2/13/2
It had never, ever occurred to Kylo that getting twenty-four kids, him and Rey, Rose and Paige, to one place, at once, would be an issue.
Likely because he didn't, on any level, think about it.
Because, well, honestly, in his world, logistics is something that happens to someone else. He says, "This needs to happen." And then somehow, magically, it does. He almost never has to make any of these things happen.
If he had though, he probably would have thought of it like moving a few squads of troops. Completely and utterly missing the point that twenty-four kids are about as not a few squads as it's possible for people to be.
It was during breakfast, with Rey, when she says, "I had to make three trips to get the kids to the F-Deck," that it occurs to both of them that teleporting everyone is possible, but it'll be long and annoying.
"My command shuttle should have room for everyone." Because he does, in fact, have a vehicle specifically designed to move him and a few squads worth of troops, plus some officers, from place to place.
"When was the last time you flew it?"
He thinks. And thinks. Probably returning from the Supremacy to Qualee, after the fight. "It's been a while." He grabs his comm. "C8, how long would it take to have my command shuttle ready to go?"
"Eight minutes, sir."
"Get it ready for me."
If he'd been thinking about it, it would have occurred to him that attempting to land his shuttle during a major snowstorm would have also been annoying.
It's not an issue. Not like it would be for a pilot who needs to use his eyes to do things like this, or has to rely on the ship's sensors, which also do not appreciate the snow flowing through their fields, but even though he can feel the ground below him, and even though he can help stabilize his ship (though that's taking more energy than he'd like, fucking plague) it still takes a few passes to get his shuttle on the ground.
Technically, by Lirium's standards 70 kmh winds aren't a blizzard. But they are a pain in the butt for an easy landing.
It's getting the kids onto the shuttle where the complications of putting twenty-four kids and Rose and Paige on his ship come to life.
First of all, the kids don't just queue up nice and orderly and march on up. Stormtroopers do that. Tell Stormtroopers to get on a ship, and they get on a ship. Stormtroopers do not require reminding to get on the ship. Beyond one, lone, single order, they do not require instructions to get on a ship.
Children are not Stormtroopers. Children mill about, stop in the middle of the ramp to stare at the ship, decide halfway in that they forgot their pet cuddly toy and that it absolutely has to come on the trip with them, or, thirty seconds before closing the hatch decide they *HAVE* to go to the refresher now, and they *CAN'T POSSIBLY* wait to get to the Supremacy and… of course his command shuttle, which is not designed to do more than move a few squads from the Supremacy to wherever they're landing, does not have a refresher.
(Kylo is somewhat suspicious that if Finn were here, the kids would have queued up with no problems, because it does seem that when Finn says 'Move' those kiddos move, but he's with Chewie on their first post-plague run.)
And Jacen, and Critt, and Marrok, and Opal, and Rey all want to fly the bloody thing.
And Rose is giggling as his blood pressure is rising as they're trying to get the kids on the damn ship.
She steps closer to him, enjoying his discomfort vastly too much, and says quietly, "If you think this is fun, wait until we've got to walk them from wherever we're landing to the theater."
He doesn't groan, out loud.
Once they're off the ground, and out of the snowstorm, Kylo lets Rey fly.
It's not that she's not a good enough pilot to get the shuttle off the ground. It's that he's nervous and on edge enough with the kids squirming about all over the place that giving up control of the ship in the middle of an almost-but-not-quite blizzard is just a step too far.
Once they're past the atmo, and the ship is still moving, and the kids haven't broken anything, he's willing to slide out of the pilot's seat and hand it over.
The kids mope a little as Rey scoots into the pilot's seat, and there's an undercurrent of favoritism.
After a few moments of it, Kylo decides to just laugh about it. "Of course, she's my favorite person. I married her."
The kids are amused by that.
Rey pets him.
Rose smiles.
That feels good.
For a moment, until he's lunging over to stop Blaine from pushing the buttons that deploy the weapons. (And a wet, cold, liquid snow down his back thought is hitting him because those buttons aren't far from the ones that jettison the cargo (not a problem) and the fuel (massive problem.)
It's a command shuttle, so it doesn't have a lot of them, and they're in deep space, so they likely wouldn't hit much, but…
Technically, the flight is thirty-six minutes. Kylo would tell you it took at least sixteen hours.
They're ten minutes in when the kids start complain about getting hot. Likely because, they're in a ship rated to -600. They're dressed for moving through an almost-but-not-quite blizzard on Lirium.
So then there's removing coats and snow pants, there's tucking them in around his seats, there's…
He's staring at Jacen. "Why are you in uniform?"
Jacen shrugs a bit. "I enlisted?"
Kylo knows that's a banthashit answer, but he doesn't poke it. Jacen earned that uniform, so… "Some Captain sees you and sets you on busy work, I'm not going to get you out of it."
Jacen grins. "You won't need to."
A moment later, as he's helping Torine get a stuck zipper unstuck, he hears Critt say, "Really, why are you wearing it?"
Jacen shrugs again. "Not sure. I just know it'll work better if I am."
"Future flash?" Savarah asks.
Jacen nods.
Kylo sighs. Great.
They want to see everything.
That's the biggest problem with taking a bunch of kids anywhere, and especially somewhere new. They want to see the landing bay. They want to see the other ships. They want to push every button in the elevators. They want to see all the floors between the landing bay and the F-Deck. They want to stop at every shop between the elevators and the cinema.
And it's not that every single one of them wants to do every single thing, but enough of them want to do enough of the things to make everything chaotic and tense.
(Why Luke never took them anywhere is occurring to Kylo. He sighs. The feel of compassion for that is irking him, deeply. After all, once upon a time he would have very happily been a kid on a trip like this, wanting to linger and see every fucking ship within the range of his vision.)
Rey and Rose are at the front of the group, holding the hands of some of the younger kids, and leading them on. Savarah, Cassie, and Magiit are in the middle, keeping them on track. He, Jacen, Critt, and Elias are in the back, making sure there are no stragglers.
Mostly he's side-stepping left and right, grabbing small people who "I was just looking…" as they fall behind the rest of the group. By the time they're a quarter of the way to the cinema, he's got Rugh riding on his shoulders "So she can see everything" and he doesn't have to keep eyes on her to make sure she doesn't wander off.
He's glad he's in his casual clothing, because he's already getting a lot of attention as is. A wave of stunned silence is moving through the F-deck with them. If he'd been in his command blacks, there would likely be a collection of officers leaping to attention, offering to help corral kids.
