| ***** Krelo sat down with as much dignity as she could muster, under the circumstances. A face covered in mucus was not something to be ignored lightly. As Jay Abran steadied his nose and prepared to face up to his next victim Krelo couldn’t help but scowl at the young padawan. What was so wrong with her perfume? Jemmiah smiled as she watched them all shuffle round again, weaving in and out like a demented caterpillar. Kylenn was looking somewhat agitated. Or desperate, Jemmiah couldn’t quite make up her mind which. If there was any justice here… She nudged Obi-Wan in the arm. "OW!" He scolded. "Careful!" "Sith, Ben. I’m sorry!" Jemmy apologized. "Does it hurt?" "It does now." He groaned. "I’ll just have to make it up to you." His eyes glinted. "It’ll have to be something pretty special. I’m in a lot of pain." "I’m sure I’ll think of something." She promised. "It depends on what you can do here." "What do you mean?" Kenobi frowned. Jemmiah nodded at the weaving rows of masters and padawans. "Can you help Jay to pick Kylenn?" "Why?" "Let’s just say I think it’ll prove very interesting." She grinned. "Well?" "I can try. But in theory I can’t mindspeak to Jay. I can only put out subtle promptings." "Then start prompting." Jemmy smiled. "You owe me." Obi-Wan winked. He watched Kylenn sway a little, but it didn’t particular look out of place amongst all the other drunken Jedi. She kept darting secret little pleading looks at Jay’s back. And she won’t admit she likes him in that way, Obi-Wan thought gleefully! He stretched out with the force, trying to place Kylenn’s line number in Jay’s head. //NUMBER FOUR// Kenobi thought at Abran. //YOUR LUCKY DICE NUMBER. NUMBER FOUR// Kylenn watched carefully, bearing Jemmiah’s advice in mind about how to proceed should she be picked. Her face felt rather hot and flushed, and she began to wonder if perhaps that last Purple Twilight had been a good idea or not… Jay Abran couldn’t begin to understand why he had the urge to call out number four. It was his lucky dice number, but for some reason he had the sneaky suspicion that someone was trying to prompt him to choose it, and that bothered him. He was on the verge of calling out number ten, and then thought the better of it. What the heck. "Four." He called. It was all Jemmiah could do to stop herself from crying out in delight. Kylenn didn’t look too unhappy either. Jay had no sooner turned round than he felt himself being attacked by someone or something. The shock registered on his face when he realized whose lips were clamped down on his. "Mmmmmmm!" He waved his hands helplessly as Kylenn refused to let go of him. "I don’t believe what I’m seeing!" Obi-Wan laughed from the sidelines. "Who would have thought it. Sweet little innocent Kylenn making a move on Jay Abran!" "Well, she’s been well primed for it." Jemmy replied as Jay relaxed somewhat and started to enjoy himself. "Have you seen how much she’s had to drink in the last few hours? And she’s not used to it, either. I think it’s all gone to her head." "She is going to be ill tomorrow." Obi-Wan agreed. "But who would have thought she’d have had the courage to actually jump him!" "I think that was maybe something I said." Jemmy flashed her best smile at Obi-Wan. "But does it look like Jay’s complaining?" "Not really." Kenobi agreed. "But she is really going to regret doing that tomorrow." "Too right." Jemmiah agreed as she indicated the holocam in Letina’s possession. "Especially as we have the unedited highlights captured for all posterity!" As Jemmiah spoke Kylenn finally released her grasp on the still startled looking Jay. "How was that then, Kylenn?" Meri called from the line. Kylenn opened her mouth to answer… and let out an uncharacteristic drunken belch. Obi-Wan had never seen Jay Abran look so deflated in his life! If Kylenn was going to regret her untypical behavior in the morning there were plenty of others who had claims to much the same. Padawan Imri had chosen Jodi as her next partner but she was too tipsy to notice who she was kissing by then. Healer Leona had been next up, followed by an extremely happy Mace and a somewhat sullen Sybelle. The dark haired apprentice had been even less happy when her inspired choice had been… Garos Hmiol. Jemmiah grinned from her vantagepoint. She’d often wanted to see Hmiol let his hair down and live a little, and yet a part of her acknowledged the fact that he was happiest being left to his own devices. If you didn’t bother him, he wouldn’t bother you. Which, she thought ruefully, was more than could be said for some people. Still. The young man had the whole of the rest of his life to be dull. Jemmiah couldn’t quite make him out, and that intrigued her. She was sure there was more to him than was first apparent. And hook or by crook, she would find out what it was. Tonight, however, he would join in the fun and lump it! He didn’t look either