12/26/1

"You're nervous," Kylo says as Jon enters his office, a black bundle in his hands.

"No shit. Here."

Kylo takes the bundle, looking at it. "Formal wear for the Last Night dinner?"

Jon snorts a fast laugh. "Yeah. Uh, no. I'll get that done about ten minutes before you need to put it on. New command blacks."

Kylo eyes the fabric in his hands. He can see several textures, a few grays, some shiny black metal, and more bits and bobs than his current blacks, his very comfortable current blacks, have. "These are fancier than my current ones."

Jon nods. "It's the concurrence of myself, Lady Kinear, and Threepio that palaces tend to be fancy sorts of places, and I know we don't have your palace up and running yet, but you want a palace sort of feel, so…"

Kylo nods at that, too. "Okay."

"And you've been wearing them more or less non-stop for at least a year and a half, so they're starting to get a bit worn."

Kylo inclines his head. He thinks he's got three sets of them. He's not sure. He knows he pulls fresh ones out of his closet in the morning when he gets dressed. And yes, they are starting to get a bit soft and worn, because, actually, he's been wearing them for getting onto five years now. "True." But that's also why they're comfortable.

Jon sighs. "Don't give me that look. I'm not killing your pet. You've got informal clothing, wear it when you're off duty. This is for when you actually want to look like The Master, got it?"

Kylo nods again. "Sure. Uh…"

"Yes, go put it on."

Kylo smirks. "Make a good impression on your mom?"

"Bloody hell, yes. The old bat barely thinks I'm competent to begin with, please attempt to make a good impression on her."

That Kylo understands. "On it."

"I like the gray," Kylo says to Jon, once he's got the new blacks on. They've got gray on the sleeves, and some detailing around the collar, and on the cloak.

"Rey said you would," Jon replies, edging them toward the door, ready to go meet his mother.

"She's right. I like black, too, but… I could do with some gray, or colors."

Jon nods at that, thinking more about what's coming up than what they're doing. But, as they walk through Kylo's office, what he said is actually filtering through, and Jon replies to him, "You know, your rooms don't actually have to be entirely black."

Kylo shrugs.

"If you told him to, C8 could have physical plant up here in probably less than an hour, paint brushes at the ready."

Kylo squints a bit, trying to imagine his office and rooms not black. Trying to imagine having choice in the matter.

It seems daunting.

"I even happen to know for a fact, that some of them are really quite good at laying out a room and making it look nice."

"You've got them working overtime on the suites for our guests."

"I do, but like with everything else, come the second, they'll be done."

Kylo nods at that. They're in his not-a-throne room, which is starting to fill with more tables, and there's a bar at the far end with several droids stocking it, and three men are installing… something… it's going to be impressive, but he doesn't know what it is, yet, where his throne used to be, and there's a massive flowering tree at the far end, blooming in pinks and greens, and…

"What would you suggest they look like if they weren't all black?" Kylo asks.

"I've got an actual, physical book coming, with pictures. I'd suggest you and Rey looking through it and seeing if there's anything you like."

"I can do that."

"You're doing a good job," Kylo says to Jon as they're in the lift, heading toward the docking bay where Jon's mom and sister will be landing. Even if he couldn't see the tension in Jon's face, he can feel it coming off of him in waves.

Jon barks a short laugh. "Thank you for being kind, but Kylo, and I say this as someone who genuinely respects you, you wouldn't know a good job on this sort of thing if it walked up, bit you on the ass, and took both legs clean off."

Kylo half-inclines his head. That's likely true. "Fair enough. That said, there's only two opinions that matter as to the quality of this job, and that's mine and yours, and by mine, you're doing fine."

Jon manages a slight smile. "I appreciate it."

"You're still nervous."

Jon shrugs.

"The last time I saw my mom, I cried," Kylo says.

Jon inclines his head a bit at that, too. Then says, "Yeah, but weren't you a kid or something?"

"It was the last formal dinner."

Jon blinks and swallows. "Uh… wasn't she dead?"

"Yes. The Force makes some things complicated. Like, for example, no one, no matter how much easier life would be without them, is ever really gone."

"Ah…"

They're quiet for a moment.

"What'd you talk about?" Jon asks.

