It wasn't fair to ask for his help. It could get him killed.
Rey scribbled the sentence out and dropped her head into her hands. She had been at Jakku Java for nearly four hours, and all she had to show for it were pages and pages of crossed-out drafts.
Maz came over, holding a steaming mug of ginger green tea. She tsked and took the notebook from Rey. "These are good," she commented, eyes scanning the pages, straining to read through the lines that covered each paragraph. "Why don't you like any of them?"
"Because, Maz," Rey snatched her notebook back. "They have to be perfect." She paused, staring at an abstract painting on the wall across from her. "Maybe I should meet up with my muses again. Get fresh inspiration."
"Is there a certain muse that you would like to see?"
Rey blushed.
Maz sipped her tea.
_SW_
Ben was surrounded by towers of paperwork on either side of him. He rested his elbows on the rich mahogany surface of his desk and released a deep sigh.
The door to his office swung open and crashed in the wall, announcing the arrival of Armitage Hux, his pasty, red-haired coworker with a rotten attitude and stick up his ass. "Well, Solo," he spat the surname like a curse word. "It seems you've fallen behind. It would be a shame if Snoke were to hear of this, now wouldn't it?" a vile grin spread across his milky white face.
Ben squinted at his colleague, debating whether or not he should chuck his stapler right at Hux' smug smirk. "Actually, Hux," he began, running a hand through his hair and cracking his neck, "this is from one of your cases that Snoke gave to me. Said I was better equipped. More… competent."
Hux flushed a deep shade of red, clenching his fists and shifting from foot to foot. The soft, dim light of the office did nothing to hide the pure indignation painting his face. Sputtering, he spun and marched out of the room, defeated.
The satisfaction was short-lived. Ben turned back to his work, plucking a bundle from the top of the pile and dropping it on the desk in front of him. It landed with a thud and fluttering of pages.
He flipped through it, his eyebrow crinkling in concentration as he read. The case was about a young girl, Luna, and her parents who were fighting for custody over her in wake of their recent divorce. From what he understood, both parents were competent and suitable to raise a child. Regardless, it wasn't his call. He was representing Luna's mother, a rather eccentric individual.
His shoulders slumped and he rested his head on his hand. Sometimes he second-guessed his decision to attend law school. He only choose it because it paid good money, and his high school mentor, Snoke, had offered him a position at his firm.
He had neglected to mention the emotional and mental toll it takes on the body. Every day, Ben went home, completely drained.
Stifling a groan, he set the packet into his reviewed pile. The grandfather clock stationed in the corner of the room read 1:17 pm.
It was going to be a long day.
_SW_
Nerves were starting to get the best of her.
Rey had packed up her stuff and gone home, opting for the peace and quiet of her apartment.
Soft piano music from her Spotify playlist drifted across the apartment, the sunlight spilling through the open windows onto the living room floor, where she was stretched out in the pigeon pose. With one knee bent up against her chest and the other lying straight out behind her, she spread her arms forward across the hardwood, slowly releasing all the tension in her shoulders and back.
"You know," she called out to no one, her voice echoing in the empty apartment, "I heard that yoga is supposed to be good for your muscles, your joints, and your mind. So, if I keep this up, hopefully I'll be able to finish this freaking chapter by the time I'm thirty!" she dropped from her position and flopped to the ground, a harsh sigh escaping. "This sucks."
Rey pulled herself to her feet, padding over to the small kitchen. She filled the teakettle with water and placed it on the stove, and then grabbed her favorite mug and a box of earl grey.
She made her way to the cluttered desk in the corner of her flat, sifting through the stacks of paper from her Micron pens and her sketchbook. The kettle whistled and she hurried to pour the water into her mug, plopping a teabag in, along with a teaspoon of sugar and a dash of milk. She returned the living room area, and set up in a patch of sunlight.
Small, delicate lines from strong, sturdy hands were etched into the paper, the sun setting as the picture progressed. The outline of a face appeared, and before she could stop herself, Rey found herself adding the familiar nose and cheekbones of Ben Solo. His hair took on a life of its own; it morphed into a wild nest of some sort. An idea hit her then, and she sketched out vines and flowers across his forehead and cheeks.
The drawing was finished by the dim city lights outside her window. It showed Ben, with deep, soulful eyes and freckles like constellations, his hair and face lined with a string of light pink roses. Rey studied her work, pleased.
As she headed off to bed that night, she felt a certain peace she had never known before.
A/N: so in case y'all didn't notice, I have a love for my OTP's to draw their partner. I freaking love it. I apologize for the long-ass wait on this piece, and the resulting short-ness of this chapter. It's been kinda hard to find motivation to update recently. Mostly because I don't have the motivation to do anything else, either. ANYWAY, I will hopefully be updating more frequently. Please enjoy and review if you did!