Even though your hate for me is strong (OTA)

[darthvaderfanboy]

A. There was only so long that Kylo could take being in an enclosed space with Hux. The two of them had been plotting each other's deaths for weeks now and had carried out at least a few half-hearted attempts. But today, Kylo couldn't stand it any longer. After yet another idiotic arguement about the proper way to make a bed, he'd put on his mask and stormed out, slamming the door to punctuate the end of his arguement. Who only knew what their neighbors thought of the two of them?

He stomped down the stairs, looking as his feet landed on each one as if he was five seconds away from murdering someone at any moment. It was best not to test that theory.

B. As Kylo made his way through Hadriel, his temper began to fizzle out. There was only so long he could keep his rage around him before he couldn't even remember why he was angry to begin with. Well, while he was out, at least he could pick up supplies for the apartment. Hux wouldn't know how to cook if the food jumped out of the fridge and into a pot on the stove, so it was up to Kylo to make sure that they didn't starve.

The shop ahead looked promising. As he made his way towards it, he had the sensation of a pair of eyes on him. Scanning the streets, he saw no one. He turned around three hundred and sixty degrees and still saw nobody. With an impatient growl, his voice distorted through the mask's vocoder, he said, "Come on out. I know you're there." He wasn't in the mood to play games.

C. Was there really a reason he was doing this? The woman who called herself Fulcrum had fascinated him from the start. She was a Force user but wasn't a Jedi. She was much more centered than he was. He could feel her balance in stark contrast to the turmoil he felt within. As with anything in Kylo's life, when he didn't fully understand something, it frustrated him. That frustration turned into anger and there was only one way to get it out of himself.

He tracked Ahsoka down, approaching her with a purposeful step. When he was about ten feet away, he ignited his lightsaber. The blade seemed to match its owner, unstable and crackling in ways that it shouldn't have been doing. He pointed it at the former Jedi. "Defend yourself," was all the warning he gave before he raised it high, aiming with a downward slash towards her face.

Comments

c (i'm still laughing a lot about this)

[fulcra]

It was hard to ignore that Kylo Ren was in the city, when he was a stormcloud in Ahsoka's periphery every time she meditated or reached out with the Force to sense for incoming danger. He was just there, but she was alright with that. Open conflict would have made things difficult anyway, so it was best when they steered clear of one another.

Except then there was this and she didn't have time to ask what his problem was before he was attacking her. He was too slow, though, Ahsoka with her lightsabers in her hands and lit before his swing could make it to her. Her parallel narrow, white blades intercepting his hissing red one above her head, she squinted at his lightsaber in confusion for a moment, taking it in. Red, she could have called already, but the crossguard was an interesting choice. But the crackling was... unsettling. It was a broken crystal, maybe, but not something that anyone in their right mind would willingly take into combat.

Her eyes dropped down to the other Force user's face. "Did I do something?"

i aim to please!

[darthvaderfanboy]

Huh. White lightsabers. That was interesting. He supposed there was some kind of meaning behind the color, but he'd have to save the questions for after he'd defeated her. "You're always here," he snapped as he pulled back, unable to overcome the twin blades by sheer strength alone. He meant how he could feel her presence in his head, a calm port in the storm of the Dark Side he so desperately was clinging to. It unsettled him, and when Kylo didn't know how to approach something, he saw only one solution. He had to destroy it.

He twirled his lightsaber, putting more force behind it before he slashed at her lightsabers, aiming at her midsection this time. Each time it made contact with the other blades, it seemed to spit and hiss, as if it was only a few seconds away from blowing up and taking out the two of them completely. Never let it be said Kylo had ever made the smartest decision when it came to crafting his blade.

[fulcra]

An unbalanced Sith (or Inquisitor or fallen Knight or whatever he was) wasn't enough to worry Ahsoka. She could handle him no problem, provided that lightsaber didn't decide to explode anytime soon. She would have to be careful not to hit his hilt as she parried, as quick with her motions as he was with his. A few hits later and she jumped back out of his reach, twirling her mainhand saber over her fingers to settle it in her comfortable reverse grip.

"Sorry?" She wasn't exactly sure what he was getting at, but at least he'd have to move again to come to her. Until she understood what he was up to, her moves were purely defensive, but she made them look easy. "It's not exactly a choice. I'm trapped here, same as you."

