[Her gaze remains fixed on Ben, even after he turns away, taking in his body language as he answers, almost as if she's looking for any hint he's lying or hiding the truth from her. And despite just how closely she's looking for hints of falsehood, Leia can't find any. Only the defensiveness and embarrassment she'd expected with the subject being what it was.]
...Good.
[Which is how she genuinely feels. The idea of Ben dating someone she dislikes as much as Hux isn't good, no, but him treating Ben kindly is. It's more than she thought capable from him. And it brings perhaps a bit more clarity to a different interaction of theirs.]
I suppose that's why he was so defensive about your name, then.
[Ren eyes her suspiciously at the positive answer, and there's a tension in his jaw as he examines her; why she would have that kind of reaction is just as baffling as having asked the question in the first place, and he doesn't trust her even if he can't sense any insincerity.
His scowl becomes one more of curiosity when she brings up a conversation she's apparently had, however, softening slightly.]
My name? [It wasn't something he expected to come up.] Did he tell you to call me Kylo Ren?
He insisted that the name "Ben Solo" was outlawed in the First Order.
[If she sounds skeptical while relaying that information, it's because she absolutely is. Generally because if anything, she would expect the First Order to use the son of two of the heroes of the Rebellion as proof that their way is correct enough to attract even the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. But if they're in a relationship, it explains more of his defensiveness.]
[He answers evenly without much emotion at all; it's the truth, and he doesn't have much of an opinion on that or of his mother's obvious incredulity.]
It is, by decree of Supreme Leader.
[Seeing nothing strange about this, or about the idea that she might not know about Snoke, he moves right on ahead with the things that do stick out as strange to him.]
I'm surprised he brought it up. As if you could be convinced to stop calling me that.
[There's really nothing that could convince her to call him Kylo Ren. Ben may want to distance himself from her and Han, but to Leia, he is and always will be Ben. Calling him Kylo Ren would just be accepting that darkness and accepting that there's nothing she can do to change how things turn out, for anyone in the future.]
Supreme Leader?
[That's where her attention is focused, not so much that he apparently did decree that Ben Solo is outlawed.]
His hand stills where he was bringing it through his hair, and he shoots her a glance that's not startled exactly, but it is intense enough to invite question. But then he looks away, determined not to react any more noticeably than that. He makes his response deliberately sarcastic.]
[His initial reaction causes Leia to furrow her brow, thinking over whether he'd mentioned this before and she had forgotten. But no, for the most part, details about the First Order were something Leia had very little of, and she would've remembered someone called the Supreme Leader.]
I thought you intended to rule the galaxy.
[He'd screamed as much at her when she first arrived and went to see him.]
[There's a pang of fear (and the corresponding dip in temperature) at the thought of what he's about to say, but... it's been so long that he has no doubt Supreme Leader can't reach him here, can't sense him here.]
The master was once an apprentice. I still have things to learn before then.
[He's... honestly not sure if he'll ever truly get to that point. But that's what the old him would say, so the words come easily enough.]
[Unlike the heat from before, something she's used to as a reaction from Ben, the cold catches Leia off-guard, especially given the subject matter. She isn't sure what about any of what he's said would prompt a reaction like that.]
Who is he?
[The wording of what he's said only makes her think it's connected to the Force, or at least his training in it. If only because she's not sure what else he would have been trained in besides how to wield the Force. She was sure Luke had been teaching him, before everything went wrong, though, so part of her feels that must be off-base.]
[Well, it's not as if telling her will actually affect anything, he supposes. Why not? It's the same reason behind many of the things he does here. None of it will make a difference, and it's frankly just easier to answer than to argue that she doesn't need to know.
He rests his chin against his hand.]
Supreme Leader Snoke is my teacher. He was the one who appointed me Master of the Knights of Ren.
[She hadn't actually expected a direct answer from him, far too used to Ben's habit of either purposely trying to infuriate her or give her as little information as possible. She blinks, then purses her lips as she takes in that information and commits it to memory.
