Open Coruscant Teenage Shenanigans

[Kaala Vel]

(( OOC: The thread takes place at a party hosted by members of Kaala's school. Basically, it's supposed to be like a stereotypical college frat party with loud music, alcohol, and drugs involved. The crowd would be mostly in the age range of 14-19 and from Kaala's school, but with drugs and alcohol involved there would likely be some older folks hanging around who would have supplied said things. The actual location of the party is an old, abandoned warehouse in a shady area. The whole thread is basically for fun and meeting new characters. ))

When the final bell rang, Kaala's heart felt like it was going to burst from her chest. She wasn't introverted, nor did she have a problem intermingling with crowds of people, but she'd never been invited to a party before. For better or for worse, she kept to herself. It was better than the trial-and-error of finding out who was worth knowing and who just wanted something out of you. But here she was, leaving her school, walking away from her usual path, and following a rowdy group of upperclassmen down dirty alleys and dimly lit streets.

She was excited, but she didn't know what to expect.

The warehouse itself was very unassuming. It had no windows and one set of thick steel doors out front. Graffiti was splattered across and expertly painted here and there within reach of the ground. Discarded cans, bottles and the waste from death sticks littered the ground. When she grew closer to the doors, a faint thumping could be heard from the bass-boosted music inside. Kaala reached the doors and prepared to enter.

Here went nothing.

Music swam thick in the air alongside tangled bodies and off-tone singing. The floor was dirty but looked like someone had tried to sweep it clean. Kaala did her best to push past everyone blocking the entrance and make her way off to the side. Colorful lights flashed down from the ceiling, giving everyone a green, then blue, then purple hue to their skin. It seemed that not everyone here was from her school, either. There was an alien off to her left selling death sticks to some girl and her boyfriend. The seller was easily old enough to be a father. To her right, an old man was sternly lecturing some older teen about the dangers of alcohol. Kaala had to laugh at that. The old man had a drink in his hand too.

After she was able to get over the overwhelming nature of it all, Kaala wiggled into the crowd and began to dance. Screw the home and curfews, screw timelines and schedules and screw overthinking and paying attention. Tonight, she was gonna let go.

 

[Sera Jex]

Skidding through the alley and sprinting as fast as she could. Sera's breathing was ragged and she could feel the beads of sweat whisk past her face in the wind. They found her, a pair of bounty hunters or thugs had noticed her and tried to corner her off in an alley way. After a quick force blast that sent them flying she bolted. Now a few minutes had pased and she was desperately trying to find a place to hide at this hour in the planet that never sleeps.

Having practically getting her self lost diving from one alley to another and moving level to level she had to finally stop and take a breathe. Exhaling heavily trying to get her bearings on where she had finally ended up. Grabbing onto a nearby dumpster her eyes finally looking around the alleys and musky orange nightlights. She couldn't focus though as her mind was still a whirlwind of madness still gnawing at the thought that they were out there and that at any moment they would find her again.

Suddenly her ears picked up on the echoes of music and she found herself drawn to it hoping that would mean people or a crowd. Walking she would quickly brush her hair and wipe all the sweat from her face. The noise would draw her to a warehouse. Judging by the flashing lights and crowd of people she had encountered a party was going on. Perfect.

She merged into the crowd and began to enter as a cacophony of stimuli invaded her. Conversation being drowned out by music, flashing and no personal space whatsoever. She hated it, but she had a feeling she was safer in here then out on the streets. She was going to need a drink however, a lot of drinks actually.

Walking past a elderly guy giving a stupid lecture she could barely make out and swiping his drink she would start liberally pouring it down her throat. Making her way to a table and sitting down on a dinky chair she would just try to settle down. Looking around the crowd she started to notice something. Everyone was incredibly young. Great she was probably going to deal with some drunk idiot hitting on her.

This was going to be a long night.


@lizziie

 

[Murtagh Tempest]

-Music-
​

“Alright, I’ll only be a couple of hours! If I’m staying over, I’ll let you know!”

“Oro... okay. Uhh, I’ll be around...”

See, this was another one of those situations that Murtagh didn’t expect to be in. It seemed to be one of those weeks, however, and it was a lot more mild this time around. Or at least it would appear to be, without the potential threats lurking about. Being the responsible older cousin could be draining, and it was interesting that he was the one stuck with escorting their youngest cousin to her school “bash”. For the Vahla Knight, such a place and such a extreme venue wasn’t something he was used to. A Jedi party, while there where some outliers, where relatively tame compared to the teenage and young adult debauchery underway within.

