i got some bad new for u if u r trying to avoid RoS spoilers

[vaderstan]

Kylo Ren Ben Solo text / audio / video / action / force time / force ghost ig
hmd / visuals / info&permissions naima. 32. pst. nainai#8088. billnaisciguy code credit

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If you direct your attention to my conspiracy theory madness below about the original intended ("true") ending for Rise of Skywalker, it's a bit obvious that I'd like to play out scenarios where Ben does, in fact, survive the movie. The awkwardness around the Resistance and the entirety of space, Rey having to struggle with her desire to keep him safe at all costs vs her want to be open with her friends. And the both of them having to deal with the weight of the fact that Leia, Luke, and Han all sacrificed themselves for Ben. And the residual C-PTSD from this entire goddamn trilogy. also what color is ur lightsaber ben Okay seriously tho. How pissed would poe be to find out leia gave her life to that piece of shit Kylo Ren? Also every time Rey or Ben thinks "oh we can just go talk to Le---" and then that sad piano music from scrubs plays. Sad Lonely Housewife Ben Solo. With a black frilly Apron. I'm only partially joking I'd actually dig something where he remains dead/gone for longer than just a few seconds. Like. Leia takes a bit to reboot into "Second Birth Of My Child" metaphor. It could take a few hours or even a few days and in the mean time Rey's just collapsing in on herself about everything away from all her friends. Isolating herself and "Oh wait. what the fuck. HE'S BACK" Planet hopping with Ben and Rey on the "how the fuck do we even restart the Jedi Order" bus!!! Maybe they steal the falcon from Lando. Unsure how to justify it. Just know I want Han's son to swoop in and take the ship back because can Lando be all that mad about it tho? Speaking of, how the fuck would Chewbacca and Lando feel about Leia's final sacrifice? Would they help Rey smuggle Ben while the galaxy celebrates his death? Would there be time limits or stipulations? Or maybe they're the first ones to figure out what Rey is hiding and what is that confrontation like? For scenarios which follow along with the 'theatrical'/canon ending as it were. Rey absolutely losing her shit over Ben's death and he attempts to comfort her. Unsure that will work well, but that's the fun of RP. Her questioning whether it was him or a product of her imagination. And just her absolute inability to cope with the other half of her dead. Rey goes Dark to get Ben back. Possibly against his wishes. He wants her to move on, she can't, she refuses. Time travel is always an option for this shit. And if she's successful, would Ben realize something's wrong? And if he figured out what she did.... would he actually care? Alternate universe theories. Like not traditional AU, but through some Force fuckery a rift between the movie's canon and the intended ending occur. Rey finds Ben in this rift and just the absolute emotional meltdown that will occur from there. Forcebond shenanigans, ofc. Forbidden relationship bullshit is just part of the package ig Arranged marriage is also just A++ Also now that we know how the fuck close Ben was to turning nearly the entire fucking time finding any other canon point and just fucking the entire timeline up Ben actually HELPING the Resistance take down Palps before yeeting himself at Rey. Ben having to wait awkwardly 15 ft away as Finn and Poe screech at Rey about her Supreme Leader Secret and Rose is just trying to do her best for everyone No seriously. Can we kill off C3P0 for real????? 👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀 good shit go౦ԁ sHit👌 thats ✔ some good👌👌shit right👌👌there👌👌👌 right✔there ✔✔if i do ƽaү so my self 💯 i say so 💯 thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ💯 👌👌 👌НO0ОଠOOOOOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ👌 👌👌 👌 💯 👌 👀 👀 👀 👌👌Good shit

