after the rain, comes the rainbow [open]

[killthepast]

who: Kylo Ren and OPENNN
what: Catch-all, featuring some open prompts from the TDM.
when: The month of April.
where: Here and there
warnings: Nothing yet

i. disaster relief
[ If it weren't for the lingering complications from his gunshot wound to the shoulder, Kylo Ren would be going on river expeditions and fighting giant reptiles and amphibians.

He would be, except Dr. Whale already lectured him and refused to budge the last time he'd demanded medical clearance. Apparently, pushing through pain in an attempt to force his body into recovery had only been making things worse for his arm and shoulder, in the long run.

So he has to take it relatively easy and stick to the prescribed physical therapy exercises until the doctor says otherwise. And that means staying behind as the city floods and tales of giant creatures lurking in the waters spread.

He's never been one to find contentment in sitting around and doing nothing. (Even if the action he tends to take is... you know, the wrong action, at least he's usually doing something.) So, in an attempt to curb feelings of restless agitation, Kylo... actually volunteers for the citywide relief effort. His arm may need time to heal, but he's still strong enough to assist in evacuation efforts, or in the setting up of temporary shelters, or doing any odd task where he can rely on the Force and worry less about hindering his arm's recovery.

Just don't expect him to cook or serve food. He's not feeling that helpful. ]

ii. routines
[ And since he's still stuck on the dreaded Desk Duty at work, Ren's mood-- as he goes about his daily routine-- is even more sour and gloomy than usual. Which is pretty impressive, considering his usual state is miserable enough.

So here's that catch-all prompt for seeing the scowling, overgrown emo kid at the gym (where he's still going to work out and spar as best he can, or go through his physical therapy exercises, if nothing else), or sulking around a coffee shop (don't judge his latte order) with his nose stuck in a journal as he jots notes down. Or at a library. He spends time at libraries, too. And just about anywhere, really. Outside, when it's not raining, because he's taken to communing with the Force out in the park. ]

iii. choose your own adventure
[ And if that last prompt wasn't broad enough, here's the wildcard choose your own adventure option. ]

Comments

[killthepast]

[ Kylo Ren, helping a pair of children who were separated from their parents in the flooding. It sounds so absurd it might as well be the stuff of First Order propaganda. But he isn't the complete monster his enemies regard him as. Even the 'innocents' he's killed or ordered the deaths of hadn't been so innocent in his eyes. The villagers of Tuanul harbored enemies of the First Order, and so their execution had been deserved.

These children are innocent, and they're lost and afraid, and that's enough to stir his compassion where many of the other victims of the floods don't. So he's making sure they've got food, water, and clean clothes, and trying to offer assurances however best he can.

So of course, just as the children begin to calm a little, an enormous reptile comes hissing and crashing into the tent, jaws snapping and aggression obvious.

It's massive. Too big to throw with the Force. And though his every instinct tells him to stand his ground and fight despite the orders to take it easy on his arm (Ren even ignites his lightsaber, fully prepared to do it), the shrieks and cries of the children behind him remind him of his priorities here. Protect, defend, and keep his temporary charges alive.

With a snarled curse, he moves back, herding the children out of the tent with him, and sends the temporary structure crashing down over the beast. The canvas shroud should hinder it for a few moments, at least.

It's a very temporary solution, but he's just trying to buy time to at least get the kids out of the crocodile's path.

...

Even if what he truly wants is to just kill the damn thing. ]

[shootsoff]

[Thankfully, Roy has less than zero idea of what Kylo Ren 'should' be like. All he knows is that when he bats aside some of the collapsed canvas, he sees a guy all in black with a couple of kids, notices that the guy is standing between those kids and the rampaging supercrocodile, and that he's kicking down the rest of the shelter over the monster.]

Hey, dude, I'm gonna use an incendiary arrow, keep them back okay?

[He yells it while he hoists himself into a tree a few feet away from the collapsed structure while the crocodile thrashes around in the canvas, tangled, a perfect shot. The way he says it doesn't really imply the guy doesn't know well enough to run away from an explosion - it's more about making sure he's aware there's going to be one.

Crouching on a low branch, he pulls out one of his incendiary arrows, nocks and draws his bow in a few split seconds, aims for long enough to suck in a breath and check that the guy and kids are out of the blast radius, and releases the arrow. It's little more than a flick of red through the air, and then there's a concussive explosion of sound and fire.]

Crap, good thing it's raining!

[Swinging down from the tree, Roy jogs over to the guy, stepping delicately over chunks of crocodile.]

You okay, man? The kids okay?

[killthepast]

[ Kylo looks to the man, making eye contact for the briefest moment-- his attention's still mostly split between the crocodile and the children, but he hears the stranger loud and clear. Ren may have never seen an incendiary arrow in action before, but he knows what to expect just from the name.

He extinguishes his lightsaber's blade and hooks it on his belt quickly, to free himself to hoist the smaller of the two children in his arm. The other, he takes by the hand as he moves them away from the beast-- and the imminent explosion. And with the luxury of distance, he can see the man in the tree, the flash of movement, then the explosion that consumes the giant reptile. Ren, for his part, manages to shield any wayward debris from reaching them, stopping it mid-air, just feet from where he and the children stand.

It's quite a sight. Even the children forget their brush with death long enough to cheer over the explosion, and the show of the Force. ]

They're... [ He looks at the kids again, as if to be sure. ] unharmed. And so am I.

[ Ren sets the younger one down again and pulls up the hood of her rain poncho. What he wouldn't give for his mask right now. Then at least his hair would be dry in the rain. In any case, he fixes Roy with a look that's a mix of curious and somewhat grateful. ]

Your timing couldn't have been better. [ So... uh.... ] Thank you.

[ Can you tell he's not used to thanking anyone for anything? ]

[shootsoff]

[The lightsaber? That's cool, and he's totally going to ask about it later, because holee freak, who doesn't want a glowy laser sword. But right now he's got bigger reptiles to fry, so he's focusing on making bbq alligator steak out of the river monster.

Doesn't stop him from noticing how the guy shields himself from the heat, debris, and chunks of monster guck from hitting him and the kids. Neat trick.

Not the point right now, though, as he finally gets past all the rubble on the ground and crouches down to look at the kids while the guy pulls up her rain jacket hood and turns to look at him. Grinning, Roy gives the girl a thumbs up and then stands up, rubbing his gloved hands (pointlessly) on the back of his red leather pants before holding one out to the other man for a shake.]

No sweat, it's what I came out for. Nice to meet you, uh...

[A pause, and then, brightly.]

I'm Roy. Roy Harper, aka Arsenal.