He wanted to say something to Eileen, something about making the right decisions. But considering his childhood and adolescence had been so different from hers, he wasn’t even sure what advice to give. The best he mumbled out was a faint “be safe” before awkwardly watching her walk in with her friends. It was at this point the Jedi just decided to stay at the periphery of the party, finding a quiet place to overlook the area.

The easiest way to describe the current situation was... weird.

He’d be taking her home directly afterwards anyways. No point wandering off too far, and besides as far as kids went he assumed she was completely defenseless. Call him zealous, but it wouldn’t do to have her being attacked or hurt on his watch. Besides, at this distance, there was no way he could interrupt the get-together unless it came to him.

He’d been attacked at random and by plan in the past. Murtagh wouldn’t allow that to happen to anybody he cared about, and it placed him squarely in the path of the most powder-keg of a location nearby. Nonetheless, it didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy himself and practice. He produced a flute as hallisket from beneath his robe and began to gently play.

 

[Kaala Vel]

Letting go didn't seem to work too well for Kaala. The togruta had danced for several minutes, but as much as she tried to she just couldn't succumb to the mindless rhythm of dancing. The chaos of it was started to get to her. Bumping bodies, wandering hands, spilling drinks and music that didn't seem to follow any patterns at all: it was too much.

Kaala exited the crowd after a bit of a struggle. She felt like a prisoner breaking free of her chains when she broke the line of dancing. She poured herself a drink and took it over to the nearest table and sat down. Kaala took a sip and grimaced. Alcohol was...nasty. She pushed the glass away from her and began to look around. There was another at the table, but she seemed a lot older than Kaala and like she didn't want to talk. Was she even a student?

@Caught in Strangereal

 

[Segri Targe]

There were many things Segri wanted to experience on the Surface. A good party was one of them. And after wandering around on the surface and telling BG-7 to stay put and watch the ship, she found herself in some odd part of the surface. It was derelict, abandoned, and neglected. Probably some ancient industrial area. Still, it looked better than Underworld...and it still had sky. Surface people were spoiled as hell!

She heard a distinct thumping of a song she actually recognized. There was a party nearby, and a good one at that. So, following the sound, she found the warehouse where someone was hosting a party. What surprised her was the amount of young kids. Was this some highschool party? If it was, she was concerned. Some of the people looked way too young to be here. She thought surface people were smarter than this. Though, she didn't complain. It was easier to get stuff from a teenager than it was from an adult. Hopefully the dealers here were cheaper than the ones down below.

She entered and immediately realized it probably wasn't the best idea. She was not only armed, but probably way too old to be in here. Though, a quick look around told her she was fine. The amount of underaage kids with people her age were ridiculous. On top of that, she saw a means to solve her issue with being armed as well. She walked past a couple sitting on a chair and sneakily swiped the guy's hoodie. She quickly put it on and made sure her pistol was covered up along with her other items.

She walked through the crowds and people, bobbing her head to the music while she looked the situation over. She saw a girl looking way too young to be here, gagging from a drink (@lizziie) she tried. Another woman looked her age, though she seemed pretty wound up (@Caught in Strangereal). The last person she spotted was a guy sitting in a corner like a creep...but not a bad-looking one at least (@TheMorrigan).

With that in mind, she got herself a plastic cup and poured in some cheap beer. A few steps later she stole a pack of cigarettes from a guy that looked way too young to smoke them in the first place. She fished out a cigarette, lit it with the lighter stored inside, and walked on.

She made her way towards the stranger in the corner and leaned against the wall beside him, looking at the rest of the party. "You here for an easy score or being a creep?" she asked him, turning her amethyst gaze towards him.

 

[Murtagh Tempest]

He was only just in the middle of the flute solo when, quite unexpectedly, some random Zabrak woman approached him. With nothing less than what appeared to be a party beverage, a cigarette (something Murtagh hadn't smoked in years) and just general... brazenness. The Vahla couldn't quite tell why anyone in their right mind who honestly believed one of the two creepiest things he'd heard in reference to himself walks over and greets him in the first place? Besides. She was lucky he wasn't some short-tempered fool with a pair of blasters for hands. No, evidently he wasn't here for such things, otherwise, he would likely have been inside the party itself.

"Neither. I'm here, on this planet, to spend time with family. Cousin is inside and... well.. you might not believe this but I don't actually have anything to do until they are ready to leave."