He's almost tempted to see if he could do that.
He feels Rey laughing in the back of his mind. You know I do a version of this every day, right?
No, I didn't, and better you than me.
She laughs out loud at that. So, you're saying you don't want twenty kids?
If it had been just a few of them, he could see how this could be fun. And Rugh on his shoulders is more or less bubbling over with joy, and that's infectious. So, this… on a much smaller scale, could be a good time. (And he really doesn't mind the feel of a very happy little person on his shoulders, squealing with glee at everything she sees. That's… nice.)
How about we try one, see how that goes, and add another if it works well?
He feels her laugh at that.
Finally, they're at the theater. Finally. He gives Rugh a hand down, but she keeps standing with him, holding his hand, until Rey starts introducing Jon to the rest of the kids.
That's a relief. Jon is good with kids. He'll kneel down to talk to them. He learns all of their names. He gestures to the counter where the snacks are and tells them they're allowed to pick two snacks and a drink each. Rey goes with the youngest ones to help them get what they want.
He's so relieved to finally get the kids into an enclosed space, and to see Jon getting along with them, and that they didn't lose any of them on the trek, and… For a moment, that's all he's paying attention to. The overwhelming feeling of successfully getting all of these kids to the right place at something close to the right time.
For a moment. Then a new sensation begins to creep up on him. He feels it and starts to wince, head turning toward Jacen before he entirely knows what he's feeling.
Jon's saying hello to the older kids.
Jacen's behind the rest of the bunch.
Jacen has not missed Jon.
And it's true that male beauty isn't exactly anything Kylo pays any attention to. He knows it's real. He knows that Jon is handsome. He knows these the way someone who can read music knows that a song is pleasant to the ear. He can understand this in an academic sort of way, but he can't feel it.
Until now. A massive, deep, throbbing wave of OH, FUCK ME! both an exclamation and a request just rolled right over him as Jacen set eyes on Jon.
It's strong enough, that for a heartbeat, he knows what Jacen is seeing when he looks at Jon. Jon is fucking sex on legs and Poe's description of him, perfect, golden, fuck me lips, it's all there.
And then Jon looks back at Jacen.
It'll work better. Oh, shit! Jacen's standing there in an Ensign's uniform. Trying to make himself look like sex on legs, too.
And Jacen can feel that Jon likes men. And, apparently, Jacen's succeeding in his attempt at sex on legs.
And it's like watching a slow motion ship crash. He can't turn away, and right now he feels powerless to do anything about it.
Jon extends his hand, Jacen takes it, licks his lips, and Jon quivers.
The other teens are having a blast. Critt's mentally cheering Jacen on, Go get him! is the least salacious thing hurtling around in Jacen's mind right now, and Jon, poor fucking, massively outclassed Jon, is… Kylo refuses to get into his mind enough to know what he's seeing. He just… Does not need to know Jon that well.
He does, he thinks, need to stop him from acting on anything he's wanting to do with Jacen.
Kylo finally gets his wits, and powers, back together and slams both of them with a very strong STOP. He knows Jacen got it as a word. He thinks, from how Jon responds, that it was just a feeling for him.
Jon blinks, squints, blushes for a moment, breaks eye contact, pulls himself together, looks up and says, "Stop it. You can try again in five years, when you're on the other side of twenty and more than half my age."
Jacen, utterly unperturbed by Kylo's STOP command, looks Jon up and down, plants a few images that… if Kylo had been unsure of what two men may do with each other while having sex, he's bloody well not now, in Jon's head, and says, "I'll mark my calendar, sir."
When the first film begins, Kylo is not paying attention to it. He's staring at the back of Jacen's head. He's a few rows ahead, with the rest of the older kids, munching through popcorn and snacks, giving off a general, this is fun, we should do it more often sort of sense.
Of all the things he could have possibly anticipated for this outing, Jacen attempting to seduce Jon was nowhere on his list.
Jacen catches the stare, and knows why it's aimed at him. Kylo can feel the eye roll, and see Jacen slump down further into his chair. I wasn't going to do anything, he thinks to Kylo, mental voice a bit sulky.
Kylo aims a mental glare at him. He's simultaneously starting to possibly see the value of enforced celibacy among kids with mind-control powers, and the extremely uncomfortable moment of thinking that Luke might have been onto something with that. This is well beyond his earlier moment of compassion, and he doesn't much know what to do with it.
Rey gives his hand a little squeeze. Cinema, love. This doesn't need to happen now.
He kisses her hand. I really think it does.
Fine. Get it out of your head so you can focus. She leans in against him, and he can feel she's right. The only reason he's got to do this now is that if he doesn't it'll just sit there and chew at him.
He thinks to Jacen. Next time we train, we're going to have a chat about appropriate uses of your powers.
That gets an eyeroll, too. He liked it.
That's not the point.
Really? I wasn't making him think anything he didn't want to think. Just letting him play with the idea.
Another mental glare. You were trying to get him to play with you.
Snotty, sarcastic, teenage eye roll aimed back at Kylo. Come on, we're in public, with twenty-five other people around. Nothing's happening other than thinking. I was just enjoying the attention. It's been a million years since I got a second look from anyone.
Kylo pauses at that. He glances around. Yes, this is a very dark room, with even darker curtains, and some secluded corners, and… Yeah, Jon obviously doesn't have a do-not-look spell, but it'd probably take Jacen about a minute and a half to figure the trick to it and-
Oh… Jacen's grinning widely, turning back to gaze at Jon (who is sitting next to Kylo, and has not, on any level missed the fact that something is going on around him) very amused and wishing he'd put just a bit more lust into his voice. Huh… Well… That would have been fun. Then he catches Kylo remembering his and Rey's tryst in a room very similar to this.
Jacen laughs out loud at that. I'll certainly have to add this to my to-do list.
Kylo's head drops into his hands and the shudder of Why am I dealing with randy teenagers? flows through his head.
Rey strokes his back. Because he likes you best out of the group of us adults, which means it's possible he might actually listen to you.
It's Kylo's turn to roll his eyes, but… Well, that's the point of uncles or big brothers, or whatever the hell it is he's attempting to be for Jacen. Be an adult the kid is fond of, provide some sort of guidance, and try not to fuck it up too badly.
You're not fucking it up.
He kisses Rey's hand again.
The credits finish.
And the story begins.