The name means nothing to her, as expected. She has no idea where Snoke may have come from or who he truly is, which means she has no idea how to prevent him from teaching Ben.]
He's a Sith Lord, then?
[Her knowledge of any of that is still very minimal, but from what little he's described, it sounds like he must be. Or something along those lines.]
[Ren's expression twists again, but not in anger this time. It's more in disbelief hedging on distaste.]
No. The Sith died with Darth Vader and the Emperor. ... he doesn't have a... title like that.
[... that he knows. Admittedly he only knows so much about Supreme Leader out of necessity, because nobody knows much about him yet. Hurry it up Disney.]
[Leia frowns, unsure whether that's a good thing or not. It just means less in terms of potential literature on how to deal with someone or something like that. She's also unsure just how much longer Ben will continue to give her direct answers, answers she can only trust in their truthfulness, and she plans on taking advantage of this opportunity for as long as he'll play along with it.]
He seems like a secretive being.
[Not unexpected, but worth noting, as obvious as it is. Her tone is dry and flat as she remarks on that, unhappy with how much more difficult it makes everything.]
You turned to him after everything with Luke?
[With Luke, with everything that prompted him to destroy Luke's school, all of that.]
[It's a relatively safe topic so far, but anything with Kylo Ren is a hidden minefield. He could decide the conversation is over in the span of a second, but for now he continues.]
Necessarily so.
[That's just how it is with dark siders, really. But a faint line forms between his eyebrows as he continues staring past his wall, and his answer is strangely vague for being as straightforward as it seems.]
[She catches that, with how closely she's watching him, and her frown deepens as she once again furrows her brow while thinking over his answer. She doesn't feel that he's lying, exactly. None of what he's told her thus far has felt like a lie, and she wants to trust him because he is still her son. But that "yes" doesn't feel like the whole story.]
[His expression becomes a distinct frown as she digs deeper, and he's silent as he searches for what to say, how to answer that question even to himself.
Did he know Snoke? Well, does Kylo even "know" him now? The answer to that is no, he's come to realize.
Was he in contact with Snoke before that? For a short time, yes, that he knew. But for how long before that in a way he didn't realize... Kylo has wondered, from time to time.
He lets out a vague hum in reply, giving up on putting any words to it.]
[It's not much of an answer, if she was hoping for something direct, but that hum tells Leia more than enough about Snoke and Ben's relationship. Because if he's not saying, then he must have known him for some time before then, and that just worries her. Just how long had Ben known Snoke? Was it something she, Han, and Luke could have seen but missed? It raises a lot of questions, some Leia doesn't exactly want answers to, but needs to know, if it will help her understand Ben and why things turned out this way.]
For how long?
[She only has a feeling it's longer than he's been letting on, perhaps before he destroyed Luke's school and his other students. And because she feels he's been in contact with this Snoke for so long, Leia can't help but add on:]
[Kylo's answer is quiet, almost... resigned. He seems to have lost most of the anger related to Leia's presence and the earlier part of their conversation. Thinking about Snoke these days just drains him of feeling, and the chair starts to go grey under him.]
[That answer is exactly what she feared. She can't control the chill that settles around the both of them at those three words. Because it's an answer, yes, but it's an answer that invites more questions than it answers, about Ben's actions and childhood and things she and Han should have but evidently didn't notice.
Her concern, and even a fair amount of fear, is evident on her expression, and she makes no effort to hide it. Even if she wanted to, even with all the practice and training she's had putting on a mask in front of others, she would've found it difficult to conceal those emotions.]
He's not here.
[Which she knows she just said, but she repeats it, and she isn't sure whether it's to reassure Ben or herself.]
[She expected as much, with that. Ben has mellowed out considerably since she first arrived and met him here, and as the Supreme Leader of the First Order, he's sure Snoke would've disapproved of Ben even looking at her without trying to kill her again. But the fact that he's been in contact with Ben for who knows how long makes that comment more sinister, in Leia's mind, than it is on the surface.