Murtagh placed down his flute before he answered, coughing slightly as the fumes of the cigarette reached his lungs. He layered the second part of his sentence extremely sarcastically, but it was the truth. He genuinely had no idea what to do in the downtime between picking Eileen up. He was considering going shopping, but there was also the possibility that he could actually have had a chance to practice his music for a little while was exciting, if short-lived. It always seemed to be too hectic to get practice time in, and he loved playing. He'd figured he was far enough away that it wouldn't be an issue - obviously, he was wrong. Or at least, he was allegedly wrong. The Vahla gently smiled, intertwining his fingers and resting them as he observed the newcomer.

She didn't seem to be a threat, and he probably didn't look like a Jedi. Interestingly enough, however, she was Force Sensitive. It was faint, but it was there, and he could tell. He hoped the eyepatch wasn't too off-putting - just because Murtagh had gotten used to it didn't make it any less weird for others to see. The Vahla expected a reply, unconsciously making sure he didn't rise out of his seat unexpectedly or shift in such a way as to make his lightsaber obvious. The girl would be able to see it at this distance if she had a keen eye, but only just the pommel, the rest hidden within a makeshift "blaster" holster. His actual blaster was on the opposite side of his belt.

 

[Sera Jex]

A few more sips and she found the buzz radiate from her empty stomach. Good things just got slightly more tolerable. She just set her mind on the next course of action. Where to go, how to get back to the ship, the next planet to hide away in, a contingency to set in place for the next time someone hunts for her all the normal things that accompanied her mind for the last 4 years.

Then then the worst thing that could happen, happened. Someone sat next to her. It was a Torgruta who looked way way too young for this. In fact she looked to be roughly the same age Sera was when everything was torn apart and she got a taste for the slave lifestyle. Chances are with most teenagers especially in a place like this she was young, naive and easily exploitable and well in this environment... It would be easy for someone to take advantage of her after she heard too many stories to be able to live in the comfortable assumption that nobody would take this as an opportunity to recruit slaves.

She grabbed the drink the Torgruta had put down and slid it between herself and the Torgruta. Though thankfully she seemed like she didn't have a taste for alcohol yet. She paused for a few second scanning the drink and the girl seeing her reaction, making sure the drink was safe and then the worst part for Sera trying to think of something to say. A few seconds passed before words came to her.

"This the last place you want to be getting drunk for the first time, and if you insist than atleast keep an eye on your drink, the second you stop paying attention to it is the moment when it gets spiked." She warned her hoping that she wan't stupid enough to ignore anything she suggested.

 

[Kaala Vel]

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her little plastic cup disappear. The togruta immediately turned back around to see what was going on. She looked down at Sera with a look of confusion painted across her face. The face the stranger so intently studied her beverage had her wondering if something was up with it, or if she was judging Kaala for drinking underage. Her confused frown turned into a defiant one. Who was she to judge her? They were at the same party after all. The frown disappeared as soon as Sera looked back up and was replaced with a hesitant, almost-smile. Heh.

"Sp.. spiked?" Kaala's naivety reared its ugly head for a moment before she came to the conclusion of the meaning: drugged. Who would drug her drink? Well, maybe a lot of people. The togruta darted her eyes to survey her surroundings. What was she even thinking when she came here? She knew damn well this wasn't her scene. Did she really want to get drunk or to lose control? She looked at her hands. Would she remain careful even in an inhibited state? No, she didn't think so. Even worse, she'd probably end up late getting home. Time was important.

"Right, well...you're right. Um, thanks for the, uh, advice." If she were being honest, this concerned stranger looked like someone she would suspect of ill-intent. Guess that went to show that appearances weren't everything.

"I-- you can have the rest. If you want, I mean. I don't really like it all that much." How much of an acquired taste was this stuff? Yuck. "I'm Kaala, um, by the way."

@Caught in Strangereal

 

[Segri Targe]

Being who she was, Segri's mind immediately went to the darker places at the mention of the man's cousin "being inside". But luckily that was quickly dispelled when he continued to explain and she realized he meant inside the party. She gave a laugh and glanced at the rest of the party. "Well ain't that a mood." she quipped, taking a drag from her cigarette and blowing the smoke off to the side.

She looked at him again. "You know, I've seen all kinds of ways to kill time at a party...and this is the first time in my life I've seen someone try to play a flute to pass time. Especially with that going on." she said, pointing a thumb at the speakers thumping away.

She took another drag of her cigarette as she studied him. There was something about him that was nagging at her. She could feel something from him, like a pull. She swore she could also hear a whistle somewhere in the distance but that was probably the music beating up her eardrums. "By the way, the name's Segri." she introduced herself and switched her cigarette from her right hand to her left to shake the man's hand. Though, as she turned to shake his hand, she spotted the pommel of a small cylindrical item hanging from his hip. She had heard of those laser swords space wizards used to swing around like nobody's business, along with the stories of said space wizards. Something was really off about this guy.

