Ren cannot imagine what in the world would bring Kevin Regnard to his door—which he has thankfully decided should still be locked most of the time—shouting his name in such a manner. If it was actually dire, the amulets would have sufficed. This is clearly some other kind of issue.
... out of boredom and reluctant curiosity, he heads to the door and opens it, pinning Regnard with a skeptical, slightly annoyed look. He's definitely much more himself compared to the last time Kevin was here.
GOD. Fucking locked door, ruining Kevin's dramatic barging. Kylo will be able to look back later and laugh to himself about the whomp noise when Kevin collided with it as it refused to open.
More importantly:
"I have something of great importance to show you," Kevin announces. He proceeds to whip out what is, to all appearances, the handle of a lightsaber, and when he activates it, the laser blade shines red and deadly. Except that when Kevin hikes a leg, braces it against the door frame, and stabs himself in the foot with it, it squeaks, rather than causing grievous bodily injury as is proper for a laser sword.
It squeaks, and it manifests a couple of shiny pinkish bubbles. Just to drive the point home, Kevin stares at Kylo's face, watching for his reaction while he stabs himself repeatedly. More bubbles. The lightsaber squeaks bitchily.
Although his senses aren't exactly screaming danger, one typically gains enough reflexes to immediately tense at the sight of a lit lightsaber, Force senses or not.
Mm, yes. That's probably the best series of faces he's ever going to get out of Kylo Ren without initiating an aggressive game of Gay Chicken, so Kevin will accept this. He clicks the stupid ~fAkE~ lightsaber back off, and lets his totally unmarred foot fall back to the ground.
"It's a Helisium prop," he explains helpfully. "Congratulations, the most exciting bit of your culture has become a Helisium prop. I was terribly excited, for a terribly short amount of time. What a betrayal."
Another fire lights itself on his shoulder and wheezes back out again. Without paying much attention to it, he brushes the resulting salt off his shirt.
"Help me take it apart and sort out how to make it destroy things."
Ren's mouth twitches with distaste when he hears the source of the fake saber. It's... ultimately not that surprising that they'd want to replicate one, but to do it in such a way is absolutely an insult that he doesn't exactly appreciate.
A part of him would like to show them a thing or two about what a lightsaber really is, and how it's not just a toy... but helping Regnard modify it to work properly?
"Well, if I could manage it on my own I'd have one by now."
Obviously.
"There's got to be a way to make it work that won't have me sustaining horrific amounts of anger for long periods," he continues, scowling down at the fake saber. "And even if I was able to get my sword to stand up to yours, it certainly didn't behave the same way as a proper lighstaber. So, there's got to be something more to it than that, some combination of emotions I haven't stumbled across yet. It was explained to me once that crystals are necessary even for the real ones so I imagine that's the best base no matter how you look at it, but even though they've clearly put a great deal of anger in this one to make it red there's nothing substantial to it, so perhaps an amulet crystal may work better? Something more personal? I've plenty of them sitting about but goodness knows what sort of blade you'd get trying to make a sword out of them, they're terribly messy."
Not that Kevin's thought about this or anything. He shakes the saber a little as he rants at it.
It's a little impressive how close the swordsman has come to recognizing what's needed for the basics of a saber. Of course, that doesn't mean Kylo's about to spill the rest of the secrets, as much as he'd like to discuss the intricacies of how his own amulet works with the rest of his Verens-made saber.
"As you said, it's a part of my 'culture.'"
Don't mind those red sparkles emerging around him or the slight narrowing of his eyes, Kevin. That's definitely nothing and he is taking this very seriously.
"Why should I share something so important with you? You already have a perfectly good weapon."
"That's like saying you aren't going to give me your snickerdoodle recipe because I've already got a perfectly good recipe for chocolate chip cookies," Kevin says flatly.
And immediately. He doesn't even have to stop and think about this metaphor. Because he is Kevin Regnard and everyone he's close to whether he loves or hates them turns out to be a sparkler, because that is just how his life goes. Ugh, Kylo's going to be a butt about this, isn't he? He fucking knew it.
"Creating a lightsaber is a rite Force-sensitives complete during their training," is Kylo response, as blase as he's capable of being.
