[The stew is still simmering on the stove, and at closer inspection, Leia can find that while it does smell very similar to the dish she's familiar with, there's a slight difference that leans more savory than the traditional. Kylo knows what he likes.
Aside from that, the pile of cheese he's just grated is sitting on a cutting board, and if she glances at the oven, she might see a long shape inside, and the smell of baking bread shouldn't be too hard to detect soon enough.
By the time she's had a look around, Kylo will be staring at her, arms folded and a look of displeasure on his face.]
I would rather you not ruin my meal with whatever you may be feeling.
[... but something odd strikes him now that he's actually looking at her properly, and he tilts his head with a brief furrow to his brow, eyes scanning her face and neck.]
[She barely hears Kylo return while she's looking over everything he's making. It might not be completely traditional, but honestly, the mere fact that he's making something based off of Alderaanian food is enough to both have her interest and send her mind racing, thinking about what his early life must have been like.
She turns when he speaks, trying to hide her surprise. Which, really, isn't that hard the longer he's looking at her. Leia raises her eyebrows, meeting his scrutinizing glare with a slightly puzzled stare of her own. Because to Leia, there's nothing strange about the neckline of her shirt, or the lack of a scarf or anything of the sort. She hasn't worn anything around her neck for a good portion of her time here, not comfortable with that light pressure there.]
[Ren shakes his head, heading back into the kitchen as if she's not even there. Instead of the stove, however, he steps towards the refrigerator to retrieve something to drink.]
Do you intend to be cold?
[It's clear from his flat tone that he's judging. That probably wouldn't be a surprise even if he didn't almost constantly wear gloves and high collars.]
[Though it's a tone Leia is more than familiar with by now, the reason for it--aside from it being how he usually is--is something that isn't quite registering with Leia just yet. She has on long sleeves and other items appropriate for the weather, just nothing tight to her neck, and that being something Kylo might find strange isn't something she's aware of.]
Should I be worried about a sudden temperature drop in your kitchen?
[well, she knows it's possible, but that's something she's ignoring in favor of skeptically turning his question back at him in hopes of better answer.]
[He pulls out a bottle of some kind of juice and strides towards her, taking her by the shoulder to physically push her out of the kitchen as he heads out of it himself.
He has relaxing to do and he can't do it if she's here.]
[Even as stubborn as Leia is, it's obvious to her as it would be to anyone that even if she tried to push back or stand her ground to avoid being shoved out of the kitchen, it wouldn't work well. Kylo very clearly has the physical advantage here, and all things considered, it's not difficult to persuade her to leave the kitchen if it involves being near Kylo at the same time.]
It's not that cold outside. Certainly not compared with Hoth.
[Chilly, maybe, but nothing she can't deal with even without a scarf or high collared shirt. ...Not that that's a great standard, considering how willing she is to be uncomfortable if she thinks it's necessary.]
[He stops and practically scowls at her in disbelief, head tilted as if a different angle will reveal some sort of sensible answers. That's what she's comparing it too, really? Hoth?]
It's not as cold as Starkiller Base, either, but I still wear scarves.
[In any other situation, she may have been tempted to express her disgust at the mention of that monstrosity Hux created. (And honestly, she's still a little bit tempted) But more than the mention of Starkiller Base, her focus is on that last word, because now what he meant by those other questions clicks.
Leia glances away, just for a moment, a chill settling around the both of them as she tries to decide just what she wants to say in response to that. Because "hey remember how you force choked me and I died? that's why I don't like things touching my neck" really isn't what she wants to say to him.]
I don't find them comfortable. I can deal well enough without them, so there's little point in wearing one.
[Vague, yes, but she feels that might be enough to get across her meaning without actually coming out and saying it. Because she doesn't blame Kylo for actions committed while possessed--actions he seemed to regret when he returned to normal--and she doesn't want it to come across that way at all.]
[Ren gives her a look that essentially says he's judging, even if it's a mild thing.]
That's new.
