Masquerade [ Ft. Banks & November ]

Well, Phasma certainly wasn't begging for him to stop, that was for sure.

No, she was much too busy being wrapped in pleasure, never mind the Force. Despite the fact that she was in fact trapped, being manipulated by simple flicks of his wrist or whatever he so chose, the woman had already mentally cleared over the mental hurdle of being uncomfortable about it. Even if, the twinge of fear still sat in the back of her head. One would be an idiot to say that it wasn't there, a liar to say that having someone keep you from moving in such a way wasn't absolutely frightening. But, this was different. Different than Chandrila, simply because of the different means, because there was no needing to fish through her mind for information, no need to rip her apart. No, his cock had the aims to do that already. To say the very least, he was a lucky man as it was to be settled in between her legs and not being strangled, although there could easily come a day.

She could feel the muscles on his shoulders working in unison with the rest of his body, to make her scream louder for him, to make her body clench and stretch in his hands. The initial impact of his hand colliding with her cheek was. . Shocking, to say the least. It caught her off guard and made her eyes flare just slightly, but it didn't stop the set of moans that fell out afterward, eyes narrowing just faintly as her body continued to succumb under the pressure. But of course, he stopped. He stopped to let her go, feeling the gentle pull of both gravity and his reach drop her to the floor, momentarily amused that the bed was being so sorely neglected. Knees bending just slightly, the woman shifted carefully as he admired his work so far, legs grazing down his sides and her hands slipping over his chest until her left foot hit the floor beside him, just in time for him to announce that he wasn't finished with her.

Cute.

" Of course not. " She could feel his heavy breathing through his chest, heart beating with a rhythm against her fingertips, her opposite leg still at his side, the moment to breathe welcome. However, just as her hands reached his shoulders, the woman's legs shifted, pulling him down only to be turned over, palms forcing his shoulders down onto the floor. The push had been just a bit hard, one might even say slight payback for being slapped in the face, the thud against the ground causing a miscellaneous book to fall. Staring down at him now as he lay beneath her, the warmth he had once been buried in how pressed against him, hands still holding his shoulders to the floor as she leaned forward, lips hovering over his, " I'm not finished. " Raising her hips slightly, it wasn't hard at all for her slit to meet his cock again, the space granted his length room to reach for its warmth, raising up and using his shoulders to balance, the woman now gave him the grand view of watching his cock disappear inside her from between her full thighs.
 
He let out an unashamed groan as she confidently squeezed down on top of him. He felt that beautiful burning sensation spread down his shaft as she sank lower until her hips slammed down on top of his. He loved looking at her from the bottom - she was like a totally different person like this.

Made sense, a distant part of him noted. He'd taken all control from her the last few minutes, so of course she'd want to do something more assertive. He'd almost counted on it. Of course, who would know that it would feel like... like this?

He arched his back and tilted his hips upwards just a bit, helping to get as deep as possible as she rode on top of him. She squeezed her way up to the very top of his head and rode back down with total precision. And that was after him slapping her all over - not to mention the near-death experience they'd both had earlier tonight.

"If this is your way of thanking me, I should hit you more often."

This was far and away the strongest woman he'd ever been with, and she had the timing and balance of an athlete, too. The way she felt was driving him crazy - she was like an animal, or someone's carefully crafted statue of a woman, alive and out of her mind on top of him.

He stopped for a second and drank in the motions of her body - her tits, the sweat on her forehead, the shape of her calves. He wasn't sure if he'd ever been this hard before.

Kylo realized with a start that he'd been enjoying the ride for quite a bit now. He sat back, balanced on his elbows for leverage, and began to push himself forward, still letting her lead the way, but at least matching her strangest thrusts somewhat.
 
There had been a few men in this position, but for a completely different reason entirely. Never had any of them held more than a fleeting second of the idea that having Phasma on top of them was deemed as sexy, but again, so few men knew what was beneath her armor. Consider himself lucky to be in this position and not yet at the point of getting a fist in his eye, though there was still plenty of time in their lives and Phasma wasn't going to put him on a pedestal. Choppy, angled bangs brushed over her flush cheeks each time her head tilted downward, her thighs guiding her up only to let the soft skin of her ass press into his lap over and over again. Whether it was the stinging in her cheeks or the way she felt his cock reach deep within her, the woman's body didn't stop, driving the sensation up through her body.

Hands slipping away from his shoulders, her nails left red lines of their presence against his chest, the familiar scent that had been left in their previous ship filling the air around them, the rapid smacks of her ass colliding with his skin and spreading the mess he had caused. Phasma's walls were gripping him, as though they had spent the entire time of him teasing her making a silent promise back to him, to hold on to him ever so tight. It was almost amusing the way he got lost in her curves, the way her breasts pressed together thanks to her hands on his chest, stomach taut as she leaned forward and arched her back, body working in unison to bring them both to another well deserved orgasm.
 
Kylo narrowed his eyebrows, focusing as much as he could as he felt his muscles starting to shake inside him. Her hands on his chest felt good, the sight of her on top of him was amazing. The toe curling, earth shattering feeling of his shaft pushing into her body - that was obscene. It was like her presence had engaged every sense of his body.

"Fuck. Ohhhh...yeah. You're amazing. I love it." He reached over and smacked her on the ass again. "I'm so close to having the hardest come I've ever had. You're so good I can barely even breathe. Now I want you to show me you're the best. I want you to come right on top of this."

He pressed his hand against her mound, as if he could touch himself through her folds. "I want you to squeeze it for me while you... uggggh... while you come, and then I want you to give me a -"

Kylo stopped what he was doing and grabbed her by the hips. Even as close as he was, he wanted to spend every drop of energy inside her. "You're gonna... I want to feel your lips on mine, I want your tongue tasting me, and then I'm cumming all the way inside you."

