Copper for the Charlatan

Snake Oil

Rey gives Kylo an idea

Storm troopers being goofy

Ichara answers for her behavior on the bridge

Hux gets his feelings hurt :(

Kylo paced in his room, his saber spinning angrily by his side in a tight circle. He hadn't realized exactly how much Snoke had kept Hux in check. With a rabid force user at his heel, he barely waited for her to get settled in before toeing the line. She was right about his men, though. They weren't loyal to Kylo at all.

They were nothing more than cogs in a machine; the General's machine, and he was at a disadvantage simply by sheer numbers. He began to feel trapped, frantic the more he considered it. This is Hux's ship, Hux's army, Hux's fucking side table he thought as he sliced it in half.

The familiar light blossomed in his awareness, and turned to see Rey. He cut off his saber and slowly holstered it.

"What do you want?" he did his best to keep any tone of emotion from his voice, focusing on the frustration of the moment rather than how he felt about her... about what she did to him.

"I felt you across the force and it pulled me here. I didn't come of my own accord." she retorted, crossing her arms in a huff.

He raised his arms out to the side "Well, you'll be glad to see I'm a prisoner on my own ship."

"What do you mean?" She stepped towards him. Is this it? She wondered. Is this how I get him to turn?

"People on this ship are more loyal to Hux than they are me, even though I am their Supreme Leader." He shouldn't be telling her any of this, but at this point he felt like it didn't matter. She was the only one he really had to talk to anyways, and it made him feel somewhat pathetic.

"Why don't you leave then?"

"And what, give myself to the Resistance to be locked away or executed?" He laughed derisively "Would you like that? I'm sure you would, after leaving me to die on the Supremacy."

"I didn't just leave you, I- I had no choice, I had to run, Hux was coming! We could talk to the Resistance, Ben, make them understand, maybe we could-"

"Stop. There will never be a place for me there. You know it."

She looked up at him with determination in her eyes "There could be place for you with me though, Ben. If you would just let me. You could teach me, show me my place in all this."

He shook his head at her "I gave you that opportunity, and you attacked me. You've already chosen your place. If you want to learn, you'll have to come to me." His dark eyes stared into hers, and she swore she could feel his gaze brushing over her soul at the intensity. "I'll teach you. It will just be you and I, away from the world. Hux would leave us alone and we could just be here together."

"I could never be on the same ship as... as him. He's horrible! Ben, please. You can leave." the request sounded more plaintive than she intended, but her heart hurt for him. "I can feel how miserable you are; it doesn't have to be like this. You don't have to be alone."

He looked away "Maybe I do.... Or-" when he turned back to continue his thought she was gone.

"Or maybe I don't." he said aloud to himself. If Ichara wanted a teacher he would oblige her, and gain her loyalty in the process. He'd worked too hard, suffered too long, to lose to a cur. Beating him at his own game would be doubly gratifying. His mind wandered over the different possibilities, plotting the best way to go about it.