A Seam Within the Galaxy • Kylo Ren

Ch.27

There sits, or stands, if you will, BB-9, waiting ever so patiently for me.

"Dinner. Ready." He beeps happily, wheeling himself into my room, pleased to see me. I force a few blinks at him, still unable to understand it was him, and not the Commander before me.

"Look nice." The droid chirps from below, circling around my body numerous times. "Smell nice." He adds, taking me in. I release a shaky breath, thanking him through a flexed jaw while I take another tab at ramping myself down.

"Angry?" He asks.

"No."

"Mad?"

"No, that's not—that's the same thing." I cringed, pinching the bridge of my nose between my fingers, shutting my eyes. I turn and look at him sympathetically, only wishing to help me, always. I exhale once more, this time, more effectively.

"Thank you for the compliments, I appreciate them. Anger and madness are pretty much the same thing, but, your analytical skills have never been your strong suit, have they?" I tease him, crouching down to his level as he rings out a series of beeps. He goes through the motions, anger, confusion, then understanding, as I had only been somewhat sarcastic with him. He mentions exactly that, how he is still learning what is and isn't sarcasm. I nod with him kindheartedly, understanding where he was coming from.

"We will continue to work on it, I will not give up on you." I grinned, smoothening my hand over the top of his head. He beeps and nudges himself further into my palm, causing me to laugh at the sight.

"It must be difficult, for such an intelligent droid to have such a sarcastic master."

My lips part, swiveling my head to peer through the door. There he stood, towering just before the doorway, freshly showered, his hair puffy and voluminous in the same manner mine was. He still wears his clean, standard uniform, without his saber attached to his side, nor his cape fashioned neatly over his shoulders. He looks calm, poised, ready as ever. I'm in awe, as well as jealousy of him.

I stand to my feet, the droid whizzing past me to stand before the Commander. He agrees with Ren, mentioning how difficult it can be, at times. He is also working on humor, so he can find the lightheartedness that sarcasm can bring, so he's been told. He also mentions how difficult that can be, as a whole. I've noticed the droid's beeps lower a few octaves in the presence of the Commander, showing off, maybe, or trying to seem more powerful and impenetrable before such a strong man. It made sense, when you gave it some thought.

The droid exits the room and down the hall, talking to himself and reviewing times where I had used sarcasm, using it as an example to learn from, comparing and contrasting while saving them for future scenarios.

"You look nice." He chimes in, filling the sudden silence between us. I still stand in my room, staring back at him. "It's really nothing different from my normal attire." I tell him, growing bashful. "Thank you." I add, not wanting to skim over his compliment.

I watch as he steps into my bedroom, his stare still holding me completely. "You look nice whenever I have the pleasure of seeing you—but I feel the need to tell you now since I sense an... unease from you." He clarifies, looking at my face, my shirt, my pants, even my boots in an attempt to figure me out. "I couldn't ascertain why you would think that way, I see nothing wrong, frankly, I never do."

I puff out my cheeks as I exhale, tearing my sights off of him in an attempt to hide my bashfulness. I missed all the times where he was the bashful one, while I stood on the other end. It truly was no fun to sit and stew within this, while the other simply watched.