"Some traditions even claim it's as important as a knight's life. It would be disrespectful to share all of that with someone who didn't understand the gravity behind it."
He is absolutely going to be a butt about it. If Kevin wants a lightsaber, he's going to have to fight for it. ... metaphorically speaking.
It is probably very telling that this shuts Kevin up damn quick. 'He already had his mouth open to say something snarky and he shuts it so hard his teeth click audibly' levels of quick. There are a few things in life that Kevin takes far too seriously to ever joke about. Murder is not actually one of them. Knighthood is.
"...I was Sir Kevin Regnard at home, you should know, then," he says at length, his voice much quieter now. "I earned my title properly."
And lost it just as surely. He's toyed with the idea that he might manage to redeem himself just enough in this place to get his "sir" back someday, but his heart's never fully committed to it. That isn't something you can declare for yourself, and all the people who actually understand why he'd need to reclaim it in the first place would probably tell him he deserves it without a second thought.
For Kylo to bring such a thing up -- suddenly the conversation can't be completely about lightsabers anymore.
Well then, that's an interesting reaction. For Regnard to become so serious, Kylo must have hit upon an issue that means a great deal to him. Still, he understands to an extent. Knighthood has a lot of meaning to him, as well, even if he's become less... attached to particular ideologies associated with it.
... but who knows, maybe this can still be fun. He grasps his hands in front of him in a way that's about as casual as Kylo Ren's posture can get, head tilted slightly.
"What do you know about the Force?" he asks, and it might seem like he's changing the subject. It might not be too difficult to see where he's going with this, though, and it might be a little bit evil. Maybe.
Kevin eyes him with immense suspicion. Kylo Ren would bother to make Kevin's life easier if Kevin were doing something supportive at Hibiki or Eleanor. Basically every other time, Kevin is confident that Kylo would much rather make things more difficult instead, and the odds of this conversation ending with the door mockingly slammed into his face are very high.
"Very little," he concedes. "I've seen what you can do with it, a few times. However, whenever you've mentioned it in the past, it's been in terms of balance."
The Force has never been the focus of any of their previous conversations, in the middle of the night or out by the lake. But Kylo has mentioned it in passing just often enough for Kevin to believe these things are linked.
Nothing really changes in Ren's expression as he meets that scrutiny unflinchingly.
"How interested are you in learning more?"
It's true that he hasn't spoken about the Force much before, and he hasn't seen much reason to; he hasn't trusted that most of those he's spoken to would really comprehend what he'd have to say, much less agree with his personal philosophy. But Regnard has been... willing to listen during their occasional deeper talks, if nothing else.
Who knows? It could be entertaining, or at least something to pass the time in a world that hasn't been giving him much to do.
The swordsman considers this. Obviously, he's greedy for the practical aspects of it; there is a lot that he could do with the ability to move things with only a gesture. Kylo saved his life once, when that house nearly collapsed on him. But there are a great many magic tricks he's seen in this world that would be a lot of fun to try out, and which Kevin won't pursue, because the methods of getting there don't suit him at all. In this case, he's thinking much the same thing that Kylo is. Even if Kevin isn't interested in the man's self-appointed duty of being a sourpuss to offset all the gross friendship going on in this place, much of the underlying ideas in him are ideas that Kevin agrees with. Even the ones that overall seem unpopular.
"...is it something that I could learn?" he asks at length. "The sorts of things you do, I was under the impression it's an ability one is either born with, or isn't."
Otherworlders learning abilities from other worlds entirely is not unheard of even without the benefit of asterisks, and as it's turned out, Kevin isn't a totally average human being. Still, if there's anything about him that would lend itself to this, he doesn't know enough about the Force to recognize it. He wonders vaguely if Kylo would bother to offer this as a joke, or if he's seen something.
Obviously, most people who see the Force being used in the way he can are envious of his abilities to some extent, so it's no surprise that the swordsman would zero in on the possibility. It wasn't quite what Ren meant to suggest, but he can at least acknowledge the idea.
"To do them? Unlikely," he replies frankly—still, there's always room for doubt on a planet that's already provided them so many unlikely opportunities. "But you can still learn. Supposedly."
