Champagne Showers

[Allard Keever]

Theme

Spoiler: OOC

Death and capture disabled; Open to Free Trade Guild Members and close friends only

Allard was... throwing a baby shower.

Technically speaking, a baby shower was supposed to be organised by the mother's friends - primarily by her best friends. Now, Allard would be the first to say that they had some interesting friends but equally he would be the first to say that it was probably for the best that he made the baby shower rather than, say, Herrith.

He wasn't entirely sure if there would have been strippers, spice or explosions or a mixture of all of the above... or if his mind had gone wild and their resident Zeltron would actually just have been happy to arrange high tea for Daesha or something.

He was probably just being a bit higher strung than usual.

But he had arranged the baby shower party for Daesha, for his loving wife, and had made sure to host it in one of the back rooms of the Cruel Mistress. That way they could invite people who weren't members of the Guild without exposing their actual base on Ord Mantell.

Happy that the place was ready, Allard grinned a little bit to himself as he waited for the people to actually arrive - he had shown up early to set things up - so that the party could actually start!

@The Captain

 

[Daesha Keever]

It was so strange, looking down and seeing that something, someone, was growing inside of you. It had been a good eight months since Daesha had confirmed that she was pregnant, carrying the child of her loving husband inside the growing bulge on her abdomen. Their daughter, as they had confirmed the child would be a girl, Trisani Keever, an Alderaanian name chosen because the most Twi'lek thing about Ms. Keever was her DNA. Besides, Trisani was a beautiful name for a no doubt beautiful girl, one who had become incredibly active in the last few weeks. Daesha could scarcely put a hand on her belly without a responding kick from the child inside her, a display no doubt of the feistiness to come when she was finally with them.

"Still kicking, eh?" Nadina chimed in as she led the heavily pregnant Guild Mistress into the cantina, watching over her like she was some kind of priceless vase.

"Like she's trying to break out." Daesha joked, working to climb the stairs into the Cruel Mistress, the rather unusual setting of her baby shower, courtesy of Allard. "I think she's going to be a fighter."

"I think she's going to be another headache. I caught Harlow's boy helping Frex' kit try to break into one of the freighters yesterday, little karks." Yes, for a Guild dedicated to smuggling, the security detail was often forced to babysit the stragglers, children, and strange associates. Not that Nadina really minded, Daesha knew that the woman was glad to be guarding mischievous children rather than forcing them upon threat of beating to fish objects from hard to reach places. The Savrips had never been a 'child-friendly' organization.

Their conversation ended abruptly, but deservedly, when the duo finally reached the private room Allard had rented, and were struck with how well Allard had organized the affair. Flowers, banners, streamers, fine tablecloths and cutlery arrange around long tables with an almost comically saccharine baby-shower theme.

"Oh, honey..."

Spoiler: Tags!

@Herrith, @AutoFox, @Hughwee, @Darasuum, @Armcore, @Insalius, @Yuan, @TwoSidedHeart

 

[Allard Keever]

Allard grinned when he noticed that Daesha and Nadina had arrived. Some of the other security staff members and some bar staff came up as well, including some of the pilots who worked for the FTG. Even without many others, the shower would still be a decent sized event. Moving over to his stunned wife and their mutual friend and co-worker, Allard had to admit that seeing his usually rather witty wife moved to being almost silent was absolutely what he wanted.

Was it bad that he wanted such a reaction from his wife? Allard didn't think so.

Closing the distance, he kissed her gently on the lips and looked into her eyes as he broke away and leaned back from the kiss slightly, smile wide,

"I hope you like it dear - I wanted to make it wonderful for you." he admitted with a bright smile, "I hope I've succeeded in some small way so far but rest assured, I've made sure to pull out all the stops. This will be an amazing baby shower."

With his peace said, he stole another kiss from his wife before grinning as he greeted Nadina,

"Nadina! I'm so glad you could come - thank you for walking my two previous girls over." he thanked her, snagging a beer off a passing waitress and handing it to the woman with a grin, "Help yourself to anything here. It all covered, it's all on me tonight."

