Setting Up a Blank Canvas

[Dread]

A dash of paint to go with that wine?​

The sound of music and raucous laughter grew louder as Valafar neared his living room. He stopped at a doorway and scanned the array of guests. A few were playing with his stereo, others nursed drinks at a long marble table. One notable senator sat at the furthest end of the table, near the sliding glass doors that lead onto the deck. He was grinning widely, staring at a red-headed woman that sat beside him. The tight, saucy dress she wore rode up her thighs; the color of her dress nearly matched her hair. Valafar narrowed his eyes to try to get a good look at her as she tossed her hair away from her face. Once he recognized who she was something sparked inside him.

It was her, Meria. She was a sassy women, and the wife of the notable senator. She also happened to be the beautiful women Valafar bedded a few nights ago.

She leaned back in her chair and giggle at something her husband said, pressing her porcelain white, delicate fingers against her full, painted lips. Valafar's grey eyes flashed with amusement while he watched her. A moment later Valafar found himself raking her with his eyes, a gaze that stripped her clothing from her body. He stood in the doorway unnoticed for almost five minutes before she looked up, excused herself from the table and made her way to him.

Before either of them got the chance to say anything, a convenient waiter, passing with a tray filled with wine glasses, offered drinks to them. She accepted a glass, as did Valafar. He held it between two fingers, swirling it deftly while he locked eyes with her.

"You look lovely," he said, breaking the awkward silence between them. "Although I think you'd look better in-"

Her cheeks colored.

"I don't care about what you think of me," she said quietly, cutting him off.

Half expecting that type of answer from her, Valafar didn't even blink. He raised the rim of his glass to his lips and drank before speaking again, "So, how have you been?"

"...How can you pretend like nothing happened?"

"Perhaps it's in my nature," he said, eying her glass of wine. "Aren't you going to drink your wine?"

"No,"

"As you will..."

"Please don't..." she began to speak but trailed off.

A look of disappointed washed over Valafar's face. He knew exactly what she was going to say; did she really think he was going to tell to her husband about them? If anyone found out, it would be a disaster for both of them, that much should of been obvious. However, she was young, much younger than Valafar, so assuming she was naive wouldn't be far-fetched.

"Do you really think that I would want to hurt you like that? I'm not an evil man...just a man easily swept away in the heat of the moment. A weakness both of of us share, apparently..."

She winced, blushed, and did not answer.

"Now, if you'll excuse me." He smiled, fighting his urge to run his fingers through her tendrils of hair, and brushed past her, greeting his guests while making his way to his seat at the table.

 

[Gambler]

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" a man in fatigues asked. The object of his demand was a slim man in nondescript clothing and blonde hair. The colors were dull, the kind one would wear on a night out, not the sort to wear to a dinner party for the upper crust of Coruscanti society. His eyes sparkled, an easy smile falling into place over his lips.

"Why, inside of course," he said with a light laugh.

"Oh no you're not," the guard answered. "I'm going to need to see some identification, sir."

"Well, that's a bit of a problem," the blonde man said. "It appears that I've left most of my papers at home. It's not everyday that I'm questioned at an old friend's doorstep, you know." He gave a helpless shrug.

"That's a bit of a problem," the guard echoed. "I can't let you inside until I know who you are and why you're here."

"Ah, in that case, I'm here to have a chat with old Valafar. Don't go get him now, though, I want it to be a surprise. It's been quite a while since I've had a moment alone with that old windbag." He cleared his throat. "As for who I am, well, you can call me 'sir,' or 'commander' if you'd like."

"Huh?"

"Kesh Helios, at your service." He staged a little bow. "High Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force and, more appropriately, long time friend to mister Valafar."

The guard blinked, unsure of what to do. "Do you have any form of identification on you?" he asked lamely.

"Perhaps." Kesh smiled. "Let's see... I have this shiny gold star from my time in the field. Will that do?"

"Um, yes, I think so." The guard hesitated. "One moment, sir. I'm going to call ahead to announce you."

"Oh, that will hardly be necessary," he laughed.

"Why not?" The guard's expression was priceless.

"I'm here to drop in on old Valafar. Can't give him any time to prepare now can we?" The twinkle in Kesh's eye prompted a chuckle from the guard.

"Very well, sir, go on in."

"Thank you very much," he said with another bow. The doors opened wide and Kesh slipped on through. He took a moment to marvel at the majestic architecture. All gilding, he thought. But pretty nonetheless.