✨ The True Ending ✨

Welcome one. Welcome all. I have brought all of you here today to say that YOU WERE LIED AND DECEIVED BY THE FORCES OF HOLLYWOOD AND UNCHECKED CAPITALISM. 'How?' You ask. And yes. I shall answer. It is simple: The ending of the Rise of Skywalker was wrong Wait. Excuse me. WHAT THE FUCK? You read correctly, dear friends. Someone fucked with the editing of Rise of Skywalker and it changed the entire ending of the movie. It changed the characterization of three key characters and it's clear this was against the creator's wishes. I'll be breaking this down into a few key sections. What were the changes, Why I believe these changes were made (and made last minute), and do I consider this ending more or less canon then the theatrical ending. So. JOIN ME ON THIS ADVENTURE FRIEND The plot changes/editing change It's fairly simple. They changed Leia's role in the plot, this changed the entire direction of the last few minutes of the movie. Let me break the timeline down — Deathstar fight on the ocean still happens, Ben is distracted by Leia reaching out to him. She either still enters her "disappointment son" coma here, or perhaps simply just reaches out to him. — From here, the plot continues as normal. Ben and Rey both get to the sith rave separately. — Rey Dies — Ben Revives her and dies. — Leia chooses THIS MOMENT to die and give her life to her son — Ben is revived. He and Rey kiss. — Move to conclusion WHAT EVIDENCE DO I HAVE THESE CHANGES WERE MADE (and at the last moment) Take in note, my evidence is circumstantial, but circumstantial evidence still counts as proof — Leia's final role in the movie is insanely unclear. She also takes 12 hours to actually die or something. Again. Confusing — Ben's final words, as of this moment, are "OW". Adam Driver said he was nervous about his final dialogue in the movie to the point he stressed about it on the flight over. And. Man. IDK about you but OW seems a little unstressful to say — There was no Force Ghost Ben, a decision that is baffling story wise. It would take any competent VFX team hardly any effort to throw a ghostly adam driver next to Leia and Luke. And this would be advantageous to add to the plot if Ben was going to die, give that final bit of closure to the Skywalker fam. — Rey's near LACK of emotion over his death. Go watch her realize she has to leave Ben behind in TLJ and tell me that the difference isn't noticeable. It's completely against her character. — The weird beats of Leia going into her disappointment son coma and the other strange beats of Ben's death. Especially the fact that you only see him disappear in like. one shot. — None of the cast thought he was going to die — Wow I wonder why Adam Driver is adamant about never wanting to do star wars at this point? — Wow, why does disney keep resetting the character poll of who is the most anticipated character of this movie???? — The prophecy about Ben's death is completely unnecessary at this point. If it was brought up during TFA, it's understandable to put that thread there. Instead it's in the last movie when his death seems to be a foregone conclusion??? — So Rey's fine for Luke and Leia even tho she's palpatines kid, but Luke and Leia don't seem all that bothered by Ben's death?????? — This was supposed to be Leia's film and complete her arc. And while I understand that there was a lack of footage to use for her, it's odd that she ended up not playing much of a role beyond "Distract Ben so he gets stabbed ig" — Every single hole in characterization for Luke, Leia, and Rey, every strange beat that didn't really make sense in Ben and Rey's fight on the ocean and during their ??? Mutual deaths???? and the some how rushed and dragged on ending can be solved by a simple solution. Occam's razor, Ben was never meant to die permanently. — The fact that there was no final dialogue for Ben after his talk with his father suggests he had something significant to say after his resurrection — The fact that they didn't have a cut of Rey absolutely LOSING HER MIND over losing to, what amounts to, the other half of her soul suggests that she was never supposed to lose him permanently — The fact that there is no Ben Ghost means that they didn't have the time to slip that in before pushing it out to theaters — The way the final scenes with Rey are shot and edited are, again, weird, off balance. It seems like it ends WAY TOO QUICKLY and far too on the nose. — no but really guys. His final words are "OW" — As for WHO changed it, because of the fact that this is clearly an edit job done at the last minute? I'm putting my money on a CEO that is above Kathleen Kennedy and JJ Abrhrams. I think their hands are tied ATM. This is the ending that had been planned for, this is the ending they wanted, otherwise there would not be such big holes that felt weird and dishonest to the characters. And, like, Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was JJ's child, he wouldn't have done him dirty like this.\ THEATRICAL ENDING/TRUE ENDING I'm sure opinions would be divided on which ending is canon depending on the person. The theatrical ending will be what's considered canon in the universe of star wars at large. For myself, I find it hard to deny the creators and filmmakers the right to present the story they wanted to tell. So, in that way, both endings are true for me. Though, I am biased-- both as someone who is an artist myself and someone who adores Kylo Ren's/Ben Solo's character-- I like the story the film team were trying to tell over the agenda that whoever pushed for these changes had. Personally, I believe it pushes Star Wars as a universe forward into new territory rather than keep it stagnant in the same old same old that it's always been. Plus. this maintains the integrity of Luke, Leia, and Rey's characters, Ben was never forgotten, far too gone, or unloved. Leia gave him one final gift, a second chance. That said, I'm not pushing this ending on anyone. I won't be playing it by default. I would rather ask permission or have someone else bring it up.