pleased or displeased with his shared smooch with Sybelle, and the latter had taken this for a deadly insult. Good, thought Jemmiah. Now, HE would have to choose. The little plan that had been formulating in Jemmiah’s brain was about to come into play… "I’m going to the bar." She kissed Obi-Wan on the forehead. "Want anything?" "A double portion of roast Nerf with a side order of Takkini chips would be nice." He sighed. "No can do, sorry." Jemmy shook her head. "Damn. I need to keep my strength up." He grinned, dimples showing in his cheeks. "Because when I get better…" "…Master Jinn will be watching us like a hawk." Jemmiah finished with a grimace. "A boy can dream." "Just don’t broadcast ‘em round the temple like last time." Jemmy laughed, remembering. "I don’t think your master’s ever quite got over hearing how you’d like to tear that white ball gown from off my back!" "Don’t remind me!" Kenobi blushed. "I was the only one in the immediate area of the hospital ward who hadn’t a clue what you were thinking." "There’s a lot to be said for being non-force sensitive." Obi-Wan admitted. He watched Jemmiah move towards the bar, only to see an extremely rough looking Kryztan Harkley slink into the cantina. The hair bristled on the back of his neck. Jemmy signalled the waitress who was cleaning the table. For a while Obi-Wan didn’t have the first idea what she was up to. And then finally he got it. The rows stopped bobbing and weaving, and Jemmiah and friend made their way to the middle of the row, squeezing themselves between Meri and Leona. This wasn’t easy because Jemmy’s friend was easily taller than Lilith Demodae and considerably broader in build. "Number twelve." Hmiol called resignedly. He really wanted it to be Dimallie, who he was almost certain that old nemesis Simeon Cates had some kind of interest in. That would wind him up when he got to hear about it! Number twelve; a rather unwilling looking Letina was only too quick to forfeit her place to the towering waitress alongside Jemmiah. The Corellian girl swaggered her way towards Garos and tapped him on the shoulder. He blinked. "I didn’t think you were playing." He said in surprise. "Oh, I’ve been playing this game too long to sit it out now." Jemmy grinned back. "Close your eyes." Hmiol shrugged and complied. He expected to be accosted by the warm and reputedly sensuous lips of Kenobi’s sixteen-year-old girlfriend. What he didn’t expect was to be grabbed roughly and lifted clean off the floor in a vice like grip. An overpowering smell of warm fur assaulted his nostrils as two wet rubbery lips slobbered over the unfortunate padawan to the accompanying sound of screaming laughter from the other Jedi. He didn’t dare open his eyes. "I can’t breathe!" Garos tried to say from the corner of his mouth. "Neither can we!" Meri howled, doubled over again. "Jemmiah, you-HIC-owe me! My hiccups have started again. It’s not-HIC-fair!" There was a strange throaty growl from the waitress that Hmiol did not care for one little bit. Whatever was going on, he didn’t like it. Ugh! "Lemmmee go!" Garos mumbled amidst the roars of amusement. "OK Flint. You’d better put him down." Jemmy waved at her companion. Garos felt himself slowly being returned to the ground, but it wasn’t until he felt his feet make contact with the floor that he steeled himself to look, and found himself eye to chest with… A female Wookie. "She’s been eyeing you since she came in. She’s well impressed with you, aren’t you Flint?" The Wookie roared in the affirmative, and Garos hopped back a few steps. "She says she likes the quiet ones and that in comparison to the others, you are a little tree-mouse!" Jemmiah giggled. Garos wiped furiously at his mouth with his hand, trying to remove the Wookie smell and the strands of hair still caught round his lips. He endeavored from that moment on until the whole shambles was over to become as extroverted as his own quiet character would allow. Within reason. Jemmiah winked at him and smacked Hmiol playfully on the rump. "THAT’S for avoiding my truth or dare question." She smiled. ***** Rela and Spider soon found themselves outside in the hunt for Qui-Gon. "Where did they go?" Spider asked "I don’t know. Jemmiah was busy at the time and all I could get from her was they were out." "This is turning out to be productive." Spider laughed. "What I don’t get is how did I get suckered into this. I guess a bit of flattery will get you something." Rela laughed back. "Well let’s look at this logically." Spider started, but was quickly interrupted by Rela laughing. "Stop laughing. Why did they leave?" Rela struggled to choke back her laughter. "If I know Kenobi it was for something to eat." "All right. What around here sells take out?" The two girls looked at each other. "Cisco’s!" they said in unison. They started their way towards the eatery and soon spotted the tall Jedi Master and the