"Probably the sort of stuff you're nervous about. Who… Ben… That's the name she gave me, was supposed to be. Who I am now. If I'm doing a good job, or at least better than she feared. Stuff like that."

Jon sighs a bit, "Yeah, that's a lot of it."

Another quiet moment. "So…" Jon says.

Kylo shrugs. "Long day, big argument. Stuff normal people either never have to deal with or figure out in their teens. I went home, curled around Rey, and collapsed. She snuggled me and let me cry until I fell asleep."

Jon's looking at the doors to the lift. "Lane's memorial. That's the last time I saw her in person. I was pretty… gone… but, I mean, she's been there. Did the same thing for my dad. So, that was good, and for a little while we were just, together, and it was okay. I mean… I'm still her son, and if I need to curl up and have a cry, because the universe just ripped my heart out, she's good for that, but… this isn't comfort or being or us as people. This is me as a professional, in her sphere, not just her sphere, but the sphere where she is considered one of the best in the galaxy, trying to live up to the Frakes name, and…" his voice trails off, as the light that indicates they've hit their floor flickers.

Kylo gives his shoulder a little squeeze, and then the doors open, and they head out into the AA deck, where private ships coming and going to the Supremacy dock.

Mirina Frakes is a queen.

A small one, granted. She's 1.5 meters standing up straight, but a queen none the less.

Kylo looks at Rey and sees his queen. He spent more than enough time in the orbit of a literal princess who became a senator and then a general. He watched Phasma put a legion of men in their place. He has an image in his mind of decidedly feminine power and a beyond healthy respect for it.

But watching her walk down the ramp of the transport ship, feeling Jon fidgeting beside him, seeing her take everything in, and give just a tiny little sniff to indicate that, well, the Supremancy is okay, it's certainly big enough, but it looks like it was decorated by vandals and rather grubby ones at that, and two steps into this that everyone around her should just fall in line behind her and obey, that Kylo is getting a sense of what someone who expects their orders to be taken literally, and done without a thought, looks like.

Mirina Frakes is a queen. And she knows it.

Snoke had some of this. That wave of raw power about him. The expectation that whatever he wanted would happen, and just him wanting it would make it so.

But, while he could also feel waves of fear and pain pouring off of Snoke, there's none of that to Lady Frakes. She exudes a calm and quiet strength.

She's not actually beautiful, and likely never was. It takes a good minute of looking at her before Kylo can recognize it. Her face is plain, eyes a non-descript dark color, nose too narrow and long, lips too thin. He sincerely doubts that ever mattered, though. Her hair, blonde fading into silver, is immaculately wrapped around her head in a collection of braids. Her posture is perfect. Her dress… he doesn't pay much attention to clothing on women who aren't Rey, unless it covers everything (meaning armor) or nothing (meaning he's still not really looking at the clothing) but this dress… He can't tell you why it's got his attention. It's just a very well cut traveling suit, with a long skirt, in a gray and violet, that flatters her complexion. It shouldn't be anything special. She shouldn't be anything special.

But she is.

She's looking at her son, squeezing his hands, offering him a bit of a smile, when Kylo feels it, and recognizes it. Not enough Force talent to train. Not even the level his mother could bring into play. But more than enough for a… glamour he guesses. There were stories he read as a child, of wizards who could use their power to make people like them, make themselves beautiful even if they weren't.

And he guesses that any garment she touches, any design she puts her mind and skills to, sparkles with her magic.

It's an interesting thought to him, can an… inanimate object, some sort of thing hold some magic of the Force. He knows places can, but… a dress?

It's also a moot thought. She's hugging Jon, looking up at him, and he's a second away from introducing her, and his sister, to Kylo, so he needs to be paying attention to them, not to random bits of magical theology.

He tucks it away to talk to Rey about later, and then looks down at the woman in front of him.

"Master Ren, my mother, Mirina Frakes, and my oldest sister, Tasha Spiner."

He nods at the women before him, and Mirina looks up to him and says, with a similar nod of her head, "Emperor Ren."

Kylo licks his lips, less than thirty seconds have passed since he's been correctly introduced and he can feel Jon blushing because Jon has already explained that who he works for, and he isn't an Emperor, and that's kind of a sticking point, and...

