When Jeyna wakes the next morning, she feels terrible. Her muscles are sore from sleeping on the floor, and she was cold most of the night. Sleep came in small bits and pieces, but was always punctuated by frequent, loud noises from outside. She attempts to stretch her back out, standing up and tucking the blanket and canteen into her pack.

Kylo Ren has already left the old shack, but she finds him on the platform outside. He's sitting, perfectly still, his legs crossed and his hands on his knees. It's an odd sight to see such a large man posed so gracefully.

Jeyna feels a bit disappointed to see the mask is back on. She had a small hope that perhaps he would forego it, with it being just the two of them in the forest. She fidgets uncertainly, not wanting to disturb him. She attempts to look around, but the view from so high up is mostly branches of wroshyr trees.

That is, until she notices the large dragonfly-like insect sunning itself in a single beam of sunlight, on a branch not far from their shelter. It is massive, longer than her forearm. Its set of double wings slowly beat up, and down, at a languid pace. She steps carefully to the end of the platform to see it better. She's close enough to examine the freakishly large compound eyes. Each part of them reflects a slightly different color as it suns itself.

Jeyna wonders how an insect so large can possibly diffuse gases rapidly enough across its exoskeleton to be alive. She doesn't remember the composition of the atmosphere on Kashyyyk, but finds herself wanting to check. It clearly isn't extreme enough to require a breathing apparatus for humans, but it still must be fairly unique to support large insects such as this.

Her brain can't help itself, and soon she's wondering if anyone has done a large-scale study of the evolution of life on Kashyyyk. Surely someone's analyzed what conditions would lead to the unique flora and fauna-

"Must you think so loudly," Ren complains, suddenly dropping his pose. He rises, grabbing for his pack so he can toss her an emergency ration of food.

She opens it uncertainly. "I don't think I think loudly," she replies. His mood seems considerably more grumpy than the previous night, and she's uncertain what's caused the change.

"Well, you do," he snaps, the mask making his childish statement sound almost comical. He begins descending down the narrow steps they had climbed the previous night. Jeyna is forced to shove her half-eaten food into her pocket to follow him.

"The forest is plenty peaceful now, why don't you tune in to that, instead of shaming me for daring to think inside my own brain," she snaps as she struggles to match his pace descending the tree.

The steps are narrow and she's struggling to focus on them and not the dizzying heights. Somewhere in her, self preservation reminds her that she shouldn't be talking like this to Kylo Ren. Someone who can literally choke people with his mind. But she'd always had a feisty personality, and it seems to be surfacing the longer she's away from the First Order. Still, best not to push her luck.

She tries to backtrack. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"I liked you better when you were acting the part of a timid mouse," Ren's mask makes the annoyance in his deep voice transform into a threat.

Jeyna bites back before she can think better of it. "Then maybe you should have left me in the torture room a bit longer! Another week would have done the trick!"

Her brain is all alarms screaming, she knows she is pushing her luck. She's seen what happened when Hux backtalked Ren, she doesn't know why she's being so argumentative. Somehow their relationship has gone from distant but cordial to this childish, bizarre bickering and she has no idea what spurred the change.

Before Ren can retort, or simply choke her into silence, her foot slips. Panic grips her for one terrifying second as her hand grabs for the higher steps, but she misses them.

She slams down onto Ren, toppling him into the ground with her weight.

Luckily the drop wasn't that far, Ren had already reached the forest floor when she dropped. But she can feel that crackling energy again as she stares down at the mask, mere inches beneath her face. Her eyes widen in terror, and she gulps.

"I'm sorry, I slipped!"

"Get. Off. Of. Me." Each word is spoken clipped, quiet, as if he's pushing them through a clenched jaw inside that cursed helmet.

She scrambles to obey, righting herself and offering a hand to help him up in an attempt at a truce. He ignores it, standing to step into her space. She can't help but step back, feeling his rage. His hands are clenched at his sides, as he stalks forward again. She retreats, and they do this dance until she runs into the unyielding base of a tree at her back.

His arms come up to either side of her head as he cages her in, his gloved fists pushing into the bark. His mask dips to stare at her face. She feels the fear that has been lacking around him creep back in at his intimidation. He's physically imposing, towering down into her space, and she feels a slight shake in her hands. "We're making it to the outpost by nightfall. Keep up. Or don't."

He says nothing more, none of the threats she'd been filling her own head with. He turns his back to her and sets off at a rapid pace, as if he can speed walk away from his anger. She catches her breath in an attempt to calm her hammering heart, before following.

Later

The rest of the day passes in a marathon of hiking through the undergrowth, which is somehow becoming even more dense. Jeyna catches sight of more oversized invertebrate life, ignoring her itching desires to sketch them and describe them in detail. Pill bugs as big as her boots crawling on a rotting log, a snail almost her size oozing its way down a trunk. Everything on Kashyyyk is oversized, and she doesn't attempt to stop herself from theorizing on the cause. Spitefully, she hopes her thoughts are driving Ren insane from where he is marching a dozen steps ahead of her. Serves him right for not giving her any privacy.