[It doesn't appear that he immediately understands the implication; perhaps if it were half a year ago he might be more likely to recall it, but even things like the Reaper's still-active punishment have faded to the background in his mind, and the reasons behind it have followed them. As of late he hasn't had to confront all of that again, and for his own sanity he's all but blocked it out.
He steps over to the living room, not bothering to watch whatever Leia's reactions might be.]
[He can judge if he wants, because it's something she's come to expect from him. And while on one hand, she's surprised he doesn't catch on to her meaning, on the other, she's grateful that he hasn't. It's not something she wants him to remember and cope with all over again. But even still, she eyes him a bit suspiciously, looking to see if perhaps he's masking his reaction, not wanting her to see it.
And to help with that scrutiny, Leia follows into the living room. If he's not kicking her out yet, she's more than willing to stay.]
[There's something... off, he thinks as he slows, stepping into the living room and putting his free hand against his usual armchair. The chill that seems to be fading slightly must have come from something, and as he's said, a discomfort with scarves is new. He never knew of any issue she's ever had with things around her neck, and—
His expression twitches and he stops when he's halfway to giving her a suspicious glance of his own, and as a result he's frozen staring at her, mouth slightly open and his expression inscrutable other than a hint of realization.]
[Part of her wants to look away, to pretend that maybe he hadn't put together the reason for why she doesn't wear scarves or, well, anything around her neck. Because she hadn't wanted to remind him of that, and Leia herself was so used to it by now that she didn't give her wardrobe a second thought anymore.
But she doesn't. She keeps her gaze--sympathetic, and honestly a bit guilty, for reminding him of this in the first place--fixed on Kylo. Her lips press together tightly as the chill settles around them once again.]
It's not a problem. It's something I'm more than accustomed to by now.
[He quickly turns his gaze forward again, away from her as his jaw tenses and the temperature drops sharply. Snow begins to manifest in the room, impossible to miss thanks to the shadows that have suddenly turned black and are gradually growing past their natural size.
The fabric of the chair creaks under his tightening grip.]
[All of it is impossible to miss, and all of it is the exact sort of thing she didn't want to cause in him. Because there's no denying it's because of her.
But contrary to his command, Leia moves closer. She'd be reluctant to follow that command even if he were his usual self, but the obvious impact of his instability at the moment makes her even more unwilling to leave. When she's close enough, Leia reaches out, placing a hand on top of his.]
[The unopened bottle in his hand begins to crack even before he whirls around, shoving Leia away and hurling the bottle at the wall, where it shatters into pieces.
He nearly screams at her as the floorboards crack.]
LEAVE!
Edited (GET OUTTA THERE PRONOUN) 2017-12-16 07:19 (UTC)
[Leia stumbles as she's shoved away, thrown off balance by Kylo's extreme reaction. There's the briefest flashes of fear in her expression as the floorboards creak, but it's quickly replaced with a determined resolve to, well, do the exact opposite as long as she can. Part of her knows she's risking her safety again, but for Ben's sake, she doesn't mind it.]
I'm not leaving you.
[She'd tell him, again, it wasn't his fault, but she doubts it'd be any help at this point.]
Shaking, he suddenly steps forward and takes her by the throat, his boots and the floor behind him frosting over, and begins to drag her towards the door.
But even as he does it, and as terrible as he intends to be to her to make her reject him, he can't make himself apply any more pressure than is necessary to keep his grip on her. That's even aside from the fact that his hand is trembling as much as the rest of him and the stricken edge to his furious expression.]
[She expected more shouting, more breaking things, more of the seemingly usual ways Kylo expresses anger. Not this.
He steps forward too suddenly for her to react, and before she knows it, his hand is on her throat. Leia's eyes go wide, and her breath catches in her throat--out of surprise and the pressure he's applying. Her hands immediately go to his wrist, in an attempt to pull his hand off of her, and with that, a layer of frost spreads up his sleeve.
She tries to keep her feet touching the ground, enough so she's at least somewhat able to walk rather than be fully dragged. Because she's trying to do anything she can to lessen that pressure on her neck. The trembling in his grip and the stricken edge to his expression are lost on Leia, for the moment, as she's far too focused on attempting to get him to let go and relieve pressure on her throat.]
