End Game

[Aadya Drast]

t h e m e​

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Making it through to the next round was a pretty good feeling. Aadya told herself that she was always going to make it, that she was the best, that she would be the winner.. but you never really knew. All it could take was doing one wrong thing to have a fickle audience turn on you, voting your ass straight off the island and back into real life. Aadya had no interest in going back to real life, at least not yet.

Today's date had them shipped off to Dromund Kaas; Kaas City to be exact. A bustling hub of metropolitan Empire life, Aadya was sure they picked it to make it seem like all Empire worlds were like it. A bit of propaganda tossed in to the reality game show but Aadya didn't mind. She liked Kaas City. It was different than Coruscant in a good way. Maybe she'd buy a flat here at some point, assuming she wasn't going to end up living with Varyn somewhere.

Apparently the show's producers had latched onto the idea that both Aadya and Varyn were incredibly competitive, so they chose to have their date in some sort of arcade/upscale pizza joint type of thing that had pretty much any kind of game inside of it imaginable. There was even games that didn't require technology, like sabaac and checkers. Most importantly, though, there was an open bar.. and the pizza smelled hella good.

As usual Aadya had arrived before Varyn and once again she took the liberty of grabbing a drink. She was sure the Emperor would arrive soon. Aadya had already been eyeing some of the games around, trying to figure which ones she thought she'd be able to kick Varyn's ass at the most. There was one called Fatal Fighting that looked pretty neat. There were disclaimers on the side about how graphic the game's content was which was always a plus for Aadya.

A content smile creeped across Aadya's face as she continued to wait, looking forward to seeing Varyn again even if this could be the last time. Hopefully things went well.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

The show was down to its last two competitors, and Varyn could have been more upset about how it had played out. The women left in the tournament were people that he at least enjoyed being around. It also meant that the viewers hadn't been complete dolts. Varyn had little faith in the mass opinions of the people, and it was a large contributor to why he believed in an Empire, but at least this time they seemed to have gotten it right enough.

Not only that, but the producers had picked a place he actually enjoyed. He had an office on Dromund Kaas, and when he wasn't acting from the throne room, he was most typically found here: on a much more populated and hospitable planet than the deserts of Korriban.

The pizza joint was... a bit different, but he had been forewarned that it was with the intention of fanning the competition into flames. Apparently the population enjoyed a competitive Emperor and contestant.

He made his way inside, and this time wasn't quite so hesitant about getting himself a drink. He'd been on these Holonet dates enough that he wasn't feeling particularly hesitant or concerned about it anymore. He started sipping away at his first of potentially several drinks for the night as he went in search of Aadya.

Ah, there you are. And here I was wondering if we were starting out the evening with hide-and-seek: our first game, he said jokingly. He knew that there would be many games and the like tonight, but with only two competitors left, it might be time for some hard questions. Perhaps that would come with time (almost certainly) but he wasn't going to leap into it too soon.

I see you're back for more, he jested. In truth, they both seemed to have had some amount of fun on their last trip, and Varyn wasn't sad to see she had made it through. She didn't seem too sad to be here either. @Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

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When Varyn finally came into view Aadya's face lit up, and she couldn't help but let out a mildly embarrassing giggle when he said their first game could have been hide and seek. Apparently the Emperor had a killer bod and was actually pretty funny. In Aadya's experience the best looking ones often had personalities similar to flour.

It was actually kind of annoying, if she were being honest. Aadya had originally signed up for the contest based purely on her desire to win and do it in front of billions of people.. but now, it wouldn't' be the losing that would upset her. It would be the someone else being with Varyn that would upset her. Her internal miss independent couldn't help but shake its head.

"Don't think I could ever get enough," She said with a wink and a smirk. Sipping at her drink, Aaday's eyes scanned around the arcade. "Kind of an interesting place, huh? Which game do you wanna lose at first?" The results of the jet ski race were inconclusive, which as far as Aadya was concerned means she won. At the very least, she didn't lose.

Her eyes were drawn back to the Fatal Fighting game and with a shrug of her shoulders, Aadya got up and walked over to it. "How bout this one? Whoever wins each round can ask the other person a question or have them do something and they have to do it. Whatcha think?" Under normal circumstances Aadya would have been happy to just take Varyn's lunch money and bet on the game, but this seemed like more fun and more... appropriate for the holonet.

Sliding into her spot - the Player One spot, obviously - Aadya grabbed the joystick and started up the game. She picked her fighter - some ninja looking dude that had nunchucks; who didn't love nunchucks - and looked over to Varyn.

"Ready when you are."

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn shook his head in disagreement when she said that he was going to lose, though he was mostly doing it in humor. He found their little rivalries to be fairly humorous and enjoyable, and it seemed to be playing well on the Holonet too. Not that the crowd's opinion of the dates held a great deal of sway in Varyn's mind. At this point, he was potentially going to be seeing a whole lot of one of these two women, and he'd like it to be someone that he actually enjoyed being around. Thus far, Aadya seemed to be that type of person, even if she was... pretty young.