He picked up the pace now, a part of him most certainly feeling like he was babbling nonsense. But he wanted to talk, to urge her on, to get as much as he could possibly handle. "Is that what you wanna feel? That warmth flooding into your body? Me finally getting off with you? Inside you? Come on..."
 
She could feel his body starting to betray him beneath her, no matter how hard he tried to fight against it, Phasma was going to get what she wanted. She was going to get what she wanted, and make sure he remembered all of this in the process, just the same as he had made sure their sex was etched into her memory. Phasma wanted him to remember seeing her above him, hips rocking and breasts bouncing each time she dropped herself back down, the tingling burn in her thighs ignored. Her nails had again begun making more lines in his chest, the red trails ending where her fingers curled inward as her moans had long sense turned into half screams half lidded eyes closing when he so kindly walked her through what he wanted through her orgasm. Which, that glorious feeling was starting to pour over her, an almost cooled feeling running down the back of her neck and down her spine, she felt herself grip his cock tighter. Leaning forward, Phasma's lips immediately met his, using this angle to let his hips pump upward, she could taste the saltiness of the sweat shared between them, hands gravitating to his shoulders just in time to grip him again. " Fucking fill me up. " It was like a switch for her body, those words, her slit tight around him as she broke their kiss again, sounds of pure pleasure coaxing her through her orgasm.


 
More than anything, Kylo wished they'd taken this shit to the bed.

It felt very much like Phasma wanted to break his hips and fuck him through the floor. And if that wasn't hard enough on his body, she was practically using him as a scratching post. But despite the rings of protest from every corner of his body, he couldn't help but feel like... it was worth it. He would walk through fire for a chance to feel like this.

He dug his hands into the tile, sweat underneath his fingers, running down his chest and sliding down the hard muscles of his midsection. She came on top of him like a wave, and as tired as he was starting to feel, the sight of her throat tilted forward in an orgasm gave him all the energy he needed to finish. As much as he felt that way, she obviously felt the same, her inner muscles somehow becoming more hungry and demanding, and that kiss... he'd expected something gentler, marked with gratitude...but in that moment, her lips felt like a demand. And her words afterwards didn't disabuse her of that notion.

And that was fine. He wanted to finish just as much. Tired as he felt, his mind was still insatiable.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and swung his hips forward, filling her pussy and rocking back and forth inside her. He still loved that feeling of friction when he rubbed against her inner walls, or when his balls slapped against her body, or when.

"Ah, I'm..." Kylo growled and willed himself to speed his tempo, exploding inside of his own mind as he fired a load inside of her. He slowed down, going for depth and intensity over pure power, his still hard cock determined to stay part of her body for every second it was possible.

Another aftershock rippled through his body, and he put in two more thrusts, but he suddenly felt weak. His balls and muscles and eyes and brain were all drained.

She had all of it now. Kylo leaned backwards, taking deep breaths, so many pieces of his body sweating and burning that he didn't know how to favor them.
 
Waking up with someone else was odd enough as it was, though doing so comfortably and with the knowledge of having to see them after had crossed her mind several times when she woke up and slipped out of his grasp. Could've been worse. She could have had to destroy something of his to keep him far, far away from her. Glancing away slightly at the discarded memory that was again pushed to the back of her mind, the hot water loosening up the well deserved sore muscles that she had been left with after the night's romp. Tender spots on her skin where when he had grabbed her, it hadn't been delicate or gentle, not that she had expected him to when he had so clearly stated that he wasn't going to. Frankly he had said a lot of things very clearly. The sound of the water stopped as she moved to the mirror, fingers grazing her skin to find the sensations she had started to find familiar as of late, turning to look behind her. There they were, the telltale signs of bruising at the back of her thighs, Phasma honestly couldn't decide if that was her fault or his, thankfully not seeing the same across her face.

That would have been way too complicated to explain.

The room still dimly lit as she stepped through it silently, moving on the balls of her feet through piles of black that more than likely belonged to him. Pulling the body suit up her frame after discarding the towel against a chair, the woman was halfway out the door in adjusting her breasts before having to make an awkward two step around Hux. " Oh. . Hey, " Carefully moving around the man when his face hit a deep red before she had even had the chance to really say anything, raising a brow slightly as she moved toward the cockpit. What was his problem. It hadn't really dawned on her until she sat down in the pilot's seat, watching the soft blink of the radar as the planet grew near, that she had completely forgotten about him last night. " We couldn't have been that loud. . " Right Phasma, sure you weren't.

 
Of course, he felt her leave and hit the shower, but he didn't get up and follow her - mostly because he was still too tired to open his eyes and move. His body felt like a weird, unholy combination of pulp and muscle. Even his cock was aching. Kylo finally gained the strength to brush his hands over his forehead (damp of course) and slide out of bed just as Phasma was getting out of the shower. Hm, how strange - she hadn't wanted to talk to him. He couldn't have an idea of how good he was outside of... sideways looks and nervous tics.

Well, maybe it wasn't so strange, given the target. And it wasn't as if he needed verbal confirmation of how good he'd been. It just would have been... nice, that's all. He went behind her in the shower - he needed that time to think - and when he came out he almost considered changing his clothes to something a bit more... discreet.

But odds were that discretion wasn't going to help them here. Maybe his full attire could be some sort of deterrent. Certainly Phasma dressing like... well, like some stormtrooper whose armor had been blown to shreds wasn't going to make too much of an impression.

He limped into the cockpit, and a weird silence between his two... crewmates? He'd expected some cutting remark from Hux - had spent a good deal of his shower time loading up some cutting replies. But instead, the kid looked like he'd had too much to drink last night.

"Well," he said quickly. "You look... ah, well. You're here. And that's what's important."

He hadn't thought about how incredibly awkward it had been for Hux until long after he'd gotten off. Really, it wasn't until he hit the bed that he even remembered anyone else existed on the ship. The timing of the thing - he'd really just wanted to take his mind off the piss affair, but to him it had probably seemed like the whole awful situation was an aphrodisiac (Phasma's hysterical laughter not being a benefit there). And they hadn't been subtle together. Not at all.