"Master, my lady," Kylo tries something of a smile on his face and a bit of an annoyed glint in his eyes.

She's looking up at him, and he's fairly sure he's, less than three quarters of a minute into this, failed at making sure that no one feels how much he's not enjoying this, which is irking him even more, and then she says, "Master Simmons taught me my times tables and how to measure fabric. The man who runs an empire is an Emperor. Emperor Ren."

He doesn't exactly glare, but his eyes are hotter than normal. "And I'm going to give the entire galaxy a lesson on how to rule, so Master is appropriate."

"Touchy bastard, aren't you?"

It's a test, he knows it's a test. Jon's sister is bored by this, and if it weren't a test, she'd be, like Jon, about to die from embarrassment or wet herself from fear.

"Possibly," he says. "I never thought to ask if my parents got married. They didn't share a family name, so maybe they didn't. But that's nothing to do with my title. Master Ren. If you cannot keep to that," he gestures to the transport, "your ship is behind you."

Mirina blinks, stares at him for a second, really looking at him, and then smirks. "You'll do."

This time he does glare, and thinks to Jon. This is what I hate about dealing with people.

Jon blinks at him, and Kylo can feel that this is part of why he's trying to keep Kylo from having to meet every damn person in the universe who matters, because most of them, especially at the level who are coming to this thing are going to be trying to test him.

Kylo sighs a bit, I know.

Mirina is still looking him over. "You're younger, of course, but you do have a lot of the feel of him. Back when he was the Chancellor, that's the kind of answer he would have given to someone being intentionally rude to him."

The last thing he wants to do is emulate the man who blew up planets for fun. Then his eye twitches a bit, as he mentally growls. She's watching, waiting to see him respond to that. That was a test, too.

And then he stops, because if she'll do this to him, she might decide to test Rey, too.

He turns to Mirina, eyes on her, hot, and says, "If you feel you have to test me, fine. Do it. I'll roll my eyes and take it. But you're not here for me. And you're not here for whichever collected them you'll gossip about me to. I do not much care if you and they talk about me being boorish or lacking in manners and graces. You're here for my wife, who I am attempting to coax, gently, into actually doing this with me, as such I want this to be an enjoyable and pleasant experience for her, and if you make her, for an instant, even contemplate thinking about regretting this, I will make you regret it." He smiles as he says it, and feels Jon go pale beside him. Jon's sister is starting to look nervous, and he feels the hair on the back of Mirina's neck rise.

Because this is not a test. It's a warning and a promise.

Mirina knows she's poked a killer, one who intends to protect his mate.

She straightens herself up to her full height, putting her eyes level with his nipples, and then looks up directly into his eyes. He can feel her thinking, interesting set of priorities. "I didn't get where I am by making women regret retaining my services, and I won't start doing it with your wife. Be calm," he can feel her Force, mild and untrained and likely unconscious, laying a soothing energy on him, "if your Lady doesn't enjoy this, it won't be because of anything I've done or didn't do."

Kylo nods. "Good."

"Speaking of your lady," Tasha says, voice gentle, "when do we get to meet her?"

"I wasn't sure how taxing you'd find the trip," Jon replies, though it's clear that's aimed at their mother. "Do you want to go to your rooms, rest?"

Kylo quietly mentally smirks at the amount of I am not a feeble old woman coming off of Mirina and aimed at her son right now. He also takes a moment to think to Rey, Busy?

He gets the sense of them all in the chapel, chatting away about… if droids are part of the Force, and for a long moment he really wishes he were there because that would be an interesting conversation to be part of, but… Well… Actually… If she's here, maybe he could… Okay, no, he's still got at least a dozen reports on his desk, and the First Year Speech isn't done, though it's flowing significantly better now that he's killed the idea of Emperor Ren, and…

Jon's mom is here, just waiting for you.

What's she like?

Short.

He can feel her exasperation from the other side of the galaxy. Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to know.

He glances at Mirina and Tasha and Jon, who are talking about at least visiting their rooms to get their things settled and make sure everything's in place. She's… intense.

Intense good, or intense run-for-the-dunes?

Some of both?

He can feel the expression on her face before How's Jon? echoes through his mind.

I think he prefers having a wing of the galaxy between them. He's looking a bit uncomfortable.

Poor boy. Only a bit?

