Merry Christmas, @BookExogorth - this one's for you.
Recipe for "A Friendly Wager" as prescribed by BookEx for the 2017 Holiday FanFic Gift Exchange:
A Story in the PT (Legends or otherwise) with:
- Mace Windu eating lunch with a senator
- Interesting GFFA food
- Mace Windu and the senator changing their minds about something (trivial or otherwise) over the course ( ) of the meal.

I don't want talk of the Clone Wars in this.

Characters: Mace Windu, any senator, preferably one who appears in the movies.

I don't want Yoda in this.

You asked and you shall receive!

A Friendly Wager
Written by: Nehru_Amidala
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu and Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa

It was not yet noon on Coruscant and already the sun was reaching it's zenith in the impossibly blue sky. White clouds obscured the clear sky as innumerable speeders and ships raced along the skylanes hither and yon to their destinations. Their large shadows darkened the windows of the stately reddish-brown Jedi Temple Campus, and inside Jedi Master Mace Windu was hurrying out of his quarters as he did not want to be late for lunch.

He was meeting his best friend, Bail Organa for lunch down at Yolanda's Fireside, a three star restaurant in the Federal District that boasted having the most expansive menu in the entire northern hemisphere. It also claimed to have the best brews in town to boot. If there was one thing Mace and Bail loved doing together besides catching lunch here, it was going to watch swoop bike races at the nearby stadium where they would down cold brewskies and cheap, salty food. Yes, it was lowbrow, but it was a great time. Besides, today was the day he was going to prove to Senator Organa that blurrg parmesan was the most amazing pasta dish in the entire galaxy.

Across town at the Alderaanian Embassy, Bail had just finished some paperwork and holophoning his wife when he realized he needed to get going if he was going to meet Master Windu for lunch down at Yolanda's Fireside. It was something they did only a weekly basis, those two and they got along famously. Senator Organa kept his own council, and this was one of the reasons he was one of the very few Senators that Master Windu could trust fully. Also, he was fun to be around.

Driving down the skylanes towards the tapcafe, Bail was reminded of a friendly wager he had made with the Jedi Master. He had made the wager that the next time they met, Mace would admit that blurrg parm was not the most amazing pasta dish in the galaxy. In Bail Organa's opinion, that title was reserved for porg bolognese. Finding a parking spot, he made his way into the warmly lit antechamber and caught sight of Mace Windu waving at him.

"Hello Bail. Ready to admit your wrong about porg bolognese?"

"Ha, you wish! Prepare to eat your words, Jedi!"

"Your on, Senator!"

They were shown to a table overlooking the private garden that was situated inside the restaurant's grounds. There was an al fresco dining option, but it was still too chilly to eat outside during the lunch rush. A shiny waitress droid showed the men two menus, and they ordered their usual starters: a Corellian IPA and collard green salad with mustard vinaigrette for Bail and Mace had the Lothalian Pale Ale and a cup of Kuati tomato soup.

Once there starters arrived, they chowed down and began discussing the current state of swoop bike racing, boloball playoff hopes and it was only after they had ordered their preferred pasta dishes (that happened to be the daily lunch specials) Bail got an evil look in his eyes. This was not unnoticed by Mace.

"I know that look in your eye, Senator. Your planning to settle our wager, aren't you? Not gonna happen, there is no way I am eating a porg."

"Chicken! Bawk, bawk, bawk!"

"Chicken? Look who's talking, poultry boy!"

"Shut up, you!"

"Look who's talking."

Both men quit the playful trash talk, their bruised egos coming to the front as the mouthwatering pasta dishes were set before them. Senator and Jedi Master eyed each other, then the plates, and then each other. Grabbing their forks and eager to win the wager, each man took a large bite of each other's lunch, chewed and swallowed.

Bail had never liked blurrg meat, even as a child. But now, the way the meat melted into his mouth, the sweetness of blurrg pork contrasted nicely with the sharp Parmesan and the flavorful aftertaste of the herb pesto. Delicious!

Mace thought he had never tasted anything more delicious in his life. The tomato sauce was succulent and the way the porg meat melted into the sauce and pasta was heavenly. Amazing!

Both men grinned at one another, the wager had ended in a draw. As lunch continued, they ate half of each other's entree and agreed that both dishes were the greatest pasta dishes in the galaxy.

 

What I like about it is the playfulness of their conversation. Both man are known to be serious characters, Windu is almost stern. But here they are not a Jedi master and a famous senator. Just two pals enjoying good food and drink, making jokes. Well done!

 

Thanks, hope BookEx likes this.

 

I like it very much, Nehru! I like the idea of Mace and Bail being friends, and all the food. The tapcafe and weekly meeting at it were both cool.

Thank you so much for the great Christmas gift!

 

I am so glad you loved it. This was new for me, as I normally write romance. I will definitely write more humor fics in the future.

 

Bail and Mace clearly never had a porg looking at them with sad puppy eyes while they were eating, apparently!

There's something incredibly endearing to the idea that Mace and Bail would be friends, and not only that! Behind their stern facade, they're actually two dudes who go to podraces and boloball matches together and make bets about who like the best food. I can just imagine them, keeping a low profile in the stadium and then putting back on the Very Serious Expression when they return to the senate or the temple.

This was great fun!

 

LOL Love the idea of these two very different personalities actually getting along and being dudes having a good time. The food sounds absolutely delicious! Anything with Parmesan gets my -- my favorite complement to pasta though is shellfish Particularly shrimp!

 

I'm not surprised to see an angry Mace, it's a meme by now and, for some odd and wrong reason, it feels natural. But Bail? Wow, he's sure a well-versed, seasoned politician! He wants to solve AN IMPORTANT ISSUE through DIPLOMACY and DEMOCRACY.

Those two dishes are hideous, though. Porg bolognese? I am one of those folks who prefer vulptexes, but I still don't like to see birdy-birds getting eaten (I blame Chewbacca! )...but it was so.unexpected. that it just HAD to be hilarious. Blurrg parm? Just saw a pic and that's a nope, too. HILARIOUS!!! You're killing me.

And, in a way, each of them got over something here. And they ended up having a great meal. Sweet viggie, overall!

 

Such pasta, much cheese, very sauce, wow! This was great fun, and got me craving the tasty sauce-slathered, cheese-doused pasta of this galaxy. Even the salads you described sounded scrumptious; I’m a sucker for a good food description in fanfic. Like the others, I love the idea of Bail and Mace being friends and kicking back together at day’s end; it’s the very least they deserve after all the cares of their positions as their respective organizations. And I love that this friendly wager led to each of them trying and enjoying each other’s favorite pasta dish—expanding each other’s horizons is definitely one of those things friends are for. Thanks so much for sharing this fun piece!

 

Great creativity with the culinary names, and good world building.

I liked the camaraderie you presented between the two men.

Porg must be a hunter's dream. Cook one, and wait for the rest to come along and try to guilt trip you.

Good story.

 

This needs to go in the most hilarious reviewer quotes ever thread or something. That said, we could use one such thread.

 

I'm with Chewie and I waaanna beee the minorityyyy...

...but I need your authority...

...to look at my previous comment.

Okay, I'll stop now.

 

Where were the porg when Chewie was hunting, plucking, cooking the bird?

Does take some intelligence though, for them to realise that his meal, which frankly looked nothing like a live porg, apart from the size, meant that their increasingly desperate search for Colin, was in vain.