[darthvaderfanboy]

Kylo moved back for a moment, studying the way she was holding her weapons. A reverse grip was an unusual way to hold a lightsaber. His own stance was different than the way most Jedi were taught to hold their sabers, high and away from their body. His natural tendencies left him holding his more like a broadsword, low to the ground, but making overhead strikes that much more powerful.

"You're. Always. In. My. Head!" He punctuated each word by jabbing and slashing with his lightsaber, trying to find an opening. That wasn't an indication of how unstable his mind was at all. Though he hated to admit it, Ahsoka was good. She'd clearly been trained when the Jedi had been at their peak, not the piecemeal training that Kylo had been through with Luke and then Snoke. Her moves were graceful and smooth in comparison to the Knight's blunt thrusts.

[fulcra]

Muscle memory and the Force served her well here, letting Ahsoka parry or dodge all of Kylo's blunt, sweeping attacks while she tried to parse his words. It didn't make any sense for him to be complaining of her in his head when she always refrained from reaching out to him, when they didn't have any sort of bond beyond that of two Force users in a relatively small, enclosed space. But you had to be used to that to not find it invasive, didn't you? She'd had the benefit of being raised in the Jedi Temple, the benefit of having spent her weeks before coming here in the presence of Kanan and Ezra. She was used to having people around and aware of one another.

And maybe he wasn't.

"You don't spend a lot of time with your Order, do you?" she asked over the sound of their lightsabers coming together once again, Ahsoka's shoto out to the side to block his latest attempt to hit her. "And you're not used to fighting Force users at all. You have no idea know what you're doing."

[darthvaderfanboy]

Ahsoka's words spurred him on, feeding his anger as she hit the nail right on the head. He was the only member of the Knights to carry a lightsaber, so he had no one to practice with or spar. Most of his fighting techniques are largely theoretical and patchwork, what he's picked up from his uncle and Snoke. What was driving him was his stubbornness and general toughness rather than any sort of actual finesse with the blade.

She blocked his latest attempt and so he was forced back a step or two, unable to gain any sort of advantage over the former Jedi. "If I'm not used to fighting them--" Parry and an attempt to slash again. "--it's only because I killed the only ones that were left." That was something he might brag about, but Kylo didn't like to think back on that often. He wasn't so far gone as to take pleasure in the killing of the Jedi students, most of whom had been children.

[fulcra]

"Oh, really?" Her tone was as light as her footsteps as she twirled to one side, blocking his attack from in front of him and then lashing out with her own lightsabers from his side. None of her movements, nor her presence in the Force, gave any indication that she was aiming to do more than catch his clothing with her weapons, maybe scorch his skin. For someone who was clearly capable of being aggressive, this was a defensive dance Ahsoka was doing now.

"I hear that a lot, coming from Dark Siders, and they never seem to be right."

A

[therewillbeorder]

"Come back here!"

He should have just dropped the argument and settled for passive aggressively destroying some of Kylo Ren's stuff but he refused to let him get the last word. Granted, he still would go back and do something incredibly passive aggressive later but he was determined to win this argument. They had been fighting all morning and he would get the last world in so help him.

He had a dirty plate in one gloved hand, holding it up.

"I am not doing your dishes especially since you have the table manners of a Wookie and you sure as hell aren't leaving them out because that is just disgusting," he said as he stood at the top of the stairs. "I know your mommy and daddy didn't teach you how to make a bed properly but surely you can manage the simple task of cleaning a few dishes."

He refused to so much as set foot in the kitchen unless to make coffee if he could help it. The last thing he was going to do was clean Kylo's dishes.

Re: A

[darthvaderfanboy]

At first, the dark Knight ignored the general. This was nothing new and had in fact been a running argument the past week. Kylo refused to clean up after himself, which was slowing driving Hux into insanity. He might have made a token effort at keeping the apartment tidy if he wasn't so determined to piss off Hux. Now, he was just deliberately doing it, waiting to see if the general would finally snap. He continued down the stairs until Hux mentioned his parents. That was always a surefire way to get Kylo to react.

Kylo turned around, slow and cold and with an absolute murderous expression on underneath his mask. He raised one hand and used the Force to yank the plate out of Hux's hand. Then, he threw it against the wall right next to his head. It shattered into a million pieces. "There. Now there's no more plate for you to complain about."

