PublicPrivate

by Keryl Raist

This is the third book in the Tao-of-The-Force-verse series. If you haven't read Tension/Balance or Rumors/Gossip, it's not going to make a lick of sense. If you have... We're starting off right where we left off. The First Year parties are ending, the Order is coming into it's own, and Rey and Kylo...

56. The Farmer King

4/25/2

When Jon, Schiff, and Kinear have left, Rey and Kylo look at each other. There's a breath when they're both still looking calm, and then it cracks and shatters.

Kylo feels a wave of exhausted jitters break over him at managing to keep himself from beating the shit out of anything during that.

"I… You should leave." He doesn't want to rage in front of her. Sometimes, he just has to break stuff, but he doesn't feel like she needs to see him do it. And right now, he wants to pull his saber and cut everything in this room to pieces.

"Fuck that. I'm scared, too. Let's… Go to the training gym." She's looking up at him, eyes intense, and he can see she's trembling, too.

"You want to… fight?"

"Yes! Let's go kill things!" Because this feels awful. This feels hopeless. Even with a plan, this feels like just staving off death, slowing it down… The gray line is hovering behind them as they stare at each other, completely aware that it won't change anything, but it might make them feel better.

And that's worth a lot.

"I love you." And he means it, deeply, devotedly, and right now, that's worth a lot, too.

"You should. I want to kill things and throw up."

"I think that's mostly me." His knees also feel loose and shaky. He needs to fight right now.

"Eight trillion credits. We're EIGHT TRILLION CREDITS SHORT…" She's feeling herself moving from trembling to shaking. And he's got her wrist, and they're in the training gym.

He shoots home the bolt on the door and starts to pull off his blacks. They're too finicky to really fight in. He's not ever fussed about training in just trousers and gloves. Rey's outfit is too nice for fighting, though, and he'd rather not get a visitor in here if she's topless.

Rey's looking around, muttering eight trillion over and over. It's very clear that she does not, generally, go beat the shit out of things when she's feeling stressed out, because she doesn't look like she knows where to start. She turns back to Kylo, seeing him in his trousers and boots, and that seems to jerk her into a somewhat better mental space. She does smile a bit at that. "We are fighting, right?"

He pulls two training sabers and then tosses one to her. "How hard do you want to go?"

She spins it around in her hand, feels the swish and the movement of it. It's good. Stable, satisfying. You can fight your problems, or run away from them, and neither of them like running away. She keeps staring at him, black trousers, boots, gloves, and a training saber in his hand. "How hard do you need to give it to me?"

He blinks slowly at that. She can feel his mood start to lift at that comment, and hers follows. He doesn't say anything. though. She's setting the boundaries for this.

"Nothing I can't heal in less than ten minutes."

Kylo nods. He'd really rather like a few good licks of pain right now. Something to feel real, and here, and grounding. Something he can pull off of and resettle himself. "I'm good with that. You want to take your shirt off or pull your hair back?"

She does notice he's got his hair back now and seems to keep some ties around here. He pulls one of them to her, too. She does up her hair and tosses off her shirt. Her eyes widen a bit, mostly in curiosity, because she can feel this is sparking some more intense non-combat-oriented interest in him.

He just shrugs a bit. "I don't think I ever gave you any reason to think I didn't like fighting you, did I?"

She swishes the training blade around a few more times. "You did mention something about not wanting any more scars from me."

"Yeah, but I also said I was game to fight. I don't want to bleed for this…" Maybe not entirely true, but he doesn't want the kind of hit that'll scar. "I'm perfectly fine doing it for kicks though." Plus, this time she's not angry with him, which is also making him enjoy the idea of a fight, more.

"Good to know," and then she leaps at him, aggressive, moving fast and jagged, and Kylo falls back, grinning bracing himself to take the strike. He does, it cracks across his chest and shoulder, stinging with a burn, and he beams at it. This is what he needs right now. His arm is up, his blade moving, as he spins into better position.

Rey's flying with it. This is better than fretting. It's cutting through the hopeless and helpless, fast. And it seems to be doing the same for Kylo. No matter what, no matter how bad the news, he can fight.

"Yeah, love, come at me! Give me your anger, I can take it!" His eyes are sparking as he deflects shot after shot, dodging right and left.

"You're not attacking," she says, training blade missing his head by centimeters.

"Give me some time. I'm learning. Hard though it may be to realize, I've never actually really attacked you, love. You've always come at me."

"Really," she says, starting to breathe hard. That's not exactly how she remembers it, but it could be true.

"Really." That sounds too damn good, too damn dirty, coming out of his mouth like that. Then the blade that had been reversed, tucked behind his arm as he dodged out of the way is suddenly coming at her and she's twisting back, trying to get her blade into the path of it, and they strike a loud, jarring crack, one both of them feel deep in their bones and thrumming into their shoulders.

"Fuck, that's good," Rey says to him, riding the feel of that hit.

"It really is," he's leaning down into her, making her take his weight, using his height to his advantage, and she makes a little kissing gesture before letting herself fall back, taking him down as she twists out of the way. He rolls with the fall, coming up on his feet seconds later, flipping back to face her easily.

"We really should do this more often," Kylo says.

"We should," Rey replies, dodging another blow. She gets her saber up, slicing deep and even into his with another hard, solid hit.

Again, it's good. The power, the speed, the hit. The feel of it coursing through the blade to hand and arm and shoulder.

His next shot gets her in the shoulder. She winces and hisses; it's hot after all, and he wasn't just playing; it hit hard.

He drops his training blade and is immediately at her side, kissing the burn.

She pushes him away and lifts the saber to his grip. "I'm not some little fancy flower that'll die if it bruises. Come on."

He stands, blade at his side, and smiles at her, before gesturing for her to come to him.

"Well, if you want it that way," she says.

"I always want it when you're giving it to me."

She leaps forward again, putting him on defense. He's moving back, twisting, before he leans in for a hard, deep kiss.

She kicks his leg out from under him and lands on top of him, their blades skittering away.

He's already snaking his hands up her back to pull her breast band off. "I'm already liking this better than any other training fight I've ever had."

"Really," she asks breathing hard, as both of his hands slam to the floor, pinned by her Force. "How about now?"

"Shit, Rey!" He can lift his head, but his hands are going exactly nowhere. There's a huge grin on his face, though.

"You like this?"

"A lot. You feel it, don't you?"

She does, flowing between them, hot and ready. It's the emotions of the fight, of fear, and anger at the things that can't be changed, not right now, maybe not ever, the things they can't make better. It's hopelessness and despair, all rolled into a fight, and rolled over again into the only thing that destroys fear, banishes hopelessness, love.

He's tenting his trousers, and she's not just wet with sweat.

And of course, life. The call to life. To pleasure. To the good things they can pull out of this fucking mess of a universe.

"And this?" she asks as she settles on his lap, rocking against him.

He groans up at her. "You know I like that."

She touches his wrist, through the glove. His arm strains a bit but doesn't move. "And this?"

"Yes, I like that, too." He's never spoken about how much he enjoys the idea of her pinning him, but it seems awfully clear she's got the idea, now. He plants his feet and arches up against her, letting her feel how much, the long thick press of him between her thighs.

"Distracting in a good way," she says as she meets grinds down on him.

Now he's breathing hard, as her finger worms under the edge of his glove. "Very good." He arches again, looking to find a rhythm against her.

A long groan. Him? Her? Both. Probably both. The emotions are raw, and the lines between Kylo and Rey are starting to blur, starting to bleed away in color feels and the rush of so much between them.

She stands up fast, pulling off her trousers and yanking down his, feeling pulled toward him, pulled into him… His eternal, luminous… him. The Kylo/Ben/Life that defies name and boundaries, that glows through his skin, that isn't bound by the shell of this body.

He's arching up toward her, pulled to her. To the life that inhabits Rey, that makes the shell more than the sum of its parts.

It's not sex. Not just mechanical slippery friction. Or it is, mechanical slippery friction in its ideal state. All of it flows together. Life and love and fear and hope and responsibility and desire to run, and it's glowing, alive, between them and the slip/slide thrust/grunt lick/kiss glow of it.

On one level, he's standing now, Rey's bum in his hands, legs over his arms, her arms around his neck, going as hard and deep and fast as possible, bodies chasing pleasure, chasing surcease from fear.

On another level they're energy, luminous, whirling to and with each other, melding, supporting each other through the fear, and celebrating their own, internal, eternal life.

And after, shuddering and slowly winding back into their own heads, own physical forms, the problems aren't gone, and the fear isn't vanished, but they're in a better place to deal with whatever comes next.

---

Jon has things he's supposed to be doing right now. A lot of them. An unending pile. Part of why he's got his own datapad on him at all times, so he can just get to it while he's in this fucking lift for the next at least an hour as he slowly rises the multiple klicks to where the next job is.

But the pad is in his back pocket, and he's not reaching for it. And instead of keying in the floor his office is on, he hits the button for I-Deck. After all, he is supposed to be there later this afternoon. That's on his schedule for today.

Meet with Mum and Ellie, see about the continuing look of the Rens and get them in front of more people in the hopes they can drum up some credits.

That makes him feel flat.

Which is why he's not going to his office.

He tabs a very familiar number into his comm. "Hey, you're on board today, right?"