He cast a glance at his wife,

"Because this is so worth celebrating..."​

Spoiler: Tags

@The Captain @Herrith @Armcore @Insalius @TwoSidedHeart @Yuan @Hughwee @AutoFox

 

[Christopher Harlow]

Chris would have winced if he could at hearing that one of his children had been causing trouble with Keaton again. It was most likely Aaron, the boy obsessed with being a hero and with cookies. He knew that he could get into quite a bit of trouble, especially moreso with Keaton, but he also knew that Aaron would never let anything harmful happen to the Amaran. The two seemed to be best friends, when both of them being tuckered out he could find them curled up around each other, sleeping without a care in the world. He wondered if this would happen with Daesha's child as well. At least Chris had made sure that his three children could control their strength, that way they didn't accidentally hurt their friends.

As for the shower itself, Chris couldn't think of much to say. Social situations still wasn't his thing, though he was trying to be better. He had a gift, wrapped in a box to be a surprise, and it was something that actually really meant something important to him. It was a stuffed doll of a baby seal, something his father had given him for his inheritance. He couldn't think of anything else that would mean as much as a gift, so he hoped that she would enjoy the gesture. She may not know the story behind the doll, that the younglings his father had saved had given the doll to the Jedi as thanks for being there for them, and it seemed to be infused with their love and gratitude. He couldn't think of a better gift for a newborn. At the very least, the doll was very soft, which should be comforting for the newborn.

 

[Herrith Hendarsin]

Herrith had her crude and downright dirty humor and outlook on things, but at times she could easily dump that part of her for at most 72 hours and manage a formal event without dying from boredom. She had made sure to not have much of a say in the attractions of the baby shower, and mainly resorted to finding a thoughtful gift for the soon-to-be niece of hers. It was weird, sure, and definitely would be to the baby once she grew up. (I.E. Why is Auntie Herrith pink, Daddy is tan, and you're blue?) Though the auntie part was not something she had really trusted on actually existing, seeing as Nadina was a far more capable woman and lacked the mental instability of the Zeltron.

In essence, though, no strippers were involved in the shower. She took a standing position and glanced at who she believed was Sya screwing around with some kids (since that went so well with the Hendarsins). Herrith had made it a point to herself to try to keep away from the kids. No sense scaring away their good fortunes. Not like the kids were spoiled, anyways. Rich ones were by far funnier to terrify. Now, that just sounded mean. She dumped her thoughts and looked at the necklace in her hand before walking up to the group and revealing her presence, nodding to Nadina with a one-sided smile.

Contrary to her normal jacket and jumpsuit, she had ditched those in favor of something slightly less casual, a red flannel-esque shirt with rough jeans. May as well look nicer for an event like this.

"The other Hendarsin is busy, I'm the only one you'll have to deal with. Congratulations on the little mongrel that I'll try not to teach Zeltronian insults to at too much of a young age."

She quickly downstepped in favor of not giving Daesha anxiety for that day to come.

"I ain't going to do it on purpose, for that matter, I'll be sure to try to be half respectable for the times ahead."

Herrith clenched the necklace in her hand before shaking Allard's hand with the hand that held the necklace and letting go of the string.

"Thought to pass that on. About time I dumped that sentimental piece. Won't fetch a good price, but it'd look good on your kid, I'm betting. Anyways, I'd best be off to go charm a few people unlucky enough to like me. You'll know where to find me if you need a sociopath."

Herrith looked between the two with a smile as she nodded and then backed away to enjoy the festivities and look for some familiar faces to joke with. Best leave the lovebirds to their own devices.

She'd held onto that necklace for a little over a decade. It took a hell of a hard decision to let it go. Guess it was symbolic. Finally stopped getting homesick.

 

[Dedric Ryker]

___________

THEME
​

Dedric was probably late to the baby shower but he had to convince the rest of his crew to join him. There were four besides himself that were of the Citrus Raillery crew full time. Eice, Tippi and Nujina still had their own work to do. Perhaps they would be able to make it to this event. While this was not a fancy event Dedric was not in his work outfit. He wore a clean pair of trousers without any oil stains from working on his ship. A v-neck shirt and a fairly expensive bantha hide jacket. This outfit was only offset by the brightly colored blue bag in one hand and his holster on his right hip. Even though he was not working he never went anywhere without protection.

Raina Daerb, previously known as Ivory, wore her usual style. A balance of alluring modernism and classic simplicity. She was as beautiful as they got and the same could be said for how deadly she was as a bounty huntress. It was one of the reasons Dedric had hired her to be the pervailing muscle on board.

Then there was Grosho Jambahla. The Rodian was a little bit more raggedly dressed than the others but he never wore anything that he did not feel comfortable working in. As such he wore flannel button up shirt, boots and cargo trousers.

