ximilialog | you can't save the ones you've caught in battle

Entry tags:

you can't save the ones you've caught in battle

CHARACTERS: Rey, ota
LOCATION: various station locations
DATE: post-mission
CONTENT: decompression after the mission
WARNINGS: none as of yet, will add if necessary

[Sunlight room]

[Immediately after returning from the mission, this is where Rey goes. Her hammock is still hung up between two of the trees near the stream, she's glad to see, but even the sound of the water - clean and clear even if it is fake - isn't enough to temper her frustration.

Her anger. She's not frustrated, she's angry and not even the relative peace of the green is helpful when she knows it's all fake.

But it will have to do. She takes a seat, closes her eyes, and lets out an rushed breath before focusing on deeper breathing, trying to focus on the Force and the serenity she can find there.

It takes a long, long time. She fails many times and considers getting up to go break things in the simulation rooms, but finally, after nearly an hour, the last time she clothes her eyes and breathes out, she reaches the place she had been so desperate to find.

For anyone who enters the sunlight room after that, they'll find the peculiar sight of Rey sitting with her legs folded and her hands on her knees, floating a good ten feet off the air. She's frowning faintly, but she's at least in tune with the Force enough for this.]

[Kitchen]

[Her visit to the kitchen has gone much differently this time. Rather than tear the whole place apart and make messes on every counter as she plunders the cabinets for anything and everything she can find to eat, this time around she's very focused on her task.

This time, she's taking the time to gather things she knows she likes to make sandwiches. There's three made already, each one carefully placed to the side of the cutting board where she's slicing up another tomato for the forth sandwich only halfway assembled.

She's also currently got an apple in her mouth, the flesh bitten into and held between her teeth as she slices because apparently the act of not eating while she gets ready to eat is just too much to ask of her. There are other signs of her snacking as she made her actual meal too: a small bowl of berries, thinly sliced cucumber... a whole pint of chocolate ice cream with a spoon sticking out of it.

Her visit this time is less messy, yes, but no less chaotic. Upon noticing someone else has entered, she looks up, apple still in her mouth, and says,]

Oh. 'lo.

[A greeting, apple still in her mouth. Because of course. She does finish biting all the way through it and takes it out, at least, but does she bother to finish eating before she speaks? No. No, she talks with her mouth full as she gestures to the sandwiches with her knife.]

Want one?

[Tech room]

[It's been slow going since her very first few days on the Ximilia, each visit allowing her to get a little farther, but now she's got an almost entirely assembled lightsaber hilt sitting in front of her. Luke and Leia's are laid out to the side of it and she's sitting there in intense thought, tapping a delicate looking wrench against the table.

Tap tap tap, and then she sighs and crosses her arms on the table, lowers her head down to rest on them.

Can she really take apart the lightsabers of her Masters and repurpose them? Would they be angry with her?

Would they be proud that she took what they left behind and made it into something that reflected who she is?

Please pay no mind to the Jedi slumped over in the tech room surrounded by bits of metal and wire, it's just a tiny crisis of faith it's fine.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[ it's funny, actually. not long after the previous mission, clarice had holed herself away into the sunlight room to do just this — legs crossed, back straight, eyes closed, mind clear. it's a familiar sight, even if rey is currently ten feet higher than she could have ever reached on her own.

in truth, this is the second time clarice has stopped by. the first was near forty minutes ago, and rey hadn't moved once.

as she comes closer, she makes sure to do so as noisily as possible. best not to spook the other woman, after all. ]

Hey. How's the view?

[ the sunlit room is still mal's favorite place to be, even though he's been spending his nights healing in an actual bed in his room. it's more comfortable than the backseat of the car and probably better for his back.

not that he's old enough to think of that, even if mal's starting to feel the effects of each heroic stunt or fall.

he makes his way through, dressed in a pair of swears and loose t-shirt that allows his skin room to breathe. he'd rather be shirtless but maybe later. there's a cool breeze, which leaves mal feeling a bit lighter. his hair's getting longer, not quite curls but long enough one could guess it coils now. he needs to get alina to cut it.

he's not quiet as he walks past rey, stops and watches her with his head tilted for a moment. meditation is lost on mal. too much quiet, too much thinking. he's seen her do this before though. ] How's enlightenment coming along? [ he's teasing. it's better to keep the mood light than think on the tension that's floating thick through the station. ]

Oddly dark.

