tushanshu_logs | Finding your footing (June catch-all)

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Finding your footing (June catch-all)

Characters: Kylo Ren and OPEN
Date: all throughout June
Location: around Keeliai
Situation: Catch-all post. In June, Kylo is still orienting himself on the turtle, trying to research his new home and just all around making sense of his new life.
Warnings/Rating: no warnings except for Poe thread (which has violence, blood)

Palace Gardens & Libraries – Sky Sector

Kylo Ren had never been all that fond of parks and gardens, though he did not actually loathe living things despite his best attempts to appear dark and gloomy. Yet oddly enough, you could find him on the old palace grounds in the Sky Sector on most days, a dark cloud of grumpiness amidst his pleasant surroundings.

Every day he visited the grounds, he would spend at least an hour or two meditating someplace quiet in the gardens, perched in the grass with closed eyes and a small frown of concentration on his face. He was searching out the source of dark power he could feel all over the city in small scattered spots, yet which seemed to be strongest in the Sky Sector.

Most times he visited his meditation would be followed by a visit to the palace library, where he would be focused on the rows holding books about the history of the land, the kedan, and this city in particular. He could be found floating stacks of books around, and grumbling about the lack of proper technology for his research.

around town, especially bazaars and the Courtyard of Public Opinion

When he wasn’t meditating, Kylo Ren could often be found awkwardly trying to mingle with the kedan in all the places where they gathered. He could be seen trying to start conversations with the locals and get information. His lack of social skills certainly was his biggest obstacle in this, as he would often offend people, or scare them away even if they were friendly at first. If you watched him long enough you would notice he was particularly interested in the history of the city, and among this most of all the Cultists he had only heard whispers about.

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Kylo growled at Hux's nagging, he painstakingly tried to force himself back to his feet. But before he could manage this, a new familiar voice diverted his attention.

"Dad, what are you doing here?!" it slipped out before he could censor himself.

He swallowed hard at the sight of his almost-father pointing a blaster at them. He wasn't even talking to Kylo, didn't seem to be paying all that much attention to him at all, but it still wounded him. He must have noticed that Kylo was injured.

Kylo forced himself back to his feet, gritting them against the pain that made the world flicker dark before his eyes. But he had his pride, and he wouldn't ask Hux for help. He had fought battles with worse wounds. He could certainly walk away under his own power.

"I was just leaving, General."

The last thing he needed was more people showing to the scene and this suddenly becoming a bigger deal than it was. It was bad enough that Ren was bleeding everywhere, and while he didn't particularly care about Dameron's well-being, obviously, Hux didn't want to be standing around aimlessly while things got worse.

Han Solo showing up was a distraction, as far as he was concerned, and he was intent on making sure that Ren didn't do anything stupid again on his watch. He glanced over at Han, but said nothing and focused his attention instead on Ren.

The bracelet was still clenched in one of his fists, though not visible at the moment. "Then get going." He was going to let Ren hold onto his pride, at least until they were out of view, or until Ren absolutely needed assistance.

Han did pause at being called 'dad', and he had noticed Kylo was hurt pretty bad as well. Under normal circumstances, he'd definitely try to help his son first and foremost, but he got the feeling this alternate son would probably try something he wouldn't like if he did.

"I was just passing by...then I came across this. I may still be something of a scoundrel at times, but leaving someone to bleed to death isn't my style." he replied.

He bent down, trying to judge if Poe could even get up or not. Since he'd tried standing once, Han slipped an arm around him. "THink you can get up and stay there if you lean on me?" he asked.

Something else was sticking out as well. Everyone here had some kind of jewelry that always had to stay on, or they'd face serious consequences. Han didn't see one on Poe anywhere.

"Wait...the gem thing...where is yours? Did one of these two take it?" he asked.

"Yah, I'll try.....t-thanks..." Poe leaned against the man supporting him in his dizzied state and managed to stand up. He still felt sick all over, his tan skin was starting to get flushed and droplets of sweat were dripping from his temple. He gave Han a tired look before his attention went back to Kylo. He hadn't missed Ren's call, it really made no sense to him but Poe felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach after the realization.

"Ben..Solo....? But you died, you can't be him...."

The pilot suddenly grimaced when another bout of nausea overtook him. His body ached all over and the pain in his chest worsened but he managed to glare at the redhead and answer Han's question.

"Him. Hux, give me that back..."

"Shut up, Dameron," he growled, sending him a vicious glare which promised more pain if he dared call him by that name again. "Shut up before I make you." He glanced back towards the man who was almost, but only almost, his father. He hadn't made a big deal out of his slip, but of course Dameron had to go and ruin it.

