'I want to start training.'
'You're not ready.' Rey replied not looking up from her work. She sat on the floor of the bedroom with her legs crossed sewing straps together to construct new collars for the beasts she refused to stop training despite Kylo's repeated warnings that no good could come of it.
Kylo had to admit that Rey displayed a level of resourcefulness he could only hope to achieve. Who else would have been able to conceive that an old first order uniform and some belt buckles could be utilised to make animal collars?
Even so, Kylo wasn't used to being ordered around and even though Rey's words were always well received by him now, he still felt a flare of anger at her curt tone.
'I think I know what I can handle.' He replied haughtily.
Rey snorted, 'You have no idea what you can handle.'
'I'm healing more rapidly now that I have... a goal to focus on.' He looked at her pointedly and she blushed.
'You are no where near ready to spar Kylo.' Rey responded stabbing her thumb with the needle and putting it to her mouth to suck on the throbbing wound.
'Are you a doctor?' Kylo enquired watching her mouth wrap around the tip of her thumb with more than a degree of interest.
'No.' She mumbled against her thumb.
'Then I would ask what your qualifications are to make this diagnosis?' He said with a lift of his eyebrow.
'I'm an expert in my field.'
'And that is?'
'You.' She said taking her thumb away from her mouth and meeting his eyes at-last, 'I feel your pain Kylo, it flows through me as it flows through you and I say you are not ready.'
Kylo sat back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the arm rests. 'I cannot just continue to sit here.' He said with frustration.
'You are not 'just' sitting there, you are healing.'
'It is infuriating.'
'You are infuriating.' She replied, but he caught the humorous lilt to her voice. She stood up and come towards him.
'You cannot rush this Kylo. You must learn to be patient.' She said encouragingly.
'Patience.' Kylo spat out the word in disgust. 'Patience is for the weak. It is the delusion of control over an uncontrollable situation.'
'Some say it is a virtue…..'
'Some say a lot of useless words.' Kylo huffed, forcing out a breath. Rey crouched down and placed her hands on top of his, momentarily stilling his drumming digits. He looked down at her.
'Kylo, I promise as soon as you are ready to train, I will gladly be your partner, but I do not want to put you at risk of further injury and possibly further delay your recovery, so for now, I'm asking you to let it go.'
She licked her lips, 'Do not forget that I am also eager to reach the day that you are fully able again.' She said with a blush.
Kylo's anger subsided and he swallowed thickly and nodded. Rey smiled with relief and rose up, she moved to turn away but at the last moment she turned back towards him, leaned forward and pressed a pressured kiss to his forehead. Such a simple gesture but also a very telling one. The longer they spent together on the ship, the more comfortable they were becoming with each other and the easier it was becoming to show affection to one another. Kylo watched as she returned to her work. His heart squeezed in his chest as it often did when he looked at Rey. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes willing the force to aid him once more with his healing. The process required a lot of concentration but his progress was well evidenced every time Rey changed his bandages.
He found that he enjoyed the praise she lavished on him each time she saw the improvements his efforts were making to his condition. It made him want to work harder, mainly just to please her.
He felt Rey encouraging him through the bond. She was a constant presence in his thoughts now. It was too difficult to keep the bond closed when Kylo needed to focus on healing and Rey's character was not a natural deceiver so more and more of her thoughts seeped into his each day.
'I think this is all just a smoke screen.' He teased. 'You just don't want to face me again because you know I'll beat you this time.'
Rey let out a short sharp laugh, 'Whatever helps you sleep at night big guy.' She quipped.
Kylo smiled. Big Guy. He thought to himself. Not sure why the term pleased him so much.
Later while Kylo was resting, Rey slipped away to visit her furry charges.
'Hey boys.' Rey greeted the creatures warmly as she entered the room with their food.
She put down the bowls gently and the beasts looked to her for approval. She clicked her fingers and they started to eat. Rey smiled. It had taken the best part of a week to train them to respond in that way but it would all be worth it when she could show Kylo how much progress they had made. Rey slowly lowered herself to the ground, inching closer to the animals as they cleaned their bowls. One of them growled a warned at her and she put her hands up in mock surrender.
'Easy.' She soothed and the creature went back to licking the bowl. When they had finished Rey clicked her fingers again and they sat obediently while she collected their empty containers.
'I have a present for you both.' She said unhooking the collars from her belt and holding them out towards the animals. They sniffed at the offerings and upon concluding that they were not edible looked away with disinterest.
