A/N: Part 2 of Ben-Allana mini-series! The 'ladies man' strikes again! ;P

Honesty

"How about this one?"

"Mmhmm?"

Allana frowned, dangling a lavender gown from the crook of her finger.
Her cousin didn't seem to be paying the slightest bit of attention to the extremely important task of selecting the appropriate dress for the Hapan Chume'da to wear to the royal dinner that evening.

Ben Skywalker lounged on an overstuffed divan in the chambers of the Chume'da in the Fountain Palace on Hapes, bouncing his feet and idly flipping through a bolo-ball holozine.
Allana briefly considered setting Anji on him, but then saw that her pet nexu was also curled up lazily by the window and probably disinclined to do anything remotely ferocious at this time.

She picked up a fur muff and threw it at Ben. It hit him smack in the middle.

"Oof! 'Lana!", he wailed in annoyance, glaring at his cousin sister, who glared regally back at him.

"You're supposed to be paying attention here and helping me choose a dress for tonight," she demanded.
" A Chume'da's wardrobe necessarily speaks volumes about her, her mood, her political inclinations..."

Ben rolled his eyes behind her back.

"I saw that! I have the Force, you know."

Ben pulled an even more ridiculous face behind her, this time on purpose.

Allana spun to spear him with a daggered look.

"See? This is why you don't have a girlfriend. No patience for women."

"On the contrary," Ben drawled haughtily leaning back even further into the soft cushions, "I have all the patience in the galaxy with women. Just none for you."

Allana seriously contemplated calling palace security and having her annoying brother hauled off, but then decided it was beneath her. She turned back, sniffing snootily, to her extensive wardrobe of evening dresses and lapsed into contemplation once again.

"I wish Grandma were here," she mumbled to herself.
"She has the best taste...The lavender is too plain, how about...this?"
She turned, holding up a gorgeous floor-length dress in deep maroon with a low-cut neckline and long, heavily brocaded sleeves.

"Well? What do you think?"

Ben flicked his eyes to it for a brief second, shrugged, murmured something non-committal and then returned to his perusal of Coruscant Fires' chances this season in the Galactic Premier League.

Allana wished she had her grandfather's blaster close at hand. She looked around for something else to throw at her overly lethargic cousin when her eye fell on something soft and shimmering gold at the very end of the rack. She breathed in sharply and pulled it out.

Yes! It was perfect!

The cloth fell like the lightest liquid gold around her figure, form-fitting, but not excessively so, flowing with her every step. it was slashed with cream-coloured shimmersilk and the bodice held the finest and most delicate of embroidered designs. It had been a gift from her mother, but until now, she had found no occasion to wear it.

"Ben", she gasped, thrusting it in his direction, the most dazzling smile on her face.
"It has to be this, right? Isn't it fabulous?!"

Ben yawned loudly, stretched and lifted himself from his seat. He barely cast a glance at the dress as he strolled towards the young woman.

"You look beautiful in anything you wear, Princess. You just don't realize it. It's not the dresses, it's you."

He said it in his deepest, most serious voice, looking straight into her soft grey eyes. Then he kissed her lightly on the forehead and strolled out the door.

Allana stood dumbstruck, staring in his wake. She shook herself out of her reverie, only to find herself blushing furiously.

Damn him! she thought to herself, grinning like an idiot. I have the best brother ever!