( Her reaction is one hundred percent the reaction that he was expecting and sort of hoping for, and Kylo, though probably out of place and unwanted, feels a small smile creeping up the side of his mouth that he doesn't discourage. It's hardly nice in nature and entirely at her expense, which is why it seems more appropriate to let it manifest than to chase it away, but it doesn't reach beyond the apex of a smirk, and he finds himself nodding along to her assessment of herself in a similar fashion. He's reminded of their trek through the woods back on Corellia, her absolute rejection of assistance in the form of a lesson as if eager to prove that she didn't need the help in the first place, and the thought leads to the idea of Rey against a full battalion of his Knights with the same attitude.
His mouth is suddenly full of saliva and though the smirk at the corner of his mouth remains in half-bloom, he swallows sharply and opens his mouth to reply to her only to snap it shut again as the ship vibrates, like a speeder coming too close to a rock in the dirt and jumping as a result. Kylo tracks his gaze upward, wondering if some system is about to go, pitch them into darkness or drop them out of hyperspace or blow them up, and only looks over again once Rey gets to her feet and moves away from him. For once, Kylo realizes, the effects of tension and stress as it moves through the Force is not majorly from him, though he can't pretend that he isn't exacerbating it to some degree. )
You've met real opponents before and won? ( His voice is a little more incredulous than was leading himself to believe right up until the nanosecond before he decided to speak at all, and he has the overwhelming urge, despite his prior amusement at her reaction, to stand and crowd her as if to drive home the idea that he is trying to communicate. The ship continues to groan, however, and he is careful to keep his own frustration, so ready to jump to attention at a moment's notice, in check. ) Were you listening when I told you that I've never seriously tried to kill you before, or do you just choose to hear the parts that you want and ignore the rest? ( Some of the frustration is his affronted pride, displayed no better than it is in the great scar across his face. ) I could have killed you on Yaga Minor, you were paying such little attention to what was going on around you. And I could have killed you on Corellia if I wanted to. I could have killed you on Starkiller, if I wanted to.
( All points that are debatable, but Kylo chooses not to see them that way. The fact remains that at least on Starkiller he had the upper-hand for the majority of the battle and used it only in an attempt to subdue her, his injuries at the time notwithstanding. Kylo refuses to look at the tear from the bowcaster or the burn FN-2187 had scored prior to Rey's involvement as excuses for his performance, won't use them as a crutch in trying to drive this point home. )
You are about to come up against a faction under the Supreme Leader's command that does not adhere to the established rules of warfare, who are not part of the war itself. I didn't want to kill you on Yaga Minor, just as I didn't want to kill you on Corellia or Starkiller. You've seen it yourself. The Knights of Ren won't share my perspective when it comes to your involvement in my defection. In the event they don't come at you with everything they have right at the outset, if their goal is to capture rather than kill you, the real opponent you will face in the end won't be them, and it won't be me. It will be Snoke.
( Even as the words leave his mouth, he recognizes the potential for this reality even more strongly than the prospect of Rey's death at Dryx's or Ji's or any of the other Knights' hands. Kylo has gone rogue, from their perspective, and that to them is unforgivable. Even if he were to weave a lie complicated and complex enough at the feet of the Supreme Leader to satisfy his master's outrage and disgust, it wouldn't spare Kylo the punishment that waits for him as a result of his actions. But Rey. Snoke looked right into his apprentice's head as Kylo shook him free and it was Rey that he looked for, Rey that he saw, and it's Rey that he'll come for, as much as he'll come for Kylo initially. There's a bad taste in his mouth when he continues. )
Give the situation the respect and gravity that it deserves.
they are a proud people full of proud mandalorian pride
His mouth is suddenly full of saliva and though the smirk at the corner of his mouth remains in half-bloom, he swallows sharply and opens his mouth to reply to her only to snap it shut again as the ship vibrates, like a speeder coming too close to a rock in the dirt and jumping as a result. Kylo tracks his gaze upward, wondering if some system is about to go, pitch them into darkness or drop them out of hyperspace or blow them up, and only looks over again once Rey gets to her feet and moves away from him. For once, Kylo realizes, the effects of tension and stress as it moves through the Force is not majorly from him, though he can't pretend that he isn't exacerbating it to some degree. )
You've met real opponents before and won? ( His voice is a little more incredulous than was leading himself to believe right up until the nanosecond before he decided to speak at all, and he has the overwhelming urge, despite his prior amusement at her reaction, to stand and crowd her as if to drive home the idea that he is trying to communicate. The ship continues to groan, however, and he is careful to keep his own frustration, so ready to jump to attention at a moment's notice, in check. ) Were you listening when I told you that I've never seriously tried to kill you before, or do you just choose to hear the parts that you want and ignore the rest? ( Some of the frustration is his affronted pride, displayed no better than it is in the great scar across his face. ) I could have killed you on Yaga Minor, you were paying such little attention to what was going on around you. And I could have killed you on Corellia if I wanted to. I could have killed you on Starkiller, if I wanted to.
( All points that are debatable, but Kylo chooses not to see them that way. The fact remains that at least on Starkiller he had the upper-hand for the majority of the battle and used it only in an attempt to subdue her, his injuries at the time notwithstanding. Kylo refuses to look at the tear from the bowcaster or the burn FN-2187 had scored prior to Rey's involvement as excuses for his performance, won't use them as a crutch in trying to drive this point home. )
You are about to come up against a faction under the Supreme Leader's command that does not adhere to the established rules of warfare, who are not part of the war itself. I didn't want to kill you on Yaga Minor, just as I didn't want to kill you on Corellia or Starkiller. You've seen it yourself. The Knights of Ren won't share my perspective when it comes to your involvement in my defection. In the event they don't come at you with everything they have right at the outset, if their goal is to capture rather than kill you, the real opponent you will face in the end won't be them, and it won't be me. It will be Snoke.
( Even as the words leave his mouth, he recognizes the potential for this reality even more strongly than the prospect of Rey's death at Dryx's or Ji's or any of the other Knights' hands. Kylo has gone rogue, from their perspective, and that to them is unforgivable. Even if he were to weave a lie complicated and complex enough at the feet of the Supreme Leader to satisfy his master's outrage and disgust, it wouldn't spare Kylo the punishment that waits for him as a result of his actions. But Rey. Snoke looked right into his apprentice's head as Kylo shook him free and it was Rey that he looked for, Rey that he saw, and it's Rey that he'll come for, as much as he'll come for Kylo initially. There's a bad taste in his mouth when he continues. )
Give the situation the respect and gravity that it deserves.