[ On the point of connection, she nods immediate understanding. She'd felt that connection alive during the festival and again here. She's closer to him than to anyone else, more attuned. But then he goes on about not needing a physical enemy for that reason and, well, he loses her.
[ Rey glances up at her staff, then sort of eases it off her shoulder and offers it out to him. As before, she wrestles between unease and optimism.
Handing him another one of her weapons after earlier comes with a sharp twinge of doubt, like her rational brain is trying to slap her on the wrists for messing up so badly earlier. That was almost a real mess.
[He puts down his lightsaber, and stops walking. It takes him a moment to find a grip -- he's not used to this sort of weapon, and she is smaller than he is. This might actually be more effective than using lightsabers.
He closes his eyes as he inhales, then exhales, and he attempts to reach to the light he's learned to recognize as Rey. His grip relaxes just enough to mimic her own.]
Now, lead me.
[He has an idea in his mind that translates between them. He is a flat surface, and the extent of the staff, of Rey herself -- that is the weapon.
This might be ridiculous, and it might not work, but it makes sense to him.]
[ At this point if anyone saw them together, they'd think they were both insane as well as having some weird tryst so at least the crazy part would probably be distracting from the tryst part.
But sure. Given Luke's two lessons, one of which was an emotional (drunken???) rant about vanity with bad logic, she's quite sure that Jedi training is just a series of weird hazing rituals and the first person to call it ridiculous loses. So. Here we go.
She squares the staff in both hands and holds it at the ready for ? ?? invisible enemies? Right, okay, imagining. ~Imagination.~ She presses her eyes shut and thinks of, well, stormtroopers. You say enemy, she thinks stormtroopers. But her concentration is scattered so they're just a menacing circle of stormtroopers doing nothing. Very threatening.
Lead.
Rey pivots on her heels to face 'them' and jabs forward with her staff. It's a move she's used with the saber, too, but with a lightsaber it tends towards a little wild, a little off-balance. With her staff, the weight balances her. ]
[Kylo Ren's concentration finds her's, and there is no resistance when she jabs -- in fact, its like he's not there at all. His feet plant, and he moves with her.
And then, once he feels her balance lean, he takes the lead himself with a great sweeping swing with the staff -- and of Rey herself.
One of three things will happen. She will connect with the Force to kick out at the crest of the swing, he will rip the weapon out of her hands, or she will go flying when the momentum carries her.]
[ Only then can she feel what he's getting at. It's not unlike the quiet moments when the bond breathes and expands and draws them into that in-between place. She can feel her heartbeat pick up in her chest with the effort of hefting her weapon around, and —
Another. His pulse alongside hers. She digs down in it, feeling for him, for his intent. It's not unlike copiloting. He swings, and she picks up where he leaves off seamlessly. Bends her knee, kicks outward, and twists to catch herself as she does.
Her eyes snap open and she stares across the clearing at him. It's just a demonstration. Proof of concept. But— It's excitement that keeps her heart pounding and her breath heavy. ]
[His eyes open when her's do, and he's already half way through a nod. The adrenaline bleeds between them, and for a moment he basks in it. Its familiar, and it chases away some of his anger from earlier in the evening. But at least she understands now -- that's all he wanted to communicate.
It takes him a moment to release her staff to allow her to take it back, but he does. His hands hover for a moment before he lets them fall.]
[ When his hands fall, the connection lapses, and she can't feel him as acutely. She feels cold. She takes a step towards him, ready to chase the feeling, but draws herself up short. Rather, she nods — both her understanding and her agreement. ]
We can try that again.
[ Noticing the intensity of her own eagerness, she stamps it down by pulling the staff hastily back onto her shoulder and turning away from him to the makeshift path. Right. Walking back. ]
[Both here, and when they go back to kill Snoke. He follows behind her quietly for the rest of the way, until they reach the castle. The silence is awkward -- but he'd made it that way, so he doesn't try to break it.
They reach the castle, and as he moves with the intention to split off to his own quarters, he turns to Rey.]
--when you are ready, I will be.
[This is easy -- he's always ready to fight, to train, to get better in any way he can. But there had been something in the way she had attempted to dismiss him earlier that thinks that he should let her open this particular door this time.]
[ Silence is just fine for her. It gives her time to think and process, and frankly, even after what happened, his company doesn't stand out as odd or uncomfortable to her. It just … is. They have been alone together enough now that she grown used to his looming presence at the edge of her awareness.
The minute they're back within the castle grounds, she's glancing around everywhere to try and measure how many people might see them. It takes her a step longer to stop after he does, as a result.
