Title: Love Letter
Characters: Rey, Kylo Ren
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Setting: Following The Last Jedi.
Summary: Kylo Ren quietly practices calligraphy while Rey rants about something in the background through their Force bond. Prompt via the-reylo-void on Tumblr.
The stroke of the nib – just so. A flourish on the top to accentuate the letter.
"And then!" Rey railed, "I opened the compartment and found they'd left a calibration spanner, a rag, and the old filter inside! Can you believe it?"
"Hm," Kylo Ren said, carefully adding a smooth upward stroke. He dabbed the nib against the paper, leaving a perfectly circular dot. He liked those so much that he tended to leave more of them than strictly necessary. Luke had always criticized him for making his calligraphy more like art than writing.
"I told Finn we needed to go back. This was completely unacceptable! There was smoke everywhere. They'd done a horrible job. What if this was how they worked on other people's ships?"
He re-wetted his pen, preparing for the next word. He checked it in his notes, eyed the amount of space he had left, then positioned his hand to get started. "So what did you do?" he asked in a low voice.
"Finn didn't want to have a fight. I think he thought I was literally going to fight the person. They were a Dug, by the way. Do you know what a Dug is?"
"Yes." Kylo swirled his wrist to achieve the gentle curve he wanted, altering pressure to change the thickness of the resulting line.
"They were a very disagreeable creature."
"They?" He added a dot. Then an extra one directly above the first, in memory of Luke. Considering it, he added a third and fourth one to make a tiny diamond with dots for points, just to make sure it was clear this was intentional. Fuck Luke.
"I don't know what their gender was. But I know they were a bad mechanic. And not even a good worker! That spanner alone must have been worth a fair number of credits."
"But you didn't, in fact, fight them?"
She sighed. "No, I didn't. We didn't go back. But I kept the spanner. Actually, I gave it to Rose. And next time, I don't care how busy we are, Rose and I are going to change out the filters instead of trusting two-bit dirtball mechanics to do it. Our lives depend on this, you know!"
"Mm, I know." Kylo completed the last word, tilting his head to regard the entire letter. For the most part, it had the desired symmetry and balance he was going for, although nothing was ever perfect. The lines were even, the letters precise yet not stiff. There was a flow and power to their forms. It was good enough, he decided.
"What are you working on, anyway?" she asked. "Your expression is so soft."
He raised his head, meeting her eyes with a smile that warmed his entire face. "A love letter to you, my dearest Rey. You'll see it soon."
She stared at him, eyes widening and skin pinking beautifully. His smile deepened. She swallowed and said, "How would you deliver such a thing?"
"I know exactly where you are. Please stay long enough for this to get to you. You're in no danger."
"Oh." She looked down at where he'd gestured, but like always, she was unable to see his surroundings. "I will."