staggering form of Padawan Cates. "There they are. Do you have any idea what you’re going to say to him?" Spider asked. "Umm...No, but I’m sure something will come to me. Let’s catch up before we lose them again." Suddenly Rela stopped and grabbed Spider’s arm. "Spider! Do you see that?" "What that Twi’lek over there?" "That’s not just a Twi’lek. That’s a BLUE Twi’lek, wearing a BLUE dress, walking a BLUE dog!" Rela told her excitedly. "You are not still playing that are you?" Rela just smiled and ran over to confront the female Twi’lek. Spider on the other hand ran to catch up with Qui-Gon and Simeon. "Hey! Jedi man and Drunk boy! Wait up!" she called. Qui-Gon turned to see the bi-colored haired girl coming towards them. "Spider, what are you doing here?" "Hey Rela came looking for you, and I’m just along for the ride." "Then where’s Rela?" he asked as he took a look around. Spider pointed in the direction Rela had gone. Then they spotted her. Just in time to see that the Twi’lek had started spinning her dog around her trying to get Rela to back off. "GO AWAY!" they heard the Twi’lek yell. "LISTEN TO ME MA’AM!" Rela yelled back. "Oh this is STUPID!" Rela reached up and grabbed the spinning dog. "Ma’am all I want is your head thingy. It’s for a scavenger hunt, and I’ll even pay for it if you want." "Oh! Why didn’t you say so?" She quickly slipped her head tails out of her headgear and handed it to Rela. "I thought I did." Rela muttered to herself. Then she quickly added, "Thank you!" as she walked away. "You did it!" yelled a surprised Spider. A laughing Rela joined them holding her new prize. "Now all I have to do is find a one legged Nemoidian walking a goat and I win!" Qui-Gon let out an audible sigh. "I’ve got a drunk Padawan who by the looks of it is going to be sick at any moment, a multi-haired tattoo expert, and a small redhead who is assaulting Twi'leks for their headgear. Can tonight get any weirder?" Rela started laughing. "Qui-Gon you just jinxed yourself. Now it can only get weirder, and you don’t know the half of it. Plus it was a BLUE Twi’lek." ***** Garos wiped his mouth, and, making an excuse, headed for the 'Fresher. In truth, he had no intention of letting that Wookie get near him again. Oh, she would pay! Hmiol added Jemmiah to his mental revenge list, right below Simeon. That made two dishes of revenge to serve up tonight. Of course, if he could get them to eat from the same plate... An idea began to creep into Hmiol's head. No, it wasn't an idea, it was... With disgust, Garos pulled a small crawling parasite out of his mouth. ***** The small group soon found themselves at Cisco’s. They placed the large order and sat down to wait. Spider and Simeon soon found something more interesting to do besides wait. Which told Rela this would be her best chance at getting Qui-Gon to listen to her. "What is it Rela?" he asked almost as if reading her thoughts. "Why do you think I have something to say?" she teased. "Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. You’re one of those people who tends to forget to eat." "How can you forget to eat? I just get too busy to eat, so there." she said while sticking her tongue out at him. "What is it about?" he prodded. "It about Obi-Wan and Jem..." "Stop! Stop right there! I don’t know how they got you on their side, but I don’t want to discuss it. Not tonight!" he interrupted. "Stubborn old goat." Rela muttered to herself. "What did you say?" Qui-Gon quickly asked. "I said, STUBBORN OLD GOAT!" Rela clarified. "They are my friends and I want them to be happy. They asked me to do them a favor and I said yes. For some reason they though you would listen to me." "I don’t know why they would have thought that." Qui-Gon said surprised. "Me either." Rela agreed. Then she realized what she agreed to. "Hey! That wasn’t nice." "Oh, and stubborn old goat was?" "Well you are." she teased. "And I don’t listen to you." he teased back. Rela decided her best course of action would be to change the subject. She looked around and spotted Spider and Simeon at the attached bar discussing the art of tattoos. Simeon seemed to be thoroughly engrossed in the different areas of the body that Spider had a tattoo on. "Do you like my boots?" Rela coyly asked. "What? Why?" asked a confused Qui-Gon. "I love these boots." she stated. "What do your boots have to do with anything?" "Well, it took a lot of trouble to find these boots. They were really hard to find in my size because my feet are so small. Then because of the odd size they were pretty expensive, but in the end they were worth it. They’ve always been there when I needed them and they’ve never let me down." "Why do I get the feeling we’re not talking about your boots anymore?" Qui-Gon asked suspiciously. "Think what you want." Rela shrugged. "What if they get into a fight or break up? What do I do then?" he asked with concern. "Then they