bah humbug [open]

[killthepast]

who: Kylo Ren & OPEN
what: General catch-all for settling in. MORE SPECIFIC PROMPTS WILL BE ADDED LATER, but in the meantime, enjoy a totally broad, generic starter.
when: December
where: Places
warnings: None yet.

i. generic walking around doing things starter
It's fitting, he supposes, that he should arrive while it's winter on this moon. Though it's a small detail, and ultimately insignificant, as-- other than the snow-- this place has little in common with Starkiller Base.

There's no sense of order in this city. It's loud and the streets are bustling with activity, much of it lacking purpose. Still, Ren needs to get a lay of the land to fully assess his situation here. And besides: he's in need of some essentials, like... food. And clothes.

(Thanks to recent events with the scavenger, his own clothing was deemed damaged and tossed out while he was receiving medical care at the hospital here. Now he's down his one-and-only outfit and has some new scars to show it.)

So yeah there's a very tall, very gloomy-looking man making his way through the city, trying to find clothes in the right shade of black to match his #aesthetic, trying to figure out how to pick the right produce at the supermarket (it's not as if he had to shop for food with the First Order), and who knows, maybe trying various teas and coffee (caf, you plebs) while intimidating teen baristas with his quiet intensity.

Comments

[talentedscavenger]

Better than not having one!

[ Rey shouts back, a childish reply, and it reaffirmed what he saw in her mind, but it was the truth. She had only known him for a few hours and she felt close to him. The man even offered her a job on the Falcon. He was giving her the chance to leave Jakku and do something more. But she declined. She said no. He wasn’t her father, but he was Ren’s. ]

He went back for you—he didn’t just give up on you! [ Anger and frustration bubbles up within her. She had to take a deep breath, reign in her emotions. She didn’t want to give him more information to use against her. Han may not ha e been the best father but at least he still cared! At least he had been around.

But his statement is surprising. He isn’t just saying the Dark Side was the main path to power. What was he getting at?]

What do you mean?

[killthepast]

[ It may be a childish, kneejerk retort from an orphan who coveted his parents, but Rey's words do give him pause, if only for a moment. Because she puts to words one thing he's been wrestling with: the fact that Han Solo came to him. Ren's quiet for a moment, turning each word over in his head, replaying those final moments with his father. He came to him, tried to appeal to him to come home, and Ren put his lightsaber through him because--

No. It was a test. That's all. A test, and Ren passed it. ]

He went back for you, not for me. [ That was the only reason his father went to Starkiller base at all. He'd have gone regardless of Ren's presence there. ]

The Force is... it's in everything. It is everything. Before birth and beyond death. Most will only teach you to fear the dark, or put your back to the light. I can show you both. Let you experience all that there is the Force can offer.

[ And then you'll choose the Dark Side willingly, once you see it for its strength and purpose. That's the fine print, the outcome he's banking on. ]

[talentedscavenger]

[ Ren’s words give Rey a moment to think. She had been surprised that Finn had come back for her. It struck a nerve deep down in her heart. That someone had come back for her, cared about her that much. Han was there perhaps for the same reason...but she had to believe he was there for his son. He was there to blow up the base, get her and him...]

Maybe it was both. [ She said softly, her anger having quieted down. Han had gone to plead to him, tried to bring him home and then his body was stabbed and he was falling down...never having said goodbye to Leia...

The way he talks about the Force reminds her of what Obi-Wan had said. The Force was all around them, it would always be there. Before life and after death, there was only the Force. And here he was, offering to be her teacher once more. ]

Then do what? Kill me when I least expect it? [ thats all she has to go off of. He killed Han, it would be easy for him to do the same. Not that she was considering his offer, but his words rang true. Obi-Wan was more about the Light, which did call to her...but so did the dark. ]

You haven’t done much to show you’re only loyal to Snoke or the Order. Not to anything or anyone else.

[killthepast]

[ Maybe it was. He'll never admit it. Entertaining the thought is pointless.

What he will admit, however, is: ]

I don't want to kill you. [ An honest answer-- one of the only truly honest things he's said, to himself and to her, without any underlying caveat. ]

The First Order isn't here. Neither is the Resistance. [ Though he's sure, if the pilot were here right now, he'd say something inane about how the Resistance is anywhere its people are, but thankfully, he can't interject right now. ] And neither is Snoke. It's just us.