Hopefully Regnard won't prove himself to be a fool in every aspect.
The "no" is expected, and Kevin doesn't seem put out by it. He's not actually ruling it out, mind, because he doesn't rule out much of anything since the last time he accomplished something that should have been impossible, but he isn't making up his mind to prove Kylo wrong out of spite or anything, either. Maybe he'll surprise the both of them one of these years. Empatheias is a weird place.
"Then, if you're willing to teach it, I'll learn it," he decides, shoving one hand in his pocket and using the other to idly flip the false saber hilt. "There are a lot of things I'm mucking about with right now. If whatever I pick up from you can help me sort out those other things, it's more than worth the effort."
And you never know what can help you do anything in this world, so you may as well get a bite of every pie.
They'll see how long it lasts for Regnard to think the effort is worth it—but the swordsman seems to be balanced just on the edge of discipline and impulsiveness for Ren not to be entirely certain the limit will be that soon.
"I'll be expecting you on Ebdome, then," he says simply, as if that's that. And the great thing about being the teacher is that he gets to make the rules. "We'll start at dawn."
He'll see where they'll go from there, and just what Regnard is willing to put up with. Maybe if he's lucky, Ren can get him to do a single handstand...
Kevin raises an eyebrow at him for being so presumptuous. The only reason he'll allow this is that his mornings are his own and easy to rearrange. But if this looks like it'll work out Kevin will need to pipe up with his own needs. His schedule is a full one, between his Enforcer work and all the people he checks on frequently.
Come Ebdome, however, Kylo Ren will find that -- courtesy of acrobat friends in Theasthai -- Kevin is not only entirely capable of standing on his hands. He walks around on them.
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lostapprentice) wrote2035-01-06 02:37 am
no subject
Ren cannot imagine what in the world would bring Kevin Regnard to his door—which he has thankfully decided should still be locked most of the time—shouting his name in such a manner. If it was actually dire, the amulets would have sufficed. This is clearly some other kind of issue.
... out of boredom and reluctant curiosity, he heads to the door and opens it, pinning Regnard with a skeptical, slightly annoyed look. He's definitely much more himself compared to the last time Kevin was here.
"What."
no subject
More importantly:
"I have something of great importance to show you," Kevin announces. He proceeds to whip out what is, to all appearances, the handle of a lightsaber, and when he activates it, the laser blade shines red and deadly. Except that when Kevin hikes a leg, braces it against the door frame, and stabs himself in the foot with it, it squeaks, rather than causing grievous bodily injury as is proper for a laser sword.
It squeaks, and it manifests a couple of shiny pinkish bubbles. Just to drive the point home, Kevin stares at Kylo's face, watching for his reaction while he stabs himself repeatedly. More bubbles. The lightsaber squeaks bitchily.
Squeaksqueaksqueaksqueak.
1/4?
2/4?
3/4
4/4
He has a lot of questions.
"I don't even know where to start."
no subject
"It's a Helisium prop," he explains helpfully. "Congratulations, the most exciting bit of your culture has become a Helisium prop. I was terribly excited, for a terribly short amount of time. What a betrayal."
Another fire lights itself on his shoulder and wheezes back out again. Without paying much attention to it, he brushes the resulting salt off his shirt.
"Help me take it apart and sort out how to make it destroy things."
no subject
A part of him would like to show them a thing or two about what a lightsaber really is, and how it's not just a toy... but helping Regnard modify it to work properly?
"You want me to help you build a lightsaber."
no subject
Obviously.
"There's got to be a way to make it work that won't have me sustaining horrific amounts of anger for long periods," he continues, scowling down at the fake saber. "And even if I was able to get my sword to stand up to yours, it certainly didn't behave the same way as a proper lighstaber. So, there's got to be something more to it than that, some combination of emotions I haven't stumbled across yet. It was explained to me once that crystals are necessary even for the real ones so I imagine that's the best base no matter how you look at it, but even though they've clearly put a great deal of anger in this one to make it red there's nothing substantial to it, so perhaps an amulet crystal may work better? Something more personal? I've plenty of them sitting about but goodness knows what sort of blade you'd get trying to make a sword out of them, they're terribly messy."