That was one way to settle an argument, but Kylo wasn't done yet. He stomped a few steps back up, disliking being on a lower plane than his rival. "And do I need to remind you who is the one who does the cooking around here? You'd starve if it wasn't for me! The least you can do is clean up instead of being an ingrate."

[therewillbeorder]

Hux only jumped slightly when the plate came crashing by his head, refusing to give Kylo the satisfaction of flinching if he could help it. He had come this far, he wasn't about to let Kylo think he was going to back down. He was glad he still was at least a few stairs higher than Kylo at least.

"I do clean up after you. Who do you think cleans the rest of the apartment, makes the bed properly, and picks up the dirty clothes you just toss wherever you feel like it. Just because you're used to being a complete slob doesn't mean I will tolerate it," he snapped. "And you expect me to cook on top of practically taking care of you? Do I look like your nanny droid?"

Normally he attempted to keep his temper in check but Kylo never failed to get a rise from him, even if it was over something so trivial as leaving a dirty dish out. "And you are replacing that if you want something to eat off of. I'm not rewarding your bad behavior."

[darthvaderfanboy]

Kylo marched back up the stairs and right up to Hux, boots crunching the plate fragments underfoot. He using every inch he had to loom over the redhead. One gloved finger poked Hux in the center of his chest. He wasn't going to address the fact he was technically right about keeping the rest of the apartment clean. He'd agree with something the general said when Hell froze over. "You're certainly acting like a nanny droid! Or my mother. Nothing but nagging morning, noon, and night. I think you do it just to hear the sound of your own voice."

He poked Hux again. There was a certain satisfaction that came with the action. He was sure there'd be an even greater one if he strangled the general until his face turned purple. "If you don't like the way I live, you can always move out. But I doubt anyone else will be able to tolerate your personality. You'd send anyone running for the hills in a day."

[therewillbeorder]

Hux was well aware what Kylo was capable of but that didn't stop him from reaching out and grabbing Kylo's finger the second time he poked him. It was tempting to break the finger and the wrist, Hux learned quickly that he wasn't really suited for physical confrontations so he had learned his own way of playing dirty that would get the best of his opponents when they were bigger or stronger than him.

Granted, he knew Kylo was far more dangerous but that wasn't going to stop him today. If Kylo killed him, he would be on his own and he doubted Kylo knew how to survive by himself.

"Here is a novel concept for you, if you don't like my having to nag you because living with you is like living with a rancor, then perhaps you could move out. But then again, I doubt anyone could stand you for very long since all your life people couldn't wait to be rid of your whiny and insufferable presence."

[darthvaderfanboy]

Had Hux--? Yes. He'd dared to reach out and grab Kylo's wrist as though he was some common underling. Clearly, the man was no longer operating on all cylinders if he'd forgotten just what Kylo was capable of. The shards still left on the ground began to vibrate and tremble in tune to Kylo's anger. "Let go of me. Now." The vocoder made his voice into a robotic growl. The four simple words promised that Hux was going to be in for a world of hurt unless he complied.

Then Hux had the gall to suggest he be the one to leave. While that would have been the easy solution, he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him know that he'd won. No, he was going to stick this out until the general left or he finally gave into the temptation to smother him in his sleep. "I'm not leaving. The apartment is mine. You have all the charms of a rabid womp rat, not to mention that expression on your face that says you've had coal shoved so far inside of you it's going to make a diamond the next time you go to the fresher, so you can be the one to leave."

They were quite a pair. Neither of them willing to budge an inch on the subject of the apartment. At least it provided Kylo with a fresh source of anger each day to fuel his powers.

b

[mismanagement]

[Well, this is just great.

Thus far, Hux and Kylo Ren haven't done anything destructive to the city or the people under her protection, though Maketh lives in dread of the day that Hux finally gets it in his head to do something clever. A man like that can only hold off for so long and if she's more worried about Hux, it's only because the General is known to her - at least somewhat - and has a tendency to get under her skin. Kylo Ren, wherever his allegiances lie, has kept largely to himself. Plans have been made in case he does not, of course, but Maketh hasn't had to put anything drastic in motion. Yet.

All she had to do was avoid the man and let him exhaust himself against whatever monstrosities Hadriel would inevitably drop on him. Give him something to kill and maim that isn't her.

Except, of course, that Hadriel is a small place in the grand scheme of things and that plan was never going to work long-term. Case in point.