Poe's voice replies. "Yeah. I am. You looking for company?"

"Very much so. I'm an hour away."

Poe's voice sounds pleased. "I'll be in my flat."

"Good. See you soon." Jon's a little worried about how much better he feels saying that. A lot worried. But it's at least a different worry. One that's in his hands and under his control and he can do something about it. Like telling himself that it's okay for him to genuinely look forward to having lunch with Poe. That this is normal. That he's allowed to feel genuine… affection for someone else. That he's not betraying Lane. (Though that one's hard to swallow, and he rubs his wedding band as he thinks it.) Em talked about this when she was getting serious about her new man. How it felt… wrong… like a sin… to really enjoy someone else.

So… normal. This is a thing people do.

As opposed to try and find a way to make eight trillion credits pop up out of the ethers.

---

Later, calmed down, and dressed (though in more casual clothing) Kylo and Rey are back in his office, mostly not trying to think about the huge financial black hole hiding just a outside of view. Mostly, they're going over reports.

"Ah, good, you're back," C8 says as he heads in. "I have the report you wanted."

He hands over a chit that Kylo pops into his data pad, and they both read,

Coffee 62,580 C/k

Sirguran Truffles 55,098 C/k

Kettlbrominine Figs 48,987 C/k

Vanilla Orchids 45,999 C/k

Saffron 42,098 C/k

"Credits from dirt?" Kylo asks, staring at the report.

"I expect it's somewhat more involved than that," C8 replies. "But if you go to the next report, I took the liberty of compiling where those plants grow, and the most similar biomes we have inside our own territory. Some of them are actually populated and might be capable of producing plants in the next few years."

Kylo sighs. He looks at Rey. "So… My cousins are spending what they consider a blindingly stupid amount of money on resuscitating dead biomes in an attempt to bring Alderaan back from the dead, and all we've got to do is offer them something they want in order to try and pry some people from them who'll show us how to take a collection of blighted planets that we intentionally destroyed and turn them into farms, preferably ones that grow extravagantly expensive luxury produce."

Rey looks at him with a somewhat amused smile on her face. "That's the plan, I guess. And somewhere along the lines we need to shift recruiting enough to locate enough people who know how to grow things to get those plants into the ground, making money for us."

"And it'd be really nice if I can do it, somehow, without spending any more money on it, and get it up and producing in less than eighteen months." And they've once again sighted the black hole. Or, more precisely, the current projection for when the gray line touches the red. His head lands on the desk, and she rubs his shoulders a bit.

Her hands are soothing, her words not so much, "While at the same time shifting your recruiting policy to limit the number of slaves you've got to pay for to tighten up operating expenses while also not choking the number of people coming in."

Kylo sighs and looks back up, "Which means talking to Poe."

Rey thinks for a moment. "Last I checked, he's on ship today, so…"

He nods, also getting a feel for Poe. "Up on I-Deck, which I keep meaning to go up and visit, but haven't because…"

"Yeah." She understands the territory covered by 'yeah.' "When's your next meeting?"

Kylo checks his pad. "Tomorrow morning at 08:00." They both look at the pile of reports they're supposedly going through, but mostly not. "Feel like exploring I-Deck? Maybe getting dinner on F-Deck after. Let people see us. Go do some more handsome pricing and whatnot?"

She smiles a bit at that. "Sure." Rey takes a moment to think to Poe, You busy right now?

If it really matters, no, otherwise I'd rather keep doing what I'm doing.

Rey's got the sense that Jon's around Poe and decides they can take the long way up. How about an hour from now?

An hour from now, I'm pretty much free. Why?

We're heading to I-Deck and have a proposition for you.

She's got the sense of him eyeballing Jon, who must have headed straight up after their meeting. Interesting. You want my lunch companion to stick around and join our chat?

Likely wouldn't hurt. She can feel Poe smirking Jon, and the sense of Jon being relieved about something.

See you in an hour, then.

---

"And there's a solution to your problem," Poe says to Jon, as they finish up lunch.

"Which one of them was talking in your head?" Jon asks.

"Rey, this time, though I assume Kylo's nearby. Apparently, something is up, and they want to talk to me about it," Poe says, pointedly. Jon's been chatting brightly about how things are starting to perk up on the diplomacy floors, construction is speeding up, and he's getting a lot fewer reports about targets not being met, and very pointedly not talking about anything else. And Poe know the smell of evasion when it's waved under his nose. (And, he also didn't miss that Jon's apparently got a new cologne, which he wouldn't mind getting closer to, at all, but that's neither here nor there.)

"Yes, something is up, and I'd prefer to not be dealing with it for the next," he checks his chrono, "twenty-seven minutes, unless you've got something that gets me out of visiting my mum."

"I might. Though I still think I should just go with you."

"First off, we're talking shop, not a social call, and secondly…" He doesn't say, 'You aren't my boyfriend' because… Well, whatever the fuck this is… "My mum's an Imperial from the old days and…"

Poe waves that off. He knows what Jon didn't say. "Yeah, you've mentioned. She didn't shoot me the last time we worked together. Besides, moms like me, and you want someone to take the focus off of you, so…" He sips his drink. They're in his flat on the I-Deck, which is starting to look like a place where someone actually lives. Granted, in this case 'lives' means something along the lines of, spends one out of four nights here, but it's an actual place, that isn't Micah, where he's regularly sleeping, and BB's got a charging port, so… That's home, right?

Who knows, if he's feeling really frisky, he may decide to do something crazy like put a picture up, or maybe get some furniture beyond the dining table they're sitting at? (Well, he does have a bed and a chair in his bedroom, but he's hoping for vastly different circumstances the first time he brings Jon there.)

"So… It sounds like one or both of them is headed this way, and now I've got an excuse to skip out on Mum."

"Yeah. They'll be up in an hour or so."

Jon sighs. "He's a higher priority than she is, but… Shit. They'll talk to you about it, and me sitting here enjoying your company isn't going to make it go away," and he begins to explain what this morning's meeting covered. The short version.

At the end of it, Poe sags a bit, and sighs, and mouths the word fuck, before saying out loud, "I'd hoped I was done with this when the Resistance folded."

"Got some experience living on credit and nerve?"

"Something like that. Scrimping and saving and shorting one bill to pay the others and writing IOUs instead of transferring credits into the pay accounts… It's a shit way to run an organization."

"Yeah. I… Well, I don't actually know, but I can empathize." Jon takes another sip of his drink and eats a bite of his spiced garbanzo stew. "Anyway, part of being up here is to talk shop with Mom in half an hour," (Technically, it's an hour, but it'll take him a good twenty-five minutes to walk to the side of I-Deck his mother is on. He is not at all fussed that Poe didn't decide to move right next door to her.) "is that we're working on getting the two of them out and about more to try and entice people to give us large chunks of credits, and I want to check in and see how we're doing on costuming for them for these events, and since we're getting into range of a wedding date and whatnot, I'd also like to see how that's going."

Poe nods at that. "So… You just… 'Hey Mum, I need Rey and Kylo to look like fashion plates for 'insert name of gig here,' and she does it?"

Jon laughs, and laughs, and laughs at that. He then says, "No," completely flat and deadpan.

Poe lifts a bite of stew to his lips and waits, eyes warm, for Jon to keep talking.

Jon rolls his eyes a bit, but then says, "I'm here. On board. You know, on this ship. Doing Order stuff. So, it's been more than a decade since I've actually had any feelers in the outside world, which means I don't know, not really, not anymore, where the social whirl is or who's in it. She still does. So, she and Ellie do their thing together, with gods alone know what on the lists, and they come up with venues and ideas. Then I go visit, get the updates, and since I 'know them better' I'm the one who goes through the lists to see which ones we can take them to and have it work well."

Poe nods. "Okay, makes sense. So, what's up next?"

"Uh…" Jon rubs his forehead. "Internal interview soon. We're going to start splashing them all over our newies, and the wider galaxy will re-broadcast. So, we're going to need a collection of cute and casual, 'look at how pretty and smart and fun our people are' outfits for that."

"Outfits? Plural? You're going to get them to sit still, in front of cameras, for multiple interviews."

Jon nods.

Poe laughs. "Do they know?"

"Not yet, and I don't need you mentioning it, either. He's easier to manage when he's calm, and he's got more than enough not-calm on the horizon right now, so we do not need him stressing out about this."

"Got ya." He's still chuckling. "How about serious stuff?"

Jon nods, understanding 'serious' to mean, actually brings in credits, as opposed to stuff that potentially brings in credits. "Got Kylo on his own for the first time a bit later. He's 'getting to know' the Kress, because they want to 'feel him out' before finalizing a deal where we take over their internal security with the Rim."

"What's that sort of contract run?"

"I don't remember the net, but gross is on the order of 150 billion for five years."

Poe whistles. They ran the entire Resistance, for ten years, on less than that.

"Kylo also doesn't know that number and likely doesn't need to, so..."

Poe nods. "Keeping them calm. Got it. I saw how Rey reacted to the eight billion contract, so..."

Jon nods back at that. "Then Rey and I'll show up for the dinner later that night, and the final round of contract signing in the morning, assuming they like what they see. Rey's hitting Naboo soon. Ellie and Mum have that in hand. The first of the meet and greet and get to know people galas is the middle of the fifth month. And I know there's at least one that's going to be here, but the details are not in my head right now."