"Just... barely." Kylo grimaced. There really was no way to make this comfortable for anyone involved. Just a spectrum of bad reactions that heightened tensions with Hux or annoyed Phasma.

Of course, he'd do something to annoy Phasma soon enough, but he did want to fuck her again, which meant doing as little to proactively ruin things as possible.

He almost envied poor old Hux. Being able to walk this morning without a limp... having a chest that didn't feel like it was on fire...

Hm, was that the entire list?

Fine, given the benefits, he didn't envy him a bit.

Kylo slunk down onto the little couch behind the cockpit and messed with the little drink panel Hux had discovered, flipping it up and then down. "To be fair, you did ask to come. You made a very big production out of it if I remember correctly."

"Well, I didn't think you'd be..." He made a very large hand gesture, as if talking about it was an embarrassment. "And I especially didn't think you'd be so demonstrative about it."

Kylo groaned. It was as if Hux was trying to retroactively ruin an amazing night. He did not want to have to imagine this ginger in the corner, giving constructive criticism of his performance.

"Can we not. Can we all just... not." He pointed at Phasma, who couldn't see him behind the wheel, but had to just know somehow. "I'd like you to especially not. Should we try to arrange this meeting as soon as we can or should we be... buying something to wear?"

He assumed they wanted to just go to this meeting as themselves. But if Phasma wanted to cook up some elaborate cover story, now was the time.
 
What. . What if maybe he hadn't heard and he was just being weird. Don't be an idiot Phasma. Sighing as she partially slumped into the seat, unaware that she had pulled one of her legs into the seat with her as the ship moved closer to the planet, eyes wandering once the clouds broke around the ship. Well, no one had begged him to come, even if she had acknowledged he could be of some help. Besides, she was halfway sure that it wasn't something that would happened whether he had been here, unplanned. Again she scoffed at herself, absolutely doubting that the time spent alone wouldn't have given them even more reason to claw at each other like animals, but at the time Phasma hadn't been thinking about the red haired man. Frankly that probably would have shot her mood right into the ground, and even now only a small portion of her cared.

Sure. He was her superior, and technically she was sleeping with another superior. . But, she was an early product of Doriel's father, so in a twisted way, it could be seen as his fault. Grinning because that was illogical and absolutely incorrect, turning her head slightly as the initial break for conversation began, sighing softly when it began in Ren's corner. Of course. Just couldn't ignore the silence. It was Hux's description, even without having to see his hands, that caused Phasma to keep her grin, hands grazing over the dash as they moved past a set of mountains. The closer they got to the ground, it became all too clear that this wasn't simply a planet for people to vacation on by accident, raising her hand into the air when she heard Kylo direct his words to her as though saying 'What'. " I didn't say a word, " It was true, she hadn't, but she knew that she was amused even without having to see her face.

The dust in the spaceport raised up around the ship as she lowered it to the ground, the hum of the ship starting to slow as she turned, tilting her head softly. A scheme wasn't anything in her mind, though she was already without her armor, destroyed thanks to a situation she hadn't necessarily wanted to be in. " Do you know how long it takes me to get fitted for things that are actually mine? " Hands motioning over her chest and down the rest of her frame, the blonde then stood and folded her arms over her bust, " I'm not about to fuck up my entire uniform in two days. "
 
Hm. Kylo crossed his legs, patting his chin for a while before conceding the point. Before now, he had sort've considered Phasma's attire to be an elaborate display of vanity. Or to be more accurate, he'd considered her stock stormtrooper uniform to be an elaborate display of counter-vanity with it's own labyrinthine logic behind it.

As it was, this wasn't something he could argue with. He shrugged his shoulders and turned leaned against the edge of the ship. "Someone explain where we are and what we're doing here."

"Well," Hux said, happy to be onto business that didn't involve Phasma pointing at her breasts, "this is Kradeir. It's Ord Mantell's third largest spaceport and the home city of Declan Lavish. I would suggest you're on your toes here, this is one of the most corrupt cities in Order space. I'm ashamed to admit that many of the police officers here are on the Black Sun's payroll."

Kylo sighed. Well, of course it was, and of course they were. "Are you going to be able to get another -"

"Another meeting. Given my performance last time." Hux was really facing his humiliation head-on. The Major General tightened a cap around his head and threw an elaborate looking... shawl over his shoulders. "While the two of you were preoccupied - I made contact with a Yonen Terrik. He's worked for Lavish for years, he can make the introduction."

Hux made his way to the door and pressed a button, opening the door with a smooth-sounding swoosh. "You sure he'll still want to introduce you after last time? And why are you wearing all that?"

"Manners maketh the man, Ren." He stepped to the side and walked down the ramp, barely paying attention to him anymore. Kylo groaned and followed him. The man had an incredible ability to get under his nerves. He was the commiserate First Order officer, in all the worst ways. "Your two questions are very tightly related. I can't be sure what my relationship with Yonen is now. He's Rodian by the way, in case you need to... ready your stomachs."

Kylo narrowed his eyes, but didn't comment beyond that.

"That's why I need to make a proper first impression. Appearances are everything, especially given..." he paused his marched, looked back and gave the two of them a not-very-subtle once over. "... what we have to work with."

Kylo looked back towards Phasma and bugged his eyes out quietly, pushing his way through the crowded spaceport. "Very well. Is this him?"

A finger slowly went up. Kylo pointed at a Rodian in a black and purple track suit that clashed horribly with his green skin. Hux nodded and waved. "Yonen Terrik!"

Hux quickly closed the distance, babbling something cheerful sounding in Rodian. The gangster caught Hux's eye and nodded curtly, waiting for him to get in range before leveling him with an uppercut.

And with that, Hux (and his hat, and his coat) went sprawling to the ground. And some lanky Ithorian stepped over him without so much as breaking stride or looking down.

Ord Mantell was a rough, rough place.
 