"Mom, really. Let's get you settled first. I don't think she's even on ship right now, so you might as well take a moment to unpack and—"

"She's not on ship," Kylo adds. And won't be soon?

We're having a good conversation, an hour or so?

"She'll be here in an hour or so."

Really, how is Jon doing? Rey asks.

I'm probably not the best person to ask. Both of them know his scale of getting-along-with-Mom isn't exactly normal. He's not about to cry or hit something, so…

Okay.

Mirina is looking up at Kylo again. "She's not here?"

"No. She has a job, and she's doing it. She'll come when she gets some free time," Kylo says.

Mirina eyes Jon. "You've called me here to just wait around?"

Kylo whips around toward Mirina, eyes hot. He bends a bit, so he can look her right in the eye, and show her what someone who has conscious control of his Force can do with it. "Get this straight right now or leave, I don't care if you treat me with annoyance or not. My wife is another story all together, and you will treat her as a goddess. You will act as if it is your greatest life's pleasure to wait upon her as long as she sees fit. From where you stand, she outranks everyone on this ship, including me, including you, by farther than you can see. Now make up your damn mind, either get behind this, and act like this is the most valuable client you will ever have, or get back on that ship and stop wasting your son's time and mine."

Mirina looks at him, his eyes hot, daring her to set a toe out of line, and then she laughs, long and loud. She gently reaches out and pats Kylo's hand. "Oh, you are so in love. Now why was Jon telling me we're not designing a wedding gown?"

"Because if this doesn't go well," Kylo says through gritted teeth, "there's no shot of me convincing her that she wants the sort of wedding where a gown would be appropriate."

"All the more reason for this to go well. All right. Jon, show me to our rooms. Tasha, you've got the tools?"

"Of course, Mom."

"Excellent, let's go."

As they're walking out Kylo can feel Jon thinking Why, why, why did I ever set this up? I am an exceptional dressmaker, I can forge the damn mark, and no one would have been able to tell the difference…

Imperial City, towering so far into the sky that the lowest levels haven't seen sunlight in centuries, is an abundant hunting ground for many things.

Nature not among them.

It does, however, have a few zoos, and it's at one of those zoos that Mirina Frakes once saw a Great Black Urus. It was a huge shaggy creature, towering over the other wildlife in the zoo, black fur covering it, save in the places covered in deep scars. It had long, sharp claws and teeth, and supposedly was one of the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy. Said Urus' mate was heavy with their cubs, and, well… Let's just say she's got a working theory for why Emperor Ren is so protective of his Rey.

Once they're in Jon's room, she says, "When is the baby due?"

Jon shakes his head. "If she's pregnant, I don't know about it."

Mirina and Tasha share a look. All of the Frakes women can spot a pregnancy at a thousand meters, and usually within hours of the indicator turning blue, but for whatever reason, Jon can't.

"Well, show me," she says to her son, dropping that. If he doesn't know, he doesn't know. She wants to see what he's made before she's going to see about putting it on this woman she's never met.

He's got the dress form ready to go, with a mostly finished gown on it. The gems haven't been fully set into the belt, they're currently in there with just paste, and the seams are all still in need of one final go-over, but that's usual. If she sees it on Rey and wants to make serious changes it'll be much easier to rip out this way.

Jon just looks at it. After all, it's sitting in the middle of the room, and Mirina gives him a bit of the side-eye. Unlike his sisters, he's not standing before it, going over what he did. She's glad to see where his career is taking him, and glad to see Emperor Ren valuing what he has to offer, and she'd always hoped he'd get more self-assertive, but it is putting a bit of a pinch in Jon's ability to take, or care about, her criticism.

That said, it's good work. If it fits Rey the way it fits the dressform, he's done a good job, and all she's here to do is put her stamp on it and offer whatever blessing she can to the party.

"He's serious about not being an Emperor?" Mirina asks, eyeing the dress.

Jon rolls his eyes. "He's serious about everything, Mom. I'm not sure if that man has a not-serious bone in his body. Basically, he's got two speeds, full-on and asleep."

"That sounds like Palpatine, too," Tasha, who was ten when the Empire fell, says.

"That sounds like the last few years of the Emperor. He wasn't like that when he took over," Mirina clarifies.