Rey falls into the story hard. Part of it is just she's never actually seen one before. Yes, there was that one 'romantic comedy' and the 'adventures in physical therapy' holo they'd watched, but this is the first time she's sat down to see a full-on adventure designed in bright, flashy colors with beyond state-of-the-art animation, complete orchestral musical accompaniment, and singing and dancing animals.
It's blowing her mind.
Kylo's not exactly enjoying the movie. Once it started playing, he knew he'd seen it before, as a child.
He is enjoying feeling Rey watch it for the first time.
This one starts with a Princess whose parents die and the step-mother who's in charge of raising her is absolute scum. She tries to kill the Princess, but fails, because of the intervention of the singing/talking/dancing animals, who whisk her off to safety to live in hiding with a collection of Ewoks.
(That's part of why Kylo doesn't like this movie, even as a child. He's always thought Ewoks were kind of creepy, likely because, according to his Dad, they were trying to eat him. And, of course, when Threepio tells a story, he tells a story so the part where they're getting ready to roast Dad and Uncle Luke alive was a really vivid image in his mind for a very long time.)
But, she's off with the Ewoks, and life is going pretty well, but the Evil Step-Mother Queen realizes she's not dead, so off The Queen goes to fix that problem, and en route to do that she gets into a fight with the Handsome Scoundrel. (Who does not, as of yet, know he's a prince.)
He survives by the skin of his teeth. (And more intervention from singing animals. Kylo's also never been sure why this show is a musical but, again, Rey's sitting next to him, holding his hand, tight, leaning in toward the screen, so entranced she hasn't eaten any of her popcorn, so whoever made this might have known what they were doing.)
The Scoundrel (while running away from the Queen's men) runs into the Princess, and the two of them join forces to retake the crown, and get rid of the queen. (With the help of the singing animals and the Ewoks, and a few friendly robots. He's got the sense they probably sold a lot of toys to go with this movie. As best he can recall, he had two of the Ewoks, who had big, black shiny plexi-plast eyes that always followed him no matter where he was in the room. This also may have had something to do with him not being a fan of Ewoks. And possibly a few years of his night-terrors.)
At the end of the movie, the Queen has been dispatched. The Handsome Scoundrel and the Princess have fallen in love, but she's got to marry a prince, and he's not one, so he heads off, having kissed her cheek, and she and her advisers go prince hunting for her.
She's turning princes down right and left, annoying her advisers. Eventually, they point out to her that she's got to pick someone. So, she does. Because, apparently, she lives in some sort of bizarre corner of the galaxy where Princesses can't become a Queen unless she's got a Prince stashed somewhere. (The Evil Stepmom Queen didn't have her own prince, but... He can feel Rey shushing how he's thinking about the plot holes. He focuses on the story.)
The Scoundrel, lost and feeling useless, wanders into a bar, where someone notices the ring his father gave him just before he died, and suddenly he's a prince, too, because he's the son of the King in Exile of… (Kylo really didn't remember this movie being this complicated, but a few new singing animals show up and…)
It's the wedding day, everything is ready to go. The Princess is gloriously beautiful in her very fancy dress. The castle has been scrubbed to sparkling. Prince Disposable Plot Point is standing around looking wan and dull.
She's walking down the aisle toward Prince Disposable Plot Point. Rey's tensing up, because she can't believe this is how the story is going to end. Kylo strokes the back of her neck.
They start their vows, and then there's a commotion, and the Handsome Scoundrel, all dressed up, with his Prince Bonafides shined up and ready to go, bursts in, decks Prince Disposable Plot Point when he gets annoyed that his wedding was just hijacked by this no one from nowhere, and…
He and the Princess kiss, and the vicar seals their vows, and they head off, happily ever after into the sunset.
Kylo, absently, notices that his face is wet. He wipes a tear away, and then turns to Rey. You're crying?
She wipes her face and sniffles. It's so… She doesn't know how to finish that sentence.
He cuddles her close and kisses the top of her head.
The movies are… interesting, sometimes.
Two of them didn't do much for Kylo, but he can feel a lot of the kids liked them.
The one they're on currently… He likes this one. Rey does, too. Rose, Jon, and the teens are having a good time. The plot is solid, the actors in this one are pretty good, and there's enough genuine tension and attraction in this one that it feels real.
The kids are a little bored, possibly because this one doesn't involve any talking animals, or musical numbers. Though, even right now, they're watching closely.
The Handsome Prince is about to explain, in an extremely bloody and very permanent sort of way, that messing with his Lady is a bad plan. (Kylo's only, momentarily, wishing he could do something like this with the-would-be rapist princeling. He lets that go fast, not wanting to share it with Rey right next to him.)
Kylo's leaning forward, feeling the fight about to start, and there's that heartbeat, that he knows so well, where there's still a chance of not doing whatever it is, and then it passes and the fight is on and… He's tense leaning into it, ready, and…
This was the first of the movies Kylo really got into, because this was the first one where the Handsome Prince felt… real, to him. The other two were just too damn perfect, but this is a man with edges and some depth, but…
That's falling apart fast as he's drawing his sword.
Kylo squints, jerking back a bit.
His lips purse and then roll.
He glances at Rey, and yes, she's having a similar reaction to this.
I don't… look like that… when I fight, right? Kylo thinks to her.
No. I… Think he's dancing with a sword. That's… not a fight. Mr. Handsome Prince is whirling his blade around in a stupidly fast circle, zipping it from right to left and back again and… Kylo could, almost, sort of, see why you might do that with a light saber if people were shooting at you. A lot of them, but… This is a metal sword and everyone else here has metal swords, and…
This just looks like a good way to tire out your arms long before the fight's over.
No… I didn't think… You don't look like that when you fight, either. He thinks back to Rey.
She shakes her head. The Prince's Lady is in head to toe silk satins, thick rich ones, brocades and solids, layer after layer of it. How would you even do it in that heavy of a robe?
Kylo shrugs. I mean… If you had to, I guess you just would, but… By my reckoning, she'd have been dead a few moves ago, while he was prancing about burning energy on useless flourishes.
They watch for a few more moments. Finally, Rey says, You do that.
Which that?
The thing where he's swinging the sword around for no real reason. Twirling it, at the end of each swing. I remember that. When we were in the forest…
Kylo rolls his eyes a little. I was showing off when we were in the forest. I… didn't actually consider you or Finn a real fight. Not until he actually hit me, and I took him out two moves later. And, I was attempting not to hurt you. You didn't see me doing that with the guard, did you? Or Qualee.