Please. It had already been enough for them to modify certain, ahem, areas of her uniform when the female grew up through her training, she silently dreaded how long it would take for them to make another, because costs and other excuses she had heard whispered through the wind. It was like being the tallest out of young cadets, awkward and lanky, only to grow and develop curves that most of her fellow cadets had never even seen on anyone other than their friend's mothers. Thankfully, she disappeared among them when graduation came around and uniforms were given, but God. Just the thought made her roll her eyes, hands falling to settle at her hips as Hux began to explain the destination he had given them, raising a brow when the flourished piece of fabric was flapped around Hux's upper half. He was just too easy to laugh at, really.

But she showed some self restraint, simply letting her eyes run over him to save the mental image for a later thought when she was alone. Watching him move away to the door, Phasma stepped down from the cockpit now, eyes moving over a set of compartments near the door, opening two before smiling softly. Thankfully, the First Order hadn't let her down here, placing the strap of the altered e-11 around her torso and holding the second, pulling the power cells from it before the woman moved after Ren, the door sliding closed behind her. Taking in the sight of the busy spaceport, her boots shifted dust beneath her, clicking her tongue behind her teeth softly when Hux looked them over, " Coming from the man in a shawl. Please. " The scene that unfolded shortly after almost went unnoticed, eyes venturing around the port until she noticed the covered tent manned by a Jawa, one of many booths hustling people for their items. Good, plenty of scumbags to trade things. Turning back to the men in front of her with her lips parted, sighing audibly when Hux came crashing to the ground, watching his hat roll off somewhere, hell she wasn't going after it.

" On our toes, huh. "

Poor man couldn't catch a break. But Phasma would mind that in a little bit. " I'll be back. " Breaking away from the scene, the blonde moved toward the booth now, yellow eyes catching her immediately and growing wide. Thankfully, the exchange hadn't taken long at all, simply mentioning that his pile of shitty droid parts needed a gun, giving him the empty e-11 that it so clearly hadn't noticed, the basic conversation ended with whatever the Jawa could form outside of its own language. The stormtrooper wasn't gone for much longer, raising the black hood of the dress over her head, amber eyes easily spotting the head of ginger and moving toward him now, looking over the damage made from the punch. Could have been worse. Phasma's quick trading had bought her yet another dress, sighing about it when she changed though deciding it was better than tearing up her own clothing, the slits up each side giving her enough room to move as opposed to the last dr- " I guess I'm a dress woman. " Nevermind that now. " How's your face? "
 
"So, should we..."

Kylo looked down at the carnage. Poor Hux was still reeling from the sucker punch, and he'd expected for things to get ugly quick, but apparently Phasma thought she could press a pause button and... go shopping. A few little jokes boiled around in Kylo's head, little jokes he wouldn't dare say out loud.

"Should we talk about you assaulting our friend here, or should we wait?"

The Rodian shrugged. "Is she important? I don't see any reason to -"

"It's -"

"The faster we go ahead with -"

Kylo raised a hand. The two of them talking over each other wouldn't be productive. "You go first."

"No," he said, waving generously, "I insist."

Kylo let out a terse kind of smile. "It's just that I don't want her to be behind on anything. Like, if she gets back and I'm on top of you, punching you in the face, again and again and again."

"Well," Yonen garbled. "That wouldn't happen."

"But let's say it did. She comes back, and I'm punching you in the face, again and again and again. And then I have to explain to her how things got to this point because she wasn't here for all of this. Maybe you were just being a cunt, but she's going to demand an explanation -"

The Rodian held a hand up now. "Is she a sensitive sort?"

"What? No. No. She's actually very terrifying," Kylo said matter-of-factly. "Loves to kill. Just loves it. HUX. Could you please get up?"

He pulled himself to his feet, getting one of his impractical accessories and then the other, dusting them off and putting them back on. By God, some people just didn't have the capacity to recognize when something was causing a problem.

"I'm fine. Just a bit shocked that an old friend would treat me in such a fashion." The redhead folded his arms in front of him and clicked his heels together. "Don't you have any respect? After all the times I've looked out for you?"

"I don't owe you anymore favors, Doriel." Yonen spat on the ground in front of him. "Lavish almost stuck my antennae in a blender the last time you showed up. If I had known you'd ask about... them... I wouldn't have introduced you to him."

Kylo cleared his throat. "This is exactly what I'm talking about. I don't want to talk about this until Phasma gets back."

"Is that who we're talking about?" Yonen got on his tip-toes and watched her in the distance. "She's... so funny looking. Does she have a first name?"

"Commander."

Yonen rolled his eyes. "If she's as... put-together as you say she is, she's not going to mind walking in on a bit of violence. She'll just accept it as a natural course of life. And here she comes, anyway."

"You know, it's wonderful for me to hear you say that. Because I don't want you to complain when I'm punching you."

"Again and again and again?"

"Right."

And here she was, still fiddling with her clothes even as she approached them. And asking Hux about his face.

"I'm quite all right. One or two blows is nothing in comparison to what I've faced just yesterday."

Kylo smiled into his fist. He could be talking about any number of things.

"We need you to take us back to Lavish."

"He doesn't want to see you. Or any other Order flunkie. I should hit you again for even suggesting it."
 
What was the hold up?


Rolling her eyes at the dramatic response from Hux, she was going to assume he meant the tragedy they had all faced on the bait ship and not what he had heard on the ship ride here. He could have found something else to listen to, surely. But, the woman clicked her tongue behind her teeth softly, narrowing her eyes because something felt off about this conversation. . Wait. . That's what it was. " So, you punched him in the face? " Nods all around, good good. " And you are. . ?" The Rodian blinked softly as it was his turn to speak, her bright eyes staring to him now with a curious expression. " Yonen. . Yonen Terrik. " Excellent, confirmed. Now it was Phasma's turn to nod, speaking again, " Right, good. And you, Yonen just threatened to punch him in the face again. "

Using her hands to motion to Hux, the blonde woman received another uncomfortable nod, for a moment it looked as though she were trying to register what was going on. Unfortunately, she wasn't an idiot. Tapping her fingertips together softly as the woman stood among this odd circle of conversation, sighing gently, her hands reached out, gripping him tightly by the purple collar of his hideous jumpsuit. Only the sound of a " Hey- " was heard before the woman shook him, his antennae shaking as sounds of clear discomfort filtered around them. Phasma was pleased with this environment, no one stopping to care what was happening to the shorter rodian, gripping him tightly at the collar as she stopped shaking him.