And what he says, well, it's just on the verge of Not Getting it. Putting the ball back in her court almost seems like a way of absolving himself of responsibility for figuring out what the hell's going on in his head. Rey turns fully back to him, this time, no half-assing. ]
Think about what I asked. [ What do you want from me? He did say he was trying to trust her, though, and that's something. She's not sure what, but something. But she does want to remind him that she's still not satisfied with all that. Then she nods, sort of to herself, and says, ] I'll be seeing you.
[ Because really there's no telling with this connection they have what that'll look like or if it will be before or after she reaches out. The only thing she's completely sure of is that she will see him. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Her entire forehead scrunches. ]
I don't understand.
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It will be better if I show you.
[Like, he said next time, but she wants to understand so -- he jerks his chin up at the staff.]
no subject
Handing him another one of her weapons after earlier comes with a sharp twinge of doubt, like her rational brain is trying to slap her on the wrists for messing up so badly earlier. That was almost a real mess.
Almost. ]
By all means.
no subject
[He puts down his lightsaber, and stops walking. It takes him a moment to find a grip -- he's not used to this sort of weapon, and she is smaller than he is. This might actually be more effective than using lightsabers.
He closes his eyes as he inhales, then exhales, and he attempts to reach to the light he's learned to recognize as Rey. His grip relaxes just enough to mimic her own.]
Now, lead me.
[He has an idea in his mind that translates between them. He is a flat surface, and the extent of the staff, of Rey herself -- that is the weapon.
This might be ridiculous, and it might not work, but it makes sense to him.]
no subject
But sure. Given Luke's two lessons, one of which was an emotional (drunken???) rant about vanity with bad logic, she's quite sure that Jedi training is just a series of weird hazing rituals and the first person to call it ridiculous loses. So. Here we go.
She squares the staff in both hands and holds it at the ready for ? ?? invisible enemies? Right, okay, imagining. ~Imagination.~ She presses her eyes shut and thinks of, well, stormtroopers. You say enemy, she thinks stormtroopers. But her concentration is scattered so they're just a menacing circle of stormtroopers doing nothing. Very threatening.
Lead.
Rey pivots on her heels to face 'them' and jabs forward with her staff. It's a move she's used with the saber, too, but with a lightsaber it tends towards a little wild, a little off-balance. With her staff, the weight balances her. ]
no subject
And then, once he feels her balance lean, he takes the lead himself with a great sweeping swing with the staff -- and of Rey herself.
One of three things will happen. She will connect with the Force to kick out at the crest of the swing, he will rip the weapon out of her hands, or she will go flying when the momentum carries her.]
no subject
Another. His pulse alongside hers. She digs down in it, feeling for him, for his intent. It's not unlike copiloting. He swings, and she picks up where he leaves off seamlessly. Bends her knee, kicks outward, and twists to catch herself as she does.
Her eyes snap open and she stares across the clearing at him. It's just a demonstration. Proof of concept. But— It's excitement that keeps her heart pounding and her breath heavy. ]
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It takes him a moment to release her staff to allow her to take it back, but he does. His hands hover for a moment before he lets them fall.]
Like that.
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We can try that again.
[ Noticing the intensity of her own eagerness, she stamps it down by pulling the staff hastily back onto her shoulder and turning away from him to the makeshift path. Right. Walking back. ]
no subject
It will be beneficial.
[Both here, and when they go back to kill Snoke. He follows behind her quietly for the rest of the way, until they reach the castle. The silence is awkward -- but he'd made it that way, so he doesn't try to break it.
They reach the castle, and as he moves with the intention to split off to his own quarters, he turns to Rey.]
--when you are ready, I will be.
[This is easy -- he's always ready to fight, to train, to get better in any way he can. But there had been something in the way she had attempted to dismiss him earlier that thinks that he should let her open this particular door this time.]
no subject
The minute they're back within the castle grounds, she's glancing around everywhere to try and measure how many people might see them. It takes her a step longer to stop after he does, as a result.
And what he says, well, it's just on the verge of Not Getting it. Putting the ball back in her court almost seems like a way of absolving himself of responsibility for figuring out what the hell's going on in his head. Rey turns fully back to him, this time, no half-assing. ]
Think about what I asked. [ What do you want from me? He did say he was trying to trust her, though, and that's something. She's not sure what, but something. But she does want to remind him that she's still not satisfied with all that. Then she nods, sort of to herself, and says, ] I'll be seeing you.
[ Because really there's no telling with this connection they have what that'll look like or if it will be before or after she reaches out. The only thing she's completely sure of is that she will see him. ]