He walked up to the marble table from the side so that Valafar's back was to him. Eying the stairs, he made a decision. His feet clacked as he climbed. He could feel the eyes of the crowd drawn to him. He smiled.

"Yo, Valafarafar!" he called once he reached the top. His eyes twinkled. "It's been ages since we've had a moment to chat. How has life been treating you? Oh? I can see it has been quite fair, given your current company. Another set of escorts? My oh my, I didn't even have to pay for this round!"

 

[Dread]

A short sigh escaped Valafar's lips. Kesh always manged to elicit that response from him, sometimes more than once during his all-too-common drop ins.

Valafar suddenly remembered Meria, knowing she would be effected the most by Kesh's obnoxious comment. He looked across the table at her. He watched her sink into her chair. Her face was colored much more than before, a vividly bright red. Valafar grinned with amusement, then excused himself from the table and stood up.

"How crude," one of the guests said. The other guests nodded in agreement, a few of them muttered something about Kesh's outfit. After a moment their attention faded away from Kesh himself. Chatter filled the air again, giving life back to the party. Valafar only hoped the chatter wouldn't revolve around what Kesh had said, but knew that it would.

Stopping a few inches away from Kesh, Valafar stood silently with an unamused look plastered to his face. He took a sip of his wine then flagged down a waiter to bring Kesh a drink.

"What am I going to do with you?" Valafar finally broke the silence, then smirked, "If you keep doing this, I may have to get a picture of your pretty-boy face so that my guards know not to let you in during parties like this."

 

[Gambler]

Kesh's smile widened. He listened to his audience as they grumbled about his entrance. They mocked his outfit, gossiped over his crass behavior. He savored it. Their attention was completely on him. They reacted in such a predictable manner that he couldn't help but laugh. Predictable nobility, he thought.

"Yes, yes," he said, "I am a bit under dressed for the occasion. My apologies for causing such a disturbance, but it has simply been ages since I've had a chance to see my dear old friend. Ages." A chorus of quiet groans answered his continued emphasis.

"Deepest apologies," he repeated. "It was not my intent to interrupt such a fascinating event. It's just, well, my tailor has been a bit busy lately. He hasn't found the time to sew me up something nice to wear, and I didn't want to cause a bother by showing up in uniform." His eyes danced.

He sketched a bow from the banister and began his slow descent. Attention returned to Valafar. Several quiet laughs met his joke. Quiet, civilized laughs. Barely chuckles. Kesh overwhelmed them with a full-bellied laugh. He shook the hall with the sound, eliciting a number of glares and gasps of surprise. In return he spared them a wink.

"Well, now that we have that settled, care to join me?" he asked, nearing Valafar. "It has simply been ages since you've last let me grace you with my presence." He rolled his eyes and lifted his hands to emphasize.

"Unless... unless you'd rather continue dining with these people? I mean, nothing personal to any of them, but it smells in here. Covered up dust, like old nobles, and another which I can't quite place. Liars... cheaters... hmm... oh, I know! Politicians!" Not many in the hall shared his amusement.

 

[Dread]

Startled, the waiter stumbled on his way over to Kesh and Valafar. His face showed how unsettled he was by Kesh's outlandish behavior.

"S-sir, a glass of wine?" the old waiter offered.

"Kesh," Valafar grumbled, rubbing his forehead, "I wasn't joking about having you banned from my parties," he added in a stern voice.

The nobles began to avoid making eye contact with Valafar well he looked around the room to see how much damage Kesh had caused to the party. He knew if he was anyone else, they would of come up to him and demanded he kick Kesh out. But he wasn't anyone else, he was Valafar, and they were much too chicken to demand anything of him at his own estate.

"Yes. Of course I'll join your company. Now....RIGHT now. How about we talk out on the deck?" Valafar cleared his throat and tugged on his cravat, nervously adjusting it with a smile. Valafar always found Kesh's personality amusing, but it was near impossible to mesh his noble life with his friendship with Kesh. They were like oil to water.

He turned and motioned his hand in the air for Kesh to follow.

"I expect you're here to talk about work...but, you do know that you could of waited till tomorrow, right?" Valafar chuckled. He knew Kesh. Knew deep down that Kesh wouldn't allow such an opportunity to cause trouble for Valafar to pass him, and he probably used the excuse of delivering news just to cause it.

 

[Gambler]

"No thanks, I'm under non-consensual temperance," Kesh said with a smirk. All eyes fell on Valafar. Another chorus of gasps accompanied him. Kesh gave the waiter a pat on the back, waving him away. By the time he was through, Valafar had already begun to walk.