Not that Kevin's thought about this or anything. He shakes the saber a little as he rants at it.
no subject
"As you said, it's a part of my 'culture.'"
Don't mind those red sparkles emerging around him or the slight narrowing of his eyes, Kevin. That's definitely nothing and he is taking this very seriously.
"Why should I share something so important with you? You already have a perfectly good weapon."
no subject
And immediately. He doesn't even have to stop and think about this metaphor. Because he is Kevin Regnard and everyone he's close to whether he loves or hates them turns out to be a sparkler, because that is just how his life goes. Ugh, Kylo's going to be a butt about this, isn't he? He fucking knew it.
no subject
"Some traditions even claim it's as important as a knight's life. It would be disrespectful to share all of that with someone who didn't understand the gravity behind it."
He is absolutely going to be a butt about it. If Kevin wants a lightsaber, he's going to have to fight for it. ... metaphorically speaking.
no subject
"...I was Sir Kevin Regnard at home, you should know, then," he says at length, his voice much quieter now. "I earned my title properly."
And lost it just as surely. He's toyed with the idea that he might manage to redeem himself just enough in this place to get his "sir" back someday, but his heart's never fully committed to it. That isn't something you can declare for yourself, and all the people who actually understand why he'd need to reclaim it in the first place would probably tell him he deserves it without a second thought.
For Kylo to bring such a thing up -- suddenly the conversation can't be completely about lightsabers anymore.
no subject
... but who knows, maybe this can still be fun. He grasps his hands in front of him in a way that's about as casual as Kylo Ren's posture can get, head tilted slightly.
"What do you know about the Force?" he asks, and it might seem like he's changing the subject. It might not be too difficult to see where he's going with this, though, and it might be a little bit evil. Maybe.
no subject
"Very little," he concedes. "I've seen what you can do with it, a few times. However, whenever you've mentioned it in the past, it's been in terms of balance."
The Force has never been the focus of any of their previous conversations, in the middle of the night or out by the lake. But Kylo has mentioned it in passing just often enough for Kevin to believe these things are linked.
no subject
"How interested are you in learning more?"
It's true that he hasn't spoken about the Force much before, and he hasn't seen much reason to; he hasn't trusted that most of those he's spoken to would really comprehend what he'd have to say, much less agree with his personal philosophy. But Regnard has been... willing to listen during their occasional deeper talks, if nothing else.
Who knows? It could be entertaining, or at least something to pass the time in a world that hasn't been giving him much to do.
no subject
"...is it something that I could learn?" he asks at length. "The sorts of things you do, I was under the impression it's an ability one is either born with, or isn't."
Otherworlders learning abilities from other worlds entirely is not unheard of even without the benefit of asterisks, and as it's turned out, Kevin isn't a totally average human being. Still, if there's anything about him that would lend itself to this, he doesn't know enough about the Force to recognize it. He wonders vaguely if Kylo would bother to offer this as a joke, or if he's seen something.
no subject
"To do them? Unlikely," he replies frankly—still, there's always room for doubt on a planet that's already provided them so many unlikely opportunities. "But you can still learn. Supposedly."
Hopefully Regnard won't prove himself to be a fool in every aspect.
no subject
"Then, if you're willing to teach it, I'll learn it," he decides, shoving one hand in his pocket and using the other to idly flip the false saber hilt. "There are a lot of things I'm mucking about with right now. If whatever I pick up from you can help me sort out those other things, it's more than worth the effort."
And you never know what can help you do anything in this world, so you may as well get a bite of every pie.
no subject
"I'll be expecting you on Ebdome, then," he says simply, as if that's that. And the great thing about being the teacher is that he gets to make the rules. "We'll start at dawn."
He'll see where they'll go from there, and just what Regnard is willing to put up with. Maybe if he's lucky, Ren can get him to do a single handstand...
no subject
Come Ebdome, however, Kylo Ren will find that -- courtesy of acrobat friends in Theasthai -- Kevin is not only entirely capable of standing on his hands. He walks around on them.