In the meantime, Techie had been working his ass off. He trained himself hard with blasters and raised his endurance. Every single day he thought of Adeline and resolved to be stronger to protect her.
It hurt him deeply to leave her with Kylo Ren, but he knew the man could protect her much better with the Force (something Techie could never do.)
He passed her in the hallways one day and tried to catch her attention.
Techie froze and felt ice run through his veins. Why is Kylo Ren, of all people, talking to him?! The blood is pulsing so hard in his ears that he doesn’t even know what the man is saying, and can only stare blankly at him.
“Um, ah,” he says, very intelligently.
And then bolts for the nearest exit.
With certainty, Techie declared, “No. I don’t. I’m a piece of sh-shit, and truthfully, I *don’t* deserve k-kindness. Nothing and n-nobody is all good or all evil, all b-black or all white. So we’re all pieces of shit with some g-gold mixed in, and even if we don’t deserve good things, people sh-should DO good things to each other.“
To Techie, this all made sense, and he’d obviously thought of this for a while.
“There w-were other Clan Techies before me. We all had the same name, but we gave each other n-n-nicknames. MaMa didn’t like keeping them, uh, around for long, s-said they were a liability. Towards the end, I was th-the… The only one left.”
Techie gave a shudder and furrowed his brows in thought. Who else did he know of? “MaMa’s right hand, Caleb, would h-have a lot of info to, uh, give but some J-Judges killed him.” He picked mercilessly at the skin around his fingers and rolled the leather interrogation room chair back and forth.
Techie froze and felt ice run through his veins. Why is Kylo Ren, of all people, talking to him?! The blood is pulsing so hard in his ears that he doesn’t even know what the man is saying, and can only stare blankly at him.
“Um, ah,” he says, very intelligently.
And then bolts for the nearest exit.
Techie paused and thought it over. He said gently, “Let m-me ask you this: do you think *I* deserve good th-things to happen to me?”
He sat on the edge of his cot and twined his fingers together in his lap.
Techie froze and felt ice run through his veins. Why is Kylo Ren, of all people, talking to him?! The blood is pulsing so hard in his ears that he doesn’t even know what the man is saying, and can only stare blankly at him.
“Um, ah,” he says, very intelligently.
And then bolts for the nearest exit.
“R-really?” Now that they’d gotten this far, Techie realized with a start that he’d expected Ren to think this was a waste of time, something silly, and that it wouldn’t actually make him happy. It wasn’t much of a stretch to say that Techie sucked at most things he did, so why should this have been an exception?
So to have Ren tell him, in no uncertain terms that LOVED his gift was… amazing! Techie’s heart raced and he couldn’t wipe the goofy grin off his face. “I’m so g-glad you do!” He ached to pull Ren into a hug but wasn’t sure if that was a good idea.
Once he gave the all-clear and gestured for Nao to follow along, he took off his Technician’s vest and gave it to her. “If anybody asks, y-your uniform got soaked and you’re borrowing p-part of mine,” he whispers nervously as they walk down the corridor, steps echoing.
She took the vest and slipped it on before frowning deeply and folding her arms. She looked ridiculous in the vest that she was swimming in, it was far too big and made her feel shorter than she already was.
“Fine.” She replies through gritted teeth, hiding her self consciousness through a mask of irritation.
Just a little longer and they’d reach his quarters. Techie was sweating like he’d never sweat before, jittery and alert for any danger. Even being General Hux’s brother wouldn’t save him from getting pushed out an airlock if they got caught.
“Stay cl-close, Nao, please. We’re almost th-there.”
Techie froze and felt ice run through his veins. Why is Kylo Ren, of all people, talking to him?! The blood is pulsing so hard in his ears that he doesn’t even know what the man is saying, and can only stare blankly at him.
“Um, ah,” he says, very intelligently.
And then bolts for the nearest exit.
Nestled in delicate wrapping paper were the best wire figures Techie had ever made: one of him with giant blue bug eyes and red copper hair, the other of Kylo with his thick, sleek cable-tresses and glowing lightsaber. They were holding hands and had big smiles on their faces.
Techie’s gaze flickered to Ren’s face, eagerly awaiting his reaction. They were cartoony and childish, for sure, but he hoped with all his heart Ren would like them.
Techie froze and felt ice run through his veins. Why is Kylo Ren, of all people, talking to him?! The blood is pulsing so hard in his ears that he doesn’t even know what the man is saying, and can only stare blankly at him.
“Um, ah,” he says, very intelligently.
And then bolts for the nearest exit.
“Do you know anybody else n-named Kylo? And you d-do deserve this,” Techie said with confidence. He took Ren’s large hand gently and led him towards the back of the room.
“Hold out your hands and c-cl-close your eyes,” he coaxed, taking a tiny box from behind the cake and placing it into his hands. “Open it!”
Techie froze and felt ice run through his veins. Why is Kylo Ren, of all people, talking to him?! The blood is pulsing so hard in his ears that he doesn’t even know what the man is saying, and can only stare blankly at him.
“Um, ah,” he says, very intelligently.
And then bolts for the nearest exit.
Techie hurriedly flips on the lights and points towards the room with a grand, sweeping gesture. “Happy Kylo Day!”
Red and white balloons all over the place, a black layer cake with candles arranged in the shape of a smiley face, and decorative wire figures of animals (some of them not recognizable, to be honest) meet Ren’s eyes. There’s a scented candle somewhere in all the decorations that makes the room smell of peppermint.
TechieHux 