He feels her think. Not sure. I was a lot more distracted when we fought the guard. And I saw Qualee from your point of view, so I have no idea what you were doing outside your immediate view.
He smirks a bit at that.
Well, maybe he's showing off, too, Rey thinks to Kylo.
Bad time for it. You'll notice my complete lack of showing off when there was a chance something might actually hurt you.
If they ever make a film of us, you'll have to tell them no showing off at bad times.
He sniggers at that, and has another bite of popcorn.
By the last ten minutes of the third one Rey's feeling… unsettled. Not so much in the way of nervous or wary, but… That image Jacen said wasn't coming into focus maybe because she didn't want it to focus.
It's focusing whether she wants it to, or not.
The Prince and Princess are holding each other's hands. Their binder is tying a length of ribbon around them. They're gazing into each other's eyes, minds on what they've overcome to get to that moment, hopes on a future where they'll be Mr. and Mrs. Handsome Prince. The Royal Couple.
Rulers supreme, the face of their people, together, in all things.
There's no chance, that when this is done, the Handsome Prince goes off princing about, and she starts an orphanage.
That's not how this story works.
By the end of the third one, Kylo's definitely feeling like he's got the script on this. And he's more than a bit unsettled at the idea that this story has not only been told and retold, but seems to track so well with his own life.
Okay, yes, it's not measure for measure dead on. Handsome Princes, even really "bad" ones, don't seem to have nearly the kill count he does, and for two of them, "bad" seemed to be more by association than by slaughtering adolescents based on their Force sensitivity, or murdering bankers because they won't extend his credit indefinitely, or blowing up planets because something he didn't like happened there a decade earlier.
He chews his lip. Rage. Blowing up a planet because he couldn't master his rage.
The men in these stories never burn red, let alone black, but… Two of the three of them are designed to entertain children, and the one they just finished was appropriate for young adults, so… They may be edited.
They likely won't put in how he got the nickname JediKiller, let alone what happened to his father, or Jakku if they ever make a film of them, either.
It's a fight. A drop down, drag out, four on fifty, good guys are drawing the line in the sand (or on the ship, this one's a literal sailing on water ship) and will take not another step.
They're going to win or die here.
"Captain! Marry us!"
Both the Handsome Prince and the Captain blink at that, neither expecting that right here, right now, in the middle of a fight to the death that the Princess would think now's the time for some nuptials.
But…
"If today's our last day, then I'll end it yours," The Princess says, fending off the blows of one of the seeming endless number of bad guys, and that… resonates with Rey.
It's the fastest damn wedding in the history of weddings, and likely the bloodiest, but it feels… real… probably because she can remember the feel of fighting the guard.
And maybe that's not the moment that made them married. There's probably no moment that did it. Just a long series of them.
But that's the moment they chose each other. The moment where it became a possibility.
They win. And live.
And the story ends with the two of them on a beach, and there's a pretty dress, and he's in a nice suit, and a few close friends are together to celebrate with them. Rum and bonfires, fiddles and dancing. The handsome couple, "King and Queen of Pirates, married by blood, wedded on sand.' ('Bedded on a hammock,' the amusing side kick adds, under his breath.)
She snuggles closer to Kylo liking the idea of that. Married by blood, wedded on sand, she thinks to him.
He turns his head to her, and holds her a little tighter. If it ever thaws out, there is a beach on Lirium.
Rey smiles at that.
Do you know what a hammock is? Kylo thinks. There's a mental smile to go with that question.
Like a big net with pillows on it.
That could be interesting.
By the fourth one of these, Kylo's feeling a bit edgy. Part of it's just sitting around in one place for too long. A lot of the younger kids aren't even watching the show anymore. They've got that same sort of too much sitting in one place energy that he does, so they're not exactly quietly, but not making a ton of noise, either, running up and down the aisle and crawling around under the chairs.
He's somewhat tempted to join them. And it's not escaping his attention that Critt appears to be leading the run around the aisles games.
(Why they rented out the whole cinema for this is making a lot of sense. If other people had wanted to watch this, the little guys would be deeply annoying.)
And part of it is… He doesn't look like the men in the pictures.
Rey looks like the women. Maybe not right this second, when she's in her casual clothing. (The women in these films do not appear to have casual clothing.) And she's not wearing makeup. (The ladies in the pictures appear to have been born wearing makeup. Even when they're supposed to be dirty and disheveled, even in the middle of life or death fights, they're just… slightly less well-kempt. Even in the one mildly salacious scene where the Prince finds the Princess swimming, she's still, somehow, got makeup on.) But, apply some makeup to Rey, and put her in Princess clothing, and she looks like a princess. Maybe a bit more muscly than the ladies in the pictures, but…
She's awfully close. (Though he does feel her shake her head, no at that, but… She's just wrong about that. All she needs to look like a Princess is a pretty dress and some makeup.)
He's not.
At all.
He's bigger than all of the men. Wider, thicker, taller, bigger ears, bigger nose, bigger lips, bigger feet. Bigger. These men are on the long and lean side of things, and while he's certainly long, he's not (usually) lean. They look like Jon. Even the one with dark hair. (Two of the four of them have been blond, and one has had light brown hair.)
Every one of these films has involved the Handsome Prince fighting. Often with a sword of some sort. (He's not entirely sure if that long, thin, metal toothpick looking thing the one prince is using qualifies as a sword.) Once with a blaster. None of them have any scars. At all. (Though two of them have taken wounds to the shoulder, about where Rey ran him through with her lightsaber. Apparently, that's a 'manly' sort of place to get wounded, or something. Though, on them, it doesn't appear to have impeded the use of that arm, or the ability to crack jokes, at all. He's fairly sure he wasn't making snarky remarks after Rey ran him through.)
Their teeth are perfect, gleaming white, and they smile easily. Even the 'dark' one put him much more in mind of his father's attitude than his.
They do not have moles. Their skin is perfectly even.
They have short hair, and it looks fine because they don't have to try and hide ears the size of scanner dishes, that are determined to jut out of the sides of their heads.
All four of them have light-colored eyes, blue or green, in one case a mesmerizing violet shade, that Kylo feels like he shouldn't be paying that much attention to, but he can't for the life of him figure out if it's real or not.
If this is the universe's ideal of a Handsome Prince, he's going to fail miserably.
Rey squeezes his hand. Yeah, I know that feeling.