They don't speak, and Jeyna periodically goes over the previous day in her head. Had she said something wrong to anger him? Or did lack of proper sleep set the Commander of the First Order into childish fits of irritation?

They finally make it to the old Czerka outpost as night is beginning to creep in, the light of day dimming. The ramp and stairs upwards is much easier to ascend than their last night's accommodation, and Jeyna follows Ren away from the forest floor. Her legs are sore from exertion, her mood sour.

The outpost is a series of buildings connected by walkways through the trees. Some of them are in bad disrepair, and in some places the structures or walkway have been torn apart or collapsed. Still, they find what must have been a former dormitory, and Jeyna practically weeps at the sight of a cot. It's old, and dirty, but so much better than nothing.

Jeyna wordlessly accepts another ration of dry, flavorless emergency food from Ren. The light fades in the room as she eats, forcing it down with water and noting that he doesn't eat anything himself. Surely he must have eaten in the past twenty four hours. Perhaps he did before she woke up. Still, she surveys the dark outline of him on the other side of the dormitory in curiosity.

Why does he insist on wearing the mask around her? What does it serve to hide?

"Stop studying me like some creature you find fascinating," he orders.

She frowns, dropping her gaze. "I don't study you like a creature. But you can hardly blame me for finding you fascinating…"

"Is that why you weren't afraid, when I walked into the room?"

Night has almost fallen completely, Jeyna can barely make out the darkened shape of him. She finds herself hoping he removes the mask again tonight. She has a weird craving to hear his voice once more, free from the mask. "The interrogation room?" she clarifies.

"Yes."

"I…don't know. I just knew it would be the end," she shrugs, not wanting to revisit the mental place she had been in. The one where thoughts of death had been a relief. She pulls the blanket from her bag as a distraction, settling it over herself.

"It's been a long time since anyone has met me, and felt something other than fear," Ren observes, voice slow and barely audible to her.

"Don't worry. I still fear you, sometimes," Jeyna says, meaning it to come out jokingly. She wants to lighten the mood, to bring things back to a somewhat harmonious place. But it comes out flat, more scared admission than a joke.

Ren is silent for a long time. The cot is shockingly comfortable, or maybe that is the exhaustion catching up to her. She barely hears him as he replies, "You should."

Morning on Kashyyyk

The next morning, she finds Ren repairing the commlink. She is going to leave him to it and explore a bit, when he informs her the outpost has a rain filtration system for rudimentary showers. He's apparently already tested it out while she slept, and the filtration is still effective.

Jeyna is happy to follow his suggestion, disliking the amount of crud she feels in her hair and coating her skin. While the filtration is working, the collected rainwater is still cold and so she hurries. She scrubs the grit from her hair, while trying to not imagine Kylo Ren doing similarly just a little while before. Her cheeks flush as she runs her hands over her skin, ensuring it is smooth and dirt free.

Surely he wouldn't be wearing his helmet in a shower. That would just be silly. The mental image almost makes her chuckle before she berates herself for picturing such inappropriate things.

She wonders what color his hair is. Is it pale, like his skin, or dark? She pictures the pale skin of his hand, the only part of him she's truly seen so far. Pictures it underneath the black he wears from head to toe.

The flush makes her face hot despite the cold water as she turns it off, pulling her clothes back on. Surely, she reasons, its natural to wonder about such a thing. The mask presents a mystery, and her brain gets hooked on mysteries. That's all.

Still, Jeyna desperately hopes he hasn't "tuned in" to her thoughts while he's working on the commlink. She avoids returning to him immediately, instead scouting out a couple more buildings. It looks like Czerka had pulled out of Kashyyyk in a hurry, leaving a lot of equipment. A lot of it isn't useful, and the technology is long since defunct. But she finds a few useful items.

Jeyna comes up with a medpac, a worn map of the area, and a hunting dagger. The map clearly shows the ancient Wookie settlement they'll be hiking to next, which reassures her. Something about having a map at a site always makes her feel more prepared. She tucks everything into her pack before finally returning to Ren.

He's finishing up as she approaches. "We should be able to arrange transport, once we have what we came for," he informs her. She nods, pleasantly surprised with his repair skills.

"Have you used one of these before?" In his hand is a blaster pistol, and he holds it out to her.

She takes it tentatively, shaking her head. "No. I mean, I know how it works. But I've never…"

"It's off. See, here," he points the safety switch out to her. "Don't use it unless it's life or death. I'd rather not see you shoot yourself."

She sighs at the lack of faith he seems to have in her. "Alright," she agrees.

"We should head out. Are you ready?"

Jeyna examines his mask, pleased that his mood has returned to what passes as normal for Ren. And though it frustrates her to not understand the cause of their tension, she much prefers it this way. "Yes. Let's go."