[Ren doesn't put much effort into lifting her off the ground, but if Leia manages to do much more than stumble backwards with the pace he's moving at, it will be surprising. He completely ignores the ice crawling up his hand and arm, especially since he's already making a bit of frost on his own, leaving behind white spiderwebs of it on the floor as he steps forward.
He opens the door with a wave of his free hand, slamming it against the wall, and when he gets to the threshold he pushes her physically out of the house with a shout. Given that there are a few stairs leading up to the porch, hopefully she won't fall too far back and have to deal with them.]
[She stumbles as he pushes her out, falling to the ground just short of the edge of the stairs. She sits there for a moment, hands shaking, taking the time to breathe and attempt to calm down. Or at least to look the part, anyway. Her efforts to try and relax and regain her composure do nothing for the ice making its way across the floor and up the support pillars.
But Leia plans on ignoring the obvious signs of her discomfort, as usual, and pulls herself up to her feet after a few moments. Her expression is guarded, wary of Kylo and what he might do next, but Kylo--someone who was raised by and grew up around Leia--will easily recognize the hurt behind her expression.]
You don't need to force yourself to act like him. You're better than that.
[It's obvious who "him" refers to, with the hatred with which Leia says the word.]
[Of course Kylo sees that hurt even if he couldn't sense it, but it's exactly what he wanted to do, even if there's a hint of pain behind his own glare. At least, until he's mentioned, which he also picks up on immediately, and instead all that frost starts to melt thanks to the wave of heat that comes off of him.]
Don't compare me to that failure.
[He's begun to agree with Leia that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader are the same stupid man, the more he thinks about it. Even as much as he likes to separate himself from Ben Solo, that's because he fully intends to break off from the sorts of mistakes that ended the Sith Lord. If he's foolish enough to let his family chain him down, then they can call him what they like when he's dead.
For now, though, he's mostly pissed off at what he's seen as disrespect from the former Jedi.]
Even aside from how weak he allows himself to be, he's disgusting.
[Leia doesn't disagree with any of those opinions of Anakin Skywalker, but the fact that they're coming from Ben, and not from her or Han, makes Leia pause. She knew Ben wasn't on the greatest terms with Anakin, but the last time he had come up in conversation, it hadn't prompted this much anger from him.
She raises an eyebrow, studying Kylo for a moment after his answer. When she responds, she speaks a bit slower than normal, as if expecting it to be a trap or for Kylo's reasoning for this turn in his attitude toward Anakin being something she wouldn't approve of. Something like "oh he wouldn't teach me Dark Side nonsense."]
What did he do to you?
[Because as always with Anakin, when she hears about him, Leia's first impulse is to assume Anakin did something to whoever's talking about him. She doesn't trust him to behave any other way, and thinking of the worst-case scenario and planning for that tends to make the less horrible options easier to deal with.]
[The events on the surface were aggravating in more than a few ways, but in addition to the rise in temperature, the wood of the door frame starts to flake and curl, not unlike the curl of his lip.
It's utterly and wholly deplorable, what he had the misfortune to witness. Kylo may not always be ashamed of himself when he needs to be, but he has some amount of decency.]
He managed to leave a scar despite repeatedly refusing to the fight I wanted. As much as I want to forget it, it's a reminder of how flawed everything from that time was.
[It's strange for Leia, hearing that. Because as much as she hates Anakin, she's glad to know that he has at least enough sense to not fight and injure Ben. It's far more than she expected from him, and it's a weird thing to think about.
But there's more than that, she knows. If it was just Ben feeling disrespected, he would have said as much, not give a vague nonanswer to her question.]
[The only reason he complies with the request is to put the terrible image burned into his mind into hers. And what better way to do that than directly?]
You can see for yourself.
[Without warning, he sends a memory across the amulets. His pathetic excuse for a grandfather and the man who raised him, out in the open in the middle of everyone trying to channel their envy towards opening Aiada's temple, not only showing a complete lack of restraint for the sake of their task but also being utterly shameless. Kylo's disdain and disgust color the memory a bit, but they do nothing to obscure it.
