EVENT #7: THE SIGHT

[abraxasmods]

Event #7 - The Sight

go to the OOC event info and plotting post

---

The night before APRIL 18, your dreams are disrupted by a vivid image of the same eclipse that occurred last month. The black sun seems to be an endless void in the sky, growing ever darker - until it suddenly opens into an eye that stares straight at you.

When you wake up, much of your night seems a blur except for the vivid dream of that eye. Whether you find it unsettling or try to ignore it, the image is something you cannot get out of your mind. If you ask, you will discover that none of the locals of your faction saw another eclipse. Speak with your fellow Summoned, however, and you may learn that while there was no eclipse that formed over the world, you were not the only one who had this dream.

Of course, dreams don't need to mean anything. You can't feel or see any immediate effects, and nearly everyone around you is going about their day as usual. Maybe you should do the same.

The Awakening

It might happen that very morning or a day or two later. You could be discussing the dream with a fellow Summoned or perhaps you simply brush shoulders with them as you walk by. Whatever it is, as soon as you make brief physical contact, one of you is struck with a sharp pain in your temple that grows into a terrible headache. It's disorienting and painful as the world around you shifts to someplace you may or may not recognize. Like an old film reel, you watch the events of the past play out before you: the past of the other Summmoned. It might be something they would rather hide, a moment of failure or despair, or something they are immensely proud of and brings them great joy - or even a jumble of several images over the course of a person's life. But you see it as if it were real and right in front of you all the same. When you come to, you'll likely find yourself on the ground or bent over, possibly with one or more people around you to see if you're okay. It'll take you a bit to gather your bearings, and the subsequent pounding in your head could last from minutes to hours.

Or, maybe you aren't the one who receives the vision. Instead, as you watch, another Summoned might grasp their head and crumble in front of you. They may go silent or groan in pain. They'll be impossible to shake out of their stupor until it's over. If you ask what happened, they may be inclined to tell you the truth - that you, you were what happened to them.

Or, if your Arcana signs happen to line up in a specific way, you'll see each other in the shared memory itself. You may also find that for certain Summoned, you can help soothe the effects, calm their emotions, or help draw them out of the memory before it consumes them for too long. It's not entirely clear what determines which effect, but one thing is for certain - within each memory, every Summoned as they appear in the past seems to wear the mark of their Arcana somewhere on their person.

For some, they might experience this only once. For others, they might experience it multiple times: with the same person, with several other Summoned, or with a different memory each time. Over the next 7 days, you'll find the Summoned around you are all receiving a glimpse into each other's past, as if the Singularity has awoken an eye within each of you.

Flee for the safety of the Horizon if you want, but you'll find that in there, it's much the same. In fact, inside the Horizon, the other Summoned don't even need to be anywhere near you - just existing in the Horizon space itself together will be enough to possibly set off a headache-inducing vision.

The Factions

What has occurred between the Summoned will not go unnoticed within the factions. While it's difficult to say how faction officials have picked up what's happening, it'll be obvious they do know.

In THORNE, characters will be asked to remain in the castle walls until further notice. Characters will not be allowed to leave the castle grounds, not even to go into the surrounding city, and anyone who is already outside will be requested to not leave again as soon as they return. If asked, they will be told it's for their own safety, given the Singularity is behaving unpredictably and the Summoned have a unique connection to it. Soothing potions and healers are on hand to offer assistance, if anyone is particularly suffering from ill effects.

In the FREE CITIES, characters will find the army by the outposts show more activity than usual. A higher number of guards will patrol the streets throughout the event, particularly in areas frequented by the Summoned. Anyone who publicly and visibly experiences the effects of the memory share (pain, doubling over, etc.) will be offered assistance by the guards. They are generally there to help, but they are also there to maintain order and ensure anyone behaving erratically due to this incident is properly contained. This might include confinement for a day or two if anyone is especially posing a risk, but no one will be punished except in the most extreme cases, as the locals are aware this is not within the control of the Summoned.

