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[forcecalls]

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[jedied]

It's been a week or so since Rey decided to have her chip removed, and less since she stopped trying quite so hard to keep her mind quite so tightly shielded when she wasn't actively around another Force user. It got tiring fast, given the number of them here.

Still, she's not expecting the familiar rushing noise in her head followed by the sensation of parts of her present space falling away. She'd been relaxing, for once, sitting outdoors in a sunny patch of ground and reading a book. Her guard was as lowered as it ever was anywhere outside her own apartment. Perhaps moreso, since there weren't as many people right here.

She sighs, not turning to acknowledge the presence she can feel behind her, but addressing him all the same.

"We could try ignoring each other. Respecting each other's personal space. Just going away."

[forcecalls]

It's as unexpected to him as it is to her, not least because the last time he'd seen her, it didn't seem that she'd changed her mind about keeping the chip purely to keep this from happening.

"It would seem the Force has other plans." He's done what she wanted until now and avoided speaking to her in person. Fighting against this would take effort he's not so inclined to invest. That shouldn't be a surprise to her. Though if pressed, he might admit to not really seeing the point of trying to communicate by now. He's just glad the Force chose a moment when he was fully dressed this time.

"I see you got your chip out."

[jedied]

"I wasn't going to leave it in forever."

That had never been her intent, no matter what he might think. She'd just wanted a break from having to be constantly on alert. It had been exhausting, always half-expecting him to show up when she could least afford the distraction.

There were too many benefits to regaining use of the Force to indulge her desire for rest, however. And even if her encounter with Vader had hurried it along a touch faster than she otherwise might've, there's no reason to volunteer that information to him.

[forcecalls]

An incredulous, "hm," is his rebuttal to that. Given the way she'd put it to him, it's really no wonder he made that assumption. He won't argue with the decision, though. There are far more disadvantages to keeping it than there are advantages, at least for them.

A moment of silence ensues as he realises he isn't sure what to say. There are plenty of things he could, under other circumstances, but far fewer that he's willing to bring up as it stands. His eyes scan her, ultimately noting the book in her hand.

"What are you reading?"

Text

[forceguided]

[Luke really doesn't want to do this. Well, part of him does? But a lot of him really, really isn't sure he'll ever be ready for this. But since Luke had given Rey his word. He's now bound to do this. Because if he doesn't? She's going to find out and.... he'd prefer to avoid that.

Rey's kind of scary when she's angry. But hey, maybe he'll be lucky and Kylo's pre-emptively blocked his number. Then he can say he tried and that'll be the end of it.]

I know you don't want to hear from me. but we should talk.
If just for her sake.

[forcecalls]

[Kylo really does not want to receive this, but if anything could make him respond reasonably rather than either purely ignoring it or being immediately antagonistic, it's invoking Rey. So. Good choice there.]

What about?

[forceguided]

[That's a... really good question actually. Luke's not really sure what they're supposed to talk about, but it's pretty obvious that Rey wants them to at least try and get along even the tiniest bit. If just so it makes her life easier.]

I know it might seem foolish, but Rey thinks there's a chance that maybe we've been given a chance to change things in my future.
I know that probably won't help you, because it's highly unlikely that what you've been through can be undone.
I know I probably don't know the full picture still, but I doknow that what he.... what I did isn't okay.
And if there's a way to make a timeline where it doesn't happen, then of course I've got to try.


[Which uh... none of this really answers his question, does it?]

But like it or not, having two of the people who are among the most important to her at odds like this, it isn't really doing her any favors.

[If nothing else - Odds of them accidentally bonding over keeping Vader sane now that Obi-Wan has vanished just like Leia and Padme?]

[forcecalls]

It can't be undone.

[To him, that's not an argument against any of what's been said here so much as a statement of fact.]

I don't know whether you knowing changes anything. I wouldn't have expected the Luke I knew to do what he did, either.

[He's very sure the Luke who practically raised him from the time he was ten and taught him and the other students how to be Jedi would not have advocated attacking a relative in their sleep. And yet.]

plants this here for whenever

[jedied]

Your grandmother's here again.

I told her you exist, but I didn't tell her anything else.

[forcecalls]

I suppose that's charitable of you.

Where can I find her?

[jedied]

I imagine she's found herself an apartment here, the same as we have. We spoke a little on the network. You could contact her there to ask.

[ after fuck marry kill ]

[jedied]

[ Rey's just trying to read a book. Truthfully, she's forgotten about the silly network game by now, but she keeps picking up on -- she's not sure what, honestly, but it's distracting. ]

Something's bothering you.

Re: [ after fuck marry kill ]

[forcecalls]

[ ... ]

It's nothing.

[jedied]

If it were nothing I wouldn't be sitting here reading the same paragraph three times over. If something's wrong, tell me.

[forcecalls]

[ He hadn't actually been planning on saying anything after stumbling across that conversation, but well, she asked. ]

I saw what you said. To Harley's game on the network.

holiday gift

[jedied]

[ Rey doesn't know there's to be a gift exchange later, and she doesn't especially want to hand these out in person anyway, not when their subject matter is emotionally fraught. She'd gotten a bit melancholy herself once she'd seen the results of her undertaking and realized that she'd like never have such a thing for herself, created by her or anyone else.