Poe nods at that. "Rumor has it we were hoping to get to Canto at some point to bankroll the… non-Order stuff."

"Last I heard on that one, we were still working on figuring out how to get in and not have everyone immediately twig to what Rey and Kylo are doing."

Poe smiles. "I may have an idea on that. When can you get it onto the calendar?"

"Beginning sixth month, late fifth, probably? How fast do you need it?" He is, after all, aware of the fact that Lirium is getting less functional by the minute.

"Faster the better, but it's not like it's got to happen tomorrow."

Jon nods. "Okay. What's the plan?"

"Chewie took Jacen gambling. And here's the trick. Jacen's watching the cards… and losing. Chewie's winning, because he's got a constant stream of intel in his head, subtle-like. And Jacen, if he works at it, can make people decide to bet more, or stay in longer than they should, play stupid, you know?"

Jon's nodding along getting the idea. "So… Send them in, in full regalia, as themselves, and… Then have a ringer at another table who's going to clean up?"

"That's the idea. Maybe a few ringers."

Jon remembers Kylo's note about him joining in on some of these. "You're dragging me to Canto, aren't you?"

Poe just about sparkles at him. "And you're going to love every minute."

And the kicker is, he probably will. Though thinking more about that… "It's not a bad venue, you know? Assuming we can get them to really play the role. Go, meet people, be pretty. Look cool and like they're having a good time. See who wanders by to chat, and what about. People already go there to make deals in a relaxed sort of place. We can… suggest that we may not have Canto's amenities, but we do have better security and discretion."

"So… a few days? Maybe two days and two nights?"

Jon's nodding.

"Ever heard the phrase two birds with one stone?"

Jon looks curious. "Uh… No. I'm not entirely sure what a bird is. It's slang for a ship, and they lay eggs, but I've never actually seen one."

Poe shakes his head, and then nudges Jon. "City boy," and gets to explaining.

---

"So, you've never been up here before?" Rey asks as they head to the elevator on the F-Deck. (Vastly faster to port to the F-Deck, with a do-not-look spell, and then ride the elevator up to I, rather than take the almost hour to go all the way up.)

"I honestly don't think there was anything up here until Jon decided to turn it into a space to stick visitors." That's not true. Before Starkiller, it was likely additional personnel space. But in those days, he was on the Finalizer and had no reason to know who lived where or how on the Supremacy.

The elevator doors open and… It looks… fairly similar to the residential area of F-Deck they ported to. It doesn't sound similar, though. It's immediately noticeable that there are a lot fewer people up here. There's no tram traffic, and very few people wandering around, none of them in uniform.

Rey's thinking that if they've got about six million people they don't know what to do with, at least some of them might want to start by colonizing the I-Deck. She can feel Kylo recognize that thought and tuck it away to find out what possible pitfalls are hiding in that idea. "And now?" she asks.

"I think I read a report about it a while back. Adjuncts like Jon's mom. I think we've got a few diplomats here. There's maybe an embassy or two. I know this is where we tuck people who come to take advantage of our space, at least for the time being. The reports say we'll move them to XX, YY, and ZZ once they're up and running. Some officers who have their own flagships decided to get flats up here, so they've got a place to stay when they're on board. Probably some of the shop owners. And I think we've still got some people who haven't bothered to leave since the Last Night party."

"I hope you're charging them rent."

Kylo looks around at the empty space. "Me, too."

They get to the first of what, on the F-Deck, would be a market zone, but up here is two shops, three food carts, maybe twenty people, and a lot of empty space.

"Supposedly Poe and I are going to find a place to put a chapel up here at some point."

Kylo's nodding along at that. "Doesn't look like competition'll be too stiff."

They keep heading through, and are once again in another residential zone. "Think the doors are unlocked?" Rey asks.

Kylo shrugs. They can both feel no one lives in the apartment next to them. "Why?"

"Well, maybe it's not the greatest offer ever, but… Maybe there are some trained agronomists who might like a nice, free apartment, and the opportunity to see the galaxy."

That doesn't sound bad to Kylo, at all. He wiggles his fingers. "Want to see if this is the master key to any handprint lock on board?"

"Sure."

He places his palm on the pad, and after a moment the door pulls back.

"I suppose that's good to know," Rey says, as they both peek into the apartment. It's fairly dim, barely illuminated by the light from the hallway. "We're too deep in for window access, aren't we?"

He nods, and feels around, finds the lighting panel and turns them on. "I don't know why I'm surprised that this looks like Jon's place."

Rey inclines her head. If he set these up, the idea that they're similarly arranged isn't bizarre. Likewise if this was here before… well, it probably dates to around the same time Jon's flat got set up. "Walls and stuff moves so you can personalize, right?"

He shrugs. "I'd assume so, but it's not anything I've ever tested. Water and refuse probably stays the same, so it likely can't be reconfigured too radically."

She looks around. "How many of these do you think are up here?"

"It's got to be smaller than F-Deck, and that's configured to hold more than four million officers. Three million flats? Some stupidly huge number, I'd assume. F-Deck is the full sixty by twenty, so up here we're likely at… Fifty-three by seventeen. Maybe a bit more."

Rey's looking around. "F-Deck's not full, is it?"

"No. There are people all the way through it, because we try to house people somewhere near where they work, but I think my current officer corps is something like a million people." He watches the way she's looking at the apartment. "Thoughts?"

"Just that this too looks like a good place to encourage people to settle. How many people in those 'holding camps' would be fairly happy to get a flat up here and start a business? Or on any of the other decks?"

"We'll find out," Kylo replies.

---

Jon takes a quick breath before hitting the door chime.

"Come in," his mother's voice, sounding slightly exasperated. She's mentioned that he doesn't have to knock. He's welcome in her home, but… Over his dead body. That's an intimacy he's not comfortable with, not with her, and not here. After all, this isn't the home he grew up in.

His hand does open the door, though, so it's only a moment of pressure and scanning, and then he's in.

"Jon!"

"Hi, Mum. Ellie."

"The Ladies," as he likes to think of them, are 'convening.'

And apparently, for the purpose of this endeavor, he gets to be an 'honorary' lady. He's idly thinking that he needs to start dragging Rey to these things. Being involved in things like wedding planning, and managing your man's wardrobe are traditional wive's duties, so she might as well at least show up on occasion.

"Grab a cuppa and let's get to it," Ellie says, which makes him think that she's already aware of bigger things and wants to get dealing with them.

He does grab a cup and skips the biscuits.

Mirina raises a brow at that. "No sweets?"

"Just had lunch."

She grins at him, having him here in her clutches, she gets to start asking the kind of questions he'd normally skip. "And how is your pilot?"

He doesn't miss the way Ellie's watching and listening, as she's supposedly going through the calendar of possible events.

"Poe's fine."

"I see him around; you know? Looks like he's moved in."

Of course, she does. They live five klicks apart, but she sees him. Or he just goes wandering around where she is. They probably chat about the non-existent weather or something like that. He grits his teeth. Next thing he knows, Poe'll probably start sidling up and asking to take Mirina to tea and… doing whatever it is he does so 'Moms like him.' "That would be accurate," he says, voice guarded.

"Moved in for you?" Ellie asks.

"Moved in because being on-board is convenient." He decides not to talk about the fact that 'on-board' for Poe could mean that Micah is on one of the landing docks, but instead he got himself an actual apartment here. Mostly because he doesn't know what he thinks/feels about that. "He's not just here for me; you know? Kylo and Rey are meeting with him, now."

"Of course," Mirina says, sharing a look with Ellie.

Ellie smirks a bit. "C8 tells me that the Master has requested that you join him on at least one out of three of the fun outings. And apparently Master Dameron will be attending them, too."

Jon rolls his eyes. "Kylo thinks I work too hard, and that's a way to force me to take some time off without leaving me cooling my heels, going stir-crazy, at home."

Mirina looks impressed by that.

"Yes, Mum, he's genuinely a friend in addition to my Boss. I'd rather he was a little more concerned on the Boss side of things right now," because work and more work and work after that is… soothing. 'Numb yourself,' that's what Kylo had said, and he wasn't wrong. But Jon's very much not sure he's ready to not be numb. Numb is a hell of a lot better than where he was, and it's much more comfortable than dealing with everything that goes along with not being numb. "But he's trying to be good to me."

Ellie nods at that. "Well, that's actually a good thing, also from a job perspective." She hands over the list. "Options galore. Pick ones that you think would be fun for you. If they go with someone who's genuinely intending to enjoy the venue, that'll keep them more open and approachable."

"And given how they did at the Last Night party, also a bit more relaxed and easy," Mirina replies. She has not forgotten the way Jon was able to move a bit closer, kiss Rey's cheek, and get Kylo to stop looking like he was about to eviscerate anyone who was going to lay a hand on her.

Jon tilts his head, and begins to read, and check things off. That said, he also tries to keep in mind that his idea of fun is likely not the same idea as his two super-sensitive little introverts who he's got to manage through these things.

As he's scanning through, he says, "Tell me about Canto. You think they'd let us play on credit?"

Ellie looks intrigued by that, and Mirina puzzled, though she does say, "They'll let the Master play on credit, and if you let them know which Frakes you are, they'll let you play, too. That said, I'd really appreciate not seeing a multi-million credit hit to my account."

