Theatre

Reaching the table, Raan spotted the look he received from his daughter — a look that told him to remember his manners. Making note to perhaps have word with his daughter when they got home, he smiled at everyone. With a slight nod, he said, "Greetings, I'm Raan Jade and this," Gesturing at the little gold-with-red-highlights haired girl that seemed to feel at home in Mace's lap, "Is my daughter, Lyra." This was said for those who might not know him, of course.

Lyra waved at everyone and said, "Pleased to meet you all." Spotting one of her "besties", Lucy, she smiled at the Lieutenant before saluting her.

With that out of the way, Raan looked in Serrin Roma's direction, his gaze softening even before he realized it, said, "C-congratulations, Miss Roma." He chose to leave it at that, for to say more, he feared, would trigger her memory of who he was as a child. Needless to say, he had another thing coming if he thought she hadn't recognized him by now. Scanning the group for Elikapeka, Raan's focus was diverted when his old friend made it painfully obvious that Ljiljana Jankovic was not the only one who knew about the cursed creator's deeds.



Having sat down only after Serrin had, he placed a hand on Atlantis' shoulder, made a face before whispering, "Please don't put the Brat in Bratlantis. That was just . . . No." He shook his head, "Now about the Elitist Derp club, care to tell me more?" Raan hoped that the cursed creator knew that this was going to haunt not only him, but poor Raan was well for a long time to come. He was about to threaten Atlantis when he heard Crystal say,



Praying to the makers to make him vanish now, Raan chuckled, "Aye, Miss Kayne. Some of us, it seems, are trapped in the past." He shrugged before grinning, "What are you going to do, right?"

*Best Female went to Serrin... well, he knew Morgan wouldn't be disappointed by that. As her father, of course he was a little disappointed, but hey, fatherly pride was strong, however he was quite fine with Serrin's victory as well, as evidenced by his enthusiastic applause.

Speaking of fatherly pride, there it was, the winner for Best Male. Well, two winners. He'd only heard of Zion, but the other had, after all, been Jake. Aerandir was pleased, but also a bit shocked; how in the world was he supposed to take the fact that his young, small son had beaten him for that sort of award? Well, proud, he should be. He smiled and clapped, laughing at his little speech. He caught him on the way back to Lana to congratulate him, then jokingly hung his head when Atlantis made note of the fact that his young son was manlier than the rest of them.*
Well, I suppose we have work to do— Oi!
*He looked up at Ambar with mock anger, then glanced over where he indicated to see Jake with an arm around Lana. He chuckled at Ambar's comment and shook his head.*
I'm gonna have to keep an eye on that one...

Smacking Forcias upside the head for his shorter dress comment as he goes off to get her a Whyren's Reserve as requested, Lucy points a finger towards Lily and warns her playfully, "No comments from you, ma'am. Arching an eyebrow skeptically when informed by Lily that there has been some requests that the two of them hang out, Lucy asks with her usual tact and grace, What the frak for? Laughing and holding her hands up, Lucy says, Kidding, kidding. You seem cool. Hitting Elika in the arm, she says, Unlike the geek here."

Rubbing her arm and looking at Lily with an I told you so look since she had warned Lily that her lieutenant was not exactly fond of Elika, Elika tells Lucy, "Gee, thanks. Looking over at Delaana with a pout, Elika asks, You don't think I'm a geek do you, my Ceesi? Resting her chin on Delaana's shoulder, Elika shrugs and says jokingly, I guess they are kind of cute, even if I have to wonder what it is Forcias sees in her."

Hitting Elika in the arm again, Lucy grins and says, "Gee, thanks, in her nasal imitation of Elika's voice. Clapping with everyone for Master Roma, and then Jake and Zion when they are each announced as the winners of the awards they had been nominated for, Lucy leans over to kiss Forcias on the cheek when he is announced as the winner for best NPC. Go and make your speech, dope, Lucy tells him, and then offers him her best advice, Don't try and use too many big words. Maybe you'd better just keep it short and to the point. Smiling happily when Lyra and her father join them, Lucy grins as she returns the salute Lyra gives her and then pats the chair Forcias should have left and says, Get over here and tell me why your evil father has been keeping you from us all for so long.  I'll be proud if he manages to make it off the stage without embarrassing himself," Lucy tells Atlantis jokingly with an amused grin when he asks if she's proud of Forcias.

Smiling happily when Raan unexpectedly joins them with his daughter, Elika remembers after a moment that she should be mad at him for having been away for so long and so scowls an Andros-worthy scowl for a moment before giving up on being mad since it is not much fun. "It's nice to see you, Senator Jade, Elika tells him with a warm smile, adding, even if it is only in a dream. I don't suppose this means we might be seeing you in that other reality as well any time soon, does it?"

