Anika hadn't thought far enough ahead to have a plan for the actual cuddling. Unfortunately, once they're in the bed together they both seem uncertain how to approach it. She'd like to attribute her own awkwardness to being out of practice. Plus, she is still adjusting to him being the Commander Ren of her best sexual nightmares…She scoots down under the covers, hoping Kylo will make the first move.
Instead, he asks, "How did you want to…?"
"Um," Anika mutters nervously. "Do you sleep on your back or side?"
"Doesn't matter."
She huffs slightly at his unhelpful response. She can already feel his body heat on the other side of the bed, like some homing beacon her frigid body is drawn to. "Do you want to spoon?"
"Spoon?" Kylo repeats doubtfully.
Anika furrows her brow. "Um. Yes. Spoon?" Do you seriously not know what spooning is?
"Just repeating the word isn't going to help me understand what you're talking about," Kylo points out.
She takes a deep breath, trying to settle her raging nerves. She's touched him before, but somehow the deliberateness of this is cranking up her anxiety. Their physical contact before had been spontaneous, not this intentional bringing together of their bodies. And Kylo seems unusually reserved, since she'd taken his hand to lead him to the bed.
"Turn on your side towards me?" she suggests, before proceeding to back up, arranging herself against him. Mercifully, he seems to understand what she's going for and assists, contouring himself along the backside of her body.
Anika fidgets for a moment, pulling the corner of his pillow down over his arm for her head and tucking her hair out of the way. But she soon stops moving when she feels her body warming at the contact, his heat radiating into her underneath the blankets. Oh, that's nice…
"Comfortable?" he breathes, and she shivers at the way his breath tickles the back of her neck. Kylo seems to mistake it for a cold shiver, and he wraps his arm around her waist to pull her back more snugly into his chest.
"Yes," she admits quietly, letting her eyes fall closed. In fact, if she's being honest, she's incredibly comfortable… His mattress is so much nicer than hers, which had always felt like it punished her for daring to lay on it.
For a few minutes they both adjust, slowly finding ways to press closer to one another. She has a feeling he's as out of practice with this sort of thing as she is. He moves carefully, as if worried he'll cross a line she doesn't want crossed. Though maybe this is normal for a first time, she wouldn't really know. Anika hadn't cuddled much with men much before, had never had the type of relationship where they would stick around for it.
His arm tightens around her, almost like he's locking her against him. In the dark, she can forget about him being the Commander. He just feels warm and human, the steady sound of his breathing easing her nervousness.
Anika finds his hand on her waist, tracing her fingers over Kylo's. When he doesn't stop her, she continues. Up and over the back of his hand, finding the soft hair and muscle of his forearm and slowly exploring it. Eventually she retreats back, tracing the outline of his fingers, up and around each long digit, feeling the shape of each nail and knuckle.
Anika can actually hear when he swallows nervously, her own breath catching when he nuzzles into her hair. His breathing starts to deepen the longer she caresses him, his body relaxing against hers. The muscles of his arm relent, slackening at last.
She wonders how long it's been since he's been touched like this. I never heard rumors about him having girlfriends… or even one-night stands…But surely there had to be someone else on the ship, another woman that he'd let close? I can't be the only woman he's had in his bed here.
"Just you," Kylo murmurs, his voice sleepy.
Anika is confused, before she realizes he's replied to her thoughts. She considers what he's said, understanding now why he'd been so frozen the first time she'd kissed him. Had he not kissed her back due to inexperience? Had his reputation as a raging, murderous force user on base worked too well for him?
Her sleepiness is returning, tugging at her brain. Kylo shifts, tucking her hand beneath his. Between finally feeling warm and his body pressed securely against her, Anika feels herself giving in to sleep. Her mind relents, relaxing and turning itself off.
Late Morning
Anika wakes up slightly disoriented, with the vague kind of headache that comes with not getting quite enough sleep. She blinks with confusion at the strange surroundings. Where…am I? What the hell…She pushes up from the mattress, only to recoil in shock at the sight of Commander Ren's mask suddenly looming over her. Anika squeaks, sliding on silky sheets as she tries to retreat. It takes a second before her mind catches up with her body.