[Because her eyes are closed, eyyy.

The first time Clarice had stopped in, Rey had felt the presence of someone else in the room but had been careful to keep from reaching out. The impulse had been there, instinctive when she was so deeply enmeshed in the Force that it felt more like an extension of her own body than anything else, but she knows better.

And once she hears that voice, familiar and clear, she's very glad she had been careful. Clarice's initial reaction to learning that Rey had the ability to look into minds, to influence them, had been a clear sign that it wasn't exactly the sort of thing that made the other woman comfortable. She's tried to be more careful with it since then and now more than ever she feels like urge to make sure nothing else happens to set them at odds.

The girl throwing accusations over the network is something Rey has also not forgotten and she'd have to be a fool to not see how the rest of the crew might react if they knew exactly why half the infiltration team had had to find a way to transport that pointless android body. Add to that the last few weeks of unrest, well...

She's in her head too much. She can feel it, and she frowns faintly and opens her eyes so she can look down at Clarice.]

Sorry. Hang on, I'll-

[She floats down, quick but graceful to stand in front of the other woman instead.]

[It is better, and she can't help smiling when he asks that.

Truthfully, she might have already hit the enlightenment portion of her studies but when she starts to think too much about destiny and talent it kind of gives her hives.]

Want to come up and give it a shot yourself?

[She might be able to manage actually lifting him up with her but she's sure the second she offers that he's probably going to find some colorful way to tell her no thank you.]

[ mal snorts. ] Nope.

[ not that creative but mal likes to stay on the ground. the last time he was lifted up, it was by a volcra. ] I like the ground and it's too much thinking. Enlightenment and all that. [ and mal never said he was smart and good at thinking.

he stuffs his hands in his pockets, walks a little closer. ]

[ Megatron's mechanical bulk stoops to enter the room and he heads with purpose towards the opposite wall to begin sorting through one of the many bins, then pauses as he catches sight of Rey slumped over the work table. Surely, this isn't something that he needs to bother with?

Compassion wins out over his better judgement. ]

Are you well?

[ His electronic bass of a voice rumbles as he leans over her with a look of mild concern. ]

It may be more trouble than it's worth, you're right about that.

[It also strikes her as rude to continue and she can feel her focus slipping, but more important is the fact that she actually does feel a little more centered now. A little less like she's going to put her hand through a wall.

So, she opens her eyes and lowers herself down until she's seated on the ground, warmed by a sun that isn't actually real but feels close enough after all that time on that awful planet.]

Nice to be back home, isn't it?

[That's a joke, of course, because she's pretty sure they're the only two who tend to sleep in this room.]

No.

[It's dejected, grim, but all the same she lifts her head up to look over at the very unique voice speaking to her now. He's a Cybertronian, she recognizes quickly enough, but she doesn't know enough of them yet to put a name to an oddly soothing voice.

It's a little like if the Falcon could talk to her, honestly, and isn't that a comforting thought? It's enough that she can manage a small smile, tired though it may be.]

I'll be fine, it's just been a long month.

Mornin'.

( though, technically, it's really after noon, but he woke up late so it's still morning. or something. McCoy takes in Rey's controlled chaos, and contemplates coffee, shuffling over to get a pot started. )

Mm. Is that one turkey? I'll demolish a turkey sandwich.

That was hours ago, actually.

[She's always been an early riser herself, but it's been out of necessity for most of her life and after that just habit. Plus there's the undeniable benefit of being able to use the facilities of the Ximilia when everyone else is sleeping still. Much less of a chance of having to talk to anyone.

Leonard, though, is someone she doesn't mind running into.

As she's about to cut into the tomato again, though, she pauses.]

