the d is for dark side

[reydacted]

WHO: Rey, Ronan, Kylo
WHERE: Sanctum Aurorae
WHEN: The night new imPorts Arrive
WHAT: A "diplomatic" visit
WARNINGS: Probably various shades of NSFW. Alcohol, sexual content, violence.

For Ronan

Recently Rey had been testing the limits of her teleportation. Yes, always in the vicinity of Kylo but more and more she pushes it. How far is too far? There's something so... passionless about just porting directly into his bedroom really. She had been the one to yield and come to him, and he can likely already sense her presence, so she needs to have her fun wandering around his domain while he's made to wait.

The halls are largely empty, but Rey still stalks carefully in the darkness. She's traded the heels and her gala dress for light-soled boots a cloak drawn tightly around her to conceal her body with her hood up. Really she's dressed more for an assassination than a personal visit.

Despite being an outsider, she knows these halls well and finds her first stop quickly.

"Hello Ronan," she knocks on his door. "I brought you a gift."

Logically, she knows that there is really no point in bringing a god items that he can manifest himself, but she has a certain sort of affection for the Greywaren. Or as much as someone whose lost sight of almost everything except others' utility as a tool, to which Ronan was near infinite.

It's also the least she can do for the number of planes he's had to dream up to account for her theft.

For Kylo

When Rey decides Kylo has been made to wait long enough, she bids farewell to Ronan (and then maybe makes a few extra laps for good measure). Her entrance to the Supreme Leader's bedroom is much less formal, making her way in with no knock or announcement.

She swings her cloak over the back of a chaise before making herself comfortable in it rather unceremoniously. Rey's strategies at seduction have always had a rather unconventional start to them...

"I could have brought you to the White City," it's slightly more than an idle threat, but there is a reason she didn't.

Comments

[nightmarist]

Ronan hums vaguely in answer, maintaining a sort of amusement on his features even as a shadow passes over his eyes. He doesn't know just how much Rey knows about what he does, but even if she knows everything, he doesn't like to talk about the sacrifices. It's not something he enjoys, destroying one thing in order to create another.

"I doubt you need any bait."

[reydacted]

"Perhaps," she replies, but it's clear that she doesn't really believe it. It's more honest than she really thought she would be with Ronan and she drums her fingers against the empty glass before placing it back on the sideboard. Proposals are a tricky subject for the pair, but then again they always seemed content to give each other options that might as well be rejected for spite alone. "He seems quite content here."

But ultimately this speaks more to the fact that she hasn't not thought about it.

[nightmarist]

"He is many things," Ronan says, "but content isn't one of them."

That can't be news to her, can it? Kylo is insatiable. He can only just mask it behind discipline and self-control, and even then, only for so long. Ronan imagines him growing more impatient with every second she spends here, avoiding her true destination. Hell, maybe she can sense it.

He nods toward her empty glass. "Finished with me already?" He's hardly drunk half of his own.

[reydacted]

There's a little swell of pride and possessiveness in hearing that admission. She had never really counted Ronan as competition, but she'll always take an unprompted affirmation of the power she could hold in the form of opportunity. It's true, Kylo would never be content, and Rey would never aim to give that to him. He's no good to her content anyway.

"Are you lonely here?"

[nightmarist]

Incapable of lying, Ronan holds her eyes and answers, "Yes."

He expects her to be pleased by that, too. What a victory for her, walking into his home to gloat over fine whiskey before sweeping off to his master's bed, leaving Ronan alone behind his many locked doors.

[reydacted]

She thought it would too, but there are moments when her former self shines through, and her mouth tugs to the side. It's strange to feel shades of empathy. Part of it feels like an unused muscle and part of it feels like it's been plucked right from the mind of that lonely scavenger -- like it's not even this Rey's at all.

Still, a lifetime of loneliness and the sting rejection are what set her down this path, forcing her to find a strength within herself and wrestle it into a destiny she could make for herself.

"Then why do you stay?"

[nightmarist]

Ronan laughs at the absurdity of the question. Why does he stay. He leaves that hanging in the air while he drains the rest of his glass, then casually tosses it over his shoulder, where it shatters against the stone floor.

"I stay for the same reason you keep coming back."

[reydacted]

The shattered glass doesn't even faze her. She could hardly climb to the level she has without nerves of steel. She quirks an eyebrow in place of being startled.

Distantly, she thinks that maybe in another life she could have counted Ronan among her... not friends, if she even really remembered what those were like, but allies perhaps. Regardless, his loyalty to Kylo would be undoubtedly useful, and thankfully seems to be unwavering.

"Sweet dreams, Ronan."

[nightmarist]

Ronan doesn't pretend there's anything he could possibly do that would startle Rey Palpatine. He's as fragile as that glass, compared to her. She could end his life with a mere thought and a flick of her hand. Why she hasn't done it yet remains one of the greatest mysteries about her.

"A pleasure, as always," he utters as the smile slips from his mouth. He doesn't rise from the divan. She can see her way out.