Maketh schools her face into polite stillness and steps into view.]

Master Ren. How--unexpected.

[darthvaderfanboy]

You.

[There's a definite growl behind the voice, something that the vocoder turns into a distorted metallic mess.]

You tricked me, Maketh. I'd almost be impressed. [Almost being the key word there. He's far too angry at her to focus on anything but possibly running her through with his lightsaber. He lifts up a hand, pinning her in place with his strange powers, and he slowly walks towards her.] Hux was kind enough to inform me of your true nature.

[She'll have to give him a good reason not to tear her apart. Kylo's fury is always just bubbling beneath the surface, ready to be taken out on someone or something.]

[mismanagement]

[Maketh sucks in a hard breath, fighting the urge to panic. She can't move and the mechanical hiss of his voice reminds her too much of Vader. There's nothing to stop him from killing her.] I gave you an enemy worth fighting.

[She narrows her eyes, holding her ground. She can't flee or fight back, but she can stare him down.]

What has Hux given you?

[darthvaderfanboy]

For starters, he didn't lie to me.

[Hux might have been a pain in the ass and butted heads with Kylo on a near constant basis, but even the Knight had to admit he knew better than to lie to Kylo Ren.]

He also informed me of your true nature as a traitor to the Empire.

[mismanagement]

The Empire is dead.

[Maketh narrows her eyes. She's done pleading. Done weaseling around the truth and trying to get the upper-hand from someone like Vader.]

And you should have known. He always knew when we lied. Why didn't you?

[darthvaderfanboy]

[He doesn't reply, but his masked face ducks down in a manner that suggests Maketh has hit on a point. It's always been a sore spot for Kylo. He's never going to be as strong as Darth Vader, never able to control his abilities as well as his grandfather. The Light within him won't allow it. It keeps him forever walking on a thin line, neither fully Sith nor Jedi.]

Do you have any good reason as to why I should keep you alive?

B. I am so sorry about her in advance!

[burn_all_the_babies]

It wasn't odd for Tina to be hanging out in and around the shops here, she did live in one of the abandoned, busted up and broken down stores after all. In fact, you could say that Kylo Ren was in her territory, I mean, she does know every nook and cranny around here.

As her stalking was finally called out, Tina made a bratty huffing sound and stepped out from behind a dented trash can. Her arms behind her back, holding onto an oversized, stuffed rabbit doll who's ears and legs were dragging on the floor behind her.

The girl didn't look like much, hardly anything to her! All flesh and bones, dirty too, just a bog standard trash-baby hiding out as she was scavaging, right? ... Wrong. Though Kylo Ren shouldn't really know who she is or what she's been planning, someone like her shouldn't even show up on his radar, and that just made Tina smirk on the inside.

She knew this was the guy Hux had told her to meet not just from looking up his name on her phone but from the kind of clothes he was wearing and the general way he held himself when walking about. There was an air of grandeur about him, but then again, all the stuck up big-wigs moved and spoke like him, Tina was convinced she had the right guy.

"Yoo a robot, mista?" Tilting her head aside, swaying as she spoke like any other cute, innocent little girl would. "Your helmet thingy-mah'giggy kinda makes yoo look like a robot."

ahaha! This is brilliant. :)

[darthvaderfanboy]

Beneath the mask, Kylo Ren raised an eyebrow, not moving as he studied the person he'd felt stalking him. The girl looked like any number of space rat children that one could find at any of the seedier ports in the galaxy. Rey had probably looked similar as a girl. She didn't look like much, standing there with a cuddly stuffed animal toy, but Kylo knew from experience that looks could be deceiving. Just look at what Ewoks could accomplish and they were a species of murderous teddy bears.

It was the voice that made him slowly tilt his head, mirroring Tina's posture. He'd never heard anyone talk the way she did. "No. I'm not a droid." He took a few steps toward her, slowly, so that she didn't disappear into one of the nearby shops. "Who are you?"

So so so very late! I'm sorry! D:

[burn_all_the_babies]

He pretty much nailed it~ Tina was from the ass-crack of the galaxy anyway, she was used to junk and scum, though she didn't have any complaints about her life, she seemed to do just fine~ Looks can be deceiving. Had he decided to investigate further, he would have found a rather high powered explosive hidden within that cute and cuddly toy. Tina had a thing for disguising her weapons on cute, adorable things after all.