Jon waves that off. "If it happens, it won't be on the books for more than a day or two. And I know you can float that."

"It's not that I can't, it just makes for messy bookkeeping."

"And that'd fuss Shelia. I know." His third youngest sister, the one who handles the Frakes' accounts. She does not like messy accounting, and money bopping around for no good reason is very high on her list of pet peeves.

"And what's got you thinking of Canto, Jon?" Ellie asks.

"Opportunity. A few side projects. As Poe said, two birds with one stone."

The Ladies do not miss that that's Poe's opinion of the situation, or that Jon has it.

"Maji business?" Ellie asks.

"As if you don't already know," Jon replies.

"Believe it or not, I do not, in fact, know everything."

Jon's not sure he believes that, but he's also fairly sure that if they don't know now, they will soon, so lying isn't going to get the job done, not here, not now. "Maji business. Making us look better off than we actually are. Maybe padding out their personal petty cash fund. Stuff like that."

The ladies do not miss the idea that they're looking to pad out the personal petty cash fund with millions of credits. Let alone do it on credit.

"The Master gambles?" Mirina asks, trying to imagine Kylo holding a hand of cards, looking polished and practiced. The image won't form in her head. "He's… not a natural fit for it. Every emotion in his head is on his face."

"I have a feeling he's got some deeper talents than expected on that front," Ellie replies. She continues to think for a moment. "How much can you float, Mirina?"

Mirina tilts her head to the side, bites her lip in the way Jon knows means she's pulling something from memory, and then grabs her personal datapad to check. "I can swing fourteen million without it pinching. Twenty-three if you can guarantee the funds will be back in a day or two."

Ellie nods at that. "Credit," she says to Jon before he can ask. "Won't do for the Master to be seen gambling on credit. That said, if he and his lady are out for a good time as the guests of a friend…"

Jon nods, seeing the angles on that. "Got it." He hands the list of events back to her. "Okay, there's two things a month, now to eleven. I'm leaving twelve free for wedding stuff. We may move up to three or four if it looks like they can take it, but only after we see how the first few rounds go."

"Wise," Ellie replies. "If we do this up correctly, there'll be an increasing amount of entertaining here on the run-up to the wedding, so leaving twelve open makes sense."

"I know they're doing something private and personal before the big wedding, so we're keeping the third week of twelve free, okay? Nothing goes on the schedule that week," Jon replies.

"I can do that," Ellie replies. She makes a note in her own list. "What are you envisioning for the Canto trip?"

"Show up, look swanky, spend at least a night hitting the clubs, just be seen. Second day, lounge, pools, restaurants, maybe take in a show. Tables the second night. Next day, more laying about time. Be visible and approachable. Play the tables more. See who comes by for a chat." Jon replies.

Ellie nods at that. "I've heard worse plans."

"People know he's some sort of Jedi. Or at least used to be. Especially since this is set after the first interview. It'll be… gauche… if he cleans up at the tables," Mirina says.

"We've got that angle covered," Jon says. Apparently, he's going to finally get to meet the infamous Finn, or at least lay eyes on him. If the plan goes right, the two of them will never interact directly. Plus, they're still debating if Jacen'll slap on his Ensign's uniform and go as an adjutant who just happens to have a very good run of luck on his off-time. After all, someone of Jon's rank would usually have a young officer who just runs around doing errands and handling paperwork for him. He sighs. He should have someone who does that. He pulls his pad out, and makes a note for his secretary to go looking for some candidates for someone to do that. He's fairly sure Jacen might be willing to fake it for a few days, but he wouldn't be willing to take that job, not full time.

He looks up, thinking about their ringers and glances to Ellie, then remembers his current rank, and just fires off the next note.

"Moment of hesitation?" Ellie asks.

"Sometimes it does take a moment to realize that I can just order a pleasure yacht for myself, on the Order accounts, and know no one'll hassle me about it."

"Even now," Ellie adds.

His pad chimes, and he sees confirmation of the order. "Even now. If we're going to do this, with a ringer, we need to get the ringer there, in style, so…"

"Ah," Ellie says. She thinks for a moment. "The ringer… That wouldn't happen to be an ex-stormtrooper?"

"He literally tells you everything as soon as he's out of the room, doesn't he?" Jon asks.

"Of course, dear."

"Yes, it's likely said ex-stormtrooper and his wife can be dragooned into playing against the Master, and winning big. I've been told there's a certain amount of natural tension between the two of them, so even with Kylo and Rey's not exactly awesome acting abilities, it should look right."

Ellie smiles at that, and Mirina looks pleased.

"It'll be interesting to see who sidles up to the ex-stormtrooper for a little chat, too."

Jon blinks. That was an angle he hadn't seen. "I… Yes, it will." And now he's also wondering if any of Kinear or Schiff's ex-First Order cleaning crews will show up, too. Probably a good idea to mention that to Poe, just make sure he reminds Finn that there are people out there who go out of their way to take care of people who might make things difficult for the Order.

Ellie smiles. "And how are you and the Master and his lady getting there? Rey's transport?" (It was Jon's idea for how to design the branding on the ship. It was Ellie's plan to make sure that Rey had a lux transport ship with her own marks on it.)

Mirina shakes her head. "Not if they're going as the guests of friends. You can use our ship, if you'd like."

Jon blinks. "Uh… Oh. That'd… probably be nice." The House of Frakes owns a collection of ships. After all, deliveries have to be made, and they have to be made in style. It completely wouldn't do to show up with a nine hundred thousand credit dress is some bit of sky trash.

The main yacht, which is designed to be… well, exorbitantly luxurious, because, after all, sometimes weddings are held at venues where an extra dressing room would come in handy. Glorious windswept beaches and cliffs are common enough. Glorious windswept beaches and cliffs that come equipped with super lux hotels and beauty spas are a fewer and further between. So, a place where the bride's party could gather, and, well… party, ahead of time, and get dressed, come out looking amazing, and, of course, there has to be a few staterooms for the Frakes that come with the dress and make sure it fits properly, and staging areas for the people who come with the bride to make sure everything goes off properly, and…

It's a nice ship.

Mirina smirks at that. "Your pilot will like it. I've been told by people who know how to handle a yacht that it's got an awfully sweet ride."

Speaking of things Jon doesn't know what to do with, the idea of Poe, all dressed up to play the tables, at the helm of Gossamer, likely making snarky comments as he handles her through hyperspace, makes his insides feel… wiggly. And he's not sure if that's in a good way, or not.

---

"No Jon?" Kylo asks as he and Rey step into Poe's place.

"He's got a date with his Mum, getting all the bits and bobs planned out for you. I figure we'll reconnoiter for dinner, unless one of you is on kid duty?"

Kylo and Rey shake their heads; they cleared today so Rey could focus here instead of at home.

"So… money trouble?"

Kylo sighs looks around, at the table and chairs, and decides that the carpet on the floor is an okay option, and flops down, stretching out. Rey nods at Poe, sitting next to Kylo.

"Thoughts?" she asks. "You and Leia used to do this, right?"

Poe sighs long and loud at that, too, as he also settles on the floor, thinking that maybe, in addition to a picture or something, he might get a sofa. Hell, if this… people over thing is going to happen regularly, he might decide that seeing if he can pull Jon into helping him figure out what the hell to put into an apartment might be a good idea. He's looking around at blank walls, a table with two chairs, and a carpet, and imagining Jon picking things out here… That's an image that makes him feel warm inside.

He's woolgathering, and Kylo and Rey are waiting for him to respond to the question at hand. (Though they also appear to be a bit amused by what must be the very easy to read fantasy at the top of his head.) "I mean… Yeah, but it wasn't what I'd call a good time."

Kylo says, "Yeah, I'd rather skip that, too. And we're going to. I hope. Maybe pray. I don't know. There's the start of a plan. Two plans, both of which I'm going to drop on you, Admiral." He rolls from his back to his side and props up on one elbow.

Poe rolls his eyes. He gets up and pours them the three of them a cup of coffee. Kylo takes his, holds it in his palms, and lets the warmth and scent roll over him. Inhaling deeply.

"Is this the last…" Poe asks, watching the way Kylo's not drinking his cup. He's gotten so used to having some around that he went numb to how much it costs.

"Uncertain. Apparently, I was off by a factor of 600 for what this costs, so… But I've also been told that in the time we've been together, today, the Order has spent more than my lifetime's worth of coffee consumption, so that it's really only a big deal in the fact that I'm now aware of the fact that this is likely a six hundred credit beverage," Kylo says, staring at the cup.

"And that's yet another reason I'm really not an Admiral. The numbers get so big they stop meaning anything, you know?"

Rey's still staring at the cup. It fits between her palms, and the idea of that much… money… in such a tiny space... "I remember you saying it, now. Back… when it was still summer on Lirium… That the jar with the coffee beans in it was worth more than the settlement, but… it didn't sink in."

"And it's sunk, now?"

She looks up at Poe. "It's sunk."

"It's also, maybe, the start of the first set of plans," Kylo sighs, and then takes a sip. And sighs again.

"So…" Poe says. "Plan the first."

Rey takes a sip of her cup. "Plan the first. Stuff like this is expensive because it's hard to produce, or there's a cartel keeping a stranglehold on it, or both. Or so we've been told."