Because if expressing disapproval for Ben's actions is something he does often enough for Ben to say this, and he'd been in contact with Snoke for longer than he even knew, how many of his actions were dictated by Snoke? Disapproval may as well be pushing Ben toward actions Snoke wants him to take.]
I don't doubt that. He gives you orders, then?
[She assumes it's a yes, given that he's the Supreme Leader or whatever, but. Direct confirmation can lead to her asking more questions that she wants to know the answers to.]
[Ren isn't really ashamed of that fact. Supreme Leader's orders gave him direction, made him feel like he had a place in the galaxy when he was just... drifting, before. Looking for old Jedi knowledge and getting nowhere.]
Hux, as well. [And the rest of the First Order, just being what he is.] Though most strategy is left to the military.
[It's as she expected, minus that mention of Hux. Hux is now an issue for another time, and even though she still does and probably always would hate the man, she can't help but wonder if he too was pushed toward mass-murder and planet destruction thanks to this Snoke. Not that she expects Hux to have been a good person without Snoke's influence; it's the question of just how much influence Snoke had on him.
She purses her lips, exhaling as she considers his answer, obvious though it may have been, and the implications of it. As well as the other questions she truly wants to ask.]
Did he tell you to destroy Luke's school?
[Did he tell him to kill Han? That's what she really wants to ask, but it's too painful of a subject for her to come out and ask it directly.]
[Ren is silent for a while, his gaze turning to hers to examine her expression, and in doing so he gets a sense of what she truly means. He answers in a way that would be true for all of it.]
He encouraged it. But the decision was mine.
[He doesn't want Leia to get any false ideas about the kind of man her son is.]
[It's what she was both hoping for and afraid of: that this Snoke had been guiding Ben's actions, pushing him toward the sort of person he became as Kylo Ren. Because it can't have just been Luke's school that he enabled, there had to be more than that. Ben may have made the decision to go through with those actions, but if it was Snoke that put the idea there in the first place and pushed him toward it, just how much of that was actually Ben's decision?
Her assumption is no doubt the opposite of what he intended, but her need to know there's still good in Ben and her need to find a way to explain all of what she knows to happen in the future has led her to this assumption.]
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lostapprentice) wrote2035-01-06 02:37 am
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...Good.
[Which is how she genuinely feels. The idea of Ben dating someone she dislikes as much as Hux isn't good, no, but him treating Ben kindly is. It's more than she thought capable from him. And it brings perhaps a bit more clarity to a different interaction of theirs.]
I suppose that's why he was so defensive about your name, then.
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His scowl becomes one more of curiosity when she brings up a conversation she's apparently had, however, softening slightly.]
My name? [It wasn't something he expected to come up.] Did he tell you to call me Kylo Ren?
[That's a little touching.]
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[If she sounds skeptical while relaying that information, it's because she absolutely is. Generally because if anything, she would expect the First Order to use the son of two of the heroes of the Rebellion as proof that their way is correct enough to attract even the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. But if they're in a relationship, it explains more of his defensiveness.]
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It is, by decree of Supreme Leader.
[Seeing nothing strange about this, or about the idea that she might not know about Snoke, he moves right on ahead with the things that do stick out as strange to him.]
I'm surprised he brought it up. As if you could be convinced to stop calling me that.
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Supreme Leader?
[That's where her attention is focused, not so much that he apparently did decree that Ben Solo is outlawed.]
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His hand stills where he was bringing it through his hair, and he shoots her a glance that's not startled exactly, but it is intense enough to invite question. But then he looks away, determined not to react any more noticeably than that. He makes his response deliberately sarcastic.]
The First Order isn't ruled by a council.
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I thought you intended to rule the galaxy.
[He'd screamed as much at her when she first arrived and went to see him.]
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The master was once an apprentice. I still have things to learn before then.