In SOLVUNN, the locals will be watching what's happening with a mixture of trepidation and curiosity. Host families and neighbors will be on hand to help with charms meant to offer protection, as well as general care and assistance (soup, blankets, and so on) if your character seems to be especially under the weather or afflicted by the event. Towards the end of the event, more elders and mages will be out and about to check up on the Summoned to make sure they're doing okay. If asked, the mages will say they aren't sure what's going on, but that they are currently divining with the gods and hope to have a definitive answer soon in the upcoming days.

None of the factions appear to be doing much more than keep a watchful eye on the situation - but as the week comes to a close, officials will start making a decision as to what they want to do and how to handle the Summoned who have demonstrated this unforeseen connection to the Singularity.

Comments

Kylo Ren | Thorne | The Tower

[photophobic]

01. Castle Thorne: Open to all in Thorne, though Kylo will be trying to avoid making physical contact! Pick this prompt if you want to discuss the happenings without triggering a memory share or if we already have plans for making a memory share happen.

02. The Horizon: Open to any and all unplanned encounters! Let's fall into a memory-walk, track each other down after sharing memories or just meet up to discuss/investigate happenings. You can also dump your character's memories on Kylo here.

Want to start something with Kylo that doesn't quite fit either? Leave me your own starter and I'll gladly roll with it. If you want one of Kylo's memories airdropped on your character, get in touch, let me know what you want and link me to your top-level, and I will provide!

Questions to starktech|cryloren#2195. Prose or brackets equally welcome, I'll switch style to match.

ooc plotting

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01. Castle Thorne

[photophobic]

The first few hours after awakening from what appears to be a widely shared dream to find that touch can trigger visions of the past are chaotic. At first, Kylo wonders if his own ability to reach into the minds of others to retrieve their memories has spilled out onto those nearest to him, but through a series of unpleasant accidents he begins to piece together the truth: for whatever reason, any of the Summoned he makes physical contact with might unwillingly dump a scene from their past directly into his mind.

Worse: they might steal a scene from his, and a great many of his memories could be extremely effective and potentially damaging testimony against him. He needs to be careful. He also needs to find out what is happening, and what — if anything — can be done to put a stop to it. Quickly.

When not holed up behind the heavy wooden door of his study room with his taskforce of Thornean mages, Kylo can be found irritably scouring through endless ancient tomes in the library for clues, sullenly cramming food in his mouth in the dining hall as if every bite has personally done him wrong, or staring out one of the castle windows at the Thornean guard sparring in the courtyard, his hands curling into tight fists in their leather gloves.

Eventually, he stalks back to the study room but leaves the door open for any of the Summoned who might choose to join him. Perhaps he can't find all the puzzle pieces by himself. Perhaps there are answers to be found in other factions, or even in the Horizon itself...

[londonbound]

He'd tried to eat. He really had. But he feels fucking awful, and Rhy excuses himself from breakfast hastily, stumbling down the hall and into one of the magically maintained gardens to get some fresh air. He sits on a bench tucked against a curve of blossoming jasmine shrubs, elbows on his knees and head down in his hands, sucking in long, heavy breaths.

When Rhy hears footsteps approaching, he expects it to be Kell. Maybe Ronan. It's not.

[photophobic]

It's no accident that Kylo Ren is here, his strides long and uncharacteristically hurried. He may not have the same degree of empathic connection with Rhy as he's cultivated with Ronan, but there's enough of a cord between them for Kylo to sense Rhy's distress— and enough of a relationship for him to want it alleviated.

And by this point, Kylo knows full well that Rhy finds touch comforting. Grounding, perhaps, especially when firm and solid— things Kylo knows how to be.

"Rhy?" he murmurs, tone low and voice meant only for his ears.

He reaches out to lay a broad hand on Rhy's shoulder, fully expecting to be protected by the layer of clothing between them.

[londonbound]

He doesn't look up until Kylo says his name, leaning toward him. Rhy opens his mouth to warn him, surprised to find him so close with everything that's been happening to the Summoned that has drawn even the castle guards' attention by now, but it is too late. The clothing, it seems, is not enough.