Poe nods at that. "Coffee, specifically, costs more than gold pressed latinum gram for gram because the trees are tetchy little boogers that only like to live in very specific types of places, and don't produce anything worth having for at least twenty years, and if Force forbid, the wrong fungus show up on your planet, all you've got left is firewood."

They both wince a bit at the twenty years bit.

Rey glances to Kylo. "More seeds."

He sighs. "More seeds."

Poe stares at both of them.

Rey shakes her head, and then says, "Planting today doesn't mean food today. Seeds go in the ground, and sit there, and look like nothing's happening."

Poe nods. "And you're thinking… coffee production? That's plan one?"

"Maybe not coffee specifically. Twenty years is a much longer time horizon than I was hoping for," Kylo says. Though, saying it, he's realizing that, really, any plant production he's thinking of is probably at least three years to getting something useful out of it.

"But, we've got planets, and dirt, and people, so… We should be able to make those three things produce valuable plants," Reys says.

Poe smiles. "All right, I like that. And what do you see me doing with this?"

"Seeds," Rey says.

"Well, maybe not coffee, per se, but things that are controlled by cartels. We're going to need people to go in and… liberate… some seeds," Kylo says. He digs around in a pocket, finds the chit with the list of plants. "I'm sure there's more, but this is just the start of a list of plants that go for big money."

Poe tucks the chit aside, as his grin gets even wider. "Oh… Yeah… That's…" His teeth are gleaming, eyes bright, and he's enjoying that idea. "Sounds like you're going to need some… smugglers." That smile just gets wider.

"Yeah," Kylo says.

"And someone who knows where to go to get the stuff, and how to get it out, and… You know, detail work," Rey adds.

Poe looks very pleased with that idea. "Yeah. I may just happen to have a few scoundrels in my contact list who'd enjoy a job like that. Especially, if it paid well."

"For the scale your contacts work on, I can swing the credits," Kylo says.

"And… it's probably better if they don't go in covered in Order branding," Rey adds.

"Yeah. I get that. Not going to go in in the big black ships with the hex on their shoulders."

"Not what I mean, Poe," Rey says. "If… well, plans the second come to fruition, you can't go on plan the first. You can help get it set up, manage it, oversee it, pick the people and targets, but if they see you on it…"

That's something Kylo hadn't thought of, yet. "Oh, right."

Poe's looking curiously at them. Then he catches up. "Fuck!" he mutters it sincerely. Liberating some seeds sounded fully in his wheelhouse and he was planning to enjoy it. "Master Dameron of the Maji, good friend of the Rens, companion to the Grand Marshall can't go along on stuff like that, and keep everyone else in the dark about who's pulling the strings."

Rey nods. "Yeah. So…"

"And plans the second?" Poe says.

"You talked about it earlier. Master Dameron comes along on fun stuff. He sweet talks the powers that be, spreads the word, along with Lady Ren, about this new faith, and how there's a place for everyone in it, and then figures out where to stick churches so we can… spread the good word," Kylo says.

"And preferably spread the good word in places where we're about to stop offering droids to replace slaves," Rey says.

"That's a new wrinkle," Poe replies, thinking. "So… You've got some places where the official Order recruiting may… leave?"

Kylo winces. "That looks bad, doesn't it?"

"It really does," Poe replies. "But…"

"But paying for droids is expensive. Paying for new recruiting stations when people set fire to them because we're no longer paying for droids is expensive. Getting into shooting fights is expensive."

Poe's nodding along as Rey's explaining. "Everything you can possibly think of to cut costs brings up new costs?"

"That's the idea. So…" Kylo says, looking at Poe expectantly.

Poe spends a moment thinking it through. "It's doable." He smirks a bit. "Okay, you want my advice on this, keep the stations you have that pay for slaves where they are. Any new ones, set on worlds that don't practice slavery. And then let me and mine wander into places where slavery is legal. It'll look better."

Kylo and Rey think about that, and then Kylo says, "I'll run it past the bright boys."

Poe rolls his eyes. "Not me, huh?"

"Different sorts of bright," Rey says. "He's got people who figure out what things should cost to get the most good out of them."

Poe nods at that. The New Republic had people like that. The Resistance, didn't. "I was just talking with Jon about the Canto trip. Uh… have you talked to Jacen recently?"

Kylo shakes his head as Rey nods. She looks to Kylo, "I forgot to mention that. Chewie took him gambling."

Kylo sighs a bit at that, not sure if he should be pleased or jealous. He settles for not really thinking about it. "And he tried some of the tricks you're teaching?"

"And amazingly enough, they worked just fine. Anyway, talking with Jon about all the handsome princing you two are supposed to be doing, and that got us to Canto, which, if memory serves is a place filled to the brim with people who don't want to piss you off because you're in the market for the stuff they sell, or people who want you dead are in the market for the stuff they sell. However it works, you're good for business. And they may be the sorts with less than snazzy labor conditions on their own home worlds who'd likely also be amenable to your Lady's pet church opening up a branch or two."

That makes sense to Kylo.

"Anyway, we're hoping to go there in the not wildly distant future, so that's probably a good place to begin on the listening, learning, and doing some recon on where and how to put chapels," Poe says.

Rey nods along, seeing how that might work. "And we look pretty, and talk about balance, and…"

"And lay it on thick with how valuable the message of the Maji is among certain sections of the population. How we're offering a philosophy that teaches that there's a place for everyone, and that…" He ponders for a moment… "And that in order for the universe to exist functionally, that there are highs and lows, and light and dark, and for every nob at the top, there's someone at the bottom."

Rey winces. "We aren't actually going to say that, are we?"

"We're going to imply it very heavily without actually saying it. Nothing in the 'official,' meaning the kind of chapel that's on planet in a wealthy area, will even hint at anything along the lines of the Force being for and of everyone, and that balance isn't just a tool for making the powers that be feel good about themselves."

When Rey started thinking about this new, balanced Force, she ran headfirst into that trap. Balance isn't good. In the wrong hands, it's a tool to justify whatever the hell it is you want to do. Package it right, and it would likely be a very soothing balm for people who don't want to examine their consciences too closely. Maybe… at least some sort of surface level of do-goodery has to be on there, something to improve things and make people feel good about themselves, but the real message can stay where it's most needed. "But what we teach in the lower levels…" Rey smiles.

"Will look very different," Poe grins back. "We used to do stuff like this with the Resistance all the time. Smuggle ideas in right under the people who were hunting us down."

"Don't we need… Someone other than us to spread that message?" Rey says.

Poe shakes his head. "Honestly, since we're mostly setting these up as a way to keep eyes on people who are interested in us, and as a way to get people out of bad situations and places… I mean, we'll get them on the 'basics' with instructions that anyone who's really interested in knowing more needs to come join us for 'special tutoring.' If we spin it right, we'll likely have people giving us slaves and servants as a way to supposedly keep ears on us and attempt to gain favor."

Kylo blinks. He takes a moment to parse that, and then says, "We open a chapel of the Maji, and use the people in there as spies. They report back on local conditions and try to get people who want to leave, out. The other powers that be will send their people in, who will spy on us. We'll attempt to get interested people to join us, here, and that's why they'll give us people, so they can get a better idea of what's going on, while we do the same, and… This is like a hall of mirrors."

Poe grins at him. "That's why it's fun."

---

"Holy hell, woman! NO!" Jon just about spits his tea across the room as he's looking at the latest of the sketches. "You design dresses that sell for hundreds of thousands of credits, the fact that you can't put together a decent men's suit is embarrassing."

Actually, all things considered, it's likely not a terrible suit. But… even the sketch doesn't bloody fit right. "Mum… Have you ever looked at him?" He's shaking his head. "He's got at least fourteen more centimeters around the shoulders, his waist is narrow, but deeper than you've got on this, and his thighs are bigger around." He's tutting as he uses his pen to shift the proportions on the sketch, and then he looks at it more carefully. "Better. He doesn't look like an off the rack model. We could just buy him clothing if that was the case, and let Rey shine next to him in her custom wear."

Ellie shifts her head a bit. "We can do that anyway." After all, there is a reason why in many cultures men all dress similarly for formal functions, and that's so the ladies will attract all the attention.

"Yes, I know, but she doesn't want to be the center of attention all the time, either," Jon replies.

Mirina purses her lips, but doesn't say anything, other than to update her measurement files. After all, when he was young and designing, this is exactly the kind of critique she used to give him.

Jon keeps flipping through the sketches. Most of them he's nodding at, a few he's putting into the 'think more about' pile, and some are going into the 'only if I want to make his brain literally explode' pile. He stops dead on one of them, closes his eyes in pain, and then says, "I'm perfectly fine with you adding some dark colors into his wardrobe, but lace and ruffles is a complete no go. If I attempt to take him somewhere he's got to wear frilly lace flounces, he'll pout at me."

"A fate worse than death," Ellie replies.

"I'm just saying, if the potential financial reward is under fifty billion credits, there will be no lace."

Ellie sniggers at that.

Mirina deletes a collection of potential fabrics from Kylo's palette.

Jon flips to the next image… He gets his pen out again. "Needs more skin. This is the relaxed, nice-casual interview look, right?"

Mirina nods.

