( Rey's pain comes to him in waves, little snippets and previews of the full bloom that she surely feels, gliding underneath the surface of his skin and trickling down into muscle and bone like a thin needle in various spots. It almost feels like his nerve endings are coming awake after spending a long time in numbing nothingness, pinned and pinched and circulation cut off. Even as Ji's presence and the focus required to anticipate any move that she might make draws and requires the bulk of his attention, Kylo finds that the knowledge of Rey's discomfort serves as a reminder of how simple keeping track of her within the Force might yet prove to be, even if his eyes are not presently on her and his mind isn't tasked with the singular assignment of monitoring her movements. A task certainly made easier when the unfurling of her saber chokes the sound from his ears momentarily, an answering electric thrill running the length of his spine. )
She'll chase if we run. ( He says to Rey, barely a murmur over their shared connection, as if someone might hear, but his tone delivers it with the implication that this is exactly what they want, even if he doesn't rush to ignite his own saber, although he does wrap his palm around it and unclip it, ready. It's a strange, seamless exchange between the two of them. Different than it had been when he'd sensed her initially on Yaga Minor, different than it had been when he'd felt her coming for him on Corellia and every moment since. It feels like a unified front when they rally together in this way, a key sliding solidly into a lock, and Kylo has no doubt that it could be something truly amazing in its destructive prowess were they able to stop arguing for the five minutes it would take for them to learn how to use it.
Now is not the time, though, for arguing or for philosophizing about the bond between them, not with the feeling of being watched from somewhere operating as an active presence within his mind, nor with Ji raising one hand to lean against the crooked frame of the broken window and consider the both of them. Kylo wonders if she has always been so communicative through the blank screen of her helmet - and, by association, if he was as well - or if it's just a result of having known her longer than anyone else that makes her easier for him to read. Ji's hands tighten around her blaster and she refuses to answer the question he had directed at her in the interest of jutting her chin toward Rey.
Leader Snoke said she would be with you. He doesn't hold you responsible, she says, making it abundantly clear that she is no longer speaking to Kylo but to Rey instead, despite the glint of her helmet's square paneling as it angles itself in an abundantly unclear and unhelpful direction. He's quite impressed with what you've managed to accomplish. Although I'm personally not convinced. You've always been weak, Ren, since the beginning. Can't pick a side, can you?
Kylo feels a series of locks within him click open, even as he makes an active effort to keep them clasped. She's baiting him on purpose, digging in underneath muscle and blood vessels and working her way down to bone, tonguing at a cavity and gnawing at a wound that has not yet had time to close over, seal with scar tissue. Directing his ire is done with the express purpose of stopping his attention from drifting elsewhere, figuring out where it is that the other Knight is hiding, waiting to pick them off clean if they can't deflect the shot. He isn't sure that there is enough clarity in the air between the settling smoke and dust and Ji's broken tooth of a sore spot within the Force, and the bright blue of Rey's saber paints a target on their backs that they can't afford to extinguish. Time to make a choice. )
The mine shaft. ( Kylo's voice crowds into Rey's head over the sound of Ji's. He knows that Rey is ready to move, a burning sun of energy despite the mistakes that they've made, the time they've wasted. His confidence in himself bleeds into faith in her to do what it takes to ensure that they both survive. When that became a mutual benefit as opposed to a singular one, Kylo isn't sure, but in that moment he feels its twin within himself. Neither of them can fall. ) Run and don't stop until you're out of sight of the entrance. We need to know where the sniper is.
( The he thumbs his saber into life just as one of the remaining smoke bombs explodes into a haze on Ji's belt. From there, it's a dead sprint away from the administrative offices. )
no subject
She'll chase if we run. ( He says to Rey, barely a murmur over their shared connection, as if someone might hear, but his tone delivers it with the implication that this is exactly what they want, even if he doesn't rush to ignite his own saber, although he does wrap his palm around it and unclip it, ready. It's a strange, seamless exchange between the two of them. Different than it had been when he'd sensed her initially on Yaga Minor, different than it had been when he'd felt her coming for him on Corellia and every moment since. It feels like a unified front when they rally together in this way, a key sliding solidly into a lock, and Kylo has no doubt that it could be something truly amazing in its destructive prowess were they able to stop arguing for the five minutes it would take for them to learn how to use it.
Now is not the time, though, for arguing or for philosophizing about the bond between them, not with the feeling of being watched from somewhere operating as an active presence within his mind, nor with Ji raising one hand to lean against the crooked frame of the broken window and consider the both of them. Kylo wonders if she has always been so communicative through the blank screen of her helmet - and, by association, if he was as well - or if it's just a result of having known her longer than anyone else that makes her easier for him to read. Ji's hands tighten around her blaster and she refuses to answer the question he had directed at her in the interest of jutting her chin toward Rey.
Leader Snoke said she would be with you. He doesn't hold you responsible, she says, making it abundantly clear that she is no longer speaking to Kylo but to Rey instead, despite the glint of her helmet's square paneling as it angles itself in an abundantly unclear and unhelpful direction. He's quite impressed with what you've managed to accomplish. Although I'm personally not convinced. You've always been weak, Ren, since the beginning. Can't pick a side, can you?
Kylo feels a series of locks within him click open, even as he makes an active effort to keep them clasped. She's baiting him on purpose, digging in underneath muscle and blood vessels and working her way down to bone, tonguing at a cavity and gnawing at a wound that has not yet had time to close over, seal with scar tissue. Directing his ire is done with the express purpose of stopping his attention from drifting elsewhere, figuring out where it is that the other Knight is hiding, waiting to pick them off clean if they can't deflect the shot. He isn't sure that there is enough clarity in the air between the settling smoke and dust and Ji's broken tooth of a sore spot within the Force, and the bright blue of Rey's saber paints a target on their backs that they can't afford to extinguish. Time to make a choice. )
The mine shaft. ( Kylo's voice crowds into Rey's head over the sound of Ji's. He knows that Rey is ready to move, a burning sun of energy despite the mistakes that they've made, the time they've wasted. His confidence in himself bleeds into faith in her to do what it takes to ensure that they both survive. When that became a mutual benefit as opposed to a singular one, Kylo isn't sure, but in that moment he feels its twin within himself. Neither of them can fall. ) Run and don't stop until you're out of sight of the entrance. We need to know where the sniper is.
( The he thumbs his saber into life just as one of the remaining smoke bombs explodes into a haze on Ji's belt. From there, it's a dead sprint away from the administrative offices. )