Sin Bin aka triggery bullshit

So no surprise. Kylo Ren/Ben Solo comes with a pile of situations that are. Questionable. this is just a short heads up section for anyone curious about what I'm willing to delve into: - I'm a-okay playing out non/dubcon. However, this has to be discussed beforehand, especially if Kylo will be the aggressor. He's shown no sexual interest in anyone besides, Rey. He's not gonna be the weird Shoujo trope of "The troubled dude who just goes around molesting gals because he's got an itch to scratch". That ain't his MO. Rey is different because.... forcebond. However, depending on his canon point he will be more or less willing to ignore her consent. And after a certain point? He'd probably be rendered completely incapable of ignoring her consent. I imagine ForceBonds do not like when one half just kinda takes advantage of the other. - On that note. I consider Kylo an abuse survivor. The abuse inflicted upon him was physical, emotional, and spiritual. I don't play or think of this as he was physically violated in a sexual capcity, but that his soul was constantly from the time he was even conceived until Palpatine's death. His thoughts and his desires truly were not his own, sexual desire was another way of control over him. - I'm cool with him being taken advantage of. But expect not great results unless you some how get him to not force choke you as soon as you touch him okay - Oh and this also means that he is prone to getting a little panicked when someone takes the reigns from him suddenly. So. JusT BE AWARE. - if this shit ain't G for you? Please tell me and I can try to work with you.

Comments

[jedied]

[The comlink falls, forgotten, from her hand as she reaches out to the Force for clarity and is immediately assaulted by the waves of memory that cause her to stumble and nearly fall.

It's too much, too small a space for this energy, too crowded. She has to breathe. She has to be outside. She can't make any sense of it without room to breathe.

And then she's outside and there's Luke's voice and a flicker-- just for a second -- of his form and then nothing, more noise, more static, more cries for help across the generations. Like the whole Force is out of balance such that the entire galaxy should be able to feel it.

There's a sound like the wind rushing in her head and she reaches for the thread of the Force that carries the message and pulls--

--- and it feels like the sky's cracked open inside her head and she feels a crack like the Force Lightning she's never tried to wield again, and everything goes blinding white and then dark again.

When she comes back to herself she's on her knees some distance from the house. She opens her eyes against sun that is suddenly far too bright for the hour and sits blinking into the sudden unnatural calm as a figure tries again to resolve before her.]

[vaderstan]

[ He feels that desperate tug and takes it. Gripping on, bolstered by the others behind him, within her, the centuries of history and imbalance.

It's not easy, in fact, it's pretty frackin' painful. Like one of the worst hangovers he's ever had combined with Han hitting him in the face with a hydrospanner. But he has to do this, for his sister, for himself. The pain is nothing compared to what they've done.

'Rey,' There's a hint of disbelief within him. He can't believe he made the leap, 'I've been trying to contact you.'

That's earnest. Him and Leia both had. Emotion grips his heart as he thinks to his twin. That fact alone makes him give off more quiet desperation than he had ever shown Rey.

'She's stuck,' Something dark grips at him, he clings to the light. 'Everything's stuck.'

WATCH NAI MAKE SHIT UP AS SHE GOES HOUR ]

[jedied]

[Rey blinks, stunned and winded and just -- not right -- in some way she can't name.

None of this is right. Why would he have trouble contacting her? Why would Leia? She's been right here. She's not strong enough to block them out if they'd really wanted to reach her... is she?]

Master Luke. What...?

[Her voice is scratchy from disuse and sand and sheer disbelief at what's going on here.]

There's something wrong with me, isn't there?

[There are probably a lot of things wrong with her but let's stick with the ones of possibly mystical nature for the moment.]

[vaderstan]

[ There's a short gesture-- exasperation. Frustration. A mix of a few different things.

'No,' He says that quickly, nearly speaking over her,'Something's disrupting the Force.'

God, that sounds stupid even to him. But there were crazier things he had to face down. And this really wasn't the time to discuss what the ramifications of a Force Stoppage were.

'I think Palpatine must have done something,' PALPATINES BEHIND IT ALL He doesn't say Grandfather, he doesn't need Rey blaming herself for this. 'My sister-- she wanted to do something before she passed, but she was stopped midway--'

Hence, Leia is stuck in purgatory. Caught between slipping into the Force and keeping her claws dug firmly on the other side. Refusing to let go. This one woman is holding up the entirety of the Force with her own willpower. And what started out small has rippled into something bigger. Everything was teetering precariously. ]

[jedied]

[There's a momentary rush of relief that it's not just her, it's not something fundamentally flawed about her connection to the Force -- but it's short-lived because even the name Palpatine is enough to make her shudder involuntarily.]

Tell me what to do. How do I help her?