will either get their feelings hurt or their hearts broken. That’s life. If it does happen, then be there for them. Listen to what they have to say. Then they might listen to you." "Not likely." he muttered. "They might surprise you." Qui-Gon just turned to stare at Rela. "Well they might." she quickly added. "I should just prohibit them from seeing each other." he sighed. "They’ll hate you for it. You always say that it was the will of the force this, the will of the force that. Is this any different?" "Why are you so insistent that they be together?" "Like I said before, they are my friends and I want them to be happy. Just think about it for me will you?" Rela asked him with a pouty look. "AAAAHHHHH! Don’t pout. I’ll think about it." he agreed. "Thanks." she told him as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You won’t regret this, and if you need to talk to someone, you know where to find me." "I already to regret it, and why should I talk to you about it?" "Because I’ll listen to you." she teased. At that moment Spider and Simeon decided to join them. Spider seemed to be herself, but Simeon looked like he was going to loose it at any moment. "He either needs some food or needs to pass out. I don’t care which, it just needs to be soon." Spider quickly explained. "Either that or get sick." Rela added. "EEEEWWWWWW! Rela that’s gross." Spider laughed. Almost as if on cue Simeon lost it. BLARPP!! He also managed to hit Rela on her tunic sleeve. "No Spider, that is gross." she stated as she wrinkled her nose in disgust. ***** "Let’s get to the next cantina." Lilith yawned. "Not yet." "What have you got planned, Jemmiah?" Krelo folded her arms and met the girl stare for stare. The Corellian girl smiled. "That would be telling." "Oh, come on. Don’t keep us in suspense." Griff chimed in; suddenly realizing he was stood next to Lilith and made a conscious effort to stand on his toes ever so slightly to increase his height. "Are you sure you want to know?" Jemmiah grinned. "Yeah!" Vernice Ashdal replied. "Tell us. Now, now, now NOW!" Obi-Wan smiled. The masters were getting absolutely trashed! Jemmiah considered. "Flint? You got those items I asked you to stash away?" The giant Wookie nodded and headed behind the bar, retrieving from a hidden compartment what looked suspiciously like a plasti-bag. Containing what Obi-Wan did not know, but he wasn’t sure it boded well for them at all. Not if he knew Jemmy… The Wookie reached into the bag and pulled out what at first glance appeared to be crumpled white linen of some description. She bared her teeth in what Jemmiah recognized to be a toothy Wookie grin and loped over to Jay Abran. The nervous padawan watched as the Wookie opened the palm of his hand and placed the linen in his grasp. "What’s this?" He gulped as he allowed the garment to unfurl. It unrolled into a shapeless pair of out-sized men’s undergarments. The most hideously unfashionable pair that Jay had ever seen. "You must be joking!" Abran’s voice soared. "I’m not putting these on!" "That’s what we’re here to help you with." Jemmy smirked as the Wookie went around dishing out pairs of the monstrosities to many of the masters and padawans. "I don’t think I want to know…" laughed Biwo. The Wookie growled. "What’s the matter?" Leona frowned. "She wants to know where her cute little tree mouse is!" Jemmiah chuckled. "He’s still hiding in the fresher, I think." "Don’t worry." Biwo smiled. "I’ll make sure he’s out in time." "What are the rules?" Meri asked, rubbing her hands. Jemmiah picked up the last pair and waved them like a flag. "We pair off into groups; males and females. The idea is that the female has to dress the male with these must-have items of high fashion," she snickered, "but there is a snag." "Which is?" An-Paj asked cautiously. "They can only use their teeth to get them on…" There were horrified/incredulous looks from amongst the male contingent and wicked applause from the women. "Oh, I would never have thought of that in a zillion years!" Meri sighed happily. "I’m not playing that!" Griff sulked. "It’s well stupid." "You’ll play and like it!" Sybelle huffed. "Well, I’m playing." The towering form of Lilith Demodae stepped forward. "Krelo?" "Me too." She nodded. To everyone’s surprise, Leona volunteered next. "I’m certainly having a shot at it." She smiled, still decidedly flushed in the face. "On one condition." "Which is?" Jemmiah asked. "That An-Paj is my partner." There was a wicked gleam in her eye. An-Paj looked shocked. "Whatever would my wives say?" "Your wives aren’t here." Jemmiah pointed out. "Which is just as well. One of them would be pulling ‘em up with her teeth, the other would be pulling ‘em down, another would be complaining about them not being pressed properly, number four would be worried about whether they were too restricting…" "OK, OK!" An-Paj held up a hand to silence the girl. "I’ll