Disclaimer: The only Star Wars I own are my DVDs and my Vader helmet.
AN: So, I was inspired by Episode VII to do a little writing. It probably won't be coherent or anything, but it's a fun exercise. I didn't include any of the dialogue b/c I couldn't remember it, but feel free to fill in any gaps mentally, if you so choose.
Rey was stunned. He had actually taken off his helmet. She hadn't for the life of her expected him to respond to her little jibe. What stunned her even more was that he was actually kind of handsome. His hair was long and unkempt and he was a bit sweaty from wearing the helmet, but that was honestly the only thing about him that was expected. Something tapped on the shell of her memory, something about his appearance, but she couldn't quite place it. Even as he pinned her with his force powers and slowly approached her, she couldn't seem to figure out what his eyes reminded her of.
Suddenly she wasn't the only one there. It was an unusual sensation, having someone else attempt to push into her mind. In a way it felt physical, but at the same time it was so otherworldly and strange that it didn't. Her consciousness fell back at the push into the sensations of her most recent memories, dialogue in various voices floating about her head, phantom smells of blood, rusty metal and dewy forests. What stood out the most, however, was the taste of the drink that Maz had given her. She had observed how tired they all were and had given them a drink made of pure liquid caffeine, mixed when hot with something she called "peppermint," a flavor so unusually strong that it served both to shock the senses and cover up the bitter taste of the chemical at the same time.
It was a strange drink, and she'd steered clear of it for most of their conversation, seeing as she wasn't accustomed to strongly flavored anything after her normal diet of water, instant bread and nutrition packets. Han had chugged his down with compliments, and Finn had reluctantly tasted it. His reaction hadn't exactly reassured her, but she tried anyway, almost instantly spitting it back out. At first a mellow, semisweet spice coated her tongue, only to melt away into an unbearable cold. After much spitting, hacking, and laughs from the others at table, she found out that the aftertaste was still that strange, warm sweetness that she had first found so pleasant. She had blinked and taken a deep breath, a lingering cold tingle leaving her nose and mouth a bit sensitive. Never before had Rey thought that such an assault on the senses could be construed as pleasant.
Rey's consciousness surfaced once again, and the image of the man in his mask juxtaposed itself by the image of his face in her mind as he moved off to the side. He was being playful, indulgent, and the passion, the anger of the Dark Side radiated off of him in tantalizing waves of heat. He talked about her friends, her loneliness, her fantasy, and his darkness seemed to beckon to her in a sickly sweet manner, as if inviting her, tempting her. Safety, power, self-assurance… Whispers of dark, dreamless sleep and comfort seemed to sizzle at the edges of her subconscious, warm and saccharine like the peppermint had been at first taste.
But when he moved back in front of her, his face seemed stone. Kylo Ren's expression reminded her of the fierce nights on Jakku. The scraping of his mental claws was as loud as the howling winds against the thin walls of her home. His eyes swirled with green, blue and grey steel, his all-black attire reminiscent of the sky before the stars came out. The metal of the upright examination table to which she was secured raised goosebumps up and down her exposed flesh. Points of light between his dark tendrils of hair made her think of the distant stars and planets, taunting her like the view from a prison window. A part of her wondered if he was still sweet beneath such overwhelming cold, like the drink had been.
This haphazard recipe of memory, sensation and emotion bubbled and boiled in a little black spring. It seeped down between the cracks of her subconscious and coated the walls separating her rational and irrational thought. There, between her disgust and curiosity, it sat. There, between her desire and her fear, it sat. She felt, almost heard the black talons scrabbling around, and when one found its way between those walls, she despaired, only to have them all freeze in a sudden hesitation. Rey reached her consciousness out; was that shock? Something screamed at her through the holes in her mind and she saw her opportunity. Seizing the chance given, she gathered the molasses, tainted black with his darkness and steaming from her passion, towards the front of her mind, and launched it at what she perceived to be his consciousness buzzing just beyond her mental reach.
The claws withdrew almost instantly as though they'd been burned. Fear crackled faintly through the punctures, and with one last heave Rey pushed him out of her mind for good. Surfacing from her little excursion once again, she found she had leaned out of chair, and he'd backed away, his posture defensive. Kylo Ren flashed out of the room, leaving behind a prickly, uneasy atmosphere. After catching her breath, the air began to regain some of that strange warmth that had accompanied him, although this time it seemed more friendly, not so much the heat of temptation as it was a glow of contentment, of a full stomach or the presence of loved ones.
Opening up her mind, she was flooded with a light that she didn't think existed. For a while, she lay there, allowing herself to bathe in the pleasant sensation, letting it repair and restore the aching holes in her mind. Silent support and joyous reassurance washed through her down to her toes. Rey sighed at the sweet taste left on her tongue, making a mental note to thank Kylo Ren for awakening her to the Force, and then she laughed.