sololoquy | open post

[Her silence is satisfying. Good, let her think about it. He is happy to leave her to her pensive thoughts while he carefully measures the sleep up her arm. Ben makes a point to hem it short, to keep the "poor smuggler" illusion up between them. When he is done, he steps away to observe his handy work.]

Put the vest on.

[He is very proud of himself. But he is also still thinking about her abs, and his eyes linger there for a touch too long while he looks her over.]

Now you look like a proper degenerate.

Clothes won't be enough.

[ She hasn't wanted to point it out while he had a needle to her skin, but— ]

When he realizes that we aren't rendezvousing with him in the Umbara System, the Supreme Leader will have every officer in the fleet and every loyalist looking out for the Falcon. Your ship isn't subtle.

[ They need a new ship. A subtler one, and preferably faster. He isn't going to be happy that she's saying it, but it doesn't make her less correct. The surest way to keep them from being caught was to take advantage of the Hapan resistance to First Order control, fuel up, and swap the ship.

It'd go into a museum, in all likelihood. Where it belonged. A relic of a fallen regime, a short-lived rebellion that had mattered little in the grand scheme of the Empire's ideals. They could get plenty for it because of that, if they sold it to the right person, and use those credits to get something more sustainable.

It's unfortunately also a mark of developing a long term plan to flee and keep fleeing. It sits poorly with Kira to accept that too, especially with no way to stop Snoke from reaching out for her and making her suffer for it. ]

[His pride immediately drains when she points out what should have been obvious to him. Of course. The Falcon was one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy, next to the Supremacy itself. But it was also one of the only things he had left from his family.

From his father.]

...we'll figure it out.

[It's a cover. He can't do it. He can't even think about it without being sick to his stomach. Small victory lost, he puts the needle and thread back on the dresser and leaves the room before Kira can press him.

[ Where she expects snapping and explosion — it's what she would do — Ben instead retreats before she can probe him or come to an agreement on the plan. Evasion, in a way, is the smarter defense. She's left struck into silence by it, standing awkwardly in his bunk.

She doesn't even have anything to do to keep them separate. The book is sitting on the copilot's chair, even if she knew how to read it. Kira slips on the vest and buttons it, feeling altogether uncomfortable with the fact that she doesn't have a schema for how to deal with this. She shrugs her shoulders, and settles onto his cot briefly.

One hand smooths out over the mattress pad. Considering, or trying to reclaim or explore something. Her brow furrows. She can't figure him out. It's like there's something consistently running under the surface that she can't grasp at. She's been in his head. She should be able to understand it, but it's as if her experience has left her without the tools. She can see the gaps, but not fill them in.

It's some minutes before she rejoins him in the cockpit. ]

[His anger is a smothered thing, buried deep where it couldn't be used against him. In its place, grief. Loneliness. But overcome with a sense of hope rivaled only by one other being in the galaxy. And who knew where General Organa was just then? Certainly not her son.

Autopilot has been disengaged, and Ben looks to be lost in listening to the sounds of the Falcon itself. Even with Ben coasting, the Falcon never seems silent. She's always hissing or beeping or humming in her own way.

At some point, he had pulled the dice from over his head and tangled them around his fingers, as well as the shift. His knuckles are slightly white with how tight he grips it.

When he senses her eyes lingering on him, he finally breaks the silence tiredly.]

Have you ever been this far into the Inner Rim?

[After all, from what he knew of the First Order, they had largely raised their armies in the Outer Rim, even into some of the Unknown Regions.]

Yes.

[ She does not welcome the topic with any more than that confirmation. Jakku was a terrible place, and she hoped the parents who had sold her to Unkar Plutt were dead there. Long since buried. She flexed her fingers, closing her hands into fists. No amount of effort could force her to relax once she was there, so she stood there impossibly tense, lurking at his shoulder, surveying his piloting efforts.

That's when she spots the dice. She tips her head slightly. It's almost hard to see the golden chain between his tightly fisted hand, but it makes her recognize the current she feels running through her, the hollowness and bitterness towards a memory, is mirrored in him. It is an unnerving thought.

Instead of searching for further conversation, she takes up the book from the copilot's chair and settles into it. ]

[He is expecting elaboration, so when she doesn't provide it, he goes to look over his shoulder--and finds her sitting down in the copilot seat looking grumpier than ever.]

Bad memory. Got it.

[Somehow that thought just -- comes to him, in a way he doesn't think to question. There's no uncertainty behind it, he just knows that something horrible happened to her somewhere in the Inner Rim. Frankly, he doesn't want to know. Knowledge like that lead him to places that got him in trouble.

Hapes comes into the viewport at a distance, a brilliant blue dot against inky darkness, smattered with stars.]