Rhy's memories tumble unbidden into Kylo's mind. The worst night of his life.

They are in an enormous, lavishly furnished personal room that sprawls into two parts, half bedroom with four-poster bed and half sitting room with sofa, chairs and fireplace. The drapes are the color of a golden dawn; the floor is inlaid marble cushioned with jewel-toned rugs as fine as any found in Castle Thorne.

Through the open door is visible a balcony, where a young woman in a black mask and coat stands. In the middle of the room opposite it are Kell and Rhy, facing one another, the crumpled bodies of two helmeted guards unconscious somewhere near the bed.

"Astrid, please," whispers Kell, his voice trembling.

Rhy's hand presses the tip of a dagger into his own chest, blood starting to stain his front. His lips are drawn into a wide, twisted smile, as unnatural as the words that come out in his voice and entirely the wrong cadence and tone, "You are mine, Kell, and I will break you. Starting with your heart."

The dagger sinks all the way in.

The room tumbles, tilts sideways nauseatingly. The scene shifts. This time, it coalesces again through Rhy's eyes.

Kell is above him, hands bloody. He is sobbing a healing incantation and trying to staunch the wound, but Rhy's vision is fading. Blood is filling his lungs, coming up past his lips when he coughs, when he whispers to Kell he is sorry, over and over again. At some point, Kell drags him to his feet. Voices, urgently speaking nearby -- Kell's and Lila's -- but Rhy isn't able to make out the words. He is being dragged from one room to another, vision going dark, everything a blur.

And then, at some point, it just stops. The memory doesn't fade out so much as end, abruptly, plunging into a final nothingness.

[chosenfordarkness]

Sleep hasn't come particularly easily since the shared dream. Even though logically, Anakin knows that it's just a dream and that he wasn't the only one to have it, it still makes him nervous. Given his luck regarding prophetic dreams, he's not really counting on it not meaning something. So instead, he silently stresses out about it and flits about doing anything to distract himself with nervous energy.

Really, he stays away from Kylo as long as he can without being antsy, but they have things to discuss. Before he knocks on the door to that familiar study room, Anakin reaches out into the Force only to alert his grandson of his incoming presence. Letting himself in, he moves closer but keeps his distance. Given the nature of what's going on.

"Hope I'm not interrupting."

[photophobic]

Kylo offers Anakin a thin, tight-pressed smile. They're both aware enough to know that the door even opening proves Kylo already decided he wanted his grandfather's company— but the courtesy is a fine touch. It's something of a relief for Kylo, too, feeling the same anxious disquiet he's been wrestling with all this time reflected back. Of everyone, perhaps Anakin knows best of all the strange, floating dread that comes with fearing your past uncovered.

Past, future. It's much the same, when you know for a fact that destiny is as real as it is unavoidable.

"No. Not at all. I haven't been doing anything important for some time."

If anything, he's forced to admit if only to himself— he's been hiding.

[chosenfordarkness]

They're still figuring out each other's boundaries, and Anakin doesn't want to tarnish this relationship by being overbearing. He's a lot and he understands that, but also unapologetic about it. Why would he be? He feels that same emotion swirling around him in the Force, though he knows the feeling may be worse than projected. Kylo's control of himself still astounds him sometimes.

Anakin hums in agreement, sitting nearby. "It's about the same for me, I'm finding it hard to concentrate on much else." He sits quietly, studying Kylo's face, the lines of tension in his back. "I had an interesting conversation recently."

02. The Horizon

[photophobic]

Kylo brings his volatile mood with him to the Horizon, and the landscape of his volcanic domain shifts to make room for all the fear of loss and despair at his own powerlessness he's transmuted seamlessly into rage. Thick, poisonous clouds gather at the cratered peak of his mountain, crackling with lightning. The blackened earth beneath his feet shudders and splits apart like an old wound tearing open, boiling rock bubbling up through the fissure— and Kylo seethes along with it.