Fists pressing into his neck as she pulled him forward, Phasma's pretty eyes narrowed and ignoring the faint attempt to squirm from his discomfort. " I'm sure you've been having a wonderful conversation with these gentlemen, " Probably about me because they like to talk shit. " But really, the situation is, " The emphasis on gentlemen and conversation simply because Phasma was not one for having unnecessary conversation. He had already punched Hux in his tender, baby face. He had already broken any common ground and Phasma saw no reason to keep any pleasantries. " If you don't take us to him, your little ass will never hit anything ever again. And I know, Lavish may seem scary, but I can promise you he is not as scary as my fist in your face, right now. " And God was she tired of saving up a punch for Kylo.
 
He'd been on the planet for all of five minutes before he'd started to feel a bit impatient, but the sheer absurdity of their situation was funny to him. He'd expected there to be two or three intermediate steps before things turned to outright assault. But Plasma obviously didn't share his comfort for comic tedium.

"I tried to tell you," Kylo said smoothly. "She really loves her work."

"You three don't know what you're doing," he gasped. "You're like children. You harm me, you harm the Black Sun. There is a reason why -"

"Listen. You might have gotten a certain impression dealing with the Order in the past. And maybe Major General Hux here assisted with that impression. But understand this. We aren't garden variety Order, and we didn't come all this way to be reasonable with scum like you."

"Lavish is in the middle of a business arrangement. We can't see him. He doesn't want to be disturbed, he'll kill me -"


Kylo ignored him and turned to Phasma. "While you were gone, he called you funny looking."

She looked for him to the Rodian and raised one heavy eyebrow before pulling him up further. "Oh?"

He was already barely touching the ground, now he went up higher. The Order literally had her training a squadron of little murderbabies in her image. He shouldn't have been so surprised things were working out this quickly.

"Understand this, if we kill you, we'll be half the galaxy away by tomorrow. And trust me, the Sun doesn't think you're important enough to avenge. I can tell just by looking at you. I will scrape you off my shoe and forget you even existed by sunrise tomorrow."

"You don't understand," he said, his feet kicking the air like some invisible bicycle. "You can't meet him. You would need... tickets."

Kylo blinked twice and tilted his head. "Like... circus tickets?"
 
" She really loves her work. "

" I do, I'm very good at it. "
It was just so lovely for Phasma to have found a career that she was just so skilled in. Of course she hadn't necessarily found it, more of been found, but that was neither here nor there in this situation, an explanation for some other time. Though on a more civil planet this could be seen as bullying, Phasma wasn't particularly caring in the matter, as after all, he had delivered the first punch, Hux merely being too. . Well, weak to act out of his uniform. Oh well, hm? His squirming did nothing to loosen her grip from his outfit, taking in the tacky pattern that she was almost surprised was made in such a color scheme, turning her head softly when Kylo spoke. Her face immediately looked surprised, momentarily confused that this thing had the audacity, raising him to her eye level, almost half tempted to rattle his brain around in his head again.

" Oh? "

His voice seemed to flake out after Kylo spoke to him again, eyes glaring softly at his face as he glanced to the side, fearful of a sudden movement that would leave him on the ground in a pile of his own mess. Out of the three of them, she was funny looking? With the weasley ginger beside her and the moody, big eared jedi on her other side? Phasma couldn't even. . Whatever. Who was looking to be the object of a fucking rodian's eye anyway. Shifting the man as he started to kick, Phasma glared at him now as she murmured, " If you get your dirty feet on this dress, " There it was again, the twinge of being a clean freak, watching him stiffen himself at once and turn to Ren, " No! Not like circus tickets, like admission! He's hosting an event with some of his men, " Pity, dear Yonen wasn't invited. He could have avoided this entire confrontation ten fold, probably even if he hadn't so rudely started the conversation.

" He didn't invite m- "

" Yonen. . No one cares about why he didn't want you at the party. Tickets, focus. "
 
"It's a charity event. Some flesh-eating disease in the Outer Rim. And some other company is investing in a cure, and some other company is trying to buy land for mining rights."

"You're telling me that the Order is letting a well-known smuggler host... black-tie galas?"

"Word on the street is that the Order doesn't want expensive conflicts." Yonen turned to him and smiled. "How little you know. About anything. It's almost adorable."

Hux threw his hands into the air and paced around in a circle. Kylo watched him out of the corner of his eye as he blew a heavy breath into the air. And he did understand that. Whatever issues he had with Hux, he was a true believer.

That loyalty was maybe the one thing they all had in common, in their own different ways. So of course he'd be dismayed to know that crime and corruption were rampant in this territory that was in the heart of the First Order. But that was part of life, something impossible to avoid. Even Darth Vader couldn't simply rub out an organization like the Black Sun entirely. Kylo understood as well as anyone that behind every smuggling arrangement, there was something that people decided they needed, whether it was as small as a shipload of rare animals or a capital-sized shipment of spice.

And a government, whether it was the Republic or the Order or the Triumverate or something else, they couldn't devote every drop of themselves to standing in the way of that. Not when there was a war to fight.

"Forget about all that. Tell me. Tell us about how to meet him. We don't necessarily want him dead. We just want information."

Yonen looked at Phasma (who was still giving him a hard look), back to Hux, and then to him before sighing. "It isn't like he's hiding. He's at the Kradeir opera house. It's just that -"

There was a bolt of laughter before he could finish. "A shit city like Kradier has an opera house?"