He sighs. Rey… You don't look like the women because you aren't dressed up. I don't look like the men because I'm practically a different species.
No, you aren't!
I've got at least seven centimeters, probably fifteen kilos, even now, and a pile of scars on all of them. I've got the wrong hair and eye color. You can tell by looking at my face that I've lost fights. These men don't lose fights. Put you in the right outfit, and you look like you've stepped out of the show. Put me in the right outfit, and I'm going to look wrong, because, like Jon keeps telling me, I'm not built for those sorts of clothing.
Kylo. She sighs a little and snuggles close, trying to flood him with warm, happy feelings.
He kisses her forehead. I know. I love you, too. I don't look like those guys.
She sighs a bit more, and offers him a sugared nut. He eats it from her fingers.
When the movies are over, Kylo and Rey take a moment to talk, and decide to port the kids back. Yes, it's time consuming, but compared to the stress of taking twenty-four now antsy, tired, wired and apparently over-sugared kids through the F-Deck…
Neither of them want to do that.
Jon nods at them, and says to Kylo, "I'll meet you in your office in an hour or so, okay?"
That sounds good to Kylo.
Also, he can, fairly easily, grab four or five of the little ones in one go, so that speeds things up.
And an hour later, he's in his office, sitting on the bench, looking out at the sky, when Jon gets there. Rey's got the kids with Rose, but she'll be joining him in a bit. Both of them know Jon wants to talk to them about what they just watched.
Kylo's not sure what he wants to say about what they watched, so… "Look, I'm sorry about the thing with Jacen. He's… seventeen." And the way he says that number more or less wraps all of the issues up. It's always easier to talk about someone else than himself. And Jacen's prime someone-else-to-talk-about material.
Jon chuckles. "Yeah, I remember seventeen." He says with a knowing nod, and a smirk. "Wouldn't be the first time a seventeen-year-old had an inappropriate hard-on. Had more than a few of them myself back in the day."
C8 decides now's a very good time to fiddle with something in the throne room and heads off.
Kylo raises an eyebrow at Jon. He knows Jon was not unaffected by Jacen's magic... body… self… All three.
He shrugs a bit, runs his hand through his hair, looks away a little as he rolls his eyes. "Wouldn't be the first time a seventeen-year-old caused one, too." He meets Kylo's gaze again. "I certainly did back in the day."
Kylo doesn't know what to do with that. As best he knows, seventeen-year-old-Ben did not inspire anything approaching erotic or lustful feelings, in anyone, ever. "He's too young."
"Yeah, even I could feel that boiling off of you, Papa Urus. I'm not about to go tearing through your young and despoiling them. Though, if anyone was ever gaging for a good despoiling, it's that kid."
Kylo blinks, because he knows the meaning of all of those words, and can feel the emotional content behind them, but that's a bunch of ideas he's never run into before.
Jon really notices that Kylo's sort of lounging, says, "You know what, fuck it," takes off his jacket and gloves, and then gets himself a drink, too. "This isn't an in-uniform formal sort of chat. We might as well both be comfortable."
Kylo blinks a little, looking at Jon. "I thought… Aren't the shirts supposed to have sleeves?"
"The standards ones do, but I find them too hot with the coat. Since the coat was required in the regs, I tailored the shirt to make it work for me. Okay," he sits near Kylo getting comfortable. "When'd you find Jacen?"
Kylo's not sure. "Six months ago?" He purses his lips. "He might be eighteen by now." He thinks for a moment, no. "Seventeen. He was sixteen when I found him."
Jon shrugs. "Doesn't matter. Seventeen, eighteen, all the same. Hell, as we just saw, twenty-two can also still be in the thick of it. Okay, I'm going to say this, and you can agree, or not, or just think about it, but, if he'd been in training with us, as a pilot, for six months, we'd be sending him out in real ships by now. And he'd likely be starting his first combat training runs. So, he's old enough to enlist with us, he's old enough to kill for us, he's old enough to die for us, I'd say he's old enough to choose to fuck and to choose who to fuck." Jon gives Kylo a long look. "Without Daddy butting in and pulling the rug out from under him. If he wants advice, he'll ask you for it. That kid is not shy."
That's another idea that's also never threatened to go wandering through Kylo's mind. And it's clear on his face.
Jon continues, "Yeah, I don't know what you want to do with that, because it's clear you don't think he's old enough to fuck, but…"
Kylo shrugs. "He's… a special case. It's not… seventeen-year-olds in general are too young. I don't know. I didn't think seventeen was too young when I was seventeen, and now it seems freakishly immature."
Jon cocks his head at that, conceding that point.
Kylo's eyes narrow, and he realizes that 'old enough to fuck' might not mean 'Jacen is old enough to have sex' and Jon may be saying to him, 'seventeen-year-olds are old enough for me to have sex with,' "And, I honestly do not care how old your friends are. Again, seventeen seems young to me, but—" He doesn't say that they aren't sure how old Rey is, and it's possible she was nineteen when they first got together.
Jon rolls his eyes. "That's not the way I meant it. And I'm not saying I haven't had some awfully good times with more than a few seventeen-year-olds, but I was…" He thinks. "Twenty-two the last time it happened."
Kylo's not sure if that's a good thing or not. It's also not exactly where he wants to go with this. "Like I said, Jacen's a special case. And, I am attempting to get you to be aware of something specific to him. He's got too much power, and his ability to make good decisions with it isn't exactly balanced well against how badly he wants to get fucked, or be desired… and… All he has to do is ask and you'll say yes, so… Just as a heads up for you personally, which is why I'm mentioning this to you, and as being aware of the challenges of dealing with Jacen, if you're ever alone with him… Just… He probably won't push it, but… He can feel you're tempted, so maybe he would… It might be a good idea not to be alone with him."
It's clear from the look on Jon's face that he's fairly sure he can handle Jacen.
Kylo shakes his head. If Jon's sure about that, it also means he doesn't get the scale of what Jacen can do. And why it's an issue. "Like you said about your Mom, it'll always sound reasonable. Now turn the power up by a factor of a million, if not more. He was just playing with you. Bored, lonely… He used to be at a circus, and then here with the Order; he's used to having company. And just like everyone else, he likes being desired. Which just isn't happening back home. He likes Critt. And that's going nowhere because Critt's all about Savarah. And for all I know both of them are fucking each other, and it wouldn't be an issue, even though they're both younger, because they're equally balanced with each other. But you and Jacen aren't. If he's ever not playing, you'll think it's your idea, you'll think it's a good idea, and you'll want it. He'll look you in the eye, suggest something, and you will say yes. Hell, you practically did, here. You were about to, until I basically screamed NO in your head. He's… honestly… off the charts on voice control. On pure talent alone, he's stronger with that than I am, and Rey, likely combined. He just doesn't know all the tricks. And, we're intentionally not teaching him the tricks, yet, because once he knows them, he'll likely be able to use his voice control on us, too. And if there's anything the galaxy doesn't need, it's a seven… eight…teenager who can get whatever he wants just by asking for it."
