Chapter Text
Kylo Ren stretched and strained, releasing tension from tired and overstressed muscles after his training session. He had been sparring with droids for hours, and the proof of that littered the floor; bits of droid and droplets of sweat were scattered everywhere, and as time had passed they added an interesting challenge in the form of an ever-changing terrain.
The droids were really never much of a challenge to defeat, and so Ren used these sessions to try new and ever more ridiculous styles of acrobatics and footwork; if he was honest with himself, which he rarely was, the sessions were a way to relax when the strain of focusing on nothing but darkness, pain, and negativity became too much for him.
Even the Sith needed occasional outlets for creativity, right? Darth Vader can’t have done nothing but brood and murder younglings, Ren thought as he turned and made for the refresher.
He was on board a small ship in sector IV, ostensibly out searching for fresh leads on Resistance hideouts amongst whichever various outpost his intelligence personnel sent him to, but really taking a brief and extremely necessary vacation. It was a little over three days since his Force bond with Rey had begun showing them flashes of each other, and it was driving him mad.
It was so much easier to give in to hate when you were focusing on betrayal; Luke’s betrayal was simple and murderous, and Han and Leia had betrayed him by sending Ren off with him. Rey had done nothing but fight to exist, and besides that, her ideals weren’t so twisted and malformed as his parents’ were.
Ren knew she had the potential to understand that what he truly wanted was to be in a position to effect change; there was no one you could truly trust but yourself, and a junker from Jakku would know that better than anyone. Together, they could end both the Sith and the Jedi, and conquer the galaxy as an unstoppable force.
Ren stripped off his tunic as he entered his room and opened the door to the refresher, and then froze. She was with him, he could see her there in front of him, hair pulled back as usual, her garb as drab and nondescript as ever. He shuddered slightly, and before he could speak, she did.
“Oh… oh my god, not again,” Rey said quietly. Goosebumps flooded Ren’s torso as he stared into her warm eyes. “And you’re… I’d really rather not do this right now.”
Ren could feel her embarrassment flooding across their shared link, and struggled to control his expression; nevertheless, his ears still went pink, and he was thankful his hair was covering them. It didn’t really matter though: if he could feel Rey’s emotions, she could feel his, and their bond was doing its best to make sure that both of them were turned into stuttering children, apparently, by creating as it was sort of closed loop of never ending, ever expanding discomfort that was extremely… well, discomfiting.
“Could you just um. Put a cowl on, or something?” Rey murmured, and Ren actually barked out a laugh, startling them both.
“I didn’t know the Sith could laugh,” Rey said, and without thinking, Ren responded huskily, “Neither did I.”