"Avoiding how that story ended is likely why he's intentionally going against the grain," Jon says. "He's… very intense… about having people join him of their own free will. Not conquering people and things really matters to him, and, unless I missed more of my history lessons than I thought I did, Palpatine was big on conquering everything that wasn't interested in joining him of it's own free will."

"Well, yes… But that's how you get an Empire," Mirina says.

"Yes, well, he'd rather go small and get people, than go big and have to invade systems and planets."

Mirina shakes her head a bit. "How is that even going to work, Jon?"

He half smiles. "Honestly. I think it's going to work really well. What's the point of land when we live in a galaxy of ships as big a cities?" His smile spreads. "He's not kidding about teaching the galaxy a new lesson. Deciding who gets what based on the ground under someone's feet is archaic. Not in a galaxy as mobile as ours is."

"You always were a dreamer."

Jon smirks a bit. "Well, he likes my dreams enough that by the time I get all of my pieces into play, I'll be something like his left hand, so…" he gestures to the dress, "is it good?"

Mirina smiles at him. She may not love the lesson this new Master intends to teach, but she's devoutly in favor of her son being a step or two from the top of the pyramid. "It's good."

Fifty minutes later, when Rey has come to the Supremacy, and Jon is ushering his mother and sister into Kylo's rooms, she takes a moment to look around and quietly say, "Why is it all black?"

Kylo, who is waiting for them, with Rey, ignores that. Rey sniggers slightly at it.

Jon quietly responds with, "We're working on that." Then he steps over to Rey, who is standing, back against the dining table, next to Kylo, who is holding her hand, and says, "Rey, this is my mom. Mirina Frakes, Rey."

"Rey…" Mirina leads, looking for a last name.

He sees her eyes glance over to Kylo and his eyebrow raises for a second, she looks back at him, and he knows they're talking, but he doesn't know what they're saying.

A second later, Rey says, "Amidala. Rey Amidala."

That name means nothing to Jon, but his mother apparently knows it because she stiffens, slightly, blinks, and then looks from Kylo to Rey and back again, before offering her hands, to Rey, and smiling. "Lovely to meet you, Rey Amidala. This is my daughter Tasha, and I understand we're here to make sure you have the best time possible on your maiden voyage into the waters of political life."

Rey offers a little, skeptical smile as well, and says, "That's the idea."

Then Mirina looks to Kylo any says, "Shoo… You're the only person here who doesn't belong here. Off you go."

Jon watches another one of those silent conversations between Rey and Kylo, followed by a warm kiss, and Rey gently squeezing his hands, before he says, "I'm still fighting with the first year speech, but it's almost done."

"Good," Jon replies. "We're getting close to needing it done. You'll let me read it?"

Kylo nods, and heads out of the room.

Jon opens the bag with the dress in it, laying it out on the bed, as his sister ushers Rey off to the refresher with another bag, this one with 'underthings' in it, and they go do whatever it is they're going to do outside the line of his view.

So, the only surprise Mirina's running into as she meets Rey for the first time is that she doesn't appear to be pregnant. She's got no sense of it, at all, so, either the indicator turned blue this morning, and she's so new to it that Mirina just can't feel it, or… The Great Black Urus in this case is just overly protective of his mate.

Rey and Tasha are still in the refresher, getting her measured for proper undergarments, part of what they'll be working on between now and the dinner, and getting her into ones that are close enough. Mirina quietly says to her son, "She's not."

Jon shrugs a bit. "She has a school. Teaches children. They may not be in any sort of hurry to have their own."

Mirina can see that. And Rey's young. She might have goals beyond cranking out babies. Still… The Great Black Urus… "So… that's him… just with her?"

Jon laughs. "Uh, yeah. Don't get me wrong, he's got me making armor for her so she can go into battle by his side, but she's apparently comfortable doing that. Fancy dress parties are a different story all together." He laughs again. "He'll be insane once she's actually pregnant."

"No rush on a wedding dress, then?" Having had five of her own babies, and having, back when she was young and still building her reputation, dressed many a pregnant bride, Mirina's brand now has one ironclad rule about pregnant brides, the wedding either happens before you're six weeks on, or after the child is a year old.

