Ask Valley of Plenty

[Carrick]

Well that was... remarkably non-self aware from Verner. To the point that Carrick took a second or two to genuinely dedicate some of his time and effort into thinking about Conrad Verner. Specifically, thinking about the likelihood that he either believed his own hype that much or if he was in on the joke as well and was, somehow, simply the most accomplished Troll in the Galaxy. It took him a moment to realize that he had missed the straw (Emergency induction port) during his bemused thoughts.

Probably meant either the drink was a lot stronger than he had thought or Conrad Verner could give a man a headache from twenty paces through sheer stupidity. Waving to both Zathria and Conrad when she gestured to him, Carrick had to admit that the rather crushed look on his face was quite sad.

Like kicking a particularly stupid puppy or something.

Conrad kind of looked down-beaten for a moment before almost shaking himself out of it.

"Y-yeah sure you head in back to your date, I er... I left my date too! Bye!"

Carrick just sipped at his drink as the poor man beat a hasty retreat and smirked a little bit at Zathria.

"I think I was able to see the exact moment his heart broke." he teased her, "Never suspected you would be such a romantic - chasing off another suitor while you're with your date."

@Phoenix

 

[Zathria]

Zathria felt a bit bad for the man, but not enough to continue letting him... do what he was doing.

Tell her I said hello, Zathria said, deciding to play dumb about the fact that he was almost certainly lying about a date. It served him somewhat right, though. He had stolen a drink from her and she'd said nothing. Perhaps he'd learn his lesson. Probably not, but maybe.

She made it over to Carrick in short order.

That wasn't my goal, she objected. She wasn't here to be a heart-breaker. But he did steal my drink, she said with a shrug.

And thank you so much for helping bail me out. Not a very good job as a date, she quipped.

@Nefieslab

 

[Carrick]

Oh thank the Force, Conrad wasn't entirely bereft of brains. The social norms just didn't seem to apply to the poor man - the fact that he actually was the commander on a military ship was rather scary all things told. But he had seen that the man had more luck than most and it was, indeed, just luck since Conrad was dead as a door-nail when it came to Force control.

Something else to be glad of - Darth Verner was a foe too dangerous to contemplate.

Carrick couldn't contain the smirk even as he finished off the last of his drink with a slightly obnoxious slurp as the Emergency Induction Tube mopped up the last of the drink. Letting go with a pleased exclamation of air, he wiggled his eyebrows ever so slightly. Teasing Zathria was a rather enjoyable pass time but he supposed it was probably time for them to get a little bit more serious.

"If you needed me to bail you out of that, Jedi standards have slipped since I left." he teased her back with a wink as he slowly drew out a datapad, "But to business... most of them have probably made their donations by now."

Looking over the raw data for a few moments, he hummed and highlighted two sections. One was... rather poor all things considered and the other was decidedly not. Part of him wanted to put it down as a plot by Tevos but he knew he couldn't - not really.

"Cerberus and their friends object to your non-humanity enough to stiff the charity. Not unexpected in the slightest. What is unusual, however..." he sighed ever so slightly, gesturing to a series of much larger numbers, "People and associations connected to Tevos and Sparatus have both donated. Heavily."

Damned near buy a second ship all by themselves level of heavy.

"The rest are also rather over what you estimated." he admitted with a grin, "Looks like you're a hit, Zathria."

Spoiler: Resource Rolls

5d20s rolled on discord;
Nobles = 11
Merchants = 5
Council = 20
Military = 14
Pharma = 15

@Phoenix

 

[Zathria]

Zathria squinted in a way that said "I'm unamused" by his comment about bailing her out and Jedi standards dropping.

You're a terrible date, she said, shaking her head in mock disapproval. In reality, she had had a rather pleasant evening, though she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of saying that aloud.

As he pulled up the numbers, she maneuvered around to look at them. She couldn't help but let her mouth drop a bit at seeing them. They were... incredible. She had known she was going to have to put up with some "high society" but... it had paid off in dividends.

Are those... wow, she said, her face starting to light up as she looked at the numbers. Not even Cerberus could put a damper on her mood now. They were actually going to do this.

Thank you for helping put this together, she said after a moment, looking up at him. She doubted she could have done it without him, and the results were incredible.

@Nefieslab

 

[Carrick]

Carrick couldn’t help the grin that split his face when she told him that he was a terrible date – there were so many ways he could tease her with a line like that. He barely stopped himself from launching into some of them as he had been the one to bring them back onto the path of business. Of course he couldn’t let it pass without even a single comment…

“A second date would be better.” He challenged her, his eyes not leaving hers, a smirk slowly forming, “I can assure you of that.”

He wasn’t going to ask her but if she wanted to take him up on the invitation he had extended? Well he was hardly going to have issues with that was he? The numbers were impressive enough that even he, currently at least partially in control of the economy of a Core world, considered them to be high. For a charity such as Zathria’s?

Well the funds would be used well.

She thanked him and Carrick was rocked back slightly by how genuine it was for a moment, blinking once before smiling a softer smile.

“This was more you than anything else, Zathria. I just set the stage – you’re the star they’re willing to throw their credits behind. Still…” he grinned a little bit, “It was a pleasure.”

The smirk replaced the smile again as he winked at the Jedi Knight.

“You can escape now, by the way. It’s socially expected in fact – your time is valuable and they’ve taken up enough of it.”

@Phoenix

 

[Zathria]

Surely his statement about a second date was just pointless flirting, right? What was the old quote from Master Kenobi that had accidentally made it into the archives? "He's a politician and they're not to be trusted."

At the notification that she was free to leave, she looked around the room, seeing that many people had begun to trickle out. Closing words had been given by the master of ceremonies, and she realized just how exhausted she was.

You know how to get a hold of me, she said. He had her number, and she certainly wouldn't hang up a call.

It's been a pleasure, Senator, she said with a smile and partial bow. As she turned to leave, she found herself hoping - probably stupidly - that she would be getting a call in the next few rotations. Don't be an idiot, Zathria. That's not going to happen, she told herself.

@Nefieslab

//Exit