ladyofleithian (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladyofleithian) wrote2022-01-11 08:22 am
ladyofleithian) wrote2022-01-11 08:22 am
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For allbingo
Title: The Man Behind The Mask
Summary: Five times Poe suspected who Kylo Ren was.
Prompt: Secret Identity
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
1. The first time that Poe hears the name “Kylo Ren” in regards to the new Knight of Ren in the First Order, he doesn’t find it funny at all, actually.
Of course some people in the Resistance are laughing their asses off at it. “Who names themselves ‘Kylo Ren’?” one Resistance soldier says. Jan Zeckis is her name, and Poe already gets the impression that she’s never taken anything seriously in her life. “At least there’s a point with the ‘Darth’ names, or so I’ve heard. What, did he think that ‘Darth’ wasn’t good enough?”
Jan’s right. Sort of. But Poe…dear stars, Poe isn’t laughing. Not in the slightest.
Because he’s thinking back to Ben.
Ben, who called Poe, his body wracked with broken sobs as he accused himself of “good as” killing the people at the Academy. Of course Poe comforted him and said he didn’t, even though he wasn’t there, because his Ben would never do anything so awful; he’s not like most (and Poe isn’t even a misanthrope).
Ben…it does seem convenient, Poe thinks. Ben disappeared at the same time that —
No. Not my Ben. Except he can’t call Ben “my Ben”. He doesn’t have the right. Ben’s not his, he’s not Ben’s. He doesn’t have any right whatsoever.
He probably doesn’t have any right to speculate, either.
2. There’s something about the way their eyes met as their ships narrowly avoided colliding in mid-air (and Poe’s grateful that, among other things, that didn’t happen on the mission to rescue Ackbar. Even as their eyes met, Poe could have sworn Kylo Ren (a man whose mask bizarrely reminds Poe of a bird’s face) actually went rigid.
Like he was terrified of his ship exploding in mid-air, or like he recognized Poe somehow? Poe can’t help but think of That Shot in holovids, when someone recognizes someone else.
Nah, Poe thinks. He’s jumping at shadows. In between the whole stress of rescuing Ackbar as well as missing Ben, maybe Poe’s jumping at shadows. Any chance to actually see Ben again.
He rolls over and punches his pillow into a more comfortable shape. Already, he’s hoping he actually gets some sleep tonight. He’s tired, but his mind’s racing.
He wonders, too much for his own good, who’s behind that mask.
3. There’s a detail that Poe can’t help but notice even as Kylo Ren steps off his shuttle like a herald of yes-this-can-absolutely-get-worse. Kylo’s wearing a scarf around his cowl, like some sort of synthesis of Padme and Anakin. Anakin’s ridiculous hood that he wore before the suit, and Padme’s scarf that called to mind her look at Geonosis (though her get-up was white. Poe’s sure there’s at least some degree of symbolism in there, he just knows it).
And of course, the mask. Kylo’s costume looks like a collage of all sorts of different elements; at least Vader’s suit had some degree of consistency to it. At least it could be argued to actually work, in Kylo’s case, in a very Darth Revan sort of way.
Poe thinks back, despite himself, to Ben doing almost obsessive research into his grandparents, like he thought he could reclaim the missing pieces of his heritage. (Maybe that was his motivation, in the end) Ben looking over his beautiful, badass grandmother as a young lady (he’d never seen her old; she’d died at twenty-seven in childbirth), Poe couldn’t help but notice Ben tracing reverential fingertips over holos of his grandparents, separate and together.
“Padme was a good person. It's remarkable; there’s so many in the galaxy who aren’t.” The fact Poe was an exception in Ben’s eyes was all but implied. Poe still didn’t know what to feel about that.
Poe supposes a scarf on its own wouldn’t tell Kylo Ren’s true identity. It wouldn’t. After all, how many guys with scarves are there out there?
4. There’s something about Kylo’s angry response to Tekka bringing up his family that baffles Poe. Why would Kylo care so much? Stars, why would Tekka care, besides the whole idea that every Dark Sider’s backstory (maybe not Palpatine’s) is tragic one way or another. It’s not the first thing that comes to mind for Poe when Kylo Ren is here, on Jakku, but it is a fact nonetheless.
It baffles Poe that Kylo’s first response to kindness is to cut Tekka down so ruthlessly, all but cleave through him.
It angers him too. It’s that mixture of anger and confusion that leads Poe to do what he never thought he’d do — fire off a blaster bolt in a desire for revenge.
5. Kylo blocks it.
It’s a purely defensive stance, practical, freezing Poe in place as well as the blaster bolt. Kylo could have deflected the bolt so it killed Poe. Or run him through. For some reason, he doesn’t.
(Does Kylo know Poe had the map? Stars, Poe hopes not. He hopes BB-8 doesn’t get found out either. He can’t imagine what the First Order would do to him)
There’s something about the way Kylo freezes it, though, that reminds Poe of times Ben froze blaster bolts with the Force. Or, during good-natured sport games with Poe, he froze a ball they tossed back and forth — at least before summoning it back to his hand and tossing it back to Poe.
He remembers how Ben explained it. “It’s a defensive strategy. Don’t aim to kill, just defend. I don’t think I could really ever be a killer. Intentionally, that is.”