He didn't hastened to catch up, taking the opportunity to blow a kiss at a particularly red faced noblewoman. Meria, if he recalled correctly. A voluptuous woman, all curves and petulance. Exactly the sort that Valafar swooned for. He threw her a wink, mouthing some incomprehensible phrase, laughing at the way her eyes widened scandalously.

"Ahem," he said at Valafar's side. "Yes, business." He led the way onto the balcony, trusting Valafar to close the door behind them. He took a breath of the air, noticeably less perfumed than inside. Valafar's estates were located in the heart of Coruscant. The traffic and pollution levels were lower than one might expect, due to regulations passed by Congress a few centuries ago.

"Well, you could call it that." He gave Valafar a moment to let it sink in. "I've been hearing some disturbing rumors about a certain Senator's daughter. One miss Naomi Castelle. Apparently she ran away a few nights ago, much to her mother's chagrin. According to Rialdo—you remember him right? Tall fellow, short hair, beady eyes... ah, unimportant—she is currently on Coruscant. He tracked her down to an upscale hotel a few blocks down. The Excelsio, I believe it's called." He watched Valafar's face, gauging his reaction.

 

[Dread]

Valafar looked back over his shoulder, just in time to catch Kesh's priceless act. He arched an eyebrow and looked as though he were barely containing his laughter. What a dog Kesh was. How extremely inappropriate. How Kesh. Valafar quickened his pace to get outside so no one had the chance to picked up how amused he was.

He closed the sliding glass door behind them, but took his time to do so when his eyes caught Meria's one more time. She quickly broke contact. Valafar snickered.

It was a crisp night in Coruscant, and the feeling of the cold air rushing into his lungs was refreshing. Valafar took in a deep breath and laughed. Laughed wholeheartedly at Kesh's little act he had put on inside. His shoulders relaxed a little after he got that out, and he closed his eyes for a moment.

He leaned back on a railing and then focused his eyes on Kesh while he listened. As the surname Castelle came into the conversation Valafar's interest suddenly increased in what Kesh was saying. Valafar rubbed his chin, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his smile acquired an edge.

"So, Maria's daughter ran away?" he said rhetorically.

Maria and Valafar were on the same campaign board. They got to know each other well. No to mention, Valafar had attempted to court her and failed.

"I'd like to keep tabs on this little event...perhaps send out some men to investigate."

 

[Gambler]

That small smile played at the edges of Kesh's face. Light, joking, his demeanor never faltered. His smile teased, mocked. It was a thing for amusement, genuine or feigned. Life held no purpose without amusement. It served to entertain, and Kesh found himself an eternal vessel.

"Of course you do," he said. His smile held a knowing note to it. Valafar's attempted affair with the Senator of Corellia was not public knowledge, but that didn't stop Kesh from finding out. Most people had trouble keeping secrets from a man with an easy smile. Especially a man with an easy smile, warm eyes, and a laughably high rank.

"Rialdo is already keeping tabs on her. He is moving in to retrieve her as we speak. I believe he will confront her in her hotel room. You know how he is. She doesn't stand a chance." He laughed. "Ah, I think we met the girl before. A social occasion a few months ago. Lovely thing. Spitting image of her mother." He waggled his eyebrows.

"Very willful. Well, the only thing we can do is mind our curiosity... unless you'd like me to send for Maria? Knowing her, she'd have a few choice words for you allowing her daughter to run away, as she'd put it. Really, Valafarafar, you have to stop giving inspirational speeches at these balls. You're corrupting the youth of the Alliance with your tales of whimsy," he said.

"There is one other thing on the agenda for the night. That is, if you're up for a challenge."

 

[Dread]

Valafar's eyes met Kesh's. He could see the all-knowing look in them. Kesh had found out about every single scandal Valafar was involved in.

"I think I vaguely remember her. Of course, my attention rarely stays in one place at a time when it comes to..." Valafar paused, "Well...anyway...moving on.." It wasn't like Valafar thought Kesh would disapprove of what he planned to say, but Valafar choose to sensor himself anyway. Valafar still found the willpower here and there not to indulge himself in Kesh's presence.

"Maria..." Valafar purred, his eyes soften, "Yes, I'm sure she'd give me a good tongue lashing about her daughter..." He paused. "Ah, and you. You don't care about me corrupting youth, you just don't want to sit through another one of my speeches," he said half-jokingly. "I always keep you in mind well writing my speeches, you know," he added with a satisfied laugh.

