Ren flinched when FN-2437 drew nearer; the half-laugh had startled him, too. The trooper wouldnāt have noticed, however. Not in his present state, nohow. Kylo Renās physical motion was an ill signifier to his aspect. The muscles in his upper back tensed; something popped somewhere in his shoulder. Something fluttered over his face and was gone. Outwardly he barely moved; it all laid locked in the eyes; his aversion; his apprehension; his relief.
Here was a man locked inside himself, and here was a man flooding out. Kylo Ren watched him; he did not intervene. Ren did not express his hurt at the sight of such desperation. He had knelt like this at the Supreme Leaderās feet, and Snoke had run those bony fingers through his hair as though Ren were his son. But it was something else, and it had quietly killed some part of him.
Kylo Ren did not touch FN-2437. He did not even attempt to approach him.
āThis is no test of loyalty,ā Ren said in a low voice. āGet up. The first thing you can do is stop groveling. Groveling is for the condemned. Youāre not condemned, youāre lost. Ā Youāre not going to find your way out of the dark by crawling.ā
āYou learn to live in it,ā he said. Ā āAnd to die by it.ā
He said it as if he had any idea how to live.
Ā Ā Ā Ā FN-2437 kept his head hung low and his posture submissive, staring at the ground. He expected something to happen, but he wasnāt sure what. If he were to trust everything he knew, then he should have been struck down right there. His leader should have run him through with his weapon and let him die for everything that he had tried to hide.Ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā Instead he was, left alone, but he could still feel him there. The same intense pressure that had always been there around him. He didnāt know what it all meant, but he knew that he needed to follow him and do exactly what he said. Despite expecting death, a part of him mourned for the comfort of touch heād never had.Ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā It may have not been a test, but he was loyal. FN-2437 got to his feet when he demanded it but it took several seconds for him to lock to his gaze.Ā āAffirmative, Sir. Iāll do as you say. I-ā He cut himself off as pressure moved in his chest. Something about his nerves was telling him to run, but he stayed planted, fighting it.Ā āHow?ā He asked if anything to make it stop.
Ā Ā Ā Ā āShow me.....Please.āĀ Ā Ā Ā