Ajan Kloss- Wednesday

[thatwaslucky]

Weirdly, Rey felt more in shock today than she did yesterday. Yesterday had been so much, after straight days of constant so much, and things had still felt raw and surreal. She had to have a couple rough conversations that had taken it out of her. She, Poe and Finn had ended up sharing the same cabin on the Falcon overnight, with the door to Chewie's first mate quarters open, like they were all a little worried about not having a sense of where they all were for too long.

Today Rey felt better rested, but things were odd in a new way. People were packing up and leaving now. For about a year and a half her time, Rey had considered this place, these people, like a home, and so many of them were going back to real ones now. It was like losing more people on top of losing so many people already.

And the absence of Leia was striking. People looked to Poe for leadership, but they still usually defaulted to Leia. She knew how to do everything. She would know what to do next. She always had answers. But she wasn't here to tell them. Others would look like they were about to bring her up, or go looking for her, and then they remembered, and it hit them again. Rey wondered if she would be able to reach out, to talk to her, but she couldn't bring herself to do it yet.

She'd tried reaching out to Ben this morning. Had a little breakdown when she got nothing. All that time she spent shutting him out and…

Rey was determined not to have any more breakdowns today. Maybe tomorrow, but not today. There were things to do, and she was putting herself to work, finding people to help pack up or load things or take down equipment and tamping down the urge to beg them not to go. That was healthy.


[Open for calls, texts, and anyone who may have stayed overnight!]

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[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer had to admit, it was a little surreal, sticking around in the aftermath. She was so used to just doing The Thing and then peacing out that this was kind of a new sensation. But she kind of liked it, especially with her own ship to camp out in, and a morning spent getting a better look at the damage, charging up the portal gun, and getting a few shots prepared so they'd be ready by the time she got back to work.

And, once that was taken care of, her next goal was to find Rey, now that all the craziness of yesterday had settled.

"Hey, you."

[thatwaslucky]

Rey excused herself from where she'd been helping, and immediately went in for a hug. Normal reaction, right?

[somethingwithturquoise]

All things (well, some things...all things she knew, anyway) considered? Summer would have probably taken that reaction over literally almost anything else, especially from Rey. And not one to ever take a Rey-hug for granted, Summer was just going to squeeze her back, not too much, but still solid and firm, and just let it linger a little before she threw in any inane commentary.

You know, like the "Congrats and shit" that she eventually offered into Rey's shoulder.

[thatwaslucky]

"Thanks," she said, pulling back. "It doesn't feel like we've finished things yet. Is that wrong?"

What with all the stuff to do and a mountain of trauma to sort out.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"No," Summer said, giving her head a light shake and her friend a faint smile as she drew away. "It's not. I bet it probably doesn't even feel real yet; it's a big thing that happened yesterday."

And Understatement of the Year Award goes to...

"And, I mean, not to be That Person, or anything, but, in my experience, it's never really over when it's over, either."

[thatwaslucky]

"You don't know the half of it," Rey said seriously. "I can't even sort through it all yet."

That related to both things Summer had said there, actually!

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Well," Summer offered, "there's time. And..." She broke out a particular crooked grin, hitching a thumb over her shoulder toward her ship, "there's booze. If you need it. Now or later."

Because if a Resistance victory of this magnitude didn't call for a sangria night sometime soon, then Summer didn't know what---

--okay, no, Summer knew a lot of reasons for a sangria night, actually, but still!

"In a few hours,I'll even have some jello shots."

[stykera]

Stark had stayed in part because he wanted to check in on Rey and in part because he had some experience in aftermath. He also wanted to check on Anakin again, after seeing him last night. And maybe a few other people. And maybe he wanted to prove to others that he had, eventually, given in and gotten his arm attended to.

So, sleeveless arm still in the sling from Will he went in search of Rey.

"Hello?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Hi," Rey said, and the half smile turned into a frown. "Are you all right?"

[stykera]

"I got shot. A little." Stark probably ought to stop saying it like that.

"It's fine. Are you?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Good as new," Rey said, and it was true from a certain point of view. "It's been a long few days."

[stykera]

"I'm sure it has." Monday had been a long day for Stark but in an entirely different way than it would have been for Rey.

"I'm glad you're still here," he added. "Very glad. We were all worried, I think, when the message came."

This seemed like a good moment for a hug. Even a one-armed one. So Stark made a hesitant move to offer one, should it be wanted.

[thatwaslucky]

"I didn't find out about that till last night," Rey told him. "I'm glad Poe called for all of you."

[stykera]

"I'm glad we could help. That I could help."

He gave a little one-shouldered shrug. "At least a little."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie had stuck around, of course. She'd spent a lot of time helping Will yesterday, and doing what she could as far as making sure people were okay, and -- okay, yeah, taking a few quiet moments for herself to reflect on how she'd managed flying again and how much she hated lightning, and how deeply grateful she was that everyone had made it out relatively okay. Annie wasn't really willing to characterize that reflection as prayer, but that's what it had been, more than anything.

But then, she didn't really know how okay everyone was, right? Especially not, you know, the very reason she'd even come here. (And don't think Annie hadn't spent a good chunk of time wondering what kind of circumstances Rey had called her from, last Thursday, if this was how things had shook out.)

"Hey," she ventured, gratified to find Rey actually not seeming busy or mobbed by people but unsure if that might not be by design, and maybe she didn't actually want company?

[thatwaslucky]

"Hey," Rey greeted her, immediately going in for a hug there too. "Sorry I wasn't back earlier."

Remember when she thought she'd be in Fandom like on Saturday? Good times.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I think this might be the very definition of a 'good excuse,'" Annie told her lightly, watching her strength as she hugged Rey back. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner."

'Here' being space, and frankly, she'd gotten here as fast as she could once the call had gone out, anyway. But still. Annie knew, from very recent experience, that the public cry for help probably came after a lot of intense personal shit.

So have a hug, Rey.

[thatwaslucky]

"I didn't even know anyone was coming," Rey admitted. "I had no idea until I was sensing people in the fight."

Was it because she'd freaked out and run off from her friends like a paranoid weirdo having a crisis? Yes it was!

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I figured you might have been kinda busy," Annie noted, understating things perhaps a tad. "Were you on that ship with us?"

There had been so much happening, but Annie was very sure she had not seen Rey on space horseback, or spotted her lightsaber with the others.

[thatwaslucky]

Rey shook her head. "I was on the ground. I was there where the lightning went up."

[sith_happened]

In a galaxy weirdly empty of Force-users right now, Anakin send Rey a gentle nudge on his way to requisition a ship and make just one last check of Exegol like the paranoid man he was.

Sleep at all last night?

[thatwaslucky]

What Rey sent back was a general Eh.

Because she'd slept a really long time but also kept waking up, which amounted to eh.

[sith_happened]

Anakin was feeling pretty eh himself, so he sent back a flicker of tired amusement.

I was going to double-check Exegol, he said because yeah, he'd recognized the planet.

[thatwaslucky]

Be careful.

It was probably fine. She didn't even sense that malevolence down there once Palpatine was dead. But... paranoia.

[sith_happened]

I've been there before, he said. I'll be very careful.

Probably pull parts of it down to the bedrock, something he'd wanted to do for decades.