Oh man, if Tina were to learn of these Ewoks, she would have tried to live with them! Or better yet... Become their Queen!

As Kylo Ren stepped forwards, Tina took a few skips and a leap towards him. Still swaying and smiling up at him, completely unphased by his manner and appearance. " Ya sure about that mista?" Pointing up to the eye part of his helmet. "Can yoo shoot laser beams outta dat? I mean if yoo cud! Dat would be freaking awesome~ " Amused and laughing for a moment before it dawned on her that he'd ask her a question. "Huh? Who me? Oh! I'm Tina! Only the world's most deadliest 13-year-old~ but yoo can call me Cookie~"

No worries!

[darthvaderfanboy]

Who was this girl Tina? Where had she come from? Why was she bothering him? Was she insane? He had a feeling none of these questions were going to be answered soon. He'd harmed children before in his time, so possibly doing something to her shouldn't have dug at his conscience as much as it did when the initial thought crossed his mind. Maybe his time here was making him soft.

"I can't shoot laser beams, but I do have this." He pulls out his lightsaber and turns it on. Tina better keep a few steps back because the weapon looks clearly unstable, like it might blow up at any point. It glows red and the main beam crackles as the arc of it spits through the air.

Yay! Thank you!! <3

[burn_all_the_babies]

Well, that was pretty simple really! Hux had told her to! She met the ginger with no soul a little while ago, and in an attempt to try and troll him, trick him into believing she was his bastard child... They ended up actually getting on pretty damn well!

So, Here she was! And about to be rather impressed by the Daft Punk.

"Oh. My. God. Are yoo shittin' me!? DAT IS THE MOST COOLEST THING IN LIKE FIVE-EVER!!"

Tina wasn't one to heed a warning and nothing weaponized really scared her. She'd blown herself up a few times in her short years, her little body was covered in scars and bruises that just didn't seem to fade. Not to mention having lost a few teeth since she'd been here. She reached out with a hand.

" OooOooh~ So purdy~" She exclaimed, her finger getting a little bit too close in the process. Close enough to have the tip almost completely burnt off! "Owie! Owie! Owie! Ouch! Shawty yoo burnded me!" Frowning, popping her injured finger into her mouth- Well, what was left of the tip... Maybe she should seek medical attention for that.

After she'd nursed her finger in her mouth, Tina gave a grin and started to circle around him, staring up at the weapon as she did so. " Yoo know gurl, I could probs make dat stop it's funky groove it's got goin' on yoo nose?" Oh, she was being deadly serious. Crystallized weapons and explosives were her forte. "Kinda reminds me of Swordsplosion~ DAT WEAPON TENDERIZES DRAGON MEAT TO PASTE YO!!!! ... What's it's core? Eridium? Cos I got a butt load of dat in my trunk gurl. Maybe some kinda inhibitor ore would stabilize it?... Or~!"

She was off on one, that was it. Walking around Kylo and talking out loud about all the ways she could make his weapon better, even mumbling something about a adapting it to fire projectiles that would explode after a certain distance.

Re: Yay! Thank you!! <3

[darthvaderfanboy]

That...definitely wasn't the reaction he was expecting. Though with this girl, the unexpected seemed to be the normal state of being. He was rather pleased to hear that she found the weapon impressive, as it was what he was intending. If he had to hear one more person tell him it was an unstable weapon in danger of exploding...

Then the idiot child goes and burns the tip of her finger off. That a sight enough to even alarm Kylo Ren. Lightsaber burns were no joke, no matter how she seems to be immediately bouncing back from her injury. "You might want to get that looked at before your finger falls right off." Aw, look at that, he might actually possess a heart under that cold, anger-filled exterior.

He's gratified she knows so much about weapons. He'd been much the same way at her age, obsessed with taking apart blasters, bowcasters, and whatever else he could get his hands on. Not that he likes to think back that far very often. Memories of his childhood meant thinking memories of his family and that hurt too much most of the time to take them out and look at them. His brooding is interrupted by the girl's manic rantings about how she could improve his weapon. Normally, he'd dismiss anyone who claimed such a thing, but this little nutcase appears to not be as stupid as she looks. He decides to test her. "It runs off a kyber crystal, with the cross guards serving as vents to take pressure off the main portion of the blade. Do you have any of those on hand?"