Raan was shaking his head when Atlantis started to explain, he had understood what Atlantis meant the first time around but he did not know the story behind it. Deciding that he would research on this later, he said, "Fine. It would be my honor to join the Elitist Derps." And he meant it. It was odd for him to be having this conversation with Atlantis but then again, if the higher powers decided to bless him with this opportunity then why not?



Nodding in agreement to MOST of what Atlantis said, Raan clapped (he also had an eyebrow raised at Atlantis referring to Lucy as the Lucenant) and looked in Lucy's direction when he witness the interaction going on between Lucy and Forcias and, to his delight, finally found Elikapeka. Studying the interactions that were taking place, his jaw dropped when. . .



Lyra, whispering to her Aunt Macey that she would be right back, hopped off her lap and happily obliged — but not before walking past her Father and pushing his jaw back in place — giving Lucy one big hug before taking over Forcias' seat for the time being. "I would ask Papa that question, but, Bliss says it has to do with Papa having attachment issues—"

"She wha—"

"He can't let me out of his sights, and so," She brought her hands to her face, feigning tears as she went on, "So I'm stuck with him and hidden from the world."

Raan, for all his claims of being such an amazing Father, would never have guessed that his daughter had talent when it came to acting. Well, he would have said that as a Jade she excelled at everything she did, but that would have been Fatherly bias. Right now though, he did not know whether to be proud or shocked. "Attachment issues?!"

But his gaze returned to Elikapeka, and seeing her brought him the utmost joy. He couldn't even begin to describe it as she was . . .



For the second time tonight, Raan's jaw dropped. While it was true that Elikapeka looked rather adorable even with a scowl on her face, he was genuinely shocked to see such an adorable face look so scary. Perhaps even a tad terrified. Raising his hands as if to surrender, he said, "I can explain . . ."



All pretense aside, Raan was moved and saddened at the same time. Smiling at Elika, he tilted his head to the side, making sure to hide any sadness as best as he could (Elika could read Raan rather clearly, so he always had to try hard where she was involved), he said, "When did I become 'Senator Jade' to you, Peka?" But as soon as he uttered her name, he remembered why he had distanced himself from her, if only slightly. Her memories . . . And then, "It is so good to see you as well." He paused for a moment, thinking on how to answer her question — but not too long, lest Elika's prowess in the minutiae of observation came into play again. "Can you say with absolute certainty. . ." His green eyes bore into hers, as they once did during a similar event before this one. "That this is . . . a dream?"

Realizing that he was doing the thing that had a tendency of alerting Elika into wondering whether he was serious or not, he quickly added, "Because, you know, if it really is then I'm sure that if you believe in your dreams hard enough then they shall come to be. So, umm," He stopped tilting his head, "Please believe in this one."

Raan, not as gifted as Elika where observation was concerned, was still able to see that Elika had changed since he had last seen her — and he was a little curious about the lady she had referred to as 'Ceesi'. He was about to say more when a group of women joined them and started talking to Elika in particular.

Lifting a finger as if to tell Elika that he would return in about a minute, Raan excused himself from the table and started heading for the nearest balcony . . .

After presenting the award for Best Male Character, Plu returned to his seat to continue his conversation with his adopted daughter, @neassawhelan.

When Cathaoir Ordo was announced as Best Mandalorian, however, the old man jumped from his seat as fast as his aging body would allow, and applauded the worthy winner. He watched to see if Cath would appear from some unseen place to claim his prize, as he had not seen ner'vod anywhere in the hall. "It's good to know that our people are still represented here at the Sithies with our own award, even if our population and influence in the known galaxy have waned." He whispered the Neassa.

Someday, perhaps, the fruits of his labors in the Unknown Regions would lead to a few awards for the next generation of Mando'ade. Neassa had been one of the first children he had trained, but she was not the last, and Kaeliin was with some of them now.

Squeezing Plu's wrist when her reaches for hers, Neassa smiles unseen beneath her buy'ce when he says that he is alive and awesome, laughing as she says, It's good that you've not changed at all then in those respects, buir.  Snapping her fingers as though chagrined to learn that she will not be receiving the award for Best Male Character, Neassa jokes, And here I had such high hopes that they'd ignore the whole gender issue this year and award it to me anyway.  Nodding when he asks about whether she is enjoying her time with the Draykon crew, Neassa says, Absolutely.  They're an interesting bunch, and strong and brave to boot.  Before she has a chance to ask her adoptive father how he has been, he needs to go and present an award, and so Neassa waits at the table for him to return, cheering enthusiastically for all the winners that are announced before Plu returns, and maybe even just a little more enthusiastically for Cathaoir when he is announced as the Best Mandalorian.       



Yes, yes it is, Neassa agrees when her adoptive father says that it is good to see that the Mandalorian people are still represented at the Sithies with an award of their own, her tone suggesting that she shares his views on how their people's influence is not what it once was.  So, buir, Neassa says, lifting a gloved hand to gesture towards Plu, you must tell me all about what you've been up to, are up to, and are planning to get up to.