Jon can see where that could go, remembers himself at seventeen, and winces. Then he thinks about looking at Jacen and… You'll think it's your idea. And he can't for the life of him figure out if he was genuinely attracted to Jacen or not. Probably. He mentally sighs, imagining Jacen. Definitely. He's a very good looking kid, a very good looking kid who clearly wanted him, and that's always been something Jon's responded well to, but… Would he have done more than just notice… Especially with all the Poe stuff bubbling around in the back of his mind. Shit. Force users."He's the most dangerous of the lot."
"Now. We don't actually know what all a lot of the younger ones can do. And right now, he's pretty well-balanced. Especially given where he came from and what happened to him. That tattoo on his face is not a fashion statement. That circuits I mentioned owned him. That's his bond mark. And, I haven't seen them, but Critt's thought hard about the scars on his back when we've been working together. So, whoever owned him wasn't kind. Given all that, he's astonishingly normal, but… He's still a horny kid who wants what he wants, and… We're working on helping him get what he wants and needs without taking it from people who don't necessarily want to give it to him, or do want to give it to him, but aren't good for him, long term, when it comes to giving it to him."
Jon takes that point. He nods. Jacen looks like a fun afternoon, possibly even a fun few days, after all there's something to be said for a seventeen-year-old's refractory period, especially combined with someone old enough to have some damn stamina, and… If he'd run into Ensign-in-Training Jacen on the F-Deck one evening, and had a look aimed at him like that… Even with the Poe stuff. He rolls his eyes. Especially with the Poe stuff, Jacen would be an excellent distraction from the Poe stuff, he likely would have wandered over, had a bit of a chat, a few drinks… offered to show him his office… Jon rubs his eyes. Okay, he's really got to stop thinking about that, too, because fuckable or not, Jacen's certainly too damn young to be a decent relationship. After all, it would be nice to, eventually, fuck someone who's good for a decent conversation after. Which brings the image of Poe to mind. Which makes him glare at himself and the fact that the universe seems to be filled with good looking men who would be a treat in bed if you could get them into yours. (And then he glares at his mental image of Poe, because he should have been in his bed, but wasn't, and if it was just about being drunk… and that thought dies as Jon realizes that his mental image of Poe is in his bed and all of his images of Poe are of Poe in his home, and at least, as of this point, that's not anything he's done… and that seems worth thinking about, but Kylo's staring at him, waiting for him to respond, very clearly not responding to any of the things he's thinking about. So…) "Always a difficult balancing act, and I'm not saying, especially at seventeen, that I was any good at that. Not sure how good I am at it now, other than better at it than I used to be."
They're both quiet for a moment after that, watching the stars go past.
Jon nods, getting them back to work. "Tell me about what we just watched and what you thought about it. Is this something we can work with?"
"Rey'll be here—"
"I want to talk to you on your own. I want to get her on her own, too. Get the gut feelings on both of you, first, before you go shaping each other's version of it."
Kylo's not sure what the value of that might be, but it likely won't hurt, so… He shrugs a bit. "I don't know. Some of it looked silly, and… I'm not sure how comfortable I am with people fawning over me," Because handsome princes, especially when they're princing about, get fawned at. Not being fawned over seems to be a major aspect of what attracts them to their ladies. He supposes Rey's more or less the polar opposite of fawning, especially when they first met. "and fights really don't work that way," they watched a good six fights, and all of them looked like dancing with swords or blaster.
Of all the things Kylo could have come up with, that wasn't what he was expecting. Jon's voice is dry as he says, "Well, in movies, they're trying to not kill the actors, and they're trying to make things look good, so of course the fight scenes don't look right. If we'd watched something with sex scenes you'd have noticed those are off, too, because the actors, generally, aren't actually fucking each other, and positions that look good don't necessarily feel good."
"Oh. Uh… good." He's quiet, and Jon doesn't miss the way his finger trails from his ear to his scar or the way he chews his lip. He slumps in on himself a little and makes himself talk about what's really going on. "The men in the movies are handsome. They… look like you. And… charming, witty. Like Poe. They… know how to flirt. People flock to them just to be near them. The pretty lady swoons into their arms. And… That's… not me."
Jon's not sure if he should joke or take it dead on. He tries the joke, first. "Like Rey's never swooned into your arms."
Kylo rolls his eyes. "I used the Force to knock her out. She wasn't overcome by my masculine charm."
Jon smirks. "Yeah, well, as someone who knows dress design, let me tell you that if the ladies in the movies' real life counterparts swooned when Prince Handsome came her way, it's because the corset was so tight she couldn't breathe. He didn't knock her unconscious with his masculine charm, either."
Kylo does smirk, a little, at that.
"The guys on the screen are an idealized version of whoever the real guy was." Jon thinks. "You grew up out in the middle of nowhere. You ever see the propaganda pieces the New Republic put out?"
Kylo shakes his head.
"Okay, when Rey gets here we're going to go for a walk, and I'm going to fetch some holovids. I'm going to show you what Luke Skywalker looks like in the movies I saw, and you can tell me if it's even in the neighborhood of the real guy." He takes another moment to look at Kylo, and then adds. "And I'm going to sketch you, too. My guess is you've got no idea what you actually look like."
The skepticism coming off of Kylo is so strong it's about to knock Jon back.
"No. I know what I'm talking about. First of all, you've only seen yourself in mirrors, right? Or have you actually seen a photo of yourself? Without the mask."
"Not since I was eight."
"All right, so we'll start with this. Every image you have of yourself is backwards. And then, if you're like most people, you see yourself as a massive teaming pile of flaws held together by some skin and attitude."
He nods at that, thinks about flaws, and his complete lack of Princely-graces, and how the men in the movies, even during massive fights, didn't sweat, and, "Deodorant?" pops out of his mouth before he meant to say it.
Jon blushes, very slightly. "So, I guess Poe mentioned that."
