Moment of Weakness

Low Profile

A/N: I'm just uploading them both because of my screw up lol. This one comes after "Ruined"

A cool breeze blows across the room and the curtains billow out, brushing against Rey's hand which hangs over the edge of the bed. She peels her eyes open, feeling the effects of the late-night talking to and sitting with Vicrul downstairs.

What he had admitted to her hand consumed her thoughts all night, and she spent more time staring at the ceiling than actually sleeping after she had returned to bed. The other side of the bed is empty and Ben had obviously pulled the sheets back up to the pillow when he had snuck out earlier.

Stretching her legs out under the blankets, she flexes her arms and legs, getting in a good morning stretch and yawning.

A crack rings out through the air and she bolts up in the bed, wondering if she actually heard what sounded like a gunshot or if her hearing had been altered by her yawn. A second crack rings out followed by a cheer from a man.

She rushes over to the window, pulling the curtains back, and looks across the manicured lawn that leads to the woods, sporting Ben and Vicrul with their guns shooting at a target. Closing the curtains again, she rolls her eyes with a smile and turns around to get changed into a pair of jeans and an extra sweater she had bought while shopping with Zori two days ago while Ben was on a conference call.

The men turn and look at Rey as she walks towards them, one hand shoved in her pocket, the other holding a mug of hot coffee. Ben wears blue jeans with a red flannel pulled over a sweatshirt while Vicrul wears jeans as well and a sweatshirt, two things she didn't even know if he owned or not.

"You brought me coffee?" Ben teases and leans down to give her a kiss.

"Get your own," she teases back as he takes a small sip and hands it back to her with a wink.

"Did we wake you?" Vicrul asks as he loads a rifle with shells and lines back up to shoot.

"No, I had just woken up because the room was freezing from someone insisting we keep the windows open despite it being the beginning of November," Rey says as a stab at Ben again.

"Nothing beats the air in the country in the fall," Ben reasons and picks up a gun Rey has never seen from one of the cut stumps that are clearly normally used for the fire pit a few steps away.

"Careful with that one, it has some kick," Vicrul warns and takes his stance to shoot. He pulls the trigger and hits the target, each shot moving closer to the center of the target.

"You forget who you're talking to," Ben points out as he switches spots with Vicrul and Rey moves to the side to watch him better.

Her heart kicks up as she watches him, his eyes trained on the target, his jaw set, and his hand caressing the gun in front of his face. With swift movements, he fires one shot right after another, his eyes unblinking and one singular chunk of hair falling across his forehead.  

"Touché," vicrul laughs and sits back on an empty stump as Ben motions like he's brushing dust off his shoulders.

"So where's everyone else?" Rey asks, noting the completely quiet house and empty rooms when she left she came downstairs.

"Qi'ra and the minions are gone, Kuruk is at the store," Vicrul explains and picks up his thermos from the ground.

"I love how you call them her minions," Ben says, taking a seat opposite him and pulling another stump over for Rey.

"I used to call you her minion so don't get too cocky over there."

"Well that's rude," Ben smiles and looks down at Rey who is just enjoying seeing him actually be friendly with someone. Everyone had been calling Vicrul Ben's best friend, but Rey had yet to see evidence of them being that close.