Every time he thinks he's found a way out, the trap he was born into finds a way to ensnare him again. Every time.

Just a few cathartic minutes here to indulge in his fury, and then he'll get started tracking down anyone else willing to compare notes and work with him to advance their collective knowledge. There has to be an answer in here, something he can do to keep the past where it belongs. Dead. Finished. Silent. He refuses to accept the alternative.

The Horizon- seeing both memories of Luke trying to kill Ben and many heinous crimes.

[sealingpower]

Zelda had entered Horizon for many of the same reasons as Kylo; looking for clues about who or what might be making the Summoned experience one another's memories.

Not long after, she g finds herself in the volcanic atmosphere reminiscent of the home of the Gorons. A geyser of boiling steam explodes out of the blackened earth beneath her and she makes a startled yelp. A moment later, the searing pain shoots through her skull and she collapes to the ground.

When she opens her eyes, she sees a scene with an older man attempting to assassinate a boy. The boy defends himself and flees.

Next the vision shifts to chaos. A whirlwind of screaming, blood, and massacres.

When she actually awakens, she feels sick, barely managing to turn before vomiting. Zelda takes a moment to collect herself before looking around. She's back in the volcanic crater.

Through the gasses she thinks she sees someone and calls out to them.

"My apologies for the intrusion, but might you be able to provide me with a bit of assistance? I'm not feeling quite well..." She tries to raise her voice as best she can and refrains from saying what exactly made her feel sick to her stomach.

[photophobic]

Intrusion indeed. Kylo's domain is as hospitable as its creator generally feels like being— which is to say, not very. Still, he's a curious man who chose to venture in to the Horizon for a purpose, and his curiosity tends to win out. Most people who choose to visit Kylo's mountain have a motive worth investigating.

Unfortunately for Zelda, Kylo's fire-tipped fingers and the molten lava appearing to run through his veins don't suggest he'll be much help here, though the sulfuric smog does begin to clear at his approach. He looms tall, expression darkly impassive.

"It seems you've lost the path," he offers.

[sealingpower]

The dissipation of the noxious gas at least allows her lungs to fill with air and thus she's able to sit. She barely recognizes the man as the one she had met at the Summit, though he seems very much more intimidating with the addition of the fire and lava. Especially with what she had just witnessed. Was he the boy she had seen? Or the one causing all the carnage?

Still, she doesn't want to show fear and quickly speaks up.

"I... indeed I have." she replies, looking up at him; green eyes still apologetic.

After a bit of struggling, she manages to get to her feet, dusting herself off as she does so.

"I've come to the Horizon to investigate the affliction affecting the Summoned as of late and..." she averts her gaze momentarily, "I may have stumbled upon some private memories of yours. You have my sincere apologies, I hadn't meant any harm..."

[provenforce]

Rey had barely arrived in the Horizon when the headache set in. Then one minute she was standing on the deck of the Millennium Falcon the next in an apartment somewhere unclear to her as a small naked boy screaming and laughing runs past her.

"There's my little buddy!" a man Rey immediately identifies as Lando Calrissian laughs and scoops the small boy up into his arms, who giggles and laughs.

"Ben?" she whispers with realization, looking around the scene and seeing a much younger and more alive Han Solo conversing with a droid as it takes Ben away from Lando. The moment of seeing Han making her heart soar is cut short as the droid carries Ben away, who is screaming and crying for his Uncle Lando.

The scene shifts abruptly and she finds herself crouched in a hut next to a sleeping Ben Solo. He looks so much younger but no less careworn than the one she knows as Kylo Ren. Standing above him is Luke Skywalker, his hand outstretched. A look of agony passes over his face as he reaches for his lightsaber and ignites it. Rey watches in shock as Ben reacts, pulling the hut down around them, then throwing the stones away from him. She climbs from the wreckage beside him as he looks out at the Jedi temple. She feels his anger, his confusion as a storm cloud rolls in over the temple.

Suddenly there's a lightning strike from the sky, and it bursts into flames.

"No! No! I didn't want this!" He cries as he runs towards the burning building. Another explosion knocks him back.

