He frowned upon entering the large meditation room. She stood barefooted before him in a simple fitted tunic, no hood, no cloak, and her mind was completely closed off. She noted his attempt to investigate the odd arrangement and shut the doors behind him. "What is this?" he asked, removing his mask and gloves, giving up on prying it from her.
"I thought that maybe some physical activity might exhaust you enough to keep your mind to yourself." She said coolly, walking slowly towards him.
He raised one eyebrow as she circled his right shoulder, slowly passing behind him. "Hand to hand combat?" his mind repeated the thought to her.
"Precisely" She said pleasantly, reaching one hand up around his shoulder sliding under the fabric of his cloak to reach the clasp, flipping it open and letting the garment fall from his shoulders. He tensed at her boldness as the heavy fabric pooled around his feet. "I will be distracted a bit doing two things at once," She admitted, her hand resting on his shoulder where the clasp had been "Fighting both your mind and your body." He looked down at her hand, his muscles tightening at her touch, she felt his pulse quicken at her closeness. When was the last time anyone touched Kylo Ren? The thought recurred; her intimate proximity seemed to distract him, which would be part of her strategy. He was far stronger than she was, probably faster, and much more brutal, she would need to employ tactics beyond purely mechanical combat skills.
"Fine." He turned to face her, her hand slid from his shoulder to his chest as he moved; she was surprised at the hint of a smile on his lips. He was too confident. She smiled back leaning in a bit, her hand moved to the center of his chest her fingers splaying out against his heart beat. His breath hitched and that stupid grin fell from his face as the heel of her palm traveled lower, brushing along his abdominal muscles. He didn't even notice her feet as she pulled the cloak around one of his ankles.
"Kylo…" She whispered gently, as he brought one hand slowly towards hers, To cover it? To pull it away? She wasn't sure, and judging by his trepidation he wasn't sure yet either, she didn't give him the chance to choose. "Don't let me in." She felt him tense at her words, but she moved too quickly. She planted one foot on the cloak tangled at his feet, trapping him there and shoved forward roughly in the center of his chest.
He fell backwards but reacted quickly, turning, landing on his side, catching most of his weight and softening the fall with his arms. She was already advancing into his thoughts; it was all he could do to throw up a brief defense. She caught an image, A younger Kylo Ren faced his father, a familiar defiance radiated from his dark eyes.
He turned over, kicking the cloak from his feet, his mind attempting to push her out as hard as he could. She felt an itch as though he was reaching back into her mind. She took advantage of his divided attentions, watching him scramble quickly to his feet. His gaze bore into hers, as he stepped towards her, she side stepped him then kicked out at his knees. He swiftly avoided the contact but she was able to pull more from his mind. She could feel the wracking sobs of a young boy as though they were her own, deep in her chest. "Ben?" A woman's voice entered her mind.
She advanced quickly, grabbing his forearm from behind, catching his attention. He turned on her, his breathing labored. He raised his arm, ready to engage. She stopped suddenly tilting her head to the side. She pulled at his arm her grip loosening as her fingers skimming over his sleeve her hand trailed up his arm to his elbow. Her thoughts slowly permeated his, no images, no invading his memories, he felt a calm overwhelm him, sweeping the tension from his muscles, lulling him into an aura of security. He wrapped his hand around her forearm in return, his other hand slowly reaching towards her. She sighed inwardly, relaxing into the embrace. She could feel him letting her in, his cold blood warming, but he had so much more work to do, he hardly understood these small lapses. He still sought to eliminate his past, anything that called him to the light. It pained her to reward this gentle contact with an evasive maneuver.
His lips parted as if to speak and without hesitation, she shoved at him once more, her feet kicking the back of his legs, bringing him to his knees her free hand moving to his face. She threw herself into his thoughts diving violently at the most dark and intimate corners of his mind. Sweat dripped from his brow "Ben, you don't need to-" - - The violent hiss and crackle of his saber coming to life, striking down the figure before him - - the wrenching pulse in his chest as he watched, for the first time, as a life was taken by his hand - - the retreating figure of a man, his father, disappearing onto a ship a lumbering woolen figure at his side - - a younger girl with sad grey eyes staring back at him, her face matured and her gaze became piercing - - The softness of the image caused her to pause - - Damp dark tendrils plastered to her cheek as she slept - - the warmth of her skin as his hand reached out to touch…. She felt his mind pressing against hers, these were images he was choosing to show her, or at least, they were the images he wasn't concealing first.
He took advantage of her distraction reaching around her thigh pulling her legs from under her, gripping her arm hard, pulling her to the floor. She reacted in time to keep her fingers knotted in his hair, and leaned in to keep her head from cracking against the floor. He pinned her down, one knee against her hip, her wrist pinned above her head. He had fully banished her from his mind. He looked down at her, her cheeks were flushed from the exertion, her lips parted as her breathing slowly calmed, her hair wildly tousled, spread around her, a halo of dark waves.
"You let me in." She chided, her hand still resting on his face as she slowly untangled her fingers from his dark locks, brushing against his cheek. He sighed through heavy breaths and tiredly turned his head into her hand, looking away from her.
"You're difficult to out maneuver." He mumbled his words muffled by her hand. She felt his lips move against her skin and she froze her hand falling to rest on her stomach, then her body relaxed, no longer resistant against him. She watched him for a moment, her gaze unreadable. He released her, removing his weight from her hips and standing swiftly. "There is no – You're not afraid of me." he noted, watching her as she stood solemnly. She had seen him kill, she had seen some of the darkest and most conflicted parts of him.
"I already know the darkest parts of you." She murmured, carefully considering her next words as she moved closer to him. "We're seeking out the light." He froze his gaze narrowing, growing dangerous. He was questioning her, she felt his mind press against hers, keeping him out she thought quickly.
"To embrace all that you are capable of, you must understand all of your past, your full self and all that has brought you to where you are." He seemed to accept this but she felt him distance himself a bit, still unbalanced by her initial comment.
"Of course" He said flatly, bending to retrieve his helmet and gloves. He turned back to her his gloves on, his mask in his hands. She held his cloak slowly approaching him; she pulled the heavy fabric up around him and clipped it into place at his shoulder.
"You are becoming stronger Commander." He stiffened at the use of his title, disturbed by his reaction, as not long ago, the sound of his name on her lips had him similarly uncomfortable. "Until next time." She said watching him calmly. He paused for a moment before pulling his helmet on over his head followed by his hood.
"Until next time" The mechanical voice seemed to suck the familiarity from the room, the kinship gone in an instant. He paused for a moment as he reached the doors and she caught a single word from his thoughts. "Neera…"