We need a cover. I have a shipment of imperial tech that I never got delivered that we can try and pass off, but its not much.

We're bringing it to Corellia.

[ 'We.' An uncomfortable but immediate commitment. Corellia would be nice and harmless, close enough to make sense as a destination. ]

We got stuck outrunning some pirates and depleted our fuel reserves.

[ She's not an expert in lying. She rarely has to lie. But this is what she comes up with, and —

It's obviously some analogue pulled from the book he'd been reading to her. A chase sequence of some sort. She just wants to use the damn YA novel as their cover story. ]

[Oh honey.

Ben absorbs all that, squinting in thought. It was a pretty bare bones plot -- "pirates" was too non-specific, and would invite inquiry. Corellia was probably a better set up than Savareen -- they weren't hardened-looking enough to pull that off.

He eventually figures out that 2 + 2 = 4 and fights to hide a smirk. That's terribly charming of her.]

Doesn't have to be dramatic. No reason to clue them in that we're on the run, otherwise they'll just start looking for who we're running from. Partners from Corellia, cargo, routine fuel stop. Simple.

Edited (that last tag was barely english) 2018-10-05 20:25 (UTC)

Hapes won't report our presence through First Order channels.

[ She says this because she's moving on, accepting his cover story and stepping forward to the next necessary point. ]

Refueling works. We won't need to change ships there, though we could. But if we stop anywhere else, we'll be made before we leave the planet.

So we don't stop.

[Ben says this very blatantly to dismiss her concern. It wasn't that it wasn't valid, he just -- he can't do it. The Falcon wasn't just a ship, it was as good as his home. But he doesn't expect Kira to get it.

She doesn't have to.

Hapes quickly ceases to be just a dot in the viewport, and Ben can feel his palms getting slightly clammy. Hapes was not exactly "his scene" -- the pomp and circumstance were echoes of his youth, things he could barely remember, and they certainly were not dressed the part. He could only hope nobody took overt interest in them.]

You'll let me do the talking, right?

[Better...confirm that now, before one of them sticks their foot in their mouth.]

[ Alright. Still not being reasonable. Kira doesn't exactly see the immediate necessity for him to embrace that, so she lets it slide for now with an inner note that she's going to have to continue to hammer him with logic. His plan is untenable. They need a better one.

She smooths her palm over the book in her lap. ]

Provided you don't say anything I take issue with.

[ I.e., don't be offensive and patronizing, and this will be fine. So in other words, don't be Ben Solo. There's some snootiness in how she says it; for as rough as she is around the social edges, she's the one with the poise and finesse to better navigate Hapan society. Beyond that — ]

Don't forget what the Hapans think of men. Even calling yourself my partner will be a stretch.

[Ben goes to retort, but takes her meaning and ends up just staring at her with his mouth opening and closing as he tries to find something intelligent to say.

Spoilers: there's nothing there. So he sounds indignant when he replies.]

We're not Hapan. How is that a stretch?!

[Maybe Kira should do the talking after all.]

[ The look she gives him holds nothing back in her skepticism. Surely he recognizes the issue here, and only his pride keeps him from acknowledging it as he rationally should. ]

We'll be working with Hapans. And every one of them who you talk to as if you were the authority between us is one more who mistrusts us or scrutinizes us a bit too hard because we're unwelcome there.

[ Which could stand on its own to say she should be the one to do the talking, but the truth is that Kira isn't particularly fond of talking. When she talks to anyone, it's usually with her lightsaber. ]

I've employed your services.

[She's...right. He hates that she's right. She will get the pleasure of his mind turning every possibility over to try and tell her she isn't right before grumbling in irritation.]

Ok. Fine. You're the boss.

[He says that last bit reluctantly.]

You've employed my smuggling services. So you're traveling with me why?

[Do other smugglers travel with their employers? That sounds fake. Or...is she talking about some other kind of services?

He frowns.]

[ Alright, it's a patchy cover job. Some part of Rey wants to snap that no one is going to ask that much, but they could. And Ben clearly can't handle the thinking, even if he's probably the better one to be charming and handle the talking. ]

Your current shipment doesn't belong to me. I'm introducing you to a contact on Corellia.

[ Surely smugglers and their contacts are skittish sometimes ?? Kriff, she's not an expert in smuggling. Sue her. She's trying her best. ]

Where we'll part ways.

That's--no, that's way too complicated. Either you're in charge of this operation, or not. No third parties.

[She must not have had to deal with very many smugglers. It's almost quaint, but it makes perfect sense. Snoke had bigger ideas for his pet assassin.]

You're going to have to pretend to trust me, ok?

[ She had trusted him. That's what makes the request sour.

