video;

[provenforce]

[ The video turns on to Rey sitting in front of a display of brightly colored glass items, a forced smile on her face. She's never actually made a post of her own, before. Attention freaks her out. There's a five second span where the look on her face screams 'ABORT ABORT' but she pushes through it, exhaling. ]

Hello. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Rey. I've recently opened up a shop on Level 2 that deals in all different kinds of junk and recycled items, as well as electronic repair. I have a background in spaceship salvage, and my workers all have varying degrees of knowledge or interest in similar things.

If- If anyone is interested in stopping by, or have a request, feel free to check us out. The shop is called Spinebarrel and you can find it listed in your map application.

[ And awkward pause, before D-0 beeps at her in binary and nudges her foot with his nose. This is of course off-camera, but she looks down and smiles, before her eyes return to the video feed. ]

Thanks.

[ and it's off before she gets weird. ]

Comments

[letoldthingsdie]

No, give it at least 48 hours before you throw in the towel.

[He chuckles, squeezing her waist gently before letting go.]

I’m just glad to be doing something with you.

[It still felt weird to be doing something besides fighting and killing. It was all he had known for most of his adult life.]

[provenforce]

[ She wrinkles her nose at him, before letting out a happy sigh, smoothing her hands over his shoulders and stepping back. ]

Me too. It's nice to just... have normal moments. Nothing concerning life or death.

[ Rey had had far too few normal moments in her life. ]

[letoldthingsdie]

What you didn't enjoy the two of us trying to kill one another?

[He smiles innocently, letting her go as she steps back. He runs a hand through his hair, a carefree glint in his eyes]

[provenforce]

No.

[ She answers just fast enough that it's obvious the thought still makes her a little unhappy. It's likely that will never change. It keeps her up, sometimes, wondering about how different their lives might have been if they'd met before he'd become Kylo Ren.

Moving through the shop she absently straightens things as she goes, stopping to fix a display of mismatched jewelry. ]

I've always been a survivor, but I wanted to be more than that. And there were moments when I hated you. When I wanted you to die.

[letoldthingsdie]

Rey.

[He follows after her, gently coaxing her hands away from the jewelry when he finally catches her.]

I'm sorry. It's just- for me that's all I knew for a really long time. Before that, that's all I was convinced I would be - just another part of my family's legacy. When I knew I couldn't meet those standards, I thought Snoke had the answers. It was my fault for letting him twist me into someone I wasn't. If I hadn't then I wouldn't have ended up where we were, with my own lightsaber in my gut.

[He lets go of her, giving her more physical space. This was actually hard for him to talk about and she could probably sense that.]

I didn't mean to upset you. Violence and potentially dying have been things I've never thought that hard about. I was always stronger than anyone else until I met you.

[provenforce]

[ Rey lets him pull her away from her work, though the frown on her face becomes more pronounced as he talks. She knows that he hasn’t had an easy life, that his demons have been so much more pronounced than hers. Maybe that’s why it makes it easier for him to be flippant about how she almost killed him more than once. Then did kill him, though that hadn’t been her choice.

She sighs, reaching out for his hands. ]

It isn’t the violence that bothers me. You know I haven’t led a peaceful life. I just don’t like reliving it. What happened between us... If I could wish it away I would in a second. Your actions may have led you there but mine led me to stabbing you. Then to running from you. I shouldn’t have done it.

[letoldthingsdie]

I think it's understandable, considering- [He presses his lips together before forcing the words out.]

- considering what happened, what my mother did.

[He takes her hands in his before pulling her close, one of his hands moving to the nape of her neck, like muscle memory.]

I was trying to kill you, so the stabbing was deserved. If she hadn't done what she'd done I probably would have killed you and I would have regretted it.

[provenforce]

[ She lets out a breath, a scoff at his words, shaking her head. ]

You wouldn't have. You wanted me to join you, killing me was the opposite of that.

[ wrapping her arms around his waist loosely she gives him a sad smile, his hand on the back of her neck soothing in its own way. ]

I wasn't really running from you, either. I was running from my feelings. I didn't want to hurt you anymore.