"Which means this should not look like a slightly retooled uniform. I want to see at least his clavicle on any outfit that is informal. And no gloves. In fact, let's make sure the sleeves are rolled up on at least some of these. He's got good forearms, we should see them." He's still looking at the image, but he can feel his mom isn't loving this. Traditionally she's the one who gets to be bitingly critical, so he flips through a few more. "I do like this one, though, Mum." 'This one' is a simplified, retooled, new version of the command blacks, with a slight altering to spruce it up for semi-formal blacks, too. "Good design, clean lines, not too many do-dads. He'll like this."

This seems to be the largest bit of value he adds to these meetings. Basically, he can rest easy knowing his mom will put Rey in something that's attractive, classy, suits her personality and the venue. She's… sketchy… when it comes to Kylo.

He flips to another sketch and almost swallows his tongue. His, first, knee jerk reaction to this is not just that Kylo's brain will explode, but it'll blush once it's done spattering. That said… He bites his lip and reads more about the Gurnel venue. His eyes skip up to who'll be there and why they hope to go. The potential to meet useful people is high. It's the one peaceful planet in a system at war, and it's also used as a sort of neutral ground safe haven. They likely wouldn't mind being able to hire some extra defensive military, and the people who are attending this gathering likely want safe places to talk and meet. His hand rubs over his face as he contemplates the sketch of Kylo in a skirtle.

Jon would wear one, himself, no problem. And unlike some of the other outfits, the sketch looks good, because, well, a skirtle is basically a dress, and his mum can do that in her sleep. Even on someone Kylo-shaped. (For that matter, if you were particularly well-off and had a bride who was Kylo-shaped, you'd just about kill yourself to get Mirina Frakes designing the dress, because she'd do your girl up, right.)

If he can get Kylo into one… He did wear the kilt, of his own choice. But the kilt wasn't that high… and low… cut. And Jon did just say, 'more skin,' and this is a lot of more skin, so…

"Hand me the sketch of what Rey's wearing for the Gurnel venue." He glances at that, nods, and at the men's wear. "We can do the skirtle. He'll probably be distracted enough by Rey that it won't fuss him too much. Just make sure this is one we can back out of sudden-like if need be." Ellie makes a note of that. The right people will get a rumor of maybe some sort of upset going on that might need the Master, fast, when they get there.

(She's personally betting that Kylo will take one look at a skirtle, get an acute case of modesty poisoning, and run away from that venue, but…They'll see. Jon does genuinely know him better than she does, after all.)

Mirina hands him another set of sketches. Jon's again nodding along at the dress for Rey. "Wedding gear, I take it."

"Formal, elegant, restrained…" Mirina says.

He's nodding along. "I can see this… Maybe not…" It's a white dress, and it looks good on the sketch of Rey, very… Mistress of the Maji, Lady Ren, a queen in her own right, sort of look, but white's just not hitting him right, not for this wedding. "Still not loving her in white for this."

"We can re-do in silver," Mirina replies. "That's our palette right? White, black, silver. And of course, he's going to be in black, so…"

Jon thinks more about that. He flips through the wedding suit sketches, which he doesn't love. He's shaking his head. "This is… Not it." More staring and thinking. "Do her dress in black and silver…" He taps the pad… "Bleed the color. Black into silver… I'll work up a suit for him in white and silver. We'll flip their colors for the night. That's a good wedding sort of vibe."

Mirina's expression could best be categorized as, 'Don't teach Granny to suck eggs,' which Jon not only doesn't understand on a literal level, but also doesn't think applies here. "I'm the one spending the time actually learning and figuring out how the Order and Maji and balance and the two of them work."

He flips to the next one. Yet another attempt at Kylo's wedding wear. For a moment, he's fairly pleased by this. It looks good. Dignified. Flowing robes, a lot of layers, dark colors… This looks… familiar. When he slots the image he's looking at in front of him to his memory of history, he glares up at his mum. "The Chancellor? That's who you're basing these images off of? You figured, what, he wouldn't recognize the look, and I wouldn't fuss?"

Mirina shrugs a bit. "It's elegant, dignified, and looks properly expensive and formal. This is good wedding-wear."

"It's also the exact opposite direction of where he and the Order want to go. You can't dress him up like Palpatine."

"And we won't," Ellie replies. "We've got time on this, so let's table it for later." She pulls out the 'casual interview outfit' sketch. "This one comes up next week. Fixes?"

Jon nods and starts to alter the sketch.

He doesn't look up as he's re-doing the neckline, so he misses Ellie and Mirina smiling at each other. If he had seen it, it just possibly might have occurred to him that his mother does design dresses that cost hundreds of thousands of credits, so that she very likely can make a functional and attractive nice casual outfit that fits properly and looks good on Kylo, and maybe, just maybe part of getting him involved in all of this is about more than making the Master look appropriately turned out.

Maybe.

"How would you feel about doing some interviews, too," Ellie says.

That gets Jon looking up from the sketch. He raises one eyebrow and says, "About… what?"

"Good question," Mirina replies. She doesn't look up from her datapad, and he assumes she's going through her fabric register to see about new upgrades to the wedding outfit palette.

"Recruiting? Options in the Order beyond killing people? Diplomatic service? What we can offer people who wish to be here? Dressing Rey and Kylo. You're young, pretty, smart, speak well, have a lovely posh accent, and my guess is a lot of people would be happy to watch and listen to you talk. So…" Ellie says.

Jon opens and closes his mouth for a moment. "I'll think on it," comes out.

The ladies share another look, and that one he doesn't miss.

"What are you laying the groundwork for?"

Mirina's expression doesn't change, but he suddenly knows what's going on.

He sighs. "Just because Kylo wants to be out in ten years, and he thinks I might be a good next Master doesn't mean I think it's a good plan."

"No one said anything along those lines."

"No one had to. I can see the wheels turning, Mum."

Mirina smiles. "You'll be well-placed for it. Know all the ins and outs. A good, mature age to rule. It's not a bad plan."

Jon sighs. "I didn't say it was a bad plan. I said I didn't necessarily think it was a good one, for me." He does his best not to think about what comes after Kylo. And what, if the longer plans are going to work, he might have to do in the after Kylo space. "Unless things go radically different than I expect them to, in ten years the Order will still need someone at the top who knows his ass from his elbow as a military commander, and that is not me."

"No, it's not," Ellie replies. Her eyes sparkle. "If only you had a dear friend who had an in-depth knowledge of running a military organization from the ground up."

Jon sighs, loudly, at that.

"You are allowed to date again," Mirina says.

"I do date."

"No. You indiscriminately shag anything that takes your fancy. Dating is about finding someone your brain likes as much as your body."

Jon's eyes narrow. "I… It's not indiscriminate, you just haven't figured out the pattern. And… as for… Fu-" he's in his mother's home, not his own, and he can see her getting ready to pounce, "stuff this! You want to talk to me about seeking out a new partner? How about this, I'll have that chat about it with my step-dad once you get around to getting me one, okay?"

"Jon, it's different for women."

Jon rolls his eyes, viciously. "Women like sex, too. I have that on very good authority from some of my other 'dear friends' who, according to you, I'm not dating."

Mirina flashes that look right back at him. "Not, how I meant it, Jon. Finding a man who would agree to an allowance from the House of Frakes, but no legal right to ownership of my business meant that none of the men who struck my fancy ever got invited home for supper, let alone started to talk about being a step-father to you and your sisters." She shakes her head. "Vetting your brothers-in-law to make sure none of them would try to wrestle away control was difficult enough. There was no chance I was going to let some pair of pretty eyes try it on me."

"Ah." He decides that no further comment on his part is necessary.

"You are sweet on the pilot, though, right?"

"Mum…" Long deep sigh. "That's… complicated."

"Is he playing hard to get?" Ellie asks. It's clear from how Ellie asks that she's aware of the fact that Poe is apparent just as easy to 'get' as Jon is, and apparently Clan Kinear has been rather surprised as to how slow the two of them are moving.

Jon blinks at that, and again finds himself wondering if Pat's got a listening device in his rooms or something. "Am I here to talk about my love life or to get the Rens up and ready to show off theirs for the sake of the wider world and getting people to fall in love with The Order?"

"You're an immensely talented lad, Jon, you can do both," Mirina replies.

Jon sighs again. Then his comm chimes. He grabs for it, quick, and just about purrs with pleasure when he hears Kylo's voice. "Jon. We need you for a consult, now."

"I'm on my way." He leaps up, grabs the sketches he's taking from rough drafts into finished versions, and gets out of there fast.

---

Ellie and Mirina look at each other. Ellie smiles a little. "Well, I suppose that one line there is literally all we need to know about how much Kylo cares for your boy, and how sensitive his Force is when it comes to one of his loves in distress."

"It could be a coincidence."

"It's not."

"I know." Mirina tuts a bit as she looks over the list of outings Jon's approved. "What do you know about the pilot?"

Ellie sips her tea. "More than you do, but not that much more. What we saw when we were working with him before the K'Arans is pretty much what's there. Good looking, charming, good in a crunch, competent, capable. Probably not the best long-range planner ever, but coupled with someone who's good at that, he'd be a valuable addition."

"He was an Admiral in the Resistance." It's clear that Mirina doesn't love resistance but Admiral appeals to her.

"And he'd be the first one to point out it was an honorary title. Honestly, if the next Master is Jon, Poe'll be a good sounding board, but he is going to need to find someone who actually knows tactics and organizational design beyond shoot big holes in the problems."