"And you did not choose it, Ben. The JEDI did. Skywalker." Rey's skin crawls as she hears Snoke's voice as Ben must have heard it so often. Suddenly the scene changes again.

Kylo Ren is arguing with Snoke, unsure of his path, she watches as Snoke strikes him with electricity, so casually he may as well be commenting on the weather. The scene changes several more times, but each time it's Snoke. Beating the defiance out of Ben Solo. Shaping him into Kylo Ren. Rey can only watch on in horror, until just as suddenly as it came, it was gone again.

Standing alone once again in her simulacrum of the Falcon she takes a shuddering breath. Then she pulls herself out of the Horizon, returning to where she sits in the middle of her bed with the curtains drawn. Angrily she drops the mental barriers she's put up, using the Force to locate Kylo faster than asking around would have allowed her.

Of course he's exactly where she'd expect him to be, in his study. She rather aggressively suggests that his mages all take a hike with a wave of her hand, before shutting the door.

"Do you think it's funny, forcing your way into my mind like that?"

[photophobic]

Kylo rises to his feet, slow, turning his entire body until every inch of his height and breadth is facing hers, square and solid. When she throws aggression at him, he resolves to swallow it up.

"Come in," he replies flatly, the artificial tone designed as a mild scolding for her choice to storm into his study armed with a baseless accusation. His gaze flicks over the features of her face before settling in place, locked in against her furious glare.

"No. I haven't touched you. I haven't even reached for you. Not once, since you arrived."

It's true, though even with everything he has dedicated to the task of maintaining control it's impossible to silence the ache at his core, stirred into new life with her appearance. He's wanted to be near her so very badly— but even without his abilities it's been very clear she wants nothing to do with him.

The Singularity seems to have other plans for them. Kylo exhales, fingers curling at his sides. Tension coils behind his words.

"You had a vision?"

[provenforce]

She recoils very slightly when he dismisses her accusation, doubt curling in the pit of her stomach. Her memories had been shared with others unbidden already, though that had always been via touch. She'd just reacted so quickly, because the things she'd seen were all things that reminded her of who Ben was. It's the kind of manipulation she'd expect.

"Memories," she replies, a little less harshly. "But I was on the Horizon, nowhere near you, and even with our connection it's always taken touch for me to see anything." A connection that part of her misses, but that part is packed away below her anger and her fear of being hurt.

[photophobic]

"I haven't seen any of yours."

There's something in his voice there that suggests she isn't the only one feeling that deep, hidden longing. It's possessive, almost. Rey's memories— everything about her— they feel like a part of him. It isn't right that anyone else should be able to see into any part of what they are, and Kylo can't quite crush the low, simmering jealousy down into nothingness, even when contending with the far more immediate issue: Rey having access to his memories. His past isn't anywhere near as dead as he would prefer her to believe.

"Perhaps you should stay out of the Horizon," he suggests, his lip curling slightly as he adds: "...if you want to avoid violating my privacy."

horizon + baby uwu ben!

[impressionism]

Hennessy would be offended if anyone described what she'd been doing as sulking, but, after a number of unpleasant shared memories, she was most definitely doing just that.

However, it's been long enough to make her antsy, even within her own domain. No one's going to come looking for her, which suits her just fine -- but she doesn't trust hanging out here forever any more than she trusts dreaming forever. Especially with all the weird stuff happening.

She ventures out in search of either Ronan or Kylo -- at this point they're the most likely of anyone she knows to have a good handle on what's actually going on. The live flowers twining around her arms and through her hair are a strange contrast against the scorched terrain of Kylo's domain, but they don't suffer any particular harm as she crosses it in search of one of the two. She spots him and waves from a distance -- she's really not anxious for either one of them to trip into a memory without even knowing whose it is.

"I don't suppose it's safe to come back out yet?"

She should probably just turn around now, given the likelihood that even calling over to him from this distance will alert whatever power likes to fling them into each other's memories. But there is a part of her that's curious, and it's not like there's anything left in her head that's worse than what strangers have already seen. There are worse people she could learn a thing or two about, which is probably why she ventures a little closer in spite of how bad an idea it is.