Poe tries clinging to that, even as the stormtroopers rough him up as they drag him before Kylo. His Ben is not a killer. He never will be.
Summary: Five times Poe suspected who Kylo Ren was.
Prompt: Secret Identity
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
1. The first time that Poe hears the name “Kylo Ren” in regards to the new Knight of Ren in the First Order, he doesn’t find it funny at all, actually.
Of course some people in the Resistance are laughing their asses off at it. “Who names themselves ‘Kylo Ren’?” one Resistance soldier says. Jan Zeckis is her name, and Poe already gets the impression that she’s never taken anything seriously in her life. “At least there’s a point with the ‘Darth’ names, or so I’ve heard. What, did he think that ‘Darth’ wasn’t good enough?”
Jan’s right. Sort of. But Poe…dear stars, Poe isn’t laughing. Not in the slightest.
Because he’s thinking back to Ben.
Ben, who called Poe, his body wracked with broken sobs as he accused himself of “good as” killing the people at the Academy. Of course Poe comforted him and said he didn’t, even though he wasn’t there, because his Ben would never do anything so awful; he’s not like most (and Poe isn’t even a misanthrope).
Ben…it does seem convenient, Poe thinks. Ben disappeared at the same time that —
No. Not my Ben. Except he can’t call Ben “my Ben”. He doesn’t have the right. Ben’s not his, he’s not Ben’s. He doesn’t have any right whatsoever.
He probably doesn’t have any right to speculate, either.
2. There’s something about the way their eyes met as their ships narrowly avoided colliding in mid-air (and Poe’s grateful that, among other things, that didn’t happen on the mission to rescue Ackbar. Even as their eyes met, Poe could have sworn Kylo Ren (a man whose mask bizarrely reminds Poe of a bird’s face) actually went rigid.
Like he was terrified of his ship exploding in mid-air, or like he recognized Poe somehow? Poe can’t help but think of That Shot in holovids, when someone recognizes someone else.
Nah, Poe thinks. He’s jumping at shadows. In between the whole stress of rescuing Ackbar as well as missing Ben, maybe Poe’s jumping at shadows. Any chance to actually see Ben again.
He rolls over and punches his pillow into a more comfortable shape. Already, he’s hoping he actually gets some sleep tonight. He’s tired, but his mind’s racing.
He wonders, too much for his own good, who’s behind that mask.
3. There’s a detail that Poe can’t help but notice even as Kylo Ren steps off his shuttle like a herald of yes-this-can-absolutely-get-worse. Kylo’s wearing a scarf around his cowl, like some sort of synthesis of Padme and Anakin. Anakin’s ridiculous hood that he wore before the suit, and Padme’s scarf that called to mind her look at Geonosis (though her get-up was white. Poe’s sure there’s at least some degree of symbolism in there, he just knows it).
And of course, the mask. Kylo’s costume looks like a collage of all sorts of different elements; at least Vader’s suit had some degree of consistency to it. At least it could be argued to actually work, in Kylo’s case, in a very Darth Revan sort of way.
Poe thinks back, despite himself, to Ben doing almost obsessive research into his grandparents, like he thought he could reclaim the missing pieces of his heritage. (Maybe that was his motivation, in the end) Ben looking over his beautiful, badass grandmother as a young lady (he’d never seen her old; she’d died at twenty-seven in childbirth), Poe couldn’t help but notice Ben tracing reverential fingertips over holos of his grandparents, separate and together.
“Padme was a good person. It's remarkable; there’s so many in the galaxy who aren’t.” The fact Poe was an exception in Ben’s eyes was all but implied. Poe still didn’t know what to feel about that.
Poe supposes a scarf on its own wouldn’t tell Kylo Ren’s true identity. It wouldn’t. After all, how many guys with scarves are there out there?
4. There’s something about Kylo’s angry response to Tekka bringing up his family that baffles Poe. Why would Kylo care so much? Stars, why would Tekka care, besides the whole idea that every Dark Sider’s backstory (maybe not Palpatine’s) is tragic one way or another. It’s not the first thing that comes to mind for Poe when Kylo Ren is here, on Jakku, but it is a fact nonetheless.
It baffles Poe that Kylo’s first response to kindness is to cut Tekka down so ruthlessly, all but cleave through him.
It angers him too. It’s that mixture of anger and confusion that leads Poe to do what he never thought he’d do — fire off a blaster bolt in a desire for revenge.
5. Kylo blocks it.
It’s a purely defensive stance, practical, freezing Poe in place as well as the blaster bolt. Kylo could have deflected the bolt so it killed Poe. Or run him through. For some reason, he doesn’t.
(Does Kylo know Poe had the map? Stars, Poe hopes not. He hopes BB-8 doesn’t get found out either. He can’t imagine what the First Order would do to him)
There’s something about the way Kylo freezes it, though, that reminds Poe of times Ben froze blaster bolts with the Force. Or, during good-natured sport games with Poe, he froze a ball they tossed back and forth — at least before summoning it back to his hand and tossing it back to Poe.
He remembers how Ben explained it. “It’s a defensive strategy. Don’t aim to kill, just defend. I don’t think I could really ever be a killer. Intentionally, that is.”
Poe tries clinging to that, even as the stormtroopers rough him up as they drag him before Kylo. His Ben is not a killer. He never will be.
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