The Independency: A Star Wars Story

The Pet

      Three weeks passed, and each day of those three weeks Miscellin would wake up, eat something, get dressed, then go with Kylo to the command center. There at the command center, Miscellin and Armitage would continue their attempts in hacking into the rebel database. Each attempt failed. Miscellin and Armitage spent at least eight and a half hours every day on the computers, and after a few days Miscellin had taken to calling Armitage "Army".

      It was a childish nickname, yes, but Armitage enjoyed it very much, since Miscellin was the one who had given it to him. At the end of each day, Lin and Kylo(or as Lin called him, Ben)would walk together back to his room, and they'd talk a little. Kylo soon found that he was rather enjoying her company, even with all the sarcastic comments about his hair, clothes, and nose. Lin and Kylo would lounge together on the loveseat, share their views in politics, and read.

      One particular evening, Lin had made some remark about Kylo's hair while they were on the loveseat together. That day, Kylo didn't have the most spectacular of work days, and his exasperation levels were much higher than usual. "If you make one more damn joke about my hair, I swear to god I'll kill you." Kylo was quite obviously ticked off, and Miscellin decided to elevate his levels of vexation. She put his hands on his chest(which she was surprised to find was very muscular), then climbed onto his lap and put her face dangerously close to his. "I want you to look at me very closely right now." She whispered. Her cool breath tickled Kylo's skin. "Closer...Closer. Now, tell me...do. I. Give. A. Damn?" Kylo was vaguely aware that Miscellin was practically straddling him. "We're in quite the position." Kylo said with a raised brow. "Not that I mind, sexy." Kylo winked and Lin moved off of him, rolling around the loveseat with laughter. Kylo couldn't help but smile: somehow, Lin brought out the best parts of him, the parts he tried to leave behind. Every time he'd go back to being just Kylo, Lin would come along and joke around with him, and suddenly he'd be Ben again.

      Each night, Lin would sleep on the loveseat. Admittedly, it was uncomfortable, but it was much better than having to sleep in the same bed as Ben. That was far too awkward for Lin's liking, especially because...well, Lin had her reasons for not wanting to be in a bed with Ben, but it's better left unsaid.

      However, one silent night, the ship went through a rather large field of space junk. Some idiots who were supposed to clean it up accidentally left the back of their ship open, causing everything they had cleaned to go flying back out into space. The ship rocked back and forth smoothly at first, but began to get violent later on. After the rocking stopped, screeches of metal from the junk hitting the ship could be heard, and that was about it for Lin. Lin got up off the loveseat and made her way inside. Kylo was on his bed, reading a book. He hadn't been able to sleep well, either. He looked up from his book when he heard the rustle of fabric in the doorway, and he saw Lin standing there with her arms behind her back. She was leaning against the wall, her blonde hair curtaining her tear-streaked face.

      Kylo was alarmed when he saw the tears, and he sat up quickly. "Lin..." Lin wiped her face with her hand and she sniffled. "I don't like loud noises. They remind me of... " Lin stopped speaking, and her eyes went down to look at the floor. Kylo had no idea what to do, he wasn't very good at comforting people. Kylo tentatively began to draw near the girl, then outstretched his hand for her to take. She wasn't sure why he was holding out his hand, but she took it anyways. Kylo led her over to the bed, gently pushing her into it, then he covered her with some blankets. He laid down beside her, and picked up his book. He began to read aloud from the beginning.

      Lin was quite bewildered, but she didn't question it. After listening to his voice for twenty minutes or so, Lin began to relax. Without thinking, she leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder. Kylo abruptly stopped reading, and he then set the book down on his bedside table. He reached over to turn the light off, then adjusted himself and Lin so she had her head resting on his bare chest. The ship suddenly lurched overwhelmingly, and Lin instinctively wrapped her arms around Kylo, entwining their bodies. Her nails dug into his skin, and she whimpered quietly. Kylo rubbed her lower back gently, hushing her.