The Brighter Dark (Kylo Ren X Reader)

Ch. 6- Use Me

As expected, Kuruk was ready and waiting for you at the gate.

You and Griggs had pulled up to the platform just about fifteen minutes shy of the agreed upon rendezvous time. Given the thinly veiled threat of hunting you down earlier that morning, you'd decided that staying ahead of schedule would be wise.

You gathered your belongings and moved to open your airspeeder door when you felt Griggs' hand on your forearm. You turned, your eyes meeting Griggs' concerned ones.

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" they asked, eyebrows knitting together.

Your lips pulled together into a tight line. Would you be okay? You'd been through worse, that was for sure, and you'd survived... but had you come out okay? That was a tougher question to answer.

You covered their hand with yours, giving it an awkward pat. Griggs had always been more emotional than you, but they didn't usually show you that side of themself. You were reacting as best as you could.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle myself." Your helmet was on, so you made an effort to coat your words with a smile that Griggs could hear. "I'll be back in time to buy you a round at Rik's tomorrow night."

The side of their mouth quirked up, though the look on their face betrayed their lingering concern. "Just one round?"

"That depends on how profitable this gig ends up being for me." you laughed. Griggs didn't laugh with you. You saw their eyes shift from you to something over your shoulder. You followed their gaze to the tower of muddied black leather leaning against the gatepost. Kuruk's helmet was facing the two of you, his gaze surveying your every move. Undoubtedly, he was readying himself to go after you if you tried to run- which would be incredibly stupid on your part.

Griggs nodded in Kuruk's direction. "That one of Kylo Ren's knights in shining armor?" You refocused on collecting your things and opened your door. "Armor isn't exactly shining," you quipped, "but yes. That would be my chauffeur for the evening."

Griggs tilted their head, and you watched their eyes drink Kuruk in. "Well if whatever they've got hiding behind all those layers looks like my type, let me know." They smirked, raising an appraising eyebrow. "I'm getting a scary but sexy vibe from that one."

You laughed and shook your head. "And you can tell he's sexy how?"

Their eyes stayed on Kuruk behind you. "I can just sense these things." Finally ripping their gaze from the Knight and redirecting their attention to you, Griggs sighed and waved you away. "Alright, get out of here. Be careful."

"I will." You tried to sound reassuring, but both of you knew that it may not matter how careful you were. There were too many moving parts to this entire situation that were out of your control. Being careful wouldn't stop an emotionally unstable overlord of the galaxy from killing you if he was in a bad mood.

As you walked towards Kuruk, you heard Griggs' speeder rev up and disappear into the distance. At least they would be safe and out of this mess. It killed you to involve Griggs at all, but you didn't have too many friends to call upon for help in times like these. Keeping people at arm's length was what you did best. You prayed that asking Griggs for help wasn't going to bite you in the ass later.

Kuruk pushed himself away from the gatepost as you approached, acknowledging your now full cross-body bag. "That it?" he asked, nodding. You gave him a curt "mm-hm" in reply. He reached out his hand as if to take it from you, and you instinctively stepped back. He stayed where he was, arm outstretched and head inclined towards you in warning.