[There's no hesitation, not for a moment, no consideration if she's strong enough or capable enough or even actually the source of the entire problem in spite of Luke's insistence that it was that creature and not her.

She's still a part of that darkness. No matter what else she is or chooses to be.]

[vaderstan]

[ Ah. Luke is here just-- hoping Rey had an idea. Everything has been a mess in Force Ghost Space, it's hard to keep track of much of anything when the entirety of the life force is being sucked into a black hole of grief.

'I don't know,' That hurts to admit, he has to wonder if Obi Wan or Yoda ever felt this way.'But there has to be something he left behind, something of my sister's that he corrupted.'

They would have stumbled across some ancient Sith artifact if he had stored himself within it. And Also? That is an entire trilogy adventure in of itself. We don't have the production budget for that currently. Also I'd have to play literally every other character.

Ah, and here is where Luke hesitates. He has something he isn't sure he should say, Rey's energy is distraught enough as it is. Even without Leia's willpower pulling the entirety of the Galaxy out of balance, Rey is facing a cliff herself.

But every bit of information can only serve to help her, right?

'Rey,' Nothing good ever comes of him saying a name in that tone, 'He's not here.'

He knows he doesn't need to specify who. ]

[jedied]

[Her blood turns to ice in her veins and for a long, terrible moment she's horribly certain she's going to be sick.

He's not here.

They're the words she's most dreaded and feared and somehow knew without knowing how or why.

She digs her fingers into the sand like she wants to tear the ground apart or maybe just keep it from spinning away from her. He's not there. He's not there and she left him and he didn't make it to Leia and she's trapped too and--

She stills, her mind racing ahead for the answer even as the rest of her is grief and horror-stricken by the news.

The lightsaber.

She's up and running without knowing how she wills her legs to move, running for the place she's buried the two of them. It's all of Leia that she took into that place and the only thing he could have corrupted.

Except Ben, who's not there--

She holds her hand out and the sand parts to offer up the gift she'd given it days ago.

She picks the hilt up and reaches out with the Force, not to ignite the crystal within it but only to probe it in search of whatever he's planted there.

She's tentative at first, but whatever was done, it had been buried deep; hidden until it was too late to stop it or drive it out. Or nearly so. Rey closes her eyes and opens herself more completely to the Force than she has in weeks, silently asking for help to do this thing that she barely trusts herself to even understand.]

[vaderstan]

[ It had started to turn red, a vibrate sickening color against the blue of the crystal. Bleeding out grief and resentment and pain. Who else could hate Darth Vader more than the daughter he tortured, abandoned, and isolated? It'd been easy to sneak into the crevices, burn away at the light and search for that bit of darkness to hook into.

But she isn't alone any longer.

She's there, but she isn't. She's been holding on for weeks straight and for a woman like Leia-- it's hard to let go. Give control over to someone else. But there is no one else she could trust more.

They are stronger together after all. She may not be Ben, but there's strength enough within the connection between Rey and her son that they tune into one another easily.

That inky darkness will realize it's lost it's footing with Leia. Another frustration stacked upon one another. The last remnant of this rotting being who was so afraid of death that he'd cling like a parasite to anything which could bring him back.

You let him die.

He whispers.

I can bring him to you if you give in

He lies.

He misses you. ]

this is overdramatic but yolo

[jedied]

[It's almost enough.

You let him die -- that's not her guilt; that's not the flavor it takes when she feels it. She'd fought tooth and nail for his life and would have held on longer if she'd known --

( you saved him, Rey ) Leia's an echo, but one that's getting louder as the whispers make their best attempt.

She knows the offer to bring him back is steeped in dark Sith ritual and a vision of Ben with yellow eyes and bloodstained lips flashes into her mind and makes her recoil in horror. This isn't the way. It's not going to work. And then--

He misses you -- she feels something inside her crack apart even further than it already was, the thought of Ben out there alone somewhere. Unable to reach her, but unable to be at peace within the Force. Just alone. Forever. And hurting.

And then--]

Help me, Leia.[(LukeAnakinObiWanAhsoka) names and names for centuries, more than her conscious mind knows, but her spirit knows them all the same.

She feels the Light course through her white-hot like it had back on Exegol, but this time it doesn't need to stand against him forever. This time it's only an echo they need to banish; the last desperate grasp of a man who couldn't resist one parting shot.

She feels it when the crystal turns to purple and then back to brilliant, blazing blue. Leia's spirit singing it back to life.