They both know Kylo's got to hire out for that, too, so it's not a problem that can't be overcome. But they also know that the time frame that involves Jon as a possible Master mostly likely doesn't include the people who are doing that for Kylo right now.

---

"See, I told you I should have gone along with you," Poe says as the door slides open and Jon heads in. He rolls his eyes and flops his portfolio of sketches down onto the table. "They won't ask how your love life is if I'm sitting right next to you."

Jon sighs, and then pointedly glares at Kylo, who he assumes is the one who told everyone why he wanted a rescue, and then looks at his companions, sitting on the flood, says to Poe, "You need more chairs."

"BB doesn't need one, and this is the first time I've had more than one person here." (There are, in fact, two chairs at his breakfast table. After all, he is currently hoping that one day he'll have someone to sit in it on a regular basis.)

"Hmmm… If only we knew someone with a fully kitted out apartment… Say, maybe close to where the food is…" Rey adds.

"You're hungry?" Kylo asks. Lunch wasn't that long ago.

"I did get a workout today," she shoots back to him. "And it's…" she looks for a chrono, "okay, not nearly as late as I think it is, but still…" Rey gets up, and takes Jon's hands. "Come on, let's get closer to the rest of things," and in a heartbeat, they're in his apartment.

A second later Kylo and Poe are, too.

"Yeah, this is just convenient," Poe says. "I could leave all the rest of the Force goodies if I could just teleport."

Rey shrugs, "In all the reading I've seen, this one is unique to us."

Kylo nods at that, too. "But I'm not adverse to attempting to teach the others."

Rey raises a brow at him.

He shrugs a bit. "If Jacen's really going to be a good pilot, the ability to ditch a ship when you're a second from impact would be really handy."

Poe nods solemnly at that.

"Speaking of your baby Maji," Jon says. "I was thinking about this eventual Canto Bight trip, which is on the calendar the second week of six… The Ladies approve."

That gets a look of surprise from Rey and Kylo, as they, and Jon settle into more comfortable seats in his apartment.

"He got me thinking about it," he gestures to Poe, "And I got talking about it, and… Mum and Ellie had a good wrinkle to the plan, and…"

"And Jacen's involved in this wrinkle?" Kylo looks very confused by that.

"No, but we'll get to that. Okay, first of all, if The Master and Lady Ren show up at any of the high-end spots on Canto, they will absolutely let you stay, and play, on credit. All bills come due eventually, but unlike any bank in the galaxy, Canto will make enough off of just you being seen there that we're worth the credit risk.

"But, as The Ladies pointed out, it wouldn't look good if The Master and Lady Ren are playing on credit."

"Well, I guess, like the coffee, we're not actually talking about real money, not at the rate the Order spends it," Poe says. "And not if you're paying it back, fast."

"True, but not where I'm going with this. The House of Frakes will stake us up to 14 million, and the Gossamer, which is a seriously nice pleasure yacht, so that I can take my friends out for a good time."

Kylo and Rey are both stunned silent on that.

"I'm sure Mum'll make sure that everything you wear there, at least on the main casino floors, Rey, will have our mark on it, and the ship floating around in the bay is free advertising, and again, she likes the idea of us being so deeply entwined with The Order so… It's good for business."

"Your mom'll just float you fourteen million credits for a fun weekend," Poe says, eyes wide. Yes, he grasps the idea that Jon's family grew up rich, but…

"Poe, there's a series of climate-controlled rooms under the flat I grew up in currently holding something like 30 million credits worth of cloth, and more in gems, jewelry, thread of precious medals, stupidly ornate shoes, and on and on. The reason she'll float me fourteen million credits is that's what we can play with, and lose, and it won't pinch too bad. Assuming we can get the money back by the time we're back on ship, we can up it to 26 million."

Everyone around him blinks. Yes, compared to the Order funds, those are tiny specs of currency. But, they're also enormous numbers, but enormous numbers everyone there can actually fathom. And that makes a lot of difference.

So, for another moment, the silence holds. Even Prince Ben didn't grow up in a house like that.

Then Rey blinks back to the real world. "And Jacen… What's his role in this?"

"Ringers, that's what Poe was talking about. We need people to play who aren't the two of you, but who can win, and if I just happened to have an adjutant who has some off time…"

They think about that, and then Kylo shakes his head. "Bad plan."

"Because…" Jon leads.

Kylo doesn't really want to get into the real reason he thinks it's a bad plan. Mainly that the last thing he wants to do is stick what's likely to be a celebratory and possibly drunk Jacen anywhere near a flirty and likely drunk Jon, let alone with Poe right next to him because that's just going to be a clusterfuck of epic proportions.

He also manages to very quickly leap to a good alternative reason.

"Because our ringers need a way to get to Canto, and if the Ticos are the sort of big money high stakes players they're supposed to be, they'd have a pilot, right?"

That gets a few nods, and Kylo relaxes a little.

"Plus, we're trying to not make it look like the Order is cleaning up at the tables, so some random pilot who gets a nice bonus from the Boss on his night off…" Rey says.

Poe's smiling. "I like that. How's Jacen on moving stuff?"

Kylo wiggles his hand. "He's better with his mind than body, or with the physical things around him, why?"

"I was thinking that getting him on craps or a roulette wheel would be the way to go."

"There's time," Rey says, "We can practice, see how he does."

"Actually, speaking of practice, how are you two with cards?" Poe asks.

---

The third time the cards go skittering out of Kylo's grasp as he tries to shuffle them, Poe rolls his eyes and says, "How can you possibly not be able to do this?"

Kylo shrugs and scowls at the cards, sweeping them back up onto the table.

"I'm fairly sure my fish should be able to do this by now," Jon adds, voice not even remotely helpful.

"Well, they've only watched us do it ninety-seven million times," Rey adds.

Kylo shoots her a you too? mock appalled glance, and then puts the cards back in his hands. He can feel part of the issue is that these cards are made for smaller people than him. They're just kind of tiny in his hands and that doesn't make for easy shuffling.

The rest of it though… it's just not happening.

And, that it's not happening is abundantly clear to everyone else at Jon's breakfast table, too.

He hands them over to Rey, who splits the deck, shuffles them twice, bridges them, shuffles them again, and then flips the deal out to the four of them with ease.

"Well, at least one of you looks like Han Solo's kid," Poe says.

That gets a glare from Kylo. They play the hand, and Poe wins it, easily. Yes, half the players know what he's holding, but… well, even Kylo and Rey can't top three sixes if the cards just don't come to them.

Kylo's not really paying attention to the game. He's paying attention to ways to look like he belongs in a casino. Like he's… smooth and steady and… practiced.

As Poe's pulling the chips to himself, Kylo says, "Pass the cards to me again."

"New plan?" Jon asks.

"Yeah. I'm going to have to practice, but…" Poe passes the deck to him. Kylo lays it flat on his palm, hand up and out. He focuses with his Force. He figures cutting the deck without touching it should look good. Then he lifts the top half of the deck, lifts the bottom, and slips the top under it, and then floats it over to Rey to shuffle. "How's that look?"

"Show off," Rey says with a very warm smile as she starts to shuffle. "Here," Normally, she shuffles, and then offers the deck for a cut. She finished shuffling and holds it out. Again, Kylo cuts without touching the cards. And then she shuffles again.

Both Jon and Poe are grinning. Poe's nodding slowly, "Yeah, that'll do."

"How good are you with that?" Jon asks.

Kylo raises an eyebrow. "How do you mean."

"Well, for example, people know you don't shake hands. Maybe you don't touch the cards either. Can you play without having to hold them?"

"I can try."

Poe's grin goes even wider. "Oh, if you can… That'll be the biggest fucking shaft move ever. Swagger on in, hover the cards in front of you. Whip 'em around with the Force. Shit… Deal. Oh, that'd be fucking awesome. We've been wondering what to do about you being a Force user in a casino. Don't even try to play it down. Play it up, and then… Spin a line about how it's like counting cards. Everyone at a table in Canto can do that, so they'll grasp the basic idea."

"And we keep it vague about you using the Force?" Kylo half asks Rey.

"Probably. I normally keep that sort of vague. I'm good with rumors and whispers. I don't usually confirm or deny, and if asked…" she's thinking.

"You're my luck," Kylo replies. "My Uncle Lando used to say that there were only two things a man needed in life, a good cape, and a little luck."

"Did he?" Jon asks.

"Not really, but he did used to say that all the skills in the galaxy were worthless if you didn't have enough luck, so… I mean, these are the kinds of people who knew, or at least knew of, Lando Calrissian, right?"

Jon inclines his head. "It's likely at least a third of the people there own, run, or work for corporations that have contracts with one branch of Calrissian Corp or another."

"Good."

Jon gets up, heads over to his drawing table, and starts to sketch, fast.

"Jon?" Poe asks.

"Just making a quick visual note. Master 'Luck' Ren, might need a bit of a cape with his outfit."

Kylo raises an eyebrow, but Jon's focused on the drawing board.

He's eyeing it, hard. "Maybe not. We'll see." He heads back to the table.

---

Dinner.

The four of them, together, out on the F-Deck, getting a meal. That's the plan, at least. They're walking through the market section closest to his apartment, in search of, hopefully tasty, sustenance.