It sinks like a stone in her chest, a failure. She deserves to be punished for it, honestly. Whatever Snoke had coming, she deserved it. But she was too selfish and too afraid and too damn stubborn in her survival to accept that. She wouldn't just lie down and take it.

Tension ripples in her jaw and she glances away from him to regard the approaching planet. ]

I trust that you want to live.

That works too. So. Are you in charge? Or am I in charge? Because if you can't commit to the con, then it doesn't matter that you're a woman because you'll blow our cover.

[Pause. Maybe that was too harsh. He awkwardly runs a hand through his hair and ducks her eyes.]

...no offense.

You talk.

[ She concedes that point. He may be an ass when he runs his mouth, but he's charismatic enough that he should be able to get people to overlook it, as long as the content isn't terribly intrusive or hard to believe. There's something detached in her voice as she says it, though. Not begrudging, exactly. Just resigned. ]

But I'm in charge. Employer. Boss. However you think you can sell it best.

[ She obviously doesn't have the smuggling background to make it believable, but the crux is there and seems adequate to address the problem she'd identified, at least. ]

[The way Ben curls his lip indicates that he doesn't like what they've settled on, but it is all they have. They would have to make it work. Besides, it would only be a day at most. Surely they couldn't fuck it up that badly.

Upon entering the atmosphere, they are immediately hailed to land. Ben seamlessly introduces himself, but quickly realizes one small problem after he's announced himself and his cargo.

They never picked a cover name for her. So when he is asked about the second lifeform aboard, he turns to look at her a bit helplessly, mouthing "pick a different name".

After all, it wasn't a secret that the son of Han Solo was a freight man. But Kira? No way she could genuinely announce herself.]

Rey.

[ Her reply is small, and she doesn't spend too long looking at the faces of the people who greet them in the hangar. It gives the impression, yes, that she thinks she's too important to be doing this here and now, but it's also genuine.

She has never been to Hapes. The First Order isn't welcome there. She keeps an impassive expression, but her eyes are everywhere, marveling over the architecture of the cityscape, which has resisted the historical spread of Jedi- and Republic-influenced fashions and icons.

When her eyes skate away from the workers who greet them, they seem to accept that they're not going to be addressing her, but her ... ? ?? They clearly aren't quite sure how to characterize the relationship there. They won't quite buy Ben Solo as a manservant or footsoldier despite the fact that such an interpretation matches the body language she gives off — her clothes are another part of the reason that doesn't quite sell.

Maybe she's just his really bossy girlfriend. ]

[Ben awkwardly clears his throat when he catches the glances of the crewmen, noting their confused stares.]

I ... might have made a miscalculation on our travels. Fuel-wise.

[The two crewmen exchange glances and then grin understandingly toward "Rey" before going back to address the screw-up in front of them. The freighter was large and would incur a small tax to refuel, of course, to which Ben sighed and fished out a pouch to pass extra credits to the pair.]

Consider it paid. We'll be back later.

[Fortunately, most of the onlookers are too busy gaping at the Falcon to really pay attention to anything Ben is saying. It only serves to drive Kira's point home, but his good demeanor falls once they are cleared and everyone's backs are turned.

They're all pawing at his ship. His ship.

When he returns to Kira, he jerks his chin the direction of the beaten path behind them, leading to civilization. He doesn't speak again until they are out of earshot.]

There we go. Not so bad.

You're very good at pretending to be incompetent.

[ It is not immediately clear if this is (a) a dig that he is actually incompetent, (b) a dig that he had fooled her with his incompetence too previously, (c) a genuine admission that it had gone surprisingly well. It might be a little of all three. Kira doesn't look at him even once he starts trying to chat her up. She's lost, elsewhere.

Her thoughts drift to Jakku. It's not the first time he has forced her to think of it. With the pressure of the moment gone, she wonders at it. Rey had come to her too quickly. The stiff, regulated parts of her wanted to insist it was a fake name used for a purpose; it meant nothing. But it hadn't been just any name.

It had been her name, once.

Snoke thought she had forgotten it, that he'd taken it from her. Kriff, she'd gone years without thinking of it. Maybe he had. But it was here now, an awkward thing on her tongue. Rey. It belonged to her. ]

We should not leave them alone with the ship. My weapon is on board. [ Paranoid? Maybe. But the Dark Side often is. ] We should sleep there tonight while we wait for them to ready it.

That's...probably not a bad idea.

[Well, not entirely a bad idea.]

It might look suspicious. I announced our cargo -- they have no reason to look beyond the confirmation scan. But if we go back like we've got something to protect...or hide.

[He pauses mid-step and glances back toward his ship. Having a lightsaber on board was pretty damning, if someone did decide to go searching -- especially on this planet.]

Well, we should at least pick up something to change into. This isn't going to be the only place we stop.

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