"Uh huh. You two talking, with each other, about me?"
"Yes, but not the way you're thinking."
Kylo raises an eyebrow.
"Look, as best I can tell, a pack of wolves would have done a better job of setting you up to be a human in this galaxy, and… I was asking about your Mom, because Poe really knew her, and… He wanted to know what I meant by you had holes in your education."
"Oh." He nods, and then licks his lips. "Look, you remember me saying I wasn't going to slap you for mentioning things I need to know? I'm really not. I'd… take it as a personal favor to have someone point this sort of thing out to me, before it bites me. And I'd… rather you just said it to me, instead of talking to… well, anyone who isn't Rey."
Jon nods at that. "Okay."
"So…" Kylo says. "What's missing?"
Jon looks both curious and like he's afraid he's about to leap into a black pit and he's got no idea what's at the bottom of it. "You really want to do this?"
"It's probably better to just get it all out at once instead of… I don't know, tripping over it later."
"Okay. Uh… These are things that I don't know if they're intentional or not. Which is actually why I mentioned it to Poe, because I didn't know if you were doing it on purpose or not."
"Sure, just…"
"Hair?"
"What about it?" Kylo thinks his hair is fairly nice, or at least Rey seems to like it.
"It's good hair. The texture and color are nice. Except when I've got a meeting with you right after you hit the gym, it always looks clean and soft, but… Most men don't wear it longer than shoulder length."
Kylo's eyes squint at that. "Didn't you tell me you used to wear yours long?"
"Uh… No. I don't think I did." Jon's got the feeling he must have thought it though, and that's a bit unsettling. Kylo's looking at him like he's not sure if he just dreamed it up, so however he got it, it doesn't appear to have been intentional. "Though that's true. But I did that when I was a teenager, and… Okay, first of all, blond, so I was in my twenties before I had anything like visible stubble, and, until I got here, I was slim, but I didn't have to do any real physical training, so I wasn't exactly," he gestures to his current, still lean, but muscled body, "and… I don't do it now, but occasionally I'd wear some cosmetics, and speaking of inappropriate hard-ons, back in the day I tended to go as androgynous as possible because it greatly increased the chances of me finding someone to fuck."
Kylo blinks. "You're telling me that you badly surprised a bunch of men, aren't you?"
Jon tilts his head a bit. "And two extremely irate, narrow for women, women. The complete and total lack of breasts and hips should have been a clue, let alone the fact that I'm not exactly a soprano, but not everyone caught it. Long hair, pretty eyes, and it wasn't like I was difficult to get in your lap if I liked the looks of you. Most of them got over it and decided to… expand their horizons a bit. Some didn't."
"Ah." He touches his own hair.
"No one is going to mistake you for a woman. Hair length is just a matter of fashion for this. Though make sure you get it trimmed every other month or so, and… whatever else it is you do to it to keep it so shiny, that's good."
"Rey likes it long."
"Then keep it long." Jon's looking at Kylo's hand as he touches his hair. "What do you do with your nails? Chew them off?"
Kylo doesn't roll his eyes. He asked for this. "Not for a decade. I fight, Jon. That often results in bruised hands and less than perfect nails. Rey'll fix up the bruises when she sees them, but the nails are just short and stubby."
"Don't you wear gloves when you do that?"
"The gloves are heat protection. I'll use them if I'm using my saber or training blade. I don't for hand to hand."
Jon nods. "Okay. Once a week, your hands go in the manicure box my mom gave Rey. Get your feet, too."
Kylo can understand the idea of his hands, people see them, sometimes, when he's not wearing his command blacks, but… "Rey's the only person who sees my feet." He took his boots off when he decided he didn't always need to do his business at the conference table, but he's still got his socks on.
"Now. Who knows when we'll be hosting or attending something where people think socks and shoes are rude?"
"There are people who consider shoes rude?" He can't keep the incredulity out of his voice.
"Yeah. Anywhere the streets are dirty, people tend to prefer shoes go off before you enter their home."
"Oh." He supposes that makes sense.
"Plus, the manicure box feels good. I guarantee you'll like it."
He shrugs a bit at that. "After the receiving line we did the massage boxes, and that felt good."
"That's basically the same thing." He keeps looking at Kylo. "You ever think of growing out your beard? You… look a lot younger than most of the men in this sort of position, and a beard may help with that."
"I am a lot younger than most men in this sort of position."
Jon can feel there's something defensive about the beard, hence that response. He decides not to poke it.
Kylo's fidgeting a little. "You gave me the colognes… Do I… need them?"
Jon shrugs on that one. "Scent really is, most of the time, a personal preference thing. Again, part of asking Poe, I didn't know if it was intentional or not. Scent… It's… you know this, instinctively if you haven't thought about it, but… It's really tied in with our sexual response cycle, so… I didn't know if that was something for you and Rey, or if you just didn't know deodorant was a thing."
"Until last night, neither of us knew it was a thing."
"Okay. When it comes to cologne, many men wear it. But not all, and most don't wear it all the time. Again, except when you hit the gym before a meeting, you… Don't smell like much of anything, sometimes just yourself. Sometimes her on you." Jon leans a bit closer to Kylo and inhales. "It's, generally, pleasant." Then Jon rolls his eyes a bit as he settles back. "But… unlike a lot of men you work with, I enjoy the smell of male skin and fresh sweat. Uh… lots of good memories attached to those sorts of scents. It's... well, tied into my sexual response cycle, too. So… Take that for whatever it's worth. In the meantime, use deodorant or hit the sonic when you get done with working out, then go to your next meeting, if looking ragged and smelling sweaty isn't what you're going for."
Kylo opens his mouth, decides he doesn't have a comment to add, and shuts it.
"We were talking with Rey about this, some. Most cultures have status symbols. Ways to indicate that you're the guy in charge, or that you demand respect just by existing. To an extent going straight from the gym to meetings is a power move. You're the guy so secure in his position that he doesn't need to make nice for the others around them."
"Put that way, it's rude."
Jon inclines his head, knowingly. "That's kind of the point of a lot of power moves. You're showing you don't have to play nice. But it doesn't have to be that, for example, you not wearing a First Order uniform, and the lightsaber, was also a power move. You don't need the uniform to command respect."
"But, because I'm attempting to act like I'm some sort of peacemaker and… secure in my command, I guess, I don't carry the saber every day now…"
"Exactly. You're packaging yourself in a way to send certain messages. No saber, no visible weapons, and no guards says you're secure in your holdings and you can, with your bare hands, level anyone who tries to make things otherwise.