Weddings are stressful enough without adding morning sickness, an aching body, insane mood swings, exhaustion, eternal re-measuring and refitting, no sleep, nursing every three hours, and the rest of the ups and downs of pregnancy and infancy. Nope. It's not worth it.

So, either before her body really starts to change, or after the kid's is a toddler.

"If there is, I don't know about it, and they don't know about it. And from what I can tell, they'll know, and once he knows, I'm going to know, too, because that man has no ability to keep his emotions off his face."

"Can she?"

Jon shrugs. "I don't know. If she's ever lied to me, I haven't caught it."

"Well, let's hope one of them is good at it, or this adventure is going to go up in flames, fast."

"Or, maybe, just maybe, Mom, if your entire political culture is based on the idea of having people join you of their own free will, maybe, you don't have to constantly lie to them to get them to do stuff for you."

Mirina pats her son's face, gently. "I do love the fact that you're still so optimistic. I worried about you after Lane died, afraid that killed your hope."

Jon glares at her. "You know, if there hadn't been any sarcasm in your voice, that would have been a really nice moment."

Mirina looks a little uncomfortable. "It wasn't entirely, or even mostly sarcastic."

He sighs, a little. The first sentence was sarcastic, the second hadn't been. "Perhaps the word you wanted to replace optimism with was naivety?"

"Perhaps. I did worry, though."

Jon nods, and wraps an arm around his mom. "I know."

"You look better."

"I am."

"And tired."

That gets an eye roll. Everyone in his family knows the week before a big party, sleep is something you remember fondly, not do. "Yeah, well… So would you in this job."

"Did he get you some help?"

"Yes, actually. I've got a few new helpers who are going over the seating chart and menu right now, doing some last minute tweaking, making sure that no one who hates each other is seated right next to each other, and that we're not feeding them something taboo."

"That's a good place to start. Who's the help?"

"The one's a droid. I don't think you could possibly know him. The other is Lady Kinear, General Patrick Kinear's—"

"Oh, I know Ellie." Mirina, for the first time today, looks genuinely impressed by something. "He's got the Kinears on his side?"

"Yeah."

Mirina smiles. "Who knows, maybe he will be able to pull this off."

"This: the party, or this: the Order?"

"Let's see how the party goes before we get thinking too big."

Rey was expecting Jon's mom to be… Well, terrifying. She was expecting to have Mirina look at her and see a teaming collection of flagrant flaws and blemishes. (Stupid fucking cycle, there's three pimples on her forehead right now, and one on her chin, and she's begging the Force that they're gone by the 31st.)

But, at least as of this point, Mirina's just been warm toward her.

Jon's sister, though. She's not… mean, but very judgmental. She's got Rey in the refresher, naked, measuring her for underthings, and she's got a mental catalog of… everything that's got to happen, or change, or… whatever.

And, okay, Rey doesn't mind the idea of getting her nails done again. (Tasha absolutely noticed the chipped lacquer, and is loudly thinking about if it's possible to add gloves to the dress to cover Rey's cuticles.) But she doesn't see why any of her remaining body hair needs to be… groomed… whatever the hell that is. And there's nothing wrong with her toes, thank you very much, they're exactly the way toes are supposed to be, and if they've got some hair on them, well, that's just how toes work. And her breasts are exactly the way she likes them, they don't need to be yanked up to practically her ears, and padded, or… she doesn't know what contouring is, but isn't about to volunteer for it. Likewise, she's not sure what the hell it is Tasha's going on about with heels. She has heels, they're attached to her feet, and she's been walking on them for as long as she's been walking, so the idea that she might not know what to do with heels seems beyond silly to her.

When she explains that, Tasha doesn't laugh, she just blinks, slowly, and her mouth drops open, because she hadn't been saying any of this out loud, and Rey doesn't actually know what heels are.

She finally says, "Shoes. Shoes with a raised heel. They make you taller, and change your walk a little, make you wiggle more with each step, and exaggerate the curve of your back and buttocks. They take extra balance to walk in because the heel is high and usually fairly small."

Rey blinks. "Oh. Uh… Yeah. I've never done that before."

Tasha nods. "Your butt doesn't need the extra lift, but the curves would be nice, and assuming your man can watch you walk in a pair without passing out or hitting every other man with eyes in the place, they might be a good idea. Assuming you can walk in them."