It could be, but I don't actually know what that is. You'll have to be adventurous and try it out.

[ mal doesn't comment on that. he watches as rey floats down and then approaches, sits down next to her with legs stretched out in front of him. he leans back on one arm, the other lays in his lap.

he's moving slower again, but his injuries are mostly healed now and he's not about to mention them to have her worry. ] Is it? [ he tilts his head, looking up.

'home' is complicated. home is ravka but it's also a person, his true north. currently likely nestled in a nest of blankets in bed. he shrugs a shoulder. ] This place has the unfortunate parts of home. [ for example, certain people. ]

[He is moving more slowly, but he's also on his feet without stumbling around or looking like he'd lost a lot of blood, so she's not intending to grill him about his health just now.

Home is still an abstract thought for Rey, once a broken AT-AT with lines scratched into the walls to mark how many days she'd been there, then a ship that had only become hers because a father figure she had known for a matter of days had died. There's a bit of a pinch between her eyebrows when she frowns, but it's more out of contemplation than anything else.]

It's better than where we were. Quieter.

[Greener, which is very important. And better food.

For the second part of what he says she just raises an eyebrow, a silent invitation for him to go on without her actually prying.]

I see. Is it a physical ailment? Have you seen Doctor McCoy?

[ He's a little stilted and awkward. Megatron isn't used to organics. They're small and fragile and frankly he still has a lot of baggage around them he's struggling with? ]

It has most definitely been that.

[ He agrees freely. ]

[ mal nods at that, looking up at the fake ceiling. it looks like the real thing but mal's aware that it's an illusion.

he wonders how much of all of this is but the thought doesn't stick too long. there's a chance it's real, that this isn't death. so he'll hold on to the possibility of fixing things. of going home and not taking alina north, to the stag and misery. ] That's true.

Food's better. Sunlight. Feels less closed in even though that's not the case. [ no joy rides though. a shame.

he takes a moment and then looks over at her. ] You wanted to know about Kirigan when the battle broke out. [ he wonders if she's still curious. ] What do you think of him?

[The sense that she gets of that is almost palpable and if there's one thing that's always been true about Rey it's that she tends to like droids, or in this case droid-adjacent beings, far more than normal flesh and blood types.

They have the whole ew organics thing in common.]

I'm just stumped on this.

[She lifts the incomplete lightsaber up to turn it over in her hands, carefully redirecting the conversation. If he's in the tech room he must have a reason to be, right?]

It's my first time making one and I'm kind of just making it up as I go based on the memories I have of books that aren't here.

[Ah, there it is. She's almost forgotten they had agreed to that in the aftermath of their battle when so much of her time had been focused on helping strangers who hated them recover, but now that it's at the forefront of her thoughts again she has to admit it was probably a bad move to let the suspicions of the man fade.]

I think he was lying about what he really wanted. I think he might also have people here fooled about who he really is.

[Finn for one, and as much as she loves Finn she'd be the first one to point out that he tends to be incredibly optimistic. His opinions on people here, though, are ones that he's had months to form. The idea that there's someone so good at misleading people with no care for who they hurt doesn't sit at all well with her.]

He's from your world like Finn is from mine?

( usually he's up early too, and instantly awake at that, ready for a run or to be cajoled into yoga with Jim. the former is simply out of the question now.

scooping coffee grounds into the filter, he looks over his shoulder at her, closing the lid. it's good to see her again. it's good to see her at all, away from the stress of those camps, of E-23b, more concerned with tomato slices and adding steadily to her stack of sandwiches. )

Oh? It's all edible at least, right?

Yes... [ mals after a while. it's the first time he's mentioned that to anyone here, in the course of the few months since he arrived on the station.

even when they've interacted, it's been in private. mal remembers the feeling of kirigan's jaw underneath his fist, of punching him in the hallway. the thought of him makes the former soldier's blood boil.

though his expression sours at the admission, it is a relief to say it. he has not hidden that he knows alina when asked but kirigan feels different. it feels wrong to know what the man has done and not say anything, to not let the crew here know what devastation he caused to the place mal calls home. what he did to alina, what he did to novokribirsk.

and yet the man had a country fooled, he's aware that people can be fooled easily. that if mal makes a wrong move, that the station could look at him instead and think he is the monster. ] He's good at that. Fooling people.