"Sorry," he mutters, stepping back when he sees her panicked expression.
Anika stops her sleepy escape attempt as soon as her memories from the previous day refresh themselves. Kylo-It's just Kylo.
"I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting-" she hesitates, before waving vaguely at his head-to-toe armor and cloak. "All that when I woke up. And I think I forgot where I fell asleep."
"You've had a lot to adjust to, in the last day or so," Kylo offers. "…Maybe I should have waited to put the mask on until after I woke you up…"
"No, it's fine," Anika tries to assure him. I like waking up in a panic, starts the day off right… She suddenly can feel how messy her hair is, and self consciously tries to fix it.
"I, um, just wanted to let you know I'm leaving to meet with Hux," Kylo explains, the mask turning from her as if he's trying to not stare at her in his bed. "Then I'll be going undercover as Matt again, to investigate the maintenance bay."
"The maintenance bay?" Anika questions, abandoning her attempts to straighten her hair.
"To see who snuck the camera onto the serving droid. I want to know who is trying to spy on me," he replies. "Ap'lek is outside my suite. He can take you to get some things from your quarters and when you're ready, bring you to join me."
"Oh. Okay," Anika answers, trying to sound upbeat despite feeling morning crabby. Her body is not pleased with the few hours of sleep she'd grabbed, and it is demanding a caffa sacrifice. "Sounds…good."
My man, Ap'lek. Hope he doesn't talk my ear off again.
Later
Ap'lek is unsurprisingly silent as he escorts her down the hallway to her quarters. Anika is still sleepy enough to not bother talking either, shuffling along behind his cloak and rubbing at a sore spot in her muscles. She feels like she's hunched slightly due to the tension in her lower back, and can only guess it's from the softer mattress she isn't used to. Or something else…Like sleeping with an erect lightsaber jabbed in my back.
Ap'lek's head twists sharply as he peers back at her, and Anika furrows her brows in confusion. He's barely acknowledged her existence so far, but now he's scoping her out as if curious. Though honestly, she would have no idea if his expression is one of curiosity. The disturbing masks all of the Knights insist on wearing makes it hard to guess at their moods.
"Um? Is there… Did I do something wrong?" she asks hesitantly when he comes to a stop.
But Ap'lek shakes his head, instead gesturing at the door they've paused in front of. Anika stares at it before recognizing the suite number as her new living assignment. When she steps forward to open the door, Ap'lek enters in front of her with his weapon ready. She hangs around by the door of the suite, admiring how much more space her new accommodations provide. Her last room had been a cupboard in comparison.
Ap'lek checks everywhere before he clears the rooms for her. Only when he's in the hallway and the door has slid shut does she make her way towards the closet to grab a change of clothes. All of her clothing is there, and hung up much neater than anything she'd ever accomplished. The rest of her belongings are packed neatly into boxes, and Anika feels a little bad for whoever had to move her stuff. She hadn't exactly left her room in an organized state.
She picks out some warmer clothes and heads into the bathroom, spotting a tub. Oh, fucking force…YES. Being a wanted target of the blob empire was totally worth it, if it meant upgrading from a shower stall the size of a shoebox to this.
Later
Anika feels a little guilty at how long she took, giving the Knight of Ren an apologetic look when she finally emerges from her room. The tub had been too appealing, and she'd soaked a little too long in it. He's standing so still that he might as well be a statue, the sharp blade of his weapon glittering in the harsh lights of the hallway.
"Sorry I took so long," she says guiltily. "I'm sure you didn't want to spend your day waiting around for me."
"I volunteered," Ap'lek says simply. Her mouth nearly drops open before she catches it.
He can speak! Wait…What?
"Volunteered for…for me?" she stutters awkwardly. His mask nods, and she gives him a perplexed look. Why would he want to escort her around? Wouldn't he much rather be off… Well, she doesn't really know what the Knights do with their time. Torturing Rebels or massacring villages or something?
Ap'lek says nothing else, so she counts herself as lucky to have heard anything out of him. "Well. Thank you, I guess?" she says uncertainly. "Kyl-I mean, Commander Ren, said something about me meeting him in the maintenance bay?"