"Why would he hit people?" That's got Rey surprised. She can think of a lot of reasons for Kylo to hit people, her walking wiggly isn't one of them.

Tasha's eyeing Rey, debating a long-lined bra or a corset. The stopgap bra they'll use for this fitting is a long-lined one, but Rey doesn't have a lot of waist, and a corset might help with that, though the likelihood of getting any level of tight lacing for this seems unlikely in a girl who doesn't know what heels are. Or why her wildly over-protective man might be disturbed by her wiggling around in front of other people.

"Have you been out in public with him… All dressed up?" Tasha thinks that might be a way to gently broach the subject.

"Yes. Twice."

"And he was… fine?"

"Why wouldn't he have been?"

Tasha blinks, surprised by that, but if Kylo can attend a party with his wife and not freak out at other men looking at her, all the better. "Some men get jealous when other men look at their women."

Rey thinks about that, and laughs. Hard. The idea that Kylo would even approach feeling insecure about her affections because some other man looks at her is ridiculously funny to Rey.

"And some men, even if they aren't jealous, don't like other men appreciating their women."

That's a lot less funny to Rey. "You think they'll… appreciate?"

"Assuming they can see and like women, yes. The ones at a party like this will generally have the manners to not let it show on their face, but… That's not exactly going to help with you or the Master, now will it?"

Rey nods, slowly, wondering how that will work. If Kylo catches some other man undressing her with his eyes, or fantasizing about her… Then Tasha hits her with something else, "And how are you going to handle being in a crowd, where at least ten percent of the women and probably three percent of the men will be there specifically for the purpose of attempting to seduce your husband?"

Rey blinks, slowly, and lets out a long breath. "I don't know." She's feeling nervous now. "What are you supposed to do?"

"That depends on how blatant they are about it, and how your man reacts. If he's being out and out propositioned and turns her down, there's nothing for you to do. If you catch a few looking from the far side of the room, again, there's nothing for you to do. Unless you want everyone to know you read minds. Non-physical flirting is generally considered appropriate and allowable. Touching, as long as it's hands, arms, or shoulders, is also considered within bounds."

Rey tries to imagine how it would feel to see another woman touch Kylo, with intent. And she just… can't. She has no idea how it'd make her feel.

"We'll cross that dune when we get to it," she says.

"Probably a wise way to look at it." Tasha glances at Rey's hips. "You've never worn a garter belt before, have you?"

"I don't even know what one is."

"Stockings?"

"Nope."

Tasha sighs. "Okay…"

Apparently, stockings are very thin, translucent, silky socks that come up to the thighs. Garter belts are the things that keep them up. Rey's got the sense Kylo's going to appreciate both of these things. The bra Tasha put her in isn't that high or that padded, but she does feel like she's got more in the way of breasts than she normally does. The shoes have a little heel, about five centimeters more than usual, and are just as wide as the heel on a flat shoe. They'll make her taller, but not alter her gait or posture that much.

Tasha's been eyeing the dress, and Rey, and then gently takes her hair out of it's pony tail and fluffs it a little. "We'll style it for the day, probably put it up, but… This is just a rough draft, see how it all looks." She also eyes Rey's throat, ears, and wrists. "Do you have jewelry for this?"

"I'm wearing it."

Tasha looks her over, sees the ring, and nothing else, and says, "Ah… I'll see what we can borrow."

"Jon said we didn't need any because of the jewels on the dress." Rey feels Tasha clamp her thoughts on that down fast. Apparently, whatever Jon said about that isn't right. And there's got to be a reason for it. Rey adds, "I've got some arm chains." She touches her bicep where the jewelry she wore with the saree started.

"Bring that, I'll want to see it with the dress."

"Okay." Rey's looking at herself in the mirror. "Am I dressed?"

Tasha nods. "I think so." She nods to the door. "Let Mom see, she's the final voice."

Rey's breath holds for a moment as she steps out. She feels Jon's do the same thing, both of them waiting to see what his mom has to say/think.

"Oh, Rey!" She opens her arms wide, takes both of Rey's hands, and gives them a squeeze before stepping back and saying, "Let me look at you!" She walks around Rey, muttering things like, "Lovely, just lovely," or, "He's going to go mute when he sees you," or "I don't know about this Master nonsense, but you're what an Empress looks like…"

And Rey relaxes, feeling like, for the first time, she might be able to do this.

