Chapter 51: Never Back Down
'
"Shit!" Finn said suddenly, "Rey, you're meant to see the nurse for a check up today. Now, in fact."
Rey frowned, she had totally forgotten. She had seen the nurse on Saturday night; was she still expected to go after that? She shrugged, "I'm fine. If we forgot, then she probably did too."
Finn frowned back at her, "I still think you should go, Peanut." She couldn't bring herself to tell him why she never wanted to step foot in that room again. The memories of her blood drenched dreams mixed in with Hux's assault seemed almost more disturbing than what had happened on Saturday night.
She felt a warm hand engulf hers, "I can come with you, we can be in and out in seconds, if need be." Kylo said quietly. He knew where her mind had been going.
Rey sighed in resignation, "Fine." She got up and Finn and Kylo did too, then shot each challenging looks. "What? Joselor told me, I had to bring her." Finn said as Kylo looked at him askance.
Rey rolled her eyes at both of them. "I can go on my own." She told them and started towards the refectory door.
She'd barely gone six paces though when they caught up to her, she sighed. "I'm not letting you go on your own." Kylo told her firmly, "Hux could even be there, having his dressing changed or something."
"He's right, Peanut." Finn agreed, then looked surprised that he had sided with Kylo, whereas Kylo just radiated smugness. Boys. Rey didn't deign to reply. It was just Joselor and Leia in the nurses room when they arrived though.
"Ah, Rey. Well done for remembering." Joselor said as they entered. Rey imagined Finn's head swelling like a balloon. He would be insufferable for the rest of the day, she was sure.
"You boys can wait outside for a moment." The nurse told them, shutting the door after them.
"How are you feeling?" Joselor asked as she waved Rey to sit on the bed as the other chair was occupied by Leia.
Rey shrugged, uncomfortable under the sudden scrutiny, "I'm fine." She said shortly, just wanting to be out of that room.
"You certainly have made a remarkable recovery." Joselor said. "I was want to check your temperature to be sure though."
Rey submitted to having the thermometer put in her mouth and her glands felt. Joselor's hands were cool and oddly dry, like snake skin. She was silent as she examined Rey but Leia spoke into the silence. "Rey, Mara asked me to schedule a session with you. Will Wednesday after school suit you? Say 5pm?"
There wasn't any way Rey was getting out of this. "That is fine." She agreed unhappily and Leia smiled at her kindly, as if she knew what Rey was thinking. "I promise I don't bite. And anything you say to me will not be passed on to anyone else, okay?" Rey merely nodded.
"Rey, you are free to go dear. Your temperature is fine." Joselor said and she settled herself back in her chair.
"Thank you." Rey tossed over her shoulder making a beeline for the door and a quick exit.
She strode past Finn and Kylo and they hurried to catch up with her. "All okay?" Finn asked her as Kylo took her hand in his, giving her a comforting squeeze but saying nothing.
"I'm fine." Rey told Finn. "Just like I said."
Finn made an unimpressed sort of snort but didn't respond.
They found the others still in the refectory, as it was so cold outside they stayed there for the whole of lunch, no one feeling much like going outside unless they had to.
By the end of lunchtime, Rey was feeling restless and itchy, she hadn't been climbing for over a week. She would have loved to go outside and do something but she was still not accustomed to the cold grey weather and was rather relieved when no one else wanted to go out either.
At least she should get out most of her excess energy later, that was something.
"When you spar without a teacher present, do you still stick to the rules?" She asked Kylo just before the end of lunch. He smirked at her, "Why? Don't you think you're a match for me unless you cheat?"
"Oooooo!" Zainmar interjected with a grin.
Rey smiled as sweetly as she could, "Oh no. I was just wondering whether you would need an excuse so you don't feel bad when you lose."
Zainmar laughed delightedly at that. When Rey looked up at Kylo his eyes had turned dark and his expression made her stomach flip. "Oh," He almost purred, voice low, "You can cheat as much as you want, it will still end with you failing."
Rey grinned up at him, "In that case. Any weapon of choice, no rules and the victor has to hold down the loser for a good twenty seconds."
His answering smile was slow and dark and holy shit did she just want to fight him now…
"You two flirt in the weirdest way." Poe said and Rey looked away from Kylo, cheeks flushing as she remembered they weren't alone.
Finn was nodding next to him, as were quite a few others. "I don't know," Jess said, "I think it just shows they are perfect together."
"Okay, so anyone taking bets?" Leonmar asked and everyone started talking at once. It looked like they were going to get an audience… Oh hell.
She was slightly annoyed to find most people were betting against her. Kylo stroked the palm of her hand as he looked at her, "When you say weapon of choice, I am assuming you don't mean real blades." He said softly but with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Rey rolled her eyes at him. "Obviously. We're sparring, not trying to kill each other."
He surprised her by pulling her in for a kiss. "And what does the winner get?" He asked her when he pulled away.
Rey was annoyed to find herself a little breathless, "Bragging rights." She said in as unruffled a voice as she could manage.
"Hmmm. We could make it more interesting, unless of course you're worried you'll lose?" Kylo's voice was still low and it was doing funny things to Rey's equilibrium.
"Of course not. What did you have in mind?" She realised that was probably a stupid thing to ask just after she said it and couldn't help wincing slightly as he chuckled. Now, whatever he said she would have to agree to or look like she was worried about losing. Well shit.