Spark-Plug, the astromech that new the Citrus Raillery almost as much as Dedric kept up with the others ahead of it. It's dome swiveling to either side. It did not really have anything on it and must have felt self-concious because it zoomed straight over to a table nearby with party hats and used one of its manipulator arms to place it ontop of it's half sphere dome of a head. The droid let out a satisfied whirl sound and looked at its reflextion in a bottle. Dedric had never known a droid to be vain but perhaps it just wanted to feel a part of the group.

Unintentionally trailing behind and last of the crew was Elli. She had not changed at alll and wore her black short-shorts and auburn hoodie. Her purple irises glued to her data-pad as she typed away at a casual typing speed of nearly two hundred words per minute. The girl was a shut in and was practically allergic to social interaction. However she seemed to enjoy blasting galactic scum out of the sky with the ship's laser cannons when it came to such things.

The crew would disperse into the crowd. Elli would not look up and follow Spark-Plug, only half paying attention to where she was going. Dedric knew that the youngest member of his crew was not interested in socializing nor drinking. Raina and Grosho would probably rotate a bit but they were newer to the associated company of the Free Trade Guild than Dedric was. The man saw his friend Allard and his lady Daesha, pregnant and all near one another. He would wait until they stopped having long soulful looks into one another and take the time to snag a drink from the bar before he ended up getting dragged into some form of baby game.

@Nefieslab @The Captain @Danee @Herrith @Insalius ​

 

[Daesha Keever]

Ah yes, there it was, the mischievous little glint in her husband's eye that signaled his impish intentions. He was hoping to stun her into silence the clever, magnificent bastard, and she had to admit that it worked spectacularly. For the backroom of a dirty Rim bar, the room looked remarkably festive and clean, and considering how few people were in the room it was clear that Allard had orchestrated this either with little help or entirely on his own. An act of devotion and care that earned him a loving kiss from his wife as the rest of the guest began to filter in.

"Allard, as always, you have exceeded expectations." Nadina, meanwhile, was rolling her eyes at the saccharine scene before her, taking the beer from Allard and popping it open on pistol grip.

"I'll take that as permission to take my leave, boss. If you need me, I will be getting very, very drunk, congrats on the little-smuggling." That was Nadina's sense of humor, straddling the line between high and low brow. True to her word, Nadina dipped out to grab a drink of something heavier from the bar, as Allard had picked a lighter fare for the party room. Which was a good thing too, Daesha had gone without a drop of alcohol for months and had to ask Allard to hide all her liquor.

"Don't worry, Allard, she will be more than worth it." She moved his hand to her stomach, and again their dear Trisani kicked against her belly and the hand of her father. Before Daesha could handle anything, Herrith arrived in her finest flannel and denim, sans gift and clearly uncomfortable, and Daesha wouldn't have it any other way.

"Its nice to see you too, Aunt Hendarsin." Daesha pulled Herrith into a hug, chuckling over her little quip about Zeltron curses. The girl was going to grow up in a den of smugglers and pirates, of course she was going to develop a foul mouth, Daesha would be insulted if she didn't. Mrs. Keever was not some Core-World housewife, she spent her tenth birthday tinkering on repuslorboards and threatening punks with a hydrospanner. She expected toughness and cleverness from her baby girl, not civil fragility.

Speaking of fragility, Daesha watched, stunned for the second time that day, as Herrith forked over her prized necklace as a party gift for their baby girl. Daesha knew the significance of that item to Herrith, she learned it from the Zeltron herself in a private moment, so she knew how much this gesture meant from the normally irreverent Hendarsin. So when she tried to walk away from the party, Daesha took her hand briefly and squeezed it tight, eyes getting misty.

"Thank you, Herrith."

 

[Eice Frex]

Eice arrived at the location of the baby shower with a package under her arm, looking around in wonder at the decorations, which were not the sort of thing she would have expected in a place like the Cruel Mistress. The Tintinna was pleased to see that a number of people had arrived already, many of whom she was proud to call friends.

Daesha had been the first to help Eice when the unfortunate Tintinna had wound up in the Outer Rim, buying her a meal and something to drink out of her own pocket. That first meeting had lead to Eice joining the Ossein, and then the Free Trade Guild; she owed quite a lot to the Twi'lek, and considered her as close to family as she had left, aside from her mate, Rask, and their adopted son Keaton.

