Unbalancing the Equation (Marian)

[Cedric Verdelet]

“Senator Raynor! Senator Raynor!” Her voice echoed all around him, the media squawking like trained parrots in an effort to get her attention. She smiled the whole time, her pearly white teeth contrasting near sun kissed skin perfectly. It was as if she was modeling, all while answering questions; what a rare treat. It certainly beat the stuffy silvermaned bureaucrats of other planets. He could tell she loved the attention, or at least he assumed she did but how naturally she deflected or answered but then jumped over to the next question with enthusiasm.

“No further questions.” Her aide stepped forward, signifying the end of their time. All around him, reporters jumped to their feet in an attempt to get one more question in. Cedric remained seated however, perfectly still amidst of sea of waving arms and bodies leaning forward. Gloved fingers steepled together before him, with his elbows perched atop the arm rests. He watched as she departed, and beneath the roar of the crowd he spoke to himself. “How delectably…perfect.” The left side of his lips curved upward in tandem with the outside of his left brow, and as she departed and her aide took the forefront of the podium, so too did he have enough.

He slipped out into a service exit, mentally recalling the buildings structure. He recalled briefly a parking garage reserved for dignitaries and staff. He departed into a stairwell, not rushing his motions in the least. All would be timed well. His left hand set atop the handrail, following it as he circled down two flights of stairs to the level below. Before he stepped out into the parking garage, he adjusted the faux media badge he had concocted and stepped out.

His blue eyes briefly caught sight of her entering a vehicle parked and waiting. He waited a moment, than began at the opportune time. As he crossed, her speeder rounded with precise timing to cause he driver to nearly hit him. It was a risk, but a calculated one. He feigned the fear he didn’t truly have, and stumbled down and out of the way. The vehicle swerved to avoid him, having identified her driver in a brief moment as a southpaw, confident he would swerve left instead of right.

He remained on his hands and knees a moment, taking his sweet time to recover to his feet. If he judged the woman correctly, she wouldn’t just wait to let her driver handle things, but take matters into her own hands.

[Marian Rayner]

How was the conference, miss?

Marian raised her eyes to meet with her driver's gaze in the rear view mirror of the speeder, momentarily pausing in unfastening the diamond cascade earrings from her lower lobes. She flashed her usual, brilliant smile in his direction and then nodded her head. "Yes, Norl. It went as expected. Thank you for asking."

Very good, miss. I'll take you back to the estate, now.

"That will be fine." She replied, resuming the task of removing her earrings. They had been a present from Marcus and they did look stunning, they tended to be a little heavy after a while though; laden with the priceless gems, as they were. Once they both rested in one palm, she reached back to gather the seat belt. Then, just as her fingers snagged it, the driver was forced to swerve to avoid hitting something. Someone. Marian gasped loudly and whipped her head around to make sure whoever it was, was all right.

"Norl, wait here."

Miss, are you su-

She opened the speeder door and then slammed it, running toward the man who was rising from where he had fallen. Her high heels rapped against the pavement at a rapid staccato. "Oh my goodness, are you all right! I'm afraid I distracted my driver and he- oof!" The tip of her shoe caught a crevice in the duracrete and she fell forward just a foot or two before him. The white high heels that matched her form-fitting dress slipped right off her feet and she stumbled right into him, her hands flying around his back and she caught herself against him in an almost hug-like position; her ear pressed against his abdomen. She straightened almost immediately, holding her hands up like he was a robber come to burgle her.

"That was... I am... so sorry." She gritted out, turning around to find her shoes. "I am not usually so..." Yes, you are. "Are you all right...?" She asked, a bit more calmly, flicking a grey hued glance over her shoulder.

[Cedric Verdelet]

Things were going according to plan. Marian departed her vehicle and quickly hastened to him. Human error was something he could not adequately plan for, however. She tripped and stumbled into him. His actual dexterity and capabilities, as practiced in his time of solitude through yoga and weight free physical training, had to be tamped down to make anything going forward believable and not to appear based off of luck or lies.

She came into him, and instead of stopping and catching her, he received her but stumbled back. He made the necessary sacrifice of his lower back into a speeder, wincing in a non feigned gesture. When she straightned, he straightened, though she turned away to retrieve her shoes. His mind was forced to recalculate things a bit, like the proper time to note his recognition of her, as well as to take in the change in planned physical interaction. He moved to join her, retrieving one of her shoes and stepping towards her with it.