"Just like that, how you take care of yourself is also a collection of status markers. Hands that aren't bruised and smooth, shiny nails tells people you don't have to work with your hands. Meaning you've got smarts or wealth. You've got both, so… Since your formal and command blacks have gloves, it's less of an issue, but…" He glances at Kylo in his casual clothing.
"But I'm also wearing both of them less, because I'm… Not sure. It just doesn't feel as necessary all the time."
"That's a status marker, too. The man secure enough in his command he doesn't have to dress for it. That's a different lesson for a different day, though. Anyway, the colognes I got you, they're a status symbol, too. Both are fairly subtle, mid-range expensive, and rare enough that most people couldn't name them at the first whiff. You can get them on this ship. Obviously, I did, but it's not on the shelf of just any apothecary. Something one out of ten thousand guys can afford to wear, maybe one out of a million would. Just trying to send the message that you're a man who takes care of his physical body and is willing to spend some money on it, but not so involved in himself as to make a hobby out of his grooming."
Kylo nods slowly at that. "Some guys do that?"
"People make hobbies out of everything." He pauses. "I mean, don't get me wrong, getting all cleaned up can be pleasurable. Treat yourself right, get stuff that smells good to you, and… I mean, you've got to do it, so you might as well enjoy it, but… Some guys are really into it."
Kylo thinks about that for a moment, too. "Poe said there are probably places on this ship that'll take care of this for you?"
"Oh, yeah. Uh… a lot of the Specs'll take care of grooming if you like that, too. For some of them, that's all they do." Jon shrugs a little. "Having an attractive human hop in the bath with you, scrub you from head to toes, shampoo you, give you a shave, trim your hair, and take care of your hands and feet feels good. And they sell feeling good." Jon smiles a little. "Add in a massage and a suck or a ride, and that's a really good evening, you know?"
Kylo nods. "Not with the Specs, but… Rey'll wash my hair and…"
"So, you know. But, yes, for example, there are shops on this ship that sell nothing but shaving stuff. Soap, gel, cream, after shave, balm, razors, brushes, pre-shave, in every scent, color, slickness, whatever, you can think of. And then, if you like, they'll take all of your goodies use them to shave you. So, yes, for some guys this is a hobby as well as just getting clean."
"Ah." Kylo's not sure if he wants to investigate that or not. He thinks of something else Poe mentioned. "What's waxing?"
"A way of getting rid of body hair. I…" Jon's eyes narrow. "Thought you must have known about that. Your chest is naturally hairless?"
Kylo rolls his eyes at that. "Just about." Kylo thinks back to Jon post-shower before the Last Night party. "And yours isn't?"
"No. I like shaving, but I don't want to do most of my body every day, so…" He stops. "Some cultures prefer men with some hair, some with lots, and some with none. If I'm planning on playing, and don't know who I'm going to be playing with ahead of time, I take most of my hair off."
"What's most?"
"I like the little line of it from my naval down, and leave my pubes. I feel like adults should have some hair, you know? Most of the time men have some, but I've played with some completely hairless women, and… It feels nice, but it's also sort of distracting."
Kylo just blinks slowly. Feels nice he can understand. Distracting is completely out of his range of experience. "I don't really want to know what you're talking about, do I?"
"You're probably fine not knowing. Especially since you know the person you have sex with real well, so soft and smooth might just be fun."
Kylo looks at the floor, and quietly says, "According to Rey the growing back in part is really uncomfortable and itchy."
"What did she do, shave it off?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, don't do that. If you want to try, go get one of the Specs to do it." Jon grins at him. "Seriously, soft and smooth is a treat."
"Ah." Kylo's not sure if he should blush at that, or see about setting up an appointment.
Jon's still eyeing him. "The scar."
"What about it?"
"A decent plastic surgeon could have it gone in probably a few hours, and a day of bacta patches." Jon can feel how horrified Kylo is at that idea. It hits him like a wall. "And I'll just never bring that idea up again, shall I?"
Kylo nods, slowly.
They're both quiet, and then Jon says, "Why am I not ever bringing that up again?"
He's about to say that Rey put that scar there, but… She also put the one on his shoulder, and one on his leg, and he's fairly sure he wouldn't have a full body disgust reaction at the idea of losing them.
He touches his face, thumb along the edge of his scar. He can't feel it anymore, it's flush with the rest of his skin now, but he knows where it is. The line of his face under it is numb, and likely always will be. "Ben doesn't have the scar. For years… I wore the mask so I didn't have to catch reflections of Ben. I… never see him in the mirror anymore. That's… uh… also why I don't grow my beard out. Master Ben had a beard. Or at least attempted to grow one." He touches his cheek. "Hair doesn't grow there." And the underside of his jaw. "And looks like some sort of diseased rodent down there. Only place it comes in well is around my lips and under my chin. I shaved it off and changed my name when I was twenty-two. But, Ben was still there. Now… I used to feel like I was Ben, except Ben wasn't anything anyone could ever be. Ben was hope and dreams and… No one could have been Ben. But I was supposed to be Ben. And for a long time, I felt like I was a failed Ben wearing a Kylo suit. So, I kept Ben covered, completely." He touches the scar again. "Ben's dead. He has been for a while now. His ghost pops up now and again, and I get to deal with that, but… The scar, the long hair, no beard…" He gestures to his sweater. He's in casual clothing. Most of it is still black. "The black. That's Kylo, not Ben."
Jon nods once, and says, "Oh."
Kylo nods, too. "Yeah. Anything else?" He can feel Rey returning to the room. She's a few meters behind them, and closing, and now she's behind Kylo, wrapping her arms around him, and kissing the top of his head.
"Not a bad idea to always have a few mints on hand. I tend to eat one at the end of every meal. Just to make sure I'm not wafting whatever I ate last at everyone." Jon looks up to Rey. "Great. Okay, you come with me, I want to pick your brain before he gets a hold of it. You," he looks to Kylo, "go chew through a few more data pads or something. We'll be back in a few hours."
Rey looks amused by this. "And what are we doing?"
"Chatting, and I'm going to go find a few things to help convince your man that he doesn't look horribly out of place among the Handsome Princes."
Rey smiles at both of them. "That's exactly what I want to hear."
Kylo doesn't roll his eyes. He does look at the stack of datapads he hasn't put nearly enough of a dent in.