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
"...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.