"I really should have paid more attention." He confessed a mistruth, since he had been paying precisely the right amount of attention. "Here, your shoe Ms..." His eyes met hers, and he put on the best expression of realization he could. The delay was meant to convey his waiting for her name, but the facial expression would lead into his next words. "...oh, Ms Raynor. I'm sorry, I should have noticed you sooner." His right hand rose, combing back through his blond hair in a gesture of combined shame and nervousness. Every movement carefully thought out to project just the proper persona to provoke a sympathetic response.

"You weren't hurt swerving, were you?" He wanted sympathy in that moment, not to pull her into a trap of wanting his affections. The first of the two would be far easier, given her committed relationship to the Imperial General, whereas the second would first require him to break down that relationship while simultaneously building their own: too early. "Oh, so rude of me. Jasper Tultrix." He didn't mention the media part of things, that would convey itself in the badge on his chest. If anything, it would invite her to be even kinder than she might normally, risking a bad report on behalf of the incident. Flawless.

"You did wonderful in your conference. From your smile and portrayed comfort, I would have thought you'd stay all evening, but it looked as if your aide dragged you off. I only wish I could have gotten an opportunity to voice my question..." She could construe that statement how she wanted, that either he had been ignored, or he had been swallowed up in the sea of reporters to not be noticed. Either way his aim was to extend their engagement.

[Marian Rayner]

The Governor hopped in place for a moment as she wiggled one shoe back onto her foot. Then, she began looking around for the other; only to find that he held it aloft for her. Clearing her throat, she accepted it graciously and made quick work of putting it back on, as well. She continued to smile at him, in a silly and self conscious kind of way, as recognition dawned on his face. His very handsome face. When she'd accidentally bumped into his abdomen, she'd felt the coiled muscle there, too. "No, no, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She assured him, her soft grey eyes flicking down to the badge attached to his shirt front. Jasper Tultrix. She was not familiar with the name.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. How unfortunate that it couldn't be under more normal circumstances." She spared a glance back toward the car, catching a glimpse of her driver's worried expression in the side mirror. It was imperative she smoothed things over with this individual. It couldn't be getting out that Marian Rayner ran over unsuspecting civilians. She could almost see the headlines. There were those in the galaxy just waiting for her to screw up and she didn't want to give them any possible ammunition. "My aide has me on a very short leash, nowadays. I apologize that I was unable to take your question." She said earnestly, gesturing back toward her speeder.

"Mr. Tultrix, I'd be happy to give you an exclusive and drive you back to your current residence."

[Cedric Verdelet]

An exclusive. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. "Really? I mean, I just wanted to ask a few questions..." He felt around his pockets, producing a notepad and writing utensil, so very old fashioned. Interesting. He hadn't needed to employ the lost keys distraction. She instead went right into inviting him along. It all went better than he could imagine, and now he was on to the next phase of things. "What am I saying, of course. Thank you."

He moved to her vehicle, stepping beside the door to welcome her inside first before he joined her. "I'm kind of new to the job, so you'll have to excuse me." He settled in with the woman, setting his pen to paper. "Nice vehicle." He commented. He began than by asking her a question, following the careful plan he had set out. His form sat forward, closing the distance slightly and conveying interest to the Senator.

"Commenor is a planet secluded from the bulk of the Imperial planets. How do you assure the people that they are just as safe as being near Bastion, what with the war developing." He allowed her to answer as naturally as she could, for appearances sake. While she did, he wrote, but not what she said back to him. Instead he jotted down a message, and when he finished speaking he showed it to her, but followed up with a second question.

"What would you say is your major goal for the planet of Commenor?" He turned the pad around for her to read it, while he asked the question, with a reiteration of the question he asked that she might reply naturally. SPEEDER BUGGED. IMPERIAL INTELLIGENCE. ANSWER NATURALLY: MAJOR GOAL FOR COMMENOR. He meanwhile, in allowing her to answer, reached across and just past her. He leaned just over her, bringing his fingers across the frame by the left rear window.

She smelled glorious, to go with her perfect appearance. For an individual who sought perfection in all things, he found himself thoroughly tempted the more time he spent in close proximity of her company. Producing the bug for her display, he gestured for her to continue acting naturally.