partner Leona." "Oh, goody." Smiled the healer. "The person who manages in the shortest time are the winners and as a reward will have to drink that mini-barrel of finest ale all to themselves." Jemmiah pointed to the casket being rolled over towards them by the Wookie. Abran’s eyes nearly bugged. "No way. We’ll die!" "Who says you’ll win?" Jemmy said scornfully. "Are you going to rig it?" "Ha, ha!" The reduced group tried to sort themselves out into some kind of order. Leona and An-Paj stood by and watched as the others bickered over partners. "I’m with you, Windu." Grinned Lilith, nudging him surreptitiously in the ribs. "One good turn deserves another…" Mace gulped. Jemmiah carefully steered Obi-Wan out to the center of the floor. "You game?" "Too right." He laughed. "It’s about all the excitement I’m going to get at the moment." Sybelle pushed Griff out onto the floor. Meri and Zac, Krelo and Dex, Vernice and Biwo, Lilith and Mace, Ambianca and Gethin Territ, Junine and the returned and still hopelessly hungry Jodi, Letina and Jay, a disgusted looking Depa Billaba and an overjoyed Fin-Tial made up the starting line. Drunk as she may have been, Kylenn volunteered to hold the holocam. It seemed a safer bet. Garos Hmiol headed out from the fresher at exactly the wrong moment. "Oh, there you are." Jemmiah frowned. "We thought we were going to have to send Flint to prize you out from there!" Hmiol gulped. "But nevermind." She continued. "I think as everyone who’s playing has already been accounted for, Flint will be only too glad to step in and be your partner. Won’t you, Flint?" The Wookie grinned again and waved the final pair of underpants in Hmiol’s face. He turned to his master for support but found none. "Come on Garos. Don’t you worry about the size of her teeth. I’m sure she doesn’t bite." Jemmiah waited until the padawan had furiously taken his place. "Well. Not much anyway." She added. ***** As soon as Jemmiah gave the signal to start, Lilith dropped to her knees in front of Mace and grabbed the edge of the huge boxers in her teeth. She held it carefully open and the Jedi obligingly slipped his foot through the first hole. That was easy enough, but then the tall smuggler had crawl around to the other side and get a grip on the opposite end of the waistband and that wasn't too hard either, but she was quickly discovering that her excessive height was a liability in this game. She had a -lot- farther to bend over to get to the floor. A glimpse of Krelo showed that she was doing a little better than her friend and Lilith made a note to remind the redhead that using Jedi powers to win drinking games was cheating. Lilith's first attempt to pull the boxers up Mace's legs was a miserable failure. She banged her nose against his shin, accidentally nipped his ankle and almost knocked him over. Okay, one good tug wasn't going to do it this time. Time to change plans. "Spread your legs, Mace," she told him. This earned her quite a few laughs and giggles from the other participants as well as those watching, but he complied, a huge grin on his face. That pulled the waistband tight around his ankles, taking up the slack. After that Lilith simply crawled in circles around the Jedi Master, her teeth tugging the boxers up by mere centimeters with each circuit, but it was steady progress with no backsliding. When she reached his knees she hit a snag. Stopping behind one of his knees, Lilith was attempting to get a grip on the waistband, Mace started to twitch, banging her nose again. "Hold still, will you," she told him. "I can't help it. I'm ticklish just there." "That could be nice to know under other circumstances," she retorted, "But it's not helping me win this game. Now, use some of that famous Jedi control and hold still until I get past your knees." "I think that I'm a bit too drunk for that sort of control," he sputtered between snorting laughs as she again tried to get a grip on the boxers. She could feel his legs trembling with his rising laughter and the boxers threatened to fall, undoing all her hard work. "If you drop these," she warned him, "You'll find pictures from that dare of yours in all the Coruscant newsvids by tomorrow morning." ***** "Will you quit laughing!" Jemmy giggled through her mouthful of boxers. "I can’t help it." Kenobi grinned. "It’s the most wonderful picture I’ve seen in a long time." "Oh, yeah?" Jemmy managed to mumble. "Take a tip from me, pal. Never poke fun at a girl whose teeth are just inches away from inflicting serious and lasting injury on a Padawan’s person!" Obi-Wan flinched just a touch. "Still," he managed to say; "You do realize how dodgy this looks?" "Hah!" Jemmiah worked her way up past Obi-Wan’s left knee. "That’s how it’s s’posed to look!" |
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| A Night to (almost) Remember |
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