Rey sighed, 'This is a big moment guys, if you wear these I can maybe take you around the ship and let you get some exercise. It can't be good for you being cooped up in here all the time.'
She moved slightly closer putting her hands out with her palm facing upwards. The animals sniffed at her cautiously but didn't move away. Rey carefully loosened one of the collars and placed it around Meru's neck. She stilled. The animal blinked at her and cocked its head. Rey held her breath as she fastened the collar in place.
'There.' She said softly, pleased with her progress. She repeated the action with Orkoon. The creatures accepted the new editions to their wardrobe without objection. Rey treated them both to some meat she had liberated from Hux's pantry. The creatures wolfed down the food then padded at the floor, turning in little circles and yawning.
'Bed time?' Rey asked, 'Dangerous animals indeed, we'll show him, won't we?' The animals merely yawned in response.
'Night, night boys. Sweet dreams.' She called as she left the room. Her stomach growled and she realised in all the excitement she had forgotten to eat.
'Food then bed.' She said to herself patting her stomach, She made her way to the kitchenette humming the lullaby she knew so well now and was surprised to come face to face with Kylo. He was wearing pants but no upper body coverings, and as usual her mouth went dry as she focused on his well toned muscles. Then her eyes lingered on his bandages and she forced her mind to think of other things.
'What are you doing out of bed?' She said putting her hands on her hips.
Kylo looked unimpressed by her little display, 'Rey, its good for me to stretch my legs from time to time. How are your charity cases?'
Rey glared at him, 'They're fine. The new collars look really good on them by the way.'
Kylo raised his eyebrows at her.
'And you said they would bite me.' She retorted.
Kylo poured himself a glass of water.
'I still don't like you spending so much time alone with them.'
'They are really starting to trust me now.' Rey said hopping up on the table next to Kylo and letting her legs dangle over the side.
'Maybe I have a knack for taming wild beasts.' She said with a smirk.
Kylo rolled his eyes as he opened the pantry door,
'You're hungry. You need to eat.'
'I'll get it.'
'Rey, I have two fully functional arms, I'm perfectly able to prepare food for you.'
Rey could sense he was in a prickly mood so she stopped protesting and let him serve her.
'There's some pears over there.' She said pointing to the porcelain bowl containing the fruit.
'That's all?' Kylo said with a lift of his eyebrow.
Rey shrugged, 'Fruit is a rare delicacy where I come from. I'd never tried pears before we came here, and I'm afraid I've become slightly addicted to them.'
Kylo turned to the bowl and picked up a pear, then he paused for a moment before picking up two more. He placed them on a plate and cut them into thin slices, before placing the plate next to Rey.
'Thank You.' She said with a smile. She bit into one of the slices and closed her eyes as she savoured the sweetness on her tongue, swinging her legs happily.
Kylo sat down near her and observed her, he put his elbow on the table and propped his head up on his fingers.
'You're thinking about the fact that no-one has ever served you food before.'
He said, seeing the thoughts form clearly in her mind.
Rey blushed and shrugged, 'People on Jakku kept to themselves and the resistance isn't really opulent enough to afford serving staff.'
Kylo looked at her pensively for a heartbeat then leaned forward and took a small piece of pear from her plate. He held it out towards her. Rey let out a shaky breath then smiled at him. She extracted the fruit from his fingers, gently grazing his skin with her teeth, then flipped in into her mouth. It was difficult to ignore the physical reaction she had to the brief contact. A warm feeling pooled between her legs. She squeezed her thighs together, hoping to conceal her arousal from Kylo.
'What would Snoke say if he could see you now? Offering food to scavenger scum?' She said with mock scolding.
'You're not a scavenger anymore Rey, and you were never scum.' Kylo said with an intense look.
They sat in comfortable silence as Rey finished her food, then she stretched her arms over her head and yawned.
'Time for bed.' She announced and then blushed as she realised the connotations of her words.
Kylo merely smiled, lifted himself from his chair and encircled her waist with his two large hands. Her own small hands instinctively reached out for his broad bare shoulders as he lifted her down and let her slide down the length of his body before positioning her on the floor in front of him. Rey blinked up at him. Even though he has removed his hands from her sides, she could still feel their welcome heat tingle on her skin.
'To bed.' Kylo said extended his hand towards hers. She took it and they walked silently to the bedroom together with her hand completely engulfed within his own.