The Knight only nods again, gesturing for her to follow him down the hallway. If she ignores how extraordinarily uncomfortable she feels around him, she kind of enjoys watching how people jump out of Ap'lek's way. Maybe it's the spikes protruding from his wrists, or the strange vibro-blade axe he carries. But Anika has never had an easier time getting down busy hallways on base. Everyone shoves to get out of the Knight's way.
Must be how royalty feels. Yes, scatter before me, peasants. They make it to one of the many elevators, and begin the long descent down to maintenance level. Anika's glad she chose warmer clothing, as maintenance is always one of the coldest floors on base. Any levels closer to the planet's surface have a permanent chill to the air. Since getting back from the mushroom planet, it seems to be bothering her more.
The elevator finally halts, and Ap'lek gestures for her to exit. She's confused when she steps off and he doesn't follow. The Knight remains on the elevator as the doors slide back closed between them.
"Over here," Kylo calls.
Anika turns around, searching for him until she spots a peek of bright orange between two broken down droids. She skirts around them, both large demolition units, to find Kylo in full Matt persona at a maintenance console. He's bent over it, eyes narrowed with concentration on the screen. He's shoved the fake glasses down his nose to peer over them.
Anika comes to a stop next to him, noticing a strand of dark hair has escaped from underneath the blonde locks. She fights the urge to fix it for him. If he keeps being this sloppy with his disguise, people are going to start figuring it out.
"Hi," she greets him when he has yet to tear his eyes away from the screen.
"Hi," he replies, eyebrows furrowing with frustration.
She waits another full minute, but he seems too focused on whatever he's trying to do to realize she's expectant. "Are you going to prove you're you? Or should I find a bottle of alcohol?" she asks finally.
That seems to get his attention. Kylo looks over at her, expression skeptical. "Do I have to prove it every time we've been apart for a few minutes?"
"…Yes."
He huffs a sigh. "If he keeps being this sloppy with his disguise, people are going to start figuring it out," he recites.
Anika feels her eyes widen. He can seriously hear my thoughts that clearly with the force? All the time? I didn't even think he was paying attention.
"You tend to broadcast them," Kylo says, tapping aggressively at the computer screen.
"My thoughts?"
"Yes. Most people's thoughts are quieter, harder to make out from their impulses and feelings. It's a big convoluted layer, woven over and under other layers," Kylo explains, sounding distracted. "But with you, everything's right there."
"…So, you're saying I'm simple," Anika concludes, unsure if she should be offended.
Kylo groans, before dropping his hand from the computer screen. "No, you're straightforward. I like it," he says quickly, before gesturing at the console. "I can't bypass the head maintenance officer's credentials."
"Here, let me," Anika offers, stepping forward to edge him out of the way. She types the credentials in quickly, pleased when the console allows access.
"How did you do that?" Kylo asks curiously.
"I got tired of always having to hang around and wait for him to look up the information I needed, so one time I just watched him log in," Anika replies with a shrug. "His password is password1234."
Kylo winces, as if the simplicity of the head officer's password personally offends him. She steps back to allow him access once more, peering around his shoulder while he brings up the repair logs. However, when he tries to look up the droid's identification number, the system insists it doesn't exist. Someone's tampered with it…
"Whoever did it probably deleted all records of the droid," Anika suggests thoughtfully. "Especially when they saw the camera feed go dead, and knew they'd been caught."
Kylo makes a noise of irritation. "Another dead end."
She glances up to see the frustration plain on his face, in the tight set of his jaw and pouting lips. It's a cute look on him, when she doesn't have to worry about him taking it out on equipment with his lightsaber. Equipment she'd inevitably have to repair.
"Well we might as well look around? See if there's anything unusual?" she offers, trying to be helpful.
He agrees reluctantly, and they make their way through the maintenance level. They spot nothing other than broken equipment and sparking droids crumpled in piles. They head into one of the last work spaces, an office near the back of the wing. Anika tries to focus, but she hates silence and can't seem to stop wondering about what his Knight had said earlier.
"Ap'lek said he volunteered to watch out for me this morning," she remarks.
Kylo picks up a hydrospanner, examining it before dropping it back onto a workbench. "He likes you."
"What?" Anika asks, taken aback.