All right, all right, you better put your money where your mouth is. Or... he paused, realizing that that expression may not have been right. ...your uncomfortable questions, I suppose, he said. The part about answering questions was potentially going to be uncomfortable, but that was part of life. Perhaps the answers would be hidden from those on the holonet.

He slid into the second spot as she promptly claimed the first, flipping through characters until he found one. He was a large, four-armed alien... probably Codru-Ji who looked like he could have been a Sith Emperor or something.

He looks a little overpowered, he muttered with a shrug. Guess I'll pick him then, he said with a nod and hit the selector button. He could just imagine this going badly. He had very, very little experience with fighting games, but uh.... the Force?

The first few moments were spent trying to learn the controls, jumping, crouching, punching, kicking, etc... it showed that he didn't really know what he was doing.

 

[Aadya Drast]

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Apparently Varyn's character was over powered or... Aadya just really, really sucked at this video game. Even though it looked like Varyn was just learning the controls he'd managed to lay down some actual combos on her and totally whoop her ass. For a moment, Aadya stared at the screen and couldn't help but make one of those are you serious rn faces.

Shaking it off with a smile, Aadya turned to Varyn and finished off the rest of her drink. Clearly, semi-drunk Aadya would be way better at video games. Or at least, she hoped so and it didn't turn into semi-drunk Aadya making a fool of herself on live television.

"Alright then hot shot," She said, her tone playful. "You won that one. So what's your question? Or.. your dare I guess, if you're feeling adventurous." Aadya gave Varyn a little wink after she said it, unsure of how he'd respond to something like that but needing to find out. So far the Emperor didn't seem like the mega flirtatious type, but maybe he just needed a little nudging in the right direction.

Aadya hoped to the gods whatever it was that he asked her to answer or do wasn't too crazy. You never knew with the strong, silent type.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn was as shocked as anyone else when he started pressing buttons to find out what they did and it just happened to be timed perfectly to land a hit. Then another, and another. Okay, so it seemed that the Force did apply to anything where reflexes and timing was relevant. That was surprising. Within a few moments, the ninja was on the ground in a gruesome ending involving the removal of all four limbs.

I told you: overpowered, he said, motioning to the screen. He was pretty sure the four arms was the only reason he had actually won the fight. Now it was time to claim his prize. But if he had a free question it wasn't going to be the type of thing like "what's your favorite flower." This was like truth or dare, which meant the questions had to be a little bit awkward.

He thought back to the first time they had met and the tweet that Aadya had sent out to reply to the sign ups for this show, and a question came to him.

Did you sign up for this show when you were still in a relationship? he asked, head cocking to the side. Varyn was quite aware of what had happened between his Sith Lords, but if he recalled the timing correctly - and her space!tweet - she had been interested in coming out before then. Yes, what did one expect, a nice tame question? They'd made it a bit beyond that stage of the competition.

I think you mentioned your boyfriend watching holonet in your application, he said, meaning it was no secret, but he was guessing there was a story there that could get as personal or impersonal as she decided. He figured this would mean he would be getting an equally uncomfortable question when the time came, but if not that would be great.

 

[Aadya Drast]

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Well, that wasn't quite the question she was expecting. Aadya took a moment before answering, her mind jumping from one thought to another wondering which sort of answer that Varyn would want to hear. There was the simple and obvious truth, a straight 'Yes.' but obviously that was a cop out type of answer. She was sure that both Varyn and the audience watching would be dissatisfied with it. An explanation is probably what they wanted.

"I was actually, yeah." She said honestly. In her imagination she could hear the audience at home booing her, though there were probably a few yas queens whispered out there too. "I figured my best chance to get on the show as to make my application as appealing as possible. TV people love drama, and what's more drama than already having a boyfriend - a Darth boyfriend even - and going on a TV dating show with the Emperor?" It was sort of funny when Aadya said it, a smile tilting the corners of her mouth even though out loud the whole thing sounded ridiculous. "Milo was the kind to take things like that in stride. He was a good guy."

The next part was going to be a little harder to say for Aadya. Recently she'd been doing her best to avoid thinking about Milo, pushing him to the very back, darkest recesses of her memory - in the part of your head where you hid stuff so not even you could find it. Like with most things, though, you couldn't hide forever. "Though I'm sure you're aware, Milo was killed a little while ago." She let it hang in the air a bit, her eyes turning somber. It still stung a little to say it, though it wasn't as instantaneously tear jerking as it used to be. Aadya finished the rest of the drink she'd had in one go and let out a contented sigh afterward, her eyes dragging along the various games until her attention was caught by some flashing lights and thumping tunes.

"How bout we have another round on that one?" She said, pointing towards it. The game was called Groove Groove Rebellion. Some kind of dancing game where you matched the patterns on the screen with your feet.