[photophobic]

Safe?

Kylo's lips twist, the wry tilt lingering even as the intensity of his gaze settles very firmly on Hennessy's face— his eyes as dark and hard as the solid obsidian construction of his volcanic fortress. Very little about Kylo Ren suggests he even knows the meaning of the word.

"If you mean have the visions of other people's pasts subsided yet, no."

And, if had more sense, he'd be staying far away from the Horizon. But Hennessy's flippant approach suggests she already knows the risks. She tends to act out when she feels cornered.

"But if we are to understand what's happening to us, we have to investigate it. Don't we."

[impressionism]

Hennessy's never felt safe a day in her adult life -- nor most of her childhood, for that matter -- but after the past few days she's starting to miss the predictability of people merely wanting to kill her. Seeing other people's garbage and enduring them seeing hers is way, way too much unwanted bonding.

At least Kylo's the mind-reader she knows.

"I don't need to understand it to know it sucks."

Eloquent as always. But since she believes Kylo's got a better chance at figuring out what's going on than anyone else she's talked to recently, she'll elaborate.

"It's what'll happen with the lines between dreaming and reality blurred, the way Ronan wants it back home. When you're dreaming you can't keep your thoughts from each other -- or your memories, if you wander into one of them. It'd be this all the damn time."

The pained look on her face makes it incredibly clear what she thinks of that.

Yennefer

[photophobic]

[She's been avoiding him for weeks now— which Kylo can understand, particularly with what Ronan has told him of her recent struggles— but with the strange plague of unwanted memory-visions sweeping the Summoned population, perhaps it's time he force her hand. Her perspective could be invaluable.

Which is why, when he sees her in the great dining hall, he decides to make his move. Murmuring something to Ronan, he rises to his feet alone and strides across the floor to reach her before she can slip away, his oversize bulk looming in unintentional menace as he neglects to sit either beside or across from her. (He does at least remember to blink.)]

Yennefer. Do you have a moment?

[Not that it seems he'll do anything but continue to stare if she says no...]

!!!! c:

[vixening]

[ she has been avoiding him, at first because he would have been the only one to know upon first glance what had gone wrong. her fear of her place in court and what the queen could have gathered from her motivating everything she did. but then it had spiraled outward - decisions she had considered, the possibility of her stealing away in the middle of the night for nott, and then her backtrack. her decision to stay. the rift it created, that she has accepted she caused.

ronan had been an an accident, something she hadn't asked him to do, and the chaos it had caused after had her worried once more that her secret would get out. the fact ronan knew at all meant that she should have known kylo would, and perhaps this meeting was something that should have happened before this moment. perhaps she should have gotten it out of the way earlier on.

instead, stephen had approached her about the task. a request by ambrose, to help monitor the singularity. she'd taken it with little question, if only to get out of the castle. away from everything she knew was dangerous, that was closing in.

perhaps the reason he's able to approach her at all is because of that quest - the fact that her confidence has risen back up again, that feeling she can walk the halls without checking her back. her secret is still that - a secret - but her place in court was firm. her name was known. she was in the great hall, gathering for food, and had been pulled to the side by another member of the queen's court to ask how her trip had gone. yennefer had responded with elegance, pushing off any real answer for some middling in-between that would entertain the woman for days on end, and she is waving her off when the presence comes into focus behind her.

kylo- she doesn't need to turn to know it's him, a tension shooting through her as she realizes what this means. still, it doesn't show in her stature, and as she turns over her shoulder to see him - looming and large and presence in all his dark cloaks and imposing force - she does not back down. ]

I might. [ except she knows him better than that, doesn't she? that no sarcasm, no presented disinterest, will push him away. he will remain, standing there, until he has done what he's set out to do. so yennefer exhales, getting up from where she'd been seated and turning to face him - meeting his eyes with a single, determined look, trying to discern if there is any reason she should be more defensive.

then yennefer picks up her skirt and gestures to the halls, to anywhere out of this very large and crowded room. ] I could go for some air. A walk? [ another moment of eye contact and then she will start off, assuming kylo will follow. ]

[photophobic]

[Kylo watches her coolly, quite content to marinate in her various methods of defense for as long as it takes her to discard them— a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth just for a second as she steels herself and meets the challenge of his gaze.