When the light fades she's on the ground again in a graceless heap, but she's retained her grasp on the lightsaber. She flips the switch and lets it flare to life in her hand, its clarity restored for all assembled to see.]

this icon represents ben solo screaming like "WOW OWOWOWO I THOUGHT U PLAYED ME NAI"

[vaderstan]

[ The strange thing about the light is how quiet it is. Blinding, accepting, there's no need for whispers here. No seduction necessary Unless ur ben solo ig


Warmth will surround Rey, a hug or something close to it. Accepting. Open. Familiar.

It's definitely Leia.

'Thank you.'

There's so much more to say, so much more she'd like to convey, and some of that intention will bleed into the bond. Grateful, maternal, unconditional. All of it will echo around her along with the other voices as everything which had been tilts rights itself. ]

[jedied]

[Well. Almost everything.

Rey allows herself to just soak in the warmth and acceptance and gratitude she feels from Leia as she flicks the lightsaber back to its dormant state, though she can still feel the vibration of the restored crystal once again in harmony with the Force humming within it.

And Leia, restored, peaceful, safe.

But.

Rey swallows, not having forgotten for a moment the thing that still left a hollow, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, that all the Light in the galaxy wasn't going to chase away until she knew.]

Ben. Is he-- ?

[vaderstan]

[ Leia wavers for a moment, not as confident as she normally is-- But her twin takes over easily. Luke wouldn't let either of them drown.

'He's in good hands,' Now it's easier to see what was going on with out the dark trying to tear at his twin.'--Well, he will be.'

not vague or cryptic at all

Within the Force a second could last an eternity, but even then Luke can sense his sister's exhaustion and-- they can't linger. If she wants to pull this off. Weeks after the ink had dried on the page, she needed to recover. His sister was strong, but he won't let her take on more than she can bear. Not anymore.

'Keep on the look out, kid,' There's an inkling of a smile on his face, one that reflects the farm boy more than the Jedi Master. 'We'll check-in soon.' ]

rey: I did ALL THAT and no Ben????

[jedied]

[Well that's just --

GREAT.

Rey is once again left sitting in the middle of Force-forsaken nowhere after having a frustrating conversation with Luke Skywalker's Force ghost and she doesn't even have any ships to set on fire.

She's also pretty exhausted, having not prepared for any of that in any way. She makes a mental note to send Lando a message in the morning, and hopefully by then she will have figured out what to make it say beyond a series of curse words and question marks.

For now, she's just going to pick up Leia's lightsaber (and Luke's, too, since she's too wary of all that just happened to bury them again like none of that had ever happened) and wrap them back up carefully before heading back inside the former Lars residence.

She's not sure she'll be getting much sleep, but in the end sheer mental and physical exhaustion win out and she's in a deep and dreamless place until sometime the next day.]

look this is the last jedi lesson: Be as unhelpful and cryptic as posible.

[vaderstan]

[ Lemme be honest. My biggest reservation here is: Would he just appear naked tho. Like are we going FULL Terminator 2 here? He just wanders into a bar and shoots everyone and steals some clothes? Or maybe breaking bad. Gotta pretend he's in a fugue state and wander into a market somewhere.

Anyway. I realized. I'm writing this. Thus

]

[ Turns out resurrection after the said resurrected has been dead for a few weeks is kinda hard. You have to really bend a lot of rules and laws of physics and magic. A Sith ritual is so much easier, the easiest path out that brings back a fraction of what was lost. But Leia is, as she always has been, a perfectionist. And if there was a single being in the galaxy who could pull this off, it was Leia.

Leia who has to wander into the river of the dead, Leia who has to find her son's soul lost in purgatory, Leia who has to yank and shove and keep a hold on that last bit of life she had clung on to so hard for all these weeks. Luke can only help her at the end, help her direct him, help her as she reshapes him, and hold her as she finally lets him go.

'He's going to be okay,' a murmur which may reach Rey's ears and dreams.

Rey will wake up feeling much warmer than she had been when she had slipped into her slumber the day before. Perhaps a window was left open, it's the first instinct to check that. Nope. Not it.

BB-8 is being obnoxious though. There is a lot of alarmed beeping and chirping going on.

And you know, really. Rey could probably sleep through that because that is not unusual for the droid. He gets alarmed at many things. And by many things I mean when he wanders into the blasphemous pit of polyamory that Finn, Poe, and Rose are. Rey is his last safe haven.

But it'll be harder to sleep when she realizes her bed is moving and breathing.

Much harder still when you realize that the thing which is moving and breathing is supposed to be dead and gone. Like. Probably expected to see a blue force ghost hugging his mom and smiling. But this is like. Next level shit. It's so next level he has clothes on.

