(Untitled)

[herostanding]

"Oh, come on."

Jacen rolls his eyes under the helmet he's acquired, and pokes Bar with a black-gloved finger.

"And with the vocoder? Even you can be more subtle than this."

He tries to tug off the helmet.

No dice, Solo.

[ tiny tag: the russian astronaut ]

Comments

[aimedforthemoon]

Esfir, still at her table (and still dressed up), looks up.

The voice is...attention-grabing.

As is the cape.

And the mask.

And.

Everything.

She'll say something in a moment. Honest.

[herostanding]

Jacen tilts his head at the familiar presence. He tries to glance sideways to confirm who it is, but the mask doesn't offer much in the way of peripheral vision.

How did Vader fight in this?

He turns all the way to look at Esfir, sees what she's wearing, and clears his throat.

"...Bar is fond of her little jokes."

[aimedforthemoon]

"She is," the tiny woman agrees.

Beat.

"How can you see with that...mask being a blinker?"

[herostanding]

"It's difficult," Jacen admits. "Undoubtedly designed by the Emperor himself. I suppose my grandfather relied rather more heavily on the Force than his vision."

He frowns under the mask and tilts his head again.

"Which is difficult in this place at the best of times, never mind when it's as crowded as tonight."

[aimedforthemoon]

Jacen's statements are filed away for future analysis.

"It gets that way when Bar's in her moods."

(her accent is thicker than it should be for him to know her, eyes younger if still too old for her youthful face)

[herostanding]

"Yes," Jacen agrees, again making the mistake of trying to glance sideways (at Bar this time). "Earth holidays."

He studies Esfir curiously, in the Force as much as with sight.

"Ah," he says thoughtfully, realising that she probably doesn't know him yet. "Is the real Vader still alive for you?"

[aimedforthemoon]

She regards him for a long moment, green eyes sharp.

"Yes," she says at least. "You know me."

It's not entirely a question.

[herostanding]

He thinks back over what he's already said -- what he's already given away. She's a sharp one.

He decides to go with as much truth as possible without hinting about any conflict. Better to let her think he's still best friends with his dad, etc.

"You're a friend of my father's," he confirms. "I assume you know him already -- Han Solo?"

[aimedforthemoon]

you're a friend of my father's

Hmmmmm.

"He's a good friend."

(she's head over heels for him at the moment, but there's barely a trace of that. She can hide things when she wants to)

"Fucking Milliways."

[herostanding]

"Sums up everything," Jacen agrees wryly. "I'll admit, I try to avoid this place myself. It can cause ... a lot of confusion."

She's more likely to run into his nine year old self than this one again, for example. Fun times all around!

[aimedforthemoon]

"Yes, I imagine it would."

Beat.

"Would it be breaking any laws of casuality if I asked you your name? I don't feel comfortable when people know mine and I don't know theirs."

[herostanding]

"My apologies," he says sincerely. "I don't suppose it would cause much of a ripple. I'm Jacen -- Solo, of course."

[aimedforthemoon]

(Han Solo? He's my... adoptive daddy.

In my country? You would be Amelia Hanevna Solo.

If my Daddy's name was Jacen, what would it be?)

"Of course." Then she smiles. "A pleasure to meet you ahead of schedule."

(Jacen...Jacenevna. Amelia Jacenevna.

A-Allana. Allana Jacenev-

I won't tell anyone.)

[herostanding]

"And to see you again, Esfir," he says, tilting his head forward in belated greeting.

If he catches the fact that she knows something more now, that he's caused more than a slight ripple, he doesn't show it. And truth is he doesn't catch it, his senses overwhelmed as they tend to be by the bar at large. All sorts of paradoxes are created here every minute, and lots of people know more than they should. He can't know about them all.

"I promise this isn't my normal attire at any point in your future," he adds. "Nor do I usually sound like this."

[aimedforthemoon]

If truth be told, those ripples were already set in place by a desperately sad little girl.

Still, Esfir flashes him one of her sharp, brilliant grins.

"I guessed as much. Halloween."

[herostanding]

"Yes. Halloween."

It's clearly the most distasteful of all holidays, if Jacen's tone -- detectable even through the vocoder -- is anything to go by.

"Better than the giant primate suit she put me in a few years ago. But I suppose both are more modest than some, ah, outfits."

He means you, Esfir. :|

And every other female in the bar.