Interlude 2

"Can you explain again what this is all about?" Fett asked, looking puzzled.

"It is a masked ball, and you will go dressed up as Boba Fett," Lanna explained again, buffing up the battered helmet as well as she was able.

"But I AM Boba Fett," the bounty hunter protested.

"You know that, and I know it as well. But who else would believe a word of it?" Lanna asked. "So just be a good bounty hunter and pretend to be somebody pretending to be Boba Fett. It's only for this evening."

"For you, I will," he replied, leaning towards her and planting a kiss on her cheek.

With a hollow noise, Lanna whacked the helmet over Boba's head. "Don't do that! It's out of character."

"Then why don't we dress up as Han Solo and Leia Organa?" Fett asked.

"I wanted to go as Han Solo -- frozen in carbonite," Lanna replied. "That would have excused me from most of the nonsense and small talk going on, but," she took a deep breath, "the thought that you'd then go dressed up as Leia dressed up as Boussh made me reconsider. I'm not going to play a public round of Sleeping Beauty with you! So how do I look?"

"I still think you should wear that Huttish slave girl outfit," Boba said, with a critical look.

"I'm not going to show my spare tires in public, thank you!" Lanna snapped. "It's those cooking courses you attend -- they're bad for my figure."

"It is not my fault that you eat too much," Fett countered.

"Oh, it isn't, now? And what about the 24 variations of frosted chocolate mousse with redberries and cream you came up with? That's just screaming innocence, right?"

"I still see no need to hide you in such a costume. It's ridiculous. Nobody would ever think of wearing a hairstyle that would force you to walk through doors sideways."

"That's why it's a royal hairstyle. They can afford bigger doors."

"But the dress looks more like a red and gold tent than anything else. You could smuggle in a bantha under those skirts. Not to mention that white makeup with red dots scattered about your face. It looks as if you had measles!"

"It does not! And even if I did, they'd at least be royal measles. And they are placed strategically -- see here, one on each cheek and this one on my upper lip."

Instead of looking, Boba tried to remove the last spot she mentioned with his mouth, clasping Lanna around the waist.

Again Lanna whacked him with his helmet -- more persistently this time.

After he let go of her again, Boba asked, "So what will I call you tonight?"

"Like the queen would talk to the bounty hunter?" Lanna countered, raising a brow. "You assume too much." After a short break, she added, "All right, you can call me 'my queen,' or 'hey, you -- yes, the woman who is trying to smuggle the expensive liquors out under her skirt.' Would that be OK for you?"

Fett nodded, and put on his helmet. "And what if the host then stops you and reclaims the bottles?"

Lanna shrugged. "Mission objectives not accomplished."