The gravid Daesha wasn't hard to spot, and Eice beamed, jogging across the room to her. Allard, Chris and Herrith were around her, and Eice waved to them all.

"Hi guys!! I hope I'm not late!"

 

[Allard Keever]

Allard grinned a little bit - seemed his wife had caught that he might have, maybe, a little bit... definitely... okay yeah so he might have gone all out to get the reaction out of his wife and they both knew it. Turned his grin into a smirk even as he enjoyed the loving kiss from his wife. He did sympathise with Nadina though - being stuck around people who were in love, showing their love, was always something of a bad idea.

Sucked to see what you didn't have.

Holding his hand against her bump, his smile softened and he couldn't help but agree. He went down to his knees for a moment, kissing the front of her bump through her clothes,

"She'll be worth the suns and stars."

Standing, from giving the bump a kiss, he grinned a little bit as Eice (@AutoFox ) as she came bounding on over to join the group that had amassed around Daesha,

"You're right on time - the two most important girls in the Galaxy just showed up themselves." he assured her, sneaking another kiss to Daesha's cheek, "I'm going to greet some of the other troublemakers."

He smiled warmly at Herrith (@Herrith ) but didn't say anything - Daesha knew what to say to their pink friend at times like this. Instead he turned to Chris (@Insalius ), taking the present from his robotic friend with a smile and a brief hug as he set it down with the other presents, making sure that it was clearly marked as being from the Elensalite,

"Thank you Chris." he told his friend with a wide smile, "For everything. For coming, for the present... for being there for us. Thank you."

Patting his friend on the back, Allard moved over to another troublemaker just kind of skulking in the background...

"Well well well..." he grinned as he approached Dedric (@Darasuum ), holding out a hand, "I thought I'd have to drag you to this party after stunning your backside... good to see you, you old space pirate. I'm glad you could make it."

 

[Herrith Hendarsin]

Herrith nodded with a half smile to Daesha as she grabbed the Zeltron's hand, then put a hand on the Twi'lek's shoulder, laughing slightly. It was time to let go of that piece of junk. She needed to stop wallowing in the past. Plus, it was about time someone else wore the damn thing. No sense keeping the cheap souvenir for her whole life. It was a big 'kriff you' from Zeltros. Maybe she could finally let go of her times back then. Maybe she could forget about the brix she went through, or at least see it as less damaging to herself.

"Don't go crying about a cheap little gift shop necklace, now. I'd hate for that to be the reason."

Now that she had taken to wandering the party, Herrith sat down on a ratty old couch and watched some of the ongoing events. Total chaos to the untrained eye, and hard to watch in general. But chaos was what she thrived in. The kids were playing, utterly wild; the adults were drinking, soon to join the kids in their wild activities for sure. It was an odd scene, a familiar one that seemed...normal, normal like in the holovids. But of course they were on Ord Mantell. But that was a minor detail. She popped open the beer in her hand and then took a sip, enjoying the time for what it was.

 

[James Logan]

James arrived at his destination. Today he was attending his good friend and partner, Allard’s baby shower. James had brought along a gift for his buddy, and was excited to see him. Allard had done favors for James, and helped him out.

 

[Dedric Ryker]

___________

As it turned out Eice had shown up. He had not seen her since she had finally become an Ossein. The two of them maybe had some catching up to do. He was sure she had been busy. The furry little female had come a long way from the timid little Blackrow stowaway he had met years ago. In fact he had first met the girl at a bar like this. If he recalled correctly that was the first time he had met Daesha as well. Though back then he had also tried to flirt and in turn bed her but that was long before she had been with Allard.

Thinking of the older Free Trade Guild member he caught the man's eye as he approach. "Who you calling a pirate you geezer." he returned the name calling. The man was only a little bit older than Dedric and was still doing very well for his age. "You should be the one getting me a gift." He said gesturing the the bag he brought for the party. "Though I suppose the open bar will suffice." He grinned before handing the package over to the man. Inside was a foam starship. Hardly aerodynamic but it was not hard plastic, no sharp edges and large enough that it was not a choking hazard but still travel size. The foam aspect and size combined would make it simple for the child to grasp and even take into the bathtub if necessary.

@Nefieslab @The Captain @Danee @Herrith @Insalius​

 

[Eice Frex]

Eice grinned at Allard and Dedric, the expression softening to a warm smile as the former knelt down to kiss Daesha's baby bump. The Tintinna had never been pregnant, herself, but she was a mother of sorts, as her friend soon would be. Her gaze went briefly to her adopted son, Keaton, who was playing nearby.