And from Kylo's smug expression he knew it. If I win, you let me suck your toes tonight. Rey blinked in surprise. "What?!" She said out loud then blushed and looked furtively around. Kylo just looked at her, smiling slightly. I remember how ticklish you are.
Fine. It's not like you'll win anyway. She thought back. He smirked, eyes dancing mischievously. What about you, if you win? Though of course you won't.
The bell rang and Rey was amused to see Kylo look disappointed. "I will have a think and get back to you." She said out loud as she stood.
He stood up too and kissed her in a way that made her blush even more. If she wanted to win their sparring session she was going to have to block him and his… effect on her or she'd never be able to sink into the cold place she went when she fought.
At least with it coming after fencing she should already be in that mindset. But she was going to have to practice blocking Kylo over the next two lessons. She'd just have to think of what she would ask for after she won. There wasn't any time now and if she did, she was fairly certain those sort of thoughts would make her even more distracted.
She shivered a little when she thought of him sucking her toes. Then mentally shook herself. This was ridiculous, she was better than this. Stronger. He may be bigger and good at fencing and MMA but she had real experience, she knew lots of tricks. And, she could distract him through their bond… Though that may leave her more open to his influence as well.
She shook herself again. "You okay, Peanut? You look like you're having an argument all on your own." Finn said quietly halfway through English.
Rey grimaced, then shot him a quick smile. "Just thinking how best to beat Kylo later."
Finn grinned, "Just do what you do best. Surprise everyone… Also you need to win because the odds are in his favour and I'll be raking in the credits if you do."
Rey chuckled, "Thanks."
''''''''
Rey and Finn were the last students to arrive to fencing. While everyone was warmed up, Luke came around the room to assign partners.
"Rey, are you feeling up to sparring today?" Luke asked her quietly when he reached her. Rey fought the blush that wanted to creep into her cheeks, and to her surprise, mostly won.
"Absolutely." She answered, Luke looked slightly surprised but nodded. "How would you feel about trying what we started last week? Two against one?"
Rey grinned, this was what she needed. "Sure."
Luke called over Ryleaf and Crispaul, who came over reluctantly, looking nervous. "You two spar with Rey." Luke told them, ignoring their expressions. And he moved off to someone else.
As they waited for the command to fence, Rey said awkwardly, "Again, sorry about last week. I promise I am not going to lose it today."
They smiled uncertainly then looked at each other, "Did you really break Hux's nose?" Ryleaf asked in a rush as if he'd been holding it in all day.
Rey shrugged, "Yeah. But he deserved it." They both made strangled sounds that sounded almost like laughter.
Before they could ask anymore questions, Luke called out, "En Garde!" And Rey was relieved to push her mask down and sink into the correct stance with her body and the cold place in her mind.
She studied the two boys as time slowed. She would need to keep them front and centre, and she would have to always keep one occupied while the other recovered from an attack. If they were able to work together this would be much harder.
"Ready!" Luke called. As her mind became cool and collected she noticed absently that Kylo's presence became fainter. That was handy.
"Fence!" As soon as Luke spoke the word she attacked, her brain no longer cared which boy was which, at this point it really didn't matter what their names were, all that mattered was the foil in her hand and the two they each held.
Evidently they had expected her to be more cautious as there were two of them, because she passed one's foil easily, tapping him on the shoulder then danced away and flicked her wrist to disarm the other. While he went to fetch his sword she parried the other's attempt to get past her guard, then riposted, scoring a second hit on the shoulder. As she pulled her foil back, he met it awkwardly with his, she flicked her wrist again and his foil went flying too.
"Fast!" Luke's voice echoed and she lowered her foil, looking around the room as students stood back from each other.
She was surprised to find she was sweating a little as Luke came over to them after telling everyone else to carry on.
"Okay boys, that was completely one sided. You need to focus and work together, cover each other. You were on the back foot there from the start, even though you have the advantage. I am going to watch you, but this time, I will be pausing you during so I can give you pointers okay? Rey is that alright with you?"
Rey shrugged, "Sure." This may provide useful information for when she sparred with Kylo later as she assumed he would be using a sabre… Though perhaps that was naive… She shook her head, and let her thoughts slide away as she sank back into the coldness.
Although there was a lot less fighting, Luke's instruction was interesting and Rey listened carefully whenever he paused them, filing away every little tidbit for later.
By the end of the class, Ryleaf and Crispaul had improved, though neither had yet to score a hit on her.
Rey was too focused to feel smug however. As the other students left to change she and Finn held back. As they waited, Rey started stretching and warming up muscles that had gone to sleep a little during the slower pace of the lesson.
Finn bounced excitedly on his feet as he watched, "Are you going to use a staff again, Peanut?"
He asked. Rey chewed her lip as she thought- she had been wondering that herself. The staff was her prefered weapon, and considering their height difference would be a good choice. But, Kylo had seen her use of the staff before, if she chose something else she would surprise him and he would have to learn her style before being able to engage her properly.
She went with her gut, and nodded at Finn, "Yeah. The staff, I'll go and find one now, could you stay out here in case they arrive and think I've changed my mind?"
There was no way she was going to give Kylo any reason to think she'd chickened out of this.
'
A/N: Not very happy with this chapter, it took ages to write, the block is still keeping me down. And I keep getting distracted, sorry! 0_0 hopefully it will sort itself out soon.
Thank you all so much for your lovely comments, you're amazing and are helping me power through it. 3