It's when Rey steps out in the dress, and his mother goes to her, that Jon remembers exactly why he's put himself through this.

Mirina Frakes can be prickly, she can be rude, she's probably got an overly high opinion of herself and her place in the world, but right now, she's doing the thing that only she does.

She makes women beautiful. Jon's seen it over and over. Doesn't matter how homely a woman is in real life, by the time his mother is done with them, they sparkle. And it's not as if a well cut and fitted gown has some sort of magic. It won't make a stout woman thin and willowy. It won't hide 'imperfections.' It can't suddenly make a woman into a perfectly proportioned and symmetrical statue.

Honestly, when he told Kylo no one has the touch his mother does, he meant it, literally. There's something about his mother's touch that does it. The women that come to her, that spend time with her, who get to see themselves through her eyes… They don't change. Their skin doesn't magically clear up, and they don't suddenly get even features, but they do glow.

They understand and accept their own beauty, and that shines through them. Put that in a spectacularly well-cut gown with exquisitely done hair and cosmetics, and… There's nothing at all like it.

And if anyone else, at all, can do what Mirina Frakes can do, Jon's never heard of her.

"Okay, the doors open at 17:30 on the 31st. That means we'll start getting ready about 13:00. Rey, do you have a lady friend or two who might want to come to this? Getting dressed and ready can be a bit on the dull side, and if you've got a friend or two who might want to join you, it'll be more fun," Mirina says.

Rey licks her lips. "Maybe. Uh… I'm not sure if we've got someone to watch Paige."

"Paige?" Jon asks.

"Rose and Finn's baby. Do babies come to things like this?"

"They've been known to. Gatherings of women, especially young ones, often have babies at them," Tasha says.

"What would she do? Just… keep me company?"

"Will she ever… attend something like this," Jon asks, knowing that there's this other half of Rey and Kylo's life he's only just starting to get a hint about.

Rey rubs her eyes together. "Uh… Maybe… She and her husband are talking about going to Canto Bight to play at some point."

"Well, if they're going to play, she'll need to be dressed and ready for it. Would I be right in assuming she's never done anything like this before?" Mirina says.

"You'd be right."

"She'll come, get her hair and nails done, too. Keep you company. If there's time, Tasha may sketch a dress."

Rey, Jon, and Tasha look surprised at that.

"Thank you," Rey says. "Uh… I… We… can't pay for it."

Mirina waves that away. "Having my brand associated with the Court of Emperor Ren will be more than worth it."

"He's really not an Emperor," Rey says.

"Dear, he can call himself whatever he likes, but those of us who know, know what he is."

Rey looks to Jon, and he minutely shakes his head, so she drops it.

Mirina isn't ready to let it drop, yet. "Being an Emperor isn't about conquering things. It's about having an empire. If you can unite disparate peoples and systems together under your rule… It doesn't matter how you get them together, you've got an empire, and that makes you an Emperor. And one day, perhaps, he'll get comfortable enough with it to claim the title he deserves."

Rey shrugs. She supposes it's possible, but she's also fairly sure both of them are more comfortable not being Emperor and Empress Ren.

There is, on Coruscant, an absurdly expensive neighborhood filled with light, trees, soft breezes, and an unobstructed view of the sky. The people who live in this neighborhood are so ridiculously wealthy that they have long since forgotten the idea that things have prices.

Of course, the things they buy and do are expensive, that's just the way of it, but… It's certainly not anything they pay attention to. They have personal finance departments to make that all work out.

No, this is the world beyond wealth, into status. This is the world of who knows, and gets along with, and owes (again, not in the plebian sense of credits) whom. This is a world of favors, and trades of position and influence.

This is the world Mirina Frakes lives in. And this is a world that takes note when, for the first time in decades her atelier closes for a few days, so that she, personally, can attend to an event on the Supremacy in order to dress a Lady.

Numerous other people who live in this neighborhood have also been invited to this event. Many of them weren't interested in going, until they saw that Madam Frakes was. If she attends, well, then…

Obviously, something interesting is about to happen out there.