It was then that something occurred to her, and she grinned again. Taking the package out from under her arm, she held it up to Daesha; it was a colorfully wrapped box, with a pair of thick envelopes taped to it.

"Not to be left out, I brought something!" She said, her tail swishing behind her. "I don't think any of it will interest the baby until they're a bit older, but I'm hoping they can cement my future Cool Auntie status~"

 

[Daesha Keever]

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that." It didn't matter if the necklace was cheaper than dirt, or if it was the living embodiment of a legal middle finger to Herrith, the fact of the matter was that Herrith wanted to give Daesha's daughter something and she chose to make it a gift for all three of them. For now though, she was willing to let Herrith go off and enjoy some beer while the rest of the guests began to filter in. Daesha recognized Chris, hugging the walls as closely as ever, and Eice had come with her foster son Keaton in tow, although she saw no sign of the cycloptic mercenary that Eice was...Actually Daesha wasn't sure what their relationship was exactly, and considering how well their first, last, and only conversation had gone she wasn't particularly interested in finding out. What surprised her, however, was the presence of two strangers she did not recognize, young human men, one of whom Allard recognized and was quick to address. So long as Allard knew them, Daesha had no problem with the strangers, but she preferred to address her friends first.

"It's great to see you Eice, you arrived just in time." Daesha was beaming from ear cone to ear cone, taking the oddly wrapped package from her friend and setting it on a nearby table. "Oh, I can tell already that's going to be a hotly contested category, Herrith and Nadina are both fighting pretty hard for coolest aunt."

Although it may not look it, considering that both women were standing in their own separate corners drinking.

"...even if they don't act like it." Most parents would cringe at the idea of their children looking up to smugglers, pirates, and mercenaries, but Daesha knew those scoundrels all too well and was proud that they would be a family to her baby girl. Speaking of which, Daesha turned to the man behind the Free Trade Guild's fleet and called out to him with a warm smile and a giggling tone.

"Come over here, Harlow, I haven't gotten a 'hello' yet!"

@AutoFox @Insalius @Nefieslab @Darasuum @Herrith @Commodore

 

[Allard Keever]

Allard had to admit that it felt like people were coming out of the woodwork for this baby shower! He didn't really have an issue with it naturally - he rather liked how this was going. He grinned a little bit and grabbed one of the beers before handing it on over to James Logan,

"James - good to see you could make it." he admitted with a grin, handing over the beer, "It's good to see you man. I really am glad that you're here. I know they say baby showers are for the mothers but hell if I don't feel giddy here man."

He smirked at Dedric,

"Geezer? Well I suppose you are a youngun - probably get carded for booze when you buy it." he joked right back as he accepted the jokes and the gift, "I thought the gift of my continued tolerance for yourself and those schemes and hijinks you get me into was enough?"

Allard paused for a moment before giving Dedric, of all things, a brief hug.

"It means a lot that you're here man." he told the other man quietly, so only he could hear, "As bad as it might sound... you're my best friend. Thank you for everything."

He patted Dedric on the shoulder and went to put the gift from Dedric, and the one from James, onto the gift table. No more chick flick moments for now eh?

@Darasuum @Commodore @The Captain

 

[James Logan]

James smiled as his good old friend handed him a beer. Allard knew James’s drinking addiction, but it was a party after all! Didn’t hurt to open one up right? “Yeah thanks man! Nice to see you!!!

 

[Dedric Ryker]

___________

The man chuckled at the joke, wondering if Allard was drunk or just emotional given the situation. He returned the hug with a genuine one of his own. "Right back at you buddy... He cherished the immediate moment before slapping the man slightly on the shoulder. "Now let's get a drink before this turns into a chick flick moment." The Ossein walked over the bar to get a drink. He was not very good at expressing his emotions. Allard felt more like a brother to him than anyone else. While the two had some difference in age there was a bond there that had formed more than Dedric ever could have guessed.

Here he was, at a baby shower giving presents in the form of a toy star fighter. The Jazaq Neg was not even drunk which surprised him. If someone had told him to come to a baby shower six or seven years ago he would have snorted his beer in laughter. Yet here he was. Eice, Tippi, Allard and a few others he cherished. It was a first in more ways than one and that was why he had a knot in his stomach worse than any hangover.