Kylo raises a hand as if to run it through his hair before he seems to remember the fake blonde mop currently perched on his head. He drops it, shrugging. "He thinks you're entertaining, and he… finds it amusing, that I want you protected," he explains carefully.
Anika frowns, noticing the faintest pink tinge to his cheeks as he suddenly drops his gaze from hers. "Amusing how?"
The pink darkens, as Kylo mutters, "He thinks I'm whipped."
Anika snorts with sarcastic laughter, unable to hold it back. "That's rich, coming from a man that calls you Master," she retorts. He might as well call you Daddy Ren, that's somehow less kinky.
Kylo must still be listening to her thoughts, because he makes a disgusted expression. "Never think that again," he orders.
"What, are you not into the daddy thing?" she presses her luck, grinning with reckless abandon. The baggy radar technician clothes and geeky vest make him seem less intimidating, and she can't help herself. She wants to see how far he'll let her go.
"Not with Ap'lek," Kylo snaps, muttering a swear word when she only laughs again. She approaches him, feeling in a much better mood now that she's gotten a chance to tease him. It feels like revenge, perhaps for all the times he'd teased and intimidated her.
"I'm sorry, daddy," Anika says with fake sweetness, batting her eyelashes up at his still very pink face. She's enjoying this entirely too much.
Kylo shoves the glasses back up his nose from where they've slid down, giving her a dirty look. "I'm sure you are, baby girl."
Her eyes widen at the way he sarcastically uses the term, and the way it nonetheless affects her. The smile falls from her face. Wait. No no, I'm the one doing the teasing here-
"I bet you're just trying to get thrown over my knee and spanked, right? That's why you're being such a bad little brat?" he pushes, his tone still entirely sarcastic as his eyes search hers for a reaction. Kylo seems to know it the second he's hit a nerve.
Anika attempts to retreat at his sudden shift in demeanor, realizing her teasing has pushed him right past any shyness he'd been harboring. Some switch has flipped in him and now she's the one on the defensive as he advances slowly, pinning her in between the workbench and wall.
"You forget that I've been inside your memories," Kylo points out, expression growing predatory. His glasses slip again, and he rips them off with annoyance. "You invited me to look at them, remember?"
"I-I don't think that was ever one of my-" she tries to deny.
He cuts her off. "Yes, it was," he growls. "You were rubbing yourself in the shower, enjoying the hot water running down your body."
Anika's face is burning with embarrassment. He saw that!? Kylo's eyes are locked onto hers, something calculating in them. He steps in front of her, expression challenging. She catches it when he wets his bottom lip, her focus lingering there, before he continues.
"You came, hard, all over your fingers, when you imagined my voice asking if you were going to be good for daddy," he says lowly.
Oh, kriff. She doesn't know what to say, doesn't know how to interpret his mood. She feels frozen in place, her mind stalling. She should've known better than to start antagonizing someone who has been inside her head. Why, why, why am I like this…
Anika holds her breath when he reaches out to touch her face, his fingertips tracing over her cheek lightly. "You like the way my voice sounds in the mask, don't you? You liked imagining me ordering you around, praising you?"
She searches his gaze, arousal flaring in her body at how much he's figured out. She might as well have written him a how-to manual in her memories. How to turn me on, for beginners. Step 1: Be Kylo Ren. She doesn't even care that he's calling her out, bringing up what he's found invading her thoughts. She just wants him, acutely aware of how ready her body already is. Everything about him is just so… Yummy. You're so fucking yummy.
Kylo swallows hard, her eyes jumping to his throat when his Adam's apple bobs. She moves, unable to stay frozen any longer. She surges forward to kiss his throat, to get her lips on his skin and suck and bite and taste him.
He groans, and Anika gasps with surprise when he grabs her by the hair to pull her off his neck. Kylo forces her head back, forces her face to tilt upwards so he can capture her mouth with his. This isn't that sweet, tentative kissing he'd given her before. His lips demand more of her, rough and hungry. She gives in, happily, moaning without regard for how loud the sound is.