[ Not the first time he's said that. But at least this time he isn't brandishing a lightsaber at her. ]

[talentedscavenger]

[ I don’t want to kill you. He wasn’t lying. Nothing in the Force screamed that it was false, but Rey wanted it to be. It would be so easy to put him in a box and treat him as a monster. To see him as nothing else, but she knew better. People were more complicated than that, but now she was wondering why he didn’t want to do it. Why he didn’t want to cut her down....

But the Resistance was here. Poe and Finn. As well as the Rebellion with Jyn and Cassian. ]

You don’t consider yourself part of the Order? [ Because he was a Force user or he didn’t agree with all the players involved?

But could she do it? Could she really train under him? No! Her mind was already shouting the word out for him to hear but...what other choice does she have? Trying to listen to The Force wasn’t really working. She needed to find her place in all of this. ]

I can’t train with someone I don’t trust. [ That’s a simple way of putting it. She doesn’t trust him, not a single damn reason. Especially what happened to Han. Or to Finn. ]

[killthepast]

[ He can sense her struggle; she wants to see him one way, because it's easier to hate him if he's just a monster. And perhaps, if circumstances were different and the two of them were back in their own galaxy, he would play it up-- yes, I am a monster, and you should fear me-- but here, there's nothing to gain with such pretense. ]

I'm not going to be starting the First Order here, if that's what you're getting at. [ Because he does consider himself a part of it, but it doesn't exist here, for the time being. ]

Then you've got quite a predicament. You're still lost, uncertain, and the only person here who understands... is a monster.

[talentedscavenger]

[Rey glares a little, unable to take his words at face value. He could attempt to start the First Order here. Gather people to believe in his cause, but most here wouldn't agree with it. Or, at least she has to have faith they won't. But, there is a tiny spark that is hopeful that maybe time here...it might change him.

Away from Snoke, away from that influence and the First Order's....he might learn to grow. He might come back to the Light...]

I am not lost. [Her temper flares again, recalling back to when she first woke up here. How she was told she had felt 'displaced' or some other falsehoods. That couldn't be further from the truth...but he had a point. She was lost. She had no tutor, nothing or anyone to guide her.]

Even without training, I still manage to best you. I can figure something out. [Which hasn't been working well for her at all. But she can pretend it has.]

[killthepast]

[ There's so much potential in her temper, an anger that can be mined for strength. Rey is formidable even without training, but with guidance, he can help her to achieve greater heights. They both can.

It's not selflessness that drives him to make his offer, of course, but it's not callous opportunism, either. Not exactly, anyway. It's more that... like Rey, Ren is lost. Fractured and conflicted, and with no Supreme Leader to guide him, he needs something-- somebody-- he can connect with, even a little bit. There's a sense of something kindred between them, however faint. ]

If you truly believe that, then you have nothing to fear from me. Nothing to lose by training with me.

[talentedscavenger]

[There really wasn't anything for her to lose in this. Ren was the only one of the First Order. The Resistance and Rebellion were here, and if things got out of hand, she would be the only one who would be able to take him down...

And maybe, just maybe she could guide him back into the light. There was still conflict in him. No one could be that black hearted that they wouldn't feel something after losing a parent. His path wasn't set in stone, not yet. Maybe there was still hope.

After all, they both seem to understand what loss was, what loneliness was. But there's still a part of her that wants to tell him no. To tell him that she doesn't want him as a teacher. It's a childish response, one that she doesn't let out.]

I am not afraid of you. [The words easily slip out as she keeps her gaze locked on him.] How many times will you keep asking? How many times do we have to have this conversation?

[It's not a no...but it's not a yes either. There's a pause as she finally sorts out her feelings.] I need time to think this over...but until I give an answer...there can be a ceasefire between us.

[killthepast]

[ He stares back at her, lingering a moment before answering: ] This is the first time we're having this conversation. Last time, it was mostly shouting. [ And lightsaber swinging. ANYWAY, that was a bit of deadpan humor. See, Kylo Ren can joke. ]

A ceasefire. [ Yeah... He can work with that. Ren nods. ] Very well. I'll keep my distance from you in the meantime. You have my word.

[ However much that means. ]