Much to his dismay, he ended up pressing his hand against the wound in his side since the movement had sent a new wave of blood gushing out of it again. He hated to show even so much weakness, most of all when everything was spinning out of his control.

Despite the pain and the darkness that flickered before his eyes again with the fresh wave of pain, he started to stomp away, calling over his shoulder, "give him the damn thing or destroy it, Hux, I don't care. But I'm leaving."

Hux was tempted to take the time to stomp on the soul gem until it shattered, but the ground was too soft, and there was the possibility of it taking more time than he had to destroy it. Just tossing it somewhere would work just as well, especially considering the size of the bracelet.

He glanced at Han briefly. "If you want it so bad, you'll have to get it yourself." Not from him. Instead, he tossed it arbitrarily toward a denser part of the gardens. It could have landed in the bushes, or in one of the nearby ponds. Hux didn't care; he just knew that he'd probably (hopefully) bought them time to make an almost clean getaway.

From there he picked up his pace until he caught up with Ren. He didn't touch the other man, but Hux did steel himself in preparation for potentially having to carry or drag Ren somewhere if it came to it.

They were running off, and Han still had a lot of thoughts running through his mind. Should he try to show some kindness to his not-son and show him he wasn't always a bad parent? Would Kylo pay any attention? Probably not, since he wasn't actually his dad. If Kylo was this dangerous, he wondered what would happen if his own kids were pulled in here. Or Leia for that matter. He really hated to think about it, as it would probably get dangerous, but there wasn't a lot of time now.

"Aw kriff" he sighed as Hux tossed the gem. It would be faster to go get it without dragging Poe along, so Han told him "I'll go get it...let me set you down for a minute." He helped Poe over to a nearby tree so he could set him down resting against it, and then turned to finding the gem.

The pilot cursed as well when Hux had the guts to throw the bracelet away but it came out more like pained growl. Better lost than having it crushed, Poe told himself, trying to see the positive side. He hadn't expected to survive the day, not when Kylo showed up.

But who really was Kylo Ren? Hand Leia's son? Ben Solo? It felt as it that was a lifetime ago, what was left of the man he once was? Did the General know he was alive when they were sent to destroy the Starkiller Base? Poe had too many questions, too few answers and his body hurt too much to focus on them now.

"Sorry for all the trouble..." He let Han manoeuvre him and then rested his weight on the tree, watching the man go with tired eyes.

"I'm fine, Hux!" Kylo hissed, though not as quietly as he would have liked, as he stomped away the best he could. So what if he walked slower than necessary, or took care not to jostle his wound too much. "I've fought for my life with worse injuries." But he'd given himself fully to the Dark then.

Now he just felt miserable, and tired. And he lingered just before some shrubbery would block his view on Dameron and his not-quite father. He hesitated, looked back. Eyes tracking the familiar figure of Han Solo. Looking for Dameron's soul gem, for sure. He pushed down the bitterness that he was fussing over the pilot instead of him, and glowered at Hux.

"What are you waiting for? I said we're leaving," he said. And gritted his teeth against the pain. He could, and would, make it under his own power or not at all.

"Yeah, yeah. I know you have." He kept the sarcastic 'tough guy' to himself because he wanted Ren to keep walking, not stop moving and have a fit. Though Ren did stop, and Hux wasn't tolerating having the blame passed onto him. "I'm not the one that stopped moving first."

Hux didn't have a good bedside manner in general, and now was no different. "If we ever make it back to our camp, I have a first aid kit. Try not to die before we get there."

"Don't be ridiculous, Hux, I don't die that easily," he growled and picked up his speed just to show Hux that he was perfectly fine, thank you very much.

It was quite the long walk back to their camp, but Kylo Ren had sheer bull-headed stubbornness on his side. It was something he had gotten the double dosage of from both of his parents, not that he liked to think of it as such.

"I didn't even need your help," he muttered indignantly, "you disrupted me."

Hux snorted at the comment, but didn't argue. Ren might've been hardy, certainly much more than other people, but he was still reckless and stupid. There's been at least two times where he's certain that Ren may have died if he wasn't there to help, and possibly a third, if the scavenger girl had had more time in the hotel.

Once they were at the camp, Hux left Ren to his own devices while he fetched the first aid kit. He wasn't sure what good he'd be able to do, depending upon how severe the wound actually was. He'd learned how to sew buttons and repair his own uniform at the Academy, though, and surely that couldn't be too much different than sutures.

"I know I did." There was little point in arguing that. "I'm not a nice or good person, Ren, so it's not like I intervened on your behalf. Seeing as I have no other allies here, it was a strategic necessity." Of course, Hux wasn't sure if framing it that way would make things better or worse, but it was always hard to say when it came to Ren.