(Imagine luke trying to convince Leia to not waste time on giving him clothes and Leia screeching she's not doing that to Rey or her son. SHE DOES NOT WANT HIM WANDERING IN A DESERT NAKED. WE KNOW THE SKYWALKERS HATE SAND OKAY. Luke just thinks this shit is hilarious because that's the type of person he is.)

But his heart beats strong and even in his chest, his lips are slightly parted with the soft puffs of breath, and it's... weirdly just. Normal.

Whenever Rey ends her inevitable few long seconds of confusion panic and then understanding aggravation-- she'll hear a voice.

'Wake him up.'

Rey's the last step, after all.

'Take care of him for me.' ]

I DIED but also have some self-indulgent fluff.

[jedied]

[Rey's first reaction to BB-8's incessant chirps is, indeed, to aggressively ignore them. She doesn't care. She truly, deeply does not care. She's sleepy and warm and inexplicably safe, and more than half-convinced that she's dreaming the kind of dream she hasn't dared to have possibly ever, but definitely not since Exegol. Somehow she'd subconsciously known that waking from a dream like that would break her.

At some point, however, the rational part of her brain kicks in and she freezes, tensing instinctually because why is someone in her bed and why is she mostly-if-not-entirely on top of them and oh holy fuck I've definitely lost my mind, that's it, this is the way to the Dark Side, I've been on the desert planet too long, time to call Lando and GTFO of here.

And then there's the entire rest of her spirit which calms itself upon hearing the soft whispered command and having woken entirely to find Ben Solo still here, somehow, and looking peaceful in a way that almost turns her right back around to thinking it's a dream.

Her brain isn't quite ready to comprehend. But the Force knows, and she allows it to guide her.

She's wanted to do this for far, far longer than she'll ever allow herself to fully admit.

She allows herself just a moment to simply take in the sight of him; to tentatively brush her fingertips over his hair which is as soft as she's always imagined.

And then, improbably -- a kiss, because this is a Disney fairytale even if things are bound to go horribly awry again later -- a gentle meeting of her lips upon his, as the Force sings through the Dyad that is once again fully realized.]

Wake up, Ben. Come back to me.

[vaderstan]

[ He'd been dreaming. Well-- he thinks it was a dream. He'd heard the wind chimes that they had up in their home on Chandrila. His head had been in his mother's lap as she hummed to him softly and sorted through his hair. The distant rumble of waves and the smell of salt and that one fragrance his mother always wore.

A dream? A memory? It was hard to tell, had he been a child or as he was now?

That's when he's pulled from it. Like a sudden tunneling and clarity to his vision, adjusting suddenly to the light after wandering out from some dark corner.

His eyes flutter open He's a true disney princess now as he squints up at-- ]

Rey?

[ He has, at least, two questions right now. Probably more. But less questions then if he had no clothes on so just picture Leia now screaming at luke "I FUCKING TOLD YOU." ]

[jedied]

Hi.

[She smiles down at him with a look of soft wonder and -- honestly, she's kind of a mess right now, all things considered. This is not neatly put-together vision of badass Jedi competence Rey.

This is Rey the filthy sand gremlin, which admittedly isn't really how she would have wanted him to see her. Her hair's a mess and she's probably been sleeping in the same thing she wore yesterday and there's sand under her fingernails and honestly she looks like she hasn't slept in a week despite having just woken up.

But, you know. It's a step up from either one of them being dead.]

Are you... how do you feel?

[vaderstan]

[ I cannot tell you how disconcerting and confusing this is for him right now. Not Rey's state of being, he's used to her looking Less Than Her Best because if Kylo Ren's after you--- you definitely ain't under God's protection. But no. This is like when you were a kid and you were watching some late night cartoons and thought you were being sneaky and you fall asleep only to wake up in your bed the next morning.

On one hand, the blankets are nice and the mattress is soft. On the other? You're kinda embarrassed you were caught in the act. Oh and ofc you get mad at your parents for doing this to you. So really. This is just a very Ben Solo moment here.

He's looking around the room and this-- this isn't a dark cave among dead sith. ]

Tired. [ He thinks. He knows he should be more tired and sore. The last few things that happened to him were literally being flung off a cliff after having to fight off his own men and getting part of his life force sucked from him.

But there's the advantage if you just literally ghost your space wife. Your mom is concerned enough to make sure you aren't beat half to hell when you come back. ] Hungry.