Kylo holds grudges pretty bad, and this is just icing on the cake, really.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lostapprentice) wrote2035-01-06 02:37 am
no subject
Aside from that, the pile of cheese he's just grated is sitting on a cutting board, and if she glances at the oven, she might see a long shape inside, and the smell of baking bread shouldn't be too hard to detect soon enough.
By the time she's had a look around, Kylo will be staring at her, arms folded and a look of displeasure on his face.]
I would rather you not ruin my meal with whatever you may be feeling.
[... but something odd strikes him now that he's actually looking at her properly, and he tilts his head with a brief furrow to his brow, eyes scanning her face and neck.]
no subject
She turns when he speaks, trying to hide her surprise. Which, really, isn't that hard the longer he's looking at her. Leia raises her eyebrows, meeting his scrutinizing glare with a slightly puzzled stare of her own. Because to Leia, there's nothing strange about the neckline of her shirt, or the lack of a scarf or anything of the sort. She hasn't worn anything around her neck for a good portion of her time here, not comfortable with that light pressure there.]
What is it?
no subject
Do you intend to be cold?
[It's clear from his flat tone that he's judging. That probably wouldn't be a surprise even if he didn't almost constantly wear gloves and high collars.]
no subject
Should I be worried about a sudden temperature drop in your kitchen?
[well, she knows it's possible, but that's something she's ignoring in favor of skeptically turning his question back at him in hopes of better answer.]
no subject
[He pulls out a bottle of some kind of juice and strides towards her, taking her by the shoulder to physically push her out of the kitchen as he heads out of it himself.
He has relaxing to do and he can't do it if she's here.]
no subject
It's not that cold outside. Certainly not compared with Hoth.
[Chilly, maybe, but nothing she can't deal with even without a scarf or high collared shirt. ...Not that that's a great standard, considering how willing she is to be uncomfortable if she thinks it's necessary.]
Why do you ask?
no subject
It's not as cold as Starkiller Base, either, but I still wear scarves.
no subject
Leia glances away, just for a moment, a chill settling around the both of them as she tries to decide just what she wants to say in response to that. Because "hey remember how you force choked me and I died? that's why I don't like things touching my neck" really isn't what she wants to say to him.]
I don't find them comfortable. I can deal well enough without them, so there's little point in wearing one.
[Vague, yes, but she feels that might be enough to get across her meaning without actually coming out and saying it. Because she doesn't blame Kylo for actions committed while possessed--actions he seemed to regret when he returned to normal--and she doesn't want it to come across that way at all.]
no subject
That's new.
[It doesn't appear that he immediately understands the implication; perhaps if it were half a year ago he might be more likely to recall it, but even things like the Reaper's still-active punishment have faded to the background in his mind, and the reasons behind it have followed them. As of late he hasn't had to confront all of that again, and for his own sanity he's all but blocked it out.
He steps over to the living room, not bothering to watch whatever Leia's reactions might be.]
no subject
[He can judge if he wants, because it's something she's come to expect from him. And while on one hand, she's surprised he doesn't catch on to her meaning, on the other, she's grateful that he hasn't. It's not something she wants him to remember and cope with all over again. But even still, she eyes him a bit suspiciously, looking to see if perhaps he's masking his reaction, not wanting her to see it.
And to help with that scrutiny, Leia follows into the living room. If he's not kicking her out yet, she's more than willing to stay.]
Such as finding out you enjoy Alderaanian food.
no subject
His expression twitches and he stops when he's halfway to giving her a suspicious glance of his own, and as a result he's frozen staring at her, mouth slightly open and his expression inscrutable other than a hint of realization.]
no subject
But she doesn't. She keeps her gaze--sympathetic, and honestly a bit guilty, for reminding him of this in the first place--fixed on Kylo. Her lips press together tightly as the chill settles around them once again.]
It's not a problem. It's something I'm more than accustomed to by now.
no subject
The fabric of the chair creaks under his tightening grip.]