A little bit of both, really, since Kylo trusted selfishness far more than altruism, but it wasn't exactly pleasant either to be reminded that his only ally in town barely cared if he lived or died.

Kylo settled on a scowl, that was always the appropriate response. "I'll be sure to guard my back from you once you have gained other allies, General," he sneered, though that went for both of them. Besides which, he actually enjoyed their alliance. With no Snoke around whose favor they could gain, Kylo felt they were working better together than they ever had before.

While Hux searched for the first-aid kit, Kylo got to work divesting himself of layers of blood-soaked clothes. He hissed and growled his way through it, until he was finally left bare-chested and shivering, the steady drizzle that never seemed to cease these days already misting his chest.

For all that a full hit could have been worse, lethal even, the glancing shot at point-blank range had still made an ugly mess of his side. The bolt had burned as it should, but with the pistole being pressed right against his side as it was fired the impact had also torn into his flesh.

Kylo hissed in pain as he twisted to check his wound. "At least it's no bowcaster wound," he said wryly.

"When I decide you're useless to me, I'll stab you from the front."

Hux might've hated Ren, but he respected him enough to at least have the courtesy of not stabbing him in the back. Of course, Ren would see such a thing coming, so maybe that was testimony enough that Hux wasn't going to betray him.

At least for the foreseeable future.

Once he had his supplies, Hux drew close and knelt down to get a look at the wound. "Yeah? It looks almost nearly as bad. Did you take this at close range?"

"No, it's nowhere near as bad, you didn't find me bleeding in the snow this time," he said wryly, though humour was actually quite hard to come by in this situation. But he tried. It wouldn't do to show that he was actually in pain, let alone how humiliated he felt.

He shifted slightly to give Hux better access to the wound, and clutched his balled-up shirt tightly in both hands. "I took it at point-blank range." He uncurled the fingers from his left hand from the cloth, and pressed his forefinger against his chest. "Zap." A dry chuckle. "I suppose I should call myself lucky he didn't go for anyplace more delicate."

No need to tell Hux that even so, he had been lucky to be caught as he was already twisting away, though the nature of the injury might betray it anyway.

He really didn't want to admit to anyone, least of all himself, how close Poe Dameron had come to killing him.

Hux didn't find humour in this situation, but that probably came as no surprise. There were few things he found funny about their entire predicament, and right now, he was just trying to process the fact that Ren was somehow still alive and coherent.

In a way, he was impressed.

"Or we should be fortunate that Dameron has poor aim." Except it was impossible for someone to be this bad of a shot at such close range. It was really a matter of the Resistance pilot being weak in a manner that was to their benefit.

"You're going to need stitches. Brace yourself, or whatever you need to do." He'd already did his best to clean Ren's wound, and for the moment, he was getting a sterile needle from the first aid kit for sutures.

"I'm not scared of stitches!" Kylo snapped, sending Hux his best indignant glower already and really just all around trying to look like a man who wasn't pathetically bleeding all over the forest floor.

After he had been shot in the most blatant case of your kink is not my kink ever.

Fuck his life.

He hissed in pain as he removed his hands from the wound and wiped the fresh blood off with the edge of his robe. "I can take the pain," he said, more solemn now, "it can't be worse than walking here was." He squinted. "You do know what you're doing, don't you, Hux?"

"You're not afraid of a thing, I know." Somehow, that managed to come out as not completely condescending. Hux was still just having a difficult time figuring out how Ren kept managing to end up in these sorts of situations.

He shouldn't have been surprised at all, and yet.

"Of course I know what I'm doing." Sutures couldn't be much different from sewing buttons or mending uniforms, which were a couple of the demeaning things he'd had to learn at the academy. He tried to make quick work of the stitching, but the unfortunate thing was that he only knew how to do a straight stitch, instead of the more medically-oriented ones.

"You better," Kylo muttered ominously, though he knew very well he was in no state to be making threats at the only person around to help him.

Nevertheless he was very suspicious of his skills, and watched as closely as he could while Hux worked. It was something to keep his mind off the pain, too. He couldn't help wincing whenever the needle pierced his flesh. "I have never seen stitches look like this," he remarked dubiously.

There was cold sweat on his forehead, and his breath was a bit shallow. "I think I want to sleep when you're done." It was the closest he could come to admitting his weakness.

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generalginger - 2016-06-27 23:04 (UTC) - Expand

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no_light - 2016-06-28 11:45 (UTC) - Expand

Han knew he couldn't waste a lot of time talking, and got busy looking in the direction he'd seen the gem fly. He hated that the shrubbery was kind of dense and he had to move branches and do a little kneeling and crawling, but to his relief, he found it fairly quickly.