[ ah. she forgot to fill his stomach whoops.

He flexes his hands as if to see that they're there and nearly moves to sit up, but Rey is just right on top of him. Oh well. This is fine. ]

What happened?

[ The unspoken sub question to that question is "Where the fuck are we tho???" Rey I cannot understate how confused this poor boy is right now.




-- It doesn't help when BB-8 comes CHARGING AT THEM BOTH WITH TASER OUT AND READY. DO NOT WORRY GOD MOTHER, HE WILL NOT LET KYLO REN HURT YOU. UNSURE HOW HE APPEARED. BUT HE DOES NOT CARE. Thank god he couldn't get to a signal boosting antenna, because, you know he. is on immediate snitch-to-Poe mode if Kylo Ren some how showed up. ]

[jedied]

[Rey's trying to formulate even a halfway succinct version of events, because she doesn't want to recount it in excruciating detail right now any more than or either one of them wants to wait for food and possibly a shower (though good luck; on the one hand it's a moisture farm but on the other it's the desert, so sonic it probably is.)

Unfortunately for Ben, the explanation is going to have to wait, because there's BB-8 making a clear and present threat of himself and Rey, in her current state of overprotective hypervigilance, comes within seconds of Force-throwing the little droid across the room. She won't be telling Poe what a near thing that was.

Instead she finds she's launched herself off the bed to put herself directly between the angry droid and Ben Solo, and has both hands out in a gesture that is somehow both defensive and placating, she hopes.]

BB-8, stop. It's fine. He's not a threat.

[The droid seems to hesitate, but still seems on the verge of using that taser on one or possibly now both of them, since Rey has clearly been compromised.]

I promise. Can you give us a minute?

[She needs at least a minute to get her heart to stop pounding in her chest because what she really didn't need was the life startled half out of her by a small angry droid first thing in the morning while trying to explain her space husband's return from the dead.]

[vaderstan]

[ Why was BB-8 here? Why was there so much sand??? Why does it feel as though the very moisture from his lungs is being torn away every time he breathes????

Once Rey moves, Ben does manage to prop himself up and sit up properly. The droids wariness and willingness to attack him doesn't phase Ben at all. He's used to reactions like that, he doesn't take it personally. But his cursory glance around lets him make note of his surroundings and this... this is definitely Rey's room. Or at least where she's choosing to bunk for now. He can see her staff, various clothes and shoes all tossed around haphazardly and... Yeah okay cool. Coolcoolcool. He's gonna trust that Rey is going to make any of this make sense.

BB-8, for his part, is practically squawking in disbelief. But, these are Rey's orders so he'll remain obedient for the moment. Slowly rolling out of the room, BB makes sure to keep his optics on Rey and Ben until he's completely out of sight. ]

[jedied]

[Rey takes a moment to snag a water canteen from where it's looped around the back of a chair, unscrews the cap and takes a drink -- she can't tell if her mouth is dry from sleep or sand or nerves -- before handing it to Ben. Being dead probably makes you thirsty.

Right. Explanations. There is... no good way to begin. She suddenly doesn't even know where to be. As much as she would like to return to her former state of touching Ben, she's kind of spooked right now and the stress of the last few days (weeks) is catching up to her. And there's always the risk that BB-8's going to change his mind and stage an intervention. Which she probably needs, because there's no way this is actually happening? What do mental breakdowns feel like? Probably this.]

So. You were dead.

[This is off to a great start.]

Leia brought you back. I don't know how, exactly -- something had gone wrong in the Force and she was caught. You both were, maybe? I don't-- I helped her yesterday, her and Luke, and they said you'd be fine but I didn't know that meant you'd be here--

[Honestly Rey seems like she's having some sort of delayed panic reaction to yesterday and possibly all of it. All she can think is you weren't in the Force and I left you in between and underneath every word and suddenly it's entirely too hard to breathe or keep talking.]

[vaderstan]

[ He's sitting in a bed which it's still dawning that this is Rey's bed. Which... he's not a prude, it just feels as if this went from 0-60mph real quick. And he's honestly a little confused as to how to hold himself right now. And it's less about feeling insecure or self-conscious and everything to do with he and Rey never having a conversation this casually in person where the entirety of the Galaxy wasn't at stake.

So, he is accepting the water. He's drinking from the water. These small physical actions are keeping him level at the moment when he accepts that he is... was? Dead. All in all it isn't a surprise, he knew what he was forfeiting. His life for Rey's, an easy transaction in his mind. You know.

Save for the fact that he's not dead right now.

