the-knightof-ren:

Kylo looked down at the man, he sneered a bit. He knelt down to his level and gave a small smirk “Anything? You mean that do you? What do you have to offer me, pathetic man?” he held his hair to make him look at him in the eyes. 

Every inch of Techie was on fire. “You don’t have to b-be a monster,” he said. “What’s done is done. You can do g-good things from now on, and make others as happy as you’ve m-made me…”

Realizing what he just said, he lets go of Ren’s hands and covers his flushed face, embarrassed. But he feels compelled to damn himself one more time, “I th-think that you saved me too,” he smiles shyly, peeking out from between his fingers.

He gets ever closer to Ren…

And lightly brushes his lips against his cheek.

the-knightof-ren:

Kylo looked down at the man, he sneered a bit. He knelt down to his level and gave a small smirk “Anything? You mean that do you? What do you have to offer me, pathetic man?” he held his hair to make him look at him in the eyes. 

Techie’s pupils were blown open so wide that they *ached*. They wouldn’t stop their quiet hum, and he was hyperaware of every point of contact between them.

“You m-must be l-losing it, Kylo,” Techie gulps, nervous now for a totally different reason than ever before. “My h-hands are s-so scarred and c-calloused…” He runs the rough pad of his thumb over Ren’s knuckles; softly, gently.

the-knightof-ren:

Kylo looked down at the man, he sneered a bit. He knelt down to his level and gave a small smirk “Anything? You mean that do you? What do you have to offer me, pathetic man?” he held his hair to make him look at him in the eyes. 

“I’m in y-your debt,” Techie whispers solemnly, “So whatever keeps you well, I’ll do. You won’t be rotting. Not on my w-watch.”

He dabs a cut near Ren’s mouth and his fingers ghost over Ren’s bottom lip. The little hairs on his arm prickle but he says nothing about this and attempts to ignore the electricity in his body.

“W-would you want to go away? To somewhere else?” This part he asks with much trepidation, eyes darting around the room as if looking for a spy or camera. When he finds none, he locks his gaze with Ren and gives him a worshipful look.

the-knightof-ren:

Kylo looked down at the man, he sneered a bit. He knelt down to his level and gave a small smirk “Anything? You mean that do you? What do you have to offer me, pathetic man?” he held his hair to make him look at him in the eyes. 

Techie falls deathly silent for a long, long moment. Then he says, quietly but leaving no room for an argument, “Nobody should ever h-have to live in pain.”

He goes to his toolbox and pulls out a small scrap of square fabric. After dampening it under the sonic (thank goodness for the water setting), Techie sits next to Ren on the bed, leaning over to gently wipe the blood off as best he can.

“Looks to me like you *do* need my h-help,” Techie smiles, a little lopsided.

the-knightof-ren:

Kylo looked down at the man, he sneered a bit. He knelt down to his level and gave a small smirk “Anything? You mean that do you? What do you have to offer me, pathetic man?” he held his hair to make him look at him in the eyes. 

Techie, meanwhile, had been awkwardly sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for Ren to return. He didn’t know how to return from here to his room, and to leave silently, without any parting words, felt… wrong.

So when Ren burst in, Techie jumped off the bed and went to him, crouched by his side while Ren spat up dark red blood.

He was thrown off by this sudden dramatic entrance but calmly held Ren’s hair back and then, once he’d stopped spitting up, smoothed his dark strands back soothingly. “Um, Kylo? What happened? Are you a-alright?”

And then he added, a little frustrated, “How can I just s-sit back and pretend this never happened? You helped me, so it’s my turn to help *you* now, Kylo.”

His cheeks turned rosy when calling Ren by his first name. The level of intimacy it implied between them was strange, but Techie supposed he owed him that, at least. And so much more too.

the-knightof-ren:

Kylo looked down at the man, he sneered a bit. He knelt down to his level and gave a small smirk “Anything? You mean that do you? What do you have to offer me, pathetic man?” he held his hair to make him look at him in the eyes. 

Techie only sighed contentedly and curled himself further into the tangled blankets. He’d spent days with very little sleep and seemed intent on making them up now. Embarrassingly enough, he’d been drooling all over Ren’s pillows.

He opened one eye and gave him a languid, half-asleep smile. “Mmm,” was all he said before promptly dozing off again. He would definitely still be there when Ren returned.

the-knightof-ren:

Kylo looked down at the man, he sneered a bit. He knelt down to his level and gave a small smirk “Anything? You mean that do you? What do you have to offer me, pathetic man?” he held his hair to make him look at him in the eyes. 

With a start Techie felt like something was missing; but he felt so much *lighter* and *good*. He’d gotten so used to fear and loathing coexisting with him that it felt downright ODD to be without them. It was a damn good feeling though.

All the negative emotions were muted and distant, something out of a blurred nightmare you could hardly recall. Even so, his newfound lightness couldn’t stop his eyelids from feeling heavy with exhaustion. The process had drained them both.

Techie sank back down on the bed next to Ren and breathed slowly, evenly, until he fell asleep cuddled into Ren’s side.

the-knightof-ren:

Kylo looked down at the man, he sneered a bit. He knelt down to his level and gave a small smirk “Anything? You mean that do you? What do you have to offer me, pathetic man?” he held his hair to make him look at him in the eyes. 

It took him a long moment before he managed to lower his defenses enough to let Ren slip in without a struggle. Once he opened up a little, Techie’s tight bud of a mind bloomed and fully allowed Ren access.

It was scary to be so wide open and to show him all the horrors he’d lived through, but there was a steady current of calm transmitted through their connection and it felt to Techie like a relieved sigh. He sent to Ren as clearly as he could manage a burst of pure gratefulness and admiration.

It was Ren’s time to do his part now.