Jon can feel that this is still something of a novelty for Kylo and Rey. They just don't… do stuff like this. Not regularly.

He's keeping a pace or two behind and to the left. Trying to watch how they move, how they do… this… without making it flamingly obvious that that's what he's up to.

Poe winks at him, so it's fairly clear the jig is up, but…

This is probably useful to know. And to see.

There are… things he can work with here. Kylo moves like he owns the ship. Long strides eating up the hallway fast. Granted, for all practical purposes, he does own the ship, but… It's good to see it translates. Rey's got a similar focus to her stride. There's nothing shy or nervous about how she's moving through the press of bodies in the crowded hallway.

(Granted, people move for Kylo. Even the ones who haven't, on any conscious level, recognized that this is The Master walking through them, get the fuck out of his way as he comes through.)

Most of the people around them do not seem to recognize who is moving through them. Jon knows that part of that is the casual clothing, hair down, and not being where people expect them to be. That's just… basic human nature. But it's also a sign that they haven't done a good enough job of getting the idea… ideal… of Kylo and Rey out there.

He's in the middle of his capitol ship, on the floor with his officers, during the dinner rush, and most of the people around them aren't even doing a double take as they head past.

But the ones who do recognize… They're… interested. And not… too much… afraid. At least, the sort of gut churning terror Jon felt the first few times he got summoned to meet with Supreme Leader Ren is not clear on the face of most of the people who recognize him. (A few of them startle at the sight of him, but… Given that most of the people on this deck were assembled on the main floor when Kylo decapitated a trainer in front of them… Yeah… That's probably a normal, rational response.)

Poe stops walking and points out a cart. "Okay, that one's calling my name." He takes three steps, tosses his jacket over the back of a chair at an empty table. "Meet back here with food. Any of you want me to grab a kabob for you?" Rey nods, and a moment later, Poe's in the queue.

Jon idles for a bit, watching how people react to Kylo heading for a noodle shop, and Rey moving toward a pulled chicken sandwich cart. Rey, on her own, doesn't attract too much attention. Not here, not now, not without makeup and 'formal' Lady Ren wear.

She's just another officer looking to fill her belly.

Jon smirks a bit when the man behind her in the line tries to hit on her. He's got a big smile, and is reaching to touch her shoulder, and she cuts him dead with a look. He doesn't know how much Force she used, or what exactly it felt like, but the man went gray and backed away slowly, apologizing.

Jon's almost wishing he could see what would have happened if Kylo'd been near enough to get involved, but… The guy probably isn't much past a Captain, and having him wet himself in terror in a public place probably isn't an awesome plan.

Kylo's trying to wait in line, pretending to also just be another officer, and failing. At least one of the others waiting figured out who he is, spread the word, and now the entire line of them look like they're about to go sprinting away. He's glaring at one of them who's trying to bow his way out of the line so the Master can get to his food, faster.

Jon makes a mental note to explain that, should there ever be a line in any of the fancy places they go, that their job is to act like it's not really there and expect to be served immediately. He hopes that Kylo and Rey can pull off Prince and Lady Ren… The way they hold themselves, the way they walk… It'll help.

He's just got to figure out how to make the two of them act like they know they're the most important people in the galaxy whenever they're away from Order territory. It's one thing to acknowledge the value of his own people. That… looks and feels good, Jon thinks. Probably.

Assuming they do this often enough that people get used to them being out and about. He makes a mental note to tell—

Just think it. I'll get it. Kylo's thoughts in his head.

Are you really watching my thoughts that closely?

When someone is staring at the back of my head, focused intently on me, it's difficult to ignore that. So…

At least one meal, every other day. Up here. Too many of them can't visually recognize you, and a lot of the ones who do are skittish about you.

Noted. Other advice?

Not right this second.

He sees Kylo nod and decides to go fetch his own dinner.

---

This is just… nice.

Dinner with his… family… Kylo supposes. Or his loves. Or… however it is this works out. Dinner with people he genuinely enjoys, followed by going back to Jon's place to talk, and plan, and just… be with each other.

He remembers that about when he and Rey began, how that was something of a surprise to him. Just how… satisfying… it was to sit with her and eat, and talk about what they'd been up to, or be quiet with one another.

Right now, dinner is done. And he doesn't have much to add to the conversation. Rey and Poe are talking more about how the eventual church of the Maji works, and he's certainly listening, though on one level he's just relaxing and hearing voices. Because this is… just… nice.

He's on the sofa with Rey, and she's stretched out, head in his lap, on her side, talking to Poe. And Poe's in one of the chairs, adding his own ideas, both of them bouncing them around, getting a better feel for how all of this works.

Jon's behind them, at his drawing board, and he adds a bit here, or a bit there, but mostly he's quiet, save for the sound of his pencil sketching away.

It's a soothing sound.

All of this is.

Kylo's not exactly proud of this, but he just possibly drops off a bit. Maybe not asleep, per se, but drifty… Not sure if he's here or there or where.

No, he's here. In this room, safe and comfortable and surrounded by people he's feeling very warmly about.

But he's also young, and scared, in the Falcon, seeing the starts speeding past, and…

"You'll like it there, Ben. It's a farm," his mother had said. "Luke's got plants and animals and it'll be good. You'll get to learn so many things."

He was finally on the Falcon. Finally getting to fly on it. All of the excuses for why not were finally done, and he was flying.

And he didn't care at all because they were taking him away.

When he got there, Luke pretty much let him have his sulk. He mostly stayed in his room, (because that was before they built the individual cottages they'd each build, later) and didn't talk much, or do much, or really, anything.

He had a very good sulk. Champion level sulk. No one at home ever let him spend a full day and a half in his room, sulking.

But, eventually, even lost, sulky, unhappy, eight-year-old Ben ventured out of his room, because, well, even he could only sulk for so long.

And… It was a farm.

And… There were plants, and critters, and M'Gll was already there, and back then she was half a head taller than he was, and she liked showing off how good she was with the plants and critters and…

And for a little while, maybe… He thinks… It's hard because the memories, especially the early ones feel… drifty… That was the word Rey said his uncle had used to describe himself. The early memories feel drifty.

He can remember a few bits of corn on his palm, and holding his hand out, and one of the chickens coming closer to him and… The memory splits, there's one where the chicken pecks the corn from his palm, and lets him pet her, and he's… happy… enough. Maybe he laughed. He thinks the pecking startled him because it tickled. There's another one where the chicken is skittish, and doesn't want to get too close, but he's got food, so it comes closer, and pecks him hard, and it hurts, so he slaps it, and it squawks and pecks him again and again, making his hand bleed, so he hits it hard, too hard, and it doesn't squawk any more.

In one memory, M'Gll is smiling at him, holding the chicken, stroking her head, showing him how to pet her. In another she's scowling at him, yelling at him for killing her pet.

Luke's in the first memory, keeping watch on them as he gathers eggs. He's not in the second one. Kylo's never wondered why about that, but he's starting to, now. Especially when they were young, and there were just the two, and then three of them, Luke was pretty much always around. But he's not in a lot of the bad memories.

Later memories are clear. By his late teens, he didn't get jobs that involved working with the live animals, or any plants they didn't want to kill. But, as Luke said, a functioning farm needed people who could keep weeds out of places they didn't need to go, and someone who could put down sick animals easily, or take care of any of the creatures they intended to eat.

"It's not a farm if things on it don't die, Ben. Someone's got to be good at ushering them in," and that would have been Luke and M'Gll. They'd be out at all times of the night and day when spring came, and with it the babies. "And taking them out." He gave Ben's shoulder a squeeze. That was his job, taking care of things that needed to die. "Everything that lives consumes other things that live. It's part of the balance. So, someone's got to be able to end life, and end it kindly and with compassion."

And he supposes that's true enough. Most animals feared him, but when they got too sick, or chewed up by a predator, or it was just the end, they didn't fuss when he came to visit. 'Clean and kind Ben. One fast stroke, no fear, and no regrets. They'll feel it off of you if you're skittish. We all die, and if we're lucky, our deaths feed the lives of something else...'

He also supposes the idea that he's going to go out of his way to get farms up and working, growing extremely expensive things he's not supposed to be able to…

"Shit."

"Kylo?" Rey says. It's clear from her voice that she'd been awfully clear he was napping, and he can feel Jon and Poe also surprised that he's suddenly rejoined the conversation.

He rubs his eyes. "Not… That wasn't a comment on what you were talking about." Because napping or not, at this point he's got no idea what they were talking about.

"Well…" Poe says. "Since you decided to rejoin us with your great insight…"

He rolls his eyes a little. "I've turned into both of my parents and Luke. I'm a ruler, seriously contemplating getting into a major agricultural business, that I'll seed by having people go and steal, and then smuggle, plants to me. And on top of that, we're going to gamble to earn our money, and cheat at it. All I need is a piece of junk Corellian freighter and a brown robe, and I'm all set."

Rey laughs at that.

Jon takes a sip of his drink, and they hear the skritch of his pen on the pad stop. "Don't you dare get a brown robe. I just vetoed my Mum doing that, and if you go wandering about in one, I'll have a million years of I-told-you-sos."

"I look awful in brown," Kylo says.

"Not if someone who knows how colors works picks it for you," Jon replies, and they hear the skritching start up again.