Hopping onto the game, Aadya started grooving along to the song that was playing. For her first time, she did okay but not great. Unfortunate, she'd hoped to have a solid go and actually whoop Varyn's butt on the game. Hopefully his dance moves weren't as slick as his joy-sticking, or this night was going to start getting embarrassing.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

As rude as Varyn might have seemed for asking the question, he was nice enough not to press her as she formulated the answer. It would have been less awkward if they weren't being splashed on the holonet, but that was the downside to a publicly broadcast dating show. No doubt she would want to formulate her answer carefully.

Varyn even managed a bit of a snorting laugh as she talked about how much drama it would cause, and although he knew it was no longer an issue, the idea certainly would have been filled with plenty of drama.

As she continued explaining, he could feel the emotions and mood begin to shift. There was a regret over what had happened to Milo, and even Varyn was still somber at the thought. He had had high hopes for the Darth, but that had all been cut short. It was the hazards of the Sith, and one of the things that Varyn hated about them.

As she mentioned that he had been killed, Varyn nodded somberly, moving a little closer and actually placing his arm around her to console her if she would allow it. I'm sorry for your loss, Aadya, he said, feeling genuine sadness for her. He found that he wished he could have undone what had happened to her and taken away her pain, but he couldn't.

He nodded and downed the remainder of his own drink, making his way over to the dance machine, he looked at it for a moment. Dancing or anything akin to it was not his strong suit, but maybe it was similar to saber routines? Yeah, right.

He mounted the device, and glanced over at her as she did the same. She was... pretty cute, he had to admit, and she seemed quite ready to kick his buttocks at this one. The game started up, and within moments they were at it again. He did better than he thought, but he lost by three points. THREE POINTS!

He was shaking his head as he leaned back against the railing. I can't believe it... three stinking points, he said grumpily, clearly not the best loser. Alright, I guess it's my turn to be punished, he said, knowing that he had asked her a difficult question and expecting the same in return. Or worse yet, she'd probably come up with a dare... oh boy.

 

[Aadya Drast]

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Ah, so things were beginning to look up. Aadya had been taken by surprise at Varyn's display of genuine affection just a few minutes ago, his arm around her bringing a sense of calm and comfort she hadn't felt in quite some time. It was nice, he was nice, and she was going to be incredibly sad if she and his relationship ended and he chose the other. A song started playing over the speakers, faint but still clear, like they were on some sort of televi.. wait. They were on a television show. Aadya couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Oh you better believe it," She said, smiling at him. It was a soft, genuine smile that made her feel 15 again, looking at boys in that way for the first time. It was a weird feeling, but not one that Aadya wanted to stop.

She had an idea of what she wanted to ask Varyn but Aadya felt a little trepidation, unsure of how he would respond. She supposed the answer would tell her what she wanted to know either way; whether or not she had a real chance at winning or if this was just an exercise in ratings boosting and ad revenue. Oh well. Aadya was never the conservative type. She lived her life going for broke, no sense in changing that now. It was part of her personality, what made Aadya Aadya, so if Varyn didn't like that then their relationship would never work anyways.

Aadya walked up to Varyn, her eyes looking into his, blinking her long eyelashes cutely as her smile returned. "So since I won," She said, coyness coating her words like honey. "I think I've got a dare for you."

She was standing quite close now, close enough to wrap her arms around Varyn's waist should he let her. Their height differential - a substantial seven inches - made it so Aadya had to look up at Varyn, though she didn't mind. She'd raise up on her tip toes, a whisper escaping her lips as she looked up at him. "Kiss me," She said simply, hoping against hope that he wouldn't turn her down and she'd be devastated on live television.

Life was all about going for what you wanted, right? Hopefully what Aadya wanted and what Varyn wanted would be the same thing. If not, it would be a long ride home back to Coruscant.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

She said she was going to punish him, but that smile that she had seemed to say something else. She had an idea about what she was going to do, and Varyn couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing.

But the way she batted her eyelashes and smiled, even Varyn found that he could have gotten used to this. It was supposed to be a show just for ratings and reviews, but he realized that he might actually be able to find someone he enjoyed being with here. Although he was surprised to have come this far, there was a chance for something here perhaps.

He noticed how she moved in toward him, but he didn't pull away. He was starting to think... what was he thinking? He was looking down at her and having trouble thinking. Then her request came, and he didn't seem to withdraw from her. For a moment they were standing there quietly before he reached up and pulled at his mask, although his hood was still in place, the mask was pulled free and they were just looking at each other. The mask fell to the ground at his side as his left hand came up to brush against the side of her face. Maybe the ratings would go through the roof for this, but Varyn had finally - maybe for the first time in this event - stopped thinking about Holonet.

He leaned forward and placed his lips against hers, letting the moment draw out as his hand wrapped toward the back of her head. Finally, he pulled back and just looked at her. Well... did it live up to expectations? he asked, quietly enough that the cameras would have difficulty hearing him.