Go. Leave.
no subject
But contrary to his command, Leia moves closer. She'd be reluctant to follow that command even if he were his usual self, but the obvious impact of his instability at the moment makes her even more unwilling to leave. When she's close enough, Leia reaches out, placing a hand on top of his.]
I won't. I'm not leaving you like this.
no subject
He nearly screams at her as the floorboards crack.]
LEAVE!
no subject
I'm not leaving you.
[She'd tell him, again, it wasn't his fault, but she doubts it'd be any help at this point.]
I don't want you to be alone.
no subject
Shaking, he suddenly steps forward and takes her by the throat, his boots and the floor behind him frosting over, and begins to drag her towards the door.
But even as he does it, and as terrible as he intends to be to her to make her reject him, he can't make himself apply any more pressure than is necessary to keep his grip on her. That's even aside from the fact that his hand is trembling as much as the rest of him and the stricken edge to his furious expression.]
no subject
He steps forward too suddenly for her to react, and before she knows it, his hand is on her throat. Leia's eyes go wide, and her breath catches in her throat--out of surprise and the pressure he's applying. Her hands immediately go to his wrist, in an attempt to pull his hand off of her, and with that, a layer of frost spreads up his sleeve.
She tries to keep her feet touching the ground, enough so she's at least somewhat able to walk rather than be fully dragged. Because she's trying to do anything she can to lessen that pressure on her neck. The trembling in his grip and the stricken edge to his expression are lost on Leia, for the moment, as she's far too focused on attempting to get him to let go and relieve pressure on her throat.]
no subject
He opens the door with a wave of his free hand, slamming it against the wall, and when he gets to the threshold he pushes her physically out of the house with a shout. Given that there are a few stairs leading up to the porch, hopefully she won't fall too far back and have to deal with them.]
no subject
But Leia plans on ignoring the obvious signs of her discomfort, as usual, and pulls herself up to her feet after a few moments. Her expression is guarded, wary of Kylo and what he might do next, but Kylo--someone who was raised by and grew up around Leia--will easily recognize the hurt behind her expression.]
You don't need to force yourself to act like him. You're better than that.
[It's obvious who "him" refers to, with the hatred with which Leia says the word.]
no subject
Don't compare me to that failure.
[He's begun to agree with Leia that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader are the same stupid man, the more he thinks about it. Even as much as he likes to separate himself from Ben Solo, that's because he fully intends to break off from the sorts of mistakes that ended the Sith Lord. If he's foolish enough to let his family chain him down, then they can call him what they like when he's dead.
For now, though, he's mostly pissed off at what he's seen as disrespect from the former Jedi.]
Even aside from how weak he allows himself to be, he's disgusting.
no subject
She raises an eyebrow, studying Kylo for a moment after his answer. When she responds, she speaks a bit slower than normal, as if expecting it to be a trap or for Kylo's reasoning for this turn in his attitude toward Anakin being something she wouldn't approve of. Something like "oh he wouldn't teach me Dark Side nonsense."]
What did he do to you?
[Because as always with Anakin, when she hears about him, Leia's first impulse is to assume Anakin did something to whoever's talking about him. She doesn't trust him to behave any other way, and thinking of the worst-case scenario and planning for that tends to make the less horrible options easier to deal with.]
no subject
It's utterly and wholly deplorable, what he had the misfortune to witness. Kylo may not always be ashamed of himself when he needs to be, but he has some amount of decency.]
He managed to leave a scar despite repeatedly refusing to the fight I wanted. As much as I want to forget it, it's a reminder of how flawed everything from that time was.
no subject
But there's more than that, she knows. If it was just Ben feeling disrespected, he would have said as much, not give a vague nonanswer to her question.]
Tell me what he did, Ben.
no subject
You can see for yourself.
[Without warning, he sends a memory across the amulets. His pathetic excuse for a grandfather and the man who raised him, out in the open in the middle of everyone trying to channel their envy towards opening Aiada's temple, not only showing a complete lack of restraint for the sake of their task but also being utterly shameless. Kylo's disdain and disgust color the memory a bit, but they do nothing to obscure it.
Kylo holds grudges pretty bad, and this is just icing on the cake, really.]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)