Kylo backs her up, and she stumbles. But he doesn't let that stop their motion. Back and back, until he's pressing her into the wall. Anika clings to him when he tears his mouth away to hike her up, lifting her so he can grind his pelvis between her thighs. She wraps her legs around him obediently, locking her ankles. Kylo returns to her mouth aggressively. He takes her lower lip between his teeth before giving her another proper kiss.
Anika can barely breath, sandwiched between the wall and his body, but she's relatively sure oxygen is just a suggestion. Another wave of arousal surges through her core at the feeling of his hands on her ass, groping, holding her up. Then his tongue invades her mouth, and she can taste more of him. She swirls her tongue around his, sucking, playing with him.
Her hands fly to his hair, only to realize his dark hair is hidden beneath the disguise. She growls with annoyance and nips at his lips. Kylo punishes her, dropping down to sink his teeth into her neck. She winces her eyes at the sharp bite of pain, but it's soothed away by his tongue. Her brain is a haze of pleasure as he sucks on the skin of her neck, her hips rocking in his hold.
"Fuck," she breathes softly, focusing on how good his mouth makes her feel. "Kylo, fuck…"
He growls, and Anika jerks at the sudden loud sounds around them. Her eyes snap open to see the tools flying from the top of the workbench, hitting the floor and walls. He's flung everything from it, and a second later he props her onto the now cleared surface.
"You pictured getting on your knees for me, didn't you?" he rasps, hands tearing at her clothing. She whimpers when his hand slides up under her shirt, finding her breasts. "You thought about being ordered to suck my cock…hearing how good you are, with your lips wrapped around me."
Kylo-fuck! She holds her breath when he plays with her nipple, not bothering to free her from the thin material of her bra. She can't believe the things he's saying, the husky quality to his voice. Has she ever been this turned on before?
Anika grabs that dorky orange vest and drags him down to her lips again, kissing him hungrily. One of the buckles snaps loose in her grip, the vest giving way to her. She fumbles with the baggy fabric of his pants, only able to half focus as his tongue demands her attention. Why is there so much khaki, fucking khaki everywhe- OH. He's… oh my…
She tries to pull away from his mouth, to look down to see his arousal. By the feel of it, he'd be clearly visible, excessive khaki be damned. But Kylo growls with impatience and wraps his hand around her neck, holding her in place for his kiss. She parts her lips for him, forwardly palming him through his pants. Kriff, he's big…
She presses her fingers more firmly against his length, doing her best to rub him until she can free him from his zipper. Kylo muffles his moan with her mouth, deepening the kiss. She makes a noise of protest when he knocks her hand away from his crotch, instead yanking her forward by the hips. He pulls from her mouth to look down, fingers making quick work of the button of her pants.
"What the fuck are you doing in here?"
Kylo freezes at the sound of someone interrupting them, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Anika bats his hand away from her pants, suddenly self-conscious, trying to peer around his shoulders to see the intruder.
The head maintenance officer is behind Kylo, just inside the doorway to the office. He gestures at the tools all over the ground. "You made a mess!" he complains loudly. "You know this is my workplace, not some den of sex!"
Anika winces with a combination of guilt and embarrassment. The poor guy has every right to be mad, and she is about to apologize and offer to pick the place up. But Kylo gives a low growl, making her hesitate. There's an unusual amount of rage suddenly wracking his features, too much to be explained by just being interrupted.
He spins around to face the man, glaring. The head officer freezes, his eyes widening when he sees Kylo's face. "You-You, I didn't realize-"
"You know me?" Kylo demands, taking a step closer.
The man holds up his hands, eyes darting back towards the door. "I-No, no of course-I mean yes, I mean-wait-"
"Your kind are usually much better at lying," Kylo remarks venomously.
"M-my kind? I don't know what you're-" the head officer tries to deny.
But Kylo cuts him off. "I didn't hear you come in. Very few people can sneak up on me," he says, tone threatening. "Even now, your thoughts are silent. I'm beginning to learn that's an easy giveaway."
"He's a blob?" Anika guesses.
The head maintenance officer's eyes flicker from Kylo back to her once, his face alarmed. Then he turns and flees the space, running out the door. Kylo immediately pursues, racing after him, his blonde wig askew and his orange vest half hanging off him. Anika sighs before running after them both. I really do hate running.