[ mal takes a deep breath. ] Heard that before back home, we all did. That he was on our side. [ that's said with a bark of a laugh. ]

That, [And she waves the knife at him for emphasis] is debatable. There are a lot of things I'd eat that most people wouldn't.

[She lifts her head a little now, the scent of the coffee grounds pungent enough for her to smell them from hear and relate them to the parallel she knows.]

I'm also not the best judge, but I don't think caf is the best thing to combine with these.

[It's so easy for her to hear that laugh for what it is, bitterly festering anger over something he must have always felt he had no control over. He's right to be afraid that the people here would be slow to turn on someone they'd come to trust on the word of someone they barely knew, but Kirigan had made a mistake.

He'd risen to the bait of the way Mal had spoken to him, fired back with just as much hate that anyone with eyes and ears had to have been able to see there was something off there.]

You called him a general. The one I had called himself the Supreme Leader.

[She sounds entirely mocking when she says it, over a year of hatred and fear winning out over the shift to Ben from Kylo Ren.]

He used fear and pain and murder to rule, but I think tricking people into thinking you're a kind person trying to do the right thing might be worse.

[ andy walks into the kitchen at - some time in the evening, she's not sure - donning a novelty tee that says 'women want me fish fear me' and comfortable leggings, ready to gather up her own chaotic meal. she takes one look at the army of sandwiches the young woman is building for herself and sees absolutely nothing odd about it. why wouldn't you make many sandwiches. snacks for later. ]

[ she walks over to the liquor cabinet and pulls out a bottle of vodka before the offer to share is made. ]

Not if you didn't make extra. [ she isn't teasing. andy understands the need to stockpile. ] What's on them?

[ Peter is no more frustrated with the mission than he is with the previous ones, which is to say he is at the same level of annoyed. Since Scorprions' bend , all of them had gotten progressively worse, his trust in the crew wavering, and his wish to socialize diminishing. However, there are people he still seeks, because he likes their company, wants to know them better, or is grateful for their presence. Rey, in this case, fits all the criteria

After checking how Blue was doing in the infirmary, Peter went to the kitchen and started cooking. He wanted to thank Rey for the help, plenty of people would have died had it not been for her healing powers, and give her a token of appreciation. Peter would have liked to offer her something more valuable, but the options they had while in the station were limited, and he figured that homemade food was the second best option.

He goes to her room first, but no one answers when he knocks, which prompts Peter to look for her around the station, carrying the food and drinks in a picnic basket. When he finally finds her, - floating, of all things-, he stares rather than interrupt Rey and break her concentration. She can probably sense him there, anyway. ]

What, with a sandwich? It's a fine Terran tradition, ( he lightly jokes, rubbing the ache in the crook of one arm.

An investigation of the fridge produces a jar of gherkins for the mystery sandwich, and a surprise in the fruit crisper makes him gasp– )

I'll be damned. Peaches!

[ 🥁 eyyy.

but clarice is shaking her head as soon as rey's apology comes, though she doesn't speak again until they're face to face, feet to ground. ]

No worries, I'm the one that interrupted.

[ she spares a moment to look rey over, having noted the furrow in the other woman's brow not more than two seconds ago, but in the end says nothing of it, instead jerking her chin up towards the now empty air. ]

Neat trick. Does it help at all?

[ Megatron turns his optics to the lightsaber for a moment, studying it. He's not quite sure what it is, though he vaguely remembers that Luke carried something similar during his time here. ]

I am familiar with a great deal of technology, though I don't know what this particular device is meant for. Perhaps I can help?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 3

you can't save the ones you've caught in battle

sunlight room

sunlit room ☀️

no subject

no subject

no subject

Tech room;

no subject

no subject

kitchen

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

kitchen

[Sunlight room]

no subject

no subject

no subject