Paj smiled. "I remember once hearing that you were asked to take part in a certain holo film when you were, oh, maybe eighteen or so years old by your then director boyfriend." He watched Sal-Fina’s eyes widen with horror, and waited for the right moment. "What was it called now? Let me see…" He stroked his chin in a pretence of thought. "Ah, yes. ‘Coruscant Blue’, wasn’t it?" Qui-Gon stared at her. He’d never seen anyone become as rigid outside of a mortuary. When An-Paj received no answer he asked Sal-Fina: "What I want to know is, DID you take part in the holo film and if so, how many Ankula’s did they use in the picture?" All the padawans except for Junine and Ambianca turned to face Sal-Fina with a huge grin on their faces. The masters were perhaps a little more restrained. A little. Sal-Fina looked as if she were about to die. "Y-yes." She mumbled. There was a thunderous scream of delight from the padawans. "And how many Ankula’s?" "There weren’t any!" She spat. " I’m disappointed." An-Paj winked at her. "Oh, well." When the laughter had died down somewhat, Obi-Wan attempted to stand up and make his way to the doorway. "Where do you think you’re going, padawan?" Jinn asked, indicating he should sit back down. "I thought maybe you could lend me some money, master." "And why would this be?" "There’s a really good little holo shop around the corner. Simeon and I want to see if we can rent out ‘Coruscant Blue’, just on the off chance…" Sal-Fina’s milk white complexion became scarlet. "I think it’s MY turn to ask the questions." She growled menacingly. Her eye lit upon the tall shape of her ex-boyfriend of many, many years ago. "Master Jinn." She was clearly relishing the prospect. "Truth or dare?" ***** Qui-Gon Jinn stared at his ex coldly, contemplating the options. Glancing around the table, considering picking 'truth' he quickly realized that of all the people to question him, Sal-Fina was probably the one he had most reason to fear. She would certainly still remember far too many intimate details of his youth that he would not want divulged and he was sure their constant arguing over the years would not likely lead her to being very charitable. Any embarrassment from a dare, on the other hand, could always be obscured by a couple of stiff drinks. Returning his gaze to the tall blonde, he smiled sweetly, "I choose dare." Instantly, her lips pursed in agitation. That was not the choice she had expected. She had hoped to kill two womprats with one stone as it were, casting a dark glance in the direction of Healer Leona. Now she had to come up with an appropriate dare, she thought scanning the room for inspiration. Spying the two tall women seated at the table not far from their little game, an idea began to form in her head. More than attacking Qui-Gon directly she wanted to get back at that miserable little healer for her assault with the ice bucket. Jedi do not seek vengeance be damn, she thought. She would wipe that content little smile of her face. "See those two woman at the next table?" Sal-Fina asked in a lowered voice to prevent them from hearing. "I dare you to approach the taller of the two, and convince her to kiss you. And I want to see some real passion in that kiss Qui-Gon." Qui-Gon glanced at the women. One he recognized as a Jedi Knight, Krelo, her name was. The other one, the one he was to kiss, looked vaguely familiar and knowing Krelo's penchant for associating with undesirables, he was sure she must be the known smuggler Lilith Demodae. With a shrug, Qui-Gon left his seat. Lilith and Krelo were laughing and talking over the revelation of Sal-Fina's acting career. Neither noticed the tall Jedi Master's approach until he stood next to the smuggler. "Excuse me" he interrupted. "Can we help you, Master Jinn?" Krelo asked, shooting a confused glance at her friend. "I just happened to notice that you two lovely women were seated by yourselves. Since I've seen you at each of the last cantina's I assume you're part of our little event." "Well, actually I suppose we are, indirectly." Lilith answered, just a little more than surprised. With a charming smile, Qui-Gon held out his hand to her, "I just had to introduce myself to such a beautiful woman, my name is Qui-Gon Jinn." "I know who you are" Lilith stated, deciding to play along with him, "at least by reputation." Holding out her own hand she allowed him to gently pull her to her feet, bringing her close to him. "I just couldn't help but wonder how such a gorgeous woman as yourself would want to be kissed?" he poured on the charm. Glancing down at her friend, Lilith saw a huge grin on Krelo's face. This had to be a dare, she thought to herself, and one she had every intent on enjoying. Well, maybe I can show you." she answered and with that she threw her arms around the tall Jedi and offered herself. Bending down slightly, Qui-Gon pulled her against him, kissing her with obvious passion. Amid groans of pleasure from both participants, Lilith pulled back; losing her balance as both of them fell back on the table still locked firmly in their embrace. Squeals of laughter and raucous comments erupted from the crowded table of Jedi as the two finally broke apart. Standing tall, Qui-Gon turned to his comrades and bowed graciously, helping a very pleased Lilith up. "Thank you for answering my question." he told her. "It was my pleasure, if I can help you in any other way, please don't hesitate to ask." Lilith answered with a lewd smirk. All around the table were howling in delight at the Jedi Master's display, all but one. Sal-Fina had kept her gaze on Healer Leona during the event and a vindicated smile came over her face. She was the only one to see the little healer's eyes filled with obvious hurt before turning away in embarrassment. Serves her right, Sal-Fina thought satisfied. Qui-Gon rejoined his friends, laughing along with them. "I can't believe you did that Master," Obi-Wan said in awe of the normally staid man, clapping him on the back with enthusiasm. Reaching for his drink, Qui-Gon looked at his apprentice, "Really, Obi-Wan" he said with a glint in his eye, "maybe you'll get the chance to prove your own metal, truth or dare?" |
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| A Night to (almost) Remember |
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