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“He wants you!” Kylo-Ren roared. “Why else would he offer to ‘help with your Jedi training’ even though he is not even remotely force sensitive. And why else would he volunteer to ‘get you your own X-Wing’?”
Rey couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Because he’s nice, Ben.”
“Poe Dameron is a conniving, womanizing flyboy with no greater ambition than to make each explosion he causes bigger than the last!”
“To be fair, it is his job as a pilot to blow things up...”
“Why was he in your quarters.” He demanded. It wasn’t a question.
“Because- Because none of your business why he was in my room! Do you really trust me so little?”
“Don’t play this off-“
“He was teaching me to read, Ben! Force if you would pull your head out of your ass you’d realize that the Jedi text are in some language I do not know, even though I know at least a dozen common dialects, I can’t translate them properly on my own!”
“Why would you not just come to me?” He countered with hurt and anger in his voice, his honest devotion to her shining like a beacon through the bond.
“I-I didn’t...”
“Hmm? Didn’t what?” He replied impatiently.
“I just...”
“What, Rey? What is so terrible that you felt you couldn’t-“
“I don’t want you to think I’m stupid! It’s embarrassing, Ben! I never had a formal education, everything I know I taught myself while trying to survive on a planet where nothing grows. So forgive me for being wary about seeking help from someone educated at the finest schools and by the best private tutors in the galaxy along side your genius mother and infamous father!” She exclaimed, voice thick with tears.
“You have no idea what it’s like growing up hungry- starving for your entire existence. Finding the time, the energy to learn while your stomach aches is nearly impossible. So forgive me for seeking out someone who I felt could provide a more patient and welcoming teaching method.”
Rey saw the guilt written all over his face, could feel the weight of her words upon his conscience through the bond.
“Rey-“ he reached for her desperately, but she slapped his hands away.
“I’d like to be alone.” She gulped back tears, fading out of the bond.
Later that night, as she laid in bed, Rey could not resist the urge to see him; rolling over on her side, closing her eyes as she reached through the bond. When she opened them a moment later, brown eyes were gazing back.
“Hi.” She whispered.
“Hi.” He replied quietly. “You look tired.”
“It’s been a long day.” She smiled. “My eyes hurt from reading and transcribing and note taking.”
“Were you and Dameron able to uncover anything related to the bond?”
“A bit, ours isn’t like a typical bond, if you can imagine that.” She laughed lightly.
Kylo-Ren brushed a lock of hair from her eye, returning her smile. “Thank you for coming to bed with me.”
“I’m so sorry, Rey. I was being selfish and arragant- No. That’s no excuse for my behavior-“
“Hush now.” She whispered closing her eyes. “We’re here now, together. Everything else is just details...”
“I swear to you, Rey. You’ll never go hungry again. Not while I live and breathe. I know you can more than take care of yourself, but I’m not going to stop trying to take care of your either, whether you like it or not.”
She snuggled in close to his bare chest, nuzzling into his warmth. “I know you won’t, Ben. I know.”
“I don’t think you are stupid, Rey. Nothing about you is ignorant or simple or obtuse. You’re brilliant, so intelligent.” His chest rumbled, tilting her chin up to gaze into her eyes.
“You amaze me, in every way. I know neither of us have much...experience, in this field...but I-I know when two people care about each other, they confide in one another. For what it’s worth...you can always come to me, for anything without fear of judgment. Nothing you could do could make me...could ever make me love you any less.”
Rey was near tears now, afraid her voice would shake, she leaned up and kissed him, conveying all the words she couldn’t say.