[He's... honestly not sure if he'll ever truly get to that point. But that's what the old him would say, so the words come easily enough.]
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Who is he?
[The wording of what he's said only makes her think it's connected to the Force, or at least his training in it. If only because she's not sure what else he would have been trained in besides how to wield the Force. She was sure Luke had been teaching him, before everything went wrong, though, so part of her feels that must be off-base.]
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He rests his chin against his hand.]
Supreme Leader Snoke is my teacher. He was the one who appointed me Master of the Knights of Ren.
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The name means nothing to her, as expected. She has no idea where Snoke may have come from or who he truly is, which means she has no idea how to prevent him from teaching Ben.]
He's a Sith Lord, then?
[Her knowledge of any of that is still very minimal, but from what little he's described, it sounds like he must be. Or something along those lines.]
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No. The Sith died with Darth Vader and the Emperor. ... he doesn't have a... title like that.
[... that he knows. Admittedly he only knows so much about Supreme Leader
out of necessity, because nobody knows much about him yet. Hurry it up Disney.]no subject
He seems like a secretive being.
[Not unexpected, but worth noting, as obvious as it is. Her tone is dry and flat as she remarks on that, unhappy with how much more difficult it makes everything.]
You turned to him after everything with Luke?
[With Luke, with everything that prompted him to destroy Luke's school, all of that.]
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Necessarily so.
[That's just how it is with dark siders, really. But a faint line forms between his eyebrows as he continues staring past his wall, and his answer is strangely vague for being as straightforward as it seems.]
Yes.
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...Did you know him before that?
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Did he know Snoke? Well, does Kylo even "know" him now? The answer to that is no, he's come to realize.
Was he in contact with Snoke before that? For a short time, yes, that he knew. But for how long before that in a way he didn't realize... Kylo has wondered, from time to time.
He lets out a vague hum in reply, giving up on putting any words to it.]
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For how long?
[She only has a feeling it's longer than he's been letting on, perhaps before he destroyed Luke's school and his other students. And because she feels he's been in contact with this Snoke for so long, Leia can't help but add on:]
He can't hear you here.
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I don't know.
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Her concern, and even a fair amount of fear, is evident on her expression, and she makes no effort to hide it. Even if she wanted to, even with all the practice and training she's had putting on a mask in front of others, she would've found it difficult to conceal those emotions.]
He's not here.
[Which she knows she just said, but she repeats it, and she isn't sure whether it's to reassure Ben or herself.]
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I know he's not.
[Force knows he would have sensed it, even aside from all the things he's gotten up to.]
He would have let his disapproval for my actions known long ago if he were.
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Because if expressing disapproval for Ben's actions is something he does often enough for Ben to say this, and he'd been in contact with Snoke for longer than he even knew, how many of his actions were dictated by Snoke? Disapproval may as well be pushing Ben toward actions Snoke wants him to take.]
I don't doubt that. He gives you orders, then?
[She assumes it's a yes, given that he's the Supreme Leader or whatever, but. Direct confirmation can lead to her asking more questions that she wants to know the answers to.]
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[Ren isn't really ashamed of that fact. Supreme Leader's orders gave him direction, made him feel like he had a place in the galaxy when he was just... drifting, before. Looking for old Jedi knowledge and getting nowhere.]
Hux, as well. [And the rest of the First Order, just being what he is.] Though most strategy is left to the military.
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She purses her lips, exhaling as she considers his answer, obvious though it may have been, and the implications of it. As well as the other questions she truly wants to ask.]
Did he tell you to destroy Luke's school?
[Did he tell him to kill Han? That's what she really wants to ask, but it's too painful of a subject for her to come out and ask it directly.]
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He encouraged it. But the decision was mine.
[He doesn't want Leia to get any false ideas about the kind of man her son is.]
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Her assumption is no doubt the opposite of what he intended, but her need to know there's still good in Ben and her need to find a way to explain all of what she knows to happen in the future has led her to this assumption.]
Thank you for telling me this.
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