Good luck to you on lucky number seven, my good man!
*whistles innocently*
Aggressive Negotiations
"I'm so glad you could join me Padme. You don't know how much this means to me." Said Ciaran to her best friend as they walked the residential area of her (official) base of operations on Coruscant.
"Of course Ciaran, what are friends for?" said Padme. "Though I must wonder what had you so flustered it had to be talked about in person."
"Oh nothing much. I just wanted to get you over here for dinner and knew you wouldn't stop with all your politics unless you thought it was an emergency of some kind." said Ciaran, throwing open the doors. Inside was a long table, with a considerable spread near one end, lit by a few candles in the center.
"Candles Ciaran? How very romantic." teased Padme. Ciaran laughed. It was cute to watch her try to beat the master.
"I have no idea what you're insinuating. I merely prefer the unique lighting offered by candles. Have since I was a child." Said Ciaran, putting on an obviously fake air of indignation.
"I thought Miralukans were
blind." said Padme skeptically.
"Perhaps I'm just exceptional in that regard as well." The two friends laughed at some unseen cue as only friends can as they sat down to eat.
XXX
"Didn't you say this lady was bad news?"
"Yes."
"And I'm fairly certain Master Kenobi said the same exact thing."
"It wouldn't surprise me. He is rather sane."
"So then
why are you going to dinner with her?"
"Because Snips, for all Lady Ciaran is personally frustrating and professionally dangerous, she's also an incredibly important figure in the galaxy. And for all the stress, conversations with her tend to be enlightening in some way or another."
"Well I never doubted she was important with a place like this." Said Ahsoka, gesturing to the virtual palace that they were walking through.
With that, the droid they had been following stopped and knocked on the door. "Lady Ciaran, your guest has arrived."
"Gotta say, I'm a little excited to finally meet this lady with how much you and Master Kenobi have talked about her." said Ahsoka, as someone answered from inside the room.
"
You will not be meeting her. You will stand outside this room and not enter unless you hear blaster fire. Last thing I need is Lady Ciaran finding out I have a Padawan. Who knows what she'd do if she knew you existed." said Anakin, the second part more to himself than to his Padawan.
"What? Oh come on!" complained Ahsoka.
"Now now, be a good Padawan and listen to your Master." Anakin said, entering the room as the droid held the door and closed it behind him.
"Padme! What are you doing here?" exclaimed Anakin.
"I'm one of Ciaran's best friends, and she invited me over for dinner, even if it was pitched as a diplomatic emergency." Said Padme, sparing a sidelong glance to Ciaran, who whistled inconspicuously. "I'm the one who should be asking why you're here."
"I was invited by Ciaran as well." His eyes turned to their gracious host. "I was told it would be an intimate conversation about sensitive topics.
"Oh, it absolutely will be. Have a seat." said Ciaran cheerfully as Anakin took the other seat next to Ciaran, directly across from Padme. "Ah, would you look at the time! I'm late for that meeting with the Intergalactic Banking Clan about potential CNS membership. Could be a while, so feel free to start without me. Oh, and before I leave, have a little music. Toodles!"
Ciaran left the room quickly, before either of her guests could say a single word in protest, turning on some of the least appropriate ambient music on her way out. Where Ciaran promptly turned around and stuck an ear to the door. There was no way she'd miss out on their awkward attempts at flirting. She would have the whole thing recorded obviously, but there was always that immediate satisfaction that came from eavesdropping personally.
"Who are you?" Ciaran looked away to see a young Tortuga woman staring and her judgingly.
"I could ask you the same question." shot back Ciaran, quickly returning to the more pressing matter of gathering information for future use.
"I'm not the one eavesdropping though." said the Tortuga, hands on her hips.
"True. You also don't own the building." countered Ciaran. "I believe I'm entitled to eavesdrop whenever I please."
"Wait, you own this place?
You're Lady Ciaran?" she said incredulously.
"Indeed I am Lady Ciaran, one of the richest businesswomen in the galaxy, leader of the CNS, Master of Spymasters, Survivor of Kalee, and Gracious Host." boasted Ciaran.
"You know, based on how Master Kenobi and Skyguy described you, I expected some kind of shadowy mob boss older than Master Yoda, clinging to life just to make them miserable. Not some kooky young lady."
"Huh, Skyguy. Damn it, why did I not think of that?" muttered Lady Ciaran. "You still haven't told me who
you are. Keep me waiting any longer and I'll have to guess."
"I'm Ahsoka Tano, Master Skywalker's Padawan." said the young Tortuga.
Ahsoka was slightly taken aback by the smile that slowly spread across Ciaran's face. "His Padawan? You don't say? Oh, he'll rue the day he let me find out about you. Would you like to see some embarrassing holocrons of your Master trying to carry a conversation with Senator Padme? They're absolutely precious."
AN: Fuck it, let's see how many we can do before the next turn comes. I kind of want to hit more than two per action, if just because it would be hilarious to break that cap the turn it's set. Here's Ciaran's elaborate trap to get Anakin and Padme alone together in the context of a romantic candlelit dinner. She also meets Ahsoka and introduces her to the conspiracy.