Yonen's experession changed. The Rodians were a warrior society (although a surprising number of them were actors or announcers), but he'd never seen one look as... sad as this one. "Listen to me, Kylo Ren."

"How did you know my name?"

"There's so much going on here that none of you understand." He'd stopped kicking around anyway. He looked up to Phasma, but it seemed like his speech was directed at the three of them. "When people have so much it creates a... crisis of the mind. People want to do something with their money. Convince themselves they aren't just scum that floated to the top. So they do things that they heard of other rich people doing. Of course they have an opera house."

"You aren't listening." He stepped forward and snapped a couple of fingers in front of Yonen's big eyes. "I don't want the philosophy. Tell us how we can get in. Or I'm going to have her tear you to pieces right here."

"I really don't know!" He held his arms up. "I can... I can take you there. I've got a speeder and everything. But I don't know if that will be enough to get you in."

Kylo ground his teeth together. "Listen, we just need to bluff our way past security. If I can get close enough to see him, that would give us an... advantage. What would we need to do? Pose as... buyers or something?"

He really, really didn't enjoy Hux's company, but he'd hesitate to call the man a weakling. If anything, he was obnoxiously dedicated to his goals. He thought about it and said. "Well. Seeing as all the rumors I've heard are distressingly accurate. Why not simply pretend to be corrupt? You're Snoke's favorite boy."

There was a hint of derision, but not enough for Kylo to root it out at a time like this. "Fine. Why pretend? I don't care about the Black Sun. I just want the people he's working with."

Hux let out a heavy sigh. Kylo narrowed his eyes and looked back at Commander Phasma.

"If you'd like to put him down and give the opportunity to lead us to the Opera House, do so." He turned back to Yonen. "Of course, if she thinks you need something more painful than that to keep you in line... who am I to argue?"
 
Unfortunately Phasma couldn't pretend to be surprised. It was too much effort that could be placed elsewhere than to monitor Ord Mantell so closely. Too much effort, never enough troopers, the list went on and on. And so, while in First Order space, this filthy planet thrived like a leech, sucking off of what it could from those who passed through. These scavengers had spent their lives and the next person's lives making this place what it was, and although it was admirable, it was a hindrance outside of this planet. Sighing softly when the look of absolute sadness crossed his face, clearly the way he chose to hold his feelings was all wrong. That's not how feelings work Phasma.

Whatever.

Although she didn't entirely care to have conversation with Hux's not so fond connection here, she was easily letting him state his piece, perking a brow softly until his eye contact was broken and drawn back to Kylo. " Rumors? " Well. Wasn't that good to know, immediately drawing back to the pirates who had invaded their ship. The situation had left them wide open for rumors, even signs of them being sloppy, inwardly groaning at the thought and absolute unpleasant memory. What caused a soft, " Hm. " From both Phasma and Hux was Yonen's next sentence, Phasma tilting her head faintly as a short sign of agreement. He was Snoke's pride and joy. Then it was settled. Though she very easily put him down and let him momentarily regained himself, her hand reached out and immediately gripped his left antenna, his big eyes turning up to her as though they had a silent agreement that she'd rip it right off if he tried anything reckless.

The walk to Yonen's speeder was awkward, more so for him than anything else, the blonde woman clearly without genuine care for his discomfort in the matter, squeezing lightly every so often just as a silent reminder. She could have done a lot worse, so she counted him as a lucky little green thing. For now." Do you have a plan for this or are you about to send us into something reckless again? " The sound of the speeder humming beneath them muffled out conversations between rows of seats, Hux sitting beside Yonen looking all too uncomfortable. Well, he could have been squished back here between the two of them, but the woman already knew he wasn't ready for that level of embarrassment yet, turning her head now to the dark haired male beside her.
 
The place was all lengthy arcs and jagged pieces, like God had cracked a half-dozen eggshells and left them scattered across the ground. Massive transparent glass panels of men touching the hands of deities and women elegantly stretching their hands to the sky dominated the rest of the design. The walls inside (and so close, Kylo could squint and see them inside the glass) were velvet and crimson, with shining, neon chandeliers blazing overhead.

One of the weirdest things about space travel was... the seasons. He'd left Chandrila in the fall, but it was blazing hot on Ord Mantell, enough to get him feeling weird here in the speeder. Phasma's insistence on some kind of "plan" only made it weirder.

"I'm thinking that the plan should be..."

Yonen pulled the speeder to a halt and held up his hands, as if there was nothing else he could do.

"Absolutely not," Hux said. "You're coming with us, and furthermore -"

Before he could finish his threat, Kylo held an arm up. "I'm... 80% sure I can get us inside without any extra help. So just let him go and we'll -"

"Four out of five isn't quite enough for me, Ren." He couldn't help but feel responsible for this. If he'd been at full strength, and full understanding of the Force, this entire affair would have been child's play. He would have been able to protect his friends allies and get all the information he needed. And yet, everything seemed... harder for him. Why was that?

"You need to trust me," he said harshly. He filed out of the speeder, and the others followed. "My plan is to proceed very calmly. Convince him that we can bring just enough trouble that it's worth giving the pirates up. Use the Supreme Leader's name a bit? If you have any ideas, feel free to interrupt."

Kylo wasn't sure whether he was terrible or if he had some strange mental blocks or whether he was still too conflicted. But despite his innate power, everything took him longer to understand, to learn. Snoke had helped him so much, had conveyed the title of Master on him due to his raw abilities (a messy issue by itself, he'd never understood how meaningless the title was until someone gave it to him)... the subtleties of the Force were often lost on him. So many people with less power had... understood. Like it was nothing.

He was closing in on the ticket office, so if Phasma wanted to nag at him for lack of preparedness, or Hux wanted to say things weren't by the book, well... this was their chance.
 