Carefully wrapped and tied with ribbon, Kylo will find a framed sketch of himself, Vader, and Padme; not an exact copy of a particular scene, since she'd never quite managed to see them all in the same spot, but one pieced together from memory and a few surreptitious observations that she'd hastily scribbled down in a small notebook she kept ostensibly to take notes at the libraries. They're good likenesses, if not perfect representations, and she's managed to capture all three of them looking calm and reasonably content, if not precisely happy. She's not sure that two of the three have ever experienced happy, and Vader never lets anyone see all of his face anyway; she wouldn't know what happy looks like on him. She'd wanted authenticity and a sense of comfort with one another, and she's done a reasonable job of that.

She's left a tag identifying its intended recipient, and filled in the from field with her own name, though she's relatively certain she didn't need to. He'd know.

It's left while he's asleep, or perhaps just away. She hadn't wanted to risk the awkwardness of presenting him with a gift when she's never done anything like this before. ]

[forcecalls]

[She'll notice when she does open it, if she's conscious enough at the time to feel the wave of emotions that crashes over him. Curiosity, at first, then surprise as the image reveals itself, then a whole host of feelings he wouldn't be able to articulate as the intent and meaning of the image sink in. As he spends a while just staring at it, taking in all the details, being touched in a way he was entirely unprepared for. Eventually, back to curiosity again, and it's only then that she'll receive a message from him.]

Did you draw this yourself?

[jedied]

[ She's awake; curled up in a chair and focused fairly intently on the book she's reading so as to push any slight anxiety she felt over the gifts she'd left people earlier. She isn't worried, really. It's just the faint anxiety of never having had anything to give to anyone in her life before. Nothing tangible that was hers.

She smiles when she reads the message, having caught some of those emotions but not having paid enough attention to feel like she was intruding. It's another part of why she's reading. Between the Force and her tether, she has a lot of people's heads to stay out of. ]

Yes.

Do you like it?

[forcecalls]

[It's a more complicated question than it should be. He doesn't like every emotion and thought that it had stirred. He likes other parts of that mix very much. His own reaction to the contents of the image aside, he's impressed by the artistry of it, how well she captured what she was trying to show. And the thought behind choosing what she was trying to show...]

I do.

[jedied]

Rey was not avoiding Kylo. That would be silly, not to mention close to impossible since she wasn't going to intentionally shut him out. She was, however, making herself exceptionally busy in places that were conveniently nowhere near where he was. It's not that she doesn't want to talk about the whole kissing thing, but every time she thinks about it she's overcome by a rush of embarrassment that stops her from doing so. She'd wanted to kiss him for some time -- but she hadn't wanted to be drunk and bespelled for it, nor had she wanted to fall asleep in the middle of it and wake up on his sofa with a raging headache the next morning.

She'd more or less resolved to try to forget it happened the way it had and try again later when neither of them was under the influence of alcohol or magic, but circumstance found her knocking on Kylo's door one morning anyway.

Calm. We are just here to borrow a tool and go home. Maybe steal a muffin if he's got any. No kissing talk.

[forcecalls]

Rey hasn't shut him out. Kylo is grateful for that, but still, he's noticed the distance. He's let her have it, too, himself wrapped up in his own doubts about that night. Rey isn't the only one who'd been unusually affected for it.

The knock on the door is unexpected, and he blinks as he sees her, even knowing who he'll find when he opens it. He doesn't say anything as he steps aside to let her come in, but the question of what this visit is about hangs silently in the air.

[jedied]

She steps in breezily, as though she were just here for the sake of being here, which she's done every so often -- though not since the holiday party. It's a little too forced, though; the former state of relative comfort she'd achieved in his presence has been shaken. Not hurt, but changed.

"Did I leave my hydrospanner here? I can't find it, and something in the air vent is making the worst noise every single night."

Sure, she could rip off the vent cover using the Force, but then she'd have to put it back on with something anyway. And it's anyone's guess what she'll find once she climbs in there to deal with the source of the noise.

[ after Luke leaves ]

[jedied]

[ If he's paying attention, Kylo will probably have noticed that their bond feels more muted than usual; she's been trying to turn down the volume on her feelings with as much success as she's capable of. ]

Luke went home.

You probably knew that.

Re: [ after Luke leaves ]

[forcecalls]

I did.

[He hadn't been told, as such. Nor had he noticed immediately, considering his uncle's energy is something he's generally inclined to block out. It was only in wondering what might be bothering both Rey and Vader that he'd thought to look for that particular Force signature and come up empty.]

I also know you're upset.

[jedied]

Yeah.

I guess now I know what losing a tether feels like.

[ She instinctively knows it's not the same thing she'd feel if her connection with Kylo were just gone, and she's thankful for that much. But that doesn't make her feel less lonely or regretful that she didn't have more time, or that she was down one friend whom she might never see again. ]