Scene 15 – Don't You Wanna

[Visual reference for the cantina choreography as I picture it: Youtube video pEjvbJW_G4E - costume more modest, but still NSFW!]

They headed toward the cantina, and Arri finished going over the plan. "Make sure that the first thing you do is deactivate that detonator. You'll want to take each dancer to the back, but then head all the way down the hall and out the side door. Go left, and about a block and a half away there'll be a van. Also, once you're down to the last few, check the rooms along the hallway and take any of the dancers you find there." She sighed, looking down. "They won't be alone, but… you shouldn't have any trouble subduing the others," she said dryly.

They approached the cantina's main entrance, and the lone bouncer at the doorway narrowed his eyes at him. "A pair of Jedi and … you with the Republic, buster? We don't take too kindly to their sort around here," he growled.

Bell'aria looked straight into the man's eyes. Her smile was gentle. Soothing. Calming. "There are no Jedi here," she said.

"No Jedi here," repeated the bouncer.

"No… there were a trio of female Rodians who paid their way in and tipped you generously as well. And you know how flexible Rodians are," Arri continued.

The bouncer chuckled. "Rodians are flexible!"

Arri nodded. "And they said that they'd loooove to spend some time with you down in that alley in about half an hour."

Thinking was clearly not this man's strong suit even when he didn't have a Jedi mucking about with his brain, and by this point, his eyes were blank and his jaw was slack. "Half 'n hour," he mumbled.

Arri broke contact with the bouncer, and the three of them headed quickly into the cantina, pausing just inside the doorway so the girls could drop their robes.

Vacy shook her head with a grin as she shuffled out of hers. "All right, all right, you've convinced me: now I wanna be a Jedi."

With a laugh, the twi'lek wrapped an arm around Corso, who gulped. "I've been telling you, Vace. It isn't all meditation and philosophy."

"So I see," Vacy chuckled, leaning close to plant a kiss on Corso's suddenly-very-pink cheek as they rounded the corner of the hallway and slipped quietly into the bustling cantina. "Riggs, you're gonna blow our cover if you can't at least look like you're enjoying our attention." She grinned mischievously. "Pretend you're Darmas."

He narrowed his eyes at that, but then a smirk slowly tugged at his mouth. He thrust his chest forward a bit and swaggered into the dusky room. Passing by one of the actual cantina dancers, he very obviously looked her over, one brow lifted in appreciation. The dancer undulated closer, her hips swirling, curving lusciously, and she smiled in return. Corso held out a hand to her. "Why, hel-lo, my delicious little Coruscanti flower," he drawled in an exaggerated imitation of Darmas' speech patterns. "You are peh-fectly radiant, dahling; I could just eat you up."

"That boy missed his calling," said Arri, shaking her head as Corso pulled the girl into an embrace and surreptitiously disabling the detonator before escorting her toward a curtained archway at the other end of the room. "Vace, you go and take her spot; I'll start getting the word out and watch to see if they notice the switch."

Vacy unclenched her teeth and nodded. The dancer appeared to have been threading between several tables in that general area. Looking around, Vacy saw other dancers all following a similar pattern: four or five steps forward, rolling the upper torso; three or four baby-steps back, rolling the hips. This allowed them to make a slow circuit around their assigned areas. Occasionally, to avoid monotony, they would pause the pattern, pulling their hips in a slow circle, or bending their knees to move lower while continuing the twisting, turning spirals.

It was challenging to balance the choreography, as basic as it was, with the need to make eye contact with the patrons and smile flirtatiously without it looking forced. And of course Vacy also needed to make sure no one noticed that it wasn't long before she was threading between twice as many tables. She lengthened her steps, broadening her movements, and added a spin or two every so often for spice – and to get a chance to look around to make sure Arri was in position.

The blue-skinned twi'lek was hard to miss; while most of the dancers presented bland flirtatiousness to reduce manhandling as much as possible, Arri exuded a vitality that drew attention.

Spinning back toward her circuit, Vacy was startled to see a burly man in front of her as she completed the turn. She stumbled, and he caught her with an arm around her waist. "Careful there, little lady," he murmured. "Wouldn't want a pretty little thing like you to end up on her back," he added with a leer.