"We haven't met before, have we? You look eerily familiar." she commented, studying him. Of course they had never met, she would have known...unless it happened while she was high as a kite. But there was something about this man she needed to get to the bottom of.

@TheMorrigan

 

[Murtagh Tempest]

The Vahla could tell, through both the Force and empathy, that the woman's mind had traveled somewhere unwanted. But luckily she seemed to both believe him and understand what he was trying to say without jumping to any conclusions. Murtagh appreciated that he was already in the open enough as it was, drama right now would be inconvenient. His eyebrow raised slightly as she laughed and said that was a mood. Yea. It really was.

"I find I can ignore that noise relatively easily. The flute's a higher pitch, and closer to my ears. Though I guess that doesn't make it any less strange."

His right hand had found it's way to the bottom of his beard, gently brushing the facial hair in thought. He could tell by the way the girl was looking at him that to her, he was likely very out of place. Or perhaps she was trying to understand something else, maybe the residual power inside her was trying to tell her what he was. That Murtagh could control the Force, and that the Force recognized the signature emitted uniquely by him. The Vahla took the Zabrak's hand as she offered it, shaking firmly, but not aggressively. He smiled gently as she introduced herself, shifting his weight to face her as he responded.

"I'm Murtagh. Resident creep, apparently."

For reasons he couldn't quite explain, he knew that look of curiosity. He could imagine he'd worn it several times in his life, Murtagh had simply never imagined it would be towards him one day. Sure, sitting in the corner could be construed as mysterious, but in this day and age, it was common. No, there was definitely something else at play here, and Murtagh intended to be certain it was just the Zabrak, and his senses weren't being clouded. Better safe than sorry. The Vahla gently got to his feet, looking around momentarily as he replied, appearing to just stretch.

"I don't think we've met before. I would imagine I'd have remembered. Anything is possible, though. What makes you think I'm familiar?"

 

[Sera Jex]

How could such innocence exist in this galaxy? That was the thought that trailed through Sera's head listening to her stuttering subject. A girl like her was going to be in over head real quick if someone didn't give her an awakening and right now it would likely be the best time to shatter the nice and clean view of the universe she had. Before someone shattered it and Kaala too. First thing to teach would be appearances and environment.

"Quit that you look like some light stricken doe if you keep that up. Especially if you consider where we are." Sera would then turn her head and wave her arm towards the rest of the factory and the grand mass of people swinging about. It was time to dole out a bit of reality.

"You might just see a party but I see something different. This is a gathering of prey. All those kids likely have never seen real danger outside of some holofootage. They want to be rebels so they're drowning themselves in booze and drugs not realizing that they are making themselves more and more of an easy catch. Combine that with the fact that if anyone where to witness something happen they would likely be too scared to go the cops, after all no one wants to admit they were doing something illegal, all the while it gets easier and easier to lure someone away from the crowds, spike a drink or come over to the home of some stranger they just met. That's when they get kidnapped, violated, or killed.

She turned her head back towards Kaala now with a sullen steely gaze. In a way she didn't feel like she was talking to Kaala but rather herself from all those years ago although Kaala sounded like she had things much more merciful than she could have ever hoped for.

"If I were some predatory pig this is exactly where I be now and if you don't want to be hunted by such dogs then I'd suggest you leave or start learning how to mask yourself as a predator Kaala."

@lizziie

 

[Kaala Vel]

Geez, who shit in her slippers?

Of course, she had a point and Kaala knew it, but the togruta hated feeling wrong. She was just here to have some fun and some uptight adult was trying to tell her how to live her life. Maybe she should just leave, but she'd already taken the chance to come here. Plus, she was more than capable of protecting herself, so she thought. How hard would it be to knock someone up the head? Hell, she could hit them with a chair ten feet away with a little bit of focus. Kaala put her hand back on the drink and swirled it around in the cup. The stranger didn't answer her offer so she supposed she might as well drink it. The teen lifted it up and threw the drink back. She did her best not to gag but made a sour face as the liquor burned up into her nose and down her throat. Holy shit.

"Then why are you here?" inquired Kaala of Sera, abruptly. "If these places are so dangerous, so terrible to be at, then why'd you come here? You don't even look like you go to my school." Her tone was forcibly polite but carried a sharp undertone. She wanted to be accusatory but was trying not to.

@Caught in Strangereal

 

[Segri Targe]

The man shook her hand firmly and introduced himself to Segri. She chuckled at his little joke. "Don't feel too bad, I don't think you're alone." she quipped and turned to lean against the wall, taking another drag of her cigarette.