It's no attack. While Kylo isn't the easiest to read, there's nothing in the way he stands or stares that suggests anything other than curiosity, and an unwillingness to ignore the reality of their situation any longer. When she offers, Kylo is quick to respond. He falls in step so smoothly he may well have anticipated the suggestion before she made it.]

They'll allow us out on the ramparts still, if not beyond the castle itself.

[Which is irritating, isn't it? Kylo understands the restrictions are intended for their protection, but he doesn't enjoy feeling caged. Perhaps it isn't Yennefer's restlessness he's swimming in after all.]

Ronan

[photophobic]

While the entire Summoned population seems afflicted with painful, intrusive visions of other people's memories, it's easy to put all the complicated issues raised by (among other things) Rey's appearance aside. There are real, legitimate reasons not to be close to Ronan, and enough to be done that no-one could fairly accuse Kylo of deliberate avoidance.

But Kylo aches all the same. The spectre of his past waits to whisper poison in Ronan's ear at the slightest touch, but feeling Ronan's disappointment at being kept from Kylo's secrets is a misery all of its own— and perhaps it's no protection at all. In the end, Kylo would rather be rejected for what he is. Ronan deserves to know.

Ronan is with Rhy the first time Kylo steels himself and attempts an approach— and Kylo can't blame him for that, though he does slink off rapidly before Ronan can catch sight of him. Later, when he senses Ronan wondering when he might be coming to bed, Kylo makes his way to the dorm, closes the heavy door behind him and exhales.

Ronan's wondering if Kylo will pace past him to sleep in an empty bed again. Kylo can feel it.

"Ronan," he begins, the heavy weight of his gaze following a breath behind as he turns to face him fully. "We don't know how long this could last."

[nightwash]

It's been a miserable week. Ronan hasn't gone this long without Kylo's touch since the first time they were together. He'd been furious with Kylo for abandoning him back then, too, and they hadn't even been much of anything to each other. He hadn't really had a right to feel so betrayed. But that was a year ago, and he'd thought things were different now, and it turns out he was wrong. If this week has shown him anything, it's how wrong he was about everything.

At this point, Ronan suspects it's not about the memories at all. Or rather, they're a very convenient excuse for Kylo to withdraw now that Rey's here. He's ghosting Ronan — as much as anyone can ghost a roommate — and waiting for Rey to come around. Maybe Kylo doesn't even realize he's doing it. Maybe it's just the kind of thing other people see, the way Bryde had seen what he was doing with Adam when it was something he couldn't admit to himself.

When Kylo speaks, Ronan draws his shoulders up and braces himself. This is probably where Kylo tells him they need some time apart. Further apart. Like, separate rooms apart. Yes, they don't know how long this could last. Maybe it's a forever kind of thing. It's been nice knowing him.

Ronan doesn't say anything. Kylo already knows what he wants and he's been perfectly happy to deny him every night.

[photophobic]

Kylo's jaw works on reflexive, angry responses to the accusations Ronan doesn't loose on him in words— he doesn't need to use words to get in his blows, when Kylo is so desperately focused on finding a way to reconnect— but ultimately, he accepts the punishment without contest. He has wounded Ronan. He hadn't meant to, but it doesn't matter.

"I wanted to protect you," he offers. "Us. I thought I could find a way to control it. I have the power—"

But Ronan knows about his ability to retrieve memories so much more intimately now, having watched him employ his skills to tear information about the map from Dameron's head. Scream after tortured scream. Kylo's gaze falls away.

"I can't stop it happening. If I touch you... I'll hurt you, Ronan. And I don't... I don't want to hurt you."