"I'm up for it. What is it?" he asked.

 

[Gambler]

"You might not be so sure in a moment." Kesh's smile died. For once his eyes took on a serious cast. He appeared genuinely pensive, almost afraid. His pause set the mood, keying Valafar in to the gravity of the situation.

"These rumors I've been hearing..." He paused. "The Sith, the Empire, all of that. Well, I put some men on the job a little while ago. The Jedi confirmation gave me reason to check up on them. And... they're dead. All of them." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I looked into their deaths as much as possible. How did they die? Who found out? Why were they killed?" he asked. "You're not going to like the answer." The breeze held a note of anticipation. It was hanging on Kesh's words, waiting.

"They were killed systematically, each by a supposed contact. The first two were poisoned on a pleasure yacht. The other was found on the bottom of a trash compactor. The final..." he trailed off. "His was the worst. He was torn to pieces. The marks were recognized as lightsaber burns. He was scorched in several places, his limbs chopped into bits. One eye was burned shut. I won't go into the details, but it was brutal." He closed his eyes.

"Do you know what this means?"

 

[Dread]

Hearing the descriptions of the agents deaths, Valafar couldn't help but flinch in disgust. Valafar fought battles from his desk; he rarely saw deaths himself and still got a bit taken aback whenever being filled in with the gory details.

A frown settled on his face, and Valafar turned around to face the city. The lights lit up his face and silver hair. The city was beautiful, but it had only gotten that way over time. War had, over and over again, forced the city to rebuild.

"Something tells me I don't want to know what it means," he answered simply, expecting Kesh to continue anyway.

 

[Gambler]

"It means, my dear Valafarafar, that we need more funding." Kesh's smile returned. The one bright spot of his day. He finally got to pump Valafar for funding. "The intelligence agency has been running low again. The peace has really gotten it into these Senators' thick skulls that the agency is unnecessary. A waste of funding. Unfortunately, we both know how wrong they are." A hint of anger rose in Kesh's voice.

"Resources are always a problem. It doesn't help when I get some ignorant Senator knocking on my door demanding to know what we're up to because of some ridiculous lobbyist." He paused. "But we're in a war now. Official managing of the agency falls onto the director. I keep the management behind closed doors, but the Senators don't read that far into it. I'm out of the picture." He sounded like he was working through the scenario aloud.

"It doesn't work. We need more recruits. More trainers. We need more damn time. But we don't have time. The least you can do is try to send more of the others our way, right? It's hard to replace these guys. There aren't enough of us around that I can gloss over their deaths. I knew them. We used to grab a beer at the cantina down the street once a month. Every damn month. Just a get together with all the guys..." He cleared his throat. He blinked, piecing together what remained of his composure.

"Yes, well, you know what I need. Can you get it for me?" His eyes were pleading.

 

[Dread]

Valafar sighed unhappily. He knew he shouldn't let his thoughts wander so much. But he did wish he was still inside, making his pretty red-headed guest uncomfortable - maybe even with Kesh helping out a little.

"Kesh,"

He drummed his fingers slowly on the railing. Pausing to think carefully on his words.

"You know if I feed more credits into the agency I'm going to have all those senators at my throat like ravenous Kath hounds. I cant just..." he trailed off.

After another long pause, Valafar sighed and turned to face Kesh.

"Alright. You'll have your credits. But you may not get as much as you want. At least, not until the war actually starts."

Valafar had a reason to spend credits on anything concerning Galactic Alliance defense, which included the agency; but he had to propose his spending carefully, taking his time, in order to protect his reputation.

 

[Gambler]

"Fine," Kesh said with a sigh. "I'll have someone write you a list of things we need. Show the addendum to Congress and we should be able to push some credits my way." He looked over the railing. Coruscant shone in the night. The soft hum of engines constantly sounded in the distance. Blue LEDs lit up the tallest skyscrapers. They brought the city to life.

It would be weeks before his budget was passed. The agency would have to wait a bit longer. Kesh sighed. Something always got in the way. Congress continuously made cuts, never thinking that the agency's actions were beneficial to public safety. Their ignorance was the problem. They weren't allowed to know any details concerning the agency's missions above a certain classification.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, we can move on to less pressing matters." Kesh smiled. "I was serious when I said I've been meaning to get you out of here for ages. We're going somewhere new tonight. Or not so new, but new to you at least."