A/N: i mean im pretty shit at writing stuff in the now

it usually gets written in this convoluted fashion where i tell you about what's already happened instead of what's happening now

i'll try to get better at it

this fucking idea won't leave me alone i'm so offended by it

how dare this idea do this to me

-oxy

Kylo was right. Their minds continued connecting at random. Sometimes it was weeks in between their meetings, sometimes it was hours.

And of course, Rey gave nothing away regarding the movements of the Resistance, something she must have been tutored in by Leia Organa. Rey was never alone, never able to respond with the fierce voice of the girl from the throne room.

"Keeping busy, are we?" Kylo would ask, and, "I don't suppose you'd like to reveal any sensitive information so I can track down your friends and end your Resistance once and for all," which merely gained him huffs and rolled eyes.

The little deadpan looks and sighs and grimaces told him he was getting to her. He made no effort to block the connections, as inconvenient as they were to his command as Supreme Leader.

Conversations would pull him from his duties in the middle of meetings, and he would appear to talk to the empty air. His subordinates did not receive explanations. Many of them assumed that he was going insane. He lifted them off the ground with his mind and threw them against walls until all of them assumed, rightly, that his one-ended conversations were with another person through the Force.

The interactions between Kylo and Rey went on for months, generally ending abruptly with Rey being called away for some sort of business the Resistance needed her for.

Every time the world would go silent save for the sounds of wherever Rey was, a jolt of excitement blasted through his veins. He wondered what she would be doing when he caught her this time. There was a certain level of bubbly anticipation that came along with the meetings, no matter how unhappy Rey was to see him. Maybe it was because his own surroundings were always black and white and gray, and she was always a burst of sudden color.

So when his own surroundings became deadened to him and he heard low, indistinct passing conversations and Rey's soft breathing, a small smile quirked his lips before he knew what was happening, and he whirled around to see what she was doing this time.

Meditating, apparently.

Legs crossed, eyes closed, hands resting gently on her knees, Rey was meditating on a small square mat. She wore her hair differently, he noticed.

"I remember that piece of the training," Kylo admitted as a greeting, "I could never quite manage to completely clear my mind. Can you?"

Rey sat and meditated.

Kylo felt rising indignation as she ignored him.

"So interesting that the Jedi encourage you to purge all intense emotion and attachment so you can sit on the floor and let your legs fall asleep," said Kylo, trying to get a rise out of the girl on the floor. It didn't work. She sat.

He tried again. "My uncle was the one to teach me how to meditate. I never got into it. Then again, look how well meditation worked out for him."

Nothing.

"React! Emote! Do something!" Kylo shouted in anger.

Rey sat peacefully, breathing in and out slowly.

Rey had tried to ignore his speaking to her on many occasions, but when he managed to poke at her with the remarks he made, she would either snap back at him with words ("My offer still stands, even though you nearly killed us both by exploding a lightsaber" gained him a muttered and angry "I'm wanted in every system in the galaxy because of you") or dismiss his remarks with her actions ("Still learning, I see. I can practically feel your strength in the Force from here" gained him an exasperated sigh and a grumpy look).

This was more than just ignoring him; she didn't even flinch. It was almost as if -

It was almost as if she couldn't hear him at all.

So she'd been working on a method to block him out. Searched and tested and revised and found one that worked. Why?

Maybe she'd been worried about revealing information. Maybe she'd just been annoyed.

Maybe she just hated him, no matter how much he wished that weren't the case.

-that happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask-

Kylo's hands clenched tightly into fists.

The Force connection faltered and failed, the image of Rey vanished, and Kylo was alone again in his bedroom.

He destroyed two walls and a door.