Ugh, of course this had spawned debate between everyone else as though she had even asked, raising a brow as she glanced over the back of Yonen's head. When was he a part of any of this? Oh, right, when he knew he could have his ass exterminated by Lavish or herself. But eighty percent was not good enough, she and Hux both agreed on that, Hux more vocal about it as she turned to glance over Kylo's expression, clearly reading it as unsure. Stepping out into the heat, again she was thankful for the change of clothes and the flow of this dress, her bright eyes moving over the area around them, looking up the large building that stood among the scorching sun and the rubble.

It was only a few steps before Phasma grabbed his arm, resulting in a pause from each of them as Hux's eyes fluttered slightly, pulling Yonen to a halt several steps back, the Rodian was quick to protest, " What are you do- " " Just don't! " The red haired man mumbled as though Phasma was about to tell Kylo some deep secret that needed to be kept away from prying ears. Rolling her eyes at him, the woman turned her vision back to Ren. " Eighty percent isn't good enough. " She repeated, shaking her head faintly before speaking again, " This isn't Chandrila, " There was no one around for him to practice a few times on before he got it right. " And you need to know if you can do this all the way through. " Truth be told, Phasma would be damned if she got stuck in some irreversible shit, deeper than before because he was out and about doubting himself. None of them knew anything intricate about what he was dealing with, but she'd at least seen him do more than enough successfully.

" Are they. . Intimate? "

" I don't want to talk about it. "
 
"This is not exactly up to me." Kylo looked down at the duracrete beneath them and ran two hands through his hair as he considered the situation. There was a spotlight scrolling around the entrance, and dapper looking humans were making their way to the booth. The situation was very frustrating, but he tried to keep his voice level. Wouldn't help to alienate his own allies. "I am very obviously not a god. I can't make people obey my every whim, or I'd have a... much different life than I do right now."

He smiled, attempting to add some levity to a stomach churning situation. "I can... make a choice more comfortable. A choice like letting the three of us inside to this stupid party despite not being on the guest list. Depending on... the person, and their devotion to their cause, and their willpower." He took a long hard breath. "I will be fine. And I will perform to the best of my abilities. But I can only control myself."

He wasn't being entirely honest. There were masters of the dark side that could bend people to their will completely, with almost no exceptions. But for him, that was fodder for a holo-reel and late night fantasies. He wasn't at Vader's level of power. Not yet.

"If this doesn't work, we're leaning on our credentials. Doing what we would have done already." Kylo, despite feeling how this could have backfired, grabbed Phasma by the hand and looked her over. She wasn't technically the deciding vote, but practically, she was.

"As it is, I'm doing the best I'm capable of. That has to be enough for you, and for Hux, and for this other one, because...."

He shrugged his shoulders. It was this or nothing.
 
" Wh- why can't I? "
" Just don't! "

Watching the change creep over his face, easily she knew her answer wouldn't be anything definite. Telling someone wasn't going to make the situation any better, but it would definitely bring the need of this going correctly to the forefront. There couldn't be any more mishaps, especially not after what had happened on the bait ship. Almost dying for pirates was nothing any of them really pictured themselves dying, certainly. Phasma had already let herself get caught up in things that weren't entirely whims of the First Order, breaking off of the initial mission after being asked by the man she was fucking. Unfortunately, she already saw that as being a thing. . God. It only became slightly more clear when she went after him in the first place.

Sighing softly, her eyes roamed over the sets of happy smiles gleamed by the spotlights, knowing this was definitely not like Chandrila. This was a lot worse. " That's all I'm asking. " At least saying he was doing his best was better than hearing an actual percentage, perking a brow when Hux so calmly stepped up with a soft set of coughs, " Let's? " The walk to the security detail seemed as though it had taken forever, dragging on as though time itself was giving them more time to work this out. However, here they were, at the beginning of the mess.

" Tickets? "
 
"Ah." Kylo was first to the counter, and he realized with a start that he had no idea what he was doing. When was the last time he'd been to some fancy "gathering" with people in dress attire?

It had been years. And there was usually someone more important than him in the party, and all he needed to do was... something resembling a smile. So he gave one of those.

Which only seemed to make the attendant behind the counter look guilty and embarrassed. He racked his brain for something that sounded appropriate. And just before Hux stepped forward like he was about to take over, he pulled something out.

"Party of four. They're really gonna need us in there."

"Uh... okay. What are they under?"

Fine. That wasn't the best way to open, but he didn't need more detail than that. He leaned forward and looked the kid in the eyes. "You don't need our names. We've got reservations."

"I don't...?" He blinked slowly, like he'd been asked to solve a complex math equation. "You have to have a ticket, sir."

"I don't have to have a ticket. My friends and I are going through, right now."

"You're going... no." The kid was sweating, he looked physically pained. Kylo thought about it and wondered if his own powers had gotten that poor, or if the kid had been... counter-programmed somehow. "No, you have to have a ticket."

Damnit. He looked back at his motley team for a minute, briefly considering just pushing his way in and letting the chips fall where they may. But then, he had another weird little idea.

Kylo cleared his throat. "We are... actually working security here. Sorry that we got here late."

The man squinted for a moment, then nodded his head. "Oh! Well, you should have just said so. Just... go around the back and you should be fine."

The man pointed (presumably to "the back"), and then ignored them. There was a long pause. Kylo turned around... licked his teeth... gave half a shrug... and just gave up on the whole thing.

"Well, come on."
 
Well, that could have gone worse.

It was a situation of tense glances and awkward pauses, the attendant looking confused and unsure of the argument that was happening, unsure of the conversation because he was just trying to do his job and get on with his night. Thankfully, it could have gotten a lot worse for him but remained steady, the flow of conversation ending at. . Security. Security with reservations, huh? Phasma's arms folding over her chest at the attendant who went on about shifting through other's tickets, she shook her head softly, deciding to simply be fine with the fact that he'd been so easy to move through, but simply based on reasons of him being an idiot. No matter, that was none of her business.