He inquired over her question and she shrugged, looking back to him and blowing her smoke off to the side. "I dunno. Something about you that's weird. Like we met before or something, I dunno." she explained. She looked around at the party again while smoking away. "But it's cool, you might just have one of those faces, though the eyepatch I can't comment on." she continued as she looked around. What she spotted, though, ticked her off.

She saw a woman around her own age, chatting up a small girl who looked way too young to even be here. Her mind raced as a scowl crept along her features. she chugged her glass and threw it and her cigarette to the ground. "Hold that thought for a sec." she said, holding up a finger before marching off towards the woman and the kid. She had endured many things in her life...and she would never allow someone else to endure that too.

When she reached the woman she proceeded to yank her around to face her then clock her across the jaw with her right fist out of nowhere. If the woman didn't immediately fall out of the chair, she would proceed to throw her to the ground. "Why don't you chat up someone your own size, skug?" she'd ask rhetorically as she stood over the woman.

@TheMorrigan @Caught in Strangereal @lizziie

 

[Murtagh Tempest]

Maybe it was as he suspected, and the Force had guided her here. It was certainly a possibility, from her response, of seeming to recognize him from somewhere else. Perhaps she could feel his presence, and it felt familiar to another she'd been near. Maybe even another Vahla, perhaps his cousin. Murtagh didn't know and didn't pry, wanting the girl to discover for herself why she felt she knew him. The Vahla didn't even know if she knew she was Force Sensitive and hardly wanted her to feel shocked or pressured into learning about it. By all rights, she should learn to control it, but how, when and to what extent was entirely up to her.

"The eyepatch was a gift from my teenage years. I can't say my neighborhood was rough, but, it was a rough time."

It was ironic. The majority of the Vahla Revolution had seen him fight his own kind, though mainly those of other households, who were trying to usurp control from the existing coalition they had built. He had several scars from those battles, as he fought until the Revolution ended, but the eye was lost in a battle against off-worlders. Several years after the Revolution, following his graduation from Jedi Padawan to Knight. Murtagh had believed that he could take on the small gang of criminals and bit off much more than he could chew, being ambushed and attacked.

"Oh... alright."

The Jedi sensed a rise in her emotions, a spike of annoyance and hostility, from all observations. Since he was already on his feet, Murtagh turned to see where Segri had stormed off to. In the distance, there was a young Togruta speaking to an older female that the Vahla didn't recognize. Seemed those two were not getting off on the right foot, but what he heard next concerned him. Was Segri wanting to start a fight, or was this girl somehow being menacing to the young Togruta? WHO WAS ALSO FORCE SENSITIVE. He could feel it off both of them now.

Kriff it. I'm not allowed to have a normal day. Or week. Ever. Apparently.

"Uhm... maybe this isn't the best place for this? The teen does seem a little shaken though."

Sure, he hadn't smoked in a while. But he could tell that this was going to take some time and that his words would probably be ignored. And he had an odd craving for the cigarettes the Zabrak was waving around. But, Murtagh stuck to his better judgement now standing at the table with the three of them, awkwardly looking between them in hopes that nothing would come of Segri's comment.

 

[Sera Jex]

Oh for kriff's sake. Sera was annoyed at the defiance Kaala was displaying. You try to just awaken some naive fool who was just begging to be taken advantage of and she is trying to throw it all in a pit and light it aflame. Her patience was being tested, well truth be told it was being tested well before the current inquiry. She could tell that the Togruta really wanted to be assertive, and show dominance but was too polite to go out to say. She didn't have time for such petty passive aggressiveness. She wasn't going to let herself get pushed around by some idiot who didn't know better and was practically doing the equivalent of going "ok zoomer".

"Because I won't go back to being a slave. Now listen here you little shi-" Before Sera could finish her sentence she felt a sucker punch slam across the side of her face and suddenly she was on the ground now laying on her side. Her legs and arms were reflexively curled up and her body tightened up as it momentarily was frozen. She could feel a trace amount of blood come from the corner of her lip as she taste it's familiar metallic taste. Hearing the Zabrak taunt her Sera could feel her sense open up wide around the floor seeing the defiant stance and someone who seemed to be following in toe trying to talk the Zabrak out of doing anything stupid. Sera didn't care for any of that now.

Getting her body up and wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. She looked at the Zabrak now. She would take whatever excess blood was in her mouth and spit it out straight into the Zabrak's face and then proceed to head butt her as hard as she could muster. After that would be when the the fist would start to fly.

@lizziie @KinkyPrawn @TheMorrigan