𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓽 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 || ᴋʏʟᴏ ʀᴇɴ / ʙᴇɴ ꜱᴏʟᴏ | ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ ꜰɪᴄꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴍᴀɢɪɴᴇꜱ

unexplored territory (i) | Kylo Ren x reader

𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪: In which you and the Commander Kylo Ren navigate through shared unspoken tensions while recovering information from the wreckage of a First Order TIE fighter.

will contain smut in part ii.

—

You didn't know how much longer you could stand this; your eyelashes were going to freeze off your face.

"Your people couldn't be bothered to crash in a more accessible area? Preferably someplace that isn't packed with snow? And flat, maybe?" Your words were punctuated with the sound of your boots crunching down through feet of blanketing white, frosted at the top like bitter ice, emblazoning itself across your stinging vision. The day was as grey and colorless above as it appeared below, save for the torrents of blue from the mountain ranges all around you for hundreds and hundreds of miles—far as the eyes could feasibly see.

The only thing keeping that incensed voice of yours from trembling was the layer of your supposed vexation.

Behind you, nothing more than a darkly distorted huff of sound. Somehow, despite its signature electric cold, it was stark against the whistling of snow and high winds that licked your flushed cheeks.

"Forgive me for not anticipating that I'd be joined by such particular company."

"Oh, please; you know you can't get rid of me."

"Mm. Like a roach."

"Especially," you went on, undeterred, "not when your people have so many interesting developments just asking for me to ruin." You might normally have inclined him a sly little smile, but it was far too cold.

Though you were tempted to turn around and look for him. He was obviously behind you, about which there was no room for doubt, but why? His stature was far greater than...well, most people's, and you'd witnessed the power in his long legs firsthand many a begrudging time. Imperious, you thought to yourself, and a little giggle bubbled to your throat, whisked away by the wind.

It disguised a similar noise from behind that you didn't hear.

As if having read your thoughts (certainly not an incomprehensible or even uncommon occurrence), the larger, far deeper footsteps emanating from your left intensified against the ground, permeating your ears like a far more surrounding substance. The ground under your planted foot vibrated all the way to your bent knee as you worked it to move yourself forward. But by then you were twisting your head, frowning toward the noise.

Not quick enough. New warmth was suddenly emblazoning itself against your left side, tall enough to encapsulate you. The shadow he cast was domineering, yet your body didn't budge even slightly, too smart to deny that tantalizing, necessary heat.

Or perhaps not smart at all. In the base of your stomach, there was a familiar lurch of something akin to fear; a pretty little cut of wobbly uncertainty. The way it spiked your veins was nothing short of exquisite.

"Did your present attire have me fooled? I wouldn't have thought you dressed for something that demanded the skills required to be cunning, or discreet."

Your eyes ran up the black wall of chest lingering there, deliberately slowing himself just for you—then halting entirely. Because you had, it seemed, gone still.

Finally, you inclined your chin to meet the gently-rippling hood, and the sleek, silver-lined helmet that cast Kylo Ren's face in a bed of mysteries.

You stared for several seconds. Either it was the goosebumps marring your skin that short-circuited your thoughts, or...