Uncovering
Based off a prompt I received where the hand touch wasn’t interrupted and things got intimate and emotional. // She watched him remove the black glove with keen interest. For a man who constantly kept himself covered up, even going so far as to wear a mask, he never seemed to hesitate when it came to shedding pieces of his dark persona each time she was around.
He extended his ungloved hand to her, and she couldn’t help but notice that his fingers were shaking ever so slightly. To witness someone as hard and merciless as Kylo Ren dissolve into a curious, tempted child astounded Rey, who had only previously considered him to be a monster and nothing more. But just then, he had spent nearly an hour listening to her talk, dissecting her fears and concerns, without any complaint. He had just sat patiently and absorbed every word she spoke, offering his advice only when she was done speaking. You’re not alone, he had said. For some strange reason, Rey believed him. She wasn’t alone, not anymore. Her family was gone, Han Solo was gone, Luke Skywalker treated her like she was nothing more than a nuisance. But now, something had changed. Kylo was there. All she had to do was reach out, and he would be there for her in an instant. Someone to talk to. Someone to vent to. Someone who appeared to understand her every worry with complete conviction. She couldn’t help but wonder how it had come to that. Kylo Ren, arguably the most feared man in the galaxy, was now a confidant to her. Willingly. And they had so much in common.
When their fingertips touched, images raced through their minds. Scenes from a distant future; happy, but blurred. Their eyes widened at the sensation. They were beginning to see one another in a whole new light. Kylo grasped her hand in his. His fingertips caressed the softness of her wrist and the callouses on her palm with the lightest of pressure, tracing the blue veins that crisscrossed just beneath her skin.
“How…?” he whispered, amazed. He could even feel the roughness of her shirt sleeve. “We’re lightyears apart, and yet…”
“I don’t think we’re meant to ask how. I think this is bigger than the both of us.”
Their hands danced around one another, fingers leaving delicate glancing strokes along skin. Ren watched the scavenger’s face light up at the sensation and with morbid certainty he acknowledged an emotion that had long sat dormant within him. It reared its head like a phoenix from the ashes, shaking years of repression and anger off of its beautiful crown. Passion. A deep, permanent appreciation for everything she was and was not; the kind of gentle emotion that had the potential to grow and blossom until it filled every part of him. Its roots would grow in his heart, winding around his lungs, warming the very far reaches of his darkened soul. A shiver passed through him and he pulled his hand away as though burnt. The girl frowned, her eyebrows creasing in the middle. She didn’t understand. How could she? How could someone so full of love and hope even begin to understand what this meant for him?
“What’s wrong?” she asked innocently, reaching out for him again, desperate to make contact.
“I…can’t,” he choked, watching her outstretched fingers with sincere longing.
“But you want to,” she observed bluntly. “I can see it in you.”
A shaky breath escaped his lungs. He had spent so long ignoring these kinds of trivial emotions that now they frightened him. He couldn’t quite process why he was feeling them now, but he knew the core of the answer was Rey. He was beginning to understand Snoke’s apprehension towards the girl. She appeared completely capable of disarming Kylo with a simple touch, and that was incredibly dangerous. Perhaps she was his true enemy; the only person in the entire galaxy who stood a chance against him, and not because of her skill, but because he cared about her. He harboured an affection for her that could not be erased now that it was awake. This deeply troubled him, and for good reason.
She sidled up closer to him, until he could feel the warmth escaping past the folds in her blanket. He kept his eyes trained on hers while her fingers tightened ever so slightly on his forearm. His body trembled gently in response.
Slowly, her hand reached for his face. Her fingertips hesitated just above the surface of his cheekbone for only a moment before tracing his scar with the light pressure of a feather. Her eyes followed the jagged curve of the mark she had left on him for everyone to see. The scar symbolized her coming-of-age; the second time she had consciously used the Force, and it had involved Ren, just as it had the first time around. It was as though she had claimed him with that injury; leaving her mark in the most obvious of places so that he wouldn’t soon forget about her. Indeed, it had had that effect. But it meant something more than that to the two of them. It was a symbol of their connection. She had given him the scar through battle, when they had been no more than enemies, fighting on opposite sides of a vengeful war. But now she touched it with such delicacy it made the hairs on the back of Kylo’s neck stand on end. Warmth began to spread from her fingertips into his face as her fingers followed the scar down to his throat.
With alarming speed, his own hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, effectively stopping her from going any lower. Her eyes widened in shock, sending him a silent message, asking if she had gone too far. But the truth was that she had not gone far enough. Kylo’s fear was a potent formula, however. He could not allow the rebel scavenger to know she held any power over him. But as he looked into her soft brown eyes and no longer saw the pure, unfiltered hatred she had once held for him, he knew it was already too late.
“Please, don’t do this,” Rey pleaded, sensing his hesitation. “I can help you.”
He shook his head. “No one can help me.”
“I’m no one,” Rey reminded him. “And I will help you, if you’ll just let me…”
His lower lip was trembling. She wanted to reach out and stop it with the pad of her thumb, before she realized how close her own face was to his. Unconsciously, they had been pulling the other closer towards themselves, leaning in closer and closer, attracted by the truth they saw in one another. Rey’s eyes lifted to his, only to find that they were trained on her lips, admiring them with wonder and an unbridled passion that startled her. Suddenly all she could think about was the fact that she had never kissed another person before, or even been so close to doing it. What if she was no good at it? What if she didn’t like it?
Quickly, she pulled away, turning her gaze to the floor. “You’re right,” she said quietly, “we can’t.”
Kylo watched her closely, sensing her inner turmoil and embarrassment. He felt it, too. He knew it was wrong; they were supposed to be enemies, not lovers. But he couldn’t keep up the fight against her pull. The desire to be with her, to touch her and get to know her, was far too strong even for him to resist. His curiosity about their stunning connection drove his every move. He didn’t quite understand it, but he didn’t have to. Whatever it was, wherever it had come from, it was there, impossible to ignore. Something tender was growing between them, something that had never even existed to either one of them before. Kylo himself had never been in such a situation where a kiss was possible. But he felt no fear, no embarrassment at his lack of maturity and experience. All he felt was that powerful desire.
“But we want to,” he said softly, echoing her sentiment from before.
When Rey lifted her head up again, her eyes were questioning. This was a side of Kylo Ren she had never seen before; one she had not known to exist. His own gaze fell once more to the soft swell of her lips, baby pink and tempting. Before she could draw a breath, he took her face gently in his hands and delicately pressed his lips to hers.
The passion and love between them, which had previously only been spreading roots, suddenly burst forth, blossoming and growing with alarming speed. A delicious warmth crawled through their bodies. Rey was taken aback for only a moment, unable to quickly process the fact that Kylo was kissing her as sweetly as possible. His mouth was warm but careful on hers, slightly stiff but wanting. When he pulled away it was only by a few inches, and Rey’s eyes fluttered open to meet his own.
“I’m…sorry,” Kylo breathed after a moment, his own voice lacking its usual intensity. “I just…I can’t help but feel like…”
“I know.” Rey gave him a small but sincere smile, effectively summing up his emotions.
A scavenger from Jakku, Kylo thought to himself later that night, when he was alone. This is not at all how I expected this to go.
