Copper for the Charlatan

Peak of Pride

She went through her things to find a deep red silken blouse, a black skirt with a high split, and a simple pair of flats. It was... odd... like she was performing the parody of a 'normal' person. For just a night, she wanted to be free of her boots, her armor, and everything that was a testament of her dedication to vengeance. Tonight she would simply exist as herself... though she halfway wasn't sure she even knew who that was.

Kylo's saber sat on her bed beside her own, her eyes drifting over it as she dressed. She picked it up, running a finger down the open wiring on the side. Just like him, the hilt was massive and at first it looked to be an amalgam of strange mismatched pieces; but after staring at it for a moment, there was a purposeful grace to its construction. She ran her thumb over the activator button, but couldn't bring herself to summon the crackling blade... it would almost feel disrespectful.

"You're being ridiculous." She held it out in front of her and depressed the button. The amount of vibration surprised her, and it took a concerted effort to hold it steady.

Kylo's eyes opened slowly, and he stared into the wall in front of him.

This isn't over.

His voice crept into her mind; she dropped the hilt and yelped, jumping back as if it had suddenly become red hot. It fell to the floor and she stared at it like she'd seen a ghost.

The crystal tugged at his mind when she turned it on and he squinted through the haze to find it. Kylo could almost make out her form in front of him, his saber in her clutches. There was a small high pitched whine as the cylinder filled, followed by a hiss as the needle in the collar injected him again. He tried to claw at reality, but the slipping down proved to be unstoppable every time. He was floating in his own body, a prisoner in the cold dark pit inside of himself.

A chime at her door distracted her. She picked the hilt up and tried to shove it in the bottom drawer of her old chest, but it was too wide, so she just tossed it back on the bed.

The door opened to reveal Hux, looking more smug than she thought was humanly possible.

"May I invite you for a drink? We need to discuss the creature we have in our basement."

They gloated as they made their way, arm in arm, back to his quarters. As she suspected he wasn't going to let her off the hook for pushing their time schedule forward.

"Was there a particular reason you went to him before our agreed upon time?"

"I didn't expect things to escalate the way they did- I'd never seen him like that. I messaged you as soon as I knew what was happening."

"You were going to kill him, weren't you."

"I wanted him to think I was- I had to see it in his face, and I did. I wasn't going to ruin our plans, Hux, after all this you could have some faith."

"I'd have been quite put out if you'd lopped his head off. A good old fashioned public execution is something I think the three of us deserve."

"You know for a second he thought you were there to save him?"

"Stars the man's a bigger idiot than I thought."

"He's so self-absorbed that he was oblivious to everything. To be honest it's scandalous I got away with what I did at all."

When they reached his quarters he paused sheepishly. "Ah, mind the cat."

"Don't worry, they're naturally attuned to the darkside... It's a joke." He looked up at her in concern, as if he'd secretly had a force-sensitive cat in his midst the whole time.