Excuse him as her words start to sink in and it takes him a millisecond longer to realize "Oh. OH nO REY."

He's not really on top of his game today, I think we can forgive him.

Soon he's pushing himself to his feet. ... Wobbly feet. Like a new born gazelle, his body is remembering what it's like to be alive as well. And perhaps his stumble into her isn't entirely graceful, she's going to have to support some of his weight as his legs Get Their Shit Together, but he's able to wrap his arms around her shoulders and pull her to him.

He honestly recognizes the panic going through her, for him? Just a few minutes earlier he'd been pulling himself across the ground to stumble upon Rey's corpse. In that moment he'd been so lost and alone, no one around to comfort him or guide him. He did the only thing he could think of doing.

It's here he realizes that he may have been dead longer than just a few hours....

He'll have to pick apart the truth with her later. But hearing her reference Leia has given him a pretty clear image of what happened already. ]

I'm here.

in which Rey is unhelpful

[jedied]

[Rey is not doing especially great at keeping herself upright either, her legs threatening to collapse under her in some combination of relief and shock and entirely too much emotion. Her arms move nearly of their own accord to wrap around his waist and she just clings to him for a moment until the planet feels like it isn't going to fly apart beneath her.

She'd be crying tears of stress and overwhelm right now if she could, but there's some part of her that just... can't. She's been on autopilot for weeks now, just carrying herself along from day to day as she had on Jakku because that was how you survived. She couldn't fall apart back on Ajan Kloss because there were eyes on her constantly, looking to her to be the symbol of hope they thought they'd lost. And there'd been no point in emotions here, no more than there had been on Jakku. The desert didn't care.

So she's still feeling a bit distant from herself right now, and that will probably catch up with her a bit later. Once she figures out what all this means and what, practically, there is to do.

Step two will be figuring out what to tell Lando, and it's possible this turn of events will just add MORE cursing to her message instead of less.

For now she's going to take a moment and just. Breathe. Which is admittedly a little harder to do with her face buried in Ben Solo's chest, but she doesn't mind. He's warm and solid and real and she's not letting go just yet.]

in which ben is doing his best.

[vaderstan]

[ coolcoolcool. He can feel the weight of trauma at the back of Rey's mind anchoring her in some fairly ugly places at this moment. He's a decent listener and lord knows he adores Rey, but this is a lot to juggle as a dude who was dead until a few minutes prior. Like... is BB-8 calling the rest of the Resistance to come rain hell fire on him? How does he even feel about this whole being dead but not thing? Also wow??? Wait??? Did his mom really just???????

Cool. Swallowing that. None of that is helpful right now. Rey needs some sense of stability because clearly some Shit has gone down. He can cry about things later.

Instead he takes a controlled and measured breath in and then releases it, letting the bond yawn open so he can bear some of her burden. As the silence blankets them both he'll start sorting and tidying up her hair. It's a mess. She's a mess. This entire thing is a mess.

BB-8 is making a ruckus outside and ruining this nice sweet moment. He sounds like he wants to play chicken with Rey, daring her to call his bluff. ] Would it help if I-- dispatched that droid for you?

[ He says that loud enough for BB-8 to hear and lord that droid is going to short circuit itself with the conniption he is having.

Oh also just so we're clear. Ben is not 100% positive that the kiss actually happenedThe first one not the disney princess one he was out for that one. Like. He's about 85% sure right now since Rey's got her face shoved into his tits and is cool with touching him and they kept making Eyes at one another.


He just doesn't really wanna push his luck rn and this seems to be the wrong time to be like "Hey so. Did you actually make the terrible life choice of kissing me????" ]

[jedied]

[It takes a second or two for that offer to register, and while the beeping is admittedly not helping Rey's mental state, it also kind of is, because annoyance is a better emotion than the mess of other things that she's still trying to decide if she's safe enough to feel.]

What? No!

[She pulls away from Ben enough to shout over her shoulder at BB-8.]

I told you to stop it! Do anything else. Go send a message to Lando; tell him... [She hesitates; she's not sure she entirely trusts anyone with this message right now.] Tell him I'll check back in later on a secure channel and that he should be alone and sitting down when I do.

[That much taken care of, and with Ben taking some of her anxiety away, she's able to gather herself enough to try again with Ben.]

I'm fine. It's fine. [She's convincing nobody, probably.] Are you... all right?

[It's the dumbest thing in the world to ask because she's faiiiirrrrly certain neither one of them is all right, but he was just dead and that has to be a little bit challenging to deal with.]