"Here...fortunately, I found it fast" he said as he came back, carrying the gem with him, and put it into Poe's hands. The whole time, he'd kept glancing up at the other two as they left, but now they were what he hoped was a safe distance away, not intending to cause more harm.

By the time Han came back, Poe was holding his head in his hands and trying to keep the dizzy sensation under control. It wasn't working to well for him. He managed to give the older man a smile when he returned, though.

"Thanks, sir..I owe you my life."

With a shaky hand, Poe tied the bracelet to his right wrist again. The unpleasant effects of being separated from his soul gem had appeared really quickly and he hoped that they would vanish just as fast now that he had it with him. He took a deep breath and didn't fail to notice the way Han's eyes went back to Kylo.

"We had..a story, back in our world. Not a nice one but that's probably obvious. We tried to kill each other but I didn't know...I didn't know he was your son. The other you but...still...I didn't know."

"Hey, don't worry about it. And ya don't have to stick with the 'sir' either...just Han is all right." he replied. "You know, I really gotta wonder whose idea these things were." He looked down at the gem on a chain around his own neck. "Way too easy for disaster to happen if you ask me."

Han listened as Poe talked, now obviously doing a bit better with the gem returned to him.

"I'm beginning to get the impression things are very different in the other timeline." he said. "Kylo gives me the impression that maybe my twin made a lot more mistakes along the way than I have, even though he hasn't said a whole lot." said Han.

"Not to say I haven't made my share...raisin' three kids with way too many nasty jerks in the galaxy who want them dead or for their own use and then trying to fight a war didn't exactly make things easy, but I always did my best. They kinda got mad at me for a while there, but nothing like him. " He sighed.

"I feel bad for him, but at this point, I really don't know how to react yet. It's too soon, I'm still trying to process it all." He shook his head. "He probably wouldn't be interested anyway, since I'm not the Han who did whatever it was."

He turned his attention back to Poe. "Do you think we should get you to a doctor or a hospital? You're looking better, but you're still pretty banged up."

"Alright, General." Sorry Han, Poe did the same to Leia back in the day. Old habits die hard and he always considered Han a legend. "I don't know either but they clearly didn't think it through. Maybe it will be better if we kept them more hidden from now on, just in case."

The tightness in his chest was finally uncurling and while the unpleasant sensation didn't leave Poe completely it eased considerably.

"General Leia doesn't talk about but I know that your..twin and she had their ups and downs. Sometimes he was gone for months but family was important to them and there was no doubt that they loved each other. But after Master Luke went missing things got very complicated."

It was all Poe could share. He didn't know the details and he never wanted to make General Leia feel worse by asking them about her personal life. After managing a few deep breaths, he gave Han a smile.

"I'm sure you are a good parent, doing your best it's what matters. It's not an easy job. Kylo...or Ben, either way, be careful if you approach him. You might not be his real father but you are the closest thing he has here." And that was both a good and a bad thing. It made Poe nervous because Kylo was unpredictable.

He shook his head at Han's concerns.

"I've had worse, don't worry. Now that I have the gem back I'm feeling much better. I just need some rest and time to process what happened."

He had to talk to Rey, see if she knew about Han and Kylo and warn her if she didn't. After a few seconds, Poe stood up properly, no longer looking like he was about to collapse even if still a bit pale.

"Rey and I are staying in a shelter in the Earth sector until we find a proper house, crashing there sounds great right now. Do you have a place to stay?"

Han nodded. It sounded familiar, in a way. He'd ran away after Chewie's death, after all, and had to deal with three kids who were distant from him because they'd been with Winter so much growing up. It was better now, but still tough, especially with Jacen. Even Jaina had gone dangerously close to the dark side after Anakin died, but she'd managed to come through. "I just hope someone can help him before it's too late." he said.

Poe said he didn't want a doctor, and Han could only nod. "All right, if you say so. I did gather a lot of it was the gem thing. And no, well, I am staying at the hotel, but that's it for now. I guess I'll have to look for some kinda job and get a little currency to get a permanent place. Not that there are really many jobs for ex-smugglers who are used to spending half their time on a ship in space. But I'll try."

Poe was silent for a few seconds, not sure if that 'too late' had already happened. He often tried to look the best in people, he really did, but right now he couldn't feel any sympathy for Kylo Ren. Not with the death of so many innocent people burned in his mind.

"We got kicked out of the Hotel. Well, not me, Rey and Kylo..." Poe didn't want to leave Rey, she had been alone far too long, and she was good company. He looked around for his blaster and found it right next to a blood stain on the ground.

"I'm pretty sure there's nothing Han Solo can not do, don't worry. I've been looking for a job myself in the Metal Sector. You could look there too it's the one who looks closely to our world."

Edited 2016-06-17 11:47 (UTC)

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