onlyeverdoubted | TLV Inbox

Ensign Rook.

[Sloane at last puts her gun back in its holster, crossing her arms to give him a proper once-over]

I didn't come here by choice, and I certainly have no interest in interfering with or commenting on Hux's projects. I'm not an engineer.

I'm more interested to learn the status of the Empire or lack thereof in the future. And I will answer some of your questions in exchange, if you like.

[Alright, a misstep. But he takes a lot of those.]

I'll tell you what I know, but that's only what I've learned here. I've, um, been dead since before you last saw Hux, back home. Time doesn't work right here. Um, obviously.

'Obviously'.

I was going to comment on your wardrobe being woefully out-of-date but admittedly time travel didn't cross my mind.

[Well, she knew she'd last seen Hux when he was a child, and... nevermind. Bodhi is rarely willing to explain his mistakes. Feels too much like defending them.]

Oh. Well. People from our... same, um, general... galaxy are pretty heavily represented here, I think? But scattered across decades.

[He thinks. He knows full well he hasn't spoken to half of them. He might be missing someone who's come from generations before or after.]

Bit disorienting.

You could say that.

[she says, with the barest HINT of a smile]

Where is the canteen on this woeful little ship?

Your choice, directions or a guide, but if it's the latter I'll want shoes and that'll probably rile the cats.

[Logistics are his comfortable refuge when he's busy humiliating himself.]

I would prefer a guide.

[Sloane doesn't like Bodhi, but she prefers his company to walking an unknown ship alone.]

Your cats, or his?

One of each. The simmering pool of Dark Side energy under the desk is mine.

[The one person Dio doesn't want to destroy is the one who led with a blaster under his owner's chin. Seems about right.]

Which means the princess is probably in the bedroom.

[And as that's where his boots are, a bit of cat chaos seems likely. He rises from the desk chair slowly, hands empty and visible, without really thinking about it. Seeming like a non threat is his best defense.]

[A sharp look at Bodhi at Dark Side, before Sloane realizes Bodhi is kidding. Not a usual thing she hears; most Imperials are humorless and uptight.]

I shouldn't be surprised at this show of sentimentality over resources, but you reportedly have an abundance of both here.

Plenty, yeah.

[He absently bends to pet the cat as she slips out to pester Dio and investigate, painfully conscious that the door he's just opened is to a bedroom that clearly belongs to them both. Not that this fact could be a shock, but there was plausible deniability if she wanted to take it. Bodhi hastily shoves his toes into his boots and grabs a sweatshirt from the closet.]

It's, um, not far to the canteen, and we're overlapping normal breakfast hours. I think.

[She eyes the room, and then Bodhi, mind working furiously. Sloane reaches out her hand and stops him from walking, giving him an intense stare that demands honesty]

Is he taking advantage of you, Ensign?

[Did he fall the same way as his father? Sloane wants to know]

[Bodhi's wince is almost imperceptible. Still doesn't like an unexpected touch.

He considers a few answers. The hierarchy that would have made that possible is something they've left behind. That no advantage is being taken anyway, but he's certainly not going to explain that. But he just shakes his head.]

He would never. We... we've known each other for years now. It just... happened this way.

[That flinch tells otherwise. She stares him down, making sure to meet his eyeline]

Tell me truthfully. Has he harmed you?

[It's Bodhi's general shyness working against him now, as well as the awkwardness of the question. He's so bad at eye contact. Apparently the moreso when he's defending his relationship with Hux.]

He would never. We, um... we're leaving together.

[He's looking for something concrete and straightforward that might convince her. Certainly he wouldn't choose to go with someone who was hurting him? ...No, he's known plenty of people who'd do that, choose the known danger over the unknown. Damn. But he's committed now.]

When we both can leave, I mean.

[She studies him, but finally is left with no choice but to take this strange Ensign Rook at his word.]

I didn't think either of you were prisoners here.

[He breathes a tiny sigh of relief. His only other recourse was to start babbling about nice things Hux has done for him, and then they'd probably both feel as awkward as he does now.]

We're not.

[He considers and decides against telling her right now that Hux used to be. Maybe later. He's already messed up several times.]

But there are rewards for, um, participating. We're both here until we can, well, help a prisoner... be released.

[she directs a sharp look at that]

Yes. I've heard.

Yours is?

[She probably means his reward, because what does information about his... prisoner do her? (He probably shouldn't use the word, but it's, well, accurate. This could get a lot worse than awkward. Might as well get it over with.]

I'm still really unclear on what you know and don't, sorry. How surprising is the news that I'm a defector with a price on my head and Hux has sort of turned rebel?

[A weighty pause. Well done, Bodhi, you just laid it all out for her]

Not surprising. But unfortunate to hear it confirmed.

[She grimaces]

I should shoot you where you stand.

[He's pretty sure that was the best move he could make. Doing it slowly and with lots of equivocation would have either brought them to this same place or required lying, which he's bad at even leaving morals aside.]

And I probably couldn't stop you. But I'd rather you didn't. He'd be upset.

You want to appeal to my sentimentality? Over who you've described as a traitor to our cause.

You really need to up your pitch.

[If she entirely lacked sentimentality, a lot of the last few very awkward moments wouldn't have happened, but arguing is not useful here.]

It also won't accomplish much. Death doesn't mean a lot more than time around here. And also you won't be able to get anything else out of me.

Assuming I want to get anything else out of you.

[but, notably, she hasn't yet gone for the gun.]

What's his rebel rank?

I'm using rebel, um, generally. There...

[Which always annoys him when Hux does it. Damn. And there have been rebels onboard several times from various points in their muddled, shared history.]

There's not a faction of the Rebel Alliance onboard. I'm not properly one either. It was just shorter than saying he's, um, reassessed his involvement and the goals of the First Order and roundly rejected both.

Stop saying 'um'. It makes you sound unintelligent.

[said firmly but not cruelly. Her eyes seem searching, trying to put this into context with the Armitage she knows and a future she never got to see]

He didn't only leave. He joined up with them.

There must have been a catalyst, but worrying about it and why I'm here is not my purpose. I will be returned to the Empire shortly.

I should have insisted he take the path of a Naval officer instead of an Army Engineer.

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