" Wow. . That was. . Terribly simple. "

Yonen clearly sounded disappointed in himself for not thinking of that sooner, perhaps he could have at least been in the party through some different accord if he had come up with that simple lie himself. Her eyes lifting toward the raised ceiling when they entered the lobby of the opra house, eyes moving across the shimmering tops of the pillars, roaming the elaborate etching and immediately felt uncomfortable. God, now I feel funny looking. One of her hands reach and gripping her own arm softly, now was definitely not the time to be another tick on the self doubt/self conscious meter, rubbing her skin through the soft black material. Phasma couldn't even say that she had ever been to anything like this, especially not outside of being a trooper. Graduation, maybe, but even that wasn't this ridiculously elaborate.

Golds and burgundies, stupid haircuts, and people laughing among one another as though it were actually funny. . Or like they weren't all a bunch of criminals. Then again, so were they. " Weapons. " Shifting out of her trance, her bright eyes moved toward the pair of Twi'lek men, one nodding his head toward Ren's lightsaber, the other noting the e-11 on her back. Shit. Eyes moving over his his face, the woman almost found that he looked familiar. There was something about him that looked like she'd seen his face before.

" Can't allow you to bring those into this event. "
 
Well, that was just an absurd suggestion. Kylo looked absolutely shocked for a minute before shaking his head sternly, sending his hair shaking in a little curtain across his eyes. "You two are working security at an opera house. I think handling a lightsaber is a little out of your paygrade."

One of the Twi'lek twitched his little tail thing on his head. Was it a... lekku? "The rules apply to everyone. Even creepy-looking Jedi. If you even are a Jedi. You look like an ugly little boy doing a bad job of dressing like Darth Vader."

Kylo sneered and took a step forward. "Let's imagine that you're wrong. Would taunting me really be the wisest idea?"

"Kylo," Hux said under his breath, "may I politely suggest that this might not be the best time. Let's get in here, ask our questions and leave."

Kylo curled his face into a grimace, looking down at the lightsaber.

"Do you know how...arduous it was for me to... make this?" Months of work, and he never did get the core completely stabilized. "And do you know much these are worth on the black market?"

"Well," Yonen said helpfully, "depending on what system you're in and local import/export laws, and of course whether authenticity and effectiveness matter to you -"

"SHUT UP!" Kylo whirled on him with murder in his eyes before taking a hot, ragged breath and turning to Phasma. "Isn't he supposed to be a - look, just keep him quiet."

He snatched the lightsaber up, and for a second he pictured himself cutting the thing on and going on a killing spree. But instead he shoved the thing into the Twi'lek's hand.

"I'm coming right back for this, and if it's not here when I get back - "

"You'll use your Jedi powers to find us and kill us?"

"No, I'm going to look up the two or three people in this universe that love you, and I'm going to kill them. Mostly because you've got a real smart attitude."

The second Twi'lek decided this was the perfect time to interject himself into this conversation. "If that happens. I want to remind you that I didn't call you creepy looking or anything like that."

"But you thought it," Kylo said grimly. Of course, he was now speechless at the display of Jedi powers he hadn't bothered using.

To be fair, he had insulted their line of work. What was a sentient without their pride?

Let's get this over with.

Declan Lavish had his own table roped off in the far corner of the auditorium, as if he was in a nightclub. Here was a man who most decidedly didn't look like a scientist - a heavy fur coat, thick sunglasses, gaudy looking chains around his neck and... a goblet? Did this man seriously have a GOBLET? Behind the rope, 4 burly looking men in armor stood, making eyes at everyone who passed by and generally ruining the genteel vibe the rest of the room was putting on.

If not for that table, the room would look like an upper crust charity auction. There were weird creatures in tuxedos passing out food on silvery trays, a heavy-looking golden podium where people could talk and sell... paintings or dates with local figures or whatever else came up during the night, room for the adventurous to dance...

He didn't like any of it.

"Major General Dorial fucking Hux!" Lavish spotted them immediately, of course. It was a gigantic blonde woman, the tackiest Rodian on the planet, a man in Jedi robes, and a ponce with fire-red hair and a half-dozen different accessories. They didn't exactly hide well. Lavish grabbed some blue powdered substance and put it into his nose, sniffing twice and tossing his head back and forth. "I can't believe you actually came back here. You'd better not be here to ask about my work, or your friends here are going to see a whole different side of you."
 
Though she had removed her gun without any hassle, the woman knew the same wouldn't happen for the lightsaber. Another snag in the seam, clearly, as he looked outright appalled that someone would even say such a thing. Like someone had punched him in the gut and stood there to watch, the guard went even further to push buttons, carefully looking over his face again. The green hue of his skin and the bite of his words, her eyes danced down over his attire, nothing odd or alarming there, staring at his boots until she was snapped from her thoughts by Yonen going through great detail to be annoying. Handler for two men and a . . Thing. Wonderful.

" Don't walk in here and get punched in the throat. "

Phasma had already let him go majority unharmed, she would hate to ruin this big social event for him by cutting off his ability to breathe. The look of shame and understanding crossed the Rodian's face, big eyes wavering when he turned his head to the ground, as though he were merely trying to help in the wrong situation. If she were anyone else, she would have felt bad for him. Just was not his day. " Something about him, " Speaking more so to herself as she guided Ren away from the tense situation with just the guards alone, she knew that it was just another disadvantage they would have to get over for now. Her eyes again taking in more sights of gold, the woman held in a sigh only to find relief in one of the creatures with trays, light touch leaving Ren's back to reach out and grasp the flute glass.

Placing the empty glass on another tray passing by, the bite of discomfort starting to trickle away just as a voice seemed directed directly to them, despite being called to Hux. She could just about see Yonen's body tense up, now taking the time to scoot carefully behind Phasma as though his jumpsuit was some sort of camouflage. Right.

" Well, I ah. . Yes. . Er- no, not your work per say. "
 
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