The Millennium Falcon- Saturday

[thatwaslucky]

While the general vibe of the last day on Anoat had been anxiety, today was relief. They'd gotten away safely, no evidence of their months on the planet left for the First Order to discover. Most of the Resistance members were on the other ship, though Chewie, Leia and Rose stayed on the Falcon. Rey had plotted their course through hyperspace and had put the ship on autopilot, and today was kind of a day to just chill out on a space ship.

There were things to do. There was a lounge area with a dejarik table if you wanted to learn a new game, and another with a mostly empty bar and a sound system that Rey had literally never touched. If you felt like geeking out over tech, someone might put you to work. No, you can't fly the ship. Yes, you can sit there. No, seriously, don't touch anything.


[For le Resistance!]

Comments

[thatwaslucky]

"Domination through terror?" Rey shrugged. "It's easier to make everyone fall in line when they're too scared to fight. At least that's what the point was. Now I think it's just to lash out."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"So it's like a galaxy-wide tantrum, now?" Annie asked skeptically. "I guess if you've made them mad, that's kind of a good thing. That sounds like they feel threatened."

[thatwaslucky]

"You could say that," Rey said slowly.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie crooked a half-smile at her. "Or not. I've never dealt with anything on this kind of a scale, but - there's got to be some hope, right? Like, they sound a little - emotionally-charged. That's not good for them."

[thatwaslucky]

"Yeah," Rey said, and added, reluctantly, "I'm the one who made the Supreme Leader throw a tantrum."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Okay, well now Annie was looking at her a little more carefully. "Really? What'd you do?"

Again, not like, great if the Supreme Leader was emotionally volatile.

[thatwaslucky]

"It's a long story. He and I have a complicated history," she admitted.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Sounds like it," Annie replied lightly, and look, eyebrow talking wasn't exclusively for sex stuff, because her eyebrows were totally asking some questions, there. "You got under his skin, huh?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Worse," Rey frowned. "The previous Supreme Leader linked us through the Force. So we... understand each other? When Kylo Ren killed that Supreme Leader, he decided to take over. Wanted me to join him. I refused."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"That sounds like a real - violation," Annie decided, frowning. "The linking you, I mean. And now he's all mad that you wouldn't join his team?"

[thatwaslucky]

Rey nodded. "I thought he'd turn back to the light side and come with me, he thought I'd go with him. And now he wants me dead."

So...

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Shit, Rey." Annie reached out to lightly touch her shoulder, looking worried. "And you're still...linked?"

Not that she explicitly understood what that meant, but she had a sort of vague idea, and it definitely didn't sound like the kind of connection you wanted to have with someone who wanted you dead.

[thatwaslucky]

"Yeah. It's fine most of the time," Rey said quickly. "Just, sometimes he tries to start conversations with me. I shut him down right away."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Can he see where you are?" Because like, props Rey, shut that creepy guy down every time, but Annie was pretty concerned about him being able to find her through this thing.

[thatwaslucky]

"No. We can see each other, but not our surroundings," Rey answered. "He can't find me that way."

Yes she'd been worried about that too at first!

[defenderofdesmoines]

"What's he like?" Annie had to ask, her nose wrinkling up. "Other than, like, tantrumy and volatile."

She was not impressed with you, Supreme Leader.

[thatwaslucky]

"Complicated. Angry. So angry. Lonely." She frowned, trying to figure out how much else she wanted to say there. "Because of that link I see more to him. But that's what he wants to show people."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Most people who do really bad things typically don't do them in a vacuum," Annie acknowledged, shrugging a shoulder lightly. "Usually there's something else driving it." She frowned thoughtfully, weighing her words. "Doesn't justify anything, but it can help to - understand, I think?"

Congratulations, Kylo Ren, you just made Annie's prayer list.

[thatwaslucky]

"More or less. I understand what goes into what he does. But this is not rational."

On the plus side, he taught Rey a lot about Boundaries.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, no, but if he was rational he probably wouldn't want you dead," Annie replied, shaking her head. "But knowing how he thinks - and knowing he's unpredictable and mad - is kind of an advantage."

A pause, and, "Even though I hate that you have to deal with this." Like, personally, that was the worst, Rey, even if it potentially offered up some goodies strategy-wise.

[thatwaslucky]

"It's not my favorite thing." It was even sometimes not bad? There were a lot of conflicting feelings there. "But it's all right. I've been dealing with it, and I'll continue to, and it will be fine."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You might be the bravest person I know," Annie told her sincerely, with a little smile. "Like, seriously, that's a - I don't know, scary thing to deal with."

Because like, Annie considered herself pretty brave, but having a guy who wanted her dead just show up through a psychic link from time to time would scare the daylights out of her, no matter how lonely he was or how sad she felt for him.

[thatwaslucky]

"It's not brave. It's a thing that happened," Rey told her.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Those aren't mutually exclusive," Annie replied. "It can be a thing that happened and I can think you're brave for how you're dealing with it."