Confronting Fear

Decisions

Don't leave me lost here forever
Show me your starlight and pull me through
Don't leave me lost here forever
I need your starlight and pull me through
Bring me back to you

Starlight- Starset

Rey woke before Ben, sore in ways and places she had never known were possible making her wonder if the previous night's activities counted as "light physical activity." Careful not to wake him, she slipped out of the bed and into the fresher.

The hot water pounded on her neck and shoulders, making the marks Ben had left sting. So lost was she in her thoughts of the night and the experiences it had contained that it wasn't until she felt his hands on her waist that she realized Ben had joined her, making her jolt. He grinned at her surprise.

She still wasn't used to seeing him smile and it seemed to have the infuriating effect of making her go weak in the knees. She playfully swatted him away. "None of that right now."

He reached over her for the bottle of soap on the shelf, pouring some into his hands and lathering it onto her shoulders and neck. The kneading, massaging motion of his strong fingers working its magic on her tight shoulders. She leaned backwards, resting against him, already drunk with his presence.

"I know. I have a meeting in an hour."

She picked up the bottle and began lathering his chest, tiptoeing up to plant a single kiss on his lips. "I hope it doesn't take too long."

As the various members of the council droned on, the Supreme Leader's mind wandered to the hours he had spent in Rey's bed and the pleasures therein. No fantasy, no matter how vivid could have prepared him for the feeling of Rey folding into him and how much he'd crave it once experienced. Like an addict.

"Will the Princess being joining us soon?" General Hux's smug tone bringing him back to the hear and now.

Once again hoping Rey is on the verge of death.... "The Princess is still recovering from her accident, but I assure you she is well."

Grand Admiral Denos interrupted Hux before he could say anything that was likely to get him killed. "Supreme Leader, I bring good news. One new Star Destroyer, the Leviathan has been completed and it's new crew will be transferred there within the week. We intend to station it to patrol the Five Points System. A second, the Calamity, is nearing completion and should be finished within the month. As for your new flagship, the Equinox, we expect completion within the next three months."

Ah yes, the new flagship. The Supreme Leader had commissioned it as soon as he had been coronated. It was a Dreadnaught class ship, as Snoke's had been but much smaller. He had always hated the Supremacy, seeing it as functionally useless as a warship and far too large. The design he had decided on was still larger than usual but significantly reduced from the Supremacy. The Steadfast was serviceable but forgettable. Like Snoke, he wanted something that could strike fear but unlike Snoke he also wanted functionality.

"Excellent. General Entonon, how goes the search for a suitable planet on which to build the First Order capital?" Also unlike his predecessor, he didn't believe in not having a planet-based capital. Snoke had believed a planet-sized ship to be a better solution due to mobility, but that had not saved it in the end. Ben had studied the Empire's methods and had found their fatal mistake in choosing land-based centers, thus knowing how to correct for it.

A middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair stepped forward. "My lord, we have identified several planets, some inhabited, some not..."

"I specifically said uninhabited, General." he interrupted, anger in his voice.